The sun slept and rose again, climbed and set once more. Water dripped steadily from the eaves, tap-tap-tap, and before anyone noticed, an entire week slipped quietly by.
People hurried along, splashing through puddles. Before long, the shallow pools were trampled into nothing more than dark stains, and not much later, even those were evaporated away by the heat of human bustle.
After the turmoil within New Eridu, humans and the vampire society worked side by side to rebuild their home.
Bear Thirens roared commands across the streets in booming voices. Pile drivers slammed down without pause, while dump trucks—laden with the hopes of the city's future—slowly rolled into construction sites.
"Yeah, yeah, this way! Bring it over here—easy, easy… Anton, go tell the guys to come mix the concrete!"
Koleda directed the truck into position while urging Anton to hurry and call for manpower.
Anton nodded to himself and turned to gather the brothers from Belobog Heavy Industries.
Disaster plants the seeds of beauty; hope blooms from despair.
Only, while others' seeds had barely been covered by soil, Belobog Heavy Industries' had already grown into towering trees, heavy with fruit.
After all, with their extensive connections, they were the first among their peers to land a massive order from HAND—a full-scale renovation of the Janus District.
If they handled this job well, they wouldn't have to worry about work for years.
"Yo, buddies. You here too to burn your youth and sweat on the job site?"
Halfway there, Anton suddenly noticed a line of people standing in the road ahead.
Looking closer, he realized they were familiar faces. He immediately grinned, flashing a mouthful of white teeth as he went over to greet them.
Zhu Yuan turned at the sound. Even before seeing him, she'd already identified Anton from his voice and cadence. She shook her head slightly.
"Not quite. Sorry to interrupt your work. Senior Qingyi and I are here on official business… Ellen, you must be tired from running around. Come back with us."
Zhu Yuan's gaze shifted, locking firmly onto Ellen.
Ellen ignored her completely, stubbornly turning her head away.
Zhu Yuan sighed, stepped closer, and bent slightly, lowering her voice near Ellen's ear.
"Ellen, I know you're worried about Phaga. But the situation inside Hollow Zero is complicated. Ether activity is extremely high, yet the area is steadily contracting."
"Scholars from the White Star Institute suspect Phaga and the others are engaged in intense combat inside. At that scale, no one who enters would come out unscathed. Even when Miyabi submitted a request, the Institute's response was still to observe further…"
"Observe? Observe some more? We've been observing for a whole week already!"
Something in Zhu Yuan's words struck a nerve. Ellen suddenly snapped, twisting around to shout at her.
But in that instant, out of the corner of her eye, Ellen spotted Corin hiding behind Qingyi.
Corin clutched Qingyi's clothes tightly, her small body trembling. She peeked out to steal a glance at Ellen—only to find Ellen looking straight at her—and immediately shrank back in fright.
It was Corin who had reported Ellen's disappearance, which was why Zhu Yuan and Qingyi had personally come looking for her.
"Tsk!"
Ellen clicked her tongue, swallowing the curse she'd been about to hurl.
She was furious beyond measure, but she also knew Corin was worried about her. No matter what, she couldn't lash out in front of Corin.
At the same time, Ellen couldn't bring herself to apologize. She could only mutter under her breath, "If I'd known the Proxy would rat me out, I should've gone into Hollow Zero alone."
As she spoke, Ellen ground her sharp teeth together. The image of a pair of siblings flashed through her mind, and her small hand clenched fiercely, as if she wanted to crush something.
Phaga had been inside Hollow Zero for a full week without a single word, and Ellen was deeply anxious.
But she still retained enough sense to know that charging into Hollow Zero alone was no different from being alone with Phaga in a private room and biting off his clothes piece by piece—
That kind of behavior was nothing short of suicide.
So Ellen went to find the Phaethon siblings.
The two of them agreed to her face. Then Belle casually said she needed to use the restroom.
Ellen never got to see Belle come back out. Before that could happen, Zhu Yuan and Qingyi had already burst through the door of the video store.
Thankfully, the Proxy's home had a back door that led directly to the parking lot. Otherwise, Ellen would've been caught on the spot, with no chance to maneuver against Zhu Yuan at all.
Even after all that effort, Ellen was still cornered by Zhu Yuan and Qingyi at the construction site. Anton stood off to the side watching the show, completely forgetting the task Koleda had assigned him.
"Alright, Ellen. Stop being stubborn. Let's go back first. We'll find a way—there's no need to push things to such extremes…"
Seeing Ellen muttering to herself and her unfocused gaze, Zhu Yuan knew she had no intention of giving up. She immediately stepped forward to stop her.
She took a long stride and reached for Ellen's wrist.
Ellen dodged at once, leaning backward.
Qingyi's pupils shrank. She vanished from Corin's sight in a flash, reappearing at Ellen's side the next instant.
But instead of the arm she was about to grab, what met her was Ellen's powerful tail.
Crack!
The air split with a sharp boom. Qingyi crossed her arms, forced backward by the heavy blow.
When she looked up again, Ellen had already fled, opening dozens of meters of distance between herself and Zhu Yuan and Qingyi.
"Ellen, stop! Damn it—Senior, let's chase—"
Just as Zhu Yuan turned to call out, she noticed Qingyi frown.
Zhu Yuan was puzzled, but then saw Qingyi calmly raise one hand and extend a finger toward the distance.
Following her gesture, Corin looked up and cried out in surprise, "It's Mrs. Meilin! She stopped Miss Ellen!"
Yes—Mrs. Meilin.
At a time when cooperation between the vampire society and humans was only just beginning, she had somehow found time in her packed schedule to intercept Ellen.
She had entered Ellen's field of view without warning. Before Ellen could even react, a hand pushed gently toward her.
Before Ellen could resist, a strange fragrance filled her nose, and a heavy drowsiness surged straight to her mind.
The next moment, Ellen collapsed into Mrs. Meilin's arms, sinking deep into their softness, as resonant, chant-like echoes rang in her ears.
"Good child. Have a nice sleep."
Mrs. Meilin gently stroked Ellen's hair, a trace of pity in her expression. She then turned to Zhu Yuan and Qingyi and nodded.
"Thank you both for your help. I'll take it from here."
"Well…"
Zhu Yuan hesitated, her gaze drifting toward Corin.
After all, Corin was the one who had reported the incident. Her opinion mattered.
Corin nodded eagerly and hurriedly said, "That's fine—leaving it to Mrs. Meilin is good… But Mrs. Meilin, aren't you very busy these days? I remember you still have to…"
Even without negotiations with humans, the vampire society itself was full of problems big and small. By all logic, Mrs. Meilin should've been far too busy to deal with something like this.
"Hmhm~ No matter how busy I am, I still have to make time for the children. Besides, while I may be old and frail, my grip is still quite firm, little Corin."
Mrs. Meilin looked completely unburdened as she smiled gently at Corin, teasing her lightly.
"Actually, on the way here, I heard the Overlord Lady complaining. She said that now little Corin has gone back to her 'maternal home,' she's left with nothing but muscle-brained combat types, and things are getting a bit overwhelming."
"I–I didn't go back to my maternal home! Mrs. Meilin, don't say things like that! No, no—that's not what I mean—it is my home too…"
Before Mrs. Meilin even finished speaking, Corin's face was already bright red. Her rebuttal barely left her mouth before her body betrayed her, turning and heading off.
"But for the sake of maintaining order in the Outer Ring, I won't stay any longer!"
Clenching her small fist like she was performing some great duty, Corin turned back and waved.
"Mrs. Meilin, please say goodbye to Mr. Lycaon for me!"
"Of course."
Mrs. Meilin smiled and waved back. Only after Corin's figure disappeared did she let out a soft sigh.
"Ah… girls really do grow up."
"Is that so?"
Anton, who had been watching the drama unfold for quite some time, suddenly spoke up. He rubbed his chin and looked up at the sky.
"But I remember the Overlord of the Outer Ring being a girl too—AAAAAAH!"
"Ow, ow, ow, Boss!"
"Anton! Where are the workers I told you to call? The cement's about to set in the truck! What, are you planning to jump in and act as the mixer yourself?"