Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The World Is in Tatters, the Puppy Patches It Up

"Let’s go. I’ll walk you back."

Just as Gu Ning reached the main gate, Kloer quickly caught up from behind, holding an umbrella over her head.

Gu Ning wrote a note and handed it to him: I’ll be fine going back by myself.

"Let’s go. The rain is about to get heavier." Kloer’s voice sounded hoarser and deeper than usual, and his tone seemed much colder.

Seeing that he was insistent, Gu Ning had no choice but to start walking in the direction of her home.

After they had walked a short distance, Barto and Cook, wearing black raincoats across the street, began to follow.

They were only halfway there when the downpour intensified, hammering against the ground amidst a howling wind.

Kloer, over two meters tall, held the umbrella. Gu Ning, at 1.65 meters, stood beneath it, but the cold rain still slapped mercilessly against her face. She constantly wiped the water from her goggles to see the path at her feet.

Her mask was so soaked she could have wrung water from it. Gu Ning had no choice but to pull it down slightly, just enough to free her nostrils to breathe.

She looked up at Kloer, the words catching in her throat.

’There’s only one umbrella, and he’s so tall. Even if he lowered it a bit, I’d still get soaked.’

Gu Ning looked away.

’Never mind,’ she thought. ’We’ll be there soon.’

Kloer wasn’t speaking to her, and she felt too awkward to start a conversation herself.

He had spoken to her much less since she’d shocked him. When he wasn’t talking or smiling, he went back to looking fierce and intimidating.

A tall, brawny, and fierce-looking Beastman was already enough to make her want to keep a wide berth.

’Besides, Kloer was probably still mad at her.’

’Alex was just worried about her safety and kindly asked him to escort her, but then she went and shocked him half to death. It was only natural for him to be angry.’

Gu Ning quietly quickened her pace. She had to get back soon, or she’d catch a cold from being drenched in the rain.

Noticing her sudden change in pace, Kloer glanced down at her. Only then did he realize the little Mixed Breed was getting completely drenched by the wind-driven rain.

"...Here, take it." Kloer handed her the umbrella, silently cursing his own carelessness.

’The last thing I need is for the little Mixed Breed to hold another grudge against me.’

’He had really underestimated this little Mixed Breed. He’d assumed that just because he could easily pin her against a wall before, she was easy to handle and had a truly stable temperament.’

’And what happened? He was the one who ended up taken down and knocked unconscious.’

’In all his time at the Mixed Species Management Center, he’d never been so seriously injured. It was the first time he’d ever been taken down by a Mixed Breed.’

’What a complete loss of face.’

’Plus, after getting zapped by that surprisingly powerful electric shock gun, his whole body was still sore. Alex had given him an injection of a Healing Potion, but the side effects left his throat inflamed and swollen. Even food didn’t taste good anymore.’

Gu Ning took the large umbrella from Kloer, but just then, a powerful gust of wind sent her stumbling. It threatened to throw both her and the umbrella backward.

The brutal power of Zone 19’s environment was on full display.

Just as the strong wind was about to send her and the umbrella flying, Kloer shot out a hand and grabbed her wrist, pulling her steady.

He took the large umbrella back from Gu Ning and said with a sigh, "I’d better hold this."

’This scrawny little Mixed Breed looks like a strong gust of wind could blow her away, and yet she’s the one who took me down. Thank goodness only the boss knows. If word got out, I could forget about any female ever looking my way again.’

Once they reached the ground floor of Gu Ning’s building, Kloer waited until he saw her get into the elevator before he left.

Gu Ning didn’t press a button.

She waited inside the elevator for a moment until she figured Kloer was gone, then stepped back out and tucked herself into a corner of the stairwell to wait for Barto and Cook.

She waited less than two minutes before their figures came into view.

Cook let out a "WOOF" and bounded toward her.

"Why’s he walking you home every day?" Barto asked from behind.

’That’s because Alex is kind,’ Gu Ning thought.

The three of them went back to their apartment together.

Back in her bedroom, Gu Ning changed out of her wet clothes, shivering as she pulled on a set of clean, thick garments.

With Cook and Barto escorting her to and from work, she’d had two peaceful days without running into the hostile Beastmen who had tried to grab her. But the weather was getting colder, and now she had to bundle up even when she was indoors.

The buildings in Zone 19 had no heating equipment like air conditioning or radiators. It looked like she’d have to rely on Cook, her personal, human-shaped space heater, to survive the winter.

Luckily, Cook’s contract at the construction site would be up in about a week. If she could just endure it a little longer, she could hole up in the apartment and ride out the rest of the winter without having to go outside.

Once changed, Gu Ning pulled on her balaclava, gathered her wet clothes, and took them to the bathroom to wash.

She had stopped wearing that loose, baggy robe she had on before. Instead, she’d found two smaller sets of Beastman work clothes and altered them, sewing drawstrings into the waistband, cuffs, and sleeves to make them much more comfortable and practical for wearing indoors.

Cook followed Gu Ning into the bathroom, shutting the door behind them.

Barto, who was preparing dinner, glanced over at them for a second before looking away, completely used to the sight.

Gu Ning tossed the clothes into a bucket, picked up a bar of soap, and crouched down to start scrubbing.

As cold as the air was, the water was even colder. She gasped and shivered the moment she plunged her hands in.

’Gu Ning desperately missed washing machines.’

It wasn’t that washing machines didn’t exist in this world; it was just that most people in Zone 19 didn’t use them. Their homes weren’t fitted with any electrical outlets.

Appliances like the oven and hairdryer Barto had brought home ran on their own built-in energy cells.

Even those two items were a rare sight in Zone 19.

Zone 19 was like a massive, militarized training base. Everything from housing to food was centrally managed.

You had to handle all the necessities of daily life by hand.

Gu Ning stopped herself from complaining. She was grateful just to have a private bathroom; she’d heard that the outer districts only had public ones, and people lived in single-room dormitories.

Furthermore, during the winter, the outer districts—which comprised a third of Zone 19’s total area—were largely destroyed by Mutant Species and had to be rebuilt the following year.

Under these circumstances, housing was as basic as it gets. It was impossible to hope for a good quality of life; you were lucky just to be alive.

The Beastmen were all physically powerful and robust. Thanks to their bestial nature, they were also highly adaptable, capable of living under any conditions. Their desire for comfortable food and lodging paled in comparison to their thirst for battle.

As Gu Ning scrubbed her clothes in the ice-cold water, her heart filled with misery.

Just then, Cook crouched down beside her, took the clothes from her hands, and began to scrub them with all his might.

Gu Ning tried to take them back, but Cook just nudged her away with his head, shifted the entire bucket out of her reach, and went on washing her clothes, his tail wagging.

At the sight, Gu Ning’s gaze softened. Even though Cook’s mind had regressed to a point where he could no longer properly express himself, he still cared for her just as he had when he first brought her home.

Gu Ning dried her hands, then slid her freezing fingers under Cook’s clothes as she hugged him from behind.

’The world was a tattered mess, but her little puppy was there to stitch it back together.’

’What would she do without her puppy, Cook?’

...

By the time Gu Ning finished the laundry, Barto had dinner ready.

Because Cook, in his regressed state, liked to sit on the floor, Gu Ning and Barto had taken to eating at a low table placed directly on the ground.

As they ate, Gu Ning brought up the matter of the apartment with Barto.