There was still about half the return window left.
If Kain had been sent to this world by some "Main God" like in those Infinite Horror scenarios—assigned a mission and forced to clear it—then you could say the mission was already done.
He'd achieved his first-stage objective here: a successful application of an STC, and he'd already obtained a finished product.
It was Earth Elixir, not a Universal Elixir, but once he returned to his own world, he still felt it would be more useful than the armed rig A2 had given him.
The Thunderhawk gunship was being blasted by a surge of superheated air rising from below, but it wasn't enough to swat the craft out of the sky.
At worst, it would turn the Thunderhawk into an oven. It could still fly for a while—until the heat softened and warped things enough to make it fail.
The real question was whether the people inside could endure being baked.
And the Earth Elixir they'd secured was perfect for treating the burns that kind of heat would cause.
"Here. Have fun."
Kain suddenly took off his visor and handed the controller—something that looked like a drone remote—to the person beside him who'd been watching with blatant longing: Mikoto.
She'd been staring at him operating it, watching the "drone" sweep through the streets and laser-count the dead, so eager it was almost painful.
That so-called drone was actually the flying power-armor unit—an armed flight system that could shift into a NieR-style fighter form. He had it cruising at 847 meters, lancing the dead with lasers as it went.
It really did feel like a 3D flight shooter game.
As for the visor, it was also from the NieR side. Once you put it on, it functioned like an AR headset, sharing the flight unit's perspective in real time.
"R-really? I can?"
She asked that even as her hands were already taking it.
"Lasers only. Standard output."
Kain wasn't worried she'd run off with it. He was that relaxed.
The gear was bound to him. Without his authorization, she only had limited control anyway.
And he wasn't worried about her crashing it like a brand-new driver totaling a car. The onboard intelligence would auto-correct and avoid hazards.
"Mm-hm. Mm-hm."
Mikoto nodded like a pecking chick, then focused completely.
Kain glanced at the twin-tailed girl with glasses. Saya's lips moved like she wanted to say something, then stopped. She looked like she wanted a turn too, but she ultimately stayed quiet.
Kain understood what she actually wanted.
Not to "play."
She wanted to use the flight unit to reach the Takagi estate and confirm the situation herself.
Saya desperately wanted answers right now—but she was also terrified of seeing the confirmation in front of her eyes, terrified that every second would bring another nail of bad news.
As for Takashi, Shido, and the rest of that group, Kain had already piloted the unit back to the scene to scan the area and found nothing.
They were probably hiding in some building.
The unit did have life-sign detection, but if someone was tucked deep inside, it couldn't confirm faces. No way to be sure it was them.
He'd have to wait for daylight. People like that tended to come out once the sun was up, and then it would be easier to search.
Half an hour later, they were back at the Takagi estate.
Smack!
A crisp slap rang out—followed by the clatter of multiple items hitting the floor.
"Are you awake now?"
Yuriko Takagi stared at the red handprint blooming on her daughter's face. Her voice sounded almost emotionless.
Then she bent down and gathered up what had fallen from Saya's hands—ten packets of medicinal powder.
Saya had been trying to use them to bring her already-gone father back to life. But that was clearly impossible.
So Yuriko had slapped her.
Stop doing something meaningless. Stop wasting supplies that could save more than ten people.
"Think carefully about what you're going to do from here on out," Yuriko continued, her tone heavy. "And don't just sit there blaming others because you can't face reality."
She was worried about one thing now: that once Saya accepted she couldn't bring him back, her grief would harden into pure vengeance.
And that vengeance might spill onto the mysterious young man.
Saya might blame him for sending her out to collect supplies—because if she hadn't gone, her father wouldn't have been caught in the situation that killed him.
Yuriko could only hope her daughter wouldn't be that childish. There was no one to blame.
Yuriko had her own work to do. She didn't have the time to comfort her daughter's heart. She needed to take over her husband's responsibilities and keep more lives from being extinguished.
So she left the room, went outside, and found the mysterious young man.
"Kain. Could I trouble you with something?"
"Of course."
The Takagi estate's electricity and water came from a dam power station on the lake to the north.
A facility like that normally required a disciplined team of trained specialists—people organized enough to keep the station running and handle maintenance.
And the noise of an operating station was exactly the kind of thing that would draw the dead, who relied on hearing.
Now the station was in critical trouble. The dead were close to breaking in.
If the station lost its crew, or if any key systems were damaged, the estate would lose both power and water.
Worse, the EMP strike earlier had caused malfunctions there as well, and the crew had been trying to restore the line.
Restoring power to the entire city was impossible—and pointless. Most of the city's infrastructure had already collapsed, and leaving power on broadly would only create additional hazards.
But repairing the line feeding the Takagi estate should be feasible.
A Takagi team was already stationed at the dam to maintain that route.
They were just missing a few critical components—components the estate had, but couldn't deliver.
The EMP had disabled the helicopter.
So Yuriko had no choice but to ask him.
"And please," Yuriko added, "take me with you."
If she showed up in person, the team would feel reassured and continue repairs with confidence—and she needed to personally deliver the Earth Elixir to them.
This time, Saya had produced around two hundred doses at the hospital.
Kain had taken a quarter for himself. What remained was still enough for the estate and the people at the dam.
And if Kain went alone, even if he solved the crisis, the crew wouldn't accept a miracle drug from a stranger without suspicion. They'd hesitate.
"All right," Kain said.
It only took fifteen minutes to reach the site.
Kain and Yuriko stepped down from a basket like a hot-air balloon's gondola, loaded with supplies.
They hadn't taken a balloon, though.
The flight unit had simply carried them over—suspended like cargo.
By the time the dead were dealt with and the power line repairs were stabilized, dawn was breaking.
Kain reeked of machine oil. He'd effectively served as a human crane.
The EMP had left some machinery unusable, which meant certain heavy components couldn't be swapped out by normal manpower.
And there was another issue: even after the dead were neutralized, leaving piles of bodies to rot would invite plague.
So Kain ended up doing far more heavy lifting than he should've had to.
…Hm?
The miniature NieR fighter circling overhead caught a group of survivors approaching the area. Among them were several familiar faces.
He hadn't even gone looking for them.
They'd come straight to him.
Perfect.
Kain found Yuriko and spoke quietly.
"Mrs. Takagi… do you feel like playing a game?"
Before she could physically take revenge, he wanted to toy with her state of mind—let her feel hope, and then rip it away into despair.
(End of Chapter)
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