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"General Ironwood."
I nodded to the man as I entered the office. Winter was already there with her cold gaze.
I don't think she was mad at me; I think that was just the way she usually looked.
"You can just call me James."
James sighed heavily and shifted his gaze from the screen to me.
"You've done us a great service, Anthony. Winter told me about your conversations with her... You really can regenerate limbs?"
"Yes, I just don't use it very often."
I nodded.
"Go ahead, and I see you still have questions."
"Your group is quite different, and two of your members have rather technological suits. Judging by what I've already seen, I highly doubt there's no information about you by now..."
"Let's just say Ozpin isn't the only one with secrets."
I waved my hand vaguely.
"I see..."
James's gaze hardened, but he couldn't do anything about it.
Well, he could, but then our relationship would definitely be ruined, and I probably wouldn't be willing to help him further.
"Have you already informed Winter about the girls?"
James nodded.
"Do you know about the artifacts?"
James nodded cautiously.
"And about the fact that the Headmaster likes to reincarnate after the death of his body?"
Then, another more cautious nod, and Winter's look showed that she found it hard to believe all this.
"How much did he tell you about Salem?"
"Hmm, not enough. Just that she's old, like him, and they're enemies, and he's been fighting her for almost as long as he can remember."
"So he didn't mention that she's his ex-wife?"
I asked, and James clearly didn't expect that.
"...When he returns, we'll have a serious conversation with him if that's true. I've spoken with the Vale Council, and they're grateful that we helped fight off the Grimm attack, but because my airships were hacked and used against me, they wouldn't mind if we flew back. Anthony, I have one more request for you. Please help the severely wounded and those who've lost limbs if you can. What do you need for that, Dust?"
"No, as I said, magic isn't necessary. But about Dust... I wouldn't mind having a kilogram of each type you have."
"Ozpin said that there's no magic left in the world... Well, first, I need to see it with my own eyes."
James rose from behind the desk and escorted me to the infirmary.
This is where the Atlas fighters and support staff who were badly injured during the attack and the fall of the ships were laid to rest.
"This is Lars Krus, who faithfully served Atlas for ten years. When the ship crashed, he landed awkwardly, and his legs were crushed by Paladin parts. They had to be amputated."
James said this while stopping by his bed.
There was no one else here except for Winter, James, me, and the patient himself.
James wasn't a fool, and he had already ensured that he was moved to a separate location.
"Well, it's good that he's alive."
I didn't waste any time and got down to business. I could heal wounds already. It's quite easy with matter manipulation, or rather with Alchemy.
However, I still created a magical seal and placed my hands directly on the patient's body for maximum precision.
The seal glowed with a golden-green hue, and they could visibly see how the amputated limbs slightly lit up and the legs literally began to grow.
It didn't look very aesthetically pleasing, but it was limb regeneration, and there was nothing to expect.
A couple of minutes were enough for ordinary legs to grow.
"Remarkable."
James said this while looking at the legs and the monitors tracking the patient's health.
He was genuinely shocked just like Winter.
It's one thing to hear that I might be capable of something and another to see actual evidence.
"Can you regenerate any body parts?"
James asked again while looking at me with some hope.
"Yes, I can even create a body from scratch. I just haven't had much need for it yet."
I shook my head.
"I also promised to help your sister's friend."
I glanced at Winter who had been silent until then.
"Weiss told me about it... Thank you. I'll go tell her that you can really do it."
Winter nodded to James and left the room.
"General, may I ask a question?"
I looked at him once Winter had left the room.
"Yes."
James nodded, and I could see he was genuinely prepared to answer almost any of my questions out of tremendous gratitude and perhaps even acknowledgment.
"What's your relationship with Jacques Schnee?"
"He's the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, and from time to time, I have had the honor of having conversations with him on various topics, including profits. He's arrogant, petty, greedy, and selfish, but he knows when to stop, but that was the case before."
James gave a brief summary of the man.
"But he still remains an important figure in the kingdom due to his connections and capital."
"Hmm, I see."
I nodded. Then, in the next hour, I restored limbs to the injured soldiers and Atlas personnel even regrowing limbs for a few hunters.
At some point, Winter joined us but didn't interfere and simply followed us, and I could feel her gaze on my back.
When I finished, I couldn't help but offer to have James undergo a similar procedure since I sensed that parts of his body were cybernetic.
Of course, after seeing what I did, he didn't refuse.
"No, it's better to do this in your office. There's more space there, and your injuries are much more severe."
"Um, yes."
James nodded rather abruptly clearly visibly excited... After all, besides his hand and part of his torso, he still didn't have an important male organ.
"Winter, you'd better not come in if you don't want to embarrass the general."
I said it near the entrance to his office.
"Understood."
Winter didn't even try to argue, and she just nodded at James.
That was enough.
In the office, I created a magical seal beneath James and began the process.
I literally broke down all the metal parts in his body using alchemy and used the released energy to regenerate the damage.
James must have had some luck because all of these wounds were so bad that not even a hunter with an open aura could have lived for long with them.
I understand that I'm acting very... kindly here. After all, I didn't seek to help everyone in my world, but it's mostly beneficial to me here.
Cortana already knew that James held two out of five votes on the Atlas Council, so... such an ally would definitely be very useful.
"My hand..."
James stared at his right limb which a high-tech prosthetic had previously replaced.
"My..."
"I get it, I'll leave."
I hurriedly exited the room leaving the naked man who was now admiring his... weapon, yes.
"Did everything go well?"
Winter asked once I had left the room.
"Yeah, I just advise you not to go in for now. The general is overjoyed that his... manhood has been restored."
I said it frankly.
"By the way, Winter, what's your relationship with the general?"
I decided to ask.
"I understand what you're getting at, and no, we have no romantic feelings between us."
Winter replied without changing the tone of her voice.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No. I have other priorities."
Winter turned a hundred eighty degrees and went... somewhere. I actually liked that she simply tried to avoid that conversation.
While James was very pleased to have returned to normal, I headed to Hermione's room.
"Did I interrupt you all?"
I knocked and entered the room where all four girls were sitting.
Hermione and Erina were in their regular clothes, and the nanobot suit had dispersed so it wasn't visible.
"No."
Hermione shook her chestnut hair.
She held a magic wand in her hands, and in front of her hovered a magical seal of the Gremory household, in which a... piglet sat.
"Showing off your transfiguration skills?"
I immediately understood what she was doing.
"Yeah, I can't understand how it works. The energy of the object breaks down and simply transforms into this... maybe Sona would understand something about it."
Rias bit her lip.
"It's a magical puppet now under Hermione's control. The magical energy will return the object to its original form after some time."
I said this after a slightly more thorough analysis.
"Hermione, how far have you progressed with spells?"
I asked, causing her some confusion.
Now, I was standing very close to her, and she heard this question directly from me, not through the Group Chat, so she might not have been used to it.
"Um, well... um. I know the first, second, and third-year spells perfectly."
Hermione began to speak with her nose slightly raised.
"After Group Chat appeared, I started to get ahead a bit, so I know some fourth-year spells too."
"You know the Imperius Cruse, right? Moody showed it to you?"
After my question, Hermione's eyes widened slightly.
"That's a dark spell! Of course, I haven't studied it..."
I raised my eyebrow and heard Rias' laughter; she realized she was saying this to the wrong audience.
"I'm just curious to feel the effects of that spell on myself. Theoretically, it shouldn't control me."
I said.
"So, could you cast it on me?"
I asked her.
"What⁈ No! What a stupid idea! How did that even cross your mind⁈"
Hermione exclaimed while waving her hands expressively with her gaze clearly conveying, "Is there something wrong with your head?"
"Hermione... only you here can use that spell, and I need to know how mind control magic would work on me."
I requested while grabbing her hand and gently running my hand over it causing Hermione to blush.
"Well, if you don't want to, then fine."
I abruptly let go of her as if nothing had happened. I was almost certain it wouldn't work on me anyway, so no big loss.
"Let me activate your auras then. Erina, are you okay with that?"
"I'm fine with it."
Erina allowed me to do it, but she took a step back when I approached her closely.
"W-what?"
"I need to touch you."
I told her and still placed my hands on her shoulders causing her to flinch and stand still.
I immediately started infusing her with my aura, and within a minute, her own golden aura began to glow around her.
"How do you feel?"
"Good... very good. So, how do you usually feel?"
Erina asked while observing this golden light.
"An aura is the embodiment of the soul, the strength of your soul and its reflection in reality. So, your soul is very beautiful, just like you, but I didn't expect anything less."
I said it somewhat meaningfully.
"Hermione, are you ready?"
I approached her and placed my hands on her shoulders, and Hermione nodded hesitantly.
I infused her with my aura a bit longer than Erina, and her aura had a bluish tint.
It was already getting late, so I didn't stay too long with them since even Hermione and Erina wanted to sleep after all they had been through.
But before going to bed, I decided to play some Gacha. After all, I still had some points left.
Gacha Points: 73
I could easily spin it ten times with an increased chance of getting some good items.
Last time, I stopped after getting Albedo because I thought it would be better not to push my luck too far, but now I was in a different world and in a relatively good mood, so I was ready to try again.
Without much thought, I spun it ten times...
Lightbulb (E)
Azari Form (D)
Fish Bone (E)
Compass (E)
Diamond (D)
Unicorn Eye (C)
Luck Boost Card (A)
00 Spider OZ (C)
Lip Rolling Machine (C)
Toothpaste (E)
"Well, I'm not sure if I got lucky or not."
I remarked, looking at the lip sealer machine. However, the Luck Boost Card is quite good.
It increases my luck for ten minutes, which is not bad at all, so I'll use it in the next Gacha spin.
00 Spider OZ is also interesting, but it's pretty useless for me with my physique. However, it'll be useful for studying in my own world.
The next morning, I was called for a conversation with James who was still in good spirits.
James informed me that he would stay here for another day, and their Airship would return to Atlas, while we would return to our world tomorrow.
He also didn't hesitate to give me Dust and had already prepared it for me, but I asked him to leave it for now, and I'd pick it up later.
Before that happened, I decided to fulfill my promise to Weiss.
I wasn't deceiving myself even after everything that happened.
After all, James is still a general, so we would have another conversation about Salem.
I'm more than sure of that. James wouldn't trust me immediately even though my help was important.
"Are you sure you want to come with us?"
I asked my group, and they expressed their desire to accompany me to Patch Island where Weiss's friend currently lives.
"Yeah, it's boring here."
Shinoa nodded while Rias repeated that there was nothing to do here, and she could read on the way.
"I felt awkward asking for access to the kitchen here..."
Erina hesitated with her answer.
"Understood. And Hermione, do you just want to come along with everyone?"
I looked at her, and she tried not to meet my gaze.
"...I said no!"
We heard Weiss shout, and soon she appeared by the Bullhead with a slightly angry expression on her face.
"Uh, sorry, it's a family thing."
Weiss said calmly.
"It's okay, I can understand. I also had a really horrible relative."
I said it sympathetically.
"Really?"
Weiss looked at me.
"Yeah, my brother was quite the jerk. He was a big asshole, and if I ever got in the way of his business, he would've gotten rid of me."
I said, telling the plain truth because that's how it was.
"Oh god..."
Hermione covered her mouth with her hand quietly.
"A-and how did you deal with it?"
Weiss asked clearly interested.
"Well, I have a sister who helped me a lot. Then my brother died, and his assets passed to us."
I shrugged.
"Let's go in; we need to help your friend.
I reminded her.
'I don't even know if I'm helping her because I'm so kind or because they're the main characters of this world...'
...
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