In the end, Asahi chose to head towards the Seven Stars Village.
The reason was that the territory in Tokyo was protected by the Monoliths, so safety was not a concern, and a few disturbances from the Gastrea would not cause any serious trouble.
Compared to that, the Seven Stars Village clearly held more mysteries and was more worth his exploration.
After circling half the globe for some time, Asahi landed at the location of the Seven Stars Village, or at least where the Seven Stars Village once was.
This place could not even be called a ruin, because there was nothing left but an empty field. Only a few Gastrea wandered here, which Asahi conveniently dispatched.
Although this area was an empty field, the actual research facility was located deep underground. It was just that the path down had been covered by tons of earth a very long time ago.
Asahi found the exact location, then began to dig. He didn't need to use tools, because his two hands were the best tools.
He quickly dug deeper than twenty meters, finally hitting some sort of reinforced concrete structure.
Asahi had no fear or hesitation, directly punching a hole through it and jumping down.
...
One day earlier, Tokyo Area.
Rentaro was undergoing physical therapy at the hospital.
After all, a two-against-four battle was too uneven, but fortunately, Rentaro managed to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
Tina had also followed him back to Tokyo. She was currently residing at the Tendou Civil Security Corporation, registered as Kisara's Initiator and having abandoned her old identity.
He also brought Tina home and to school, and she had met Enju. Although Enju wasn't too happy at first, even muttering things like, "There's another rival now"... after a short time, the two became very close, even watching anime and cosplaying together.
Rentaro thought this might be the connection one has with peers their own age. No matter how close he and Enju were, there were some aspects where they found it hard to connect, but Tina was different.
And now Rentaro no longer had to worry about money. Feeding and schooling the two girls was more than enough. Because he had completed the mission brilliantly, Seitenshi personally awarded him an additional ¥10 million. Bringing the total amount earned to ¥110 million. Rentaro honorably handed it all over to Kisara, but even the percentage of his commission was very substantial.
Feeling his life was getting better day by day, Rentaro couldn't help but exercise more intensely, making the surrounding patients look at him like an idiot.
Rentaro's only problem now was perhaps his own body, because his bone and muscle density couldn't keep up with the stress his body was under, causing his strength to deplete very quickly. This could be completely compensated for over time with proper nutrition, so Rentaro wasn't too worried.
After training, Rentaro returned to his hospital room.
The room was a bit empty with eight hospital beds, but currently, there were only three occupants. One was Rentaro, the second was a boy who had just been admitted yesterday, and the third was an old man.
This old man had been in the hospital for a very long time. He was a veteran who had been blinded in both eyes after the Gastrea War. Because his family no longer wanted to care for him, they abandoned him at the hospital. Thus, this poor veteran lived precariously in a corner of the hospital room until now, sitting blankly on his bed every day.
Rentaro had tried to strike up a conversation with him, but all he received was absolute silence, so much so that if he hadn't seen the man's chest rise and fall, he would have thought it was a wax statue misplaced there.
The nurse told Rentaro that the old man had always been like that and that he shouldn't worry too much.
Since arriving at this hospital, he had been constantly silent, not speaking a single word. The hospital director had even tried to go down and persuade him, but nothing worked; he received no response, so they were forced to leave him there, providing him with two meals a day to fend for himself.
It sounded negligent, but it was not uncommon in this era.
Rentaro rested on his bed, not paying attention to the old veteran who had gotten out of bed and was walking with a limp. However, he was not going to the restroom or doing anything similar; he was walking towards the room's window.
Only when this image caught the corner of Rentaro's eye did he realize something was wrong. His whole body shot out like an arrow towards the old man, but the man had already dropped himself from the window.
The only thing Rentaro received was the final words the old man muttered before throwing himself to his death.
"God save us..."
Looking at the bloodied corpse below, Rentaro's face was extremely grim.
A moment later, a police inspector arrived. The person in charge of the case was Inspector Tadashima, the same man who had been with him during the apartment chase case against the Gastrea before, which was also the first time he met Kagetane.
Meeting again after a long time, Rentaro was not in the mood for pleasantries, because he was a suspect in this case if it turned out to be premeditated murder. After showing the surveillance footage to prove he was innocent, Rentaro asked Tadashima.
"Inspector, do you have the home address of this old man's family? I want to go there myself."
"I do, but... Satomi Rentaro, it's best not to get involved in this. After all, it's just a suicide."
He knew Inspector Tadashima meant well, because there had been similar cases that had turned into money-extortion schemes, but he still felt there was something strange about this incident.
So, after sending a message to Kisara that he was fine, Rentaro immediately set off.
The family he needed to find was an ordinary family living in an apartment complex. The family had three members: the father worked as a civil servant, the mother was a homemaker, and the child was still in high school—a relatively typical Japanese family.
Rentaro rang the doorbell. Soon after, the door slightly opened, revealing a woman.
"We didn't call for a delivery person."
"I'm not here for delivery. I'm with Civil Security investigating a matter related to your father-in-law. Do you have some time?"
Hearing that the young man in front of her was Civil Security, and that he could accurately confirm it, the woman's attitude became much more polite and respectful.
There was no help for it. In this day and age, Civil Security was valued much more than the police. Because Civil Security was responsible for responding to Gastrea, who dared to assert that their home would not be attacked by a Gastrea one day?
After entering the house, Rentaro didn't beat around the bush and asked the woman directly.
"Do you know much about your father-in-law?"
"That... Mr. Civil Security. I've already called my husband; he will be home soon."
"I apologize for troubling you all. Thank you."
A moment later, a man in a business suit rushed home in a panic. The man was completely bald, revealing a slick, mirror-like scalp due to sweat.