The Holy City had been completely destroyed by the battle against the Abyss. This city, once sustained by trade taxes, suddenly lost its livelihood. People had no homes and nowhere to run their businesses. Thankfully, the granaries were still intact. As long as they could sleep under the sky, at least they wouldn't starve.
At this moment, a man named Iselin stepped forward. He worked with the Church to lead the citizens in rebuilding the Holy City. The Claymores also pitched in, working alongside the locals and growing familiar with each other. Before leaving, Liu A'dou had made sure Earth's outpost would assist in the rebuilding efforts.
With the resources at Earth's outpost, they couldn't provide much material support, but they could still perform health checks on the residents to help prevent outbreaks of disease. Refugees lived in dense quarters with poor sanitation—an easy breeding ground for sickness. The Earth adventuring team actually had more medical knowledge than the Church and could offer real help.
As for the Organization's plan to drive the Western Abyss toward Earth's outpost, that was going to take time. The Abyss Devourer started off clueless, only using chunks of abyssal flesh to track the Abyss. As time went on, it would grow stronger. But that would take years. The Western Abyss being chased by the Abyss Devourer? That was still a long way off.
Most residents of the Holy City could still tell right from wrong. Years of peace and prosperity had fostered a high level of civility. It didn't take long for them to shift from distrusting the Claymores to accepting them. Before, they'd thought of Claymores as nothing more than brutal killers, no different from monsters. But after spending time together, they realized that beneath the cold exterior, they were just girls—capable of anger, joy, sadness, and laughter. They were still women, after all.
The medical team Earth sent was made up of medics from various squads, including people of different nationalities—black, white, and yellow. There were no black people in this world, so when one showed up, the locals stared for quite a while out of curiosity.
A seven-person squad had also been assigned to protect the medical team. Haozi and Liu Qi, those two best buddies, had teamed up again.
"Look at that Japanese guy. So sketchy," Haozi muttered. Neither he nor Liu Qi had any real prejudice against the few Japanese members of the team, but trusting them was another matter. Back during the Fukushima meltdown, those Japanese soldiers were still clocking out on time. As a fellow soldier, Haozi had no respect for people who ran from hard duty.
"And weren't you just drooling over that Japanese chick?" This time, Japan had sent two people—a man and a woman—for the multinational squad.
"You don't get it. Japanese women are the best. They never talk back, never argue," Haozi said, practically salivating.
"Pervert. Get away from me. I don't even know you." Liu Qi took a few steps back. "Stay sharp. We're pretty far from the outpost now. There could be monsters out here, and I don't wanna end up as their dessert."
Haozi waved him off. "Don't be so uptight. Like you haven't been peeking at the female squad members too. Anyway, with the Claymores around, any monster that gets close will be detected. You didn't hear this from me, but some of those Italians in the other mixed squad are dying to 'relieve stress' in the nearby town. Speaking of which, where's Kid been lately? Think he's out chasing girls too?"
"How would I know?" Liu Qi rolled his eyes. He wasn't exactly tight with Kid.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out ahead. Haozi and Liu Qi exchanged a glance, grabbed their weapons, and moved forward.
Turned out it wasn't an emergency. A group of locals had brought a mother and child to the medics. "Please, save my child."
Along with the child's relatives, two priests had come too. They worshipped the twin goddesses and were also considered doctors on this continent. They'd failed to cure the child, so they'd turned to the Earth medics for help.
Haozi let out a breath of relief. No danger. He just needed to stand guard.
The medics didn't waste a second and got to work immediately. They soon had a preliminary diagnosis. "Looks like tetanus. Get them into the tent. Everyone else, please wait outside."
Haozi quickly stepped forward and blocked the worried locals, saying, "Everyone, please. I know you're all concerned, but for now, stay here and wait. Don't interrupt the doctors."
The residents cooperated. After all, the medics had already saved quite a few lives.
As the interaction deepened, the relationship between the native humans, Earth humans, and the Claymores became more harmonious than ever in the Holy City. Though the reconstruction was slow, at least the rebuilding of the marketplace was going smoothly.
Once trade routes reopened, the Holy City would quickly return to prosperity—or maybe even surpass its former glory. That's because Iselin's talent was no joke. His execution and leadership in the rebuilding efforts far outshone even the High Priest. And the bald priest himself was open-minded. What he cared about was the city and its people. Seeing that Iselin was clearly more capable, he didn't insist on holding onto power.
Iselin and Naki grew close. One was like a big brother, the other a little brother. Both craved connection, and the bond between them became strong. Over on Clare's side, there was a whole group of girls. No men could get a word in. The Claymore girls were tight-knit and happy, living in peaceful harmony.
As time passed, the Wormhole Defense Bureau began recruiting members. Since this was the first time in human history that long-term exploration and deployment outside the solar system was happening, the United Nations decided to establish a brand-new training institute dedicated to cultivating top-tier talent to handle the increasing number of space-related incidents.
Functioning like a network of academies, each country would set up branches for training, and the graduates would be assigned to the Defense Bureau. This new, secret institution specialized in teaching everything about handling interstellar matters. It was called the Starschool—codename: S School, or simply SS.
With classified documents approved, the school launched operations. Elites were recalled from Einstein Star and the Wormhole Patrol Force. Even Dr. An Rong was summoned back to serve as an instructor.
All at once, countries around the world began reallocating their personnel from Einstein Star to prepare for the upcoming training. The more elite their candidates, the greater advantage they'd have in the Defense Bureau.
Oddly enough, many countries independently chose university students as their training core. This unspoken agreement helped avoid the political friction that might've come from deploying too many military personnel.
University students were perfect—educated, cultured, and quick to adapt. With proper training, they could become excellent operatives. So nations began hand-picking their candidates.
In this climate, Kaitou Kid got a call from the general, asking him to pick a few people himself. The general trusted Kid's judgment. And just like that, Kid found himself involved in the groundbreaking recruitment event of the Starschool, where he encountered a whole host of fascinating people.