Ch'en tried her best to persuade Bagpipe back to the Lungmen Guard Department so they could discuss things properly. Since Bagpipe had only just arrived in Lungmen and had nowhere to stay, Ch'en arranged for her to stay behind the iron bars of the holding cell.
"Ahem. I don't mean anything against you."
Ch'en said apologetically.
"I know. Ch'en-Ch'en, you're not the type to scheme behind someone's back. If you couldn't stand me, you'd have shouted at me to get the hell back to Rhodes Island long ago, right?"
"That's true..."
Ch'en pulled shut the iron gate, locking the rampaging Scottish dragon inside the cage. Sunlight streamed through the bars in evenly divided blocks. She sat there so quietly, her pale orange hair gleaming in the sunset, that she almost seemed serene.
If Ch'en believed this version of Bagpipe, then she had truly lived all these years for nothing.
The Guard Department's traffic division returned Bagpipe's lance, along with a ticket and a bill for road repairs. Together, they amounted to a massive sum.
Ch'en tossed the lance into her office. As for the ticket, she crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket.
She would deal with it tomorrow.
Meanwhile, at the shrine, Mayer was busily rushing out a civilian lock. It was an extremely complicated electronic device. Taking Operator Bagpipe's traits into account, she had specifically avoided making it neat and orderly. The lock was covered in tangled wires and tiny displays, some of which served no purpose at all and were purely there to make it look more complicated.
Early the next morning, outside the shrine's main gate.
Before dawn had even broken, Bagpipe had indeed come knocking again with tireless persistence.
"Lady shrine maiden, I'm willing to pay to lease the land... Don't