After dinner at Section 6, it was time for Wise and Ellen to head home; only then did Wise go pale.
"...Belle." He had completely forgotten about his sister waiting back at the video store.
When he explained the situation, Tsutsumi simply blinked before turning toward the blue oni. "Soukaku, mind sharing some of your late-night stash with Wise?"
Soukaku, already clutching multiple fully-packed bento boxes, perked up. "I was gonna hoard them for midnight snacking, but here you go!"
Wise accepted the food with both hands, grateful enough to bow.
Ellen, meanwhile, had her own priorities: ensuring Corin and Lycaon wouldn't starve… or worse, be hospitalized again from eating Rina's cooking. She had saved a portion earlier, and though the food wasn't piping hot, it was still warm enough to survive the trip home.
Miyabi approached Tsutsumi while he was cleaning up the grill. "Ryoko, why don't you take your friends home?"
He blinked. "Heh?"
"I saw the video and report," she continued. "You have that hoverbike. You can take them home and return in minutes."
Yanagi raised a hand. "Chief, he doesn't have a license. And I don't even know if that thing counts as a ground vehicle or an air veh-"
"It's fine," Miyabi cut in calmly. "He's a Void Hunter now. As long as he doesn't endanger anyone, we'll submit the license request later."
Given clearance from his mother, Tsutsumi summoned the Agito Tornador without hesitation.
The long red-and-yellow hoverbike materialized before them. "Hop on. I'll get you both home."
Wise and Ellen exchanged a look, hesitated… then climbed on. In the next instant, they shot into the night sky.
Then they reached the video store first.
"So this is where you live," Tsutsumi said, touching down lightly.
"Yeah. Thanks for the ride." Wise hopped off, still shaken by how smooth flying on that bike was.
Since it was late, the air traffic lanes were empty; Tsutsumi simply weaved through buildings like they were scenery.
"Alright, next stop." He lifted off again, Ellen clinging to his back.
The shark girl broke the silence first. "Must be nice… You don't have to worry about traffic jams or anything."
It's not every day one gets to meet and eat with a Void Hunter, plus, like Wise said before, it's better to create a good relationship with him while he is still somewhat unknown and easy to approach.
Similar to Miyabi, when she was first unknown, not many people paid too much attention to her, and even fewer actually got to know and form a bond with her. It's only after she became a Void Hunter that many of those people in the past regretted not forming a bond with her while they had the chance.
"I guess you could say that," Tsutsumi replied.
"So, were you a chef before Section 6?" she asked, feeling the wind ruffle her hair and tail.
"I have. I've worked a lot of jobs."
Before she could ask more, they saw the Victoria Housekeeping Co. logo, its tall building lit by soft white lights.
"That's my stop," Ellen said, a little disappointed. The ride felt way too short for useful intel.
Still, it's better to let their relationship form naturally rather than trying to force it.
Even Wise has said it himself, Tsutsumi Ryoko is the new youngest Void Hunter, and he has just been working under Section 6 for less than a month. He already achieved what many can't achieve in a lifetime.
If they explore the Hollow and accidentally run into him, it would be better if he had some goodwill toward them. That way, he might be more willing to look the other way.
"Hm. Maybe we should've taken a regular bike," Tsutsumi muttered.
On the ground below, dozens of civilians were looking up, pointing at him.
A flying red and yellow object in the sky?
Yeah, that was going to draw attention.
Normally, he'd drop Ellen off and leave, but if he landed now… She'd be swarmed immediately by curious civilians demanding answers she didn't have.
The old him wouldn't care. But the current him is different, he is trying to do better.
"Hold on tight to me," he said.
Before Ellen could react, he took her hands and pulled her securely against his.
Attack Ride: Connect!
A magic circle appeared, and he flew into it instantly. The action was so fast that the people trying to spot what that flying object was, could only see a red flash before it completely vanished.
Soon, news about the unidentified flying object appeared on New Eridu, spread like wildfire on the Inter-knot.
In a quiet alley nearby:
Attack Ride: Auto Vajin!
Tsutsumi emerged casually on a perfectly normal-looking motorcycle, Ellen sitting behind him. They rolled past the crowd unnoticed.
"What… kind of ability is this?" she asked, clutching his jacket. This wasn't Ether control. This was something else entirely.
"My own ability," he answered.
"…Thanks. Very helpful." She rolled her eyes, resigned, seeing that he wasn't going to tell her.
He stopped in front of her building. Ellen hopped off, adjusting her bag.
"Thanks for the meal… and everything else," she said softly before heading inside.
Tsutsumi glanced upward.
On the third floor, a white wolf Thiren stared at him through a window. Their eyes locked for a moment, the silence stretched, their gazes were sharp, assessing each other.
Then Tsutsumi broke the stare and drove off.
...
Back in the video store...
"So, dear brother," Belle began, stabbing her spoon into the bento, "you actually forgot that you have a sister, huh!?"
She chomped down angrily. The food was absurdly delicious, her eyes sparkled with joy, but she continued scowling anyway. Wise had eaten this earlier while she was stuck with instant noodles?
Unforgivable.
"Like I said, I'm sorry! I got lost in the moment." Wise bowed his head, hands together in apology.
"Uwahh! I'm so mad!" Belle whined, kicking her feet under the counter. "You get Section 6 gourmet food, and I get… instant noodles! This is so unfair!"
Her spoon clattered against the empty bento.
She froze.
"…Wait." She slowly looked down. The bento was spotless. Not a grain left.
Belle frowned and poked the empty box as if it had betrayed her. "When did I finish this…?"
Wise sighed. Then Belle turned to him with the biggest puppy eyes she could muster.
"Say, Wise… maybe we can go to Section 6 tomorrow? Just to see if we can get a free lunch or two?"
"Uhh… probably not." Wise winced. "Section 6 only had today off for the celebration. It won't happen again."
Belle's entire mood deflated like a popped balloon.
"Don't worry," Wise muttered, scratching the back of his head. "I'll… figure something out. Maybe I can ask him to cook for you sometime."
Belle brightened instantly. "Yay!"
Wise turned away, exhausted, and addressed Eous.
"Fairy, did you finish analyzing the cyber attacker?"
Eous's screen face shifted, its yellow digital eyes shifted to the word "Fairy".
"Sorry, Master," Fairy said gently, her crisp and feminine robotic voice rang out.
"I have identified the group behind the cyber attacks. They call themselves Ark. Based on signature patterns, Ark resembles another AI I once encountered, one specializing in hacking and system corruption."
The siblings listen.
"Originally," Fairy continued, "their target was Eous. After blocking seventy-eight intrusion attempts, their focus shifted to me. As of this moment, I have recorded one thousand nine hundred twenty-four additional attempts."
Belle and Wise exchanged a tense look. Just hearing those numbers made their stomachs drop.
Their previous cyberattack had cost them almost everything; they lost their legendary Inter-knot Phaethon account, their status, their resources, and their reputation.
Fortunately, the sibling found Fairy, a super-intelligent AI that is now supporting them in their work as a Proxy, making their restart much easier.
Fairy wasn't done.
"But please rest assured, Masters. Fairy successfully neutralized all malicious activity. I have upgraded our network security to the highest classification level."
A short pause. "Even the New Eridu government cannot bypass it."
Wise exhaled. Belle clutched her bento box like it was a lucky charm.
"Additionally," Fairy added proudly, "due to my adaptive strategies, electricity usage has been reduced by thirteen percent compared to earlier projections. In every regard, this Super AI's performance is impeccable."
Eous raised a finger, as if quoting a motto.
"As Fairy has stated since this all began: As long as the power keeps flowing, no one can take a single step forward."
This was also why they worked overtime, why they saved money, why they endured cheap meals and long nights.
The moment the power went out, Fairy would be vulnerable.
And if Fairy was hacked or stolen… Their entire world would collapse again.
...
Meanwhile, back at Victoria Housekeeping.
"Ellen, can you tell who that is? I believe your class doesn't have any Fox Thiren."Lycaon didn't even bother to hide the suspicion in his voice. The white wolf's single eye was locked sharply on the shark girl the moment she stepped through the door.
Ellen exhaled through her nose, half annoyance, half resignation. She expected this the moment she came home. Still, she didn't snap at him; she knew this was Lycaon's version of being worried.
"Can you gather in the dining room. I have something to tell you all," she said, holding up the packed bentos. "And you might want to eat these. Otherwise, I'm taking them."
Lycaon blinked at the boxes, raised a brow, but followed. He then called out for the others, Rina, and Corin to come too.
"Ellen, everyone already ate. You shouldn't waste money on food," Rina scolded lightly.
Ellen had to resist the urge to snort. Yeah, "ate." She knew Lycaon and Corin had nibbled at best; Rina's cooking wasn't exactly "victory material," unless the victory was surviving it.
"Forget it, Rina," Lycaon interrupted with unusual speed. "Since Ellen brought food, let's not waste it."
He was already sitting down, opening the box, and taking the first bite.
The change was immediate.
Lycaon froze. His tail swished, slow, controlled, but very much wagging. "…This is quite delicious."
Corin, who had been a bit scared of eating the bento in front of Rina, suddenly found the courage after seeing Lycaon start eating his. Immediately sat and opened the second bento. She took a dainty first bite, then her eyes went sharp and she started inhaling food like a starving beast.
Rina: "..."
She stared at them both, feeling something was off. Previously, they only ate a little, saying that they weren't hungry; now they are eating like they were starving.
"Rina, try it," Ellen said, also sitting at the table. "This is the new youngest Void Hunter's cooking."
That got everyone's attention.
Lycaon straightened, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and shifted instantly into his "professional mode."
"Explain."
Ellen relayed everything: her going out with Wise, accidentally running into Tsutsumi, the encounter with Section 6, and Tsutsumi's weird abilities.
"Wait! So that UFO on Inter-knot was just you two driving through the air?" Corin asked, mouth still full.
Ellen paused. "…What UFO?"
Corin held up her phone. Ellen took hers out, scrolled through the news headlines, blurry footage, wild speculation.
"…Huh. Guess so," she said, completely unfazed, slipping her phone back into her pocket.
"My goodness… Ms. Void Hunter is the mother of the new Void Hunter?" Rina said, still surprised.
Lycaon considered everything carefully. His tail had stopped wagging, now he switched to decision mode.
"Continue building a relationship with him. Maintain good terms."
Ellen simply nodded. "I know, I'm already doing it."
Lycaon nodded. "Good. Someone that powerful, who can fly freely and erase an Ethereal swarm, is better off as a friend or ally than a stranger or an enemy."
Corin swallowed her last bite. "Also, his cooking is like a professional chef. Can you ask him to make more for us next time?"
Rina glanced at her, smiling. This caused Corin to look away and lower her head, feeling a chill running up her spine from Rina's stare.
Lycaon sighs, deciding to ignore Corin's choice of words, "If he's that strong, having a bond with him benefits everyone. Especially you, Ellen."
Ellen folded her arms. "You're not trying to sell me off, are you?"
Lycaon's ears shot up in alarm. "Absolutely not! Strictly professional. We currently don't have much info about him. It's best not to bite off more than we can chew. Befriending him is just a safety measure."