She completely couldn't understand what on earth was going on with Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's side.
Why was it that while she was here saving Mihou Sakai, the obedience of that fellow watching the show from the back was shooting up rapidly?
And it was rising like spam scrolling across a screen, filling a whole row.
Even two rows of strange items had appeared in the data column.
Su Yuzu fell into deep thought.
But for now... the most important thing was still Mihou Sakai.
Taking off the coat she was wearing, she wrapped it around the girl's naked body.
Su Yuzu lifted Mihou Sakai up in a princess carry.
Mihou Sakai, whose consciousness seemed to have collapsed, struggled to tremble her fingertips. She mumbled, her lips quivering as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, it all turned into broken, coquettish murmurs.
Su Yuzu planted a light kiss beside the girl's ear. "Rest well."
"Leave the rest... to me."
Hearing the gentle whispers beside her ear, the girl's pale green eyes seemed as if they were about to melt.
Her body curled up.
In her misty, hazy eyes, only the figure of the maiden before her remained.
'Once again...'
'I... have been saved by Yuzu-senpai once again.'
Clearly, being bitten and having the Catastrophe Crystals on one's body torn off piece by piece by the maiden on the pitch-black throne should have felt roughly the same for both Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi and Mihou Sakai.
However... completely unlike Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, who had practically developed a stress disorder—
For Mihou Sakai, even being torn apart by Yuzu-senpai seemed to be an enjoyment that could bring her ultimate satisfaction.
The girl's small hands under the clothes tightly gripped Su Yuzu's arm.
To be honest... it hurt a little.
But seeing Mihou Sakai's pitiful appearance, with her small feet curled up into hooks from the pain, Su Yuzu didn't utter a sound. She revealed a soothing smile and held Mihou Sakai a little tighter.
Mihou Sakai felt as if she were about to be immersed in Yuzu-senpai's scent.
Her broken, humble heart slowly settled down.
Shrinking into Su Yuzu's embrace, the girl slowly fell into a dreamscape with incomparable peace of mind. A sweet dream... carrying a citrus fragrance... of embracing Yuzu-senpai.
Su Yuzu looked at Yamabuki Nanako, who was slowly walking towards her.
"Hey!!!" Yamabuki Nanako, who insisted on putting on the airs of an adult despite clearly having a loli physique, stood with her hands on her hips. "Do you know what you are doing!"
Su Yuzu simply raised her index finger gently, making a shushing gesture.
She signaled that the girl in her arms was resting.
No matter how unwilling she was, threatened by that 'terrifying' woman behind her, Yamabuki Nanako still slowly lowered her voice.
Behind Yamabuki Nanako, Unohana Chiyo, revealing a smile filled to the brim with the temperament of a mature beauty, looked down at Yamabuki Nanako's head with satisfaction.
As mature, glamorous, and gentle as Unohana Chiyo's smile appeared to Su Yuzu, it felt just as 'terrifying' to Yamabuki Nanako.
"Do you know how precious she is!"
"Why do you think I worked so hard trying to capture her earlier?"
"And in the end, she was just beaten away by you like that."
"Do you know how much data we could have obtained by combining her with that aberrant gear sent over last night?"
Yamabuki Nanako chattered on and on over there, and Su Yuzu's brow furrowed unpleasantly.
In Yamabuki Nanako's mouth, the girl in her arms seemed not to be Mihou Sakai, not a living, breathing girl, but a precious base body.
Although Su Yuzu knew that what she said wasn't 'wrong', and that perhaps capturing Mihou Sakai alive really could crack the secret of that black gear.
But... Su Yuzu was unwilling.
And she couldn't accept it. "She is my kouhai."
"So what if she's a kouhai..." Yamabuki Nanako kept her hands on her hips.
"She is crying."
Yamabuki Nanako wanted to say more, but she was suddenly lifted up from behind by the back collar of her researcher's white coat.
Yamabuki Nanako kicked her short little legs, still wanting to say something. "I'm telling you, Unohana Chiyo, I haven't settled the score with you yet!"
She glared at Unohana Chiyo beside her, and then suddenly froze.
If Unohana Chiyo was standing right beside her, then... who was the person lifting her up by the collar?
"Director Saionji." Su Yuzu wanted to bow to that dignified and elegant woman.
Saionji Sagara stopped Su Yuzu.
She glanced at Mihou Sakai in Su Yuzu's arms.
Although Saionji Sagara had the 'beautiful reputation' of being a 'Rakshasa' within Keigunen Private Academy, and her strictness made the scalp of every student she directly taught tingle with numbness.
But... Saionji Sagara's reputation was actually very good.
More famous than her strict teaching attitude was the woman's other attribute: 'protective of her calves'.
It was the same when facing the Investigation Bureau's Fourth Action Division before.
The woman had stated bluntly: This is Keigunen.
"Go to the laboratory first," she said, carrying Yamabuki Nanako and walking directly toward the training hall.
Su Yuzu followed, holding Mihou Sakai.
Yamabuki Nanako, who had been chattering endlessly just a moment ago, behaved as honestly as a kitten whose scruff had been bitten by a mother cat after being lifted up by Saionji Sagara.
"Yamabuki..."
"This is Keigunen Private Academy, not your previous laboratory."
"Yes..." Yamabuki Nanako's voice was dispirited.
"Before being a so-called 'base body'."
"Student Sakai is first and foremost a student of Keigunen Private Academy."
"Yes..."
"Su..." Saionji Sagara spat out a syllable, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Student Yuzu is right."
"She was crying."
Su Yuzu carried Mihou Sakai to the laboratory deep within the training hall once again.
Saionji Sagara signaled Su Yuzu to place the girl directly into the emergency medical pod. After the girl lay inside, a pale green liquid directly filled the massive cylindrical container.
Saionji Sagara took a "Medical Unit" from the password-protected cabinet and threw it to Unohana Chiyo.
Unohana Chiyo looked pained, as if her flesh were aching. "Is this really necessary, Director..."
Actually, both Unohana Chiyo and Saionji Sagara could sense it.
The girl's body didn't have any major issues now; it was just that after being stripped from the Edge of Aberration, she needed a large amount of time to recover.
However, Saionji Sagara simply looked up at the girl curled up inside the medical pod. "I said it before—"
"She is a student of Keigunen Private Academy."
"The accident happened within Keigunen Private Academy."
"This is the Academy's negligence."
"The Academy should be responsible for this."
Hearing Saionji Sagara's words, Unohana Chiyo couldn't help muttering, "Well, I'm a teacher at Keigunen too, but I didn't see you guys going soft when you made me sign that indentured servitude contract..."
Su Yuzu's eyelid twitched. She didn't know exactly how many "Medical Units" Ms. Unohana owed.
But... what concerned her more was exactly how many times Ms. Unohana had been seriously injured to owe so many "Medical Units".
Unohana Chiyo skillfully operated the medical pod, pushing the cube-shaped "Medical Unit" into the external slot of the medical pod.
She felt as if she saw a massive pile of banknotes... equivalent to her salary from ten years ago, being squandered just like that.
Fine golden specks of light rose from the bottom of the medical pod.
Su Yuzu watched Mihou Sakai's stamina and status recovering rapidly in the [Operator Development] interface, silently marveling at the strength of being Cash-Powered.
"Moreover..." Looking up at the fine golden specks of light slowly rising from the bottom of the medical pod, Saionji Sagara turned sideways to look at Yamabuki Nanako.
The 'girl' who looked a bit dispirited after being scolded immediately understood Saionji Sagara's meaning.
She dragged over a stool, stood on it, and typed cracklingly on the keyboard. A blue virtual screen projected beside the group.
Yamabuki Nanako explained to Su Yuzu and the others.
"The analysis results for that black gear left by the Aberrant in the Healing-type girls' dormitory yesterday are out."
"The main components of the gear are Talos Alloy and highly purified Catastrophe Crystals."
"Talos Alloy?" Unohana Chiyo, as a Metal Manipulation User, froze there.
Su Yuzu hadn't yet reacted to what that was.
Unohana Chiyo explained directly to Su Yuzu, "That is an extremely rare and powerful metal... that can only be excavated from places where Seventh Sequence Catastrophe Beasts have died."
"At the same time..."
"It is also the root cause of the expensive price of 'Medical Units'."
"Inside every single 'Medical Unit', there is an extremely trace amount of Talos Alloy."
Unohana Chiyo revealed a pained expression.
And Su Yuzu... seeing Saionji Sagara's expectant gaze upon her, instantly understood Saionji Sagara's meaning.
"'Epiphany Manufacture'?"
That cutting-edge laboratory that monopolized all "Medical Units" worldwide.
"Correct—"
Yamabuki Nanako sighed. "You can completely view these black gears as a deviant 'Medical Unit' that 'repairs' the human body into an Aberrant."
"If we say the 'Medical Unit' possesses the ability to repair most injuries within ten minutes..."
"Then these 'black gears' possess the ability to infect humans into Aberrants within ten minutes."
"Their technology is almost completely identical."
"The good news is... the manufacturing cost of these black gears is the same as a 'Medical Unit', or perhaps even higher."
"They are completely attacking us with piles of banknotes."
"Every single black gear represents more than ten years of this guy's salary." Yamabuki Nanako didn't forget to take a dig at Unohana Chiyo.
"And... the technology of these black gears isn't mature enough. According to my deduction, under normal circumstances, they can at most infect Espers of the Second Sequence and below."
"But—" Yamabuki Nanako continued to type on the keyboard.
"The bad news is... it is fundamentally impossible for Aberrants to possess such technology."
On the blue light screen, a girl exquisite as a doll was frozen in the frame.
At the same time—
The location where she was situated also appeared precisely on the virtual map.
"She is just a weapon."
"A weapon sent to Keigunen."
"Although we don't know exactly what their objective is."
"But... what we are facing is very likely a key laboratory under the banner of 'Epiphany Manufacture'."
"For them..." Yamabuki Nanako's expression was ugly. "Money—"
"Might really just be a number."
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