Leveling up the Arch-wizard class was fully within Shirakawa's expectations. After all, that many undead in one place? A literal carpet bombing with magic was bound to bring results.
Early levels didn't require much EXP to progress, and just like that, he rocketed to Lv4.
"The core skill of Mana Fountain... should finally fix my mana depletion issues."
Explosion Magic, the skill he had learned from Megumin, didn't need any explanation in terms of power. The real issue, of course, was mana consumption.
Back in her world, Megumin—being a Crimson Demon with an absurd mana pool—would collapse after casting the spell once.
After draining all of his mana, Shirakawa found it would regenerate at 10% per minute, though the pace would slow as his max mana increased. Roughly calculated...
Explosion Magic had a cooldown of around 30 minutes.
"Divine One."
Marikawa, hands calmly on the steering wheel, was far more relaxed after witnessing Shirakawa's overwhelming power. The zombies lining the road no longer fazed her.
A god walking among mortals...
"The road's getting congested. This school bus isn't exactly nimble. Want to stop by my friend's place? She has a Humvee in her garage."
"Stop calling me that."
Shirakawa waved a hand in protest at being called "Divine One." He was still miles away from being on that level.
"Just call me by name."
"Why?"
To Marikawa, an ordinary school nurse, Shirakawa's strength was already godlike. To her, the title felt completely appropriate.
"Because I'm not that strong. Not yet."
"Oh…"
Marikawa kept one hand on the wheel, the other rubbing her cheek in thought. Then she suddenly asked, "Wait... Shirakawa-kun, have you actually met a real god before?"
"…Sort of."
Aqua might have had some questionable intelligence and a laughable amount of luck, but hey, she was still officially a Water Goddess from Heaven. That counted, didn't it?
After the outbreak of the zombie virus, the city had descended into total chaos. Wrecked cars littered the roads, many engulfed in flames. Corpse-ravaged bodies lay everywhere.
Law and order had completely collapsed.
Opportunistic thugs—seeing society's fall as a green light—roamed the streets, looting and destroying without restraint.
"It really is a mess…"
Miyamoto Rei stared out the bus window at the decaying cityscape, still unable to shake the deaths of her two simping classmates. But at least she hadn't died back at Fujimi Academy.
That alone, she thought, was a blessing.
In the short term, her safety wasn't in question. Shirakawa was on their side—powerful enough to be considered a god—and then there was Saeko Busujima, a master swordswoman.
But what about the future?
If she wanted to survive, she'd have to cling tightly to Shirakawa's leg. But to him… what did she even mean?
"..."
That thought only irritated her more. As the bus suddenly braked, nearly sending her forehead into the seat in front, Rei glared at Marikawa, who had just stopped the vehicle.
The nurse, however, sounded quite cheerful.
Pointing to a detached house nearby, Marikawa explained, "This is my friend's place. If I remember correctly, the key should be around here."
"We won't need to find shelter tonight."
"Okay."
Neither Busujima Saeko, Takagi Saya, nor Rei raised any objections. After all, Shirakawa—the one effectively leading them—had already stepped out from the front seat.
They all quickly followed.
Saya had even considered apologizing to Shirakawa for her earlier attitude. But the moment she saw him standing beside someone she clearly recognized—Misaka Mikoto—she backed off.
"There's a good chance the rescue mission was just to get Busujima Saeko to a safe house," Shirakawa said with a smile, glancing toward Mikoto. "What's your plan now?"
As a Level 5 esper from Academy City, Mikoto couldn't afford to disappear too long. Even with the chat group's rule adjustments, there were limits.
"I'll leave once the mission's officially marked as complete."
This world wasn't hers. It was unfamiliar, disconnected, and most importantly, not her problem. Her only goal in accepting the rescue mission was to earn points.
She gave Shirakawa a long, examining look.
"…Before you became a Holy Sword Weilder, were you really just a regular high school student?"
"I was."
Technically, Shirakawa was a high school student in his original world—just one with a cheat skill called the "Proficiency Panel" and some part-time work as an exorcist.
Whether or not he'd become a full-fledged "Hero" someday... would depend on whether he could find that guy in the Goblin Slayer world.
As for advancing to higher-dimensional jobs…
Well, that would depend on whether any new members joined the chat group.
They followed Marikawa up to her friend Rika's house, clearing out a few wandering corpses on the way. Once at the front door, Marikawa bent down and fished out a key hidden under the doormat.
When she stood up—
Her curves bounced in a way that made Shirakawa very aware of why the Earth was round. Once the anti-theft door opened and Saeko was inside...
"Rescue mission for group members complete. Rewards are being calculated... Congratulations to members 'Normal High School Student' and 'Railgun' for receiving 200 points."
"Finally wrapped that one up."
The reward was decent.
Though Shirakawa had already mapped out where those points would go—placing dimensional teleport anchors in the Konosuba world and the Highschool of the Dead world would already burn through most of them.
"Mm."
Mikoto nodded quietly. She clearly had no intention of staying longer. Before leaving, though, she cast one final glance at Shirakawa—this time more observant than dismissive.
She didn't like to admit it, but…
Shirakawa was stronger than her.
Especially in melee—his explosive bursts of speed made it difficult to track his attacks. Even if she used her electromagnetic defense, if he deployed some kind of specialized restriction skill…
Then followed it up with that ridiculous magic of his…
Finally, she gave a soft huff and smiled faintly. "Next time we meet, let me take care of the mission, all right?"
"..."
Watching Misaka Mikoto leave, a subtle grin crept onto Shirakawa's face. Despite the tsundere archetype slowly falling out of favor, there was something undeniably amusing about it.
He shifted his gaze back inside the house.
A number of girls, each with distinct personalities and figures, were curiously exploring Rika Minami's residence. After all, he'd spent the better part of the day rescuing them.
Wasn't it about time... for him to enjoy himself a little too?