"How strange. As I recall, it hasn't even been a week since you were discharged?"
"I didn't expect to be in this bed so soon myself."
I replied to Dr. Mikado's incredibly subtle expression with a bit of self-deprecation.
I was safely transported to the hospital without my life running out of fuel and was now lying in the bed I had just recently vacated. This time, though, I only had one injury.
I looked at my right hand.
"Will this heal?"
A machine completely encased my right hand and had been on since I woke up. The power light was on, so it seemed to be working continuously.
"Yes. It's repairing the tissue with artificial cells. The cut was quite clean, so it should be almost completely back to normal, with just a small scar left. It'll be a full recovery in two weeks."
The power of science is amazing.
"However, it costs a jaw-dropping amount of money... The Holy Regent paid for it."
I really can't thank the Holy Regent enough. I haven't seen her since the bodyguard mission, only spoken on the phone, but it's very reassuring to have a powerful person on your side.
Still,
"It's amazing that the medical care here can heal a severed arm so easily."
I was surprised by how simple it seemed to be reattached, which was a bit anticlimactic.
Dr. Mikado looked at me with a dumbfounded expression at my casual remark.
"What are you talking about? I told you the cut was clean. It looks like it was cut with a sword, but if the wound had been crushed by debris afterward, that would have been the end of it. Be more careful next time."
"..."
My face became serious.
"In the first place, these artificial cells are still in development. I have a scientist friend who specializes in cells. I had to pull some strings to get them. Of course, they're not on the market. As for their safety... well, that girl wouldn't make anything too dangerous, so I think it's probably fine..."
W-well? Kamijo's arm was also reattached when Aureolus cut it off, so I naively thought it would be fine, but it seems I was cutting it a bit too close.
Kamijo's cut was so clean that with just some first aid, it was reconnected the next day, right?
No, wait a minute.
"If it's not on the market, why does it cost so much?"
"Well, there's the cost of the equipment and other miscellaneous things. And the cost of repairing the hole you all made in the park. That hole reached the ballast area, didn't it?"
We didn't do that, though.
Unfortunately, there's no proof. The repair costs for facilities like this are determined by the footage from the cameras scattered around the island, but our opponents at the time were Stands. They don't show up on camera.
No matter how unnatural it is, we are provisionally held responsible.
I have to catch Vlad no matter what. If I owe the Holy Regent a debt like this, I won't be able to look her in the eye the next time I see her.
"In any case, you need to rest. Don't even think about sneaking out of the hospital like last time. Understood!"
"Yes, I understand."
"Good. Besides, you have girls who want to visit you, don't you? It would be a big problem if they found out you snuck out of the hospital, wouldn't it...?"
"Please stop threatening me."
I haven't told anyone about sneaking out of the hospital during the Holy Regent escort mission. I asked Dr. Mikado not to tell them... or rather, she's probably using it as leverage against me.
As expected of Dr. Mikado. She's so shrewd. And I've been keeping quiet about it, too. It's in the past for me, but what would happen if they found out...? It's terrifying just thinking about it.
"If you understand, then be a good patient."
"I said I understand."
Dr. Mikado left the room after emphasizing her point.
I closed my eyes to try and get some sleep. I couldn't roll over properly because of the machine on my arm, so my body was a little sore.
Knock, knock.
As if waiting for Dr. Mikado to leave, the door was knocked on.
"Yes?"
Who is it? Everyone's at school today. They said they'd come visit after class. It's not that time yet.
Maybe it's an enemy attack. If they did a little research, they would quickly find out I was taken to this hospital.
I don't think Dangerous Zombie and Whitesnake would overlook that. Only if they are actively trying to defeat me, that is.
The door to the room opened.
Two women entered the room. They looked to be around my age or slightly older. However, they had a distinctly different aura from other women. To be more specific, despite being my first time meeting them, I knew their faces. Both of them had well-developed bodies for girls their age.
They were Tatenashi Sarashiki and Claudia Enfield.
It's a common light novel trope for student councils to have a lot of power. These two seemed to be the embodiment of that. I don't know if that's the case in this world.
"...May I ask who you are?"
Of course, my first move was to pretend I didn't know them. I was a little curt to gauge their reaction.
Despite my attitude, they introduced themselves without a hint of displeasure.
"My name is Claudia Enfield. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"I'm Tatenashi Sarashiki. It's nice to meet you, Yozuki Sho-kun."
The fan that Tatenashi-san was holding had "Tatenashi Sarashiki" written on it in beautiful calligraphy.
So, the possibility of it being a coincidence was gone.
"So, what brings you here today, Enfield-san, Sarashiki-san?"
I'm sure they understood, but the fact that these two, who were already pretty intense in the original stories, went out of their way to come see me was no laughing matter. I was definitely being watched. For some bad reason.
"Hehe, you and I are the same age, so you don't have to be so formal and call me Enfield-san."
"Ah, is that so..."
"By the way, I'm one year older, so you should call me Tatenashi-oneesan."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tatenashi-san."
"Oh, you're no fun," Tatenashi-san said, getting excited by herself. If I fell into her pace, it would be over for me. I should try to look at Claudia as much as possible.
"Please call me by my first name as well."
"Then I'll do that, Claudia-san."
"It's Claudia."
"Claud...ia-san."
"C-L-A-U-D-I-A."
Perhaps due to some biological instinct, I couldn't bring myself to drop the honorific. I should try to get used to this way of addressing her before a pointless argument breaks out.
"Hehe, she's scared of you."
"Ara, aren't you in the same boat, Tatenashi-san?"
In a manga, this would be a scene with sparks flying, but there was nothing of the sort between these two. I felt as if they were deflecting each other's fighting spirit.
"W-well, you can call me whatever you want. And Claudia, I'd be happy if you stopped using honorifics, too."
"This is a habit, so it's not something I can change easily. I'm sorry."
"It's a habit?"
"Yes. I'm very malicious on the inside, so I had to at least make my outside and my demeanor pleasant."
"You'd admit that yourself?"
"Oh, yes... My belly is so dark that it's like I boiled dark matter until it was scorched, threw it into a black hole, and then doused it with a ridiculous amount of brown sugar syrup, black vinegar, and soy sauce."
That's very dark.
"Would you like to see for yourself?"
"No, I'm good."
I politely declined, as I didn't want them to keep having the upper hand in the conversation. To be honest, I was a little curious.
"Claudia, it's about time."
"Indeed. Then, to the main point."
Claudia turned on her laptop.
"About six months ago, a person like this appeared in the underworld. This footage was recovered from a device and repaired after an agent engaged in combat with him."
Claudia showed me the display. The agents were from an organization called the "Administration," a public servant version of armed detectives.
"This is..."
The image on the screen was of poor quality due to the repair, but it was undoubtedly Dangerous Zombie.
There seemed to be other agents off-screen, as a rain of light bullets poured down, but Dangerous Zombie didn't stop. Occasionally, he would fall after being hit by a thick beam of light, but he would get up as if nothing happened, as if the video was being played in reverse.
Finally, with a gruesome sound, something red splattered, and the footage was cut off.
It looks like Dangerous Zombie has been acting pretty publicly.
"We tried all sorts of other attacks, but the effect was zero... I think. We don't have enough information because most of the agents were killed, so we can't be sure."
That's what would happen if you tried to take on an immortal zombie. Plus, he has Whitesnake.
"And around the same time this guy appeared, we started seeing abilities we'd never seen before. Given the timing, it's safe to assume he's the one spreading them."
"Abilities you've never seen before?"
In this world, there are roughly three types of abilities.
The first is "Magic." This includes things like alchemy and creating mysterious potions through concoctions. It fits the image of magic perfectly. Fate and A Certain Magical Index magic are classified here. As you can tell from those examples, it's not something the average person has a chance to learn.
The second is "Sorcery." This category includes abilities from the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and The Asterisk War series. The image is "scientific magic." You use a device with a program to create a sword like a beam saber or shoot beams. Of course, you can also create fire. Infinite Stratos also falls into this category.
The third is "Psychic Abilities." This includes A Certain Magical Index and a variety of others. The difference from sorcery is that while the magical power for sorcery is present from birth, psychic abilities cannot be used without development.
In terms of history, it goes Magic > Sorcery > Psychic Abilities.
In addition to these, there are also people with rare skills that don't fall into any of these categories.
And now, they're saying that a new classification of abilities is emerging.
"What kind of ability is it?"
"A Stand."
At that one word, my body went on high alert. I made ACT2 appear behind me and readied my free left hand under the covers. I also prepared to summon Dark Shadow for a quick defense.
"Hmm. So what those girls said wasn't a lie after all."
"...Huh?"
"You have a Stand, don't you?"
H-how do they know that? Only Stand users can see Stands... Ah.
"You can't see them, but you can tell they're 'there.' Didn't you know?"
I was so careless. The incident with Whitesnake had completely slipped my mind.
"Actually, we've secured one of this guy's subordinates... or maybe not a subordinate, but a man with this special ability. He called it a Stand, so we've started calling it that for convenience."
"Unfortunately, Sho, your current status has become that of an important person of interest. You will be notified of what measures will be taken later."
"Those girls" must be You, Kirin, and Einhart. You probably told them what happened when I was unconscious.
And during the questioning, those two earnest girls told them everything, and by chance, it reached the ears of these two. That must be it.
"Of course, you haven't broken any laws, so we can't arrest you. Just think of it as being under a little bit of surveillance."
What's the point of adding "a little bit" before the word "surveillance"?
"If you feel like confessing, contact us right away. You can talk about it here if you want to?"
Tatenashi-san's words were no different from a threat.
If that's what they want,
"Well—"
I spilled everything about Dangerous Zombie and Vlad.
"Hmm, a vampire named Vlad... and so on."
Perhaps because the names that came out were bigger than she expected, Tatenashi-san placed her fan over her mouth and fell into thought.
"...Tatenashi-san. Sho is a patient. Let's leave it at this for today."
"Huh? Wait, hold on!"
As if to interrupt Tatenashi-san's thoughts, Claudia grabbed her arm and pulled her out. Either Claudia was pulling with a lot of force, or Tatenashi-san wasn't resisting, as she was being dragged to the door, and
"Well then, Sho, farewell."
Claudia pulled Tatenashi-san out of the room.
While things were getting complicated, maybe with a big organization behind me, I might be able to fight Dangerous Zombie after all.
The problem is that this organization doesn't trust me at all.
"This is not good."
I couldn't help but mutter that.
---------
"What are you doing, Claudia?"
"Hehe, I don't know what you're talking about."
Now that they were alone, the friendly atmosphere between Tatenashi and Claudia disappeared like mist, and they looked at each other as if they were trying to figure out what the other was thinking.
"Don't play dumb. Your eyes changed the moment you heard his name. It's not normal for you to force your work to end early just to come see him. Well, thanks to that, we now know that Yozuki Sho is a Stand user."
"Is it not acceptable to say it was love at first sight?"
Tatenashi understood that Claudia wasn't going to answer properly and abruptly changed the subject.
"Fine. For my report, the higher-ups have finally approved special measures for this matter. The preparations should be complete next month."
"The special unit, Mobile Section Six, that was active during 'that incident' a few years ago."
"That's right, though this time it's Special Duty Section Six. It seems we'll be assigned there."
"In that case—"
"About that—"
As they walked confidently, Tatenashi and Claudia exchanged a barrage of words that would be incomprehensible to a passerby and could even lead to them being silenced if they understood.
The web of the two girls' conspiracies continued to expand.
--------------------------------------------
🚀 Want Early Access (80+Chapters ahead ) & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!