With Caelus
"Gosh, that was insane..." Phil groans as he lies down on his bed while Mem closes 'As I've Written' before putting it away.
"If I'm being honest, I wish to reveal things slowly and definitely not shove you into the book without any warning," Caelus says as he gently puts Aglaea's new clothes in the cupboard.
"Hey, I didn't mean to bring him along with us this time! My powers are not fully back for me to control properly." Mem exclaims with a pout.
"Maybe next time do it when no one is nearby," Caelus says dryly, earning a huff from Mem.
"I still can't believe this Mem is actually the same Mem from the story itself..." Phil mutters in disbelief. "How does a random Thiren with no idea what consent means could be the Pure Child of Anasrava itself..."
"Don't let my appearance fool you," Mem says with giggles.
"Unfortunately, you fool everyone with how silly you are," Phil deadpans, earning an indignant 'Mem!' from Mem. Caelus chuckles before he takes a good look at the clothes, unfolding them to inspect them for a moment.
Caelus notices how the design of the jacket resembles the Deliverer's Cloak from HSR's World-Remaking Deliverer set, but Aglaea seems to tweak it to fit the modern aesthetic, as she said before. The sleeves are a bit wider compared to a normal jacket, similar to a robe. The edge of the sleeves and the lower edge of the jacket are grey, with golden stars around them.
The gold and black pendant that was supposed to be at the center of the jacket's collar is now placed on the right side. Caelus notices a golden belt on the top part of the left sleeve and a tiny pouch attached to it.
"It's more detailed than I had thought..." Caelus mutters as he pulls it a few times. "Not only is it flexible, but also sturdy...it's honestly beautiful."
"Done admiring the work?" Caelus almost yelps when Phil suddenly pops right beside him as he folds the jacket and puts them away. "I admit it looks cool, but you seem a bit too mesmerized."
"To be fair, she did a very good job," Caelus admits. "Compared to the ones I saw at the Outer Ring, this is unique."
"True..." Phil nods in agreement. "So, you plan on switching to this?"
"...maybe in the near future," Caelus says after a moment of hesitation.
"Okay..." As he said that, they stayed silent for a moment. "So...is Ms. Yanagi coming today?"
"I thought she said she'd see us today?" Caelus asked in confusion.
"Sorry, I...have too much stuff in my mind to remember everything..." Phil says as he shakes his head.
"Wanna get some lunch? I mean, it's already afternoon." Caelus suggests, earning a nod from Phil.
"Yeah, that sounds nice," Phil says before the trio walks towards the cafeteria. Upon entering it, they were greeted with a sight that caused them to blink like a pair of owls.
Nicole can be seen turning ghostly white, lying limply in her seat as tears continue streaming down her face, and they can see her spirit slowly trying to escape her mortal coil. Billy can be seen crying oil as he hugs his pair of rifles, muttering about not being able to buy fancy new gun oil for the girls and being unable to get enough money to buy a ticket for the test screening of a new movie featuring Monica.
Anby can be seen sitting in the corner while hugging her knees, blankly staring into space without making any noise, with burger wraps lying around her. Nekomiya seems the tamest of them, hugging her kittens while crying about being unable to buy them good meals.
Never mind, she starts licking their fur like a mother cat licks their kittens.
"Uh...what's going on?" Phil asks in confusion.
"I have no idea..." Caelus sweatdrops before he looks around the cafeteria and notices the PubSec officers. He was about to call for them before he noticed something was wrong with them.
Seth can be seen lying his head on the table while crying, muttering that he's nothing but a failure before chugging down a bottle of milk like it's a beer. Zhu Yuan places both of her hands on the back of her head and leans her elbow on the table, grumbling about a group of incompetent idiots and how to punish them.
Qingyi can be seen gripping her cup of tea, frost slowly covering the entire drink along with its cup, and her entire body is shaking like a leaf.
It was safe to say that something bad had happened that involved both PubSecs and the Cunning Hares. Remembering the recent incident and how it connected the two factions, Caelus could only come up with one conclusion.
"Perlman had escaped, didn't he?" Caelus asked rhetorically, causing both factions to flinch.
"...I'm sorry, but how did that happen?" Phil asked incredulously. "Didn't he get shoved into the car with zero issues, with a bunch of officers keeping an eye on him? How did that fat pig- wait, no, that was an insult to pigs or pig Thirens- how did that walking pile of turd escape from your grasp?"
"Apparently, some officers were being completely incompetent while guarding them. When they're on their way to the PubSec Office, they... 'got hungry', and those idiots think it'll be a good idea to leave the prisoner alone in the car while they went to a donut store to get some donuts for snacks." Qingyi says before she blankly stares at the trio. "And do you know the worst part?"
"What?" Mem asks curiously.
"...those idiots leave the door unlocked and leave their car key inside," Qingyi says blankly, causing the trio to stare at her in disbelief.
"...I pity you for working with such nitwits," Caelus says apologetically, earning a small snort from Qingyi.
"Forget working together; we fired their asses," Qingyi says before she tries to sip her tea, only for her synthetic lips to touch a cold surface. "Oh, dang it!"
"I'm such a failure...I couldn't face my brother anytime soon..." Seth weeps. "Oh...he will never stop nagging me during the family dinner; there's no doubt..."
'Brother? Oh, right. He has one according to lore...' Caelus thought, with a sweatdrops before he gently pats his back.
"D-don't be too hard on yourself. It's not your fault he escaped..." Caelus tries to cheer the young officer up, but it's no use.
"How could it not be my fault!?! I chased after him, and I managed to tail him! But he tricked me and trapped me in crazy traffic!" Seth wails before he starts sobbing and chugs another bottle of milk, causing Caelus to grimace.
"Okay, okay. You need to stop with the...milk," Caelus sweatdrops as he gently puts the bottle away, but Seth simply grabs it back and chugs it down again, spilling it all over his mouth.
"Don't bother, Caelus," Qingyi sighs. "Seth feels the guilt the hardest after everything, and usually when that happens, he'll drown himself in sorrow and milk. It'll take a while before he can get back to normal."
"...right," Caelus mutters before he hears a loud shatter from the back, causing him and the others to turn around to see Nicole looking very frustrated.
"This was supposed to be the greatest moment in my life..." Nicole says while breathing heavily. "For the first time in our lives, our proper good deeds made people willing to shell out that cash to get a scumbag to prison for good! We're about to have money rained down on us, but that pile of fat turd got away!?! ALL BECAUSE A PAIR OF IDIOTS WHO'RE SUPPOSED TO KEEP AN EYE ON HIM DECIDED TO HAVE DONUTS!?!! OH, HOW ABOUT I TURN THEM INTO ONE INSTEAD!?!?"
"...I think she had lost it," Mem says plainly.
"You think?" Caelus deadpans at the fairy before facepalming. "I've never seen things this chaotic in life."
"With how much hardship they have gone through, it's fair for them to vent their frustration," Meilian says as she approaches them.
"Hello, Ms. Meilian," Caelus says before he gestures to the back. "I should go and clean up the broken glass."
"Ah, that won't be necessary," Meilian says as she looks at Nicole, who begrudgingly picks up the pieces carefully before gathering them on a napkin.
"Ah..." Caelus mutters as he watches the woman clean up her mess.
"Um, what did we miss?" They all turn and see both Flora and Seed Sr. enter the cafeteria. They look confused as they glance around the surroundings.
"They're having a bad day," Phil says plainly.
"Ah..." Flora responds before she nods in understanding, not asking for more details.
"I think everyone should take a break from this news," Meilian suggests as she looks at both the Pubsec officers and the Cunning Hares. "I shall prepare a lunch for everyone."
"Oh, thank you, Ms. Meilian!" Nicole weeps as she dramatically falls to the ground, holding the old lady's legs. "I am completely devastated! Wah!"
"Alright," Meilian lightly chuckles before Caelus gently pulls Nicole from Meilian.
"Let her go, Nicole. If you want her lunch, she needs to make it first," Caelus says before sighing when he sees Nicole giving him puppy-dog eyes.
"Please join us," Nicole begs.
"Let's stay as business partners," Caelus says dryly. "If we keep this up, you can earn as much money as the amount the citizens pay you."
"Wah!" Nicole wails as she starts flailing, throwing a tantrum. "I won't get them for several months!"
"If you sell the books among the rich folks at the price Sir Lycaon offers..." Caelus suggested, stopping himself to let Nicole process everything. She slowly widened her eyes in realization before she looked at Caelus.
It was at this moment that everyone witnessed the double, terrifying combo of Caelus and Nicole giving each other an unholy grin. Thankfully, Phil and Mem decided to intervene by slapping the grin off their faces.
"What was that for?!" Caelus and Nicole ask in unison, earning a deadpan stare from both pipsqueaks.
"Don't ever grin again; no one has the heart to handle such ugliness," Phil deadpans, causing Caelus' left eye to twitch in annoyance. Meilian simply chuckles at them and walks towards the kitchen. Caelus sighs before following her to help her with kitchen work.
It seems that the rest of Cunning Hares managed to snap out of their depression before they decided to join them. Everyone watches from the window as Caelus, Anby, Billy, and Nekomiya help Meilian with the kitchen work, and unlike before, they didn't seem to have any issue catching up with Meilian.
It didn't take long for them to finish serving the food. Everyone couldn't help but be in awe at the amount of food across the table as Meilian smiled at everyone.
"Well, dig in, everyone," Meilian said with a smile. Without another word, everyone started putting food onto their plates. The Cunning Hares devoured their food with zero manners; the officers watched them in stunned silence while the rest simply enjoyed the food.
Meilian couldn't help but smile at them, enjoying how the apartment has been very lively compared to usual. And to think it started with the appearance of a young man named Caelus in her apartment.
She hoped she could spend the rest of her life enjoying such a lively environment before she could reunite with her husband again, living her life with no regrets.
To be Continued