Nangong Yu

As evening fell, the signs of Sixth Street's shops lit up one after another with dim yellow light, while the scent of instant noodles drifted through the video store.

At the dining table, Belle and Griseo sat side by side, each with a cup of instant noodles in front of them.

Belle looked at her own cup first, then Griseo's, before finally turning her gaze to Wise, who was walking over with a third cup of noodles.

"Big bro, this is the feast you promised us?"

Wise set the last cup of noodles in front of himself.

He sat down, picked up his fork, and looked up in one fluid motion, his expression as resolute as if he were joining the party.

"How is it not?"

Wise pointed at the cup in front of Belle. "Yours is shrimp and fish cake."

Then he pointed at Griseo's. "Griseo's is braised pork ribs."

Finally, he pointed at his own. "Mine is braised beef."

At the end, Wise jerked his chin toward a box of instant noodles in the corner. "If that doesn't work, there's also mushroom chicken stew, pickled cabbage beef, and spicy beef. You can switch flavors whenever you want."

Belle's mouth twitched.

"...So, big bro, what exactly did you do this afternoon?"

Wise raised his head.

In that instant, pride and accomplishment flashed in his eyes—the satisfaction of a man supporting his family.

"Obviously—taking Eous and the others to Belobog Heavy Industries for Grace's testing."

Wise paused, then added, "Otherwise, we couldn't even afford instant noodles."

Belle's eyes instantly sharpened as she stared wide-eyed at her brother.

"What??? You took Eous and the others to do that???"

Grace—the Steel Witch. A name that struck fear into countless Bangboos and machines.

Belle was already worried whether their Bangboos would make it back in one piece.

"Eous, Little 16, Little 18... they sacrificed themselves for our box of instant noodles."

Wise mourned solemnly, his face full of, Though life is hard, I have still fulfilled my duty as an older brother.

Looking at her brother's hypocritical expression, Belle could not even be bothered to mock him. "...You've really squeezed every last bit of value out of every Bangboo."

Even the capitalists at TOPS would weep at the sight.

Belle looked at Griseo again. The little girl sat quietly, staring outside the door, seemingly lost in thought.

"Griseo, don't you like it?" Belle's voice softened.

"No, Sister Belle! The calendar."

Griseo looked up and gently shook her head, then raised a hand to point at the calendar.

Belle's gaze shifted from Griseo to the calendar on the wall.

She froze for a moment.

You couldn't eat a calendar, so why was Griseo staring at that thing?

Could the child have gotten so hungry that she was starting to hallucinate?

Belle looked closer at the calendar—today's date had been circled in red, with "Angels of Delusion, 7 p.m." written beside it in colored pen.

"Oh—!"

Belle's eyes lit up as she understood immediately.

She remembered. According to Griseo's schedule, Angels of Delusion had an event tonight.

Whoever accompanied Griseo with her brother could enjoy free unlimited drinks and desserts at 404!

Belle turned to look at Wise, who was hunched over and slurping noodles, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled upward.

Big bro, don't blame your little sister~

Belle gently pushed both her own and Griseo's cups of noodles in front of Wise, then propped her chin on both hands and smiled. "Big bro, you've worked hard today. You should eat these two as well."

"...?"

Wise's fork froze in midair. He looked up at his sister warily.

"Nicole's commission still depends on you. Eat more so you'll have the strength!" Belle added, her smile growing even brighter.

Wise fell silent for two seconds. A chill ran down his back. Was this really his own sister—Belle?

Belle was suddenly being so considerate? Had his sister finally grown a conscience?

Then why had she pushed Griseo's portion over too?

Something was wrong. Ninety percent—no, one hundred percent wrong.

Belle could not possibly be this "kind." Had an Ethereal possessed her?

Wise suddenly raised his fork and pointed it at Belle, glaring fiercely as he tried to intimidate her. "Whoever you are, get out of my sister's body right now!"

"What are you doing, big bro?!!!" Belle rolled her eyes and slapped his fork aside.

"Can you let me finish? You're a guy, and you've worked so hard today, so it's only right that you eat more. I'll take Griseo out later, and we can just accept whatever food people outside offer us."

Wise turned his gaze toward Griseo. The little girl obediently nodded as well.

"I see..." Griseo never lied, and only then did the doubts in Wise's heart fade.

He reached out and pulled the two cups of noodles over. Come to think of it, he really was exhausted today.

Eating more... didn't seem like a problem, did it?

Just as Wise started on his second cup of noodles, the wind chime at the video store rang—there was a visitor.

A black-stockinged loli walked into the video store, with white wings on her back, an angel's halo over her head, and a pair of braided pigtails shaped like octopus sausages in bloom.

With that outfit, there was no need to ask. She was naturally Angels of Delusion's captain, the sharp-tongued, black-hearted young miss Nangong Yu.

Her favorite thing was unleashing "Domineering Loli Mommy's Fierce Love" on Sunna!

As everyone knew, liking lolis did not actually make someone a lolicon.

They simply had no playmates when they were young, so once they grew up, they liked playing with children.

They had never lost their childlike hearts. They did not care about a loli's undeveloped figure, and even liked it very much. Clearly, lolicons were a very loving bunch of people...

Ahem, ahem, that got off track. In any case, Nangong Yu had arrived—bearing a mission that could not fail, or she would have to return home and inherit hundreds of millions of Denny.

"Hi, Managers! Having dinner? I'm here to pick up Griseo!"

Nangong pushed open the door with a bright smile on her face, only for it to abruptly freeze.

Because she saw the dining table: three cups of instant noodles sat before Wise alone, while Belle and Griseo sat opposite him with absolutely nothing in front of them.

The next second, Nangong's smile vanished. Her brows furrowed, the corners of her lips drooped, and her eyes plainly said, "Trash. Disgusting. Pervert."

Seeing Nangong looking at him like he was garbage, Wise's fork fell onto the table.

"Wait, Nangong, it's not what you think!! Listen to me! I'm innocent!"

Nangong said nothing. She merely took out a checkbook.

Wise panicked even more. He turned to look beside him—Griseo blinked her innocent eyes, while Belle guiltily looked away and whistled an off-key tune.

"..." Wise felt as though the sky had fallen.

"No, little sis, are you messing with me??? Have some conscience!"

"Your big bro and you are heart to heart, and you're playing mind games with your big bro???"

At the doorway, Nangong finished writing the check. With a small tear, she ripped it out and held it before Wise, her expression frosty.

"Enough, Manager Wise. You don't need to explain. Take these five million Denny and leave Manager Belle and Griseo."

Wise: "..."