The nun, who had donned her coat, rarely stepped outside the doors of the sanitarium. After walking out of that portal which walled off the cold, it was as if she had crossed a natural chasm and arrived in a world of suffering and chaos.
Few people could be seen on the bleak streets. In weather cold enough to freeze a person to death, no mindless fool would go scurrying about the main streets in their tattered clothes, only to trip into a gutter and shiver in the filthy, foul-smelling sewage.
The reason the nun chose to go out at a time like this was to see if there were still people who needed the sanitarium's help.
Neither the sanitarium nor the nun could help everyone, but as long as someone came to the sanitarium to seek aid, they would do their best to help. Those who truly could not survive on their own would be taken in and cared for within the sanitarium.
In the Sundown Alley, there were also children whose parents had died young and who had no way of living on their own; they were the most likely to perish during the winter cold snaps. Most of the children in the sanitarium, including Kalpas, had been picked up by the nun.
In the poorly secured Sundown Alley, traveling alone was somewhat dangerous. However, the nun was an exception. This was not only because of the conventional wisdom in Sundown Alley to never lay a hand on the sanitarium or the nun—after all, no one could predict if they might one day need the sanitarium's help—but also...
"Hmm?"
The nun heard what sounded like a commotion in an alleyway. As she walked closer to look, she found "work" proceeding as normal inside.
Several men were facing off against a masked man. Judging from their positions, they were blocking the man's path. Their thuggish expressions were a skill learned without a teacher on the streets of Sundown Alley, while the man merely watched with cold eyes amidst their pushiness.
"W-we won't make things difficult for you. Just hand over your clothes and money; that ridiculous mask of yours isn't needed." The leader shrank his neck, shivering from the cold wind. Seeing the warm clothes on the man's body, he couldn't help but reveal a greedy look in his eyes.
Sometimes, money was actually not the most important thing.
"You look like a fresh face. You must be new to Sundown Alley and don't know the rules." A person echoing from the side shouted with blustering bravado at the masked man, who had his hands in his pockets. "We're teaching you how to walk the path in Sundown Alley! Learn your lesson so you won't be so flashy in the future!"
This did not look like a robbery, because the momentum between the side committing the robbery and the side being robbed was worlds apart. The man remained silent from beginning to end, a solemn aura surrounding him, while the robbers were at their wits' end. Their dry lips, purple and cracked from the frost, and fingers as thin as bamboo stalks made them look like stalks of wheat about to be blown over by the next gust of cold wind.
Just as the men grew increasingly anxious and the deathly stillness in their eyes grew heavier, the man withdrew his cold gaze and reached his hand toward his clothes...
"You all..."
A cool, quiet voice drifted between them. The robbers turned around in a panic to see the nun standing at the entrance of the alley.
The nun looked them and the man over. After the man saw her, he lowered his head without a word.
Sigh...
There were always such things.
People with nowhere left to turn hurting others, and then turning those others into people with nowhere left to turn just like themselves; it was a vicious cycle.
She would prevent the weak from being harmed, and this time was no different.
"If you need help, you can go to the sanitarium and find the porters there to distribute some simple clothing to you, or if you have nowhere to go, you can stay at the sanitarium for the time being." The nun's voice was very gentle. This was her innate ability, to easily persuade others and soothe their emotions. "Even if you manage to get one coat, you won't be able to divide it, will you?"
The men looked at each other and involuntarily swallowed hard. Being residents of Sundown Alley, they naturally understood what the nun's status signified.
Could they really receive help by going to the sanitarium?
After some hesitation, the first person tiptoed past the nun and then beckoned to the others to walk toward the sanitarium. The others hurriedly followed. At that moment, the nun suddenly called out to the youth walking at the very back.
He was the youngest of the group. His boyish face was covered in grime, and his thin clothes left his skin deathly pale without a trace of color.
The nun took off her own coat and draped it over his shoulders. The youth froze for a moment, then was led away by the hand, staring blankly, as his companions pulled him along.
Perhaps this was just a minor act of assistance, but the nun still hoped she could help these people, this youth, get on the right track from then on.
The environment might not necessarily force a person to become a bad person, but it certainly makes it impossible for one to be a good person.
Suddenly, only the nun and the man remained standing in the alley.
White snow fell upon the nun's shoulders and veil. She pursed her lips. Ice crystals melted on her collarbone, which was not covered by clothing; her snow-white skin appeared even more crystalline and translucent, and it caused her body to tremble slightly.
The man had watched the entire process in silence. He did not leave immediately but instead gazed at the nun with calm black pupils from behind that comical mask.
"If I hadn't come... what would Mr. Ultraman have done?"
The nun looked at the man. Between them was a long, narrow passageway. She stood in the snow, while he stood in the shadows.
The man seemed to be someone who disliked speaking; most of the time, he responded with silence.
Seeing that he remained silent, the nun couldn't help but show disappointment in her eyes. Just as she was planning to leave, the man spoke: "The sanitarium's resources are not enough to support that many people. What do you plan to do?"
Currently, the sanitarium was maintaining a very precarious level. Most people lacked the ability to work. The imbalance between income and expenses meant that the thin savings accumulated over several years were being constantly consumed. Continuing to take others in at this time would only exacerbate the sanitarium's "illness."
It was foreseeable that when that time came, the sanitarium might suffer a catastrophic collapse.
"..." The nun was also seriously considering a countermeasure at this moment. The cold snap had dragged many people down; would the sanitarium be next?
It was getting colder and colder.
Both the body, and...
Suddenly, a garment still carrying body heat was draped over her. The nun looked up blankly, seeing a mask like a duck egg with only whites and no pupils.
It was a black overcoat. No wonder those men had their eyes on it; it was indeed very warm, able to wrap around most of the nun's body and shield her from the piercing cold air.
"Mr. Ultraman?"
"Go back," the man said indifferently.
After giving the overcoat to the nun, he was left in only a thin long-sleeved shirt, yet he stood firm as if he could not feel the cold at all.
Just as the nun was about to speak, the man had already turned and walked into the alley; when she looked again, he was gone.
...
The man returned to his stronghold. He had rummaged through the things left by the Chairman yesterday and, as expected, found several reply letters from the sanitarium.
After taking these letters out and reading them carefully, he sat at the table and picked up a pen...
Today, he understood what the "conspiracy" of that person sponsoring the sanitarium back then was.
A simple...