The last rays of sunset washed the Butterfly Mansion's courtyard in orange-red.
When Rokuya pushed open the infirmary door, the sight before him made him stop in his tracks.
Kanae sat on a sickbed, her top half off, revealing her jade-white back and rounded shoulders. Wearing a stethoscope, Shinobu Kocho moved it over her back with a deep frown. The cart beside her held an assortment of Western medical instruments that looked extraordinarily advanced for this era-a blood pressure monitor, syringes, and several test tubes filled with an eerie purple liquid.
"Normal heart sounds, no murmurs... clear breath sounds in the lungs, absolutely no crackles from frostbite complications... body temperature, 36.5 degrees. Perfect..." Shinobu muttered incredulously as she examined her. "This isn't scientific... it completely defies medical principles! Even highly active cells would consume enormous amounts of the body's energy. How could necrotic tissue possibly repair itself completely in such a short time?!"
"Oh, Shinobu, I told you I was completely better." Kanae smiled helplessly and pulled her top together. As she turned her head, she spotted Rokuya standing in the doorway.
Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she shot him a mildly reproachful look. "Rokuya, why didn't you knock before coming in?"
"This is my house. Why would I knock?" Rokuya strode in without a trace of embarrassment, pulled over a chair, and sat beside the bed with his legs crossed. "Well, little butterfly? Found anything interesting?"
Shinobu spun around and tore off her stethoscope, a feverish gleam in her purple eyes. She rushed over to Rokuya, planted both hands firmly on the chair's armrests, and stared down at him. "What exactly was that medicine?! What's its pharmacological mechanism? What are its active ingredients? Why can it produce such terrifying regeneration in such a short time? Does it work on