Commission

"Proxy, sorry for the wait!"

A cheerful figure waved to Belle from afar.

She strode over with a sledgehammer on her shoulder, her fiery red hair like a moving bonfire.

"It's fine, Koleda. Griseo and I only just got here."

Belle hurriedly forced a smile, afraid Koleda would notice she had been crying.

After all, she was Phaethon. If word got out that she had cried over a painting, how could she show her face in Proxy circles?

"So, what's the commission?" Belle quickly asked.

"Well... it's a little embarrassing."

Koleda turned her head slightly, looking sheepish.

After hesitating for a moment, she began telling them about Belobog Heavy Industries' recent troubles.

Ever since Belobog Heavy Industries had taken over Vision Corporation's subway reconstruction project, the established companies around them had watched them like a pack of wolves eyeing a juicy piece of meat.

Those older companies were green with envy. They would have loved for Belobog Heavy Industries to suffer an "accident" like Vision Corporation's so they could snatch the project away.

So the dirty tricks kept coming.

United Bank pressured them by refusing low-interest loans. Hired street thugs and Hollow Raiders disrupted the worksite. Bribed officials held up fire safety approvals and building permits...

The petty troubles never stopped. Then, at the worst possible moment,

Belobog Heavy Industries lost three independently developed machines: [Intelligent Heavy Engineering Machinery for Hollow Use].

That model was the foundation of Belobog Heavy Industries' competitive edge. Its high Ether resistance made it a mainstay of Hollow construction.

More importantly, Grace had installed intelligent thought programs in the three machines' logic cores, violating the New Eridu Intelligent Construct Act.

If the machines fell into a rival company's hands, they would have the perfect weapon to kick Belobog Heavy Industries while it was down!

After hearing her out, Belle said, "I see. So you want us to enter the Hollow and bring back the missing machines."

"Yes!" Koleda's eyes lit up. She nodded emphatically, then turned to Griseo with an earnest look.

"Ben and I both have other problems to deal with lately, and we're desperately short-handed. So we might need Griseo's help too."

"Of course, we'll pay every penny of the commission fee!"

"No problem." Belle smiled. She said, "There's no need to talk about money between friends," but her hands told a different story.

Belle pulled out her phone. "So—QR code or cash?"

"Ahem! Store Manager Belle, you really don't beat around the bush."

Koleda stared at the payment code on Belle's phone, froze for a second, then readily pulled out her own phone and scanned it to pay the deposit.

"All right, Proxy, I've still got a pile of things to handle!" Koleda put her card away, waved to Belle, and headed back toward the construction site. She still hadn't finished pouring concrete today.

"Don't worry, Koleda. We'll get it done on time!"

Belle looked at the deposit that had arrived on her phone screen. She couldn't keep the grin off her face.

This commission fee was going straight into her secret stash too.

"Belle, are you secretly stashing money again?" Griseo's voice drifted over from beside her.

"Hm? Griseo, you've got it all wrong. Girls have more things to spend money on than boys do." Belle put away her phone and spoke with great solemnity.

"Don't tell my brother. I'll buy you an ice cream when we get back. Let's get to work!"

"Okay." Griseo nodded and obediently followed.

"Hello? Hello, hello?... Griseo, Grace, can you hear me?"

Inside the commission area of Dead End Hollow, Belle's voice came from Eous.

"Wow!! Proxy, you can already sync your senses with a Bangboo?!"

Grace scooped up Eous and turned him over and over in her hands, stars shining in her eyes.

Then she began tormenting the poor Bangboo, squashing and kneading him this way and that, before making a series of thoroughly "reasonable" requests.

"Sweetheart, can you do a 720-degree spin, followed by a dog-paddle frog-jump push-up, then an accelerating Thomas flare, and finish by saying 'Mm-nah, mm-nah'?"

"..."

Belle fell silent for a moment. Grace truly deserved her title of Iron Witch.

Even in the middle of a commission, Grace couldn't resist playing with Eous.

"Um, Grace, shouldn't we find the 'child' you mentioned first?" Belle struggled to steer the conversation back on track.

"Oh, right, right, right!!"

Grace finally remembered why they were there. She set Eous down and began earnestly describing the machine they were looking for.

Grace might not usually seem very serious, but when there was work to do, she was reliable.

"Grater's signal came from here!

"She's a tunnel-boring machine with a huge demolition saw. She's so cool!"

Grace paused, then suddenly gritted her teeth.

"If I find out she's learned to do things like 'go to midnight street races,' 'deliberately scratch her chassis,' or 'cover herself in giant stickers that are impossible to remove'...

"Anyway... I won't let my darling child turn into a rebel!!"

Belle listened to Grace's definition of a "rebellious phase" and didn't even know where to begin.

"In that case... all right."

Belle made Eous hop lightly into Griseo's arms and said, "Griseo, let's follow the route Fairy calculated!"

"Okay, Belle."

Griseo nodded and raised a hand, calling softly as she always did.

Mr. Knight took shape behind her, his silver-gray armor gleaming coldly in the Hollow's dim light.

With a light leap, Griseo landed steadily on Mr. Knight's shoulder, Eous cradled in her arms.

Then Griseo and Eous marched deeper into the Hollow under Grace's stunned gaze.

Every Ethereal along the way was crushed to rubble beneath Mr. Knight's greatsword, then dissolved into powdery Ether Particles that drifted away.

"Wait, Proxy, wait for me!!!"

Grace shouted after them, "Proxy, the commotion from fighting like that will attract swarms of Ethereals!!"

But Grace's warning had clearly come too late.

The instant Mr. Knight drew back his greatsword again, the silence around them shattered.

Rustling rose from every direction. Something was moving quickly through the ruins.

Grace looked around. Ethereals were pouring out of the ruined buildings in groups—at least a hundred at a glance.

Grace swallowed and said in disbelief, "Why are there so many...? Did we stumble into an Ethereal convention? Proxy... what do we do now?!"

"Grace, don't worry. Watch me!"

Eous sprang from Griseo's arms and planted his hands on his hips, looking as if he could take on the world.

In a grave voice, Belle said, "Grace, I can't hide it anymore. The truth is, I'm not a Proxy. I'm a Void Hunter."

Grace: "Huh????"

Eous pressed his stubby little hands together before his chest in a ninja hand sign and shouted, "Chibaku Tensei—!!!"