Please Obey the Traffic Rules

Option 1 – "Excuse me, I have something urgent to attend to, I'll be going now."

Option Two – "Stop time, for you are so beautiful!"

Option 3 – "Good evening, Kal'tsit. This gift is for you."

Think.

In a very short time, Miss Surtr made her brain think rapidly.

Option one can be ruled out first, because Amiya is here. In any case, Amiya's feelings deserve attention. After all, this Little Rabbit has done so much for Rhodes Island. And she likes her very much—she's like her own little sister. She shouldn't let her sister suffer.

Option two won't work either. It's not that I don't want to, but that I can't. While the Flame of Burning Time can indeed reverse time in a region, the reversal range is limited—I've already spent too much time in this room. And if I were to forcibly reverse it, it might leave behind clues like the coffee and towel floating in the air. Even if I expend the power to fix it, the surrounding surveillance systems and the witnesses outside the house would become problems.

Amiya only needs to ask the others to find out where she should be. Then, with a little thought, she can easily deduce the fact that she and Kal'tsit are seriously at odds. And that brings the problem back to the logic of option one.

So...

... Is there no other choice?

Miss Surtr took a soft breath. In that instant when their eyes met, her thoughts shifted and intertwined.

"Good evening, Kal'tsit. Are you here to see Amiya?" A gentle smile played on her lips, her voice as relaxed and casual as possible. "You've come at the right time. I've knitted some clothes. You and Amiya each have a set."

"Clothes?" Amiya was the first to react; the Little Rabbit's two pointed ears instantly went from drooping to standing upright. She then noticed a gift box in front of her, followed by the towel on her person and the refreshing tea beside her. "Wow! Thank you, Sister Surtr!"

The weariness on her face vanished instantly, and she jumped and skipped around, clutching the gift box.

Then she saw Kal'tsit raise her eyebrows—

"Amiya, you—" Kal'tsit's voice started off loudly, but then abruptly dropped as if she'd been pricked by a needle.

No, it wasn't just "like." Miss Surtr smelled an extremely faint, almost imperceptible, bloody scent—a scent that even a normal Lupo couldn't detect—originating from inside Kal'tsit's left trouser leg. It was some machine, some kind of mechanism. And when the conditions were triggered, this mechanism had indeed extended a needle and subtly pricked her thigh.

Why would she install such a device on her thigh? — I don't know.

But Miss Surtr felt that the lynx's attack was not unfounded. And since Kal'tsit had set up this mechanism so discreetly, it proved that she didn't want others to know about it.

—Is it a device used to refresh the mind? Like the kind used for hanging one's head from a beam or pricking one's thigh with an awl?

—That's possible. Hmm... she must be really tired from work. It must be tough for her to maintain such a tough facade. I guess I'll just pretend I don't know anything.

Thoughts fly by in an instant, and time flows by in less than a moment.

At this moment, Kal'tsit finished speaking the second half of her sentence, which involved a change in tone.

"The leader must remain calm, Amiya. Control your emotions." The words were still ruthless, but the tone was no longer cold and stern; it had become more like a friend's admonition. This was akin to a shift from a blizzard to a sun shower. While neither was exactly good weather, the latter was clearly far less impactful than the former.

"But... well, okay." Amiya still pouted, looking aggrieved. Miss Surtr had a feeling that Amiya liked to act cute when she was around.

—It must be an illusion.

After all, not counting the years following the collapse of the Sarkaz Babel Tower, the person who accompanied Amiya the longest should have been Persephone. At the beginning of the Sarkaz Babel Tower's construction, Persephone was a gentle, friendly woman who loved to laugh and make friends. And Amiya, who was still a little girl at the time, even if she developed a habit of being attached to someone, that someone could only be Persephone.

This is an illusion.

There's no need to dwell on illusions.

Amiya lowered her head to open her own gift box—she wasn't from Yan, so she naturally didn't have the Yan custom of unwrapping gifts only after the giver had left—and as she did so, Miss Surtr handed another gift box to Kal'tsit, who was holding documents.

"Here you go," she said. "Sorry, I measured your size by sight. If there's anything that doesn't fit, I can alter it to your liking." — So please don't throw it away, okay? Even just stuff it in the locker would be fine. At least don't throw it away in front of me?

She was filled with anxiety and trepidation... and the thought of simply running away on the spot if necessary. She had already endured countless instances of harsh treatment from Kal'tsit. However...

However, this time, she was wrong.

Kal'tsit accepted the gift box from her hand quite naturally. She even nodded slightly at her.

Even! Just a slight nod!?

"Thank you, I'll keep it." Kal'tsit's gaze only briefly swept over the little heart and the message on the side of the gift box before moving on.

Miss Surtr felt like she might have entered the wrong timeline.

It's also possible that I'm actually still in a dream, only this time the dream world is a parallel world of Terra?

—No, that's not right. How could Terra from a parallel world continue her previous relationships? Could it be that Kal'tsit from the next timeline wandered into the wrong place...? Ugh! What am I even thinking?!

Her heart pounded, but the sound and blood pressure were suppressed in her chest by an overwhelming will. To others, Miss Surtr merely raised an eyebrow, her posture remaining calm and elegant. However, no one could have imagined the turmoil raging inside her head!

I feel... flattered and overwhelmed.

"Uh... well, I'm glad you like it." Surtr tried hard to remain calm. "I have some things to do later. Well then, I'll take my leave now."

"Okay, take care on your journey." Kal'tsit didn't try to stop her, nor did she comment on her actions. She only added softly as the person, who was almost stepping out of the doorway, said, "The matsutake mushrooms at noon were delicious, I really liked them. But... no, thank you for your hard work."

The red-haired Sarkaz nearly tripped at the doorway—she simply waved her hand, then disappeared into the end of the corridor outside the door at a pace several times faster than walking, but appearing to be strolling leisurely.

She left.

A dozen seconds after she left, when her normal perception range absolutely covered the office, the green-haired head of the Medical Department slowly walked to Amiya's desk, as if stepping on landmines.

She carefully placed the document down, handling the gift box with utmost care. Only when the box touched the table securely did her legs buckle, and she nearly fell to the ground while grabbing the edge of the table.

"Doctor Kal'tsit?" Amiya was so focused on unpacking the gift box and suffering from Surtr due to lack of sleep that she hadn't realized Surtr had left, suddenly looked up and let out a scream.

The Little Rabbit quickly pounced over and helped the lynx to its feet.

"Doctor Kal'tsit! Are you alright? What happened? Where is Sister Surtr... where is she?"

"I'm fine." Kal'tsit leaned on the table and, with Amiya's help, sat down on a chair nearby. "It's just that the sedative was too strong. I'll be fine in a bit... Surtr had something to do and has already left."

"A sedative? This much!?" Amiya's brown eyes widened suddenly. "Doctor! How much did you inject yourself with?!"

"It's just to complete a [surgery] that cannot fail," Kal'tsit replied as calmly as possible, her hands trembling uncontrollably due to her nervous system disorder. But she persisted, pulling an empty syringe from inside her lower garment, concealed by her Rhodes Island uniform; bloodstains remained at the tip of the syringe.

"It came in such a rush, I almost forgot I hadn't taken it off yet." She made up a reason that perhaps only Amiya would believe. Her chest heaved dramatically due to uncontrollable nerve reactions. Various severe drug reactions occurred simultaneously in her body: spasms, disordered breathing, and uncontrollable tear ducts that gushed out large streams of tears, but her facial expression remained as blank as wood.

As a result of the chain reaction, her body, which had been so severely damaged by drugs, finally reaped the consequences at this moment.

Because she hadn't yet used the potion—the ancient relic Surtr gave to Warfarin to cure the aftereffects of her drug abuse—she overheard the conversation and took the potion into her hands. However, complex emotions tormented her, preventing her from making the decision to use this drug that could transform her on some level.

She paid the price for it.

"But, but, but it was worth it. Because the surgeon—the surgery, there was no failure, no failure." Her words began to slip out of order, and her pupils kept dilating and then contracting.

Amiya was terrified. So terrified her ears almost fell off.