The director's commission was finally complete.
Nicole led Sam Li, Anby, Billy, Nekomata, and the director out of the Hollow. They avoided the security stationed around the perimeter and made it back to the city safely.
As they prepared to part ways...
Before Nicole could even bring it up, the director spoke first.
"Miss Nicole, I'm terribly sorry, I don't have any Dennies on me right now. But please don't worry—I'm heading straight to the investors with this footage. As long as they like the Star-Emblem Knight trailer, they'll invest one hundred million. I promise I'll transfer your commission fee the moment I get it!"
Nicole's face turned serious. She snorted.
"I'll give you a week out of goodwill. If the commission's still unpaid by then, I'll introduce you to Belobog Heavy Industry as a bricklayer."
The director nodded repeatedly. "I swear I'll come through. I'm confident this trailer will get the investment!"
Nicole nodded. "For your sake, I hope it does…"
To be honest, she had no idea where the director's confidence was coming from.
Except for the final few shots, Nicole had been present throughout the filming and even helped with the shoot. She knew exactly how the footage turned out.
The production was, at best, rough and slapdash.
Crude props, amateur acting, awkward plot...
If she were the investor, she wouldn't put in a single Denny.
As the director disappeared into the distance, Nekomata sighed.
"Do you guys actually believe him?"
Anby shook her head. "Nope. Judging by how things are going, we're probably not getting that commission back."
She did a quick calculation.
With the triple rate the director had promised—and subtracting the 50,000 Dennies already paid—he still owed them 850,000.
For Hare's House, which had been operating at a loss for years, that was a massive amount of money.
Nicole winced at the thought... but then smiled again.
"It's fine. I've got Belobog Heavy Industry's contact info. I'll reach out to that young CEO tonight and introduce her to a new bricklayer."
Nearby, Billy was fiddling with his phone, checking salaries online.
"Nicole, boss, bricklayers at Belobog make 200,000 Dennies a month—plus room and board! If all five of us go work there, we could save a million a month, twelve million a year, and in ten years we'd have—"
Smack!
Nicole slapped him on the head before he could finish.
"We're a proper agency. If you want to move bricks, do it yourself!"
Anby added seriously, "Correction. That salary's for Thirens. Normal people don't have their strength—the usual pay is 150,000."
Billy clutched his head. "I was wrong, Nicole..."
Nekomata: "..."
Sam Li: "..."
...
Though they didn't get the rest of the director's payment, Nicole was still in high spirits.
After all, they'd earned a solid million from Victoria Housekeeping. She decided to treat everyone to a proper meal.
"Nicole, you're not taking it out of our pocket money, right?"
"Relax. I'm not stingy. Why would I touch your allowances?"
"Nicole, boss, I vote for Star-Emblem Knight Restaurant."
"Fine, we'll go with Billy's choice. And no—it's not because it's cheap, so don't overthink it."
"We've got no debts now, and a million Dennies in hand. From now on we can eat at the Star-Emblem Knight-themed restaurant every day! Nicole, I also vote we buy me a case of bullets and five bottles of gun oil."
"Denied. You just picked up a mountain of bullets in the Hollow. Use those first. Refill when you're empty."
As she shut Billy down, Nicole took out her phone.
Seeing a new message from the orphanage, she immediately transferred 600,000 Dennies to them—on behalf of Hare's House.
At that moment...
Nekomata stood on tiptoe and caught a glimpse of her screen.
He happened to see the transfer confirmation.
"Nicole, who did you just send 600,000 Dennies to?"
Nicole jumped. "What? You're peeking at my phone?!"
Billy came over too. "What?! Nicole, you just dropped 600,000 in one go? I've heard telecom scams are everywhere lately—don't tell me you fell for one!"
Billy had already had his suspicions since they came back from the C97 Hollow.
He hadn't asked before out of fear of making Nicole mad—but now he had proof.
Everyone started pressing her for answers.
Annoyed, Nicole shoved both Billy and Nekomata away. "Scam?! Please. Even if someone tried to scam me, I'd be the one scamming them out of 600,000!"
Billy blinked. "So then what was that?"
Nicole paused, then replied, "It's... debt. Yeah. Debt I hadn't told you about before. I didn't want to burden you guys, so I kept quiet. Now that we've got the money, I figured it's time to come clean. That 600,000? I just used it to pay some of it off."
Of course, that was just an excuse.
There wasn't any debt.
She'd sent the money to a welfare institution.
Nicole tucked away her phone and smiled.
"Alright, enough chatter—let's go eat."
With that, she led the way forward.
Anby, Billy, and Nekomata followed closely behind.
Sam Li stayed back for a moment, watching the three of them with a thoughtful expression.
He already knew...
Anby and Soldier 11 knew each other—and had likely fought together in the past.
Billy used to be a knight from the Outer Ring...
Nicole always seemed buried under debt...
It was clear to him: each of them carried a heavy past. A burden they rarely spoke of, but always bore.
...
Time flew by.
It had already been three or four hours since they finished the director's commission.
During that time, Sam Li had handled a few simple tasks—helping someone find a missing cat, pushing a broken-down car to the repair shop for the Proxy siblings...
As for the director?
It was like he'd vanished. No messages. No response. No sign of him at all.
Nicole was already bracing for the worst—that they'd never get the rest of the payment.
Then, out of nowhere, two letters arrived at Hare's House.
Judging by the handwriting on the envelopes, both were from the director.
Billy rushed over. "Nicole, boss! Open them—quick! Maybe the investors loved the trailer!"
Nicole opened the first letter.
After reading it, she shook her head in disappointment.
"The director said the investors thought the Star-Emblem Knight trailer was garbage. They rejected it outright. He also said he absolutely refuses to go to Belobog Heavy Industry to move bricks."
Billy slapped a hand over his face. "So he's not paying us... and he won't even lay bricks? Don't tell me the guy's planning to run..."