n

n

nKairos had forgiven Nicole quite a while ago, back when high school started. Though he didn’t say anything, he couldn’t help but feel a little reassured when Nicole loudly declared to the girls that he wasn’t a loser.

nWhen in reality, he was.

nThat fact by itself wasn’t a reason to cause Kairos to distance himself. Realistically speaking, it should have been the opposite.

nHowever, by defending him, Nicole ended up alienating herself from the rest of the school. With her personality and appearance, she easily would’ve been one of the most popular people there.

nThat much was obvious to even the two girls from earlier and wasn’t something that Kairos had missed.

nBecause of him, Nicole could not make any friends, when she should’ve had plenty.

nAlthough it wasn’t really Kairos’ fault, he couldn’t help but feel responsible. And as such, before he knew it, he wanted Nicole to distance herself from him. If she was no longer with him all the time, then she could live a normal high school life.

nNo, an ideal high school life.

nKairos subconsciously got the idea that if he and Nicole weren’t together, then he could go on with his own life, while Nicole would be able to live better without him. He could only see himself as a weight that was holding Nicole down.

nKairos let out a small sigh.

n“…I’m really pathetic, aren’t I?”

nHe thought about coming clean to Nicole about this, but decided that he wouldn’t do so right now.

nNot because he was stalling or anything…

nIt’s not like Kairos was really embarrassed after realizing that fact and didn’t want to reveal it to make himself even more embarrassed.

nNo, Kairos was a rational and logical person. Something like being led by his own emotions would never be something that happens.

nTotally.

nKairos shook his head and decided to check up on Quinn since the room he was sleeping in was nearby.

nHe opened the door and then looked towards the couch, where he had put Quinn.

nQuinn was still laying there, hardly moving. Except his eyelids were fluttering slightly. His arm moved slightly but fell limp right after. It was as though he was trying to get himself to move, but didn’t have the energy to do so.

nKairos called out to him.

n“Want something to eat?”

nQuinn forced his eyes open, just enough so he could see.

n“…Some water first, please.”

nKairos walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There were several things he didn’t recognize, but he could still see several bottles of juices.

n“Huh, I guess even rich people drink juice.”

nArbitrarily taking one, he brought it over.

nBy the time he was back, Quinn was sitting up, though he still looked like quite the wreck. There was a tea table in front of the couch, so Kairos set the bottle down there and unscrewed it.

nQuinn slowly reached for it and began drinking.

nWhile that was happening, Kairos went back to the kitchen to get some stuff to eat. He found that there were some chips in a cabinet, so he brought those over.

nThough it had only been a few seconds, Quinn was just about finished drinking the juice, holding it up to the sky to get the last few drops within.

nOnce Kairos set down the bag of chips, Quinn immediately opened it and began eating.

nAt first, it was quite rushed, but he immediately slowed himself down.

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“Does it taste bad?”

nQuinn shook his head as he took the time to chew the food.

n“I couldn’t care less about the taste right now. Eating food too fast after starving can easily kill you. Anyone that finished studying in high school should know that.”

nKairos shrugged his shoulders.

n“I suppose. But that doesn’t mean it would be easy to stop yourself from eating.”

nQuinn waited until he was finished chewing more chips before responding.

n“Of course, it isn’t exactly easy, but dying by overeating is a rather stupid way to go.”

nAfter eating roughly half the bag, Quinn dusted off his hands before standing back up.

n“Alright, I should be ok now.”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“You don’t feel hungry anymore?”

nQuinn clicked his tongue.

n“I feel just as hungry as when I started eating. However, my stomach obviously shrunk because I didn’t eat before. There’s no point in eating any more. I spent so much time chewing just to lower the burden on my stomach.”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“Alright then.”

nQuinn suddenly stood up, and began wobbling. He hurriedly caught the edge of the table.

n“I… I’m good now. What do I need to do?”

nKairos waved his hand dismissively.

n“Well, there’s nothing for you to do right now, I still have to find a way to incorporate you in a position. I’m just going to meet up with another person to talk about how to manage the city.”

nQuinn stabilized himself.

n“Ah, well alright. Why don’t I come with you? I can provide some suggestions as well.”

nKairos hesitated, but decided it shouldn’t be too big of a deal.

n“Well, alright.”

nQuinn took a second to gather himself before beginning to walk out of the room. Considering he was starving to death not long ago, it was quite a feat. Kairos couldn’t help but comment on that fact.

n“Your resilience is quite impressive.”

nQuinn shook his head.

n“My brain numbs all my senses considerably, so the actual pain I experience is far less than what a normal person would. As such, it isn’t that big of a deal.”

nKairos didn’t think too much of it, walking down the hallway.

n“If you say so.”

nThe two walked down the steps and reached the room of Tiana. Kairos gave the door a few knocks, which opened soon after.

n“You really kept me wait-”

nTiana originally had a playful smile on her face, but it froze when she saw Quinn.

n“Um… who is that?”

nKairos pointed towards his head.

n“His name is Quinn. Although he is pretty rude, he still has a pretty good head on his shoulders. I can’t say for sure he won’t run his mouth, but it shouldn’t be a big deal to share the basic logistics.”

nQuinn nodded.

n“That’s a pretty accurate assessment.”

nTiana hesitated for a moment.

n“Alright, but after I would like to have a private meeting with you to discuss other matters.”

nKairos nodded.

n“Alright then.”

nTiana made way, gesturing for them to enter.

nThe two went in, and immediately found the room not to be as he expected. Since the room was on the same floor as his, it had the same overall structure. On top of that, since it seemed like Tiana was a rich person, she would be accustomed to living a rich and spoiled life.

nYet, the room was actually rather cramped. There was a large amount of papers that littered the place. There were several whiteboards in the place, set up in such a way that one could look at all of them at once. And on top of them, were various diagrams that described the city in various ways.

nOne of which was a map, detailing each of the sections in depth. Another had various charts, most of which describing things related to food and water.

nOn top some of the tables were long lists of papers, detailing who owned which plot of land.

nIn the middle, where several couches were supposed to be, was replaced by a set of six folding chairs along with a table in the middle, with a large sheet of paper covering it.

nThe cost of such an arrangement was the once luxurious room was now extremely cramped. One of the whiteboards directly blocked off the way to the staircase too, essentially negating that.

nKairos couldn’t help but reevaluate how he thought about Tiana, but decided not to focus on that right now. As for Quinn, he didn’t seem fazed, thinking that a place like this was completely natural.

nThe three of them sat on the folding chairs, facing one another.

nTiana let out a soft sigh once they were seated.

n“Alright, the main thing that I’m currently concerned about is how to deal with the sewage. At first, I believed it was enough just to bury it underneath the soil, but just in a few days, this proved to not be enough. The amount of waste that is being produced is beginning to become quite overwhelming.”

nShe pinched the bridge of her nose.

n“It’s still alright now, as I opened up the underground sewer system. Now, I’m having the people dispose of it that way which should still last quite a while. Unfortunately, it’s not a permanent solution, and since I figured it would take a while to find a permanent solution, I wanted to bring it up as soon as possible.”

nQuinn nodded.

n“Hygiene is very important. Although it only seems like a smelly problem at first, it is very easy for disease to suddenly spread among people if it is not properly taken care of.”

nKairos rubbed his chin as he pondered over it.

n“Well, things like toilets and sewer systems didn’t always exist, but people back then were more or less fine. That surely means there is at least some kind of solution to it.”

nTiana smiled bitterly.

n“I don’t remember learning anything about the middle ages in my history classes.”

nQuinn raised a finger.

n“Well, if that’s the case then either you weren’t paying full attention, or the school you went to is quite lacking.”

nTiana’s eyebrow twitched, but she did not stop him from talking. And as such, Quinn continued.

n“The solution that the people in those times came to was to dump it into the river, and have it be washed away like that. This wasn’t always how it was done, but those that didn’t dispose of their waste properly quickly learned their lesson once sickness spread among them.”

nHe sighed.

n“Unfortunately… there are no rivers nearby whatsoever.”

nTiana narrowed her eyes.

n“Does that mean we have to create an artificial river?”

nKairos sucked in a cold breath.

n“That sounds… difficult.”

nQuinn slowly nodded.

n“It will be difficult, because it requires us to find two large bodies of water we can create a channel between. On top of that, there must be a significant difference in elevation so that water actually flows between them.”

nHe took a deep breath.

n“Building the actual structure shouldn’t be terribly difficult, considering the extra strength people have gained due to the apocalypse. The toughest part is being lucky enough that two bodies of water are nearby. However, the biggest issue is actually after it is built. Chances are, the structure would be prone to sabotage. It is probably impossible to guard the entire channel. That means any Tom, Dick, or Harry can get in the way and clog it.”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“It’s almost like you already built it, with how much you’re predicting.”

nQuinn blinked a few times.

n“Ah, sorry. You both probably already thought of that, right?”

nKairos waved his hand dismissively.

n“Even if we did, it’s better to make sure we are on the same page, so no need to hold your thoughts back.”

nQuinn nodded.

n“That fits my thoughts exactly, which is why I stated the obvious.”

nKairos’ eyebrow twitched, somehow feeling that he was both smart and stupid at the same time, which was a combination that didn’t make much sense.

n“…Well, I believe I can think of a method to create an artificial river. Though, I’m still not sure if there is a method to prevent others from interfering with the river.”

nQuinn rubbed his chin.

n“How were these walls created?”

nTiana narrowed her eyes slightly.

n“Why do you want to know that?”

nQuinn shrugged his shoulders.

n“Well, if you can recreate the walls near an actual river, we can avoid all those problems.”

nKairos raised a finger.

n“Wait, I think I have an idea.”

n