VS Sandstar Raw, Part 3
"Whad a relief noda… It's sherioushly relieving noda…"
After a short while, the stone's cerulean glint disappeared after all of Sandstar Raw in Serval's body had been transferred to it, Professor deeming the process successful. Gray Wolf and African Wild Dog stepped away, with Serval slowly opening her eyes and then getting up. Her appearance, with apologetically lowered ears and apologizing with a bitter smile, was undoubtedly that of Serval. While Kaban had been shedding tears as she was overcome with emotions, Common Raccoon's face was drenched in tears and mucus.
"Kaban, you need to cover up Serval's wound, absolutely."
Common Raccoon observed Kaban as she held back her tears. Professor handed her a box different from the one that had Celliens' stones in it, as well as a thin cylinder.
"What is…?"
[That would be a first-aid kit. It contains tools for the emergency treatment of wounds. The included booklet tells you simple treatment instructions.]
Boss explained it in Professor's stead, as Kaban stared at the box she had received.
"Although we were able to absorb the Sandstar Raw within her body, leaving the wound exposed like that will let Sandstar Raw seep in again. To avoid contact with the air, covering the wound is paramount."
Professor slapped her own arm, and then continued.
"While we can certainly rely on Sandstar for it, our bodies still have their own natural healing. Although it takes time, our wounds can heal without Sandstar."
"I see. I'll try."
Having asked Serval to take a seat, Kaban took out a tool referred to as gauze from the first-aid kit as she read through the first-aid manual. While looking over how to apply bandages, Kaban saw from the corner of her eye as Serval observed the tool that she had never seen before with great interest. Gray Wolf and African Wild Dog, who were next to them, were lying on the floor from exhaustion.
"Uhh… Something like this, I think."
Having read through the manual, Kaban took a hold of Serval's arm and skillfully wrapped a bandage around it. Watching the sight of her wound getting concealed with the quick coiling, Serval's tail swung.
"To be able to perform something after seeing it just once… As expected, a Human's dexterity and learning ability are great. Perhaps thanks to her becoming a Friend, a human's learning ability has been further exemplified."
"Ahaha…"
While Kaban returned the smile back at Professor who stared at her as if she were a test subject, she finished bandaging the wound.
"Now… Some tool to cut this…"
While Kaban was rummaging through the first-aid kit looking for a usable tool wondering how to cut the excess bandage, Serval hooked the excess bandage with her fingers and cut through it with her claws.
"Thank you, Kaban-chan." Serval thanked Kaban with a gentle smile.
As if to hide the claws that she used to cut the bandage, she curled her fingers and turned her hand towards her body.
|Amaaazing! The wound isn't visible now! Common Raccoon, look! Isn't it great!?|
|Even if I wasn't humanized, I could still cut through things like that with my prided claws!|
Kaban, who was expecting those sorts of words, was unable to return a "you're welcome" to Serval, after she had hurriedly stood up from the chair.
Usually, Serval would become very excited when seeing or experiencing something unusual. Usually, she would triumphantly boast about her prided claws, not hiding their magnificence. Kaban's heart ached as Serval was still different than normal, even though the Sandstar Raw has been siphoned out.
"The Cellien Stone's effect was immediate. Because we are so smart, we've researched this topic beforehand for times like these."
"Wasn't it just a guess though~?"
Regardless of whether or not she was aware of Kaban's emotions, Fennec stared at Professor with eyes wide open, as the latter was collecting the stones scattered around the floor as she slightly exaggerated her importance.
"I won't lend you the stones for saying those things."
"How troublesome~"
Although she said that, Professor gave out small Cellien crystals to everyone present.
"In any case, I'll be lending out 'Talisman Stones' to all of you. Keep them close to yourselves. If you ever feel that you're getting contaminated by Sandstar Raw, use it immediately."
"Never would've thought that Celliens, our natural enemies, would be our 'Talismans'..."
"Will we be able to… get Brown Bear-san and the others with these stones…?"
Next to Gray Wolf, who made an indescribable face, stood African Wild Dog, as she clasped at the stone with a sparkle of hope in her eyes. However, Professor frowned.
"While I certainly believe that some Friends could be returned to sanity like Serval… In the case of Friends who completely fell into Instinctive Frenzy, I don't think that they'll obediently let you drain it out of them, unfortunately."
"Yeah… Although I don't remember it quite well, it was incredibly painful when that stone was pressed against me, so much so that I wanted to run away…"
Hearing about Serval's state from the person in question, Professor clenched her tiny hands.
"In order to restore the sanity of Friends in a state of Instinctive Frenzy, would restricting them like Serval work…? Although it may be a bit brutal, if you don't immobilize them by making them unconscious, they will violently resist from distress."
At this moment, Professor's expression became grim.
"Don't forget that those amulet stones are Celliens' stones. If they absorb too much Sandstar Raw, the stones will turn into Celliens. As for their amount, we hardly have any extras."
"T-That's…" African Wild Dog was discouraged.
Professor held an amulet stone between her fingers and lightly shook it.
"...This is just for relief. Since the spike in the concentration of Sandstar Raw after that storm is temporary, we have to endure until Sandstar overtakes it again, and perhaps it will settle down Instinctive Frenzies too. However, if for some reason Sandstar Raw continues to overflow throughout the park, then there will be nowhere for us to hide."
"That's because we already consume Sandstar within our bodies, even when living normally, right~?"
Fennec put her Amulet Stone into the small sack-like thing on the chest area of her fur (according to Kaban, those were called clothes) that could hold small objects.
"Correct. While continuing to consume regular Sandstar, even if you avoid absorbing large quantities of Sandstar Raw due to injuries, it'll still slowly accumulate as you breathe or eat ―― Soon enough, everyone will fall into Instinctive Frenzy."
"Th-This is the park's crisis nanoda… What should we do noda…!?"
Nobody answered Common Raccoon's question.
Painful silence befell the Library.
Hello, this is PoGu. We're now about 25% done with the main story.
Anyway, since FF doesn't like any kind of link anywhere, I'll instead leave directions on how to find the original work.
First method is to search for "「けもの」の本能" and find the link that leads you to a Japanese site called "kakuyomu".
Alternatively, you can go to the kakuyomu site and add "/works/1177354054882921926" to the domain.
