**Episode 020: A Voice Crying Out to Live**

“This is quite a flashy mess.”
“Yeah.”

The supermarket we arrived at was the closest one to my house. A car had crashed into it, shattering the glass, creating a spectacular scene of destruction.

Up until now, I had delegated the fighting to Shuji as much as possible, focusing on providing support. With more courage than Yuna and Kana, there wasn’t much for me to do if the number of Shadows was low.

Thanks to that, Shuji had reached level three by the time we arrived at the supermarket.

“Let’s go inside and see if we can find some food for now.”
“Yeah.”

We cautiously entered to assess the situation inside.

“There’s way more stuff left than I thought?”
“Yeah.”

Despite the entrance being heavily damaged, it didn’t seem like the food had decreased that much. The fact that the incident happened just yesterday played a significant role.

While I would like to help the people in the evacuation center where Yuna and Kana are, directly going there might invite various troubles. Well, what if I secretly offer assistance?

“Hey, you’re not thinking of anything weird, are you?”

As I was lost in thought, Shuji, as if seeing through my thoughts, spoke.

“No, nothing weird—”

“You’re probably thinking about sharing with the girl you helped in the evacuation center, right?”

“How did you know?”

Are you an esper?

“Well, we’ve been friends for over ten years. I can pretty much tell what you’re thinking by looking at your expression.”

If you understand my thoughts, then you should understand what I want to do.

“Forget about it for now. First, let’s secure our supplies.”

“But—”

Shuji denied my thoughts, but not necessarily. It was more about getting the priorities right.

“I’ll secure our share and leave it at home. You can do whatever you want after that.”

“Shuji!!”

However, Shuji didn’t outright reject my thoughts. It was more about reminding me not to get the priorities wrong.

I tried to hug him, understanding his point, but he skillfully dodged me.

Why are you dodging me!!

“Hah, stop it, stop it. I find it disgusting when a guy hugs me. I’d prefer a cute girl.”

“Hehehe. You’re really not straightforward. Well, let’s gather our essential supplies quickly.”

Shuji chuckled with a dismissive wave of his hand, pushing me away. Realizing he was just trying to hide his embarrassment, I chuckled back in response.

“He’s such a hopeless guy.”

With Shuji’s signal, we swiftly filled the bag with necessary items from the supermarket.

“Alright. It looks like we can’t fit anything else in the bag.”

Once we packed a reasonable amount, it wouldn’t fit anything more.

“That’s okay. Since the main items are preserved foods, they won’t rot even if we leave them at home. With this, we should be able to live for years just the three of us.”

“Understood. Our share seems secure with this.”

“Yeah. After bringing it home and unloading, it’s up to you what you do next. Let’s go back.”

“Okay.”

With as much as we could fit into the bag, we decided to head home.

—Nya…

However, just as we were about to leave the supermarket, a cry echoed from somewhere. The voice sounded weak, desperately seeking help.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Shuji, puzzled by my sudden stop, called out to me.

“Wait a moment.”

“Hey!! What the hell are you doing!!”

Ignoring his words, I searched for the source of that voice.

“It should be around here…”

I went to the back of the store and peeked under a fallen shelf.

“What’s going on?”

“I heard a voice.”

After Shuji, who had followed me, started talking, I continued searching for the source of the voice without particularly turning towards him.

“What?”

—Nya…

“Oh, there it is.”

When Shuji stared at me with a puzzled expression, the weak voice, which I had strained to hear, echoed again. I identified the location, lifted the fallen shelf, and placed it in a suitable spot.

“Is this the one making the noise?”

“Yeah, probably.”

There, lying with fluffy fur without any movement, was a small white kitten. It was covered in blood, and its weakened state suggested that its life was on the verge of extinguishing, likely injured in the events from yesterday.

I squatted beside it.

“Do you want to help it?”

As I attempted to take a potion out of the magic bag to give it, Shuji spoke up.

“Is it a bad idea?”

“No, as long as you can take responsibility after helping, it’s fine, isn’t it?”

I looked back, gazing at Shuji with a pleading expression. He shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“Thanks, man!!”

“It’s not like I did anything to be thanked for.”

I made a firm commitment to take care of this kitten. Swearing silently, I gently picked it up and tried to make it drink the potion.

“Ugh. It’s not drinking at all…”

“If it won’t drink, there’s nothing we can do…”

However, whether due to lack of strength or for some other reason, the kitten didn’t swallow the potion. It would be challenging even if I tried to feed it mouth-to-mouth, especially with a cat.

Meanwhile, the kitten’s vitality continued to drain visibly, weakening before our eyes.

“In that case, what should we—”

“Don’t you have the job of a saint? Can’t you do something with that?”

“Oh, right!”

Feeling like all hope was lost, I had carelessly forgotten that I possessed six different jobs.

I cast a healing magic spell from the sacred magic I remembered.

“Healing!!”

As soon as I chanted the spell, the kitten in my arms shimmered with light. Its injuries healed rapidly, and the bleeding stopped.

However, that was all.

There was no sign of it recovering. This was not good.

I thought about whether other magic could help.

“Oh, this might work! Translation!!”

I cast the next spell. This magic sent my own life force to the recipient. Through this, my life force was transferred to the kitten.

The effect was dramatic.

The kitten, which had been limp and motionless, regained vitality in its face. It went from looking exhausted to peacefully sleeping, with a noticeable change in breathing.

“Haa…”

Drained of my own life force, I felt exhausted.

“It seems like it worked.”

“Yeah. The crisis seems to have passed.”

Watching the cat and feeling relieved, I nodded to Shuji.

“Are you going to take it home?”

“Yeah.”

“I wonder what he’ll say.”

“Well, probably—”

We predicted what Satoshi would say.

“You two are just too soft.”

When we got home and showed Satoshi the kitten, he wore a wry smile and said, looking at us as if we had brought home a stray child.

It was exactly the words we expected.