Regrouping

Only a handful of lights remained lit in Misaki Town late at night. Even the hospital that stayed open to handle emergencies had only a dim lamp lit by its front entrance. This was a small town with little entertainment. There were scarcely any patients in the middle of the night. Yet tonight, a patient the hospital had no idea how to handle had arrived.

The doctor on duty and the security guards lay sprawled across the floor, sound asleep. Under Sleep Magecraft, they would sleep peacefully for six hours, unable to wake no matter what happened during that time.

Aoko had originally intended to seek help from the church, but Michael stopped her. If things were truly as he suspected, going to the church for help now would be walking straight into a trap. Even if there were people Aoko knew there, it would make no difference.

"Hiss—"

Aoko clenched the bedsheet in her hands, sweat having nearly soaked through her sweater. Michael's magical energy coursed through her body, forcibly clearing the shorted and blocked areas. There were other ways to treat her, but time was short, so they could only use this simple and brutal method.

Other than being simple and brutal, prone to mistakes, and agonizingly painful, this treatment method had almost no drawbacks.

"How is it? Can you use magecraft now?"

Michael withdrew his magical energy and wiped the sweat from his forehead. One small mistake during the procedure could have completely ruined Aoko's Mage Circuits. He had no choice but to be careful.

"Mm."

Aoko tried to activate the Magic Bullet Formula, carefully sensing the state of her Mage Circuits. "The flow of magical energy is still a little sluggish, but it's nothing serious."

"Treat those abrasions, and change your clothes while you're at it. Turn left after leaving, then go all the way down the hall. There's somewhere you can shower."

Michael brought over some supplies for treating external injuries, then casually took a new men's Misaki Private High School uniform from his Imaginary Pocket and handed them both to Aoko.

"This... looks new."

After hesitating for a moment, Aoko picked up the uniform and examined it closely.

"Of course it's new. Did you want to wear clothes I'd already worn?"

"Don't you have a women's one?"

"I'm not a pervert. Why would I keep a women's uniform around?"

At Michael's words, Aoko looked somewhat disappointed. Still, she set the uniform aside, picked up a cotton swab and alcohol, and began treating the abrasions on her body. If she did not clean them properly and simply used healing magecraft, dirt and pebbles would become embedded in the newly formed tissue, causing even greater harm.

"Alice... I've never seen her like this before."

Looking at Alice Kuonji, who was seated on the other side treating her abrasions, Aoko instinctively lowered her voice, afraid that a third person might overhear.

Michael nodded in agreement. By the hospital bed near the window, Alice Kuonji merely gazed silently in the direction of the mansion through the glass. Like a cold stone statue, she showed neither joy nor sorrow.

"It seems the destruction of the mansion's barrier hit her hard. But that person shouldn't have had the power to break the barrier, right?"

Aoko suddenly turned to look at Michael, asking suspiciously, "You wouldn't let me go to the church for help. Does that mean you know something?"

"I'm not sure either."

Michael let out a soft sigh. "I just wanted to avoid any accidents."

"Accidents? What kind of accidents?"

"Something very troublesome..."

"Tch—"

Seeing Michael brush her off with vague answers, Aoko pouted. She stared at Alice Kuonji's quiet figure, seemingly thinking of something as a sly smile suddenly appeared on her face.

"Hey, Michael, this is a great opportunity."

"What opportunity?"

Michael found himself unable to keep up with Aoko's lively train of thought.

"Alice. Alice is at her most vulnerable right now."

Patting Michael on the shoulder, Aoko leaned close and whispered in his ear in a voice as seductive as a devil's. "A grieving beautiful girl is sitting there all alone. What are you waiting for, young man? Go use your gentleness to open her heart, make the cold Alice smile, and then begin a wonderful romance."

Smack—

Michael flicked Aoko's smooth forehead with his finger and said irritably, "With no women in my heart, magecraft naturally becomes divine. Besides, do I look like the kind of person who takes advantage of someone when they're vulnerable?"

"Who knows—"

Aoko shrugged, picked up the uniform, and headed for the door. "Anyway, I'll leave Alice to you. It wouldn't be good for her to stay so depressed."

After leaving the treatment room and entering the corridor where no one could see her, her cheerful steps grew heavy, and even her smile vanished. Thinking of their terrible situation, Aoko sighed softly and clenched her fists.

After buying two cans of hot tea from the vending machine, Michael sat beside Alice Kuonji. Of course, it was not because he was lusting after her body. More than anything, he wanted to do his best to talk her through it. Even after losing two powerful Familiars, Alice Kuonji remained an important force against Tōko Aozaki.

The girl simply stared blankly out the window. Pale light shone upon her expressionless face, while the stillness outside reflected in her dark eyes, making her resemble a doll stained with dust, or someone sealed away in a forgotten world of faded illustrations.

"Tea. It's still hot."

Michael waved the can of tea before Alice's eyes, then pulled the tab open and placed it in her hand.

She accepted the tea blankly. Perhaps feeling its warmth against her palm, a trace of life returned to her empty eyes. She took a small sip, feeling the warm liquid flow down her throat and into her stomach.

"It doesn't taste good."

After a long while, the girl said this.

"..."

Michael did not know whether to laugh or cry. He could not tell at all what Alice Kuonji was trying to express. In some ways, a girl's heart was even harder to understand than the Root.

He tried to arrange his words, yet still had no idea what he should say.

Aoko and Alice were entirely different people. Though Aoko's thought process was baffling, what she meant was actually easy to understand. Almost every thought she had was written on her face; if you wanted to know what she was thinking, all you had to do was look at her expression.

Alice, on the other hand, could not even express her emotions.

Since he could not think of anything to say, Michael simply said nothing. He turned to look out the window as well. As time passed, the atmosphere between them was peaceful rather than heavy, like a quiet summer night.

Light footsteps approached from afar. Aoko entered the room and looked at the quiet scene before her, seeming somewhat disappointed. Heaven knew what she was disappointed about.