Chapter 195

What kind of image do you have of me?

Even Takina, who's known for her incredibly straightforward personality, blushed and coughed twice when she heard the cat complain like that, while simultaneously covering her slightly reddened half-face.

"Well... that... well, it's very mysterious, like a top agent... and usually superiors only contact subordinates when they're assigning a mission, right? As for offering condolences or anything like that, wouldn't a simple voice message in a work group be enough?"

Upon hearing Takina's statement, Medic frowned slightly and looked at Mika:

"... Although I have absolutely no memory of everyone's work when Lycoris was founded, isn't Takina's workplace a bit too cold?"

"Um... Medic, let me explain myself..."

Her words revealed a clear naiveté; Mika nodded and stared at the ceiling for a while before realizing what she meant.

"Wait a minute! Takina is the second-ranked student in the latest class, and the school is already a nine-year all-girls school! Not only do I have to deal with work that the new girls can't handle every day, but I also don't have much time to have tea parties with Nagisa and Seia when I get home!"

"In this situation, I feel like I can still issue missions face-to-face to the groups every time we go on a mission, and when someone gets injured, I specifically ask Nagisa to prepare a speech, and then call out each person's name to offer my condolences in the group... I've already tried my best!"

"If I only had five people under me, do you think I'd spend every day with my team members, sticking to them all the time!"

Seeing Mika standing there with her hands on her hips, seemingly proud and unashamed, confronting him... Medic thought for a moment, then slightly turned his head, acknowledging Mika's statement.

After all... the current Human Resources Department isn't the same team that could be managed with one hand even with outside help like Huang and Su Sulo... The cat, who had just finished dealing with the miscellaneous arrangements for various departments, unexpectedly resonated with Mika's statement... Oh no, is she going to become the one who's not ashamed but proud of it?!

"... No, you almost got me hooked... At least I'm genuinely offering my condolences right now... Also, Mika, how are your injuries?"

Picking up the folders hanging on the bedside racks of the three people, the medical records inside contained handwriting that included not only Kal'tsit and Su Sulo, but also several other Medical Department members he didn't recognize... It seemed that Rhodes Island was indeed treating Lycoris's team without reservation.

There was another bed in the ward that belonged to Seia, but Seia was currently in the isolation observation room, so let's leave that aside for now. Medic first looked at the condition of the three people in the regular ward.

Just looking at the label on the medical record cover, Medic couldn't help but make a "senior citizen's phone on the subway" meme, since it's really frustrating that three people's medical records can't even produce one person who is physically and mentally healthy:

"... When I left you all... at least you all looked quite healthy... how come..."

Typhon, Sarkaz, presented with moderate Collapse and Pollution symptoms, including delirium, vivid hallucinations, and suspected claustrophobia. He also exhibited stress responses to dark environments, vegetation, and areas with excessive visual obstruction. Compared to his mental health issues, Typhon's gunshot wound was negligible.

Sarkaz's powerful physique meant that even after being shot by the Cat Special Forces' body-destroying bullet, the injury appeared to be only a normal gunshot wound.

[Actually, that shot should have shattered half the body of an ordinary person... at least their arm and bones should have been blown apart... Is this the powerful physique that the Sarkaz have inherited?]

After thinking it over, Medic decided to ignore the bastards who were commenting on Typhon's injuries. Instead, he changed the medical record and went to check on Takina, whom he had been protecting very well.

Inoue Takina, Aegir, presented with minor Collapse Pollution symptoms. She is not currently experiencing hallucinations, but is experiencing auditory hallucinations... Additionally, she has multiple fractures in her elbows, ankles, and ribs, extensive subcutaneous hemorrhage in her back and limbs, damage to the semicircular canals of her inner ear, and concurrent concussion and related complications...

Ah, thinking back to my battle with the Sacred Remains, during the back-and-forth exchanges, we engaged in supersonic close combat multiple times... Takina was very close at the time... Even with multi-functional noise-canceling headphones, it was still too difficult to protect myself from drastic changes in negative pressure with just those devices.

Despite wearing only light clothing, Takina managed to crawl out of the central combat zone and continuously observe the situation of Wu Yiqi and his neighbor Qi Liuyi, ultimately providing support.

Medic has to admit that, in hindsight, Inoue Takina, as the 'second-in-command,' perfectly exemplified the value of Blue Lycoris... And at this moment, Medic suddenly begins to miss the experimental power armor provided by Columbia during the Ticarondo mission.

It seems that only ordinary people wearing that kind of equipment can participate in combat at this level... Otherwise, even with good training, being covered in wounds is already the result of one side's all-out protection during the battle.

Even the slightest carelessness can cause a well-trained soldier to die a bizarre and violent death.

Thinking this, Medic scratched his head... "Maybe I should change Lycoris's fighting principles in the future."

If the person in question was truly well-trained, their first reaction upon encountering such a superior enemy should have been to flee.

And considering that this long-haired, straight-haired girl clearly didn't possess the corresponding physique, yet still insisted on completing tasks the organization only assigned to those in red, one could only say that Takina was far too ambitious.

"...Wh...what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Scar

Seeing Takina's increasingly uncomfortable expression, Medic wanted to say something but didn't know where to begin, so he could only pat her head to comfort her.

"I'll prepare better equipment for you in the future... Also, next time there's a similar battle, even if I don't give you orders, you must run away immediately..."

"... there will always be situations where war becomes unavoidable."

"Perhaps, but you must be more careful about your safety next time."

Then, Mika proceeded to pat the head of the girl with long, straight black hair, until the pink-haired cat next to her flapped its wings and took the cat's other paw, pulling it onto its own head. Mika then let out a strange "Ooh-hoo" sound...

No, how can I feel at ease letting you be the manager of the coffee shop if you're like this?!

"Look at me, look at me! Mika, I'm not like these little kids. I put on a fierce defensive battle, and in the end, I only had scrapes all over my body!"

"... So, you haven't even looked at your own medical records... right?"

Medic, after questioning Mika's medical record and seeing the lengthy explanation that was probably written by Kal'tsit herself, simply said it was too long to read.

Turning to the final conclusion, Mika may have been affected by the Non-Entropic Applications, resulting in a physical body with extremely strong magical adaptability, physical strength, and a considerable 'mystical content' at the cost... The preliminary estimate is that her spirit also experienced a significant loss of rationality in 'information' along with the changes in her body.

Her movements are childlike, her actions are emotional, and she acts impulsively and irrationally... To put it nicely, Mika possesses the innocence and beauty of a child.

To put it bluntly, if this person goes berserk, they're no different from a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.

Most unruly kids can be subdued with a beating... but the real key is the subsequent education.

Mika's problem is... she's not capable of 're-education'.

The pink-haired girl's numerous mental transformations seem to have been entirely used to maintain her Non-Entropic Applications, granting her physical strength comparable to weapons from Previous Civilization eras... However, the resulting mental problems would be a ticking time bomb in any organization.

In other words, Mika herself had a fairly good relationship with the experimenters, as well as Nagisa, Seia, and even Zero before the experiment... This allowed her to maintain a relatively high level of thinking even as her mental and rational abilities continued to evaporate.

Well... after all, if Mika's spirit and body are both forever stuck at the age of Seventeen, then Medic might understand why she, who grew up with Nagisa and the others, has become so out of control.

After all, if someone is a very childish Seventeen- year-old... it's perfectly normal that they wouldn't bother to look at medical records or anything like that.

After learning about the other person's situation, even the act of being forced to pat their head seemed to turn into pity for Mika's plight... The pink-haired girl also felt the sensation of Medic's hand moving on its own.

This made the Halo of Liberi flap its wings even more vigorously.

"Hehehe~ How about that! Mika, I'm pretty amazing, right?~ I'm different from those two kids!"

Seeing the other two 'kids' looking at Mika with pity, Medic couldn't tell whether Mika's situation was lucky or unlucky.

In short, Medic wants to give everyone a happy ending.

Starting with... patting someone's head?

PS: Waaaaaaah!

Woof woof cat. jpg

This is a real cat↑

PSS: Continuing to resolve foreshadowing... By the way, Takina was on that battlefield where she was subjected to close-range, supersonic physical contact.

How could being protected guarantee one's complete safety?

Even in a battle between superhumans, where one side tries its best to protect its surroundings, the sheer force of the physical confrontation itself is incredibly destructive.

This reminds me of someone with superhuman physical abilities who wanted to protect children from being hit by a truck. She chose to hug the children and shield them from the truck with her back. However, when the truck hit her, her instinctive tightening of her arms instantly killed both children.

Nana would never make such a basic mistake. Nana will make Takina wear power armor to work from now on... the kind with 15 million HP.

6th Patriot's Gun: 213 The so-called 'Guardian Gun'

Although the atmosphere was a bit awkward at first, Medic still managed to complete his scheduled visit, which he wasn't sure could be classified as a ward round or a visit.

Although Medic desperately needs manpower, the injuries of Lycoris others are not simple matters... Eliminating the threat of Collapse requires not only the recovery of the injured themselves, but also the Non-Entropic Applications by Medic and the mental recovery of the injured themselves, all of which must be carried out simultaneously.

Mika was therefore scheduled to participate in Kal'tsit's Non-Entropic Applications extraction procedure, but this also made Medic's already insufficient manpower even more difficult.

The work in the Human Resources Department and the Medical Department cannot be neglected... and even now that the Emergency Medical Department has been entrusted to Folinic, Medic still feels like he is being whipped around like a top.

After finishing his work as a Rhodes Island operator and an ICA member, Medic checked the PRTS's treatment tracking for the Specter operator from the previous day while hastily eating a biscuit for lunch.

Then, following PRTS's directions, the cat went to... the still-empty coffee shop, Laterano Executor, where Federico would go every day to wait for Medic.

Because he was in a public area, people who didn't know him might have thought this energetic young man from Laterano was there to supervise the construction.

As a support department of Medic, the LycoLyco Café doesn't occupy a large area, but it's located on a plot of land enclosed from the common lounge. Owning a piece of commercial land in such a high-traffic area is the dream of many businessmen, not to mention... most importantly, the coffee shop is physically located directly below the Human Resources Department's lounge, with the two connected by separate staircases.

This arrangement undoubtedly added a secret passage, other than the central elevator, to the high-level command center and Medical Department. Although it facilitated the assembly of action teams from the Central Headquarters of the Human Resources Department, from the perspective of Medic as an agent, it undoubtedly increased the risk of attack on the Medical Department and the bridge.

Whether this reflects Kal'tsit's trust in Medic, or is it an emergency backup plan Kal'tsit has prepared for Rhodes Island itself... it's hard Kitty Killer say.

After Closure will not be changed in the slightest because of Medic's opinion. The cat's authority in this regard is only to choose the decoration style and the equipment of the coffee shop itself.

"It's normal for the coffee shop's staff to be dressed in Victoria style and the equipment to be... but why is the decor in Higashi style?"

"Don't ask me, the shop's style was chosen by that Ms. Nagisa herself... and some of the shop's employees are from the Higashi, so isn't it normal to decorate it in the Higashi style?"

"Takina is Iberia... and has already immigrated to Columbia."

"I don't understand, after all, I'm just a construction worker."

She shrugged, her Closure still draped with a complex set of engineering tools at her waist, while her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the glove on Medic's left hand.

"This... the Little Cat was actually bought as a gift for you? Unbelievable... the compatibility between them is so subtle."

"Indeed, only the left hand... Closure, were you doing this on purpose?"

As they talked, they entered the shop under construction by drones together with Closure in a small car. This time, the car was not the Lancet-2 that Medic had seen before, but a brown, boxy work platform that announced "Construction in progress, please be careful" in a male voice.

Speaking of which, isn't this Raythean Industries' advanced operating platform? It's supposedly a highly specialized piece of equipment; Medic only saw it a few times when he worked at the ICA... Why does it seem like they're everywhere on Rhodes Island?

While Medic was distracted, Closure retorted as if it were perfectly natural:

"How can you say I did it on purpose? Three-finger protective gloves are only meant to be worn on one hand during work! But Medic, do you really know the material and effectiveness of the gloves you're wearing?"

Seeing Closure's tone as if she were introducing a treasure, Medic sensed it with a hint of doubt and then said just as matter-of-factly:

"... Isn't it just textiles made of Orundum that can be used as a medium for spellcasting?"

"That's right, that's right, it's just... small! This is a new technology that Raythean Industries is still experimenting with! It's a great attempt to integrate the casting medium into the armor. It can be said to be a super secretive staff, and I have also made targeted adjustments to enhance the spells."

"They basically gave us the Little Cat at cost price! Medic, how can you be so indifferent to such a groundbreaking invention?!"

Even Closure so emotionally agitated, waving her arms and legs around in the car, the ability to transform Originium medium into clothing was already a very mature technology in Medic's bodysuit.

Both have high Originium Arts circulation rates and can be enhanced with spells... it's just that compared to this glove, which is more inclined towards support and enhancement spells, the clothes the agent gave to the Kitty Killer are more focused on defense and stealth.

Medic can't possibly comprehend how groundbreaking it is... but if you ask him about the approximate price of this technology, he probably has a pretty good idea.

"So what exactly is that cost price you mentioned?"

"This is a 15-stitch sewing specification, with 300 grams of concentrated Orundum thread, and I only asked for 8,000 Lungmen Dollar from Little Cat!"

As Closure finished speaking, Medic looked up at Cole, who was nearly fainting and whose face was filled with disbelief. Kate, who was equally dumbfounded, was supporting him to prevent Cole from drifting away.

It seems that even impoverished nobles would find it hard to accept the price of 8,000 Lungmen Dollar for a single glove.

And what kind of price is this...? Let's put it this way, if you hire a team of four Mercenaries, roughly the level of Takina, to carry out a mission in the wilderness to hunt down Originium creatures that they can return within a week, it would cost about the same... and that's assuming they have to pay for their own equipment and medical expenses.

Ignoring Cole, who had just realized what was happening and was about to have a talk with the Little Cat about money, Medic was slightly surprised that Closure had actually only asked the Little Cat to pay cost price...

After all, saying that 8,000 Lungmen Dollar for a glove is a bit unacceptable, but would saying that 8,000 Lungmen Dollar for a spellcasting unit be acceptable?

Although Medic doesn't lack the means to provide himself with spellcasting tools.

Seeing Medic nod and say nothing more, Closure, who was already familiar with Medic's character, naturally knew that the matter of her allegedly defrauding the Little Cat was over. This Bloodfiend, who liked cola more than blood, quickly returned to her carefree and jovial state.

"So, once I finalize the blueprints, construction will continue. Speaking of which, someone's been coming to see you at the coffee shop every day these past few days... It's a Laterano guy, which's making me a little uneasy..."

"Well, you know I'm not that kind of evil Bloodfiend, but I always get watched by a Laterano Executor while I'm working... you know what I mean."

"I know, I'm here to put an end to this."

Nodding in satisfaction and waving goodbye, Medic then looked towards a corner of the coffee shop that offered a panoramic view; there was no doubt that the Laterano Executor was there.

Seemingly to make him less conspicuous, Closure, despite not having finished decorating the coffee shop, brought in a small coffee table and two seats ahead of time... clearly hoping Medic would finish talking to him and leave as soon as possible.

Coincidentally, Medic was also eager to end this oppressive atmosphere that was making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"Hello, Federico the Executor."

"Hello, Sister Nana Ivy."

Both had equally stern faces and exchanged equally bland greetings; even their sitting down seemed perfectly synchronized... This made Closure them strangely.

Good Guy, is this a successful meeting between Previous Civilization humanoid machines and current-civilization mechanical humans?

What Kal'tsit was more worried about was the possibility that Medic's Halo might suddenly trigger strange commands... Hmm, good, it seems there are no problems... The social distance between the two was also good, there was no deep Empathy or the two of them being overly happy or sad at the same time.

Seeing that the two seemed to be fine, Closure finally focused entirely on setting up the coffee shop... Speaking of which, could she use her connection with Medic to get the coffee shop to add things like cola and coffee to the menu?

After all, it's Rhodes Island's own system; there's no Siracusa barista, and it's not some Victoria- like fanatic who insists on "ancestral rules can't be changed"... It's just suggesting a menu item; I hope I won't get beaten up...

As Closure fell into deep thought, she didn't even notice the strange silence that followed the two Medics sitting down.

"... Sister Nana Ivy, you may begin your presentation of the Columbia Lysington Church case... or rather, we can begin with Father Jonathan's will."

"... Jonathan... Father?"

"That's the surname of the priest who died in the Laisenton Church Incident. Is there something wrong with my address?"

"... No, no... it's just that I suddenly remembered that until he left... he never mentioned his own name to me."