"How is it? Belle, are you hurt?" Wise asked, his face etched with worry.
Hearing this, Belle shook her head. "I'm fine, Wise. I just lost my footing for a second, so... Ngh!"
As she spoke, Belle, blushing, tried to move out of Wise's arms. But the moment her slender foot touched the ground, a sharp pain shot through it.
Belle let out a soft cry, her brows knitting together tightly. Seeing this, Wise immediately knelt to check her injury.
"Looks like a sprain," Wise said softly. As he spoke, he rolled down Belle's sock, revealing the injured ankle. It was already slightly swollen, the once-pale skin now a bluish-purple. It looked like a nasty twist.
"It's definitely a sprain, and a bit serious at that. Belle, you sit tight for a moment. I'll go get some ice to put on it."
Wise's heart ached seeing her injury, but he didn't scold her. Instead, he lifted her princess-style and placed her gently on the sofa.
After making sure she was seated comfortably, he turned to get ice from the fridge.
A moment later, Wise returned with a bag of ice cubes. He wrapped them in a towel to avoid direct contact and prevent frostbite. The sprain was on her left ankle. Wise carefully lifted the girl's pale, slender foot and gently applied the towel-wrapped ice pack to her ankle.
"Ouch!"
"What's wrong? Does it hurt a lot?"
"No, it doesn't hurt! It was just suddenly so cold, it startled me."
Belle's gaze darted away, not daring to look at Wise's face. She held her hands in front of her chest, the tips of her index fingers tapping against each other repeatedly.
According to her inner thoughts, what she feared more than the pain was Wise blaming her for being careless. When Wise saw this on the system panel, he was momentarily speechless. She's the one who's hurt, why is she worried about that? Have I ever been like a nagging mother, scolding her whenever she makes a mistake? I don't think so, right?
Wise mused internally. He didn't say anything to scold Belle, as he never intended to in the first place.
"Alright, you eat your dinner first. Eous, you help me watch Belle and make sure she doesn't move around. I'm going to get the first-aid kit."
After saying this, Wise handed the ramen to Belle and turned to find the medical box. Eous, having received its orders, nodded, promising to complete the mission, then looked at Belle with a worried expression.
"Don't worry, it's just a small injury. I'm fine," Belle said, reaching out to stroke Eous's head. The creature cooed a few times in response.
At the same time, Belle watched Wise bustling around the room, remembering the worried look on his face just moments ago, and a warmth spread through her heart.
Just then, the program on the television was suddenly interrupted. It seemed to be an emergency news broadcast, and as expected, the content was about the incident on 14th Division Street.
Belle's attention was immediately captured. While watching the TV, she called out to Wise. "Wise, quick, come watch the news!"
Hearing Belle's call, Wise hurried over with the first-aid kit and saw the content on the screen.
"14th Division Street? I remember that area... hold on a second."
Wise first placed the first-aid kit on the cabinet behind the sofa, then turned to the computer and began looking up information.
"Yep, the location is in the Janus district. The news says the situation has already breached Level 3 control," Belle reported, lying sideways on the sofa watching the TV with Eous sitting beside her. At the same time, Wise also found some information.
"Just as I thought. The Public Security Bureau was conducting a raid there today. The evacuation efforts probably won't go smoothly."
"Huh? So, does that mean we might get some business soon?"
"Mmm, that's most likely the case."
Wise nodded, affirming Belle's conclusion. But more than the potential business, he wanted to know how Chop had found out about this in advance. Did he really just overhear some customers talking? It was unclear, but it just went to show how full of talent Sixth Street was.
Not a single resident on the entire street was a "legal" citizen. There was a weapon shop disguised as a toy store, and a Bangboo modification shop disguised as a repair shop. And then there were the two of them, in a video store that was actually the front for the legendary Rope-master, Phaethon.
"Alright, now all we have to do is wait," Belle said, looking at the TV. At that moment, Wise brought his ramen over and sat down on the edge of the sofa.
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"Wise..."
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"Uh, are you feeling any better now?" Wise tried to break the awkward atmosphere.
Belle looked down slightly, then glanced at him shyly. "Mmm... much better, thank you."
She said this with a red face. After her eyes accidentally met Wise's, she quickly turned her head away and, to alleviate the awkwardness, took a few noisy slurps of her noodles.
"That's good. But remember to put your shoes on properly before you walk next time, okay?"
Hearing this, Belle nodded obediently in response.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the 14th Division Street district, unlike the peaceful and quiet situation here, our boss Nicole was leading the other two members of the Cunning Hares in evading their pursuers.
The news on the TV had now moved to a segment with an unnamed reporter and telegraph operator. Wise watched and thought it was a good thing the broadcast was censored; otherwise, all the swearing might have been a bad influence on Belle.
Even though in the game from my past life, the brother and sister were always teased as the "shady siblings," that was just because their video store work brought them into contact with certain things. My sister has always been a pure and cute little angel!
Just as he was thinking this, he noticed Belle's inner thoughts pop up on the system panel.
[Belle's Inner Thoughts:]
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While thinking this, Belle even snuck a peek at Wise, as if wanting to see his reaction.
Okay, I take it back. My "little angel" isn't so pure after all.
Wise couldn't help but roast her internally as he read her thoughts on the system panel.
But whatever. So what if she's a little impure? We're all adults, it's normal to know things. Besides, isn't a fallen angel still an angel?
More importantly, I should check out the new reward her emotional fluctuation just gave me.