Ch.119Last of Us (1)

I was on my way to the Sanctum when a straggler attached herself to me.

“Why are you following me?”

“You’re the one following me.”

Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein.

When you keep her around, there’s a 30% chance per second she’ll pick a fight.

“You live such a ridiculous life.”

“…”

“Can you even manage your grades next semester, wandering around so carelessly?”

“…”

“Just so you know, I’m going easy on you.”

“…”

Yes, just like this.

At least the journey won’t be boring.

***

“Welcome back, young master.”

Sonia’s voice, which I hadn’t heard in a while, was coldly subdued.

“Many things happened while you were away.”

“What happened?”

“It would be faster to show you once than explain a hundred times.”

I sensed it.

Something had gone wrong.

Following her guidance into the treatment room, I found Ireh Hazlen slumped over with a gag in her mouth. The restraints I had loosened before leaving had been tightened again.

Above all, she was unconscious.

“What did you do to her?”

“This wasn’t my intention. It just happened.”

“This kid doesn’t look good.”

The one who cut me off was Zernya. She glanced at Sonia with narrowed eyes before approaching Ireh.

First, she lifted Ireh’s eyelids with her fingers.

“Bloodshot.”

Next, she touched her forehead.

“High fever.”

Finally, she checked her limbs and lower back.

“Chills.”

She made her diagnosis.

“Most likely an external god reaction.”

“Did a tempest break out?”

“If it had, I would have contacted you immediately, young master.”

Tempest. When an external god commits suicide or kills another external god, causing a black hole to collapse, it can temporarily blow away the Aether density in the Sanctum. I’d experienced it before and nearly died.

But these symptoms weren’t from a tempest.

That meant one external god hadn’t attacked another.

So then…

“It attacked a constellation. Since it can’t directly drive humans mad in a place like this, it must have attacked a fixed star to trigger an immune response. It’s not a common pattern, but there are precedents.”

“You know a lot. Where did you learn that?”

“I studied External God Immunology in advance.”

Zernya raised her head with a smile. It was clearly a face saying, ‘I’m smarter than you.’

There’s a way to train people like this.

“Wow, you’re really smart.”

Mindless praise is the key.

People who love to brag are usually praise-starved. If you jingle the bell without making it obvious you’re feeding their ego, they’ll fall for it.

This is how I’ve been buttering up professors.

“Zernya could become an excellent doctor.”

“Shu—haa.”

She almost said “shut up.” It was right on the tip of her tongue.

Hmm.

Maybe I’ve been talking too much nonsense.

“Judging by how soaked in sweat she is, she must have been passing out and waking up repeatedly. Hey, tin can, how many times a day did this happen?”

Sonia frowned for a moment but answered calmly.

“Seven or eight times a day. The priests helped each time, but there was a limit to what they could do. Eventually, they had to restrain her when she became violent.”

No wonder Sonia looked exhausted.

“It’s determined to kill someone.”

I was referring to Sapaul.

Since it couldn’t use Ireh Hazlen as a good energy source and couldn’t leave the Sanctum, it decided to just kill her. A truly external god-like choice.

Thanks to that, the Pron level hadn’t dropped below a certain threshold. We needed a new treatment method.

“What? Why are you looking at me?”

Zernya fidgeted and stepped back.

“You’re smart, aren’t you?”

“So what?”

“Can’t you solve this problem too?”

“If your father couldn’t solve it, what do you expect me to do?”

Suddenly, a low blow about my father.

***

Ireh Hazlen woke up with a faint groan.

“You…”

“Yes, it’s me. Eidel.”

“Kyaaaah!”

She jumped back in shock. I had been leaning in close to her face. A tingling sensation shot through my philtrum.

Damn, I think my nose is bleeding.

Punched by Sonia, struck with a wooden sword by Rustila, kicked in the leg by Seti, bitten by Zernya. Now this one’s trying to take me down too.

“Don’t come near me!”

I’d forgotten that Ireh has mild androphobia and misandry.

“You physics pervert…!”

“…?”

“What is it this time? Mechanics? Electromagnetism? Just stop it!”

There seems to be some misunderstanding.

***

I checked what I had on me.

1. Wisdom Calipers (Grade A).

2. Pills that increase maximum Pron levels, obtained during the Celestine incident.

3. An envelope containing Cartesia’s hair.

The first two aren’t very useful.

As for Cartesia’s hair… I’m not sure what it’s good for.

“Haa, hnngg.”

“Are you okay?”

“I, I’m, ugh. Hnngg.”

I had no means to help Ireh, who was suffering from high fever and headaches.

I couldn’t even release her restraints. With me, her target, present, there was no telling what Sapaul might do.

This is a typical situation in this world.

Slowly crumbling without methods or hope.

Ireh probably wants to bite her tongue and move on to the next cycle right now.

“Zernya.”

“What?”

“Take care of her.”

“Why me?”

“You’re a doctor.”

“I’m not even a resident, let alone someone who’s performed surgery. If I mess up and she dies, will you take responsibility instead of me?”

I lightly smacked her.

“I’m not asking you to treat her.”

“…”

“Call me if anything happens. I’m counting on you.”

I left Ireh with Zernya and went outside with Sonia. Through the door, I could hear grumbling about whether this would count toward service hours and complaints about having to care for a “backwater nobody.”

It was an ironic scene.

In previous cycles, Zernya and Ireh were adversaries, and eventually Ireh finished Zernya off. That happened in their third year of college.

I hope things will be different this time.

But that wasn’t the only problem I needed to worry about.

“The government wants us to hand over Ireh?”

“It started a while ago. First came a recommendation letter, and as of today, they threatened to send people.”

Strange.

“Why are they suddenly acting up after staying quiet?”

“I suppose they’re coming to explain that very reason.”

If we were still at the Northern Sanctum, it might make sense, but at the Southern Sanctum, we had submitted patient records to the government after purchasing the land. Ireh Hazlen’s whereabouts became legal at that time.

And…

“Hello.”

Legal means being in the government’s grasp.

Men in black suits disembarked from a spaceship that had landed at the dock. The one who appeared to be their leader approached with an extended hand.

“I’m Humphkin Lackdalman from the External God Management Bureau.”

“I’m Eidel von Rheinland. This is my android, Sonia.”

His hand felt hard in my grip.

This man has been working out.

Mr. Lackdalman looked suspiciously at Sonia in her maid outfit, then raised his eyebrows and said:

“This is the first time I’ve seen an android in such a unique outfit.”

Translation: Are you a pervert?

“She’s fifth generation. They say they have intelligence comparable to humans. She likes to dress this way.”

Translation: I’m not a pervert.

“As previously informed, I’ve come to take custody of Ireh Hazlen, who is receiving treatment at the Southern Sanctum. I ask for your cooperation.”

Lackdalman blinked as he removed his sunglasses. He looked surprisingly gentle.

But the conversation that was about to unfold would be brutal.

I needed to take the initiative.

Before he could take a step, I spoke up.

“May I ask why you want to take custody of her, and where you plan to relocate her if you do?”

“…Of course. I’ll explain step by step.”

He put his sunglasses back on. His expression grew serious.

“According to External God Management Law, Article 109, Clause 3, when using a Sanctum as private property, it falls under the same Medical Health Law as private hospitals or nursing facilities. And the Medical Health Law requires health facilities to record and report patient visit information to the federal government.”

“Yes. We did report it.”

More precisely, my father and Seti did.

Because I’m neither a doctor nor a property owner!

“And in the same law, there’s Article 121, Clause 1. This includes provisions allowing the government to restrict the basic rights of those possessed by external gods for public interest purposes.”

That’s how they were able to imprison and beat people at Alcatraz.

It’s not that human rights have regressed.

If they hadn’t isolated and restricted people like that, the Federation would have collapsed long ago.

I reluctantly nodded in understanding.

“I’ve seen the report submitted by this facility’s owner. Ireh Hazlen was diagnosed with an external god averaging 15 bodies.”

That’s true.

The diagnosis came from my father, renowned throughout the Federation, so its credibility is high.

And the fact that this man is here means the government didn’t know about this until now and has only recently started paying close attention.

Mr. Lackdalman raised his voice slightly as he continued.

“Fifteen bodies is unheard of. Normally, it’s impossible—a person with average mental strength would go insane with just one external god.”

“Is that why you want to take her?”

“That’s correct.”

At this point, I figured it out.

The authorities didn’t send people just to relocate her treatment facility.

“Where are you taking her?”

“To the External God Biology Research Institute located in the Toba planetary system in the northern galaxy.”

These people.

They plan to conduct human experiments.