–+–
“Uh…” Nicole crossed her arms and lifted her chin a little.
“What I mean is, it’s guaranteed legit! No one’s gonna trace it back to you! Every step goes through Cunning Hares’ very own… ahem, VIP hidden channel.”
She paused, then rubbed her thumb and forefinger together with practiced ease.
“Of course, since it’s VIP service, charging a small handling fee is only fair, right?”
Sandrone didn’t answer.
To her, as long as it saved her from trouble later, a handling fee was a fair and needed expense.
“Also,” Nicole said, moving fast as she packed the storage box away, then turned to Belle.
Her face switched from money-hungry mode back to serious mode in a blink.
“Belle, there’s one more thing.”
Belle raised a brow and caught on at once.
“That missing safe? You found a lead?”
“That’s right! We’ve already figured out where the safe went!”
Nicole nodded with pride, then looked toward Wise, who had been sitting in front of the HDD the whole time.
“How’s the thing I asked you to handle?”
“You mean the data drive?” Wise took out the tooth-shaped accessory Nicole had given him.
“We’ve already repaired the data drive. Just like you guessed, it really did have the safe’s digital passcode inside. Once we get the box, we can open it anytime.”
“All right, everyone! Thanks to your help, all the prep work is done.” Nicole clapped her hands with excitement and stood up.
“It’s time for the next step! First thing tomorrow morning, we’re heading into the Hollow and taking that safe back from the Dullahan!”
“Tomorrow?”
Belle’s face froze.
She put on a look of pure suffering and covered her face with both hands.
Her voice squeezed out through her fingers.
“Nicole, have mercy on us… We’ve been going into the Hollows hard for three days straight. Even production-team Bangboos don’t get worked this bad…”
As she spoke, Belle lowered her hands and looked at Nicole with faint dark circles under her eyes, pitiful as could be.
“Can we go the day after tomorrow? I’d even settle for sleeping in once.”
“Rest?!” Nicole’s eyes went wide, like she’d heard something beyond reason.
“One more day of rest means one more chance for things to go wrong! What if that Dullahan runs off with the box? Or what if some other Hollow raiders get there first?”
“Didn’t expect that, Nicole. Even with a big deal like Moonfall Silver on the table, you still care about this little ‘mosquito leg’ commission?”
“Hmph, of course I do! You can never have too many Dennies. That’s a matter of principle.” Nicole crossed her arms, looking like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“And besides, the commission for this job may not compare to the value of Moonfall Silver, but it’s nowhere near ‘mosquito leg’ money!”
“But, Nicole.” Belle sighed and spread both hands, her tone turning serious.
“There’s some bad news I have to tell you.”
“Huh? What is it?” Nicole froze for a moment.
At a time like this, the words “bad news” were the last thing she wanted to hear.
“We’ve been searching that companion Hollow for Sandrone’s five boxes these past few days, right? Along the way, we wiped out quite a few Ethereals.”
Belle stood and pointed at the data on the HDD.
“Normally, after clearing out that many Ethereals, the Hollow’s Ether activity should drop, and its scale should shrink too.”
Nicole frowned.
“But I heard that Hollow’s Ether activity hasn’t changed much?”
“Exactly. That’s the problem.” Belle tapped a red dot at the edge of the map.
“While guiding Sandrone, I noticed that deep inside that Hollow… it seems a high-risk entity has been born.”
“A high-risk entity?!” Nicole’s voice jumped an octave.
Even her pink twin tails shook with it.
Sandrone, who had been sitting off to the side and watching the drama in silence, also looked up at Belle in some surprise.
Belle noticed Sandrone’s confusion and explained, “The direction Columbina pointed us in just happened to miss the high-risk entity’s location, so we never ran into it. That’s why I didn’t go out of my way to mention it. No need to make more trouble.”
Belle turned back to Nicole, her voice heavy.
“But the safe’s location, if we’re unlucky, may be close to that thing’s territory.”
Nicole’s expression twisted at once.
“T-Then… what do we do?!” Nicole clutched her chest in pain.
“If we run into a monster of that level, then Billy, that spendthrift… plus Anby’s weapon costs… after that fight, how much commission money would I even have left?! I might end up paying out of pocket!”
“Uh, Nicole, don’t forget you also have Moonfall Silver…” Wise had drifted over at some point and gave her a reminder.
“That’s a separate matter!” Nicole looked heartbroken.
“So,” Belle said, her eyes turning as she leaned in and wrapped an arm around Nicole’s shoulders.
She lowered her voice and secretly pointed toward Sandrone and Columbina.
“Look. Don’t we have ready-made heavy-hitting backup right here?”
Nicole looked over with suspicion.
“Them?”
Sandrone was drinking tea.
Columbina was staring at a tea stem floating in her cup, lost in thought. Enjoying the story?
Neither of them looked dangerous at all.
“Don’t underestimate them! I’ve seen it with my own eyes these past few days!” Belle gave a thumbs-up.
“Who do you think wiped out all those Ethereals I mentioned? My brother and I only handled the route. We didn’t hire any extra Agents.”
Belle pointed at Columbina.
“Columbina may look soft and fragile, but she cuts through Ethereals like she’s chopping vegetables. I’ve never seen an Ethereal last one round against her! And—”
Belle brought out her trump card.
“She doesn’t use up any ammo or weapons!”
Nicole’s ears twitched.
“You mean…”
“Commission them to come along.” Belle coaxed her along like a salesperson.
“Let them help deal with that high-risk Ethereal and handle fire suppression. That’ll save a huge amount of money.”
“Plus, with them there, my brother and I only need to do basic navigation, so Eous won’t have to carry as much weight either. Heading out tomorrow won’t be impossible!”
“Commission?” Nicole leaned back and guarded the Moonfall Silver she had just gotten, all alert.
“I don’t have money! I haven’t even received the commission payment yet! My pockets are cleaner than my face!”
“Who said you had to pay cash?” Belle patted her shoulder with the look of someone disappointed in a hopeless student.
“Isn’t Sandrone asking you to exchange it for Dennies? That ‘handling fee’… just give her a discount. Wouldn’t that count as the hiring fee?”
Nicole froze.
That made sense!
And judging by the way they acted, they probably didn’t care much about such small change anyway…
Nicole narrowed her eyes at Belle, then leaned closer and grabbed Belle’s hand.
“Belle, something’s off with you.”
“Huh?”
“You’re really being this kind and helping me save money?” Nicole looked her up and down with suspicion.
“You’re giving me ideas this eagerly all of a sudden… Come on, what do you want?”
“Oh, come on, we’re just helping each other out.” Belle smiled without a crack in her face, her eyes so sincere they could fool anyone.
“You know my brother and I. We’re the type to rush in when justice calls.”
She would never admit she only wanted to slack off.
If Sandrone and Columbina came along, she could even sit in front of the HDD, drink cola, and control Eous at the same time.
How could she pass up a chance to win while lying down?