Kirihara Takahara stopped short in his tracks in hopes that doing so would change Kazuichi’s mind. He had no idea what type of Hybrid he was, but he should be dependable considering that he too survived this long in the apocalypse. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Did you say, Zombie Dogs?" Kazuichi asked, slowly approaching Takahara before placing his hand on his shoulder.

As soon as Takahara mentioned something about Zombie Dogs, Kazuichi couldn’t form a concrete image in his mind of how they’d look like. Furrowing his brows, Kazuichi turned at Takahara before asking his untimely question.

"Do they look more like zombies... or dogs? If they look more like zombies, they should be called dog zombies. If they look like dogs, they should be called zombie dogs." He explained.

Tris, who was right behind Kazuichi, couldn’t believe that Kazuichi would ask such an absurd question. It was so out of place that Takahara was rendered speechless. Clicking her tongue, Tris whacked Kazuichi on the head.

"What are you talking about, zombie dogs this or that, just tell him if you’re going to help or not," Tris said.

Kazuichi cleared his throat. "We will see what we can do." He continued.

Hearing Kazuichi’s words, Takahara couldn’t help but do a double-take before tears spilled out from his eyes. He clasped Kazuichi’s hand, thanking him from the bottom of his heart. "Thank you so much! I... I can’t thank you enough!"

"Thank us after we rescued your wife. Don’t thank us just yet." Kazuichi simply said. This was a regular quest in a lot of video games he played so he knew how it would come down. Then again, this was the first time he experienced something like this in real life.

Turning to Arisu, Kazuichi jerked his thumb toward the deeper parts of the forest. "Can you detect the lair or something?" Kazuichi asked. Thanks to Arisu’s sensitive nose, they should be able to track down the zombie dogs.

"They’re right by the edge of the forest on the other side, right by the outskirts of the city. Fortunately, a downwind was blowing towards us, otherwise, I won’t be able to smell it." Arisu commented, sniffing down the trail of the zombie dogs.

Since time was of the essence, Arisu assumed the vanguard position. Arisu seemed to know the exact location of the zombie dogs so Takahara didn’t bother taking the lead. Instead, he walked beside Kazuichi while their group traversed through the forest.

...

An hour or so later, the group finally reached the other edge of the forest. The adjacent city was finally in sight. If it weren’t for Takahara’s urgent situation, the group would’ve taken their sweet time crossing the forest. Nevertheless, this put them in a way advanced spot compared to their schedule so they weren’t complaining.

"Where are the zombie dogs?" Kazuichi asked in a funny manner. He was looking forward to meeting one so he could finally put an end to the pressing question in his mind— whether they were actually dog zombies or zombie dogs.

"Stop that." Tris hissed, giving Kazuichi the stare.

Just as Kazuichi and Tris were staring at each other, Takahara shakily lifted his right arm, pointing somewhere at a distance.

It was a small cave, just big enough for a full-grown human to fit through. Tris’s claustrophobia was triggered just by looking at it. She had to turn away, trying to maintain her composure as the sight of the small cave was etched in her mind.

"That’s where they brought my wife." Takahara motioned, keeping his index finger pointed at the small opening. "I couldn’t fit in there, that’s why I had to go and look for help." He helplessly continued.

"Based on the information we know about the zombie dogs, they keep their hunt for a couple of days before eating them. They like to store meat in their lair. That’s why I know my wife is still alive." He said.

With her sense of smell, Arisu tried to detect whether Takahara was lying or not. However, his smell was masked by the atrocious odor that seeped out of the cave. She couldn’t tell whether he was lying or not. Then again, he found it suspicious that this was the lair of zombie dogs. On her way through the forest, she didn’t smell something weird.

That means, either the strong smell of the earth due to the upcoming rain masked her sense... or the cavern simply wasn’t there before. She figured out that the latter was highly likely since she was confident in her sense of smell. There was no way she could’ve missed such a strong putrid odor even with the intense petrichor.

"Kazuichi, get back," Arisu called out of nowhere, grabbing Kazuichi by the waist and pulling him towards her.

Caught by surprise, Kazuichi’s eyes went wide— not because he was dragged out of nowhere, but because his back bounced off of something soft. He already knew what it was, that’s why he reddened a little bit.

"What’s going on?" Tris asked, blocking Amaya’s path with her hands since she thought that they were in danger.

"This man... is lying," Arisu said, calling it out even though she had no proof. Then again, Kazuichi and Tris knew that she could smell lies so she was fairly certain they’d believe her.

"W-what are you talking about? My wife, my wife is going to die in there!" Takahara was more forceful compared to before. In an attempt to make them believe that he wasn’t lying, he raised his hand and went forward. "You’re a Hound, right? Try to smell if I was lying or not." He continued, sweat dripping from his forehead.

Cautiously, Arisu crouched low as she approached Takahara, ready to jump out of there at a moment’s notice. She got incredibly close and yet Takahara didn’t retaliate. He just stood there, allowing Arisu to smell out his intentions.

’He wasn’t lying.’ Arisu was confused. Her gut feeling told her that he was most certainly not telling the truth... and yet her smell told her that he wasn’t lying. It was a conundrum.

However, Arisu had one principle in mind, and she had taken to that mindset the moment Kazuichi disappeared from her side. It was the sole reason why she survived all this time.

Turning her head, she went towards Kazuichi and grabbed him by the arm.

"He’s lying." Arisu completely denied her sense of smell which said otherwise.