After saying that, she sighed. "Now that you've shown me a Path, do I have to join the Ascension Society? Fine, then. The Flesh Mass may be notorious, but it really can invigorate flesh, and its healing abilities are quite good. I've heard that advancing further can even restore missing..."
"What are you babbling about? Help me secure her." Vanessa frowned.
"Oh..."
"I'm not with any Ascension Society, and I certainly won't force you to join," Vanessa said, her voice growing lower as her hands kept moving. "I'm just... sharing a little supernatural knowledge. That's all."
Dorothea's movements faltered, and she froze in place.
Vanessa said nothing more. She secured Winnie's body more firmly on her back, then turned and headed straight down the stairs.
She had come here only to bring back her dearest friend. Now, it was time to leave.
The chaos in the Harbor District had barely subsided. The Wild Dog Gang maintained a fragile semblance of order, and the scattered groans of the wounded could still be heard. The roadside where Dr. Norman had been treating the injured had become a makeshift camp.
Vanessa took only one look before turning her gaze away.
She tilted her head and gently nuzzled Winnie's cold cheek, which rested against her shoulder. Winnie's eyes were closed, her expression peaceful, as though she were merely asleep.
The corners of the girl's mouth unconsciously curved upward, then trembled and gradually pressed tight.
"Winnie, let's go home..."
She lowered her head and walked forward, step by step.
But where was her home?
The hospital? That cold prison of debt?
Winnie's apartment, filled with children's laughter, yet now forever bereft of its owner?
Or the university to which she had devoted her youth, only for it to abandon her in the end?
Suddenly lost,