Skadi, I Have a Girlfriend

"I really didn't expect this, I really..."

Croissant shook her head as she spoke. Watching Exusiai and Mizuki walking together, chatting and laughing, she still found it hard to believe her own guess.

But everyone had seen what had happened at the Lungmen Guard Department just now. Texas had been so shocked that her chocolate stick fell to the ground.

"True. By the way, they've only known each other for two days, right? Why are things progressing so fast?"

From what they had seen of him so far, Mizuki was indeed a very good and outstanding person, with nothing much to criticize. But wasn't his progress with Exusiai a little too absurd?

"I never thought Exusiai would be the first among us to get a partner. If you'd told me that before, I wouldn't have believed it even if you beat me to death."

Texas nodded. Exusiai and Mizuki had many similarities in personality. Though they had not officially made their relationship clear yet, it was probably already set in stone. The only unreasonable thing was that they had known each other for far too short a time.

In reality, things were rather different from what Texas and the others thought. Exusiai and Mizuki were indeed both outgoing. Exusiai had a sunny, cheerful side, while Mizuki had a gentle, radiant smile. They did suit each other well. But the main reason Exusiai had taken the initiative to get close to Mizuki was because she believed that they already had that kind of relationship in practice.

For now, Mizuki had the sort of personality she liked. He was not pretentious, nor was he overly self-centered. And he really was cute, especially that hat on his head. Every time she looked at it, she wanted to poke it.

Naturally, the others had no idea what Exusiai was thinking, and neither did Mizuki. But he had always been a child who found it easy to get along with people, so he did not think there was anything wrong with Exusiai's closeness. Closeness in return for closeness was perfectly normal.

"When we get back tonight, to celebrate your first day at work, let's have a... barbecue?"

Exusiai had originally wanted to say party, but the moment she remembered what had happened last night, she stopped herself. If there was another drunken mess, she really would be too ashamed to face anyone.

"Sure. I should be pretty good at barbecuing too."

"Is there anything you aren't good at?"

She reached out and lightly poked Mizuki's face. It felt like milk pudding. Exusiai had already liked that sensation when he had rubbed against her of his own accord earlier.

"I don't know either. I guess I know a little bit of everything."

That was the bad thing about amnesia. He only learned he could cook after picking up a kitchen knife, and only learned he had such good driving skills after getting into a car. Mizuki's past was like a blank sheet, yet those hazy, unreal dreams seemed to be telling him that he simply had not remembered yet.

"By the way, A-Neng, Miss Chen told me to remember to write a self-criticism when we get back. How do I write one?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I've got over a hundred extra copies of self-criticisms over at my place. Speeding, driving without a license, damaging public property—I've got them all. Just fill in your own name later."

Exusiai patted her not particularly noticeable chest, but she carried the air of someone saying, "Leave it all to me." Mizuki did not even know how to respond. So she had prepared for this in advance? She had even sorted them by category.

"So, A-Neng, Penguin Logistics is a legal company, right?"

"...Probably."

Exusiai answered without much confidence. Thinking about it, Penguin Logistics was indeed a legal business, but it had not exactly obeyed the law much.

After walking for a while, turning several corners and passing through a few alleys, they arrived at the entrance of a shop that did not look too rundown. Mizuki's eyes swept over its sign.

"Lee's Detective Agency?"

"Ah, this detective agency has worked with Penguin Logistics before. We have a pretty good relationship."

As she spoke, Exusiai reached out and knocked on the door.

"Is Mr. Lee in? We've brought you a delivery."

There were some sounds behind the door, followed shortly by the clatter of the lock. As the door opened, a man with a distinctive style of dress came out. He looked somewhat like an Aegir of Ancient blood.

"Oh, you're here. I saw in the news that you got arrested again, so I thought the delivery wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. Come in for some tea and dinner."

"No thanks. We hired someone new, and he's an incredible cook."

As she spoke, Exusiai proudly draped an arm around Mizuki's shoulders, her face full of pride. Lee seemed to understand something. He did not say much, but his smile carried a hint of surprise and blessing. Even though he had been single for so many years, he was still happy to see lovers end up together.

"Oh, and Mr. Lee, there's something I'd like to ask you to do."

She handed over the package in her hand, then lightly patted Mizuki's shoulder.

"He has amnesia. He remembers nothing except that his name is Mizuki, but he should be from Rhodes Island. I hope you can help me investigate his background. Payment won't be a problem."

Ordinarily, it would have been better to do something like this behind Mizuki's back, but Exusiai was not that kind of person. She did not like hiding things.

Mizuki was somewhat surprised, not only because Exusiai was willing to do this much for him, but also because of her honesty. Usually, people would avoid discussing such matters in front of the person involved. Amnesia was not something one could simply laugh off. Mizuki had agonized over his identity many times during this period.

"Hmm, I see... All right. Come back here in three days."

Lee did not try to keep them any longer. As he watched the door close before him, Exusiai looked at Mizuki somewhat awkwardly.

"You're not going to blame me for making the decision on my own, are you?"

Of course Mizuki would not do that. He shook his head, then thought about it and decided not to hug her after all. He only looked at Exusiai with a smile.

"Thank you."

Mizuki naturally wanted to know who he was, where he came from, where he had been, and whom he had known. Was there anyone worried about his safety? If there was, he hoped that person was safe.

Skadi hoped Mizuki was safe as well, no matter where he was at that moment. It was an unquestionable understanding between the two siblings.

Was he safe? Was he eating and sleeping properly? Was he thinking about her?

Such thoughts often circled through Skadi's mind, but she quickly shook them away and entered a rundown bar.

With a ding, every gaze in the bar turned toward her. Rather than a bar, this place was more like a gathering spot for bounty hunters, so its customers were basically not good people.

Yet no matter how many scars they had on their faces, or how formidable they looked, when they saw Skadi's flowing long hair and the massive sword on her back, everyone fell silent.

Although the existence of Catastrophes and Originium had prevented Terra from establishing universal communications, there was still a legend among bounty hunters.

"Is that Skadi?"

"It has to be her—the Aegir carrying a massive sword."

"Her bounty isn't low either."

"Shh, shut up. If you want to die, find a cliff and jump off it yourself. Don't drag me down with you."

The crowd murmured among themselves. Skadi simply walked to the bar counter and looked at the familiar owner, one of her former teammates.

"Jose, do you have the information I wanted?"

As a former teammate, old Jose nodded. He used his Originium Arts to block sound within a one-meter radius. It had been his proudest ability during his days as a mercenary.

"Someone has seen the person you're looking for. An Aegir wearing blue clothes, with long hair that turned pink at the ends. He was carrying an umbrella and had a little black cloth doll hanging from him."

"It's him!"

Clothes and hair color could be similar, but the latter details left no doubt—it was Mizuki. Skadi nearly smashed the table with one slap.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know." Old Jose shook his head. "Someone saw him in the Kazimierz wilderness half a year ago, but he was heading north."

"What about the people who saw him?"

"You mean those scavengers..."

Old Jose naturally knew what Skadi was worried about. The wilderness was dangerous: bloodthirsty bounty hunters, scavengers without morals, and starving wild beasts.

"Skadi, your younger brother isn't as weak as you said. Those scavengers once tried to attack him, but they all went insane."

"Insane?"

"Yes, all of them went insane. This is a recording of my conversation with them."

Jose tossed the item to Skadi, then fell silent. He was afraid, trembling instinctively. The state of those scavengers had made his blood run cold.

The north... Skadi frowned deeply. To the north of Terra lay Ursus and Sami, places of extreme cold. They would be terribly uncomfortable for Mizuki. Why had he gone there?

Preparing to Meet the Family

"I feel like this base might not be suitable for me to stay in anymore. What should I do?"

Croissant grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them into her mouth. Watching the talk show on the television, she could not help sighing.

"Then go sleep at Base Two by yourself later?"

Texas offered a suggestion, but it was not just Croissant. She and Sora felt much the same way. Mainly because right now, it really felt like the three of them were the guests.

"Would you like something to drink?"

Carrying dishes to the table, Exusiai skillfully took three cans of juice from the refrigerator and handed them to Texas and the others before turning back to the kitchen to keep helping.

"Why do I feel like we've become the guests? Should we buy some gifts or something?"

"I was thinking the same thing. By the way, these two haven't confirmed their relationship yet, right?"

"They've only known each other for less than two days."

Listening to Sora and Croissant complain, Texas also found it strange for a moment. No matter how well Exusiai got along with Mizuki, it should not have been love at first sight. As an old friend, how could Texas not know what kind of personality Exusiai had?

There had to be something fishy going on, and Texas could be certain the problem was not Mizuki. Something was wrong with Exusiai.

Mizuki was, at most, gentle and sincere toward others, as well as fairly lively. But Exusiai was different. It was as if she had taken a liking to Mizuki. She had been taking the initiative the whole time.

First there had been her behavior at the Lungmen Guard Department, then she had personally commissioned Lee's Detective Agency to investigate Mizuki's background, and now she had even taken the initiative to help cook. Was this really the Exusiai who had declared, "I'll never get a boyfriend in this lifetime"? Something was off. Not just a little off—eleven out of ten off.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, although she had already eaten it once that morning, Exusiai was still curious about how Mizuki made food like that.

As one of the few people in Penguin Logistics who could use the kitchen to make apple pie, Exusiai knew how to cook. So in her eyes, Mizuki's cooking technique was flawless. His knife work was clean and decisive, and his control over strength was just right.

"This is so strange. Everything looks perfectly normal, but I keep feeling like the finished dishes are alive."

She leaned closer to Mizuki and instinctively rested her chin on his shoulder, peeking into the pot of pork rib soup. Mizuki was using freshly bought ingredients, not some legendary cooking utensils. How could he make food like that?

"Does it not taste good?"

"It's not that. Actually, it tastes really good—completely at chef level. I was shocked this morning. I feel like if I eat this a few more times, I won't be able to stomach anyone else's food or takeout anymore."

Neither Exusiai nor Mizuki felt there was anything wrong with standing nearly pressed together like this. Mizuki simply did not care, while Exusiai had already stopped treating him like an outsider.

"Then I'll cook for everyone from now on."

When those words reached Exusiai's ears, "everyone" seemed to automatically become "you." Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her head nodded by such a tiny amount that it was nearly imperceptible as she softly replied.

"Mhm, okay."

Since Exusiai's head rested against his shoulder, Mizuki could hear her no matter how quietly she spoke.

"By the way, A-Neng, should we bake an apple pie?"

"Yes. Also, Texas and the others can't see us over here right now."

Exusiai could not help reaching out and poking the watery blue, pudding-like hat on Mizuki's head. Mizuki did not dislike it, though it felt a little ticklish. Still, he cleverly understood what Exusiai meant.

"Then, Ale, how many slices do you want?"

"Just bake one pie. You've made so many dishes that everyone might not have room left for it after dinner."

Naturally, Exusiai was happy with Mizuki's very perceptive response. She also knew she seemed a little too proactive, but from their interactions so far, Mizuki truly was someone worth getting along with. He was qualified as a romantic partner.

He could cook, he was considerate, gentle, sunny, and got along well with her. Most importantly... she and Mizuki had already done that. They could only try getting along properly. She could not exactly say they were making do with each other.

If Mizuki had not been someone worth liking, then even if they had a physical relationship, Exusiai would never have given him another glance.

Anyway, if the maximum affection between people was two hundred, then Exusiai's feelings toward Mizuki were over one hundred. That was still far lower than what she felt toward Texas and the others, since they had known each other for a much shorter time.

But his first impression score was eighty. A very good impression.

"Mostly because I can eat a lot."

Mizuki smiled somewhat embarrassedly. He had more or less realized the level of his appetite. A meal for eight people would usually be finished by him alone, and even then he might not be full. Fortunately, Penguin Logistics really did provide meals. His living allowance had been tripled outright.

"It's fine. There's a saying in Great Yan: being able to eat is a blessing."

Speaking of food, Exusiai naturally thought of her hometown, Laterano. She excitedly tugged on Mizuki's sleeve.

"Hey, how about in a few months, we see if we can take some leave? I'll take you to Laterano. It's known as the City of Desserts, and pastries are cheap too. You can eat as much as you want."

The moment he heard he could eat as much as he wanted, a blissful smile immediately appeared on Mizuki's face. Exusiai seemed to see pink bubbles rising all around him, but when she refocused, there was nothing there, as though it had all been an illusion.

"Really? I can eat as much as I want?"

"Of course. In a few months, it'll be Laterano's Dessert Festival. All desserts will be sold at a ninety percent discount."

Though every product was limited to one per person to prevent waste and unnecessary hoarding, unless one ate it on the spot, Exusiai estimated that Mizuki's appetite would definitely not be a problem.

Besides, taking him to Laterano for a trip was one thing. The main purpose was...

"And, um, I want to introduce my older sister to you... to everyone."

Exusiai still could not bring herself to say it too directly. Her older sister, Lemuen, was the one in charge at home and had an excellent eye for people. Having her sister check him out was the most suitable choice.

"Okay."

Mizuki did not hear anything strange in that. Introducing friends to one's family was not unusual to begin with. He was mainly immersed in Exusiai's description of being able to eat pastries to his heart's content.

For a foodie who could never eat his fill, that was simply too tempting. Just thinking about that scene seemed to make Mizuki bubble over with happiness.