"This thing costs ten times more than outside! Have you completely lost your minds over money?!"
Facing the customer's furious roar, Nicole showed not the slightest hint of displeasure. She naturally knew he was right—but right now, in the entire C41 Hollow, she was the only one selling food and anti-erosion medicine.
"You're free not to buy," the boss of the Cunning Hares said calmly as she looked at the man. "You can leave, resupply, and then come back. But you should think carefully about the time cost of making that round trip. If I remember correctly, you've only made one run so far, right? Others with better efficiency have already done three or four runs. If you want to make money, you'll need to move fast."
"Uh…" Having his sore spot exposed, the man's expression darkened. He was alone, unlike others who had teams to coordinate with, so he could only stay inside as long as possible, hoping to pick out the most valuable items. It had taken him nearly several hours just to find two crates he liked, but the prolonged high-strain tension had made his stomach growl, and signs of erosion had begun appearing in his body.
Although the C41 Hollow was officially said to have entered a recession phase, Ether radiation still lingered inside. As long as one's will was not firm enough, or emotions wavered, erosion symptoms could still take hold.
"So?" Nicole nudged the small cargo cart beside her with her foot. "Have you decided? I don't have much left. If you wait, you might not even have a place to buy it."
Clang—clatter!
The remaining compressed food rattled inside the cart; indeed, only a small number of unpopular compressed biscuits were left at the very bottom.
In the end, the man gritted his teeth and bought one portion of food and one dose of anti-erosion medicine.
Only after he left did Ignis speak. "I thought you were going to hit him."
"Don't be ridiculous. He's a customer—our patron. There's no reason to get physical. All we can do is greet him with a smile." Nicole stared at the stacks of cash filling her case, looking so happy she might as well have been steaming with joy.
"Should we restock?" Ignis asked, glancing at the nearly empty cart. "I think we could still sell quite a bit."
"Don't push things too far, Ignis." Nicole snapped her briefcase shut. "Others will start copying us and selling food too. Leave them a way out. Otherwise, if we run into them in the Hollow later—or get into trouble—they won't hesitate to fight you to the death."
Around them, people were leaving with animated expressions, hugging, carrying, or pushing large quantities of supply crates toward the exit. To be honest, Nicole now felt Ignis had been right. With this much material flooding the black market, trying to unload it quickly would inevitably trigger a price war. Selling access and supplies here was far more practical than jumping into some blind-box gamble that would devolve into undercutting.
This big guy usually looked old-fashioned to the core, but when it came to making money, he was outstanding. That dark, weathered face looked honest enough—yet underneath, there were plenty of crafty tricks.
Don't tell me he learned this from Jane Doe… Did he really have this many strange ideas before?
Fine, I could stay up for days fixing this.
"That really won't be necessary. Leave people a way out." Nicole patted the crate she was sitting on. "We've earned plenty already. From now on, we'll just break open one warehouse section's outer wall each day. Make money during the day, rest at night. Too much greed invites retribution."
"You're actually saying something like that?" Salamander put on an exaggerated look of surprise.
"What, in your mind, should I be squatting here until the end of time? Squeezing every last denny out of everyone?" Nicole stretched lazily and nearly fell off the crate.
Ignis reacted instantly and caught her.
"More or less. You do care a lot about money."
"That's slander." Nicole put on an exaggeratedly angry face. "I love money, sure, but not to the point of robbing every single denny. Keep looking at me like that and I'll dock your bonus."
"Come on, this plan was my idea, and I'm the one who broke the wall. That counts as a technical stake, doesn't it? You're really going after a contributor this fast? If that's the case, I'll have to start preparing to switch jobs."
As the two bantered back and forth, someone smoothly picked up Ignis's words.
"If Lord Ignis has any intention of changing employers, please be sure to consider Victoria Housekeeping first."
The Son of Vulkan turned around—it was Von Lycaon. The Wolf Thiren maintained his usual elegant bearing and gave Ignis a slight nod. Several maids followed behind him. Rina smiled and dipped into a polite curtsy; Corin gave a deep bow. As for Ellen, she yawned, flicked her tail, and only then reluctantly bowed.
"It's just a joke. I don't actually have that kind of plan," Ignis said with a laugh. "What's this, Lycaon? You brought so many people—did you really find some huge treasure in this Hollow?"
"Exactly!" Nicole perked up and hopped off the crate. "If you're interested in this place, there must be some kind of secret inside, right? Can you tell us a bit?"
"You flatter us." The white wolf's mouth curved into a perfectly professional smile. "We don't know what's inside either. Most of the Midsummer Group's data was lost during the Fall of the Old Capital. We're simply here to earn some extra income. Our employer hasn't issued many tasks recently, but our expenses haven't decreased."
"We originally planned to wait until hackers breached the main gate before trying our luck. But we saw your exploits on the Inter-Knot, so we decided to ask for some convenience. Unfortunately, the road here wasn't very peaceful, so we were delayed. I hope we're not too late—and that we haven't disturbed your mood."
"So even you have times when money's tight," Nicole said, surprised.
After the Ballet Twins Hollow incident, the boss of the Cunning Hares had gathered some intelligence on Victoria Housekeeping. It was indeed a housekeeping company, providing cleaning and other standard domestic services. According to Nicole's channels, it was a small but highly efficient team. Their bookings were already filled at least half a year in advance, and even future slots were said to be fully booked—proof of their popularity among the upper class.
As for other information, such as their pasts, Nicole couldn't dig any deeper. Or rather, the cost of uncovering it exceeded her financial means. Still, one thing was clear: this housekeeping company had deep ties with New Eridu's upper echelons.
At the very least, they were not an organization one should make an enemy of.
"There are always times when cash flow isn't convenient, so we need to earn a bit on the side." Von Lycaon pulled out several old banknotes from his chest pocket. "I heard about the price you set, so I prepared cash in advance."
"We're already friends—no need to pay," Nicole said generously, waving her hand. Opportunities to sell goodwill like this were rare.
"That won't do." Von Lycaon shook his head, took Nicole's hand, and placed the bills into her palm. "If we break your rules for our sake, it'll be hard for you to charge next time."
The Wolf Thiren glanced behind him. A group of young people had gathered there. Seeing the butler and maids, they consciously lined up. A few of them were curious about the outfits and tried to take out their phones to take photos, but were quickly stopped by their companions.
"Instead of waiving our payment, please wish us luck in finding something good." Von Lycaon released her hand and once again nodded to the two friends of the Cunning Hares.
"It looks like a failure," Ignis said, his gaze drawn to a shadow in the distance. "Nekomata is back."
The small Nekomata was keenly perceptive. Naturally, she noticed the giant's gaze and waved at him.
"You said student IDs get a twenty percent discount? That's great!" It was the same college student from before.
Ignis remembered him clearly. Without hesitation, the guy actually pulled a student ID from his pocket, then dashed off again in a hurry. His name seemed to be Collin?
That was still pretty intense. My heartbeat hasn't even settled yet.
"Group students get twenty percent off," Nicole said, never refusing new business. "A deal's a deal. Twenty percent off—eight thousand dennies per person. How many of you are there?"
"Twelve." The student pulled out a thick stack of student IDs. "Do you need to check every one?"
Good grief—that was honest to a fault. Not just Ignis—even Nicole was startled. The boss of the Cunning Hares took them somewhat stiffly. Of course, she didn't actually flip through each one, only opening the first.
"The first one's mine. Look—Collin Lee, that's me," the student said, pointing at the photo.
Nicole counted the number and matched it to the headcount, then returned the IDs.
"Honestly, I don't really want to let you in." She shook her head.
"Why?" Collin's face flushed red instantly. He had promised his classmates he could get them into the Hollow without waiting for the damned HIA notice.
"It's simple. This is a Hollow, not a park." Nicole waved him off dismissively. "If kids want to hang out, there are plenty of places to go. If you want to experience fighting Ethereals, go to the HIA VR arcades. You won't get hurt there. But here? You could really lose your life."
"This isn't a place for kids. Come back after you graduate." The boss of the Cunning Hares shrugged.
"You—you just want to raise the price, don't you?" Collin pulled out a roll of banknotes of mixed denominations—clearly pooled together. "What if we don't take the discount?"
"Our practical report is due at the end of the semester, but HIA hasn't been able to find a suitable Hollow for investigators to take us in. If the deadline weren't so close, we wouldn't have come to you Hollow Raiders at all!"
Once the young man panicked, everything spilled out. Some of his classmates who knew better immediately tugged at his clothes, signaling him to shut up.
"Very good—you know we're Hollow Raiders." Nicole's lips curled upward as she shook the case in her hand. A gun barrel popped out, and with a click of the switch on the handle, a shell jumped into place.
"Then you should also know we're targets of Public Security crackdowns. We're outlaws—people who don't care about morality or law. Now you're learning your first rule inside a Hollow: trust no one."
"You! We'll report you to Public Security! Just wait!" Collin stared at the cold, reflective barrel, his legs trembling, yet he still had the courage to shield the others behind him.
"Public Security?" Nicole's smile widened. "First, they're short on manpower lately—otherwise you wouldn't even have gotten in here. Think about what you've learned. This kind of Hollow should be under strict surveillance. Second—do you really think you have a chance of walking out of here?"
"Uh…" Cold sweat instantly broke out on Collin's face. His classmates behind him panicked as well—especially when they looked at Ignis. Their eyes were filled with fear.
Hmm. The boss is showing signs of going too far. I should probably steer this back.
"Boss Nicole! I'm back, meow! I found something, meow!" Nekomata suddenly leapt into Nicole's arms, knocking her flat on the ground. Her little head rubbed against Nicole frantically. "Praise me!"
Just like that, the carefully built aura of the Cunning Hares' boss collapsed. The tense gang standoff instantly turned into a comedy scene.
"Alright, get up! You stupid cat!" Nicole struggled for a good while before prying Nekomata off her.
"Anyway!" Boss Nicole raised her voice after standing back up. "You're not allowed to go in! It's too dangerous!"
The light in the students' eyes dimmed all at once. They whispered among themselves about how to fudge their practical report. The kid named Collin clenched his fists so hard it felt like they might bleed.
Fine. I'll help them out.
"Boss, remember we have an escort service?" Ignis stepped beside Nicole. "Billy and Anby already went in. Now that Nekomata's back, she can hold the entrance with you. I'll act as escort for these kids."
"How about it?" He turned to the students. "Are you willing to purchase this service?"
"Huh?" Collin was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately, nodding hard. "Yes! Of course!"
"…Alright." Nicole sighed. "Pay up. Eight thousand dennies per person…"
Her gaze shifted to Ignis, silently asking what price he wanted to set—these students clearly didn't have much money.
"As for the escort fee," Ignis said, looking at them, "just remember to help us with some publicity when you get back. You know how to use the Inter-Knot, right?"
Watching the honest students nod like pecking chickens, Salamander smiled in satisfaction.
"Then stay close. I'll take you in for a look."
===BREAK===
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