She let out a breath and grabbed Kanna's hand. "I'm glad you're safe, but that was far too dangerous. In a little while, I'm going to report this to Kal'tsit. Falling from that height still warrants a proper checkup."
Section 56, Chapter 52: Can I Touch Your Tail?
When the two of them walked into the Control Room, they saw only Kal'tsit and Amiya there; the others seemed to have already gone back.
Kal'tsit had them sit down before she spoke.
"I won't press the matter of how you managed to get up to the observation deck, Kanna. After all, you and Scout are both Elite Operators, and I trust that you will uphold the honor of Elite Operators. Nor will I pursue that mysteriously appearing dessert bill totaling over thirty thousand Lungmen Coin...
I just spoke with the people from Rhine Lab. They know you were the ones who discovered they were under attack and requested support, so they are extremely grateful. They said that had you not spotted them in time, they likely would have suffered severe harm even if they successfully broke free.
Afterward, the individuals from Rhine Lab will stay at Rhodes Island temporarily. Dr. Hermo, who leads them, hopes to thank the two of you in person."
Kanna muttered inwardly: Temporarily, what temporary? It's probably permanent residency. After all, after leaving Rhine Lab, a medical institution that possessed formidable medical strength, could give Hermo sufficient development and trust, and at the same time withstand external pressure from Rhine Lab really was only Rhodes Island.
However, she only dared to think these words in her heart and didn't voice them.
Next, Scout gave a detailed report on discovering the Rhine Lab group. Kal'tsit and Amiya learned from him that Kanna could actually see things several kilometers away with the naked eye, without the aid of any external tools.
"To be honest, Kanna has the most formidable sniping talent I've ever seen. With just this sort of ultra-long-range vision, the only thing hindering her from becoming an exceptional sniper is equipment. After all, current crossbows and the Sarkaz guns we can acquire both fall far short of the limit of Kanna's vision in terms of range."
In regard to this, Scout offered Kanna rare praise.
Kal'tsit raised her head without a trace and glanced at Scout. As an old teammate, how could she not hear Scout's fondness for talent? However, Kanna was picked up by Outcast after all, and she herself didn't know yet whether she had any interest in learning to snipe, so it wasn't easy for her to speak up and promise such a thing on Kanna's behalf.
After finishing the serious discussion, Kanna and Scout walked out of the Control Room. Before leaving, she also chatted with Amiya for a bit, and the two agreed to meet up at Rosemary's place after dinner.
Once outside, Scout still wore an expression that seemed laced with regret. Kanna scratched her head, unsure of what was wrong with him, and even joked with Scout.
"Come to think of it, I feel like there's an assassination style that should suit me pretty well. Look, I've got stealth techniques that make you envious, right, and strength that ordinary people can't hope to reach, right? You tell me, could we get a siege crossbow, and then I sneak behind opponents carrying a ballista on my back, and use that thing to carry out assassinations?"
As Kanna spoke, she waved her arms, looking quite grand and sweeping. Of course, that was discounting what she was actually saying...
Scout furrowed his brow, struggling with it for half a day, yet unable to imagine a little cub under a meter tall "sneaking" on the battlefield with a ballista nearly several times her size strapped to her back.
Seeing Scout wear an unapproving look, Kanna waved her hand to indicate that if it wouldn't work, it didn't matter.
"Forget it, someone like us called Kanna still needs a pair of axes in hand, hacking all the way from Xizhimen to the Southern Heavenly Gate, before she can be worthy of being called a high-end stalker."
Scout had no idea which genius Kanna had learned this stubborn "stealth method" from. It couldn't be called beyond saving; one could only say she was severely ill.
After chatting for a bit, at a fork in the corridor Scout stated that he had to go back to work. Given Kanna's previous behavior, he didn't want to bring her up there again.
Kanna turned, put her hands on her hips, and said she had seen enough of the scenery, and there was nothing else to play with up there anyway; she hadn't planned on going back up.
After saying goodbye, Scout walked toward the path leading to the flight deck, while Kanna stood in the corridor, temporarily unsure of where to go play.
Suddenly, she sensed a strange fluctuation in the space around her. At first she thought it was Red, because Red was also frequently elusive, but after concentrating her mental focus to look, she found it wasn't Red, but rather another little cutie of Rhodes Island: Manticore.
She was a bit surprised when she saw Manticore. Previously, she had always thought Manticore hadn't come aboard the landship because Kal'tsit had never introduced her to the other members of Sweep, nor had she ever run into her. Now it seemed her luck might just be a bit poor.
Thinking of this, she gave chase, running up to Manticore's side and tapping the other's shoulder just as she was slowly walking forward.
"Eek!" Suddenly having someone tap her shoulder made Manticore, who had never experienced such a thing before, jump straight up, the tail behind her also involuntarily dancing into a whirlwind.
"Hiya! That reaction of yours is really thrilling!" A youthful voice reached her ear.
Manticore turned her head to look and found a little girl who looked under ten years old looking at her with a smile.
"Um... You... you can see me?" Suddenly being discovered, Manticore's emotions grew somewhat agitated.
"Of course. This ability of yours is quite interesting, but I'm still a notch stronger." Kanna proudly patted her chest.
"My name is Manticore. Hello... When not fighting, my tail curls up... so please don't be afraid."
As she spoke, Manticore worried the other person would be scared of her terrifying tail and actively retracted it. After all, it was rare for someone to be able to spot her on their own, which filled her with pleasant surprise.
As a young girl, although she very much wanted to make friends her own age, her innate talent made it difficult for her to be noticed by others. Even Amiya could only perceive her presence through thought sensing; being invisible had become a huge barrier blocking her from everyone else.
"I'm not scared at all. Your tail is very pretty, super good-looking." Manticore's tail length exceeded her own person, and coupled with that huge stinger and purple outer skin, it gave off a unique sense of beauty.
"Really?" Hearing Kanna's praise, Manticore's face turned red, and the tail behind her stretched and retracted, looking somewhat at a loss.
"Of course! Can I touch it?" Kanna walked to Manticore's side, looking curiously at the other's exaggerated tail, inwardly very curious how someone maintained their center of gravity with a tail that grew this big.
"Of course you can... As long as I don't actively release it, there's no danger on the tail." Seeing Kanna's outstretched hands, Manticore instinctively wanted to dodge, but didn't expect to be accurately grabbed. Her face grew even ruddier, and she didn't know how to deal with the situation in front of her.
Upon touching that tail, Kanna found that the other party maintained her tail extremely well; every single scale on it seemed to have been carefully cleaned, without a trace of dust or grime.
Section 57, Chapter 53: Can't Think of a Title for This Chapter
"Beep beep beep!" Right at that moment, the sound of a communicator came from Manticore.
Flustered, Manticore opened her communicator.
"Manticore, are you there? Where have you gotten to now? Dr. Kal'tsit hopes to hear your report in person."
A female voice came from inside, sounding extremely stern.
"I'm... I got delayed on the way... Sorry, I'll be right there."
Hearing the words in the communicator, Manticore apologized to Kanna with an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry, I have things to do. See you next time..."
"My name is Kanna! See you next time!" Seeing Manticore leave in a flurry, Kanna waved at her retreating back and shouted.
"Kanna!" Silently noting this name in her heart, Manticore hurried off at a trot toward the direction where Kal'tsit was.
"What a shame, Red only likes Lupo tails that are furry and feel a bit tough..." After reminiscing about that texture, Kanna walked toward the greenhouse.
Upon reaching the greenhouse, she saw Lena standing in front of a white-haired Feline. Accompanied by her movements, that Feline continuously took deep breaths.
Kanna didn't disturb the two of them, instead quietly sitting down not far away to watch with curiosity. Although Lena belonged to the Medical Department, this was still the first time she had witnessed Lena treating an illness. After quite a while, Lena wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled as she said to the Feline, "Gloria, the therapeutic effect this time is very good. I believe as long as you keep it up, your condition will definitely improve."
That Feline nodded, then looked toward where Kanna was.
Following Gloria's gaze, Lena looked over and found Kanna sitting quietly not far away, looking at their side with a curious expression.
She couldn't help but reveal a smile. Although many operators said Kanna's ability to cause trouble was top-tier, frequently creating laughable trouble, in her view Kanna was a sensible and obedient good child.
Having visited the greenhouse so many times, she had never seen her wreck the flowers and plants here even once; every time she entered and exited she was extremely careful, which made Lena, who loved flowers, very fond of Kanna.
"Oh, it's Kanna! I have fresh milk in my room, go get some yourself if you want to drink it."
Lena said to Kanna with a smile.
"Mm-hmm!" Kanna walked over to Lena's side, looking curiously at the white-haired Feline. She felt a trace of familiarity, guessing in her heart that the other person was probably also an operator of Rhodes Island, just perhaps too unpopular so she hadn't used her much in the past.
Seeing Kanna staring with her large eyes, the Feline calmly nodded. "Hello, my name is Gloria, you can also call me--Nightmare."
Hearing the other's self-introduction, Kanna understood instantly. So it was Nightmare.
Kanna didn't really have a deep impression of Nightmare. Because of the other's strange skill set, she had always been a frequent visitor to the bench; aside from having her enter the Human Resources Department after Elite 2 promotion when everyone else's friendship levels were maxed out, it was basically hard for her to ever have a chance to take the field.
"You know me?" Gloria truly lived up to being the little cat with the "Psychology" skill in the game, reading a bit of something out of Kanna's expression alone.
Kanna shook her head. Naturally, she wouldn't admit that she knew Nightmare, seeing as the two of them shouldn't have had a chance to cross paths beforehand. "Kanna also has a Feline friend whose hair is white just like yours, so I was just curious."
"Is that so?" Gloria remained somewhat doubtful.
"Mm-nah! But Rosemary's white has a tiny trace of blue, looking a bit icy, while your white has a pale yellow mixed in, which looks very warm." Kanna gestured back and forth with both hands, trying to pull the other's attention away from her previous abnormality.
Just as the few of them were chatting, a knock sounded at the door.
When Lena nodded, Kanna scrambled over to the door on her short legs.
She opened it to look--it was a Uma Musume.
A female with golden hair and a very heroic facial expression stood at the doorway. Seeing Kanna open the door, she revealed a friendly smile.
"Hello, little sister, is Miss Lena here?"
"My name is Kanna. Sister Lena is here, but she's treating Gloria right now. If you're looking for her, you'll have to wait a little while."
Kanna had stayed at Lena's place for quite a long time and had encountered people coming to look for her many times.
Lena's aromatherapy required quiet and continuity, so sometimes when Lena was busy, Kanna would volunteer to help receive incoming visitors.
"Hello, little Kanna. My name is Margaret Nearl, you can call me Nearl. Then I'll wait right here. Please, if Miss Lena has a moment, could you pass along a word?"
Looking at the little girl before her, Nearl's somewhat slightly impatient mood also calmed down quite a bit. Holding a form, she spoke softly to Kanna.
Kanna glanced around her surroundings. There was no place near this doorway for someone to rest, and leaving Nearl dumped here obviously wasn't very appropriate.
She reached out and pulled Nearl into the greenhouse.
"Come inside and sit for a little while first. There's a special rest area in the greenhouse. When Sister Lena finishes over there, coming right over happens to be a good time to meet."
Hearing Kanna's words, Nearl nodded and quietly walked inside with her.
Walking into the rest area and smelling the fragrance of the flowers, Nearl felt her mood relax quite a bit all at once. Accepting the herbal tea handed over by Kanna, she asked,
"Is little Kanna working as an assistant here?"
"Not really. The greenhouse smells nice, and Kanna and her friends all like to play here. Sister Lena also likes us coming to play. But usually Sister Lena has a lot of things to do, and sometimes when she's busy we help out."
Nearl nodded and observed the environment here.
"Is Sister Nearl a Uma Musume?" Kanna sat down beside Nearl and asked curiously.
"A Uma Musume?"
"That's a horse girl who runs on the racetrack for dreams and victory to win and put on a live performance." Kanna waved her hands, trying to make Nearl understand her words.
"Uh... although big sister used to participate in races, it wasn't that kind of plain running..." Recalling the Kazimierz Major back then, a look of nostalgia flashed across Nearl's face.
"Oh? Then if big sister ran two thousand meters, would you choose to go all out from the very beginning and run through to the end, or gradually accelerate from slow to fast?" Kanna continued to ask.
Nearl didn't show any impatience, instead stroking her ponytail. After pondering for a bit, she spoke,
"Two thousand meters? For ordinary people, that distance indeed requires considering the allocation of speed and stamina...
However, for a Kuranta, two thousand meters isn't considered very far. If it were me, this distance counts as about a warm-up, so I should go all out from the start. Of course, if the distance reached five thousand meters, I might choose to accelerate from slow to fast, so that in that final stretch of the journey the speed can reach the limit of what I'm capable of running."
Section 58, Chapter 54: An Apostle, But Not an EVA
"Is that so! So within two thousand meters, Nearl, your choice is a Da-nigashi!" Kanna nodded, indicating she understood Nearl's statement.
"Da-nigashi?" Nearl was somewhat dazed, genuinely unable to understand these baffling terms Kanna blurted out.
Kanna remembered that Nearl should have come aboard the landship together with Happy Goat and Sweet Sheep, but she hadn't met the other two. For someone like her who constantly ran all over the place, this was very strange. "Right, Nearl, when did you come aboard the landship?"
"A week ago, I suppose. My two friends and I found out that Rhodes Island is a medical institution serving the infected, so we came together.
Because one of them is in very poor health, we've always been staying in a special care ward of the medical room, taken care of personally by Dr. Kal'tsit.
Today that friend of mine is finally a little better, and Dr. Kal'tsit said Miss Lena's greenhouse here is extremely suitable for recuperation, so she had me bring a letter hoping to have Miss Lena accept the proposal for my friend to come recuperate."
So that was how it was. Because of Kal'tsit, she would try her best to avoid going near the Medical Department, let alone the intensive care zone managed personally by Kal'tsit. Given the personalities of Nearl and Silver Ash, if Nightingale's health was very poor they would certainly accompany her left and right, and definitely wouldn't roam around outside at will. Besides, the meals for the intensive care zone were delivered directly, so it was completely normal that she hadn't run into them.
However, Kanna didn't continue the conversation, instead looking outside because she heard Lena's footsteps. It seemed the treatment for Nightmare had concluded.
Nearl followed Kanna's gaze to look, and saw a young girl walking in from outside.
Upon seeing Nearl, amazement appeared in the girl's eyes. After all, such a heroic girl possessed a fatal attraction to the same sex.
"Hello, my name is Lena, and I'm the temporary manager of this greenhouse. Is there anything you need help with?" Lena spoke softly in inquiry after entering the door.
Nearl also stood up from her stool. "Hello, Miss Lena, my name is Nearl. I have a friend who needs a place to recuperate due to the effects of Originium infection. Dr. Kal'tsit recommended this sanatorium courtyard of yours to us, and we hope to obtain your help."
With that, she handed over the letter Kal'tsit had given to Lena.
After taking the letter and reading it carefully, Lena nodded.
"Dr. Kal'tsit has already stated the specific situation very clearly in the letter, and I am also honored to be able to help you and your friend. Over on my side I have independent rooms specifically for patients who need long-term residence. They are sufficiently quiet, and I believe they can completely meet your needs."
With that, Lena pointed toward the rear of the greenhouse. Kanna knew that place; just as Lena said, it was living quarters prepared for patients who needed to stay in the sanatorium for extended periods. Because most patients coming here required quiet, even when Kanna and her friends came to play, they wouldn't venture deeply in that direction.
Hearing Lena's words, Nearl looked very pleased, because ever since she entered she had been sizing up this place. Whether it was the temperature, humidity, or the scent of grass and floral fragrance in the air, all of it told her this was an exceptionally good place for recuperation.
"Then thank you in advance, Miss Lena. My friend is still waiting for a reply, so I won't linger any longer." Nearl very gracefully performed a knight's salute to Lena, then left the greenhouse wreathed in smiles.
"Hey, hey, hey, stop looking, people are already gone!" Even though Nearl had left, Lena's gaze remained fixed on the direction where she had vanished. Kanna down below couldn't help but shake her head: yuri is infinitely good, but alas, it can't produce offspring.
With a slightly flushed face, Lena turned around, walked to her desk, took out the logbook, and began logging against Kal'tsit's letter.
Because she wanted to see the black-and-white healers, Kanna didn't leave. Instead, she sat there curiously, hugging her juice carton and gulping it down while watching Lena busy left and right making preparations for the patient's check-in.
As for why she wasn't helping--there was no helping it; she was simply too short, and couldn't reach many things. Rather than being a hindrance, it was better to sit obediently right here, at least not getting in the way of Lena's movements was much more comfortable than good intentions producing bad results.
Half an hour later, Nearl's voice drifted from outside the greenhouse. Lena hurriedly walked over to the door and pulled it open, seeing Nearl leading two Sarkaz females walking toward them. One of them wore pure white, sat in a wheelchair, and wore a somewhat dazed expression, while the other was entirely enveloped in black, supporting the wheelchair with one hand and holding a long staff in the other as she carefully followed behind.
"Hello, I am the current person in charge of the sanatorium, 'Perfumer' Lena. This must be Miss Liz who needs to check into the sanatorium, right? There are vacant rooms inside the sanatorium that I've already tidied up. You several can check in right now; come, this way please."
Before you continue