That evening, in the Rhodes Island cafeteria.
"Ahahahahahaha! Another drink!"
Completely different from her dejected expression earlier, Blaze was now holding a bottle of alcohol in her hand and drunkenly causing a scene.
"...We never should have let her drink."
Listening to that hearty laughter, Shirou covered his face with his right hand, feeling an intense headache coming on.
That smile did not give him any feeling of happiness or joy. Shirou only felt like he had accidentally flipped the switch on some kind of demon.
Using the local expression, it was like stepping on a Sarkaz's head.
Whichever way one put it, for the current Shirou, there was basically no difference.
Originally, Kal'tsit had said that drinking alcohol was not allowed, but some operators who were familiar with Blaze happened to bring back some liquor from Ursus. Unable to withstand all those expectant looks, Shirou eventually allowed them to drink just a little.
Yes... "just a little." Originally, that phrase should have meant drinking a small amount.
In the end, this group of alcoholics kept growing larger as they drank, turning from three or four people into more than a dozen people partying wildly together.
According to them, as long as they could still drink, it still counted as "just a little."
The other Rhodes Island operators were already used to this sort of thing, including some of the children.
Rhodes Island was seriously a complete mess.
"Ahaha... It is fine. Doctor Kal'tsit will properly deal with this afterward! Do not worry about it!"
Unlike the headache-ridden Shirou, Amiya still had a bit of cream stuck to the corner of her mouth, looking extremely happy while eating.
However, after hearing Shirou's quiet complaint, Amiya awkwardly placed the cream cake in her hand back onto the table.
Things had already reached this point. Even she had no way to stop these drunkards anymore.
Probably only Doctor Kal'tsit could put a stop to them now.
Still, Amiya could understand why everyone had gotten so excited. Today, Shirou had prepared an incredible dinner and many desserts in the cafeteria for Rhodes Island's doctors and operators to enjoy, and he had even specifically brought it up with Kal'tsit beforehand.
What nobody expected was that she had actually approved it.
It had been a long time since Amiya had eaten cake and other desserts this happily, and the fruit juices had been wonderful as well.
Normally she definitely would not have eaten them, since dietary control was also an important part of treating Oripathy.
The problem was that the food eaten during dietary control was... well... not very delicious.
From a medical standpoint, those meals were indeed healthy, but the taste was truly...
As a side note, the batch of healthy meals in the corner of the cafeteria had already been completely wiped out after Shirou declared that anyone who wanted alcohol had to finish those meals first.
If the A1 Reserve Squad and the medical department had not stopped her, Miss Hibiscus probably would have immediately made another batch of healthy meals.
At that point, nobody would have been willing to deal with them anymore.
"What I am more worried about is whether Doctor Kal'tsit will reject future requests if I try applying for similar events again. This time I mainly used the excuse of it being comfort event. After this mess, whether I can even borrow the cafeteria kitchen next time is completely uncertain."
Hearing Amiya's words, Shirou finally lowered his hand from his face.
Originally, he just wanted Amiya and the others to properly enjoy a good meal, but he was worried Kal'tsit would not agree if it was only for a few people, so he expanded the scale of the event instead.
The doctors and operators of Rhodes Island all worked very hard. It was good for them to enjoy themselves once in a while.
Naturally, Shirou paid for everything out of his own pocket. Thanks to his previous self working two jobs so diligently, he still had quite a lot saved up.
After all, he had time to earn money, but no time to spend it.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that there was simply nothing he particularly wanted to buy. Whether it was the people at Penguin Logistics or the members of the Lungmen Guard Department, their biggest expenses were usually maintaining weapons or staves.
Well, except for Miss Swire.
As for Shirou himself, he had no such issues. The only things that required money had already become self-sufficient long ago, so he basically did not need to spend Lungmen dollars to maintain them.
In addition Rope had also stated that they did not need any more money, so Shirou could only keep saving it, thinking that perhaps it would be useful someday.
In the end, he just became busier and busier while his savings kept growing larger and larger.
Now that he was taking out some of it for this grand feast, he did not feel particularly bad about it.
After all, it still was not as expensive as Exusiai's etched ammunition.
"Do I really look that stingy?"
Just as Shirou was worrying about whether future applications would still be approved, a voice suddenly came from behind the two of them.
"Doctor Kal'tsit!?"
Although she recognized the voice immediately, Amiya still turned around to confirm the owner of that voice.
It was indeed Doctor Kal'tsit, the very person she and Shirou had just been discussing.
"Ahem... That was not what I meant."
After coughing awkwardly a few times, Shirou also fell into an uncomfortable silence.
Wonderful. He had been caught directly by the person involved.
"It is fine. There are many prohibited things across this land, yet there are always people who try to touch those forbidden matters. As long as it does not have too great an impact on Rhodes Island, I generally will not interfere too much."
Carrying her tray, Kal'tsit sat down and gave a brief explanation after seeing the uneasy expressions on the two of them, somewhat easing their worries.
Once Shirou and Amiya both sighed in relief, Kal'tsit continued:
"Of course, since I already saw everything, the necessary procedures still have to be followed. I already memorized all their names. Later, I will appropriately arrange some tasks for them."
"..."
Watching Kal'tsit expressionlessly say those words, Shirou and Amiya exchanged glances before silently offering blessings to those drunkards.
The former felt that being targeted by her was truly unfortunate.
The latter knew very well that Kal'tsit's so-called "appropriate" workload was utterly exhausting for ordinary people.
Still, in the end, the ones benefiting would be Rhodes Island and the Infected, so it was probably good for everyone to work a little harder.
"Mm?"
Sitting between Shirou and Amiya, Rosmontis naturally noticed the two exchanging glances and tilted her head in confusion.
Just like Amiya, Rosmontis currently had cream smeared all over her mouth. Shirou and Amiya had already tried wiping it off many times, but before long she would get covered again, leaving the two of them with no choice but to give up.
At least until she got tired of eating cake.
"It is nothing. Keep eating!"
Seeing Rosmontis' puzzled expression, Amiya cut another slice of cake and pushed it in front of her.
After Rosmontis accepted it, Amiya first glanced toward Kal'tsit nearby, as though hesitating about something.
"Just pretend I do not exist."
Noticing Amiya's reaction, Kal'tsit said this while calmly eating her dinner.
She knew what Amiya wanted to say. There was no better opportunity than now, and this matter was precisely why she had come here.
It seemed she had arrived at just the right time. The two had apparently not started discussing the topic yet.
Looking at Kal'tsit, Amiya understood what she meant. After taking several deep breaths, she finally made up her mind.
"Um, Mister Shirou, there is something I would like to discuss with you!"
"Hm? What is it?"
Hearing Amiya call out to him, Shirou stopped handing desserts to Lappland and the others, then turned around to ask.
"I was wondering if you already have plans for the end of December?"
Amiya looked at Shirou with an extremely serious expression as she asked the question.
"The end of December...? At the moment, no."
Although Shirou was curious why she was suddenly asking about something nearly two months away, he still answered after seeing how serious she looked.
He felt like he had only ever seen this side of Amiya while she was working.
In addition, when he had first arrived at Rhodes Island this time, Doctor Kal'tsit had told him that Amiya might ask him for help with certain matters, and that he should simply answer according to his own wishes without worrying about her feelings.
Thinking of this, Shirou glanced toward Kal'tsit, who was quietly eating as though she had not noticed his gaze at all.
If he had not caught the slight twitch of the ears atop her head, he might actually have believed it.
"Then I would like to invite you, Shirou, to accompany a Rhodes Island squad to an Ursus mobile city, Chernobog, in order to rescue someone."
When she spoke those final words, Shirou could clearly hear Amiya's tone grow heavier, and even her breathing seemed to become more hurried.
It appeared that the person she wanted to rescue was extremely important to her.
However, Shirou did not immediately agree. Instead, he paused to think for a moment.
After all, a certain white Lupo lady beside him was staring at him with a rather dangerous look in her eyes.
So Lappland really had been sent to monitor him...
Still, even without Lappland, Shirou would not have agreed so easily anyway. After all, he had already made a promise with the members of Penguin Logistics earlier.
Thinking of that, Shirou finally spoke.
"If possible, I would like to return to Lungmen first and ask everyone at Penguin Logistics for their opinion. I already made an agreement with them before this."
The moment he finished speaking, he saw Amiya's ears droop downward.
"Or... Amiya, you could directly ask Penguin Logistics instead. As long as the Lungmen dollars are sufficient and the work is not too unreasonable, Penguin Logistics will accept the job! At that point, you can simply request us specifically!"
Since he could not directly agree right now, Amiya could just commission Penguin Logistics herself.
"You brat... You are pretty good at exploiting loopholes, huh?"
Lappland, who was supposed to be keeping an eye on Shirou, sounded somewhat helpless after hearing that.
Back when they first met, what a straightforward person he had been. Yet after only a few months, he had already learned how to exploit loopholes.
And she could not really criticize him either, because Shirou's approach was completely reasonable and did not violate any of the points that Texas had asked her to watch out for.
In fact, he had even secured a massive job contract for Penguin Logistics.
The only question was whether Texas would feel like punching someone after hearing about it.
Lappland sincerely hoped that Shirou would still be alive and well afterward.
"..."
Because Lappland spoke quietly, and because the drunken crowd nearby was currently singing horribly off-key songs, only Shirou vaguely heard what she said.
He simply chose to ignore it for now and deal with it later.
At the moment, the topic with Amiya was clearly more important.
"Although I cannot immediately agree to your request, Amiya, may I ask who exactly the person you want to rescue is?"
Thinking carefully about what Amiya had just said, she wanted to go to Chernobog at the end of December to rescue someone.
Why wait two months?
Was there some special significance behind that timing? Or would that be the only opportunity to rescue the person?
"The person... that Rhodes Island wants to rescue is called Doctor. Before Rhodes Island was established, they were an exceptional commander who led squads to many victories that should have been impossible. At the same time... they are also someone extremely important to me."
After hearing Shirou's question, Amiya glanced around briefly before finally speaking.
"And the reason we chose the end of December is because Rhodes Island needs time to prepare equipment and plan the route. After all, the Doctor entered the sarcophagus severely injured back then, so once they come out, they may require some minor surgery."
"Hmm... I do not really understand. Does this 'sarcophagus' mean an actual coffin?"
Carefully listening to what Amiya was saying, Shirou became more confused the longer he listened.
A sarcophagus? The person Amiya wanted to rescue was already lying inside a coffin? And Rhodes Island actually had the ability to revive someone lying in a coffin through surgery?
He sincerely apologized for previously underestimating Rhodes Island's capabilities as a pharmaceutical company. He had not expected Rhodes Island to possess such terrifying medical technology!
"Um... I am not entirely sure about the details either, but what we can confirm is that the Doctor is currently relying on the sarcophagus to maintain stable life functions."
Faced with Shirou's question, Amiya was already used to this kind of misunderstanding. After all, the name really was easy to misunderstand.
"A coffin can prolong someone's life? Is this Doctor some kind of vampire or zombie?"
Hearing that the sarcophagus could preserve life, Shirou immediately thought of races closely associated with coffins, such as vampires or zombies.
Of course, he meant the versions from his own understanding, not the ones here.
Taking Warfarin as an example, she seemed far more willing to stay in her laboratory than inside a coffin.
"Pfft…"
The nearby Kal'tsit suddenly laughed, but quickly returned to her usual indifferent expression as she explained:
"The sarcophagus is not an actual coffin. It is merely a designation. It is a type of device from the era of the old civilization, and for the Doctor, it possesses therapeutic functions."
At this point, Kal'tsit raised her head and glanced at Shirou before quickly looking away again.
After finishing her explanation, she returned to focusing on her own meal. After all, this was something Amiya wanted to do herself.
"I see? Then it really does sound dangerous..."
After understanding what the so-called sarcophagus actually was, Shirou finally roughly understood what Amiya intended to do.
Three years ago, that Doctor had suffered severe injuries and been placed into the coffin..no, the sarcophagus for treatment.
And now, three years later, Amiya wanted to rescue them. Before that, they needed to prepare everything they might possibly require, likely even bringing along a large number of medical operators and equipment for the rescue mission.
And on top of that, they would have to face threats from Ursus, a nation that deeply hated the Infected. Just hearing about it made the rescue operation sound full of danger.
"Yes. That is why, if we had your help, Shirou, this rescue operation would surely proceed much more smoothly."
The moment Shirou finished speaking, Amiya immediately continued.
Rescuing the Doctor was extremely important for Rhodes Island.
She did not want to see operators dying anymore. If the Doctor were there... they would surely be able to command the operators more effectively.
But... perhaps things would not turn out the way she imagined.
Still, hesitating here would not change anything. First, they had to rescue the Doctor. Any remaining concerns could be dealt with afterward.
If things truly did not work out, then Doctor Kal'tsit could simply keep the Doctor under control anyway. It would not result in too great a loss.
Besides, even setting aside the role of commander, the Doctor was still a top personal in both Oripathy treatment and Catastrophe research.
And those two fields were exactly what Rhodes Island needed.
In short, rescuing the Doctor was absolutely worth it.