Hero Party After the Nuclear War

Chapter 5

Before the sun went down, Raven slipped out of the city and onto the main road, pointed at his truck with a finger, and smiled.

"That's my truck. You'll be making deliveries with that. Her name's Elizabeth."

Despite never revealing a single syllable of his own name, he could so confidently announce the name he'd given the truck. Eris, with a half-bewildered expression, decided to play along.

"'Elizabeth' is smaller than I expected."

"If you were hoping for some massive car built by pre-war civilization folks, you might be disappointed."

Still, it had a manual transmission and four-wheel drive. On top of that, it could carry a decent amount of cargo.

An additional bumper was installed on the front to mow down radioactive zombies, and the tires were sturdy, reducing stress on the vehicle even after long drives across the wasteland.

Raven loaded the Death Stalker loot from his bag into the truck, but for some reason didn't climb into the driver's seat. Instead, he pulled out several camping tools—lanterns, firewood, flint, and a tent—from the cargo area and began laying them out on the ground.

"W-Wait. Hold on. Aren't we leaving right now?"

"Now?"

Raven briefly looked at Eris as if wondering whether she'd been shot in the head, and just before a curse slipped out, he barely remembered that she was from 200 years ago.

"I told you earlier. You can't travel at night. And no matter how sturdy my Elizabeth is, there's a limit to how much she can handle against monsters that come out at night. Best to avoid traveling after dark."

"Wait... what?"

Tilting her head in confusion, Eris asked Raven, who was just about to light the campfire.

"You said the monsters are dangerous at night. Is it okay to light a fire?"

"Lighting a fire keeps most wild animals away. And... you shouldn't stay in pitch black darkness for too long. I told you earlier. Shadow comes out."

Eris was about to ask what exactly this 'Shadow' was, but missing the right moment, she could only pout and ask instead,

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"I've got a few lanterns laid out here, see? Set them up in a circle around the campfire. Here, the flint and knife are over here."

"Wh-Why are there so many lanterns?"

With over ten lanterns laid out, Eris began to grow curious about the identity of 'Shadow,' which even summoners with summoners feared.

Following his instructions, she carefully lit the lanterns in a circle around the campsite, then asked Raven, who was diligently pitching the tent behind her.

"So. What exactly is this Shadow? If even summoners fear it. Is it like some kind of spirit?"

"I don't know much myself. I've never faced one properly. Don't want to either. And... honestly, I don't even like mentioning them. You know the saying, talk about a zombie and it crawls out of its grave. One thing's for sure. A regular summoner can't beat it."

"Why not?"

"Servants' magic doesn't work. At! All! And if you're thinking about pumping it full of bullets, that's a no-go too. It's invincible. And yet, its attacks hit like criticals. Makes zombies crawling out of graves look cute in comparison."

He skillfully placed a soot-blackened pot over the campfire, then pulled out an icebox from the truck—who knows where he got it—and threw in a suspicious-looking piece of meat.

"Hungry? I'll cook something. Can't guarantee the taste, though."

"Um. Just asking, but... what kind of meat is that?"

"Oh this? It's called a Demon Rabbit. A mutated bunny that ate a bit too much radiation. It's great in hot pot. Though I can't make hot pot right now, so I'm just grilling it."

"..... What?"

Radiation.

Eaten.

Rabbit?

"Ugh... Are you serious? Right now? You're really going to eat that? Seriously? You're not teasing me because I'm from 200 years ago, right?"

"What's with the 'ugh.' Don't disrespect food like that. It all gets sterilized once it's grilled or boiled. Once it's in your stomach, it's just meat."

"And these days, it's harder to find wild animals that haven't eaten radiation. The last time I saw a 'normal' rabbit was in the database of an abandoned library ages ago."

"Ugh... Ughhh... What if I get sick?"

"I've got a few herbs that help with stomach issues."

Having lived a truly raw life for a long time, Raven grilled the rabbit meat on the spot with a knife and fork as if it were nothing, making him seem like a complete weirdo to Eris, who was from 200 years ago.

"Don't you have any canned food or something?"

"If you search ruins thoroughly, you can find some. But canned food's usually super rare. I sell it to others rather than eat it myself. You can get a good price."

"I... see."

"..."

In other words, food from before civilization collapsed was hard to come by. Eris lowered her head gloomily at Raven's words.

"What a troublesome woman."

Wondering if he'd get a return worth the effort of treating this woman well, he stroked his chin and gazed at Eris crouched in front of the campfire.

Her hair, a mix of silver and gold, shimmered faintly in the firelight and moonlight. Even as she warmed herself by the fire, the loneliness of being left alone was stealing the warmth from her body.

He glanced at the M1911 pistol on his hip, remembered she was a magic user, and reached into the icebox in the truck.

What he pulled out was a spice to sprinkle on the Demon Rabbit he was about to grill.

All of them were hard to come by and quite pricey, but he believed every meal should be as tasty as possible within one's means, and in that sense, he was generous.

While taking out the spices, he also pulled out a small can he'd originally kept to sell to a city merchant and tossed it to Eris.

"Here."

"Ouch!"

Hit squarely on the head by the can he'd tossed without malice, Eris grumbled about why he was throwing things at people.

"Seriously... don't do that. Okay?"

When she picked up the can he'd casually thrown, it had a surprising weight to it. Wasn't it trash? Thinking that, she read the fading label just before it peeled off—and was shocked as she looked at Raven.

"Th-This...?"

"Found it while exploring an underground ruin."

Luncheon meat. A product from the old era with processed meat sealed in a can. According to Raven, he found it in an underground ruin—in other words, a bomb shelter—and it was nearly pristine with no signs of damage.

Thanks to the nature of canned food, as long as the container itself wasn't compromised, the contents wouldn't spoil even after a long time.

Especially since it was made using magic technology from the pre-war era when Eris lived, unless someone deliberately tried to destroy the container from outside, there was little chance it would be damaged.

Back when she was living her life 200 years ago, she wouldn't have given canned food a second glance. Ironically, the cheap luncheon meat in this can was now the only thing connecting her to the world of 200 years ago.

Seeing that, perhaps overcome with nostalgia, Eris was about to tear up again when Raven sighed and set a condition.

"There's one condition."

"... What is it?"

"Do you even know how much you could get selling that can to a collector? Anyway, you'll have to work to earn it."

Raven drew the M1911 pistol from his holster, slipped his finger through the trigger guard, and spun it.

Clearly not his first time handling a gun, he tossed it into the air with flair, caught it by the barrel, and handed it straight to Eris.

"Take it."

Eris obediently gripped the pistol handle at Raven's words and was surprised by its unexpected weight.

Although she'd seen others use them, Eris had never held a gun herself. She shivered at the cold, heavy feel of the weapon designed to kill.

"I've been too busy with requests lately to get proper sleep. I'm going to sleep soundly tonight. So you'll keep watch while I camp."

"Keep watch?"

"Stay up all night and watch for danger. I told you. Dangerous things crawl around at night. These days, anyone sane doesn't go out after dark. Only a few like me, whose job requires it, move around at night. Night watch duty is essential."

Raven sprinkled salt and pepper on the nearly grilled Demon Rabbit meat, didn't even bother to blow on it, and devoured the thick meat in about ten seconds.

It was thanks to the fire resistance of the currently summoned Servant, 'Jack O'Lantern.'

When you summon a Servant with fire resistance, the Summoner also gains the same resistance. In daily life, this means you won't burn your mouth eating hot food or suffer burns easily—very practical.

"Alright, first. The first thing to watch out for. Zombies."

To explain what to watch out for during guard duty, Raven held up his index finger and began a rapid briefing for Eris.

There hadn't been any Maso 200 years ago, nor the resulting monsters or mutated animals. So it was necessary to explain each one to help her adapt to this world.

"Zombies...? The zombies I know? The dead rising, biting people and spreading infection?"

"No, totally different."

Raven shook his head and replied.

"Zombies are humans mutated into demons after exposure to Maso."

"Maso... is that radiation?"

"Mana altered by radiation. As long as the campfire's going strong, they usually won't approach. But if they do, the solution's simple. Shoot them. Preferably in the head."

"Well, that's... a simple solution."

As Eris nodded, he raised his middle finger to move on.

"Second. Spirits. Sometimes spirits are summoned suddenly, and most of them are hostile to us. The one you'll see most often is probably a goblin. Anyway, the solution's simple. Shoot them. Preferably in the head."

"Is it just me, or is that the exact same solution as the first one?"

"So what. Third, wild animals. Sometimes even a campfire doesn't stop stray dogs or wolf-dogs from being drawn in by the smell of food. Treat them all as enemies too. The solution is..."

"Shoot them. Aim for the head?"

"Yep. Hey, you're a wasteland survival master now. You too can survive the wasteland."

"So basically, shoot whatever shows up."

"Exactly. That's one of the reasons I'm still alive."

From Raven's serious response, Eris could indirectly understand just how far this world had fallen into chaos after the war, and what a mess it had become in the absence of the Hero.

"Now, just one last thing to remember."

Finally, Raven pointed toward a pitch-black area where the lantern's light didn't quite reach and spoke.

"Whether it's because of storm clouds or because the moon isn't out at that time, when there's darkness where light doesn't reach at all... sometimes, something... might come out of it."

"...What do I do then?"

"Pick up any lantern and shine it over there. It might be a mole, you know? But if it's not a mole... and it looks like the shape of a person. Or seems like it... then."

"Then?"

"Wake me up. I'll handle it from there."

Faintly, Eris realized that what Raven had just mentioned was the 'Shadow' he feared so much, and she swallowed hard.

In the darkness...

'The shape of a person' appears?

"Anyway, if anything shows up, just shoot first. Got it? Then I'm going to sleep first."