Early in the morning, before Nekomata had even arrived at the video store to ask for help, Buyuan was already there, early as could be.
“Skipping class again today?” Wise looked at Buyuan, who was lounging idly at the front desk messing with No.
18.
He was a bit speechless.
What kind of student lived like this?
“Hold it.
Today’s Sunday.
Have you two done so many commissions you’ve lost track of the days?” Buyuan was rather exasperated by Wise, who had taken on the air of an older brother lecturing him.
Ever since they’d grown closer, Wise had started feeling like an older brother to him, especially concerned about his studies and daily life.
“Fine, fine.
As if you’d actually go to class tomorrow.” Wise shook his head helplessly and went back to organizing the video tapes.
Buyuan thought for a moment, then pulled out his phone and sent Ellen a message.
Damn Fox: Still asleep?
If you’re up, keep an eye on your phone.
I don’t know the exact time of the commission yet either.
Sharkie: What kind of client can’t even confirm the commission time.
Damn Fox: Me o.O Sharkie: Got it.
Only after confirming Ellen had seen it did Buyuan set his phone down in relief.
“Brother, is there any breakfast left?
Oh, Buyuan’s here too.” Belle came downstairs looking like she hadn’t fully woken up yet.
“Astonishing.
To see Belle in the morning yet again.” Buyuan wasn’t teasing her.
This was genuinely the second time he’d ever seen Belle in the morning.
“Suddenly I don’t really want to see you anymore.
Can you vanish until noon and then reappear?” Belle jabbed Buyuan with her elbow in dissatisfaction.
Belle took the breakfast Wise handed her, yawned, and entered the archive room.
“Buyuan, come in and watch the news with me.” Seeming to have just remembered there was an extra person in the store, Belle poked her head out of the archive room.
The two sat on the couch watching the morning news.
At this pace, Buyuan figured they’d get to Vision soon enough.
Just then, Buyuan keenly sensed a pair of sneaky, creeping hands inching their way towards him.
He thought about it and decided to pretend not to notice.
After all, he knew Belle had been eyeing his tail for ages.
“What’s with the sneaking around?
If you really want to touch it, just touch it.” Watching the hand that crept a tiny bit closer every minute, Buyuan was utterly speechless.
“Ah!?
No!
Wait!
Yes!
You’re really letting me touch it?” Belle first nervously denied it, then realized Buyuan was giving her permission and hastily changed her tune.
“Yeah.
So you’ll stop obsessing over it every day.
After all, it’s not the thief you fear — it’s the one who keeps eyeing it.
Wait!
Wipe your hands clean!” Remembering Belle had just finished breakfast, Buyuan nearly had his fur explode.
“Hehe, I’ll go right now!” Belle dashed out of the archive room in a flash.
“Incomprehensible.
Humans appear to have no resistance to fluffy tails.” A synthesized electronic female voice abruptly emerged.
“Fairy, it’d be better if you could preface your statements with an onomatopoeia like ‘ding’ or something.” If this artificial idiot hadn’t spoken up, Buyuan would have almost forgotten there was a pair of electronic eyes here.
“Denial.
You do not have the authority to issue me commands.
Overruled.
Detected that this target is the author of Master’s latest playlist.
Re-evaluating.
Evaluation complete.
Updated status: Assistant Number Two.” “Isn’t Assistant Number Two Wise?” Buyuan couldn’t help asking.
“After comprehensive evaluation across all aspects, Assistant Number Two is more appealing to the Master.
The individual outside the door will be updated to Assistant Number Three.” Fairy’s words were systematic and well-founded.
“Now that’s just cold.” “Buyuan, I’m back!
What were you and Fairy talking about?” Belle walked in, rubbing her little hands together with an expectant look.
“Your artificial intelligence is pretty amusing.
It actually promoted me to Assistant Number Two.” Watching Belle’s movements, Buyuan couldn’t help the corner of his mouth twitching.
He suddenly regretted this a little.
“You actually stole my brother’s title.
So does that mean Brother is now Assistant Number Three?” Belle also found it hilarious.
“Never mind, that’s not important.
Come!
Let me touch it.” Belle rubbed her hands together and sat back down on the couch.
“If you dare stroke against the fur, there won’t be a next time.” Buyuan laid out the rule in advance.
“Ehehe.
Tail.” Whether Belle had actually heard him, Buyuan wasn’t sure.
In the end, he could only endure that ticklish, strange sensation and pray Nekomata would hurry up and arrive.
After a while, the TV channel finally switched to a white-haired dwarf.
“Brother, come take a look.
It’s the old metro renovation project.” Belle called Wise in as well.
Wise walked in to find Belle comfortably cuddling a tail.
“With the city council elections approaching, the highly anticipated public works project — the old capital metro renovation — has officially begun.
We are honored to have invited Mr.
Charles Perlman, chief representative of the construction contractor, Vision Industries!” A white-haired dwarfish old man appeared on the screen.
“WTF.
A gnome Thiren?” Seeing Perlman’s height, Buyuan couldn’t hold back the comment.
“Gnome Thiren?
What kind of Thiren is that?” Belle was curious.
“There is no relevant data regarding gnomes on the internet.” Fairy also popped in to make its presence known.
“Just a type of dwarf that lives underground.
Kidding.
I’m a novelist, after all.
Vivid imagination and all that.” Buyuan remembered this world had no Norse mythology.
“Later today, the company will carry out blasting operations on the metro reconstruction area at Fimbul Lane, near the old capital.
Could you briefly walk us through the construction process?” “Hmph hmph hmph.
Young man, now you’ve hit on the key point.” Perlman’s arrogant expression, paired with his height, made for quite the comedic sight.
“After the fall of the old capital, the large number of destroyed metro lines severely hindered New Eridu’s transportation and urban development.
To resolve this issue, the damaged remnants of the old metro must be thoroughly cleared before constructing entirely new metro lines.
To this end, our company has spared no expense, ordering large quantities of high-purity industrial-grade Ether explosives specifically for blasting operations.” Perlman spoke with eloquence.
The camera had fully turned towards him, and a familiar figure appeared within the frame.
‘Hmph.
Sarah.’ Buyuan’s gaze towards Sarah carried a contemplative edge.
This woman — Buyuan wasn’t about to let her off.
By now, Buyuan was no longer paying attention to the news.
He was thinking about how to kill Sarah without causing problems.
This was the one who’d tormented Twiggy, turning her and Anby against each other.
She’d make a move against Miyabi in the future as well.
It seemed she had a hand in every major incident.
He understood perfectly that she and Bringer were not on the same level.
Killing her would be extremely troublesome.
“Report.
A suspicious figure is rapidly moving through Sixth Street.
Judged destination: the video store.
Preliminary suspicion.
Possibility one: using the restroom.
Possibility two: harboring ill intentions towards the video store.” “Alright, Fairy.
Perhaps it’s just a regular customer.” Wise opened the archive room door.
“What’s with describing a customer’s arrival in such a weird way?” Belle was also displeased with Fairy’s words.
Thud.
“Ah!
Meow-ow!
My nose hurts!” A scantily-clad cat Thiren had fallen flat on the floor through the open door.
“Don’t believe this old man!
He’s lying!” Nekomata had no time to worry about her nose and hurriedly pointed at the TV.
“And you guys!
You could’ve at least given a meow before opening the door!
I fell because of you!” Nekomata said, looking utterly wronged.
“Is it still too late to meow now?
Also, welcome to Sixth Street’s finest video store.” Wise looked at this reckless cat Thiren with a hint of exasperation.
“Would you like to sign up for our membership card?
It pays for itself after renting just three tapes.” Belle reluctantly released Buyuan’s tail and stood up to promote.
“That sounds like an amazing deal!
But my current place doesn’t have any video equipment.
Uh, wait.
Business first!
I know who you are!
Phaethon, I have a Proxy commission for you right now.” Nekomata hurriedly shook her head, remembering why she was here.
“Customer, you must be misunderstanding something.
As you can see, we are merely an ordinary video store.
We don’t sell any sauce here.” Wise played dumb and didn’t admit anything.
“Hey, Belle.
She really does smell like Nicole.
I’ll go outside and keep watch for you guys.” Buyuan leaned in close to Belle and whispered, then stepped out.
Sitting at the front desk, Buyuan pulled out his phone and sent Ellen a message.
Damn Fox: Time to roll.
Come straight to the video store under my place.
Sharkie: Fine.
Buyuan didn’t join in on the back-and-forth between Nekomata and the others.
He just quietly waited outside.
After a while, he saw Wise and Belle emerge with Nekomata in tow.
“Buyuan, Nicole and the others are in trouble.
They need to enter the Dead End Hollow.
Can you come?
Of course, I’ll have Nicole pay the commission fee.” Belle knew that Buyuan was no nameless nobody on Inter-Knot anymore.
“Why so tense?
Friends are in trouble in a Hollow.
No way I wouldn’t help.” Seeing Belle’s expression, Buyuan found it a bit amusing.
“Wait just a little longer.
This matter isn’t simple.
It involves a notorious Ethereal and Vision.
I’ve got backup coming.” Buyuan checked the time and figured she’d be here soon.
Right on cue, Ellen pushed open the video store door.
A maid in black and white, with an intensely distinctive personal style, walked in.
Long legs clad in black stockings.
In her hands, she carried a massive shark-shaped gardening shear.
Buyuan met her gaze without a word, simply looking at her with a smile.
“Ugh.
Victoria Housekeeping maid Ellen.
Very displeased to be at your service!
Mas-ter!” Ellen gritted her teeth as if she might cleave him in two with that giant gardening shear the very next second.
“It suits you perfectly.” Buyuan made no effort to hide his gaze.
“Hmph.
Let’s go get this commission done quickly.
I still need to go back to sleep.” Hearing Buyuan’s words, Ellen’s tone couldn’t help carrying a trace of cheerfulness.
“Alright.
This commission is rather difficult.
I’ll contact Lycaon afterwards to add to the commission fee.” Buyuan gave Ellen a heads-up about the risks involved.
“Whatever.
No need to add to the commission fee.
Like I said, that experience voucher doesn’t cover Hollow work.
I’m here in a personal capacity.” Ellen waved it off dismissively.
“Fine.
Then I’ll just pay the commission fee directly to you instead.” Buyuan didn’t mind.
“Belle, let’s move.
This is Ellen, my deskmate and a maid of Victoria Housekeeping.
She can be trusted.” Buyuan introduced her to Belle.
“Ellen, these two are the famous Phaethon.
If Victoria ever needs any commissions in the future, you can turn to them.” Buyuan took the chance to introduce Belle to Ellen as well.
“Victoria Housekeeping?” Belle was puzzled.
Why hadn’t she heard of them?
“Victoria Housekeeping appears on the surface to be a housekeeping company.
In reality, it is a specialized Hollow operations organization catering exclusively to high-net-worth individuals.
Given Master’s financial status, it is normal that you would not know of them.” Fairy’s remark made things a bit awkward for Belle.
“Phaethon?
You actually know such important people?
Unbelievable.” Ellen gave Belle an extra couple of glances, surprised.
“Alright.
Let’s head out.
This mission is on a tight schedule.
I’ll fill you in on the specifics in the car.” Buyuan ushered everyone out the back door, grabbed Belle’s car keys, and waved everyone into the vehicle.
“Buckle up.
We’re off!” Buyuan floored the gas.
The deceptively small and clunky-looking car shot forward at high speed.
Comment it and let me know.