Read Black Bullet, Vol. 1: Those Who Would Be Gods for Free Online Page B

biohazard alarm didn’t go off, either.”
    The single-factor Gastrea that Rentaro had defeated was just a scaled-up version of an animal on Earth, so it was still almost cute. With two or more factors, and especially with four or more, the DNA was so mixed up that the resulting Gastrea could only be called a monster.
    For Gastrea in Stages One through Four, as their stage numbers increased, their strength rose exponentially. So even though the employees of the various civsec companies were by no means friends, if they were in a situation they felt was more than they could handle, they would work together to exterminate it. Because there was no request for help, the source Gastrea must have been easily exterminated.
    Dropping her gaze to the computer display, Kisara rejected Rentaro’s opinion. “There are no reports to that effect, or any eyewitness reports at all.”
    “What?” said Rentaro.
    Kisara turned her laptop 180 degrees. On the screen was a map. It was from the civil officer agency website, and it showed where there had been fights with and sightings of the Gastrea over the past ninety days.
    “This is…” Rentaro scowled and looked at Kisara, who nodded slowly.
    “There aren’t any reports, are there?” she said.
    “But there’s no way there wasn’t a single eyewitness report of a source, right?”
    “There isn’t one here.” Kisara brushed back her hair and looked at him provocatively with upturned eyes.
    Rentaro narrowed his eyes and looked at the map and the words on the website again. “Why isn’t the government sending out a warning to the whole region? This is a serious matter.”
    “Satomi, the government is not incompetent, but they hardly ever use coercive means like evacuation orders, so there’s no point in getting your hopes up. I mean, that’s why we civil officers exist.”
    It really is a terrible job
, he thought, clucking his tongue. He shook his head lightly. “I need an expert opinion on this. I’ll go talk to Doc after this.”
    “I’ll also try asking other civil officers indirectly about it. We’ll be hunting the remaining source, too, as soon as possible.”
    “Roger.”
    Kisara lowered her beautiful eyelashes and sipped her tea. Rentaro looked sideways at his boss with respect. No matter what she said, she understood that human lives needed to be put first.
    Having no way of knowing Rentaro’s inner thoughts, Kisara finished working on her computer and closed it, clasping her hands together and stretching. Rentaro could hear her back cracking satisfyingly. He noticed that he was accidentally looking at her generous chest pushing up her sailor school uniform and hurriedly averted his gaze.
    “Oh, come to think of it, where’s Enju?” asked Kisara.
    “Huh?” said Rentaro. “Oh, she said she was getting sleepy, so I took her home first. If you’re going home soon, I can walk you partway.”
    “Sorry, I have hemodialysis today, so I have to go to the hospital.”
    “Oh yeah, I forgot.”
    Taking a sip of the half-cooled tea, she surveyed the inside of the office. Rentaro followed her gaze. The reception area furniture for meeting with clients faced the plain desk used by the only employees, Rentaro and Enju. Because there were times when they had to stay overnight, there was also a small kitchen to cook in, hidden behind a curtain. It was shabby and cramped and cold in the winter. It wasn’t comfortable by any standard, but strangely enough, she didn’t hate it.
    “It’s been almost a year, hasn’t it?” she said. “Since you became a Promoter and met Enju.”
    “It’s
only
been a year,” he replied. “We’re still not even halfway to our goal.”
    Kisara tilted her head slightly to the side and smiled. “Satomi, you really have changed since you met Enju. You’ve started to smile more, and you can cook now. I never would have imagined you could turn out this way.”
    Rentaro turned his head sulkily. “I’m not
that
different.”
    “Hey,