Arknights, Suika's Messenger Journey

After finishing her drink, a flash of insight struck Chen, and she sensed that something was wrong. But before she could speak, Suika continued.

"Come on, come on, after one cup comes another... Tonight, we won't go home until we're drunk."

The next second, her thoughts were swept away by the wine bowl before her again...

The next morning, Ibuki Suika was the first to wake up. Seeing Hoshiguma sprawled on the floor and Chen collapsed beside the toilet, she felt a chill rise from the bottom of her heart.

By then, she had remembered what happened last night.

Thinking about how the two abilities she had used on instinct had made two police officers drink until they vomited their guts out, she felt that her future was looking awfully bleak.

This didn't count as assaulting police officers, did it...?

Sensing that the two were about to wake up, she darted onto the bed in a few quick steps and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket.

Drunken Officers Are Such Pushovers!

Outside, the two gradually waking women stared at the mess all over the floor, their faces filled with confusion.

Chen rubbed between her brows. Although the wine Suika poured from the Ibuki Gourd would not leave anyone with a hangover headache the next day, she had still drunk quite a lot last night and remained somewhat dazed.

Hearing Chen's footsteps, Hoshiguma, who was sitting on the floor, raised her head and looked at her blankly.

"What happened to us?"

Hoshiguma rubbed her forehead, having no idea why she had slept on the floor.

Chen dropped onto the sofa, shook her head, and tried her best to clear it.

"I don't know...

Let me think...

Last night, after work, I came back with you because I wanted to meet that little girl named Ibuki Suika.

After we entered, we found her drunk. Then you woke her up, and after that... Ugh, I can't remember."

Everything after that was a blur, so Chen tried to reason it out from the beginning. But once she reached the moment they entered the house, she felt as though her memories had simply vanished.

"I think I remember a little... I woke Suika up, then she said something. After that, the room changed somehow, and someone started singing...

Then... Ugh, we just kept drinking...

Why were you and I drinking under those circumstances...?"

After sitting there for a while, Hoshiguma finally began to recover as well. By then, she too realized that something was wrong.

A bunch of inexplicable things had suddenly appeared in her home, yet she had not been on guard at all. Worse, she had kept drinking under someone's whispered urging.

"Suika... That voice inviting us to drink was Suika!"

Hoshiguma looked around but did not see Suika. She then turned toward the bedroom, opened the door, and found a little brat with her head buried beneath the blanket, trying to play turtle.

Ten minutes later, Suika was dragged outside by the two women. Hoshiguma widened her eyes and tried to look fierce.

"Talk. Confess and be treated leniently; resist and be punished severely!"

"Confess and rot in prison, resist and go home for the New Year..." Suika muttered.

"What nonsense are you muttering, you little brat?!" Hoshiguma's eyes widened even further.

"Hoshiguma, you smell awful... How about taking a bath first...?"

Suika tried to stall for time.

Hoshiguma sniffed herself. She had vomited all over the floor last night, and before waking this little brat, she had only managed to clean up a little. There was still a strange smell in the room.

"Go wash up. We can take turns watching her," Chen said softly to Hoshiguma, her expression wary as she watched Suika sit on the sofa and try her best to look harmless.

Just as Suika had said, both of them reeked of the aftermath of getting thoroughly drunk. It was terribly unpleasant.

Hoshiguma nodded helplessly and glared at Suika. "Sit there nicely and behave!"

"Hoshiguma, hurry up. I still have letters to deliver later!" Suika tried to use work as an excuse to escape.

Another half hour passed. After washing up and changing into fresh clothes, the two women sat at the table, one on either side, while Suika sat across from them with wide innocent eyes.

"Talk. What exactly happened last night?" Hoshiguma tapped the pen in her hand, speaking in the tone of an interrogation.

"Uh, would you believe me if I said it was just a beautiful accident?" The fine wine inside the Ibuki Gourd was only wine. At most, it was more intoxicating than ordinary liquor, but it had no extra effects. Suika could not possibly expect them to forget last night.

"Cut the nonsense. Tell us exactly what happened last night. Why did we end up like that?" Hoshiguma felt that she could not be too polite with this little brat.

"Oh, all right!" Suika put on a sorrowful expression, then, under the two women's watchful eyes, removed the three iron chains hanging from her belt with three clicks.

"Huh? Those things can come off?" Chen said in surprise. She remembered that night clearly: even after hacking at them until her blade had curled, she had not left the slightest mark on the chains. Suika had never removed them even while sleeping.

"Of course. They were detachable from the start." As she spoke, Suika used the chain with the cube-shaped end as a hair tie, tying it around the end of her long hair.

"Ahem. Be serious, we're questioning you!" Chen came back to herself after being distracted and gave an embarrassed fake cough.

"It's these three chains... The person who gave them to me said they were called Arts Units or something." As she spoke, Suika removed the remaining two chains and hung one from each wrist.

"What? Arts Units?" Chen stood up in surprise, then took the chain Suika held out to examine it.

It looked very different from the Arts Units she remembered learning about at the Guard school in Victoria, but the circular terminal was covered in many strange symbols.

If this thing really was an Arts Unit, then those symbols were very likely the corresponding runes.

"What do these Arts Units do?" After calming down, Chen sat back down and looked Suika in the eyes.

"Didn't you see them last night?" Suika blinked, looking confused.

"Be specific." Chen exchanged a glance with Hoshiguma, then continued the questioning, since she knew more about the subject.

"This sphere can keep the Ibuki Gourd full of wine at all times... You're asking what the Ibuki Gourd is? It's this!" Suika took out the wine gourd.

"Then there's this cube. It lets everyone hold a feast together, and then there'll be lots and lots of delicious food." Suika placed the end she had been using as a hair tie on the table and spoke with a perfectly serious face.

"Lastly, there's this triangular pyramid. When I invite someone to drink, it makes it so they can't refuse."

???

After hearing Suika's explanation, Chen and Hoshiguma were both full of question marks.

Hoshiguma quietly asked Chen.

"Are Arts Units supposed to be like this?"

Chen shook her head.

"How do you prove that what you said is true?"

"How about... holding another feast?" Suika asked cautiously.

To say she had not lied would be false. Holding feasts and inviting others to drink were her own abilities, not Arts granted by the chains.

The Ibuki Gourd could produce wine on its own as well.

But neither Chen nor Hoshiguma was a professional caster, and neither knew much about Arts Units. There was no way for them to notice the problem.

Besides, what happened last night was still fresh in their minds. The moment Suika suggested another feast, the two women shook their heads at the same time in refusal.

After all, if they got drunk again, their reputations at the Guard Department would probably be ruined.

For example, right now, the clock hands pointed to nine. They had not even left home yet, and they were already late.

If they drank themselves senseless until the afternoon, they might not even be able to keep these police uniforms.

"All right. I'll ask professionals whether what you said is true. But you need to promise me that you won't casually use these Arts outside!" Hoshiguma was worried that Suika would cause trouble by using Arts in public, so she emphasized the warning.

Lateness and Early Departure Are Both Bad Habits

Unable to tell whether what Suika said was true or false, the two had no time to figure it out either.

After gathering their things, they left.

Suika also slowly packed her little backpack and prepared to head out.

When she reached the door and saw the letters in her bag, she slapped her forehead. One of the families had been leaving early and returning late. She had originally planned to deliver their letter in the evening, but after being woken up, her morning temper had flared.

She had held an all-night party with Chen and Hoshiguma, and the letter had never been delivered.

With a sigh, she tightened her little backpack and headed toward the post office.

As she passed that house, she suddenly noticed that its front door was open.

She hurried over in a few quick strides.

After she gently knocked on the open door, a weary-looking middle-aged man came over.

"Can I help you, little girl?"

He looked haggard, and exhaustion was written all over his face. Yet before speaking, he habitually put on a professional smile, briefly straightened his clothes, and spoke in a polite, refined manner. Suika felt that he was either in public relations or sales.

Only people in those two professions would instinctively make such gestures when speaking with someone, trying to give the best possible impression.

"Are you Mr. Li Lei?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I have a letter from Ms. Han Meimei for you. Please accept it."

Suika took out the letter she had forgotten to deliver yesterday and handed it over.

When he heard the name Suika mentioned, a look of reminiscence appeared on the man's face. Then he shook his head as though trying to cast something away before taking the letter.

Just as Suika was about to leave, he called out to her.

Then he took several crumpled Lungmen Dollars from his bag.

"Thank you for bringing me good news so early in the morning. It's only a small token of appreciation."

Suika nodded, accepted the money, and said,

"Thank you, sir. I hope you have a pleasant day."

After leaving the house, Suika felt much lighter.

She checked the letters in her bag. Only the letter for the resident who had already moved away from Lungmen remained. All the others had been successfully delivered.

Next, she needed to take Granny Wang's outgoing letter to the post office. After mailing it, she would check whether there were any new letters that needed to be brought back.

Since she had already walked the route once, the second trip was much more familiar.

When she emerged from the post office's mail sorting area, several newly arrived letters had appeared in her bag.

"La la la, la la la, I'm an expert little mail carrier, running all over the streets through wind and rain..."

As she headed toward the neighborhood, Suika hummed cheerfully, in an exceptionally good mood.

Meanwhile, when Chen and Hoshiguma arrived at the Guard Department, they saw Swire standing at the entrance. Swire first mocked Chen for being late, then asked,

"How did the two of you end up late at the same time? That's rare!

Sniff, sniff... Wait, have you two been drinking?"

The little tiger's expression changed. She had been worried because they were late, only to find out they had been drinking. For a moment, she had trouble accepting it. Sure enough, dancing with three people was far too difficult.

The moment Hoshiguma heard the word drinking, her head began to ache at the memory of last night.

"Don't mention it... We have something to discuss with Jiu. She's in her office, right?"

"Of course..." Thinking about how those two had secretly gone drinking without inviting her, the little tiger became extremely unhappy. She snorted and turned to walk inside.

"Is something wrong with her?" Chen did not understand why Swire was acting like a lunatic, jumping at every little thing.

The blunt, utterly straight Hoshiguma merely shrugged. She knew even less about such things.

Thinking of the new information about Suika, the two shoved the proud little tiger's mood to the back of their minds and went straight to find Jiu.

Jiu was in her office. When she saw Chen and Hoshiguma arrive together, she rarely showed a teasing smile.

"Our Officer Chen seems to be late for the first time, doesn't she? And Officer Hoshiguma, according to my records, you are hardly ever late either."

"Stop making fun of us, Jiu... Here's the thing."

After helplessly responding to Jiu's teasing, Chen explained why the two had arrived at the Guard Department so late and why they both carried a faint smell of alcohol.

After listening to Chen's account, Jiu sat up straighter.

"So you're saying that the girl's chains are not ordinary chains, but Arts Units?

Can you be sure?"

Chen nodded, then shook her head.

"Honestly, we can't be sure. But the material of those chains is indeed unusual. I once struck them with a standard-issue longsword, but the blade curled. Those chains did not even have a single scratch on them."