I'm Waiting for You

Igola's sudden question made Annan raise an eyebrow slightly. "What do you mean?" "Eldest Miss," Igola said languidly. "From the very beginning, we accepted your invitation and became members of the Funeral Agency. And from the very beginning, you never clearly explained what the Weaving Ceremony meant for us—you didn't even tell us that this was an adventure where we'd have to wager our lives." Annan narrowed her eyes. "I never anticipated that the very first leaderboard would—" "Yet now, Yaxiu's interests have been compromised by your plans." Igola straightened his back and looked Annan dead in the eye. "His status as an outsider is known to everyone, he is wanted by the Gospel Country, and the Book of Gospel has even branded him as connected to future catastrophes. Eldest Miss, you wouldn't claim Yaxiu brought his current predicament entirely upon himself and that it has nothing to do with you, would you?" Banjie couldn't help chiming in, "However, our plan hasn't even begun yet, and Yaxiu—" "Of course it has to do with me." Annan raised a hand to cut Banjie off, speaking calmly. "If I hadn't dragged Yaxiu into this plan, perhaps none of this would have happened. Mr. Bogin, that is what you're getting at, isn't it?" Igola smiled slightly. "I harbor no resentment toward you, Eldest Miss; after all, I'm not Yaxiu. But now that a new problem has arisen, shouldn't we discuss a solution?" "What kind of solution?" The corner of Annan's mouth curled up. "Have me cancel Yaxiu's wanted warrant? Or remove Yaxiu from the Art Board?" Silence fell over the basement. Banjie and Harvey held their tongues, while Yaxiu and Lisi clung to each other, shivering in silence—the aura surrounding Annan and Igola during their negotiation was so overwhelming that neither dared utter a word. "How could I demand that you do the impossible, Eldest Miss?" Igola tilted his head. "Still, if the problem cannot be resolved, then shouldn't you at least... compensate Yaxiu for his losses?" *Wait, you can get monetary compensation for this?* Yaxiu blinked, silently cheering Igola on. Annan suddenly asked out of the blue, "The aggrieved party is clearly Yaxiu, and he hasn't said a single word. Why are you so impatient to fight for Yaxiu's interests, Mr. Bogin?" Yaxiu started. *Right, why is the male veela sticking up for me?* The swindler lowered his eyelids. "...This time it's Yaxiu; next time, the one with a price on his head might be me. If I don't speak up for this fool now, who will speak up for the clever man when the time comes?" "Oh...?" Annan's expression grew subtle. "You think you're a clever man? I don't see it that way. In my eyes, you're the true fool." Even Yaxiu felt the young miss was crossing a line here—you could say Igola was as ugly as an orc, ate like an ogre, or bathed like a goblin, but you could never question his intelligence, for that was his most treasured core asset! Yet Igola did not retort. He simply looked at Annan in silence, seemingly above engaging in a pointless squabble with her. ... Ask for the sky and haggle down to earth. Annan naturally wasn't going to actually compensate Yaxiu for an on-the-job injury. Setting aside that Yaxiu's wanted status had nothing to do with her, even if it were her doing, she couldn't just dance to Igola's tune—status was like a seesaw: when one side went up, the other went down. If Annan bowed her head now, she would be bowing her head forever. Kindness and weakness were identical twins, almost indistinguishable from one another. Annan was more than willing to show kindness, provided no one mistook it for weakness. Igola, Harvey, and Yaxiu were fugitives on the run from other countries; even if they hadn't displayed any cruel tendencies in recent days, that hardly meant they were good people. In the eyes of agency professionals, every person was a potential murderer. All it took was a slight tug on the threads of their humanity for them to realize how fragile the daily routine keeping their rationality intact truly was. Once they embraced reality, that crushing reality would drag them down into the deep sea. Yet interestingly, this also aligned with the swindler's understanding of human nature: as long as you were not a god, you could be deceived, for swindlers and gods shared the same nature—both possessed the ability to fulfill your every desire. Thus, Annan and Igola maintained a tacit understanding throughout the negotiation: never test the other's bottom line, and quit while ahead. The final result was a new contract signed between the young miss and her employees. It contained only a single clause: under no circumstances would Annan value the lives of Yaxiu, Igola, Harvey, and Lisi any less than her own. This contract had only one purpose: to completely eradicate any possibility of Annan selling Yaxiu out. Now, at least, they didn't have to worry about Annan leading the Red Hats straight to Yaxiu like a traitor offering up a prize. As for the watch shifts, since scouting required the Book of Gospel, Annan and Banjie each took one rotation. Yaxiu had originally offered to take the first half of the night, but Lisi, the only one exempt from watch duty, insisted on clinging to him as she slept. "Under normal circumstances, shouldn't you be cuddling with your mother to sleep?" Yaxiu complained, lying sprawled across the wooden bed. "Why are you pestering me...?" "Then where's my mother?" Lisi's fastball came just as swift and blunt as ever. "If you want high-grade service, you can go to Big Sister Annan; if you prefer tall and slender, you can look for Aunt Bogin. You're already a mature kid, Lisi—you should learn to find a mother on your own... Sigh, do you want a bedtime story?" "No!" Lisi shook her head resolutely, hugging Yaxiu's arm. "This is fine." Watching Lisi's eyelids droop, Yaxiu felt a pang of envy—he was long past the age where he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Speaking of which, it was time to enter the Void Realm... Hm? Wait! *How am I supposed to get into the Void Realm?* *All my sorcery spirits were looted as spoils of war; not a single one is a childhood-sweetheart, pure-love spirit of my own!* Yaxiu, who had never opened a Gate of Truth of his own, was like a playboy with countless lovers: thoroughly pampered during the day, but unable to find the way home once night fell. And only then did he remember—he had stood up his companions for tonight's Void Realm exploration. Yaxiu quietly summoned the Book of Gospel and turned to the sorcerer manual page to see if the Witch and the Sword Princess were already exploring the Void Realm. But when he opened it, he found the exploration party had already disbanded. "Operator detected in a story event. Team exploration temporarily suspended." *An operator in a story event... Wait, am I an operator too?* With team exploration suspended, everyone was naturally left to their own devices. Yaxiu checked and saw that the Witch wasn't in the Void Realm—perhaps she had finished exploring and logged off. However, the Sword Princess was still inside, which meant Yaxiu could go in and take a look. Still, why had the Sword Princess's exploration lasted longer than the Witch's? Without the sports car, both the Sword Princess and the Witch were forced to travel on foot. Logically speaking, the Witch, with far more exploration experience, ought to have greater stamina than the Sword Princess... Not dwelling on it, Yaxiu quickly chose to enter the Void Realm through the Sword Princess's Gate of Truth. A Gate of Truth did not move with its sorcerer, so Yaxiu could only arrive at the position the Sword Princess had occupied over two hours ago. Who knew how far she had wandered by now...? His consciousness descended into the Void Realm. Yaxiu opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the sports car. As expected, without exploring in team mode, the Sword Princess couldn't borrow his sports car. This time, she really had to measure the Time Continent with her own two feet. He opened the Void Realm Map to check the Sword Princess's current coordinates. If she wasn't too far away, he would drive over immediately. If she was far... he would still have to drive over. After all, he had flaked on her tonight, so he owed her an explanation. Besides, Yaxiu couldn't explore the Void Realm all by himself anyway. For an illegal stowaway who had been party-queuing from day one, exploring the Void Realm with two people counted as an adventure; doing it alone was called wandering aimlessly. Yet when Yaxiu opened the map, he saw two sorcerer icons nestled right next to each other. One was him, the Watcher. The other was... Yaxiu turned his head to look behind him. There, on the grass behind the sports car, sat a young girl with her knees hugged to her chest, swaying rhythmically from side to side as if humming a tune. Sonia on the grass seemed to sense something as well and looked back. "Why are you still here?" "Because I'm waiting for you."