Nekomata

The wind carried the seeds of stories, and time made them sprout.

So... when a Cat Thiren came charging into the video store in a flurry, it meant another story had begun.

"Meow—!!!"

The video store door was shoved open, and a figure staggered inside, bracing herself on her knees as she gasped for breath.

"Two Proxies... I have an extremely urgent commission for you...!"

Wise looked up from behind the counter, expressionlessly watching the uninvited guest in silence for two seconds.

Then, he pointed at the "Sixth Street Video Store" sign on the wall, his tone as sincere as that of a truly honest man.

"Customer, you must have misunderstood something."

"We're just an ordinary video store. We don't sell sauce, meow."

"???"

Nekomata looked up with a baffled expression, then quickly raised the Bangboo in her arms and waved it around like some kind of token.

"Wait! Phaethon! You don't need to be on guard around me! My name is Nekomata! Nicole sent me to find you!"

Wise's gaze fell on the Bangboo, and he narrowed his eyes.

Belle poked her head out from the back, her eyes lighting up as she recognized the Bangboo Nicole's group often used—Amillion.

"Meow—!"

Belle dragged out the sound, then wore an expression of sudden realization before warmly beckoning her over.

"So you're here to pay Nicole's debts for her! Come on, this way. Let's take our time calculating the interest—"

"Huh? Okay..."

Nekomata instinctively followed for two steps, her hand instinctively reaching for her wallet.

Then she suddenly looked down at the hand about to pull out money, before looking back up at Belle's smiling face.

Nekomata... bristled.

"Meow—!!! Don't mess with this kitty!! Nicole and the others are in serious danger—!!!" Nekomata stamped her feet anxiously, her tail standing straight up. "I'm serious!!!"

Ten minutes later, in the HDD room.

The three gathered around the screen and finished watching the visual footage recorded by the Bangboo. Nekomata's tail drooped as she looked at Wise and Belle with pleading eyes.

The matter itself was not complicated—

Nekomata had paid a hefty sum to commission Nicole's group to recover a family heirloom. The Cunning Hares accepted the job and eagerly entered the Hollow.

But by sheer bad luck, the area they entered happened to be a demolition zone designated by Vision Corporation.

And most critically, Vision Corporation planned to activate the demolition program after the final train loaded with explosives passed through Dead End Hollow and reached its destination.

Their intention was to completely level the entire area.

Belle stared at the livestream of Vision Corporation's press conference on the TV screen. Perlman was speaking at length. Then she said, "So what we need to do now is infiltrate Dead End Hollow and stop that final train?"

Wise turned to Fairy. "Fairy, can you calculate the train's real-time location?"

[Yes. Calculating the train's real-time location... Estimated time required: three seconds.]

Three seconds later, data began flashing across the screen, and the final train's real-time location appeared.

"Meow! Great. Proxies, let's go. As long as we find a way to stop that last train, we can force the demolition plan to be delayed."

Nekomata happily swayed her tail, already growing impatient.

"Though that's true in theory, Eous isn't in the store!"

In front of the flickering screen, Belle spread her hands helplessly. "Griseo took Eous to Belobog Heavy Industries today."

The reason Phaethon was known as New Eridu's strongest Proxies was that they could communicate between the inside and outside of Hollows by linking with Bangboos.

But with Eous absent, Little 18 and Little 16 lacked the modules needed for communication.

"Meow?" Nekomata looked at Wise and Belle.

[Master, according to the signal search—Eous will return in three seconds.]

"Ha, Fairy, don't joke around..." Belle had not even finished speaking.

Bang—!!!

The video store's front door was violently smashed open. The three in the back hurried outside and saw a pink figure fly in.

More precisely, there were two people—Aria stumbled into the store while carrying Griseo.

Even her projected appearance was dropping frames, as though she had been chased down three streets by something terrifying.

Behind her, Anton carried Eous and a huge pile of art supplies, his face practically screaming, Sorry, but this has nothing to do with me. I'm just the errand boy.

Aria put Griseo down and said, "Um, boss! I brought Griseo back! I'm leaving now!"

After saying that, Aria took a few steps toward the front door, then seemed to remember something and abruptly turned around—pushed open the back door and vanished in a flash.

Wise and Belle stood frozen in place, not having had time to say anything.

Anton also set Eous and the art supplies down on the floor.

He scratched his head, his eyes darting around as he said guiltily, "Um... boss. Eous should be fine. There's still a lot to do at the construction site, so I'll head back first."

Before his words had even faded, he too vanished.

Belle lowered her head to look at Eous on the floor—the Bangboo lay there quietly. Other than its crooked scarf, it did not seem to be seriously harmed.

Then she looked at Griseo, who stood by the door, and asked, "...Griseo. What happened today?"

Griseo tilted her head, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "Big Sister Grace realized Eous wasn't Eous anymore and said she was coming to settle the score with you. Then she found Big Sister Aria, changed her mind on the spot, and chased her all the way with a wrench."

Wise: "..."

Belle: "..."

Fairy's electronic voice sounded at just the right moment:

[Calculation complete—the train is expected to reach the demolition point in thirty minutes.]

[Recommendation: depart as soon as possible.]

"Meow!! You two, save them first!!!!" Nekomata anxiously stomped her feet nearby.

"Oh, right, right, right!" Wise suddenly came to his senses. He grabbed Eous from the floor and pressed a spot on the Bangboo's back.

Beep. Restart successful.

He stuffed Eous into Griseo's arms, his tone turning serious. "Griseo, sorry to trouble you again. I need you to follow this... Big Sister Nekomata and rescue Nicole and the others."

"Okay, Big Brother Wise."

Griseo accepted Eous and answered softly.

Then she looked at the unfamiliar face beside her—a Cat Thiren, cat ears, and a cat tail.

Griseo quietly watched her for two seconds before suddenly speaking. "Your colors look like Big Sister Pardo's. You smell like lies..."

"???"

Nekomata blinked, utterly confused. "Meow! My name is Nekomata! I'm not some Pardo! No, saving people is more important!!!"

As Nekomata said, saving people was more important, so much so that Belle and Wise did not notice what Griseo meant by "Nekomata smells like lies."

And the guilty Nekomata did not notice that Wise and Belle had actually asked a child barely in her teens to follow her into danger and rescue people.

In the end, Griseo nodded and said nothing more. She merely hugged Eous and followed after Nekomata.