Tool

On my own, I slowly wandered down the barren road. Everyone had a tracker on their walkie talker so Mana was able to give me the general location of the people find distress. Figuring out a path over wasn't too much of an issue—photographic memory comes in handy sometimes.

However, that wasn't to say that I was exactly in a rush.

Free from Mana, I'd be able to make some more unconventional decisions regarding any survivors I find. A little while earlier, I actually noticed another, smaller conglomeration of EM-waves nearby. From what I could infer, it seemed that there was a relatively weak esper in this general area.

I figured that I'd go check it out before going to help our allies—well, at least that's what I'd technically call them, although they weren't that high on my priority list.

The rough, uneven terrain conjured a rather awkward atmosphere. The city showed evidence of thriving life, covered up by the scene of shattered buildings, rubble and debris. Every once in a while, I'd see some birds gathering in the abandoned parts of this... place.

After a little while, I arrived at where I first noticed the EM-waves. The specific place didn't have anything special, in particular. Looking around, I didn't see any terrorists, which was what I was expecting. I searched around, sifting through some of the mountains of rubble on the ground and in the buildings.

"...mhm... help..."

Oh? Someone definitely was nearby. I guess they weren't a terrorist either. I did consider the idea that it was possible that one of the survivors might have ESP as well.

Locating the source of the sound, I dug through a pile of smashed metal plates and ripped pieces of rubber. Looking up at me was a young girl. I couldn't really tell due to all the dirt and dust on her face, but it seemed that she was a few years younger than me.

Noticing the blood that was subtly seeping through the debris, I noticed that she had quite a large wound on her leg. I guess that explained why she was hiding in here after all.

I walked up to her.

"What's your name."

She was frightened by my sudden appearance but after a few seconds, she gave in, crawling her way over. I gave her a hand as she sat down atop the mountain of junk, which worked well enough as a makeshift chair.

"I-it's Clara..."

Gaining some trust in me, she showed me the wound on her leg. It was dark red, a large open cut that was bleeding non-stop. I could see some very slight clotting, but there must've been too much stress on the area for it to stop the blood flow.

Luckily, I had quite a large supply of first aid equipment on hand. Gently holding her calf, I took out a small bottle of disinfectant and lightly dripped it onto the site of the injury.

"—ah!"

She winced as the disinfectant stung her leg.

"Sorry, this is going to hurt."

Cleaning the wound, I poured some water to clean the rest of the area. After getting rid of the dirt, I was able to begin with the actual treatment.

I rested her leg in my lap. Leaning over, I grabbed a medical stapler out of my bag.

"I need to close the wound, this is going to hurt quite a bit."

"W-wait a moment... are you going to use that thing on me?"

"Yes. Otherwise, the wound won't heal properly."

Her face suddenly darkened upon examining my tool. It certainly wasn't a pretty one, but it needed to be done.

"I'll numb the area a little, but you'll still feel it."

I wiped around the wound with some numbing cream. It would make it bearable, but it wouldn't completely remove the pain. Applying the cream, I brought the stapler to the side of her leg.

I noticed that she was staring at my hands with pure fear. The quivering of her body was getting so intense that it was making it difficult for me to position the stapler correctly.

"Count to three."

"Huh...? U-um, one, tw—"

Clamp.

"Ah! You said count to three!"

"I just needed you to stay still for a little. It's done now."

Taking some bandages, I wrapped them around, stopping the rest of the blood and covering the staple. A few moments later, her leg was treated as much as I could.

"That's all done."

"R-really? Um... thank you... sir."

"No need for the formality, I'm only a few years older than you. Call me Oliver."

"Ah, thanks, Oliver~"

"Anyways, come with me."

She pulled herself up but she was still clearly walking with a limp. This was going to be a little bit of a pain if I wanted to bring her with me to the scene of the combat.

"I just need to run some errands. I'll carry you for now."

Kneeling down, I let her climb onto my back.

"W-where are you from?" she asked.

"I'm from Yokusuka. We're the relief squad that the city requested."

"Ah, so you're like heroes!"

"I wouldn't exactly say it like that."

"Oh...?"

Making our way over I walked along the battered road with her on my back. From what I could see, she didn't seem to have any other family around. I also noticed that she was capable of producing EM-waves, although she didn't seem to have any abilities.

I guess I can use her.

"How old are you, Clara?"

"I'm turning seventeen this year."

Seriously? I thought she was like thirteen or fourteen based on how she looked. I guess they can be deceiving sometimes. Turns out that she was only a year younger than me.

Well, that was more convenient then.

"Do you have any family members?"

"Well... I-I did... but my mom was taken away by the terrorists and I don't know where my father and brother are..."

Works for me.

"How do you feel about coming back to Yokusuka with me."