The conflict in the Great Mine had a significant impact on the Underworld.
Natasha's clinic, thanks to a batch of supplies from Takatsuki, provided free bandaging for injured miners and Wanderers.
Of course, the prerequisite was to confirm that these individuals were not among the troublemaking Wanderers.
Even among Wanderers, there were significant differences.
The so-called Wanderers referred to the residents of Rivet Town who had lost their homes due to the Fragmentum.
Among them were honest, law-abiding miners, as well as some lazy good-for-nothings and thugs; it was impossible to generalize.
Due to too many intertwined reasons, Takatsuki and his group found it difficult to intervene.
If you told Takatsuki to simply charge in, that would be straightforward. But when dealing with such disputes, unless he could ensure everyone was fed and clothed, it would be a wasted effort.
Big Seele hadn't been seen all day, so it seemed she was likely dealing with the conflict within the Great Mine.
Because the Great Mine was currently quite chaotic, Takatsuki didn't take Seele to bathe in the Great Mine again. Instead, he made do by preparing a small bathtub in the room.
"Um... Takatsuki..."
After Takatsuki drew a bathtub in the room, Seele, blushing, pulled on Takatsuki's arm.
"Um..."
Seele whispered, "Do you have any spare clothes?"
Only then did Takatsuki remember that Seele didn't have any change of clothes.
"Sorry, Seele, I wasn't paying attention."
Although Seele was a bit younger than him, their ages weren't too far apart. For him, a boy, to prepare clothes for another girl felt a bit too intimate.
Draw a set of clothes?
Takatsuki could do that, but he wasn't sure of Seele's size, and intimate apparel would be more troublesome.
After a moment of thought, golden Ripples spread across the bed, and several sets of clothes fell out from them.
"These are your Sister Bronya's clothes, Seele. You can make do with them for now."
Seele picked up the neatly folded clothes from the bed, and her face flushed as she saw the complete set inside.
"Takatsuki, how do you have Sister Bronya's clothes? And... intimate ones..."
Seele's voice grew softer towards the end, but Takatsuki could still hear her clearly.
He coughed awkwardly twice.
"They were prepared earlier to prevent us from going too far, and they were stored with me."
In reality, they were prepared during the last expedition, but that expedition ended hastily, and he hadn't taken out the items stored in his Gate of Babylon from that time.
Takatsuki's Gate of Babylon still contained the spoils of war belonging to the Loki Familia from the last expedition.
However, a series of subsequent events led to the Loki Familia returning before they had a chance to claim their share of the spoils from Takatsuki.
Seele nodded, seemingly accepting Takatsuki's explanation.
After leaving Seele's room, Takatsuki looked at Seele's door.
"I wonder if there are any clothing stores in this Underworld."
The clothing of the people in the Underworld wasn't all old clothes, so theoretically there should be clothing stores. After all, people need to wear clothes everywhere, and the Overworld couldn't possibly provide them with clothes without knowing the situation in the Underworld; at most, they would provide fabric.
Returning to his own room, he glanced out the window.
Although the sky didn't seem to be getting dark, there were already very few pedestrians on the street.
"It's the second day, and the mission hasn't made any progress yet."
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
While Takatsuki was pondering when the mission would progress, Seele lay in the bathtub, pressing her hands over a purple mark on her chest.
"My other self, do you know how to use the power of creation?"
"How would I know? Didn't your big brother tell you? I only control the part that withers."
"My other self, do you think I can master the power of creation? I also want to be able to help Takatsuki."
Seele closed her eyes, sensing the power of the Stigma.
Because of Veliona's presence, she was already able to enter the Stigma space.
Unlike other Stigma spaces that required trials, Seele's Stigma space had its doors opened for her by Veliona from the very beginning.
Although Seele couldn't control this power, Veliona believed that one day, Seele would gradually master all the power of this body.
"Seele, one day, you will master all the power of this body. Even without me, you will be able to control the power of wilting and creation."
"My other self, what are you saying?"
Hearing Veliona's words, Seele spoke.
"Didn't Takatsuki say that we are two sides of the same coin?"
"My other self, are we equal existences, or, my other self, as Takatsuki said, do you want a separate name?"
"I don't! What does he know! I just..."
Veliona couldn't quite articulate what she was thinking.
But at least, tonight, in Rivet Town in the Underworld, countless people would not be sleeping well.
...
The next morning, Takatsuki took Seele to the clinic again.
At the moment, he wasn't sure what he should do, but he firmly believed that the locations of a few key figures should be the breakthrough for the mission.
Then, early in the morning, upon arriving at the clinic, he saw a familiar face.
Sampo...
"First thing in the morning, you bring me so many troublesome people."
Natasha was complaining to Sampo, "What were you thinking?"
"Big Sister, I had no choice. You know me, Sampo always looks after his friends. These few helped me a great deal, so of course I have to repay the favor."
Sampo quickly spread his hands.
"Is this how you treat your friends? By knocking them all out?"
"Big Sister, I had no other choice. They were being pursued by the Silvermane Guards. Without this method, I couldn't have brought them down."
Natasha shook her head and saw Takatsuki and Seele entering from the doorway.
"Takatsuki and Seele, you're here."
"Yes, Dr. Natasha, has Sampo caused trouble again?"
Takatsuki looked at the hospital beds in the clinic. There were some unfamiliar faces, but to him, most people in the Underworld were unfamiliar, and he couldn't recognize who was who.
"Brother, I didn't cause trouble. I went to rescue some newly acquainted friends. Oh, right."
Sampo suddenly remembered something and said to Takatsuki.
"Brother, don't say I didn't help you. Ever since that day you bought information about the Astral Express, I've been keeping an eye out for visitors from beyond the heavens for you. Look, these few are the visitors from beyond the heavens."
Sampo pointed to the people lying on the four hospital beds.