Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 9===

Kyousuke and Isabelle had arrived on the opposite bank.

The leather glove on his left hand felt uncomfortable after soaking up the seawater, but he could not complain.

They climbed onto the concrete base and used the emergency stairs to arrive at a giant bridge covered in pedestrians. He casually glanced around, but the costume event worked against him here. That striking waitress uniform would be buried among all the outfits of the Delayed Walpurgis.

The Government coordinator spoke to him over his smartphone.

“Alice (with) Rabbit, Government has made some adjustments based on your request. For the withdrawal operation, we can spare a Stingray Repliglass transport ship and a Blue Whale Repliglass submarine. They will be carrying the classified server that acts as the core unit of the entire Anthill Project and Miss Maria Heartocean who leads the project. Is that acceptable?”

“Perfectly.”

“I have emailed you the details of the plan, but simply put, the Stingray will pick up Miss Heartocean within Toy Dream 35, carry her to the Blue Whale outside the city, and that will dive to bring her out of the country. You can only help in the Stingray zone which is the only part that Liar Cat can attack.”

“That’s fine. The ''Cheshire Cat'' is bound to show up no matter how obvious a trap it is. She isn’t going to wait for her revenge to grow cold.”

“…Are you saying you’ve already made contact with her?”

Kyousuke hung up without answering.

Isabelle shook her head like a wet dog and looked up at him with water dripping from her.

“I said it in the beginning.”

“Yeah.”

“As long as you fulfill my objective in the very, very end, I’ll go along with a super-sized number of detours.”

“I remember. So let’s go save your friend who’s been deceived by that liar of a cat. …It’s true she may have been the initial spark, but it never would have grown this much without that ''Cheshire Cat'' continually dumping fuel onto it.”

What was salvation to the girl named Isabelle and what could he do to help her?

Not even he knew that anymore.

She was a cheaply and simply made vessel. For that purpose alone, her soul had been eaten away, her physical appearance had crumbled due to that, and not even her own parents or best friend could have recognized the pitiful ruins she had become. She was what had budded from that.

But the girl had hoped for something.

Her sense of self, mind, personality, memories, and everything else were only vaguely defined, but she had still wanted to save the friend whose name and face she could not remember but who she had apparently once walked alongside.

That was her most pressing desire and she felt granting it would save her as well.

So Alice (with) Rabbit would respect the definition Isabelle had found for herself.

He would respect the heart that, before even thinking of saving herself, had wished to return that misguided friend to the proper path.

“I’ll ask you as many times as it takes. Bow (deadpan).”

“Right.”

“''Please help my friend.''”

It was only slightly different from the cold and distant request she had made before.

But the words had definitely come from the small girl’s heart.

It was not someone’s empty shell.

It was not the mere vestiges of someone.

It truly came from the heart of the girl named Isabelle.

Kyousuke still had no definite definition of what would save this girl.

But he smiled just a little.

In the end, he was taking the same path as Biondetta. It was a twisted path that could never be seen as straight. At first glance, it looked like he was granting a request, but he was really drawing out the words he most wanted to hear. He knew that, but he was still satisfied.

Even if that path was about to crumble away, he still believed it could bear the weight of at least one life.

“As you wish.”

The summoner and the vessel disappeared into the crowd.

The sun would set soon.

Then the all-important Anthill evacuation operation would slice through the darkness.