–+–
The afternoon sun had softened from its noon glare, slanting across the signs of Sixth Street.
Sandrone stood at the entrance of the video store.
She looked down at her phone, then up at the closed door.
“…Didn’t we say two o’clock?”
The words had just left her mouth when the shop door slid open with a whoosh.
Belle poked half her head out.
Her hair stuck up even more than it had at noon, and her eyes were still heavy with sleep.
One look was enough to tell she’d just woken up and had only dragged a hand through her hair.
“Here, here! Sorry, sorry. My alarm messed up. It didn’t go off!”
Wise came out behind her, holding Eous in his arms, his face full of helplessness.
“I called you eight times. You were the one who wouldn’t get out of bed…”
“Bro! Leave me some dignity!” Belle’s face went red at once.
“Sorry about that,” Wise said to Sandrone.
“Let’s go.”
He turned back and reminded her, “Wake yourself up, Belle. I’ll drive them to the Hollow.”
“I know, Bro.” Belle rubbed her face hard.
“See you in a bit, then.”
Sandrone watched Belle for a moment, then glanced at Columbina in silence.
She took Columbina’s hand and followed Wise.
–+–
For Belle, the next half day was likely the most dreamlike and unreal Hollow exploration of her whole career.
Back when she guided clients, if it wasn’t a pure combat commission, entering a Hollow felt like guerrilla warfare.
If they could go around, they went around.
If they could hide, they hid.
If they had no choice, they fought through with gritted teeth, then pulled out fast, afraid more Ethereals would gather.
Now?
“Whoosh—BOOM!”
Smoke and dust scattered.
The energy signatures of seven or eight Ethereals blinked out on the screen all at once, neat and clean, not a single one left.
Belle sat in her chair and gave a lazy stretch.
So this was the world of the strong?
She’d never had such a wonderful exploration before.
They were mowing straight through everything!
Of course, it might also be because this was a Companion Hollow, and there weren’t many high-ranking Ethereals inside.
(T/N: This is technically the Fourteenth Street Hollow, but since it technically doesn’t have an official name, you can also consider it the Cretan Hollow, since the Fourteenth Street Hollow is a Companion Hollow to the Cretan Hollow)
Still, this kind of experience was rare.
“Let’s go! Keep moving!” Eous waved its little hand up ahead.
Anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought it was a tour-guide Bangboo.
The next few hours went much the same.
Columbina walked in front.
If there was a wall, she climbed over it.
If there were monsters, she cleared them out.
She hummed some nameless tune, and her movements were so light and casual that she looked like she was strolling through her own backyard. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
Belle watched the contrast between that slender figure and the hundreds of pounds of heavy objects for the whole afternoon, but she still couldn’t fully get used to it.
Sandrone stayed beside Columbina the whole time, hand in hand with her, always alert to their surroundings.
–+–
They found the second part in the basement of an abandoned storefront.
It was another red-and-white box with the exact same colors, and another clown mask that looked exactly the same.
This kind of visual paradox, where something was right in the open yet no one noticed it, felt wrong no matter how many times you saw it.
Only this box was even bigger than the last one.
“Let’s go. We’ll send the box back first.” Looking at the large box floating beside Columbina, Belle had already stopped being surprised.
“At this rate, Bro’s driving skills are gonna improve by leaps and bounds over the next few days!” Belle joked over the comms.
“Um…” Wise’s worried voice came through the channel.
“I should remind you that our little van’s trunk might not fit a box that big…”
“…Can we put it on the roof?” Sandrone asked with a slight frown.
“We don’t have any rope in the car to secure it…”
“It’s fine. Leave it to Columbina.” Sandrone nodded.
–+–
Over the next two days…
The third.
The fourth.
Every time they found one, Wise had to serve as porter once more, driving back and forth between the Hollow and Sixth Street.
As the scattered boxes were found one by one, Sandrone relaxed in a way they could see with the naked eye.
The spikes she had raised at first after coming to this strange world were worn down bit by bit through smooth teamwork and simple boxed meals.
Their relationship also grew closer during the exploration.
–+–
On the way to the fifth part, they passed through a fairly open corridor.
There were few traces of Ethereal activity nearby.
Only their footsteps echoed through the empty passage.
Belle walked at the front of the group, checked the marked coordinates on the screen, then looked back.
Sandrone and Columbina were still holding hands.
That invisible safety rope seemed to have become real, tying the two of them together.
“Um…” Belle cleared her throat and broke the silence.
“Sandrone, I know it’s a bit rude to ask this now…”
“Hm?” Sandrone lifted her eyes.
“Well…” Belle chose her words.
“Would it be okay to ask if you two plan to stay here long-term?”
Sandrone’s steps paused.
She didn’t answer at once.
Instead, she turned her head, her gaze falling on Columbina’s profile.
Columbina was focused on the road ahead, as if she hadn’t heard their conversation.
“…Probably,” Sandrone said in a low voice, looking away.
“That’s great!” Belle smiled, her voice warm and sincere.
“Sixth Street isn’t big, but it’s a nice place to live. My brother and I have been here for a while now, and the neighbors are all friendly—”
“Also, would you be interested in long-term cooperation?”
“Cooperation?” Sandrone thought over the information she’d gathered over the past few days.
“You mean as Hollow exploration agents?”
“Bingo!” Belle snapped her fingers.
“Agents as strong as you are rare. And… how do I put it? Working with you feels easy. If we run into troublesome commissions in the future, can we come to you first? The pay will be fair, I promise!”
Sandrone didn’t agree right away.
In this strange world, a promise often meant risk.
By habit, she looked at Columbina again.
This time, Columbina turned her head.
Behind that thin veil, her eyes seemed to curve faintly, and she gave a small nod.
After all, the Tsaritsa’s mission couldn’t move forward here.
Having nothing to do in this world would be its own kind of torture.
And these siblings were, to her surprise, not unpleasant.
As Proxies, they were quite reliable too.
“Fine,” Sandrone said, turning back with a clear answer.
“Can I visit the video store often, then?” Columbina suddenly asked in a soft voice.
Belle froze for a moment, then understood.
“Of course! You’re very welcome! Do you want to watch movies?”
“Movies…” Columbina tasted the word.
Was that this world’s version of “shadow plays”?
The corners of her mouth rose a little, and she nodded.
“I like watching movies.”
“No problem! Looks like I’ll have to recommend a few classic film lists to you.” Belle switched into store-manager mode in an instant.
“Of course, it’d be even better if you got a membership while you’re at it! New members get half off for the first month!”
“A membership, huh…” Sandrone looked at the smile on Columbina’s lips and nodded in thought.
“Then after we find the last box, we’ll go to your store to settle the commission fee and sign up for a card while we’re there.”
“Great! Thank you both for your business!” Belle’s eyes curved with her smile, as if she could already hear the Dennies coming in.
“Oh, right.” Sandrone seemed to remember something and slowed her steps.
“Speaking of payment… we don’t have much cash on hand right now. When we settle the commission fee, can we give you one extra piece of Moonfall Silver and have you exchange it for Dennies?”
“Moonfall Silver?” Belle paused.
“Yes,” Sandrone added.
“We can pay a handling fee.”
Belle scratched her head.
“Well… Nicole’s the one who handled exchanging Moonfall Silver for Dennies.”
“Nicole?” Sandrone looked confused.
“There aren’t any other channels?”
Sandrone wanted to use this chance to learn more ways to cash things out.
Columbina had collected all kinds of strange odds and ends, and it didn’t feel right to keep going to Nicole every time.
“Uh, maybe you could list it on the Inter-Knot?” Belle spread her hands.
“Nicole has some contacts with the Investigation Association. She exchanged it through someone inside the association. I don’t know the details.”
Seeing that Sandrone was still hesitating, Belle clapped her hands together.
“How about this? After we finish the recovery, I’ll call her over to the store too, and we can talk about the Moonfall Silver together?”
Sandrone paused.
“Fine.” She nodded.