"Good evening, Master. Hello, Senior Brother Pan, Senior Brother Ye, Senior Sister Fufu." Seeing everyone there, Xu An greeted them one by one.
(I never learned anything about their personalities in the game. What do I do, what do I do? We should be able to get along, right? After all, Master Yixuan approved of them.)
"You're our new junior brother? You look pretty lively. If there's anything you want to eat, just tell your senior brother. I'll make it for you." Pan Yinhu scratched his belly.
Ye Shiyuan looked at Xu An and nodded. "Seeing is believing. So this is the gifted little junior brother Master mentioned?" (I wonder how he compares to my little sister.)
Fufu suddenly spoke up from the side. "Are we ordering food now? Great! Junior Brother Pan, I want braised pork and fried chicken wings! And... uh..."
"Senior Sister... Junior Brother Pan is cooking for Belle and Junior Brother Xu, not you. If you're hungry, go eat those compressed biscuits in storage. They'll expire if you don't eat them soon." Ye Shiyuan adjusted his glasses and spoke with a perfectly straight face.
"Listen to him! How can words that cold come out of a mouth that's thirty-six degrees? I'm your eldest senior sister, you know! How could you!" Fufu said, looking a little indignant.
But then she seemed to come to her senses. "Still, you're right. We should let Junior Brother Xu and Junior Sister Belle order first." Hehe. As she spoke, she scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed.
Belle seemed rather overwhelmed by the attention. "I can eat the compressed biscuits! Let Eldest Senior Sister have something she wants."
"Why torture yourself? Just leave that awful stuff to Eldest Senior Sister," Ye Shiyuan said.
Strange. Why does he seem a little black-bellied?
"Exactly! If it's Senior Sister Fufu, she'll definitely hold her nose and finish them!" Pan Yinhu chimed in cheerfully.
Xu An snickered off to the side.
"Hey! You lot! I'm not a trash can!" Ju Fufu said angrily.
She made to step forward and teach her two scheming junior brothers a proper lesson.
Seeing this, Xu An quickly held her back. "All right, all right, Senior Sister. I can cook too. I ran a restaurant before coming here. My cooking might not be that much worse than Senior Brother Pan's."
At that, Ju Fufu looked at Xu An with curiosity and anticipation written all over her face. "Really, really?! Then I want fried chicken wings! Braised pork! ..." She rattled off a whole string of dishes, leaving Xu An stunned. (・_・)ヾ
Seriously? Not holding back at all, huh? Wouldn't my hands ache to death if I made all of that in one go? Of course, that only applied to when he had been an ordinary person.
"Speaking of which, we've ridden that airship before, and nothing ever went wrong. Why did something suddenly happen this time?
"And Master even bought accident insurance beforehand. Could it be? Was it deliberate? All for that astronomical payout?!" Ye Shiyuan looked as though everything had suddenly clicked.
Hearing Ye Shiyuan's words, Xu An asked, "Senior Brother, would you dare say that to Master's face?"
"Uh, haha, I'm just making wild guesses. They don't count. Master is magnanimous. She surely wouldn't hold it against me. Besides, my deduction is perfectly reasonable."
"Senior Brother! Why are you imagining the worst again? Mount Yunkui's finances aren't that desperate!" Pan Yinhu said with a serious expression.
Then he turned to Belle and Xu An to explain.
"Junior Sister Belle, please don't mind him. Senior Brother Ye is just a little suspicious by nature... Still, what exactly happened to you and Master?"
That topic change from Junior Brother Pan was seriously impressive.
Xu An took notes.
"It wasn't convenient to talk about it outside earlier, but our airship was actually attacked," Xu An said.
"Yes, yes! And according to Master, someone shot our airship down with a rocket launcher," Belle added.
"Damn them! How dare they attack people from Mount Yunkui! Once we find out who did it, we'll teach them a lesson they won't forget!" Fufu clenched her fists, looking fierce.
But to Xu An, she still looked adorable. (づ￣3￣)づ╭❤~
"Someone was probably deliberately trying to obstruct our investigation.
"Junior Sister Belle, I hear you're the famous Proxy Phaethon, right?
"With you here, our Hollow investigation is sure to move faster..."
Hearing that, Belle first glanced at Xu An a little nervously.
Hearing the system notification in his mind about the change in Belle's emotions-she had suddenly become nervous?-he couldn't help looking at her.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Xu An couldn't help asking, before finally realizing.
"Ah, oh, nothing, nothing. I forgot to mention it earlier. Tomato Beef Brisket is my alt. My main is Phaethon," Belle said sheepishly.
"Oh. And?" Xu An still looked unconcerned.
...I was worried he'd get angry because I hadn't told him the truth. Great, now it's completely flipped, and I'm the one getting angry.
And my brother, too. Xu An is clearly a very nice person. What was all that about being careful and keeping my guard up?
But Belle had forgotten that those words had been spoken when she had only just met Xu An.
Far away on Sixth Street, Wise was tidying the disc shelves when he suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.
"Achoo~ Why did I suddenly sneeze? Could someone be thinking about me?
"Never mind. It's probably the change of seasons. I've caught a bit of a cold. I should wear more layers.
"And remind my little sister while I'm at it."
With that thought, he took out his phone and sent Belle a message on Knock Knock.
Back with Xu An.
"Actually, Yunkui Summit isn't Mount Yunkui's main sect grounds. It's just one of our bases here on the Waifei Peninsula. This time, everyone secretly gathered here and returned because the mayor wanted the Lemnian Hollow investigated.
"We did our best to get everything ready, but it's still a little spartan. Please bear with us~ Hehe." Fufu scratched her head as she spoke, looking embarrassed.
"Of course, it's fine! Don't worry. I'm not picky about accommodation. Thank you all for going to the trouble of setting things up for me!" Belle quickly replied.
As for Xu An? He still had to sleep on the sofa tonight. There was no room for him, so he kept quiet.
After all, he was an extra who had arrived unexpectedly. It was only natural that nothing had been prepared in advance.
After they finished eating and chatted for a while, everyone went their separate ways.
Xu An wandered around casually. Seeing Yixuan standing alone beside a tree, lost in thoughts he couldn't guess, he walked over to greet her. "Hello, Master!"
"Mm. You should have met everyone just now. Did they leave a good impression?" Yixuan's gaze drifted faintly over Xu An, as though she were looking at the tree, or perhaps at him.
[Ding, Yixuan felt at ease. Attribute points +3]
"Of course! Both senior brothers and Eldest Senior Sister are very nice, though Senior Brother Ye seems a little paranoid."
[Ding, Yixuan was curious. Attribute points +3]
"Oh? Paranoid?" Yixuan asked directly.
"Yeah. Just now, he guessed that you bought the insurance because you'd foreseen this accident, all for the compensation money," Xu An said.
Only after saying it did he feel a little regretful, as though he had let his senior brother down. Oh well, oh well. At worst, I'll just treat Senior Sister Ye better afterward. Hehe.
"Well, he wasn't wrong." The corners of Yixuan's lips rose slightly. Her reaction was nothing like Xu An had expected.
OAO. If he couldn't deduce a few things through the system, Xu An would have believed that outward smile of hers.
[Ding, Yixuan was angry. Attribute points +1]
It probably gave so few points because she was only a tiny bit angry.
Having long since figured out the system's point-granting mechanics, Xu An wasn't surprised.
But Master actually gets angry too? She's always seemed so placid. Still, (ㆀ˘･з･˘), I remember Master being a bit black-bellied in the game. Poor Senior Brother Ye.
Elsewhere, Ye Shiyuan felt a chill down his back for no apparent reason. It came swiftly and went just as fast.
He couldn't help checking his surroundings. Finding nothing unusual, he muttered quietly, "How strange?"
Back here.
"Ahem. After this accident, I imagine we definitely won't be able to keep Mount Yunkui's return to Yunkui Summit a secret.
"Since we can't operate in secret anymore, the investigation ahead is bound to face more obstacles.
"And if they could even infiltrate the mayor's arrangements, their capabilities can't be underestimated."
Seeming to feel she had said a little too much, she reassured Xu An, "But it's fine. Whatever they're planning, we'll deal with each move as it comes."
"Mm-hmm! Having you here really puts me at ease, Master. With Junior Sister Belle helping with the investigation, I imagine it'll be over very soon." Xu An offered a little flattery.
Yixuan seemed quite pleased. Smiling with her eyes slightly narrowed, she continued, "That's right. You and Belle should get used to the surroundings first. Yunkui Summit rarely has anyone staying here, but at least it's peaceful."