"Hamburgers!" x11
"Hellfire Spicy Ramen!" x1
A chorus of perfectly synchronized voices rang out, and aside from one dissonant note in the middle, the name "Hamburger" predictably won the overwhelming majority.
Seated at the head of the table, Belle scratched her head in frustration, the serious atmosphere she'd tried to cultivate shattering instantly.
"Veto! I'm vetoing this with my one vote! Don't name our home after food!"
"But… we thought it was a pretty good fit…"
Though Anby's timid protest made her look quite pitiful, it did nothing to sway Belle's heart of stone.
In the end, the entire Silver Squad was stripped of their proposal rights and sent by Belle to watch videotapes, leaving only three people in the vast dining room.
Just then, Nicole chimed in with her own brilliant idea.
"How about we call it the 'Treasure Tower'? It shares a root with my 'Demara's Bespoke,' so it's sure to bring us a fortune later on!"
"Somehow, considering your constant need to cook the books, I have to wonder if naming it after your business will really bring us wealth," Andrew said, skeptical.
Ever since he'd met Nicole, he hadn't seen a single month where her finances weren't in the red.
The crucial part was that Nicole refused to believe it was her fault, still convinced it was just because her own Cunning Hares wasn't powerful enough yet.
Hearing that, Nicole wasn't having any of it and immediately jumped to her feet.
"I'm just having a tiny bit of bad luck lately! Just you wait! When I strike it rich, there'll come a time when you'll be begging me for help!"
Nicole flipped her hair, her voice brimming with unshakeable confidence in her financial prospects.
"And when I find my get-rich-quick opportunity, you'll have to shout, 'I was wrong to doubt you, please help me, Lady Nicole!' Only then will I reluctantly let you in on it!"
"Well said, Nicole. Next time you're late with your ammo payment/commission fee, we'll make you shout that first," Andrew and Belle said, clapping in unison. Aside from the different reasons for her debt, their words were perfectly synchronized.
Faced with her two biggest creditors, Nicole's ramrod-straight posture instantly slumped. No matter how great her future fortune might be, for now, her creditors called the shots.
It wasn't that she didn't owe others more, but she was confident she could use their own counterfeiting schemes to make them suffer the consequences. The two in front of her, however, expected to be paid back in cold, hard cash.
With Nicole sunk, only Andrew and Belle remained. But after wracking her brain for a long time, Belle just slumped onto the table, giving up on thinking entirely.
"Andrew, do you have any ideas?"
"Given that scene from earlier with all the déjà vu, I think we should just call it 'Tokyo-3 NERV Headquarters.'"
The more Andrew thought about that earlier scene, the more it fit. He couldn't help but feel it was a perfect match, except for the lack of a rampaging, purple, Katsuragi-esque servant.
Unfortunately, Belle didn't think so.
Her fists clenched. Hard.
"What's a 'Tokyo-3'? And what the heck is 'NERV Headquarters'? It's a mouthful, and I've never even heard of it! Andrew, give me a normal name!"
Sensing that if he kept messing around, Belle might actually throw a punch, Andrew dropped the act and revealed the name he'd already thought of.
"Since the Silver Squad is stationed here, let's call it Silver City. How does that sound?"
What Andrew didn't say was that the all-silver-haired Silver Squad was just like the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh!'s "Silver Castle" archetype, who all shared the same silver-white hair.
"Silver City? That sounds pretty good! So we're going with that?"
After a heap of terrible ideas, everyone nodded in agreement at the single decent name. And just like that, the name of their new base was decided.
What Belle didn't know was that Andrew was already trying to figure out where to get the materials to forge a set of armor and dual swords for Anby, just like Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle.
You want me, Andrew, to come up with a normal name? Too naive, Belle. This is my escape route!
And honestly, Anby even used dual swords. All she needed was a pair of horns and the look would be a perfect match.
With the joyous naming ceremony concluded, the group watched a couple of movies in their new house before shooing the reluctant Silver Squad back to their rooms.
Since Nicole had already agreed to Andrew's offer to be the Silver Squad's tutor, she had started her work diligently today.
In her words, starting now only meant working for half a day, but when it came time to calculate her salary, she'd better be paid for the full day.
It had to be said, when Nicole took charge of the Silver Squad, her 'big sister' aura was the real deal. She dished out arrangements with practiced ease.
An hour later, after ensuring every member of the Silver Squad was resting, Andrew stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, his mind drifting back over the events of the last two days.
These past two days feel more eventful than my previous three months combined…
Lying on his newly assembled bed, Andrew couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Or rather, it was only in these two days that he could say he'd truly established a foothold in New Eridu.
While he still technically owed the municipal government for half of his mortgage, it was practically the same as being debt-free.
After all, if Andrew were to rush to pay it all back, the one who should really be panicking would probably be the Mayor.
"Tomorrow is the first day of my debt-free life!"
In the blink of an eye, the night flew by. As a famous comedian once said, you close your eyes, you open them, and a day has passed.
It was as if in a single blink, he opened his eyes again to the next morning. Bright sunlight streamed through the spotless glass he'd wiped down yesterday, illuminating the room.
The gentle morning sun was like a maiden's soft caress, casting warmth and light onto Andrew's bed, making him subconsciously want to close his eyes and go back to sleep.
But the moment his eyes closed, it was as if an instinct was triggered. He shot up, dodging in a single bound to the doorway of his room.
"Old man! I'm damn well awake! Take back your stinking Dung Bomb!"
After blurting out the words by instinct, Andrew realized he'd actually been away from the New World for a long time.
As for why he had such a reflexive reaction, that story went back to when he first started his training with the Azure Star.
To correct all the bad habits he'd unconsciously picked up during his recent university days, Andrew had asked the Azure Star for help.
For whatever reason, that old geezer's solution was to hurl a Dung Bomb at him every time he made a mistake.
The memory was seared into his brain. Correspondingly, Andrew's speed at correcting his mistakes was also lightning-fast.
With that many Dung Bombs, the old geezer must have been out gathering materials every single day. Andrew felt the trauma from that period would probably stick with him for the rest of his life.
Recalling the Azure Star's god-tier Dung Bomb throwing skills, his hands trembled, his heart quaked. Though the bad habits were gone, Andrew had become a Dung Bomb Master in the process.
He knew exactly what range would leave him completely untouched by one, and what range would maximize its effect. He was a bona fide expert.
As the saying goes, the best way to conquer fear is to face it. In order to perfectly counter the Azure Star's Dung Bomb tosses, Andrew's growth was astonishingly rapid.
As a result, he ended up earning the title of Dung Bomb Master even before he had managed to fix all his bad habits.
______
✅ Until 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 55 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
Claim your 40% OFF spot and unlock everything now:
👻 P - Walnutchan