Felice, Don't Run!

"She took the bait."

Walking down the street, Elysia suddenly let out a laugh.

"What...?" Lin Li asked.

"Here, look."

Elysia held her phone out in front of Lin Li. The screen displayed a small pink dot moving on the Dusk Street map, getting further and further away from them.

"Is that... tracking? You left a tracker there just now?"

"Mhm, so Lin Li actually didn't notice? I thought you knew what I was going to do," Elysia said. "The pink crystal flower I left there, I was just testing if she'd come back for it. It seems I succeeded."

"Wow... amazing," Lin Li didn't know what else to say and offered a compliment.

She really hadn't noticed anything just now, her attention completely focused on Elysia. How could she have the spare attention to look at anything else?

Elysia was dressed beautifully today. Although it was simple, her aura was undeniable; she looked good in anything. So, along the way, Lin Li couldn't help but steal glances at her multiple times.

Especially that leg accessory. To be honest, Lin Li really wanted one just like it, but she felt a bit too embarrassed to ask.

"Lin Li, where are you looking?" Elysia asked, seeing Lin Li's gaze wander again. "You seem a bit out of it today."

"..."

Lin Li looked back at the screen.

In just a short while, the pink dot had disappeared from the screen.

Of course, it hadn't disappeared from the phone itself. The screen was now centered on Elysia. This meant the girl was now about five to six hundred meters away from them.

"It's nothing, Elysia. Should we go find her now?"

"Hmm... no need. Let's go grab a meal first? She probably won't run off anyway... Even if we lose the crystal flower, we can ask others. We'll find Aponia eventually," Elysia replied.

"Okay," Lin Li nodded.

So, Elysia searched the street. Any place that didn't have a bit of pink in its decor was immediately passed over by her.

In the end, she only found a very small restaurant. They ate something simple and then left.

"Who is Aponia? Why do you want to meet her so badly?" Lin Li asked.

"Oh, that... When we meet her, you'll know?"

Elysia winked, keeping it a mystery.

She opened her phone and found that the pink dot had stopped moving. It had been staying in one place the entire time.

She had checked once when they entered the restaurant, and the location hadn't changed.

It was in a rather secluded area outside Dusk Street, seemingly a former park, though it was now abandoned.

"Let's head there first. See if we can find her."

"Okay."

Lin Li remembered that she used to really like saying "Alright," but now she had switched to "Okay."

It was this: lingering.

The two followed the GPS on the phone, tracing their way to a remote, desolate place.

From the surrounding environment, it was roughly evident that this had indeed been a park, but it had been abandoned for a long time.

On the way from Dusk Street's main road to here, the two had barely seen any living people. The most common creatures they saw were little cats.

However, it was strange. Those cats didn't seem like stray cats, yet they were different from ordinary house cats.

The park was planted with trees all around, as well as flowers and grass. But because they hadn't been trimmed for too long, various branches and vines had spread onto the park's cobblestone paths. Some had even seeped into the cracks between the stones, blooming even more beautifully in adversity.

Elysia looked at the world of flowers and grass before her, her eyes seeming to sparkle with a faint light.

She picked through the flower bushes beside her for a while, plucking the only purplish-pink bellflower. She used it as a hairpin, gently tucking it into Lin Li's hair.

"Mhm! It looks really pretty," Elysia said with a smile.

Seeing Lin Li about to take the flower out, she quickly stopped her, "Lin Li, can you not take it out? Can you just keep it like this, okay?"

"..."

Lin Li lowered her hand, saying helplessly, "But I don't even know what kind of flower you put in my hair."

"It's this one," Elysia pointed to the flower bushes, but then realized there were no more bellflowers there.

Her eyes darted around, as if thinking of a solution. Then, her eyes lit up. She had Lin Li stand in front of the flower bushes, while she herself stood a good distance away. She took out her phone and started snapping photos of Lin Li with a series of clicks.

During this time, she even had Lin Li strike various poses she thought looked good. Lin Li remained expressionless, her mind filled with exasperation.

Actually, she, a shut-in, really didn't understand the mindset of those goddesses who loved taking pictures outside before. But now, she felt like she understood it a little.

Elysia walked back and sighed as she looked at the dozens of photos on her phone.

"Lin Li is really something, not even smiling... But it's okay. Lin Li is already beautiful, so this is enough, right?"

Lin Li looked at her photos and only then realized the flower in her hair was purplish-pink.

As for what kind of flower it was... she couldn't recognize it.

It's fine, not bad. Elysia can wear it if she wants.

Actually, she thought the flower would look better in Elysia's hair... at least the colors matched better.

Speaking of which, the flower smelled quite nice. The floral scent drifted from above her head to her nose, a sensation she hadn't experienced before.

Elysia pulled Lin Li's hand and they continued towards their destination.

They were now less than two hundred meters from their target. A towering tree stood some distance ahead of them, its thick brown trunk bound by reddish-brown chains. A severely rusted iron notice board was attached to it, mostly obscured by patches of dry bark, likely bearing a message about not vandalizing it.

The cloaked girl should be right behind that tree. The two weren't in a hurry and slowly approached.

Elysia logged onto the official Dusk Street website and found something about a "bounty." She clicked on it.

Lin Li, seeing this, also looked with curiosity.

The page displayed various Dusk Street bounty notices, with rewards ranging from one gold coin to one hundred thousand gold coins.

Lin Li's eyes immediately widened, her gaze locked onto the hundred-thousand bounty, unable to look away.

Even after Elysia closed her phone, Lin Li kept staring at the screen.

"..."

Elysia suddenly regretted opening the website. She had only clicked out of curiosity, but she hadn't expected this...

She glanced at Lin Li. The other girl's excited expression made her sigh inwardly, a hint of helplessness.

It seemed to have gotten out of hand...

"Elysia..."

"Ahem! Little Li, we can talk about this bounty later. Come with me to find Aponia, okay?"

"Okay!" Lin Li nodded firmly.

She was already thinking about how to get that hundred thousand.

Who knew making money could be so simple? Just taking on a few of these jobs could net a hundred thousand.

She could understand Vill-V's situation, after all, attacking the Flame-Moth's security network and being wanted by the Flame-Moth would fetch a similar price.

But the person on the Dusk Street bounty notice just now... the description for the wanted individual was a thief?

That could be worth a hundred thousand? Are people in Dusk Street all that rich?

But then again, the person on the bounty notice only had a blurry, worn-out picture, practically ancient. It didn't even have a name. It looked like it was taken many years ago, and it was unclear why the photo hadn't been updated.

She could vaguely make out a girl with brown-yellow hair, but the features in the portrait were mostly worn away, making it impossible to discern her exact appearance.

Elysia could guess what Lin Li was thinking but couldn't do anything to stop it.

It seemed this trip to Dusk Street was bound to have a few detours.

The two of them circled around to the back of the large tree.

This was also a lawn, but the grass on the ground was already slightly yellow. The soil beneath, and even the earthworms from the freshly turned soil, were clearly visible.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the lawn, sparkling just as beautifully as the crystal flower held close to the girl's chest.

Elysia and Lin Li slowly walked up to the cloaked girl.

Even in her sleep, the girl was still wearing that tattered cloak, making it seem like she truly didn't want anyone to know what she looked like.

But... was wearing that really effective while sleeping? One lift would reveal what she looked like.

Perhaps it was for a sense of security. Like how Lin Li used to like holding her cat when she slept on the sofa.

It was a white, plump cat. Lin Li treated her very well, doting on her with good food and drink every day.

"..."

Elysia sent Lin Li a message on her phone.

"Little Li, should we wait for her to wake up first? It might be a bit rude to wake her up."

"Mm."

Lin Li replied with a single word, and she herself started looking at the bounties on the Dusk Street official website.

Aside from the top bounty of one hundred thousand for the thief, the next highest was ten thousand, which didn't pique Lin Li's interest at all.

After all, upgrading just one of her talents cost a hundred thousand, and that was only from low-tier to mid-tier.

Even so, she patiently looked through all the bounty notices, though she didn't even glance at those with single-digit rewards.

And so, the two of them did their own things until the girl lying on the lawn let out a soft whimper.

"Mmm... I slept so soundly. I haven't had such a secure sleep in a long time."

As the girl spoke, she pulled open her cloak, but the sight that greeted her the next moment made her freeze.

"Hi~ Long time no see~" Elysia greeted her.

To her surprise, the moment the girl heard the voice, she stuffed the crystal flower into her pocket and bolted.

Lin Li immediately chased after her.

The terrain in the park wasn't as winding as the alleyways they had been in before. The visibility here was wide open, and the girl couldn't outrun Lin Li, being caught almost immediately.

The girl wanted to struggle with all her might, but Lin Li held her too tightly. In the end, she even picked her up, restraining all her movements.

"Let... let go of me..."

Lin Li brought the girl back to Elysia's side.

"M-misses, this isn't right..." the girl said, trembling, her eyes betraying her panic. "I know I was wrong, I won't steal from you again, can you please let me go? I'm begging you..."

As she spoke, the girl placed the items from her pockets one by one.

A worn pocket watch, a gold coin embedded with a bullet, a half-eaten bag of chips, and a radiant crystal flower.

Besides these, there were also some small trinkets that even Elysia couldn't recognize.

"..."

Elysia didn't know what to say. She didn't understand why the girl was so afraid of them.

"Mmm... What's your name?" she asked.

"I... My name is Pardofelis, but you can call me Pardo, or you can call me... call me Felice... either is fine."

As Felice spoke, she observed Elysia and Lin Li's expressions.

If she noticed anything amiss, she would run with all her might.

Although she knew her name wasn't on the bounty poster, what if?

"Pardofelis? That's a beautiful name." Elysia said with a smile, placing her hand on Felice's brown-yellow hair and ruffling it to calm her down.

Her actions seemed to possess a magical quality, and Felice quickly calmed down, though the worry in her eyes hadn't disappeared.

"Why were you running just now?" Elysia asked.

"..."

Felice fell silent.

Of course, she didn't dare say she was afraid of being caught, wouldn't that expose her?

But she had no reason to answer Elysia, as running away from everyone was suspicious in itself...

Seeing Felice like this, Elysia thought for a moment and offered her an out: "Could it be that you were shy because you saw two beautiful girls like me and Little Li?"

"..." Lin Li's lips twitched.

This excuse didn't seem very effective.

No normal person would think that!

As expected, Felice was also slightly taken aback by this statement.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Elysia added, "Ahem, let's introduce ourselves then. My name is Elysia, and this is Lin Li, my... female friend."

Elysia didn't quite dare to say Lin Li was her girlfriend, fearing Lin Li would run away immediately if she did.

Even though she really wanted to. Just think about it, they were already living together, sleeping in each other's arms, so intimate, what else could they be if not lovers?

Mmm... Although all of this seemed to be built on Little Li's love for money. If Lin Li could let her do these things freely one day, then they would truly be a couple, right? Just thinking about it gave her motivation.

Okay, she had gotten a bit carried away.

Elysia looked back at Felice, who was gesturing on the grass with one hand, as if writing their names.

Lin Li thoughtfully showed Felice her phone, and only then did the girl understand how to write their names.

"Boss Elysia, Boss Lin... can you let me go now?" Felice said softly.

"No, you can't." Elysia gently removed her hand from Felice's hair. "Did you forget why I was looking for you in the first place?"

"What...?"

Felice heard her and began to recall.

Since it had only happened a few hours ago, she remembered quickly.

"You... wanted me to take you to Sister Niya?"

"Uh-huh, you got it right!" Elysia giggled.

"..."

Felice patted her chest, relieved.

"Then... do you want me to take you there now? Sister Niya's house is quite far from here."

"Mhm, mhm, thank you then, cute Felice?"

"..."

Lin Li was speechless again.

Looking at Felice, she seemed similar to herself.

Just as she had said before, not everyone could adapt to Elysia's enthusiastic attitude, at least not in a short period.

And so, the three of them set off.