Arknights: Suika's Messenger Journey

Jiu did not approve of Hoshiguma's idea. In her view, Hoshiguma was exceptionally capable and one of the key people the Guard Department was cultivating.

The amount of work thrown onto her would only increase, never decrease.

Guard Department work meant leaving early and returning late. She simply would not have the time or energy to look after that child.

Hearing Jiu's words, Hoshiguma became dejected. As she walked outside, she saw Suika and Swire squatting on the ground not far from the Guard Department entrance, cracking sunflower seeds.

"You want to find a job? Who would dare hire someone so young? Lungmen has child labor protection laws," Swire said, curious as to why the child before her had come to her looking for work.

"No job means no money. No money means no alcohol. If I can't drink, I'll die..."

Naturally, Suika could not say that she needed money to strengthen herself. She could only say that she wanted money to buy alcohol. Hearing that, a vein popped up on Hoshiguma's forehead.

Just as she was about to walk over and teach Suika a lesson, Swire spoke.

"Honestly, although every part of Lungmen is short on people, there is only one kind of work I know that a child your age can do—messenger work, or being a paperboy."

"Tell me more?" Suika knew that with her size, it would be hard to find suitable work anywhere. As long as there was something she could do, she was not picky.

"Although electronics have now spread everywhere, contact between different regions and countries still relies primarily on letters.

Lungmen has no shortage of people, and the letters sent back and forth every day are even more numerous.

But not everyone has the time to visit the mail distribution center and find their own letter, so that is where messenger work comes in.

Since this job mostly takes time and does not require much physical labor, only uninfected children, elderly people, or disabled people are allowed to do it.

Wouldn't that make you perfect for it?"

When Swire finished, Suika's eyes lit up.

The reason she had approached Swire was because she knew the little tiger was kind-hearted. She did not want to burden Hoshiguma, so she had wanted to find a job and get by for now, then think about other matters after she had found her footing.

Originally, she had wanted the little tiger to take her in as something like a little maid. But after hearing Swire's words, she felt that messenger work really suited her.

"I want to do it! I want to!" Suika jumped up excitedly, only for Hoshiguma to grab her in a hug from behind.

"But... at your age, you should be going to school..." Hoshiguma still wanted to make one last attempt.

"School?

I have no family and no money. What would I go to school for...

Don't let my size fool you. I'm very smart. I understand everything about society. I don't need school at all..."

Suika had no desire to attend school.

After all, her soul was still that of an adult. She already knew most of the knowledge she needed, and going to school would just waste her time.

Besides, she had neither parents nor money. Even if she attended school, she would probably be targeted by other little brats.

And if she went to school, how was she supposed to make money?

She was still counting on earning plenty of money and finding good things in the Offering Box.

When Hoshiguma heard Suika's words, "I'll support you!" rose to her lips, but she could not bring herself to say it.

After thinking it over, she finally said,

"Messengers need sponsorship from a local. Leave this to me. After that, you can live at my house. My workload is heavy, so I rarely go back anyway, and you'll save the cost of renting somewhere outside."

She knew that she and Suika were strangers. Even if she helped, she could not keep it up forever. In that case, she might as well follow Suika's wishes.

If Suika lived at her house, her safety would also be more assured than outside.

After making up their minds, the three returned to the Guard Department to get Suika a residence permit, then brought her to Lungmen's mail distribution center.

With Hoshiguma and Swire's sponsorship—mainly Swire's—Suika got her messenger qualification certificate in less than an hour.

"We do not set specific working hours. Of course, the base salary is only one thousand Lungmen Dollars per month, and you must deliver at least five letters per month.

You receive a commission of two Lungmen Dollars for every letter delivered. If the recipient voluntarily gives you a tip, we will not take an additional fee, but you must never ask for tips. That is forbidden. If you are caught, you will be fired immediately. I hope you understand.

Then there are the routes. These are the routes that currently have no messengers. You can choose one."

After the supervisor explained the messenger work to Suika in detail,

"This street is good. It's near the commercial district, has quite a few shops, and public security is good too," Swire suggested, pointing at one route.

Suika looked over and found that the place Swire pointed to was indeed quite good.

It was only one street away from the main commercial district. Beside it were office buildings under construction. Once they were finished, plenty of mail would be sent and received there every day. It was also the route closest to the central district.

The administrator nodded at Swire and very much approved of her eye. To be honest, plenty of people coveted this route. If not for the fact that this girl had the backing of Swire's family, he would not have shown this route at all.

But after looking around, Suika pointed at another route. "...I'll choose this one."

Everyone froze when they saw where she had chosen.

This place was very remote, and it was the exact opposite of the previous route. Just one street away was the slums.

Public security there was extremely chaotic. There was little mail and even less money to be made. Even old hands who had lived in Lungmen for years were unwilling to choose this route.

Hoshiguma and Swire were stunned because this route was the street right outside Hoshiguma's home.

Hoshiguma knew this street very well.

"Forget it. The people on this street are all elderly people who have lived in Lungmen for decades...

They barely have any contact with places outside Lungmen, and they rarely send or receive letters."

"But it's close to home... If I leave home in the morning, walk to the distribution center, pick up the letters, then walk back and deliver them all, I can be home by one or two in the afternoon at the latest.

If I choose that route, walking from where I live to here, picking up the letters, delivering them, and then returning home might take until evening..."

A Skilled Letter Carrier: Ibuki Suika

The three of them fell silent when they heard Suika's words.

They really had not considered how much time someone Suika's age would need to leave home, walk here, pick the relevant letters out from a huge pile, and then deliver them to their destinations.

The route Swire suggested was indeed the most likely to make money, but making someone Suika's size walk across half of Lungmen to deliver letters was simply too cruel.

In contrast, the route Suika chose might not bring in much money, but it would be far less demanding.

And it was right outside her home. A round trip was just right. Though the distance was still a little long for a child, it was not unbearable.

Swire smiled and rubbed her forehead, then reached out and patted Suika on the head.

"I didn't expect someone so young to see things more clearly than I did.

I only saw how to maximize profit, but forgot to assess my own capabilities. That was my mistake. Little one, you've taught me a lesson!"

After making her choice, the three walked outside.

"Hoshiguma and Swire are police officers, so you must both have a lot to do. I'm already very happy that you brought me here. Since I've accepted this job, I want to start today."

With money constantly on her mind, Suika felt that there was no time like the present. Since she was already here, she might as well start today. The guaranteed salary was so low that if she did not work more, she might truly have very few Lungmen Dollars by the end of the month.

Perhaps Suika's earlier words had given her a deeper understanding of letters. Swire now very much agreed with Suika's thinking.

"I hope you are not taking this job on a whim. Being a messenger is work that requires long-term, repeated effort."

Seeing this, Hoshiguma said nothing more. Instead, she handed Suika the key to her front door, then pulled out one hundred Lungmen Dollars and gave them to her.

"Eat outside during the day. Tonight, I'll bring some daily necessities home for you...

Don't use this money to buy alcohol!"

Thinking of how she had given Suika three hundred Lungmen Dollars yesterday, only to see her passed out drunk on the sofa that night, Hoshiguma felt the need to remind her. A child drinking heavily was not a good thing.

After Hoshiguma got into the car, Swire passed in front of Suika and stuffed a stack of Lungmen Dollars into her hand, then gave her a playful wink.

"You taught me a very good lesson just now. This is your tuition!"

After whispering that, the little tiger got into Hoshiguma's car. Only after watching them leave did Suika look at the stack of money Swire had given her.

After counting it, she gasped. A full two thousand Lungmen Dollars. As expected of a rich woman—one move, and it was two months of her guaranteed salary.

What should she do with money? As the famous Terra investment master, Comrade Cannot Goodenough had once said, going all in was an attitude toward life, and ALL IN was the secret to success.

Now that she had money, naturally she had to use it.

But she was not in a hurry to spend it. This was the middle of the road, after all. Who knew what kind of bizarre thing would appear if she stuffed a whole handful of money into the Offering Box?

She entered the mail distribution center again. The supervisor was very satisfied with Suika's work attitude, and since she clearly had an unusual relationship with the young lady of Swire's family, he naturally would not deliberately make things difficult for her.

"The letters here have already been roughly sorted. The letters for your street are basically in these two cabinets. Once you find them, just sign at the entrance and verify the quantity.

If you can't find someone while delivering a letter, you can bring it back and store it for a while.

Generally speaking, ordinary letters are stored here for half a year. If no one collects a letter after six months, put it into the cardboard box beside you. Staff will move it to another area."

The supervisor pointed at the cardboard box beside him.

"Will these unclaimed letters be destroyed?" Suika asked curiously.

Terra was unlike Earth. The people here did not move around much, but because of Oripathy, someone who had been living well here could suddenly become Infected the next day and be forced to leave the streets where normal people lived.

Because information traveled slowly, people in other regions might not know about it and would continue sending letters here.

But by then, the recipient would no longer be there, so naturally no one would sign for them.

The supervisor shook his head, his tone firm and sorrowful.

"How could that be!

Letters are precious things. Since ancient times, people have used letters to contact relatives far away.

These letters that have gone unsigned for six months will be selected by dedicated messengers. If there is a record showing that the recipient was still alive during those six months, we will arrange for someone to search for them. If there has been no news within six months, the letter will be returned along its original route."

Suika breathed a sigh of relief. Then, under the supervisor's watchful gaze, she picked out the letters that needed to be delivered.

Just as expected, there were not many letters for this street. Out of the hundreds of letters in the two large cabinets, she only picked out seven.

Carrying the letters out the door, Suika began her first messenger journey.

Her luck was good with the first and second households. Someone was home when she arrived, which was also why Suika had chosen this street.

After all, she had just arrived in Lungmen and knew no one. If she chose a place full of tall buildings, she would probably get herself hopelessly lost at the beginning. This street was full of one- or two-story houses, and most of the neighbors knew each other well, making it much easier to find people.

But she ran into a little trouble at the third house. No one was home. According to the neighbors, the family worked on the other side of the city and left early and returned late every day. The only way to find them was before seven in the morning or after eight at night.

After hesitating for a moment, Suika thought that the street was not far anyway. She could keep the letter with her for now and deliver it that evening.

After all, it was her first day on the job. She still hoped to complete it perfectly and get herself off to a good start.

Then no one was home at the fourth house either. This time, the family had moved out of Lungmen two days ago. She heard that they had returned to their hometown, and so they had just happened to miss the letter sent from home.

Suika sighed. Her hope of a one hundred percent completion rate on her first day had been shattered.

After sighing, she continued delivering letters to the others. When she knocked on the final door, she revealed a delighted expression, because the person who opened it was Granny Wang.

At the moment, the old woman's head was wrapped in white gauze. She looked a little disheveled, but her spirits were clearly much better. Granny Wang was also delighted when she saw Suika.

"Oh my, isn't this the girl from yesterday? Why are you here?"

Suika held up the letter with both hands and offered it over with a sweet smile.

"Granny Wang, this is a letter for your family..."

The Crooked Favor of the Goddess of Luck

Seeing the letter Suika handed over, Granny Wang smiled as she took it. After checking the name, her smile widened further.

"Old man, it's a letter from our third son..."

"Hmm? That brat finally remembered to send a letter?" An old man walked out from inside the house. When he saw Suika, he nodded, then took the letter.

"Little Suika, come in and sit for a while!" Granny Wang stepped aside and invited Suika inside.

Suika hurriedly shook her head and took out two letters that had not been sent.

"No need, Granny. I still have letters to deliver!"

The old man, who was reading the letter, looked over when he heard the conversation. After examining Suika, he said,

"You must be the new messenger for our neighborhood.

This old woman wrote several letters to our third son before, but she could never send them because she couldn't find his address.

Perfect. Could you take them to the post office for us?"

The old man pointed at the address on the letters and explained what he wanted. Suika nodded. Receiving and sending letters was part of a messenger's job, and her messenger bag even contained special envelopes for those who needed them.

"Oh my, there's no need to send all of these. Some of them are already several years old."