Petty Punk, You Need Strength to Make It Out Here!

"Ah—!! My Mashiro—!!"

Grater looked at the building that had vanished in the explosion... no, at its "lover" that had vanished in the explosion, and let out a heart-wrenching wail.

A wronged crying face appeared on its display, along with several round dots representing tears.

"You big meanies—sob—!!"

"Good child."

Grace stepped forward, crouched down, and gently stroked Grater's head, soothing it tenderly like a mother comforting her child.

"Grater, think of it this way. Every building can only give one hug in its lifetime."

"Mashiro already gave that hug to you. He was a gentle lover, and he surely wouldn't want to see you cry."

At Grace's consolation, a puzzled oval appeared on Grater's display.

"But my Mashiro..."

"Good child. Even though Mashiro is gone, you still have me! You can come back with us and rebuild lots and lots of Mashiros."

At that, Grater's display suddenly lit up.

"Really?"

"Of course." Grace smiled. "I'll prepare the best blueprints and the best materials for you."

Grater fell silent for a second, then its display changed to a flexing-muscles image full of determination.

"For the Mashiros, I'll do my best!! I'll go back with you!!"

It had to be said that whenever machinery was involved, Grace was a genius. She had comforted Grater in just a few words.

Belle watched the scene in the video store, the corner of her mouth twitching.

She watched a "pure-love warrior" turn into a "harem-building machine" in seconds—she felt that she understood everything now.

I have uncovered the truth of the world—how touching, how adorable, how ridiculous... hahahaha.

"Hmm-na, hmm-na?" Eous sensed its owner's inexplicable wavelength and asked in confusion what was going on.

Meanwhile, as Vill-V disappeared, Mr. Knight's figure condensed once more.

The silver-gray guardian returned. Mr. Knight knelt on one knee, holding up a cluster of pale pink light in one hand and offering it to Griseo.

It was an extremely faint pink, like the lightest cherry blossoms on a tree in spring, or the last streak of sunset at dusk.

"Griseo? What's this?" Belle controlled Eous as it trotted over, looking up at the cluster of light.

Griseo reached out and lightly touched the pink light with her fingertips. "The color of a piece of [love]."

The pink paint glimmered faintly at her fingertips, then turned into a thread of fragmented light and flowed into her awakened yet unlit Signet.

[True Self], the Signet flickered slightly before falling quiet again.

"Love?"

Belle turned back to look at Grater and silently thought that perhaps, for this Intelligent Construct, this was love no less genuine than a human's.

But the widely accepted standard was still the Forbidden Fruit Test conducted by official organizations...

"Let's go, Proxy! I'll take Grater back. Anton is waiting for you at the next location!!" Grace said, waving to Grater.

"Okay!!"

Hollow Zero, Black Swan Construction Site Ruins.

If Grace's side was a romance drama about a lovestruck young girl, then Anton's side was the set of a hot-blooded Japanese idiot comedy.

Simply put, this Intelligent Construct, whose function was an "industrial Hollow grabber," was dissatisfied with its old-fashioned name.

It believed that the name "Hans," as well as its daily life of mixing concrete at construction sites, were wholly unworthy of its manly spirit.

What it needed was a domineering, wild, cool name—one that would make people shudder the moment they heard it.

Naturally, Anton objected. In his opinion, what right did someone who had fled before battle and could not even stick with mixing concrete have to talk about manliness?

Thus, the two began a contest called the "Manly Man Showdown," and the Hollow was instantly filled with an atmosphere of hot-blooded idiocy.

Yet at the edge of the battlefield, the scene was completely different.

Mr. Knight stood guard quietly nearby, his greatsword planted in the ground like a guardian.

Griseo and Eous sat on the ground playing cards.

"Four twos, one card left—"

Belle's voice came from Eous, carrying a trace of smugness. Eous held its cards in its tiny hands and curiously looked at its last card, the three of diamonds.

"Griseo, you're going to lose!"

Just as Belle confidently played her cards, Griseo drew out two jokers and gently placed them on the ground.

"Joker bomb. Sister Belle, if you want to make it in the Hollows, you need strength. You need connections."

Griseo spoke arrogantly as she spread out the rest of her hand: a pair of fours. Then she flipped over the "3" in Eous's hand.

"One petty little three. Not very big, is it?"

Eous went silent for a second, then spread its hands and made several "hmm-na" sounds, admitting defeat.

In the video store, Belle stared at the screen and let out a long sigh.

The idiotic atmosphere around Anton and that grabber was really contagious—it had even infected Griseo in reverse.

This was one of Griseo's traits—

Besides seeing and sensing the various emotional colors on others, she was also involuntarily affected by those colors.

She had wanted to use card games to drain away the color Griseo had picked up... uh, that somewhat chuunibyou, hot-blooded, idiotic color.

"How about it? Another round?"

Belle reshuffled the cards as she glanced at the two figures in the distance, who were still shouting at each other.

Griseo shook her head. "Sister Belle, I want to go back."

"Okay."

Belle nodded. She had actually wanted to leave long ago, but out of consideration for Anton's dignity as a client, she had not said anything.

Listening to Anton and the grabber's lines, her toes were practically digging out another video store.

That level of torment was no less than being forced to read every word of Fourth Sister's fanwork, The Unfinished Book, dozens of times.

But now that Griseo had said it, Belle could hardly be blamed.

Belle said, "Griseo, go easy on them. The client did pay us, after all!"

Griseo nodded.

Meanwhile, both the grabber and Anton felt a chill run down their backs—a cold warning from their sixth sense.

Anton and the grabber turned around together, then witnessed a shocking sight: Griseo stood on Mr. Knight's shoulder, holding her paintbrush high.

Ether Energy swirled through the sky. Construction debris, steel bars, chunks of concrete, and even passing Ethereals that were merely minding their own business were all pulled into the air.

At last, a Celestial Star formed above Anton and the grabber's heads.

Griseo nodded and lightly waved her paintbrush. The Celestial Star shot into the distance and crashed down, kicking up an enormous cloud of dust.

Griseo looked coldly at the man and machine and spoke flatly. "I want to go back. Will you come with me, or will I drag you back?"

Anton and the grabber fell silent for a moment. They glanced at the massive pit in the distance, exchanged a look, then swiftly dropped to their knees and apologized.

"Yes, boss lady, we'll go back right away..."