Lycaon was lost in thought.
"...Mondstadt? Dawn Winery?"
He had heard two more strange nas.
To make up for hitting Venti, Lycaon didn't ask Rina to cook.
Instead, he personally prepared a full table of delicious food.
...
Ti flew by.
Before long, it was the next day.
As the sun slowly rose from behind Hollow Zero and lit up all of New Eridu, Sam Li stepped out of Hare's House, carrying his birdcage.
As usual,
he went to Lumina Square for breakfast, then took a leisurely stroll with his bird and arrived at the coffee shop on Sixth Street.
Seeing him approach, Master Tingman hurried out.
"Mr. Sam Li, what would you like to drink today?"
Sam Li thought for a mont.
"The usual—one New Eridu Special Blend."
Soon, Master Tingman brought the coffee over.
"Mr. Sam Li, please enjoy."
"Thanks." Sam Li nodded.
Instead of heading straight back inside, Master Tingman stayed and struck up a conversation about recent happenings in New Eridu.
"I heard things were wild in the C75 Hollows yesterday. Dozens of big and small factions scrambling over two little Bangboos—only to let them get away in the end... These factions today, they're not what they used to be. Back in the day, the Public Security Bureau had real heavy-hitters. But now..."
From his tone, it was clear Master Tingman was disappointed in the current authorities.
It was like he missed the old New Eridu.
Sam Li replied calmly,
"Maybe the Bangboos didn't escape. Maybe soone else captured them."
Tingman shook his head.
"No way... Well, to be honest, I do know a bit about them. Those two Bangboos were once Professor Arche's assistants. After Arche vanished, they disappeared too—only to return decades later as the Golden and Platinum Bangboo..."
Sam Li's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Professor Arche—the original generation of Void Hunters?"
Tingman nodded.
"That's him. If he hadn't entered Hollow Zero back then, maybe that whole disaster could've been avoided."
Having grown familiar with Sam Li, Tingman no longer held anything back.
He even started reminiscing.
But when the topic turned to that disaster, he stopped himself and changed the subject.
"There's another bit of news your Hare's House might be interested in."
Sam Li raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Tingman continued,
"Just a couple days ago, Hollow C41 completed active suppression and entered decline. Because of the Golden Bangboo incident, most of the security force had been pulled to C75. And with Sharo Golden Week coming up, C41's security has holes. Word is a few raiders snuck in and found so high-value supply crates..."
He'd only heard rumors—he hadn't seen C41 or C75 himself, so he couldn't confirm anything.
"But," he added,
"given Hare's House's financial troubles, this might be a golden opportunity. You could make so serious Dennies and dig yourselves out of the red..."
Sam Li nodded.
"Thanks for the tip."
Clearly, Master Tingman didn't realize that Hare's House now had nearly twenty million Dennies in the bank.
Money was no longer a concern.
After Tingman left,
Sam Li didn't head straight back to report the C41 lead.
Instead, he spent the whole morning outside the café, sipping coffee after coffee.
Only after a while did he tell Tingman to put the tab on Hare's House's account, then picked up his birdcage and headed ho.
...
anwhile, on the other side of New Eridu, inside Hare's House—
Nicole was poring over an account book, seemingly figuring out how to spend the massive payday.
Billy lounged on the couch, watching TV.
Anby munched on a hamburger, fueling up for any incoming mission.
Soldier 11 sat idly, checking her phone occasionally, glancing at Nicole and Anby with restless energy.
She missed the Defense Force's training room.
Days of doing nothing were starting to wear on her.
Nekomata, after failing multiple tis to raise bluefish, had given up.
Now she preferred the dried fish snacks from the convenience store.
Just then,
Anby ca out of the room holding a calendar.
"Nicole! I made a huge discovery."
Nicole looked up.
"What is it?"
Nekomata's ears perked up.
"Ooh, what'd you find? Did you finally catch the bluefish that escaped from the tub?"
Even Soldier 11 and Billy looked over.
Anby pointed to the calendar.
"I saw it while cleaning. Tomorrow is Sharo Golden Week!"
Imdiately—
"ow! It's finally Sharo Golden Week!" Nekomata jumped up.
"Ahaha! The new Starlight Knight movie cos out tomorrow too!" Billy added.
"Wow... it's already that ti of year again."
Even Nicole smiled a little, thinking back on last year's Sharo Golden Week.
Compared to then,
they now had Sam Li, Nekomata, and their intern, Soldier 11.
Seeing everyone so excited—
Soldier 11 looked confused.
"Sharo Golden Week? What's that?"
Billy stared at her like she was from another planet.
"What? You don't know Sharo Golden Week? Don't tell the Defense Force doesn't give holidays for it. No way, right?"
"..." Soldier 11 stayed silent.
The Defense Force had plenty of holidays—people could take ti off whenever necessary.
But Soldier 11 had no family or friends.
While others went off to rest, she stayed behind, training alone and beating her own records.
She had never even heard of Sharo Golden Week.
The room went quiet.
Then Nekomata looked at her with sympathetic eyes.
"You're lucky. You happened to be interning here during Sharo Golden Week. If not, you might've never experienced it in your life."
Soldier 11 didn't argue. She just nodded slowly.
"Then... thank you."
Reviews
All reviews (0)