Léon: The Cat Killer

Seeing that Sussuruo also seemed to be disgusted with her 'battlefield food', Ace helplessly shrugged:

"But we were just too busy with work. When we heard that there was an acute attack of Oripathy this morning, we all went to the scene to maintain order... This meant we had less time to prepare. In order to make it to lunchtime, we didn't have time to process things slowly like we did when the ship was docked..."

As she spoke, Ace looked helplessly at Kal'tsit:

"In short, I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid the meals for the VIP wards will have to be prepared by you, Dr. Kal'tsit."

Hearing Ace's words, Kal'tsit was about to nod, but just as she was about to finish her thought, the potted plant-colored cat seemed to remember something, and she suddenly turned to look at the lifeless Nana:

"Medic, proceed according to task assignments..."

"I'll cook..."

Whether to sigh or be thankful is hard to say, but under the on-site command of the highest-ranking person in charge of the medical department, the cat killer was granted permission to enter the cooking area.

Unlike in the past when she went to the food area to either poison someone or look for a suitable murder weapon... it might be quite a novel thing for Nana to cook in the food area.

"Alright, let me see what's usable..."

In short, first determine the specifications of the dish. ACE's team has prepared flour and minced meat in the cooking area, and Huang, who came over, is holding a large piece of cheese... Although she doesn't know how many leafy greens Rhodes Island's cold storage has, based on what is currently available in the kitchen cart, Nana instantly put together something she could make right away in her mind.

"I don't think any of you are allergic to bread and pizza..."

Hearing the bakery girl beside her suddenly become energetic and loudly declare her ownership of the kitchen's pastries, Nana also took off her medical gloves and rolled up her sleeves.

In short, to avoid eating that weird, sticky mess that looks like something else, let's start preparing our own lunch.

………………

Let's shift our focus back to the medical area on the fourth floor of Rhodes Island. Just as Kal'tsit had observed, a girl who had been unconscious woke up on time.

Opening her eyes, the unfamiliar ceiling, the unfamiliar instruments and equipment, and the beeping environment filled her with suspicion.

"Mother?"

The girl got out of bed, but her mother, who was usually beside her when she woke up, was nowhere to be seen. At this moment, the child recalled what had happened yesterday... Scratching her bald head, Matilda pouted and prepared to cry like a child again.

But she held back.

At the end of yesterday, both her mother and sister told her that she was no longer the child who could be spoiled at will.

From today onwards, she will have to get used to living alone.

Learn to eat alone, go to the toilet alone...

When it came to using the toilet, the kitten pressed against the empty bed surface, tentatively scratched at the edge of the bed, and climbed down by itself.

The bed stopped working as soon as it detected that someone had left. Watching the advanced high-tech gadget beep, the kitten let out a soft "oh oh" in amazement, but the discomfort in her stomach urged her to quickly find a place to relieve her physiological needs... The problem was, the room was full of things that seemed off-limits to her. The kitten clutched her lower abdomen and looked around anxiously.

The potted plants on the small table in the room gave her a sense of security, and the familiar-looking suitcase had a note with the title "Nana" on it... which finally convinced the kitten that she was still relatively safe.

"This is... a hospital?"

The kitten, unaccustomed to the cool touch on its head, twitched its ears. The discomfort in its lower abdomen caused its ears to fold into airplane ears... Encouraged by the potted plant, the kitten began to try to find a toilet, but now a new problem has arisen.

This room, built according to the ICU template, was not adapted to the size of a child... or rather, this room, which was initially designed with safety in mind rather than comfort, did not even consider the issue of the absence of a guardian.

Because no one with Rhodes Island privileges was here, the door to the room was locked tight. This meant that even though the cat found the bathroom, it couldn't reach the doorknob and couldn't open the door to ask for help. In desperation, the cat actually smashed the door.

Just as the invisible force began to gather, and the kitten pursed her lips, her eyes brimming with tears, preparing to make her move, a sudden sound from outside the door startled Matilda.

"Um...do you need any help?"

It was a voice as youthful as his own, and his thought process and telekinesis immediately reached out to the other person through the thin door.

It felt like talking to his parents, his sister, and his brothers; it was an unparalleled sense of security, a strange feeling that allowed the kitten to immediately tell that the other party genuinely wanted to help him.

"Ugh... I can't open the door..."

"Ah, perhaps Dr. Kal'tsit hasn't entered your information yet. I'll use my card to open the door first..."

As the doorway beeped like a machine, the kitten saw a girl named Caster wearing the same dress as herself... Her high-perched rabbit ears made her look much taller than herself, but the kitten, who instinctively wanted to raise her ears to appear taller, immediately realized that the other girl seemed to be looking at the cool top of her head.

"...Don't look..."

"Ah! I'm sorry... Anyway, let's go to the toilet first! This door can actually be pushed open to the side."

After such a chaotic first meeting, once the kitten had recovered, the bunny girl had already helped her use the toilet, wash her hands, and taught her how to use the seemingly inconspicuous faucet on the boat, as well as the convenient button prepared for children, which they probably wouldn't have bothered to look for without prior knowledge...

Finally, the girl from Caster found a beret for the kitten, which was probably prepared in advance by the medical department... Wearing this hat made the shy kitten less hesitant to cover its head with its hands.

"That, thank you."

After dealing with her personal matters, Matilda reverted to her polite self. Looking at the bunny girl before her, who seemed to be around her age, Matilda smiled in a way befitting her age.

Although, as a girl who can sense the other's emotions to a certain extent, Matilda could see that the girl who heard her cries for help and came to her aid was herself immersed in a painful sadness... It was the blue that filled the other's surroundings, just like Nana yesterday.

Then, remembering her sister's previous instruction, the kitten imitated her and took her hand:

“I am Matilda, Matilda Bruce… What’s your name?”

“I…I am…Amiya…just Amiya.”

Seeing the other's sad smile, the kitten paused for a moment, but then the rumbling in her stomach made her immediately realize how to cheer up her new friend's sad mood.

"I'm hungry... Let's go find my sister. She makes really delicious bread. The red bean paste filling is sweet, and after eating it, the pain will go away."

As he spoke, he touched the bunny girl's ears, which were longer than those of a typical Caster. Amiya's ears drooped instantly, probably because she didn't like being touched.

But before she could refuse, the kitten grabbed her hand:

"I can sense where my sister is... Let's go find her!"

"Huh? Hey hey...wait a minute, don't pull me..."

……

……

……

At Rhodes Island's "dining hall," Nana, under the tutelage of bakery girl Kate, was making batches of highly praised filled breads and pizzas. However, a sudden feeling of being spied on, mixed with a synesthetic connection to a familiar kitten, made her stop what she was doing.

Meanwhile, Kate, who had been chattering on and on, suddenly started cheering:

【Oh, our little princess is awake! Mia, over here!】

As the kitten excitedly ran towards her with her new friend in the distance, Nana was surprised to find that Kate, whom she could only hear before, was slowly becoming a real person beside her again.

Nana reached out and scooped it up, somewhat confused... Indeed, it was just an illusion... But the expression of its emotions and the clarity of its voice in her ear were too real.

"Nana! And my sister too!"

Seeing the kitten pounce on him, the cat killer, whose hands were still covered in flour, instinctively tried to catch it.

But humans can't outrun ghosts... Nana was full of questions as she watched Kate happily spinning around in the air while hugging the kitten.

What happened to the promise that it was just an illusion?

But before Nana could think further, Kate, realizing she could interfere with reality, returned to the kitchen counter first:

【Alright~ With Mia here, it's easy to get started. Watch, Nana, I'll show you what it means to run your own independent bakery!】Neighbor

[Kate, don't forget the work at Rhodes Island's kitchen isn't finished yet. I'll be making lunch for Nana and Mia.]

[Mom...you just want to actually handle flour and kitchen utensils, don't you?] (Sobbing)

Seeing Cole suddenly appear and make faces at her, the kitten behind her, and Kate, acting all cute and affectionate, Nana had already given up on thinking.

Letting Matilda pounce on her and rub against her, all Nana could do was adjust the kitten's hat and then watch as her mother and sister gave her a performance of what a 'kitchen territorial war' looked like.

Meanwhile, on the other side, which Nana was no longer able to attend to, Sussurro, who had previously helped out, saw Nana and Matilda talking to 'something that doesn't exist' again. Her fluffy tail stood on end once more... If she took another step back, she would fall into the equally dumbfounded arms of Huang.

Behind the young doctor, who had somehow developed a fear of ghosts, Ace, Kal'tsit, and Amiya, who had been dragged to the scene, were trying to figure out the truth behind their predicament. *Sigh*

"...So, Medic really did use Originium Arts to restore the appearance that the cat's family was still alive?"

"I thought so too before... but, can the 'restoration' of Originium Arts really create a lifelike replica, one that can fool the family and make it seem as if the deceased is still alive?"

Without interfering with Nana and the kitten's interaction with the unseen phantom, Kal'tsit, with dark circles under her eyes, took Amiya's hand and looked away as if she couldn't bear to look any longer.

"Was it to appease the child, that Medic used magic to create the illusion that the deceased were still alive... or did Medic genuinely believe they were still alive...?"

Between the child and the person who only found the child in the end while trying to save the family, who was truly more seriously injured...? Even Kal'tsit couldn't judge. Guilt.

Amidst the complex gazes of everyone present, only Amiya, being led by Kal'tsit, displayed a hint of envy.

At least the girl truly felt that intense emotion, so profound that even death could not separate them.

PS: Today's cat picture

PS2: Information that can now be made public—Rhodes Island, which set sail with just a shell, even had its crew carry portable rations. They didn't even bring any food in the cold storage when they first set off... The fresh vegetables and meat in the cold storage now are even supplemented by the Crisis Contract.

The cost was that Rhodes Island had to take some desperate, severely infected individuals with them with no other options... and Columbia had no objection to their departure.

PS3: Today I wrote the word count for Qi Lin's Dad V Liu's Dad Qi Qi... not bad... but my stomach is still hurting and bleeding is still going on, but I still need to check what kind of trouble YJ chapter 12 will cause.

PS4: Finally, it'll be available tomorrow... I hope I'll have enough energy to write a 10,000-word chapter tomorrow...

I won't write any launch message. Consistent updates are my top priority. If I can't update... well, just consider me dead...

The Mystery of Medic 2: 028 Try Everything

Red bean bread smells sweet, while pizza fills the air with a milky aroma. Instant fruit juice, though cheap, is indeed indispensable due to its various vitamin additives.

Most importantly, the sweet and delicious taste that soothes the stomach can also comfort the tired heart of a cat killer.

Watching Cole and Kate feed the kitten was a new pleasure for Nana, something she had never experienced before when she heard them making a fuss through the wall... However, the sight of Medic watching his patient float in the air with a strange smile always made the other Rhodes Island residents feel inexplicably sad.

Even infected people passing by the cafeteria to get food would wonder, "Is this company really reliable?" when they saw Medic dressed as a doctor. In the end, it was Kal'tsit who interrupted Nana, who had been daydreaming after finishing her lunch preparations, and brought her back to reality from the "happy family" scene in front of her.

"...Two hundred servings of bread and pizza should be enough for the crew's lunch today...Thank you for your hard work, Medic..."

Turning her gaze away from the kitten being held by Cole, Nana first glanced at her potted plant boss, then took a look at the lunch she and Kate had prepared together:

"I have prepared meals for at least fifty people who haven't come to pick them up yet..."

"It's probably for the meals of our colleagues in the shipping department, engineering department, equipment department, and... medical department who can't leave... Because we set off at the last minute, many positions only brought the most basic maintenance personnel with us, and many people couldn't even leave their posts when Rhodes Island was in operation... This was a problem we had thought of before we set off."

"So the next step is to process the food... and deliver it?"

"That's not necessary."

As she spoke, Kal'tsit took out a tablet terminal and started drawing on it. Accompanied by the distinctive buzzing of a quadcopter drone, the cafeteria was soon filled with turbulent airflow.

Watching Kal'tsit skillfully take out disposable cutlery and takeout containers from the cardboard box and pack the meals one by one and hang them on the drone, Cat Killer was stunned for a moment, and then joined the packing team with the others from the Ace squad.

Nana: "...Using drones for shipboard logistics? Aside from the Columbia, I've only seen similar applications on the Casimir..."

Kal'tsit: "However, these are not actually drones... Kroos, an operator from the Engineering Department, will operate them while being responsible for piloting Rhodes Island drones to distribute food to people who cannot leave their posts... This is undoubtedly a temporary measure out of necessity."

Listening to Kal'tsit's explanation, Nana glanced again at the drones queuing in the air:

"To operate a land-based ship while simultaneously managing drones, that must be an extraordinary mechanical engineer... But... why would an engineer be doing shipbuilding work? Is it because Kroos is really that strong?"

"...No, it's because I'm the only member of the shipping department on Rhodes Island right now..."

As she spoke, she deftly placed the last takeout box down. Kal'tsit ignored the drone's frantic circling around them, seemingly trying to convey something. The potted plant cat waved it aside, then glanced at her watch.

"Next, we need to go to the shipping department to check the sailing status... Want to give it a try?"

"...Work in the shipping department?"

Seeing Kal'tsit's unwavering nod, Nana realized she had just finished what was technically logistical work, but turning around to see that it was the action team's ACE and Blaze doing the logistical work, and recalling Kal'tsit's earlier comment that she was the only one in the shipping department... Nana felt a strange fear creep into her heart.

"So, this is the truth behind... Rhodes Island having a lot of positions to choose from?"

When asked about the cat killer, Ace and Blaze avoided eye contact with the cat, while Kal'tsit simply shrugged.

"Just tell me if there are enough jobs to choose from..."

"That's certainly a lot... but I've never seen a company where one person handles shipping, medical, and logistics while also doing research and writing papers... Kal'tsit, are you sure you're okay?"

"...The company is newly established, and there are still things to deal with from the previous employee, so it's understandable that we're a little busy."

Understand what?

Should I execute anyone who doesn't work properly?

But considering that her contract with the ICA had already been transferred to Rhodes Island, Nana, as the operator 'Medic', could only nod... However, Kate and Cole also gathered around at this moment:

It seems like the companies Andy found after her illness were just so-so. They kept saying things like, "The company is starting out, so everyone needs to work together..."

[...Should I quit my job now and run away with Mia?]

"Are we going to run away?"