“Ahh, I can assure you of that. His treatment definitely here won’t be inferior to any large hospital’s. We even assigned a specialized custodian for him.” Asuna’s strong stare that was trying to probe into Kikuoka’s real intent relaxed after several seconds, and she nodded slightly. “...I understand. I’ll trust you for today.” Kikuoka heaved a sigh of relief and his shoulders relaxed the moment he heard that. Rinko took a step forward and asked, “But why is Kirigaya-kun important in the development of the STL? Why must you abduct an ordinary high school student like him for this secret plan that had to be hidden in the middle of the ocean?” Kikuoka exchanged glances with Higa, and shrugged his shoulders, Oh well... “I’ll have a lot of things to say if I have to explain that.” “It’s alright. There’s still a lot of time.” “...Since I have to explain everything, you will have to assist in the development as well, Professor Koujiro.” “I’ll decide once I hear you out.” The Self-Defense Officer looked slightly peeved as he dramatically sighed again. He pulled out a small tube from his yukata sleeve, and as one they wondered what the item was which turned out to just be some cheap lemon sweets. He popped 2, 3 sweets into his mouth and then offered them to Rinko’s group. “Want some?” “...No thanks.”