Kaito brought the little girl back to the villa. First, he searched the villa for any suitable clothes to wear. Eventually, he found a dress, cut part of it, and took her downstairs.
Since Misuzu and the others were still bathing and wouldn't be out for a while, Kaito spent the time talking with the little girl.
He tried his best to gently coax her story out.
"So that's how it was..."
After half an hour of questioning, Kaito learned about her situation.
Her name was Shinshui. (T/N: Her name is actually Shinshui, but I changed it to a Japanese one to make it sound better?'
She had lived in a villa nearby.
Her family had been surviving in the shelter below, but a week ago, outsiders suddenly tried to breach their shelter.
Apparently, several shelters had been discovered, and everyone inside was captured, along with all their supplies.
Her family met the same fate.
Her father was taken away, and her mother committed suicide on the spot to avoid being taken...
Shinshui, who had been hiding under a very inconspicuous bed, narrowly escaped the disaster.
Their main focus was capturing labor and scavenging supplies, and they seemed to be in a hurry.
Because of this, her shelter wasn't thoroughly searched; they took all the supplies and left.
Later, other shelters that had also narrowly escaped fled the area with their supplies, which explained why Kaito's shelter was empty.
If nothing unexpected happened, it was probably the work of the Wuming City Commercial Union. However, since someone was watching them, they had to come and go in a hurry.
As for the people from the other shelters, they must have gone to the official faction.
Surviving alone was no longer possible.
It was already quite an achievement to have lasted this long for the past six months.
The abandoned Shinshui, scared, had also hidden in the shelter, surviving on the remaining food and water that hadn't been taken. She only came out today because she was too hungry.
Her mother's body was buried by her alone in the villa's garden, which was why she was so dirty.
"Oh? Kaito, who is this little girl?"
"Hmm, I rescued her outside."
Kaito introduced Shinshui. As expected, many of the ladies felt pity for her.
Naturally, this also created a new problem: what would happen to her after they left in a month?
Kaito helplessly shrugged. After mentioning she was the key figure for the hidden mission, they decided to let it be for now and take things one step at a time.
"Come... let me take you to take a bath!"
"No, no need. Just wiping down with water is fine... I don't want to waste water."
Look at how sensible this little girl was.
Nevertheless, Kaito led her to the bathroom.
It had to be said, this bathroom, where over a dozen women had bathed earlier, was filled with a pleasant fragrance.
The water in the tub... was naturally clean. Kie had slowly filled it using her ability, which was why it took so long.
Now, after bathing, Kie was resting, feeling mentally exhausted.
By the way, after absorbing the energy from the crystals, the water in the tub would become ordinary water. It was a form of recycling.
Naturally, some ladies felt a bit embarrassed, as the water they had bathed in would be used for Kaito's bath...
But there was no choice. There was only so much water, and Kie was already exhausted!
"Come, let me help you undress."
Shinshui was a bit shy, but Kaito had no particular interest in her.
After taking off her clothes, Kaito used a ladle to clean her body. She shyly scrubbed off the dirt herself.
After also washing her hair, Kaito finally took off his own clothes, quickly cleaned himself, and stepped into the bathtub.
"Do you know about crystals?"
"Yes... I know."
"Have you ever used any?"
"I-I've only used a few..."
"I see."
Nodding slightly, Kaito placed three third-grade crystals and seventeen second-grade crystals into the bathtub.
Even though this would halve the attribute enhancement for himself, Kaito was gambling.
He was betting that Shinshui, as the key figure for the hidden mission, might awaken an ability after receiving attribute enhancements.
Shinshui naturally didn't want to soak for so long, but under Kaito's insistence, she quietly sat in the bathtub, chatting with him intermittently.
...
Surprise!
During their fifth soak (the last one), Shinshui's body suddenly heated up. Even though the water was cold, her body temperature rose to the point of a dangerously high fever.
Kaito, concerned, walked over and hugged her, also trying to keep her conscious and not let her fall asleep.
After her body temperature slowly cooled down, Kaito realized that the large bathtub's water had been heated by her alone, reaching at least 40 degrees.
"Big brother... I think... I got the superpower big brother mentioned?"
"Shinshui, try to sense it now. See what ability you got!"
Shinshui couldn't quite sense it, but she definitely felt a new power within her.
After Kaito helped her practice using it, she finally revealed her superpower.
It was a dual ability.
The first ability was light, capable of attack, healing, and purification.
What kind of purification? That needed further study, but it was definitely healing.
The second ability was nature; she could control plants, trees. As long as she had a seed, she could make it grow rapidly!
These two abilities...
How to put it?
Born to be a protagonist!?
After all, the first ability alone was powerful: attack, heal, and purification! That was practically holy light!!
The second ability could be compared to Wood Release or the nature power of some deities.
Thinking she was the key figure for the hidden mission, maybe she would contribute significantly to saving this world in the future.
"Big brother... I'm so sleepy..."
"Hehe, you've worked hard. I'll take you to rest!"
After putting her in the shortened dress, Kaito carried her to one of the bedrooms to sleep.
There was no need to worry about the bedding; it had been changed with new ones found from a department store warehouse when they returned with the armored vehicle earlier.
Ding—
[Congratulations! Hidden mission progress advanced. Current distance to completion: 80% remaining.]
[For subsequent exploration, please discover it on your own!]
'Just as I thought...'
'It seems investing those crystals in her was the right move!'