The kitchen had brought in heaters that were usually only used during the depths of winter, and the oven had also been turned on. Kalpas, still inside the sack, was surrounded by the heater and the oven.
Pardo looked at the gradually reddening electric appliances, feeling a trace of warmth lingering at the tip of her nose. She couldn't help but rub her nose bridge and sigh, "Ah, he's really lucky. We've never even used these warm things before."
Back when she felt cold, she could only huddle together with cats for warmth.
That was also why, when Sakura first saw her, she had a severe allergy to cat fur.
Thankfully, ever since she started following Sister Vill-V, winters were no longer like that, and there was even hot water to drink.
Aponia stared worriedly at the sack. She was very concerned that when they opened it, the man inside would already have become a cold corpse.
Although Aponia had encountered such situations many times, she still felt heartfelt sorrow for every sufferer.
"May the gods protect him... and help him safely get through this calamity."
"By the way, Sister Aponia, why don't we just pour hot water on him? Wouldn't that thaw him faster?" Pardo had already started treating Kalpas like frozen food.
Aponia shook her head. "His injuries are too severe. Contact with water could easily cause infection. Wound infection is often more likely to cause death than blood loss."
"As expected of Sister Aponia, you really know a lot."
Kalpas was heated for quite a long time before the sack finally showed signs of thawing. Aponia immediately and carefully opened it, afraid the rough fabric might tear at his wounds.
However, to her surprise, the wounds on the man's body had already scabbed over!
Seeing his face turning purple, Aponia placed her soft palm against his chest to check his heartbeat. But the moment her hand touched him, a strange expression appeared on her face.
Noticing Aponia's expression, Pardo hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, Aponia? He... he's not already gone, is he?"
Aponia shook her head. "No... he still has a heartbeat..."
"Phew—that's good. At least we didn't waste our efforts."
Pardo wasn't one to take losses. If he survived, they could still receive gratitude and maybe a reward. But if he didn't, then all their effort would be for nothing—and they might even have to dig a hole to bury him.
"It's just..."
"Just what?" Pardo asked, confused.
Aponia thought for a moment before explaining, "His heartbeat... it's like a raging fire burning..."
"What does that even mean?" Pardo scratched her head.
Aponia said with some difficulty, "No... I simply can't find a more appropriate word to describe his heartbeat."
"Let me try..." Pardo also placed her hand on Kalpas' icy chest. Even though she felt a cold touch, it was as if her hand was burning.
"Wow! It's really burning!" Pardo yanked her hand back as if she had touched scorching iron. "Is this guy even human? How can a human have this kind of heartbeat?"
"Sister Aponia, he... he wouldn't be some kind of monster, would he?"
"Regardless of his identity, let's first move him to a bed in the medical room. We can't treat him properly in the kitchen."
Just as Aponia reached out to grab the sack, it suddenly moved.
Rather than movement, it was more like a violent surge of emotion bursting out, tearing the entire sack apart.
"—!" Kalpas burst out of the sack and stomped down, crushing the medical kit Pardo had brought.
Ignoring the stunned Pardo and Aponia, he directly grabbed the heater beside him and even shoved his head into the oven.
Because of his brute actions, the heater was quickly twisted out of shape in his grip, and a burnt smell soon came from the oven.
"Hey, are you stupid? Who warms themselves like that?!" Pardo hurriedly grabbed his neck, trying to pull his head out of the oven, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move him.
Crack! The entire medical room lost power. The heater had been crushed by Kalpas, causing an electrical malfunction.
The exposed electricity from the heater passed directly through Kalpas and shocked Pardo numb.
"Waaah—"
Fortunately, Pardo's sense of danger was extremely sharp. At the critical moment, she let go, or else she might have gone into electric shock.
Her scalp tingled as her danger instincts screamed at her, warning her just how brutal and troublesome the man before her was.
"S-Sister Aponia, I think... we should run first."
Pardo quickly fled far away, even abandoning the sack.
Inside the medical room, Kalpas—now with hair standing on end from the shock—returned to the bed. Due to the power outage, neither the oven nor the heater could provide him with heat anymore.
So he simply treated the bedding as fuel and lit a bonfire on the bed.
The fire source was readily available—taken from the still-burning remains of the heater nearby.
However, the facilities of the Dusk Street sanatorium were now quite complete. Every room was equipped with fire safety measures, including the kitchen.
Nowadays, most kitchens used electric stoves and rarely open flames.
The fire sprinkler detected the severe fire hazard and began spraying water. Kalpas' bonfire was extinguished in no time.
"Hm? Is it raining?" Kalpas wasn't annoyed. He simply stared blankly at the ceiling.
He could see the sprinkler spraying water, but he couldn't comprehend that this "rain" was coming from it.
In his understanding, rain was something unavoidable—you could only find a place to take shelter.
So he decided to hide in the refrigerator and wait for the "rain" to stop. Although it was cold inside, at least there was no rain.
But a pair of warm hands suddenly pulled him up and led him out of the room.
"The rain has stopped..." Kalpas tilted his head, arms crossed, and looked at Aponia. "Did you do that?"
Even though she couldn't see his eyes, Aponia could still feel the piercing intensity of his gaze.
Aponia shook her head and looked at his face, still covered with charred pieces of sack cloth. "I only brought you... to a place where there is no rain."
Kalpas turned his head and saw that it was indeed still raining inside the room. He nodded in realization. "Oh, I see. So you're the witch of this place."
"Hmph," Kalpas suddenly crossed his legs and sat down on the ground. "Do it..."
Aponia looked at him, confused. "Do what?"
"The ritual. Doesn't it require bloodletting?"
"...You." Aponia looked at his state, wanting to speak but stopping herself.
Kalpas closed his eyes. Sacrificial rituals... he was already used to them—used to being the sacrifice.
At the very least, this witch was more capable than the previous one. She could make the rain stop.
The previous witch had summoned a very cold woman who froze everyone solid.
Being frozen... was not good.
As for why it wasn't good, Kalpas couldn't explain. Probably because it was too cold.
In any case, he no longer had a place to return to.
As that little girl had said—his home was gone.