"Is this the indomitable human spirit of a man? Why does it have to show up now, of all times?!" Billy ranted dramatically.
Seeing how determined Sol Mercer was, Nicole felt an intense headache coming on.
How she wished Sol Mercer had turned out to be a bad apple—then she could've kicked him out without hesitation.
But Sol Mercer wasn't just not a bad seed, he was an incredibly reliable teammate. Not to mention, he even bore her surname now—Sol Mercer Demara.
She didn't want to kick him out, and she couldn't stop him either.
What could she do? She was at her wit's end!
Nicole said dejectedly, "Since you've made up your mind, I guess we can only support you. But you'll have to spend that 590,000 dennies on full coverage insurance!"
"Feel free to buy all the insurance you want, but there's no need to drag you all into this."
"I can't let you give up your own plans just for my personal ambitions," Sol Mercer said seriously.
He never intended for Nicole, Anby, or Billy to join him. Eliminating a Hollow was his own mission—it should be accomplished by him alone.
Forcing others to chase your dreams is something only selfish people do.
He told them the plan merely to keep them in the loop.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't be so distant! The moment you handed me that blade, you became my brother! What kind of brother talks like that?!"
Billy slapped the table, clearly displeased.
When Sol Mercer had given him a weapon and rushed alone into the horde of Ethereals, Billy had already acknowledged him as a true partner.
Letting a comrade go on a dangerous mission alone? That wasn't something a Starlight Knight would ever do.
Sure, he liked his chill, carefree lifestyle.
But wiping out a Hollow? That was so cool!
Starlight Knight Billy Kid, fired up!
Billy suddenly stood up and struck a dashing pose beside the dinner table, trying to transform on the spot.
"Billy, don't spill the food!"
Nicole shouted at him.
"Oh, oops!" Billy immediately sat back down obediently, no longer so dashing.
Nicole turned to Sol Mercer and said seriously, "Billy's right—we're a team. There's no way we'll let you take this on solo. Besides, there's no way we're letting you hog such a lucrative opportunity!"
Anby said earnestly, "Nicole is right."
Seeing the three of them so firm in their stance, Sol Mercer felt genuinely moved.
This… this was the Cunning Hares!
A bunch of warmhearted, loyal folks who value their companions. Even if you'd only joined for a few days, they'd still go all out for you.
Just like they did for Nekomiya. Just like they were doing now—for him.
"Well then, I won't be pretentious about it." Sol Mercer thought for a moment and said, "But I don't want everyone to drop everything for me. How about one person teams up with me each day, and we all go together on Sundays? Of course, if there's any commission, count me in."
Having someone join him in the Hollow would help ease the monotony without affecting the Cunning Hares' operations too much.
Come to think of it, that was a bit of a sad reality.
Because of how few commissions they got, the Cunning Hares were idle most of the time anyway.
"You're surprisingly considerate!"
Nicole was a bit surprised but quite satisfied with Sol Mercer's suggestion. "Tomorrow, I'll be going to the Hollow Investigative Association to gather intel. Since Billy's our gunman, how about Anby goes with you?"
"I'm fine with that."
With everything settled, Anby quietly picked up her bowl again.
Nicole looked at Sol Mercer and asked, "By the way, which Hollow are you planning to clear?"
"I'm going for the Cretan Hollow at Fourteenth Street. It's close by, and we can bring a Proxy along to gather intel on any vaults."
Sol Mercer revealed the target he'd long since decided on.
It was a companion Hollow, with no Ethereal threats above level 7. As long as they didn't get lost, he could mess around without much danger.
Plus, entering that Hollow meant he could get Belle's help for free. Since their commission wasn't officially over yet, having a Proxy lead the way to gather intel was perfectly reasonable.
"You really thought this through. You've got half my brilliance. Let's go with that, then."
Nicole immediately saw through Sol Mercer's plan and couldn't help but admire it.
Sure enough, she and Sol Mercer were perfectly in sync—no wait, kindred spirits.
Nicole continued, "But this is just for the first time. You can't keep using the Proxy for free. I'll take you to register as a Hollow Investigator so you can use an official Bangboo from now on."
"You can do that?"
Sol Mercer blinked, a bit surprised.
If he remembered right, the Cunning Hares' all-purpose agency usually handled more... underground jobs. Was it really okay to join the authorities?
"Why not! We're going to eliminate a Hollow here—this is for the good of all New Eridu. Of course we can use official channels."
"Don't be fooled just because we're illegal Hollow Raiders on the side—we also have legal Hollow Investigator licenses."
"And the officials list all Hollow elimination jobs through them. The pay is insanely good. It's just that no one dares to take those missions."
Nicole spoke with a rare seriousness.
"Working both sides of the line, huh? That's so Nicole."
Sol Mercer gave a thumbs-up.
"Of course!" Nicole puffed out her chest proudly, raised her bowl, and said, "Now that everything's settled, let's eat! Before Anby finishes it all."
Sol Mercer picked up his bowl too, though his mind wandered.
Now that he thought about it, in the game's character files, all three—Nicole, Anby, and Billy—had Hollow Investigator credentials.
The Hollow Investigative Association was basically the official branch of the Inter-Knot, posting all the legal and sanctioned commissions.
Like that time when General Chop asked for help rescuing a trapped deliveryman inside a Hollow—that could've been posted via the Hollow Investigative Association. But since they were too slow, it was posted to the Inter-Knot instead.
In the end, though, the guy was actually saved by someone from the Hollow Investigative Association. That was because TOPS Alliance had hired Pegasos Logistics to get the Association involved. So it wasn't that they were slow—it's that they prioritized based on who paid.
And registering as a Hollow Investigator didn't carry many restrictions either.
Due to investigator protection laws, the Hollow Investigative Association couldn't force any investigator to take missions.
Which meant Hollow Investigators had a ton of freedom. Many of them were investigators in public but Hollow Raiders in secret.
Worse still were folks like the Cunning Hares—their main job was being Raiders, and their side hustle was being Investigators.
Such duality and intermingling… Sol Mercer was starting to suspect that the Inter-Knot might just be a sock puppet operation created by the Hollow Investigative Association and other officials.
After all, the Inter-Knot was a terrifying black-market forum so secure that even four top AI working together could only breach it for moments at a time.
If not the government, who else could've pulled that off?