Skadi, I Have a Girlfriend

Exusiai was the second to try it. She picked up a steak, put it into her mouth, chewed with her eyes closed, then frowned before opening them and nodding at Texas.

"The taste... is pretty good."

No, "pretty good" was no longer enough to describe it. This was completely at the level of a top chef. The last time Exusiai had eaten something this delicious had been at Penguin Logistics' annual party, when Emperor had hired Wei Yenwu's personal chef. Apparently, that chef had once been the head cook at Great Yan Palace.

"Mizuki, you could absolutely make a living as a chef at some five-star hotel or restaurant."

Exusiai felt that even if Mizuki did not join Penguin Logistics, he could make a fortune just setting up a fried rice stall by the roadside. As long as customers could ignore that strange feeling and get the food down, they would definitely fall in love with Mizuki's cooking.

"Really? That's great."

Since there were only two seats left, Exusiai and Mizuki naturally sat together. What had originally been a table for four now seated five people, making it somewhat crowded. Exusiai felt that Mizuki was sitting a little too close. Facing that handsome face, she actually felt her cheeks heating up. Thinking about how she had already given him her first kiss and first time, at least as far as she believed, despite knowing him for less than two or three days, left her deeply conflicted.

After all, she only felt that Mizuki looked familiar, that they got along well and were compatible. It was not love at first sight or anything.

"Mhm, it really is delicious."

After Texas and Sora took a bite, the strange feeling in their hearts disappeared completely. There was nothing wrong with the taste at all. It was fragrant and fresh. Even after losing his memory, his cooking was this good. It was hard to imagine whether Mizuki had really been a chef before.

"How about Mizuki handles the cooking from now on? We could save quite a bit if we don't order takeout."

As one of Penguin Logistics' only two people who spent their entire monthly paychecks, Croissant thought this idea was simply perfect. Emperor gave them food money every month, but it was enough for the girls to buy groceries and cook. Ordering takeout meant going over budget, while the cheap stuff never felt safe to eat.

"Sure, I'd be happy to."

Having found a job that suited him right after arriving, Mizuki was naturally delighted. It really was best to leave cooking to him, because his appetite was genuinely enormous. This table of food was enough for eight people, yet he alone would eat half of it. The others might not be able to cook that much.

It had to be said that this was probably the most decent breakfast they had eaten in years. But as they ate, Mizuki began to feel everyone's eyes on him. Exusiai's and Texas's were especially obvious; they were staring at his flat little stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"...Mizuki, aren't you uncomfortable after eating that much?"

Yesterday, Exusiai had been too busy dealing with Croissant to notice how much Mizuki had eaten. But watching him devour food like a whirlwind while maintaining such elegant, almost trained table manners, she found it hard to imagine anyone could eat like this. Was Mizuki somehow dining buddies with a certain glutton from Saigyouji and some empire's battle-song princess?

It had only been ten minutes, and Mizuki was already filling his fifth bowl of rice. The key was that his stomach showed no sign of change whatsoever, making people wonder if he had just been eating air.

"I'm not uncomfortable. Mm, I'm about half full."

"I'll apply to the boss for more living expenses later."

Texas had not expected Mizuki to eat so much either. She had thought yesterday had been his limit, since he must have been starving after sleeping for so long. But now it seemed that Mizuki was simply a big eater by nature.

Still, what everyone was most curious about was where exactly Mizuki was putting all that food. Did he have some bottomless pit in his stomach?

"Am I eating a little too much?"

Realizing this, Mizuki smiled somewhat embarrassedly. An alluring blush spread from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Combined with his jade-like skin, it was especially captivating. At any rate, Exusiai suddenly felt her appetite improve considerably.

"Has Mizuki always eaten this much? Don't tell me you're one of those people who can't gain weight no matter what!"

The moment Sora realized that possibility, she felt as though she had suffered some devastating blow. Mizuki thought about it, decided that was probably the case, and nodded.

Whenever Mizuki ate something, he could clearly feel the food being broken down within seconds into nutrients his body needed, then transformed into something else and stored away.

Considering that, he was probably somewhat different from normal people.

"How could this be... Why would a boy have a body like that? Damn it."

Sora could not help reaching out to pinch her little stomach, immediately losing much of her appetite.

"She's an idol. Cautus tend to gain weight easily, and she always has to manage her figure, so she can't just enjoy all the food she likes. She's always envied people who can't gain weight."

Exusiai leaned close to whisper into Mizuki's ear, not noticing at all how intimate the gesture was. But she had always been carefree by nature, so even if she noticed, she would not have cared much.

"So Sora is an idol too, huh."

"Yeah, though I'm not all that famous. I'm somewhat well-known in Lungmen, at least. Our boss is the truly impressive one, a singer famous throughout Terra."

Speaking of Emperor, although his reputation had never been particularly good, he had countless fans and genuine singing talent. Sora admired him quite a bit.

"Our boss is an idol too?"

"No, the boss is a very famous celebrity. He can sing, dance, and rap, but he's not good at basketball. His legs are too short, so he can't even reach the hoop when he jumps."

Without the slightest concern, Exusiai revealed her boss's embarrassing history. She was more than happy to share some amusement with Mizuki and help him blend into their little group more quickly.

Everyone chatted and laughed as they finished breakfast. Mizuki fit in quickly. Although he had not yet been infected by the Penguin Logistics style, his obedient, polite, and articulate personality still earned everyone's unanimous welcome.

"A-Neng."

"Mhm?"

Exusiai, who was about to clear the dishes, looked up at Mizuki. He pointed at the corner of his own mouth.

"Right now... this..."

Exusiai instinctively thought of something else, something that generally only couples did. Although she did not blush, the halo above her head brightening gave her away.

"Ah, right. That would be inconvenient."

Mizuki seemed to understand what Exusiai was thinking. Before her surprised eyes, he reached out and picked the grain of rice from the corner of her mouth. Both her hands were occupied with dishes and chopsticks, so it really was inconvenient for her to wipe her mouth.

"I, um..."

She had no idea what to say and wanted nothing more than to crawl into the floor. This time, Exusiai's face truly turned red. Why had she misunderstood and thought Mizuki wanted to kiss her? Had she fallen hard enough to knock her brain loose?

Watching Exusiai hurry away, Mizuki scratched his head in confusion. He did not understand why that would make her blush. He merely glanced at the grain of rice in his hand, then, following the principle of not wasting food, tossed it into his mouth.

Why Do You Call This Delivering Packages?

Delivering packages—this was the job Texas had originally told Mizuki Penguin Logistics did, and he had not doubted it much.

But when he saw the Penguin Logistics girls packing their things, he suddenly felt that this job might not be as simple or relaxing as he had imagined.

"A-Neng, why do we need to bring guns just to deliver something?"

Mizuki looked at Exusiai curiously. It was not just her either. Texas had quite a few sword-hilt-like objects tucked around her waist and inside her clothes, while Croissant had directly brought a heavy shield and a fairly weighty war hammer.

Sora was the most restrained one. She only carried a microphone, probably a staff for Arts.

"Ah, well... you know, armed escort work counts as deliveries too."

They had not explained it clearly to Mizuki at the time, but Exusiai knew he would get used to it sooner or later. When Sora had first joined them, she had also believed Penguin Logistics was just an ordinary logistics company. But if that were really the case, Penguin Logistics could never have stood out from so many other businesses.

"That does make sense."

Mizuki did not dwell on it. He had an easygoing personality. Penguin Logistics taking him in was already enough. As for Exusiai and the others, all he needed to know was that they were not bad people.

As the other three packed their things, they could not help casting strange glances at Exusiai and Mizuki. Their relationship felt a little too close for people who had only known each other for two or three days. But considering that both were cheerful and outgoing, or at least seemed that way, it was indeed easy for them to hit it off.

What caught their attention most, however, was Mizuki's way of addressing Exusiai. He directly called her "A-Neng." That was truly unusual. They had known each other for years and still called her Exusiai. It was not as though they did not know her real name, but habits were habits, and Exusiai did not like being called A-Neng.

"By the way, armed escorts might run into some danger. Mizuki, when the time comes, just protect yourself. We'll deal with it quickly."

"Danger?"

"Yeah. I'd really like nothing to happen on your first day of work, but that probably won't happen."

Thinking about Penguin Logistics' glorious record for even a moment made it clear that wish was only a wish. Exusiai and the others had raised the Lungmen Guard Department's performance through their own efforts. Today definitely would not be peaceful either.

But Mizuki had arrived in such a rush that the girls could only temporarily regard him as someone with low combat ability who needed protecting. They would take him out first to let him adapt to the work environment. If it became too dangerous or he truly could not accept such excitement, staying at the base as support staff would not be bad either. At the very least, Mizuki's cooking was genuinely delicious.

"Time to go."

With a chocolate stick between her lips, Texas looked over today's job list. As expected, it had been adjusted. Because of Mizuki's situation, Penguin Logistics had changed its rules: if clients wanted to keep their cargo confidential, they had to pay triple the commission. Otherwise, if something went wrong with the cargo, it would no longer be a matter money could solve.

And, unsurprisingly, there were several rather troublesome shipments. Today was likely going to be anything but quiet.

"Wait a second. Who's driving today?"

Croissant asked a lethal question.

Texas was the first to be ruled out. On the night they found Mizuki, her license had been revoked, so she could only retake the test.

Exusiai was even less of an option. She sped every time she drove, so the Lungmen Guard Department had simply placed her on a driving blacklist and forbidden her from driving. There were only two people on the entire blacklist, and incidentally, the other was Croissant.

"Don't look at me! I don't even have a license!"

Facing her sisters' hopeful looks, Sora quickly waved her hands. When she was not at Penguin Logistics, she had to prepare for performances. Where would she find time to get a driver's license?

"Then I'll do it?"

Mizuki volunteered by raising his hand. In it, he held the driver's license Croissant had gotten for him.

"Wait, Mizuki, that license Croissant got you is fake, right? Can you even drive?"

"I think I can drive."

Mizuki figured he should be able to. Although he had lost his memories, he still felt that it would be fine. This type of vehicle was not particularly difficult.

"Then shall we give it a try?"

Trusting the cooking skills Mizuki had displayed that morning, Exusiai felt there was no harm in trusting his driving skills as well.

In Terra's deep sea, the Seaborn gathered together in rustling clusters. The Brood needed to hold a meeting to decide how the Seaborn Brood should develop from here on.

Normally, such a thing would not happen. Although Seaborn each possessed consciousness, they did not truly possess selves. Individual Seaborn were the most basic units, capable of unconditional self-sacrifice for the continuation of the entire Brood. They would experience an enemy's methods of attack and transmit the corresponding perceptions to the whole species.

For example, if Iberians used fire, then the first Seaborn burned to death would convey the threat of high temperature before dying, and its body would develop corresponding resistance.

Even in death, once its corpse became nourishment for the Brood, every sibling who consumed it—and even the entire species—would evolve the corresponding heat resistance.

Leading the entire Brood from the front were the four original Seaborn. They respectively represented reproduction, growth, migration, and survival, the four principles that allowed the Brood to exist.

Ishar-mla, who represented migration, was responsible for opening territory and plundering resources. Her authority was exploration and conflict. The Origin of Life, which represented survival, was itself an accumulation of microorganisms. As the being that had once caused a Great Silence, it possessed the power to alter an entire planet's ecology.

The Spreading Branches, which represented growth, had sacrificed itself and still served as nourishment for every newborn of the Brood to this day.

Having lost three Firstborn, with Ishar-mla's whereabouts unknown, the Brood needed a sibling capable of guiding its path forward. The prophetic Revelation Stele calculated visions of the future day after day, directing the Seaborn Brood.

Now that they had learned of a newly born sibling capable of becoming a Firstborn, the Revelation Stele suddenly stopped its calculations. Well, it had more or less crashed.

Although every Seaborn had the qualifications to become a Firstborn, Mizuki's appearance had been entirely unexpected. Though he was connected to the Brood's consciousness, he remained unmoved like a lighthouse in a storm, merely acting as an observer.

But no matter what, Mizuki's appearance was immensely important to the Seaborn Brood. The stele delivered a revelation: bring Mizuki back. He would allow the Seaborn to survive for a long time. He would let his siblings evolve rapidly and adapt to the two still-unfamiliar "seas" of land and sky.

He could not be allowed to come to harm. He needed protection. But the Seaborn had yet to adapt to land, and Originium still posed a deadly threat to them.

"Gurgle gurgle!"

"Wibble babble?"

"Woohoo lahoo..."

The remaining Seaborn with relatively functional brains gathered together and, for the time being, agreed on a plan. They decided to first establish a stable channel of contact with Mizuki, then find someone to properly protect him.

They had only one goal: protect the best Mizuki in all Terra!

Who would be suitable? Easy. The Church of the Deep!

Thus, that very night, after a round of translation from the unfamiliar Seaborn language, one of the Church of the Deep's bishops, Amaia, understood the will of the "messengers."

"Find the god... lost on land?"

Apparently worried that Amaia would not recognize Mizuki and fail to find him, the Seaborn thoughtfully used the Brood network to provide her with a description of Mizuki's appearance.

Although strange and meaningless descriptions such as "Mizuki is number one in the world" and "I'm directly single-pushing him" had somehow been mixed in, Amaia could only classify them as the Seaborn imitating humans.

Finally, when Amaia drew a portrait of Mizuki, the Seaborn gave their approval. They swayed in neat unison. In the words of land creatures, this was called cheering.

Penguin Logistics' Everyday Firefights

An ordinary day. For Chen, there was nothing much to say about days like this. Lungmen was a prosperous city, yet the more prosperous it appeared, the more unseen malice bred in its shadows. She had witnessed it many times during her years in office.

Lungmen was not located in Great Yan proper. Though being situated within Ursus had brought it immense wealth, it had also forced Lungmen to accommodate certain gray and black industries.

Chen knew this was all due to Wei Yenwu's tacit approval. She could understand it, but that did not mean she supported it. Thus, she became the leader of the Lungmen Special Investigation Group, setting about cleaning up the department's atmosphere before cracking down harshly on everything that violated Lungmen law.

Over the years, Chen had been promoted repeatedly, but neither those in the Lungmen Guard Department nor Lungmen's citizens doubted that it was because her uncle was the governor of Lungmen.

At first, people had plenty to say about this suddenly appearing superintendent. But now, Lungmen's citizens knew that when calling the police, they should find Chen. Even if Wei Yenwu himself committed a crime, she would dare arrest him—and might even give him a few good cuts for good measure.

"Good morning, Superintendent Chen."

"Hey, Superintendent Chen, want to come in for a bowl of noodles?"

"Superintendent Chen, this is some fruit. Thank you for saving my daughter."

Chen had always been extremely popular in Lungmen, the kind of person whose meal shopkeepers would happily refuse payment for. Since she was on duty and could not casually chat with civilians, Chen could only nod in greeting.

Still, to be honest, there was one group that deserved considerable credit for Chen's rapid rise to her current position: those girls from Penguin Logistics.