That night, the women threw all caution to the wind.
They pushed the large bed from the master bedroom into the living room and decided everyone would sleep together on the floor!
They had plenty of blankets, sheets, etc. After sweeping and cleaning the floor, they laid down a layer of quilt, two layers of blankets, and finally covered them with a layer of sheet.
The whole room became a place just for sleeping. You had to take off your shoes to enter.
Why did they do this?
If it got very, very cold later, they could huddle together for warmth!
Just like now, it was around 20 degrees. Would it get colder later?
The master bedroom was big enough. If they allocated spots properly, there was enough space.
...
Who would sleep on Kaito's left and right was decided by drawing lots again.
The final result was Shodai and Tearju...
Shodai had no issues; she wouldn't dare do anything inappropriate in this situation. Tearju was the most flustered, but eventually, truly exhausted, she subconsciously hugged Kaito's arm and fell asleep.
That night, with the simple rock golem Kaito created acting as a guard at the entrance, everyone slept soundly.
Only Kaito woke up still tired. After canceling the rock golem, he had to eat breakfast and sleep another two hours to replenish his stamina and mental energy.
There was no choice. Without elemental power to substitute for consumption, everything he used drained his stamina and mental energy.
After fully recovering, he went out and saw everyone chatting in the living room, loading bullets into magazines, etc.
The children were playing with board games or Monopoly brought back from the mall last night to pass the time.
Shinshui was different; she was currently receiving lessons from Sephie.
"How's the situation outside?"
"Well, Hinatsuru-san is upstairs. You can go see for yourself. But the wind is indeed much stronger today!"
Sayuri answered Kaito. He nodded and went to the third-floor balcony of the villa.
Indeed, the wind was much stronger today. He could see many light pieces of trash being blown away, though not to a great extent yet.
"Still tired?"
"Kaito, I'm fully recovered now. Have you noticed any unusual movements?"
"Not yet. No one has appeared nearby. I dozed off a little while I was here."
Akina, holding a cushion and with a small blanket at the edge of the balcony, smiled.
After all, staying here alone for a long time was quite boring.
Everyone had also finished soaking their crystals, gaining some improvement in strength. The remaining best crystals were for Kaito to soak in.
"The wind is really getting stronger. I reckon it'll be even stronger tomorrow or the day after."
Typhoons weren't scary; what was scary was the virus or various debris they might carry in the wind.
Now they wore gas masks when going out, and with Shinshui's purification ability to remove impurities, they could safely reuse the masks.
Of course, using them for too long was still not possible.
Everything would eventually wear out.
"Okay, you should swap with someone else. Don't try to handle it all alone."
"Hehe, I know. Next is Tamaki-san."
"Alright then. I'll go soak the crystals. After lunch... we'll go out to search for resources again. This time, our main target is food."
His attributes increased by several hundred. He went to the living room to prepare lunch.
Generally speaking, with careful rationing, their current food could last over 20 days. They could even endure until they left this world.
However...
As their attributes increased, their appetites also grew!
The energy required for replenishment had increased!
Especially with low-energy food, they needed to eat more!
Food with less nutrition also required eating more.
So they had to consider going out to scavenge more food.
Water could be solved with Kie's ability, but food was truly a problem. They had to find it.
Not finding it wouldn't starve them; they could endure. But considering the need to fight, to go out and complete missions, which would consume a lot of food, they still had to go out.
Hiding in the shelter all the time wouldn't get them anywhere~
"Alright, let's search the mall more thoroughly this time, especially the warehouse areas."
"If there's nothing, we'll look in nearby convenience stores and supermarkets."
"That's our task for today. If we get very little, we might try searching remote areas tomorrow. Maybe there are resources that haven't been scavenged."
If there really were none...
Well, there was no choice.
Better to let the enemy die than themselves. He would have to raid other shelters' resources.
Of course, he would try to target the villains. His conscience was still there!
"Oh! Let's go, let's go!"
...
Various biscuits, wafers, chocolates, instant noodles still within their shelf life... totaling about 300 pounds.
It seemed like a good haul, but divided among everyone, it was only about 20 pounds per person.
With their current appetites...
They could finish it in two or three days.
Although they killed some mutated creatures along the way, the yield was certainly not as high as at night.
But fighting at night also consumed a lot of stamina and energy, requiring even more food.
"Sigh..."
"There's no other way. Let's go scavenge in the surrounding areas tomorrow. For now, let's try to avoid meeting local survivors."
Avoid conflict if possible. These past few days had been disgusting for everyone.
Killing mutated creatures and mutated humans, digging crystals out of their bodies...
Thinking about it, it was indeed quite disgusting. Only over time could one become numb to it.
But looking at everyone's faces now, indeed, except for a few, everyone was still not feeling well.
"Will we fight tonight?"
"Of course. If we don't fight, how can we get stronger?"
"It's just that this time, we can't stay in the immediate vicinity!"