Arknights: Suika's Messenger Journey

Moreover, when I checked this morning, I found faint symbols engraved on those three chain-terminal objects.

They were different from the records on Arts Units I had studied in Victoria, but my teacher had said that Arts Units were not limited to the type he taught us about. So all I can say is that those chains are indeed highly suspicious."

"How much of what that child said do you believe?" Jiu crossed his arms over his chest, striking Commander Ikari's signature pose.

"Seventy percent!

I feel like she hid something, but not much. Besides, both of us experienced those things firsthand."

When she mentioned "experienced," Chen's expression turned conflicted.

"Then where is that little girl? You didn't bring her?"

Jiu looked behind the two of them but found no sign of Ibuki Suika.

"Yesterday, Swire introduced her to a messenger job. She should be on her way to the post office now!"

Hoshiguma only spoke after calculating the time.

"A messenger job? Swire introduced it?" Jiu pressed.

"Yes. Seeing how young she was, I originally wanted to persuade her to go to school. But she said she had no home or family and simply had no means to study. After hearing that, Swire introduced her to messenger work."

Hoshiguma recounted what had happened the day before.

"Are you sure it was Swire who suggested that job, not the child herself?"

As a police officer, Jiu instinctively questioned the details.

"I'm sure. Swire was the one who brought it up. You can ask her." Hoshiguma declared herself aboveboard, then went on to describe what had happened at the post office.

"I see. That Suika seems quite clear-headed.

All right. Bring that child to the department this afternoon."

After some thought, Jiu decided to personally meet the little troublemaker who had managed to get both of his trusted subordinates.

Suika, meanwhile, had no idea what was happening at the Guard Department. After collecting the letters, she ran from door to door according to the addresses written on them.

Today went much more smoothly than yesterday. It took only half an hour to deliver all the letters, and she even received a few tips.

Including the money the man had given her that morning, Suika counted a total of 300 Lungmen Dollars.

For someone as penniless as her, it was quite a substantial fortune.

Was Using an Arts Unit What Made Someone a Caster?

Naturally, Suika had no intention of spending that money right away.

The two ghost-like skills she had gotten for one thousand Lungmen Dollars had already broken her heart. She did not even dare imagine what kind of trash two skills from three hundred Lungmen Dollars would turn out to be.

Would it be food Reimu had left out until it went bad, or mushrooms that the black-and-white mouse had just picked?

Rather than spend money and draw something like that, she might as well save up for one big pull.

After returning to the house, she found several tomatoes, a packet of dried noodles, and a few Fowlbeast eggs.

She found a stool to stand on so she could cook more easily, set the seasonings beside her, and made a simple tomato-and-egg stir-fry. Then she boiled the noodles and poured the cooked tomato-and-egg stir-fry over them as a topping.

After making a classic bowl of tomato-and-egg noodles, Suika carried it to the sofa, opened the Ibuki Gourd, and happily ate her lunch with a bite of noodles and a sip of sake.

When Hoshiguma returned at noon, she saw Suika standing barefoot on the table, singing something in a drawn-out voice. As she approached, she heard Suika singing, "His words have frightened me into a cold sweat. Only today, after fifteen years, has he finally spoken the truth..."

She frowned. It sounded somewhat like the operas from Hundred Stoves, but she was not particularly interested in that sort of thing and knew little about it. She only knew it existed.

Still, judging from Suika's flushed cheeks and misty eyes, she was probably drunk again.

The thought left Hoshiguma both exasperated and amused.

After all, it was strange no matter how one looked at it for such a child to be a drunkard.

Yet Suika was remarkably disciplined about it. She only drank at home after finishing her work.

Looking at her like this, Hoshiguma figured it would be impossible to persuade her to quit drinking. All she could hope for was to convince her to drink a little less.

"Big Sis Hoshiguma!" As Hoshiguma walked in with her thoughts in a mess, Suika heard the footsteps and turned around. She sweetly called out to her, then leaped over in one bound.

Hoshiguma was so startled that she hurriedly tilted her head back, terrified Suika would ram her head into her single horn.

"You little... sigh." A thousand words turned into nothing but a sigh before they could leave her mouth.

Carrying Suika in her arms, Hoshiguma walked out the front door. She awkwardly greeted passing neighbors she knew, tossed Suika into the vehicle, and drove the little three-wheeler rattling away from the street.

By the time they reached the Guard Department, the cool wind from the ride had sobered Suika up quite a bit.

"Hm? Why are we at the Guard Department again?" Suika looked around. Wasn't this the Guard Department?

She remembered that all those miscellaneous documents had already been handled yesterday. Why did she have to come here again today?

"My superior wants to see you. Remember, tell the truth about everything. If they find out you lied, your documents might be revoked.

Without a residence permit, you won't be able to stay in Lungmen."

Afraid that Suika would spout nonsense in front of Jiu, Hoshiguma deliberately made the situation sound more serious than it was, hoping to scare her into behaving.

"Got it. It's just the truth, right? I'll answer whatever she asks." Suika was not worried. Most of what she had said before was true, and the false parts were impossible to verify anyway.

Hoshiguma led her to Jiu's office.

Jiu was writing something. A minute later, he set down his pen and looked up at Suika.

"You're Ibuki Suika, correct? I will ask you three questions. You must answer immediately after I finish asking them. You are not allowed time to think. Do you understand?"

As he spoke, his eyes stayed fixed on Suika's face, observing every slight change in the girl's expression.

With a clear conscience, Suika nodded naturally. Though she was a little nervous, she was not overly concerned.

"Did you come to Lungmen with any purpose?"

"No."

"Did you approach Hoshiguma with any ulterior motive?"

"No."

"Why did you join Lungmen?"

"Because I woke up here."

Jiu asked quickly, and Suika answered just as quickly.

Less than ten seconds passed from the first question to the final answer. When it was over, Suika looked at him innocently.

"Any more questions?"

"Go wait outside for a while first," Jiu said to Hoshiguma.

Hoshiguma took Suika's small hand and led her out.

After the two left, Chen and Swire emerged from behind a folding screen nearby.

"There shouldn't be anything wrong with this child," Jiu stated his conclusion first.

"She looked a little nervous, but she's a child. If a normal person came here and acted completely relaxed, I'd be even more suspicious.

And when she answered those questions, her eyes remained fixed on me without shifting. That proves she did not go through a process of thinking.

So she is not someone who came to Lungmen with an ulterior purpose and deliberately approached our Guard Department officers."

After Jiu finished, Swire puffed out her cheeks and glared at Chen.

"Hmph, it's only because this Sausage Dragon didn't believe me. I already said I was the one who introduced her to that messenger job. That child probably just wanted to find work through me at first."

"There are so many people in the Guard Department. Why would she ask a stranger like you to introduce her to a job?" Chen replied evenly.

"You think everyone is as blind as you? With my bearing, anyone can tell at a glance that I was born into an aristocratic family." Swire lifted her chin and puffed out her chest, looking immensely proud.

"Hmph." Chen turned her head away disdainfully.

"All right, can you two stop arguing the moment you meet?

Isn't it something to be happy about that there's nothing wrong with the child?" Jiu tapped the desk with a finger, interrupting their bickering.

"Chen, go call them back in. Swire, please act as the recorder."

Although the suspicion surrounding Suika had been cleared, she still possessed three bizarre Arts Units. In the spirit of seeking truth and being practical, Jiu decided to personally question her in detail about the Arts those units could produce.

Soon, Suika was sitting in her seat again.

"First, welcome to Lungmen. Since you are a Caster and possess your own Arts Units, you must undergo an inspection.

Please begin by introducing these Arts Units and the Arts you can use through them."

Jiu asked in a formal tone.

Suika knew the hardest hurdle was already behind her. As long as these "abilities" of hers were documented as Arts, she would be able to live freely in Lungmen without further obstacles.

She described in great detail the abilities represented by the three different chains.

After hearing her out, Jiu wore exactly the same expression Chen and Hoshiguma had worn earlier.

It was the first time he had learned that a Caster could create Arts Units that were so absurd and sinister.

It could be said that if what she claimed was true, then the person who made these things definitely did not think like a normal person.

"Thank you for the detailed explanation. But could you demonstrate these 'Arts' of yours for us?" Jiu was very curious whether Suika could truly do what she had claimed.

A Banquet at the Drop of a Hat

"Of course. Chief, you've worked hard today. Have a drink to wet your throat."

To everyone else's stunned disbelief, Suika picked up an empty paper cup from nearby, filled it with sake from the Ibuki Gourd, and held it out before Jiu. Jiu naturally accepted the cup and drank it in one gulp.

Only after drinking did he come back to his senses.

"No, why did I..." He stared at the cup in his hand in shock. From the moment he took it to the moment he drained the sake, he had not felt anything strange at all. It had felt as though it was simply what he was supposed to do.

Seeing that Jiu seemed unable to believe what had happened, Suika curled her lips into a smile. She climbed onto the desk and leaned toward him at an angle.

"Finished already? Want some more?"

Then, under everyone's gaze, she poured Jiu another small cup. Amid the others' drawn-out cries of "Heyyy—," Jiu drank it again.

Once he sobered up again after finishing it, Jiu felt as though his worldview was collapsing.

If the first cup could be blamed on being caught off guard, then he had been extremely vigilant for the second. Yet somehow, as if possessed, he had still taken it and started drinking.

Watching Suika offer Jiu drink after drink, Hoshiguma and Chen vaguely recalled what had happened the previous night.

It seemed that under exactly these circumstances, Suika had urged them to drink cup after cup, and they had obediently kept drinking.

The thought made both their expressions turn even worse.

"All right, you don't need to continue!" A faint flush appeared on Jiu's face. It seemed that even he could not handle more than a cup of the stuff.

Suika understood perfectly. The sake in the Ibuki Gourd was no ordinary alcohol. As sake meant for oni, it was especially potent at getting people drunk.

Its name was Divine Oni-Poison Sake.

In that other game, it had been Shuten-dōji's Noble Phantasm.

Even though Suika had not added anything strange to it, an ordinary person would still be knocked out after downing cup after cup.

After Suika returned to her seat, Jiu tossed the paper cup aside, picked up the tea that had been steeping nearby, and drained it in one gulp.

Only after using the tea's bitterness to wash away the alcohol-induced drowsiness did he speak to Suika.

"You are not to use this ability casually in Lungmen from now on. Understood?"

Earlier, he had thought the Originium Arts released by Suika's Arts Unit were ridiculous, but he no longer thought so. Instead, he found the technique inconspicuous yet terrifying.

After all, when enemies attacked with blades, swords, or Arts, one could still resist. But when Suika offered him a drink, he had not been given even the slightest chance to resist.

And that was while he had been prepared.

As for how she could produce sake from that gourd, he did not want to investigate it further.

"Then can you demonstrate the Art that lets you hold a banquet as long as there are more than three people?"

Now only the final Art remained, one that seemed even more effective than Never Refused When Offered a Drink.

Suika swept her eyes around the room. There were Jiu, Hoshiguma, Chen, Swire, and herself: five people, already exceeding the minimum requirement to activate the ability.

She immediately raised a hand and snapped her fingers.

The next second, ribbons and balloons appeared throughout the previously solemn office, while an old-fashioned radio appeared nearby and began playing an elegant tune.

Dishes and desserts appeared out of thin air across the empty table, quickly stacking into a beautiful pyramid.