"Hey, stop messing with my hair. At least... don't do it when there are other people around."
Koleda deliberately softened her voice during the latter half of the sentence, all while keeping an eye on Belle nearby.
When she noticed that Belle was still staring at the chip, completely unaware of them, Koleda finally relaxed.
"Cough, anyway, I'll leave this chip to you. I still have a supplier to meet later. If I don't head out now, I'll be late. I'll be going first."
After saying that, Koleda quickly departed. Still, before meeting the supplier, she went home and took a quick shower.
"Koleda feels different now. Looks like she's really become a mature company president," Wise muttered quietly, letting out a small sigh.
Belle, standing beside him, stretched out a long Oh~, her tone unmistakably mocking.
"She's matured quite a bit, in more ways than one, don't you think, Brother?"
The look Belle gave him felt as if it pierced right through his thoughts, making cold sweat form on Wise's back.
Before he could even say anything, she kept going, "Speaking of that, Big Brother, you're kind of incredible. It hasn't been long, and another cute girl already fell for you. Did you tell her about everything?"
"Uh, not yet..." His smile looked noticeably guilty.
"What? Brother, don't tell me you're really going to turn into a heartless scumbag?!"
Belle showed a very obvious look of disgust. For some guys, that kind of treatment from a beautiful girl would probably feel nice.
Wise, however, had no such thoughts. He was busy worrying about how he should bring this up with Koleda.
"Yeah, your Brother might be a scumbag right now, but I'm not heartless. Don't worry. I'll explain it to her later."
With an affection level that high, telling her directly shouldn't cause any trouble.
At least, that was what he hoped.
After thinking it over, he realized that with Belobog Industries' technology, making an undetectable underground room would be easy enough.
If Koleda truly couldn't accept it and ended up developing strange yandere tendencies, then it would be better to wait until her affection level reached one hundred.
"Hmph, it better be! And Brother, if you keep doing things like this without explaining ahead of time, what if Koleda isn't as tolerant as Anby and the others? You won't get off easily!"
Wise understood Belle's warning clearly. It all came down to his physique. Too much accidental contact with Koleda in a short time had caused this mess. From now on, he had to be more cautious[1].
"Hmm, I understand. Also, speaking of that Ethereal, its abilities are quite strange. It might be related to what we've been investigating... Anyway, the remains will be handed over to Public Security first. Our main task right now is to decipher the information inside this storage unit."
To keep Belle from getting stuck on the topic, Wise quickly changed the subject.
"Hmm, Big Brother, you're not wrong. But since we're talking about decoding stuff..."
Belle gave a playful grin and looked toward the AI on the screen.
"Fairy~, we're paying five times the electricity bill for you. You should be able to do it, right?"
[|Master, I am more than willing to help. That said, given your system's current computing surplus and your demands for speed and power usage, I would not recommend handling this task alone at home.|]
"So, in other words, it can't be done?"
After listening for a bit, Wise understood what Fairy was trying to say.
[|Negative. Master, It is not that my capabilities are insufficient, but rather that the current environment limits my performance.|]
"Come on now… Well, whatever. If you can't do it on your own, don't blame the road. Strong people don't complain about their environment, right, Brother?" Belle said, deliberately poking at Fairy.
As an artificial intelligence, Fairy was clearly displeased by the comment.
[|Master, there is a hacker on the Inter-Knot known as 'Rain[2]'. Based on her history, she is a good match for your current needs. She has also worked with Nicole of the Cunning Hares before.|]
Wise remembered hearing about Rain before. She was well known for breaking through encrypted systems and data.
Since they had already decided, the next step was simple. He would contact Rain through Nicole. Wise was sure Nicole would happily take advantage of the chance to call in a favor.
He planned to talk to her later and see if she could get in touch with the other party. However, Nicole was likely still occupied with the ongoing lawsuit, so it would probably take some time.
"Okay, I've already messaged Nicole. I should get a reply soon. While I'm waiting, I'll stop by the convenience store to pick up some stuff. We're almost out of groceries anyway."
Wise checked his phone and left the video store. Belle only reminded him to come back early before starting to see if the room needed cleaning.
When Wise arrived at the convenience store, he noticed two familiar people selecting items.
Seeing this, an idea quietly formed in his mind. He slowed his steps and carefully approached the two of them.
"Anby, do you think this would taste good if we made it? Nya~"
"I don't know, but if Wise made it… Huh?"
As Anby spoke, something entered her peripheral vision, while Nekomata beside her remained completely unaware.
"Hmm, if he made it, it would definitely be delicious— Nyah?!"
Before Nekomata could finish her sentence, she suddenly felt her tail being grabbed from behind. She cried out instinctively and angrily turned her head, ready to question whoever it was.
"Nya! Who grabbed my tail, is it… Wise? W-Why are you here?!"
The moment she realized her tail was in Wise's hand, her anger melted into embarrassment.
"Yeah, It's me. You were so focused on shopping that I figured I'd surprise you a bit," He said, letting out a light laugh.
"Nya... doing that won't make a girl like you, you know!" Nekomata puffed out her cheeks.
"So, are you angry?"
"Ugh… Well, not really. I'm a pretty generous person. And my tail… could you let go first?"
Nekomata shyly tried to tug her tail back. It wasn't that she minded Wise holding it, but doing this in public would definitely draw unwanted attention.
"Hmm, alright then."
After noticing her thoughts, Wise gently stroked the fur on her tail once before decisively letting go.
"Nya!"
- - - -
To gain access to more than 25+ chapters and an exclusive novel written by me, go to:
[-p -a -t -r -e -o -n . com/DysFiction.]
To make a don@tion go to [ ko - fi .com /dysfiction ]
- - - -
[1] He won't
[2] My favorite aside from Trigger