Ellen, You're Far Too Honest

Several days later, Sixth Street, the video store, HDD room.

Ellen sprawled lazily across the sofa, her shark tail lightly tapping the cushion in time with the music from her MP3.

Although the room was dimly lit, the expressions of the two owners at the door were anything but dim. They were more speechless than anything.

"Ellen, are you cosplaying a mermaid?" Belle teased as she crouched down and poked Ellen's tail. "But isn't the species a little off?"

Ellen lifted her eyes and glanced at Belle. Too lazy to move, she only flicked her tail now and then in protest.

"So, Ellen, you came to the video store... just to sleep?"

Wise looked at this unexpected visitor, torn between laughter and tears.

It all went back to the commission from several days ago.

At the time, Griseo had not been around. To crack the code, the brother and sister had set out to find the hacker Rain, and along the way at Ballet Tower, they had joined forces with Victoria Housekeeping to play hero for a day.

It was during that cooperation that both sides unexpectedly discovered each other's secrets.

The Phaethon siblings learned about Ellen's other side beneath her student identity, while Ellen learned the secret beneath the identities of the two shop owners—illegal Proxies.

Both sides had originally assumed the other were ordinary citizens. In the end, one side was made up of "underground professionals," while the other was "Municipal Government maids and enforcers."

"Oh, the boss sent me to keep an eye on you." Ellen pulled off her headphones, rolled over, and casually pulled back the tail Belle had been playing with.

"Tch..."

Belle clicked her tongue regretfully, then asked curiously, "Ellen, you're really just saying that outright?"

"What's the big deal? I happen to be catching up on sleep at the video store."

Ellen had actually been more than happy to accept this "surveillance assignment."

For one thing, she knew all too well about her tendency to fall asleep.

Back then, she would randomly show up asleep on street benches, park lawns, beside swimming pool decks, even inside Hollows... Wherever she went, she slept.

For another, there were Ruby, Mona, and Rin around her.

Ellen did not dislike the three of them, but her identity was special after all. Having a place where she could openly get out of their sight and catch up on sleep in peace was simply perfect.

Besides, Lycaon's assignment had only been to "regularly report the Proxies' whereabouts," not to treat the two shop owners as enemies.

So, in Ellen's eyes, accepting this assignment was the same as obtaining a "legal sleeping permit."

"Uh... that really is something only Ellen could do."

After hearing her honesty, Belle and Wise did not know how to respond for a moment.

Since the subject had already been brought up, Ellen followed her principle of "work first, sleep later."

Ellen slowly sat up straight and asked lazily, "Two shop owners, where are you planning to operate next?"

During the last incident at Ballet Tower, Perlman had escaped.

For the Phaethon siblings, the next objective was undoubtedly to continue tracking Perlman's whereabouts.

Belle raised an eyebrow. "Ellen, you're asking that... Don't tell me you want to secretly report it while we're acting, then come stop us?"

Ellen rolled her eyes. So everything she had just said had been for nothing.

"Shop Owner Belle, why would I go through the trouble of stopping you? I just want something to tell the boss when he asks about my work progress."

Wise shook his head, a helpless smile on his lips.

Sure enough, Ellen was still Ellen. If she could slack off, she would never voluntarily make an extra move.

"So, Shop Owner Wise, can you tell me?" Ellen blinked and put on a cute act.

After thinking for a moment, Wise gave an answer. "Most likely the Outer Ring."

Put simply, the hijacking incident at Ballet Tower had happened because Victoria Housekeeping had been carrying out a mission when they ran into the rebels and had no choice but to intervene.

Meanwhile, Phaethon had been looking for Rain, and the Cunning Hares had been after Perlman, only to discover that someone wanted to kill him to silence him.

Thus, the three forces had collided at Ballet Tower. For their own respective reasons, Phaethon and Victoria Housekeeping had temporarily joined forces and stopped two serious incidents together.

But amid the chaos, Billy of the Cunning Hares had failed to keep watch over Perlman, allowing him to escape in an airship.

But an airship was far too conspicuous to hide in an urban district like New Eridu.

Only the vast, sparsely populated Outer Ring, riddled with Hollows, could possibly conceal the traces of its escape.

So, all things considered, the Outer Ring was the only place that fit the conditions.

After listening, Ellen nodded in satisfaction, put her headphones back on, and sank even deeper into the sofa.

"The Outer Ring, huh... The signal there is bad, so when the boss asks, I'll just say I couldn't reach you." She closed her eyes, her tail giving one slow tap.

"Two shop owners, I'm going to sleep first. Keep it down."

Seeing Ellen act so completely justified, Belle found herself both annoyed and amused. Wise could only spread his hands helplessly.

On the rooftop of a building near the video store on Sixth Street, two pairs of eyes silently watched the store.

"Lord Lycaon, the two shop owners have gradually delved deeper into the Sacrificial Ghost incident."

Rina, Victoria Housekeeping's head maid, asked softly, her gaze resting on Lycaon beside her.

"From here on... will the secrets involved truly be alright?"

"It doesn't matter." Lycaon's tone was calm. "The mayor's latest order is to provide appropriate assistance and guidance."

"Is this a test of whether the two shop owners are qualified to become allies?" Rina asked.

"No, that is only one part of it." Lycaon shook his head slightly. "They have already become involved and cannot extricate themselves. What the mayor truly cares about is that existence..."

His gaze slowly rose and settled on the little girl with sky-blue hair at the third-floor window.

"That one... Lei, the princess known as [The Stars]?" Rina followed his gaze.

"Yes. Even the mayor addresses her as [Your Highness]."

Lycaon withdrew his gaze, a flicker of turmoil in his eyes.

When the mayor had spoken with him last time, that tone... Lycaon had vaguely guessed that perhaps the mayor did not care at all about the past involving the Sacrificial Ghost, Hors, and Belobog Heavy Industries.

Rina fell silent for a moment before saying, "But according to Zhao's observations, isn't she merely a little girl with special abilities?"

"That is what we think. The mayor may have discovered something long ago."

Lycaon corrected her, then turned around. His white wolf tail swayed lightly as he said, "Rina, let's go. We've already been discovered."

"Yes, Lord Lycaon..."

Rina responded softly. Then the two figures silently vanished into the shadows atop the building, as though they had never appeared at all.

In the third-floor art studio of the video store, Griseo pushed open the glass window, swept her gaze around, and said, "Big Sister Trigger, those two have already left."

Below the window, a masked woman replied, "Mm! I know."

The vague details regarding Griseo's abilities in this book will receive an initial explanation during Trigger's story arc... So—

If you wish to know how the foreshadowing unfolds, tune in tomorrow for the next chapter.