“Ellen, anywhere you wanna go?” Buyuan sensed the atmosphere in the private room was a bit weird.
After all, this could technically be considered cheating right in front of the wife.
Makoto was someone he’d kept by his side before losing his memories.
He was now very thankful he hadn’t exposed her disguise back then.
Otherwise, this would be way more awkward.
“Ah, no.” Ellen’s tone was flat.
She didn’t seem affected by the awkward atmosphere.
“….” Clearly, this had silenced Buyuan.
Why had he thought to ask Ellen that?
“I remember now.” Ellen suddenly seemed to think of something.
“Let’s go to the Howl Newsstand on Sixth Street together.” Ellen lifted the hand propping up her chin and stood.
“Oh?
Ellen likes scratch cards?” Buyuan got up and followed her out of the private room.
“No.
It’s just that the first prize for this issue’s scratch cards is a little special.
I want to try my luck.” Ellen seemed to think of something and looked a bit troubled.
“This issue’s first prize?” Buyuan knew that the scratch card rewards at the newsstand changed randomly every issue.
(After all, Polychromes don’t exist in reality.) “Let me see.” Buyuan pulled out his phone to check the rewards at the Sixth Street newsstand this issue.
Grand Prize: Luxury travel package.
First Prize: Victoria Housekeeping experience voucher.
Second Prize: Arcade one-week free play pass.
Third Prize: Waterfall Soup membership card.
Remaining prizes: various amounts of Dennies and exchange coupons.
Buyuan now understood why Ellen wanted the first prize.
She definitely didn’t want anyone getting their hands on that thing — it meant overtime, after all.
“Victoria Housekeeping?
What does Ellen want with that?” Buyuan decided to probe for information.
“Ah, I…
I want housekeeping services.” Ellen clearly hadn’t prepared a good excuse.
“Is that all?” Buyuan felt it was time to come clean.
He figured suddenly placing an order with Victoria Housekeeping out of the blue would startle Ellen.
Plus, his relationship with Ellen was in a strange spot — anything too intimate wasn’t appropriate, but they didn’t quite feel like just ordinary friends either.
It made finding topics genuinely difficult.
“Yoy don’t want overtime, right?” Buyuan’s words made Ellen freeze abruptly.
“Eh?
What do you mean?” Ellen pretended not to understand.
“I know, you see~ I’m what you’d call a high-net-worth individual.” Buyuan waggled his eyebrows rather smugly in front of Ellen.
“You?
I’m sorry, but Boss Lycaon hasn’t registered you in the books.” Ellen ignored the smug Buyuan and simply quickened her pace.
Buyuan signaled Makoto to walk faster.
The two of them and one Bangboo walked like this, one in front, one behind, without a word.
“So you also know that Victoria Housekeeping isn’t just a housekeeping company?” Ellen finally couldn’t help it.
She stopped walking and turned to look at Buyuan.
“Mm-hm.
Helping your master resolve certain Hollow commissions, right?” Buyuan’s expression didn’t change much.
Ellen’s expression instantly grew colorful.
She looked somewhat conflicted.
“Why the shocked face?” Buyuan was a bit dissatisfied with Ellen’s reaction.
He wasn’t Ruby or the others, after all.
“I’m not Ruby and them.
I wouldn’t care.
Otherwise, I would’ve asked you ages ago.” Buyuan spread his hands and walked ahead of Ellen.
“Can you keep it a secret?
I don’t plan on letting Ruby and the others know.” Ellen followed behind Buyuan, listless.
“Mm.
If I were gonna tell, I would’ve told them ages ago.
So, Ellen, can I place an order?” Buyuan asked Ellen with a hint of mischief.
“Victoria Housekeeping does not include the kind of services you’re imagining.” Ellen’s eyes carried disdain.
“No, no, no.
You’re overthinking it.
Just seeing Ellen in a maid outfit alone is already worth the commission fee.” Buyuan was clearly even more shameless than Ellen had imagined.
“The commission fee is very expensive.” Ellen glared at him with dead fish eyes and didn’t want to engage.
Buyuan just smiled, walked up to the car, pulled the door open, and gestured for Ellen to get in.
“So, what about you?” Ellen paused briefly, then got into the car.
Buyuan scooped up the frantically struggling Makoto and stuffed her into Ellen’s arms.
“Me?
What do you mean?” Buyuan tilted his head in confusion.
The weight of his earring caused one ear to droop in the direction of the tilt.
It looked rather cute.
“Since you know about the Hollow services, aren’t you going to tell me about your situation?
Not forcing you, of course.
I’m just a little curious.” Ellen laboriously tore her gaze away from Buyuan and looked at the road.
She was afraid that if she looked a couple more times, she wouldn’t be able to resist reaching out to ruffle his ear.
She turned her sinful hands towards the Bangboo in her arms and was promptly smacked away without mercy.
“Oh, what’s there to tell?
I guess you could say I’m a Proxy client with a modest amount of assets.” Buyuan answered nonchalantly as he started the car.
“You?
So you had a last-minute commission yesterday?” Ellen was a bit surprised.
She’d assumed this guy was some kind of investigator, but he turned out to be a Proxy client.
“Uh, sort of, I guess.
I’m actually a little surprised myself.
I thought you’d be shocked.
I mean, a Proxy client and all.” “Shocked?
Not really.
Just a little curious why you’d become a Proxy client.” Ellen leaned against the car window, propping up her chin.
“For fun.
Pop into Hollows when I’ve got nothing better to do.
It’s not a money thing, anyway.
Oh, right, Ellen.
If you don’t win the first prize later, just give me Victoria Housekeeping’s contact info.
I’ll just book you in advance.
Same thing, right?” Buyuan clearly had no intention of giving up on seeing Ellen in a maid outfit.
“I already told you.
Victoria Housekeeping doesn’t offer the services you’re thinking of.” Ellen emphasized again.
“What kind of person do you take me for!” The corner of Buyuan’s mouth couldn’t help twitching.
“Heh heh.” Buyuan thought of a great idea.
“That laugh is a bit unsettling.” Ellen couldn’t help shivering.
“I might not need housekeeping services, but I can commission Hollow work.” Buyuan chuckled.
“What are you planning now?
And are you really a Proxy client?
With that build, are you going in there to feed the Ethereals?” Ellen remained skeptical of Buyuan’s strength.
“Hmph.
I’ll make you witness my prowess sooner or later.” Buyuan parked the car and waved a hand at Ellen, who was looking down on him.
Ellen rolled her eyes at Buyuan, pushed the car door open, and ignored him.
“Come on.
My place is just above the Bangboo mod shop.
Come sit for a bit later.” Buyuan locked the car and hurried to catch up with Ellen and Makoto.
“No.” “Really not coming?
My fox does backflips.” Buyuan asked, unwilling to give up.
“…” Ellen was thoroughly floored by Buyuan’s absurd personality.
One after the other, the two bought a scratch card each.
Buyuan took a deep breath before scratching his.
Three white bones.
“Eh.
2,000 Dennies.” Buyuan handed his scratch card to Ellen.
“Here.” Ellen also handed her scratch card over.
“What’d you get?” “First prize.” Ellen said.
“What?” Buyuan thought he’d misread and looked again.
“Ellen’s luck really is something.” Buyuan handed the scratch card back.
“It’s yours.” Ellen exchanged her scratch card for 2,000 Dennies and stuffed it into her pocket.
“Eh?
For me?” Buyuan was a little surprised.
“Yeah.
From the look of things, you’re not planning on giving up anyway.
At least this experience voucher doesn’t cover Hollow work.
Of course, if you need that, I can talk to Boss Lycaon for you.” Ellen gave Buyuan a sidelong look.
“Heh heh.
Then I’ll gladly accept.” Buyuan didn’t refuse.
After all, he just wanted to see Ellen in a maid outfit.
Hollow or whatever, it didn’t matter.
After redeeming the prize, Buyuan led Ellen towards his home.
“You…
forget it.” Ellen had been about to say something, but after thinking about this guy’s personality, she ultimately just followed.
Makoto had already gone back when they got out of the car.
Buyuan pushed the door open directly and walked in with Ellen.
Ellen looked around curiously.
It was unbelievably tidy.
“It’s actually this clean!” Ellen was deeply shaken.
“Thanks to Baal.
She takes care of the house.” Buyuan pointed at Makoto, who was already in the kitchen starting to clean.
“Sit on the couch.
There’s not really anywhere for just the two of us to wander around.
Can’t exactly take you for a spin in a Hollow.
Let’s just hang out at my place for the rest of the time.
There’s actually something I need Ellen’s help with.” Buyuan took a bottle of Bomb Cola from the fridge and handed it to Ellen.
“Fine.” Ellen leaned lazily against the couch.
She also thought the suggestion was alright.
In her mind, they were supposed to go their separate ways after the scratch cards.
But for some reason, she wanted to stay with this guy a little longer.
Plus, ever since Buyuan learned she was with Victoria Housekeeping, she’d felt a bit more at ease around him — a sense of relaxation she didn’t have with Ruby and the others.
What she didn’t know was that it was simply because this guy was a fox spirit with a passive charm buff.
“What do you need my help with?” Ellen reached out to take the remote Buyuan handed her and turned on the TV.
“I want to film a short video.
In a bit, you can help me see how it turns out.” Buyuan sat on the single-seater sofa to the side and used a delivery app to order a guitar.
“Haah?” Ellen felt like she’d misheard.
She’d accidentally seen this guy researching novels before.
Today she’d learned he was also a Proxy client.
And now he wanted to film short videos.
“Mm-hm.
What about it?” Buyuan hadn’t thought that much into it.
“Nothing.
When do we start?” Seeing his matter-of-fact expression, Ellen was a bit speechless.
“In a bit.
The guitar I ordered still needs a little time to arrive.” Buyuan flashed Ellen a thumbs up.
“You can play too?” Ellen was somewhat surprised.
“Yep.
I’ll show you in a moment.” Buyuan wasn’t being modest.
His singing skills were definitely not on Astra Yao’s level, but his song library was vast.
Watching TV with Ellen, chatting idly about this and that, Makoto finished her cleaning and came over to burrow into Buyuan’s arms of her own accord.
Buyuan figured he ought to bring people over to the house more often.
He’d noticed it made Makoto feel a sense of urgency.
Sure, she was just a Bangboo right now, but habit was habit.
Once he came clean and got her a better body in a while, who knew — maybe he’d get to hug her too.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
Knock knock knock.
“Coming.” Buyuan set the sleeping Makoto onto the couch and got up to get the delivery.
Picking up the guitar, Buyuan fiddled with it briefly.
Finding no issues, he confirmed payment on his phone.
Setting the guitar on the table, Buyuan turned off the TV and looked at the sleeping shark and Bangboo.
“Really cute.” Buyuan leaned against the edge of the couch and gazed at the sleeping Ellen for a few moments.
He brought the beanbag chair out from the bedroom and set it beside Ellen.
Buyuan sat there, playing on his phone.
….
The afternoon sun sank lower and lower.
A cool breeze blew in through the window.
The little bell at Buyuan’s waist gave a faint ring.
“Mm~” Buyuan opened his eyes and realized he’d fallen asleep too.
Turning back, he saw that the one person and one Bangboo still hadn’t gotten up.
He went to the bedroom and fetched two small blankets to cover them.
As for why two — he had a feeling that if he didn’t cover Makoto too, there’d be no dinner for him tonight.
Thinking he might keep Ellen for dinner, Buyuan carefully opened the door and slipped out to buy groceries.
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