Irie: "Thank you for waiting, Furude-san. We've just finished the last of today's exam. She should be back shortly."
Rika's dad: "Do you really think that my daughter can be of any help for the village...?"
Irie: "Of course, sir! Not only that, Rika-san's cooperation will make her the savior of this village. Thanks to her, we're finally able to find a way to treat this disease. We're currently trying to figure out how the system works. Just as we had expected, we did find data that Rika-san is indeed a vital existence to the villagers. Right now, it is very difficult to stabilize a patient who've reached the highest stage of the disease. However, whenever the main carrier approaches a patient, certain chemicals are transmitted within the cerebral cortex. These chemicals are able to stabilize that patient's symptoms, and may even provide a possible treatment to control such stages' symptoms toward recovery."
Rika's dad: "Really. ...Rika really has that power..."
Takano: "*chuckle chuckle* I don't think you should be that surprised, sir. The local mythology says that the Furude priestesses has divine powers enabling them to calm the hearts and souls of the devils. Even if we didn't try to clarify this scientifically, the long village history shows that such was the case."
Irie: "Yes. ...There are times that I become very impressed at the wiseness of some people back then."
Rika: "....Mi--. I'm finished with all the tests."
Rika's dad: "Good job, Rika. You must be tired. Here, why don't you go buy something to drink for yourself with this."
Rika: "....Mi~! They took so much blood from me so I need to refill"
Rika received a hundred-yen coin from the priest and dashed into the hallway.
Irie: "...This is all thanks to Rika-san's cooperation. All of this would never have been possible without her devoted support."
Rika's dad: "Rika was really worried that her best friend might be infected with this disease, so she insisted in cooperating to help her. ...I implore to you, please help this village for her sake."
Irie: "Of course. We are honored to have you two come here every Sunday despite your valuable time. We promise you that we will find an effective result from all of this. ...We may need to have Rika-san undergo some further intensive tests, so it is us that must bow our heads for your permission."
Takano: "We vow that we will not cause any harm to her. She is a very valuable person. ...*chuckle*...I mean, she's the reincarnation of the Oyashiro-sama, isn't she?"
Rika's dad: "....I wonder how the ancient residents of this village came to know about this disease, and find out that the Furude family had the main carrier's blood to control this... It further reinforced how we should respect our ancestors..."
Irie: "...And, this is very hard to say but...we want to ask for your permission to conduct a very difficult test. ...We need to extract some of her cerebrospinal fluid. And...based on results from that test...we may need to trepanate her in order to conduct some test on her cerebral cortex..."
Rika's dad: "....Y...You want to drill a hole in her skull to check on her brain..?"
Irie: "Of course, we'll conduct this with the maximum level of safety. Rika-san is the sole living main carrier. We promise that we will not cause any harm to her, and we will submit an extensive proposal on how to carry this test with the highest level of medical safety."
Takano: "And Rika-chan is a girl. We'll carefully set her hair aside where the trepanation will take place, so her head doesn't need to be shaved bald. However, we will need to have her stay in the hospital for a few weeks to check up on her post-surgery effects."
Irie: "And of course, we will not deny you from visiting her too. In fact, we would like to ask you to be at her side during the operation. Rika-san would feel much more relax if she knows that her dad is nearby."
Rika's dad: "..........Is this inspection, really necessary...and is it absolutely safe?"
Irie: "Unfortunately we cannot say for certain that both the cerebral spinal fluid extraction and trepanation process is 100% safe. There is always at least a 1% chance of danger. And Rika-san might experience some physical and mental pain as a result of this. ....Even if these tests are very important...we cannot carry them out without parental consent."
Rika's dad: ".............."
Takano: "I've already explained these to Rika-chan."
Rika's dad: "...And what did Rika say?"
Takano: "She simply just said, 'I don't mind' *chuckle chuckle*"
Irie: "...We've explained to her the dangers and the pains that may come out of these procedures. However, we still need to ask the permission of her parents before we are allowed to move foward with this."
Rika's dad: "....Rika sometimes tend to believe that she really is the reincarnation of the Oyashiro-sama. ...Hence, she might have a sense of duty that if something in her body has the cure to save the village, she's willing to submit her own body in order to do so."
Irie: "....We sincerely believe she is a very noble child."
Rika's dad: "Can I have a couple of days to discuss this with my wife? I'm certain that she'll allow the procedure, but...the tests are rather intensive so I can't keep her out of the loop on this."
Irie: "Yes, of course. We also believe that both parental consent is necessary for such an operation. Please discuss these matters carefully and thoroughly."
Rika's dad: "And these test have a very vital role in eradicating this disease, right...?"
Irie: "Yes. It will undoubtebly be significant in unveiling the mystery about the Hinamizawa Syndrome"
Takano: "A very significant step."
Takano: "...As stated before, ...should something happen to the main carrier, there is a very high possibilty that an extremely disasterous effect will over run the affected community. ...To say it bluntly, the entire village will succumb to the terminal stages of the syndrome."
Irie: "That's right. The mean span time of the acute symptoms to arise shows us that all the infected populace will yield into the terminal stages within 48 hours of the main carrier's death. We must take extra precaution in order to prevent such a thing from happenning."
Rika's Dad: "...Should Rika die, ...all the villagers would start to go mad, unleashing unspeakable horror..."
Irie: "Exactly. And it is our duty to prevent that. It is ironic that we have to do such a dangerous stunt to do so but, ...it is a unavoidable path that we must take if we are to eradicate this disease."
Rika's Dad: "...Dr. Irie. ...Will you promise me to carry this exam successfully...?"
Takano: "Like he said, there is no 100% in medical.."
Irie: "Yes I promise"
Irie said in a serious tone as he interrupted Takano's ambiguous explanation.
Irie: "I, Irie Kyosuke swear to my own life that I will certainly save Rika-san and the entire village."
Rika's Dad: "...Thank you. Please let me explain this to my wife. ...I will bring you our answer as soon as possible."
Irie: "Yes. Thank you for your understanding."
Takano: "*chuckle chuckle chuckle* Ahahahahahahaha...."
As soon as Rika and her father left, Takano suddenly burst into eerie laughter.
Irie: "What happened? Did something funny just happen...?"
Takano: "*chuckle chuckle*... Oh no, no. ...It was just so amusing to see you asking permission to the patient and her parents."
Irie: "...We've been subjecting Rika-chan to much emotional pain because of all this. We must provide them with at least such a courtesy for doing so. ...If I had a chance and he had normal consciousness, I would've also seeked permission to that man we've operated on last year."
Takano: "Director Irie, I think you are trying to repent your past guilts ever since you started this whole reasearch."
Irie: "....What do you mean by that?"
Takano's skepticism isn't all that unusual...Irie felt an unusual sense of unease by her remark.
Takano: "The research of the Hinamizawa Syndrome requires us to dissect and analyze a living patient. Yet, even though you know that, you feel a stronger sense of guilt as you advance your research."
Irie: "...Guilt is necessary. Whether it is murder or by dissection, we essentially put the person to a premature eternal sleep. It is our duty to carry that guilt on our backs and do everything that we can, so that his death was not in vain."
Takano: "What a speech. *chuckle chuckle*. ....Then may I ask, Director Irie? Can you tell me, in the past, how many patients have you asked consent before you cut off a piece of their brain?"
Irie: ".......u."
...Irie was taken aback since he thought his past was undisclosed to Takano.
Takano: "You blindly believed that the cause of human crimes were all due to a disease in the prefrontal cortex. So tell me, how many patients did you ask for consent before you performed lobotomy on them? *chuckle chuckle*"
Irie: "....that was,"
Takano: "Common sense changes with time. Back then, doctors did not have to provide their patients the nature of their treatments, and asking for consent was practically unheard of. So why bother to feel any guilt? Sure, it's this huge moral thing right now, but back then it wasn't a big deal. So who cares? *chuckle chuckle* ...But still, you felt guilt so you wanted to ask for consent to Rika, and even that murderer?"
Irie: "That is not true...Besides, treatment and dissection is different..."
Takano: "Hey, boy. All you want is an indulgence called "consent." Am I right? You desire to get an indulgence so that you can deceive your past by repenting your wrong-doings. If you feel a least bit of remorse, the answer is simple - leave the field of neurology. Yet, you repent and repent but still cannot give up the world dealing with brains. If you really felt guilty, why did you agree to take on the role of heading this place? I'm talking to you, boy?"
Irie: "....I am very frustrated. May I be excused?"
Takano: "Listen. The world of medicine is built upon through fighting against morals and views of their respective eras. Back when Dr. Takano hypothesized the existence of the Hinamizawa Syndrome, the men in power laughed at him without seeing the potential of his research. He, however, continued to conduct his own research alone to the very end. He believed strongly that his work will one day be appreciated! Such an achievement can only be accomplished through faithful conviction and a will strong as steel. Without them, Dr. Takano would've succumbed to the unsympathetic age he lived in. Research is built with strong will. Only the strongest of those will present results! But you, lack that. You are just a coward who can't even decide whether your own achievements are to be proud of or to be ashamed of. And to think how dare you agree to becoming the director of this facility...! You knew from the start that this research requires you to sink your blood-stained hands into a much deeper pool of blood!!"
Irie: "........I do not deny it. I guess I'm just half-hearted."
Takano: "Then why not resign from your post as director? Sure you may have to continue vow secrecy, but at least you won't have such guilty feelings running around inside your head anymore. From my standpoint, you being my partner is just a sham. You're nothing but my pawn to carry out my research that my clients requested. With this facility up and running, your existence here is not that important. ...And if you don't have the guts to carry out the research and if you are useless as my partner, then heck you are needed here anymore. On the other hand, I'll continue to do this research all by myself. I'm not scared of any guilt or repent. Only the strongest of the will prevents such a future. ...Just like Dr. Takano built his achievements through his will, I vow to carry this out to the very end...!"
Irie: "....I admire your resolve. ...However, even if I am not to your expectations, I still have my own resolve in being here. ...And as you stated, my hands have been already stained in blood. Those hands were further stained since I came to Hinamizawa. ...Hence I will not back down until I have finished my responsibility. ...Yes I may still be bogged down with guilt as time passes. But, I will not run away. ...I will finish my research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome. I believe that doing so is the only way I can repay those who have lost their lives in the name of research."
A sign of strong resolve was shown on Irie's expression, in stark contrast to the confusion that was seen just a few moments ago.
After a moment of silence, Irie countered back.
Irie: "...I'm sure that Rika-chan's exam will be approved. Please get the test ready."
Takano: "Sure. ....Director."
The approval consent was given by next week.