Later
"Uh..." Wise looks a bit weirded out as he witnesses Billy and Anby holding Belle as she tries to hit Nicole with her pliers, while said woman is hiding behind Caelus as she intends to use him as a meat shield.
"Sixth Street seems to be as lively as usual, huh?" The tall guy with dark brown and red hair says as he stands beside Wise.
"This is a completely different case," Wise says as he sweatdrops.
"Oh, really?" The man asks with an oblivious expression. "This kind of fight seems normal here."
"...it's a different case since my sister is involved, and she never gets involved in any violence," Wise says as the man blinks.
"For real? Like never?" The man asks as Wise pauses before nodding. "...she's impressive for a first-timer,"
"Nothing about this is impressive..." Wise says with a sweatdrop as Caelus notices their presence and waves at them.
"H-hey, Wise. C-could you get your sister in control? She's gone mad with Nicole, and it seems my presence has added more fuel to the fire..." Caelus says nervously as Wise facepalms.
"This is the first time I saw someone scared of others like that...nevermind, I've seen a lot of Intelligent Construct terrified of Grace..." The man mutters as Wise sweatdrops.
"...let's not discuss this any further," Wise sighs, then approaches the group and calms his sister down. Much to everyone's surprise, Belle had calmed down and collapsed into her brother's arms before she started snoring.
"...so, is there a reason behind her crashout?" Caelus asks as Wise gives him a flat stare.
"Your 'bombshell' had made us question everything we know about this world, and Belle is the one who got affected the most," Wise says in a deadpan manner. "She did all researches regarding everything, but she received zero results."
"...sorry," Caelus says with a grimace, looking away guiltily as Wise sighs.
"Okay, that was unfair of me," Wise says. "I...should have stopped her from digging a rabbit hole further, but I didn't..."
"...what information are you guys talking about?" Caelus and Wise turn to face the brown and red-haired man, giving them a questioning look.
"It's classified information," Wise says immediately, choosing not to reveal anything to the man.
"...sorry, but you are?" Of course, Caelus knows who this man is, but he would rather not cause any suspicions.
"This is our new client, Anton Ivanov of the Belobog Heavy Industry." Wise introduces Caelus to the man, Anton, as he glances at the Cunning Hares.
"I'm sure the Cunning Hares know who he is..." Upon hearing this, Anby and Billy look confused while Nicole feigns innocence.
"I know the pink-haired girl as she introduced us to you," Anton says as Nicole looks away, whistling innocently as Anby and Billy facepalm.
"...so, does this commission have to do with the Vision Corporation aftermath?" Caelus asks as Anton blinks before staring at Caelus for a while. "...um, what?"
"...no wonder you look familiar!" Anton exclaims in excitement. "You're Caelus, the hero of Canvas Street! Damn it, I should've recognized you from the very beginning!"
'...great, and I thought the fame had died down,' Caelus thought in annoyance.
"I'm a huge fan, bro! You risked everything to save those poor, innocent civilians from the Hollow! And we, the Belobog Heavy Industry, also owe you one for stopping the Vision Corporation before they could do something bad! I can't believe they would do something like that just to lower the cost!" Anton says before his tone turns into anger upon mentioning Vision Corporation.
"Um...no problem, I guess? You guys didn't owe me anything," Caelus says as Anton shakes his head.
"Oh, we do owe you," Anton says honestly. "Our company had to fight against the Vision corporation to get the rights for demolition for quite a while before they pulled such underhanded tactics. This may sound terrible, but the incident allowed us to buy the rights to demolish the metro station. Of course, we wouldn't use such underhanded tactics, and we'll make sure to keep the civilians in safe distance."
"Okay..." Caelus merely nods. "...can I ask something? From what I heard, the costs for the demolition ain't cheap, and with the evacuations, it'll cost more. Why do you guys still choose to do it?"
"Heh, I get it," Anton says with a smile. "This type of project is something any business would avoid, with its high cost and high chance of failures that lead to little to no profits. Our main reason is that our company didn't have much choice. Belobog suffers a massive hit on its reputation due to a certain incident, which makes finding any construction project for us to work with much harder. We had to fight tooth and nail just to get this project, but we ended up losing. I wasn't joking when I said we owe you one for getting us the rights for demolitions."
"I...see..." Caelus honestly had no idea how much of an impact the Vision Corporation incident was to Belobog. But he was glad that he was able to help them. The company is filled with kind people, and after hearing what Anton said, he believed they didn't deserve what happened after the fall of Khors Belobog.
"Besides, if we're successful at finishing this project, our company's reputation might be able to recover slowly," Anton says optimistically.
"Well, I wish you and the Belobog for the best," Caelus says as Anton gives him a thumbs-up.
"Thanks, bro!" Anton exclaims before Wise tries to carry Belle into the Video Store, but everyone can clearly tell that he's struggling. "Oh, let me help you, bro!"
"T-thanks..." Wise says in embarrassment as they enter the video store.
"...I guess they still have business to finish," Billy says as he scratches his head. Meanwhile, Nekomiya can be seen hiding behind a newsstand, keeping her eyes on Caelus as she silently hisses at him.
"What are you doing?" Nekomiya hisses as she jumps a few feet and turns around to see Seth crossing his arms, narrowing his eyes at her.
"W-what do you want? It's none of your business!" Nekomiya hisses.
"My job is to patrol the street under Senior QIngyi's order, both to protect and keep an eye on you and your squad," Seth says while crossing his arms. "Right now, you're acting suspicious by tailing your supposed friends over there."
"I am keeping an eye on him," Nekomiya hisses while pointing at Caelus, causing Seth to blink. "I won't let that cat-napper steal another cat or dog from any kind of pet owners!"
"...Caelus? A cat-napper?" Seth asks with a raised eyebrow. Sure, he didn't know the man like his seniors, but they both vouch for the man being a law-abiding citizen, having mental health issues (which is understandable after Seth hears his backstory). So, he is skeptical when Caelus is accused of committing a crime. It didn't help that he trusts his senior more than a former street gang member.
Nekomiya didn't bother to care if Seth believed her or not and continued to spy on Caelus as he talked with her team. She narrows her eyes as Seth looks slightly concerned for the cat thiren, believing she might also have a mental health issue.
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Meanwhile
Lumina University
"Finally, I thought the exam wouldn't be over..." Phil groans as he walks out of the building.
"Is it that bad? It seems quite easy," Seed asks innocently as Phil sighs.
"Of course you would find it easy," Phil mutters, feeling a bit self-conscious about his intelligence. It was his greatest pride and one of the reasons he could survive learning at Lumina University, but meeting someone who's proven to be smarter than him made him feel inferior.
"Hehe, sorry," Seed says sheepishly. "We both have a different educational background."
"...what kind of educational background made you think that college-level subjects are easy!?" Phil asks as Seed ponders.
"I...have no idea how to explain this," Seed says honestly, causing Phil to facefault. Before he could ask for more, his ears perked up as he heard a sound eerily similar to a cry for help.
"Did...you hear that?" Phil mutters as Seed tilts her head in confusion.
"Hear...what?" Seed asks as she tilts her head. "You need to be specific. I don't have a pair of large ears."
"Someone is calling for help," Phil says as he rushes off, leaving a puzzled Seed. It takes a while before Seed snaps out of her puzzlement and chases after Phil.
"W-wait!" Seed is surprised at how fast Phil can run as she tries to chase after him. "D-damn it, I wish I had my hover-scooter with me! Why would the campus ban that but let the students use a skateboard!? This doesn't make sense!"
As Phil runs, he can't help but wonder why he would even run towards the voice without giving a thought. He even curses himself for getting involved, thinking about how this is a mistake, and wondering why he even gets involved with other people who constantly ignore him.
But at the same time, he thought about Caelus, a stranger he happened to meet by chance, and became his friend. He's easily the kindest person he's ever met (after Meilian, of course, the landlord is a pinnacle of kindness), who did a lot of things for him when he didn't need to.
'...damn it.' In the end, Phil decided to help whoever had just called for help. He manages to track the voice in the university's gym storage room. Taking a deep breath, he slowly approaches the room and tries to see who's in there as he leans his ears into the door.
"S-stay away from me!" Phil's eyes widen as he hears a female voice in the room.
"I suggest you keep your puny mouth shut, you little bunny slut!" Phil's eyes harden before looking around and sees a huge box filled with sports equipment. He silently looks around and sees a wooden baseball bat.
'I can't believe this...' Phil takes a deep breath before opening the door and raises the baseball bat.
"What the-!?!" Phil's eyes widen for one more time as he sees three boys, who just happened to be Phil's main bullies, surrounding a pink bunny Thiren who looks like she's in tears. Phil can't help but growl before the bullies start smiling mockingly.
"Ah, the pipsqueak. What do you think-!?" Without a word, Phil jumps towards the boy and slams the baseball bat right on his face, causing blood and a few teeth to fly out of his mouth before he collapses.
"..." The other two boys stare at Phil in disbelief, too shocked to care about their friend lying unconscious.
"...fuck, I can see why Caelus uses a baseball bat as a weapon," Phil mutters before he grins widely. "It's satisfying to smash this into people's faces!"
"You crazy-!" Phil didn't let the boy finish his sentence as he swung his bat right at one of the boy's knees, causing him to fall before swinging upward. The last boy is horrified upon hearing the crunching noise before Phil jumps onto his chest, causing him to fall on his back, before Phil slams his baseball bat down, knocking the boy out.
"...why didn't I do this before...?" Phil can't help but start questioning why he keeps letting these bastards bully him when he's able to deal with them this easily. "Oh, right. That rabbit Thiren, she-!"
"Oh, thank you!" The rabbit Thiren tackles Phil into a hug as Phil's face turns bright red. "I-I thought it was over! These idiots try to pin me down, and their leader is ready to pull their pants down!"
"...I'm so glad you're okay," Phil takes a deep breath to calm himself down after hearing the bunny's words. "Also...you're not a student here, are you? I never seen you in the class, so how did you get here and meet these idiots?"
"I...was looking around the campus as I plan on joining this university." The bunny Thiren explains as she twiddles her paws. "These guys suddenly approach me and try to 'give me a tour' before leading me here."
"...I see..." Phil sighs before looking at the rabbit Thiren. "L-let's get you out of here."
"S-sure..." The rabbit Thiren says with a smile as she places both of her paws back. Before they could walk out the door, Seed arrived.
"D-damn it! I really need to up my training! P-Phil-!" Seed pauses as she sees Phil and a rabbit Thiren surrounded by three unconscious boys. Seed ignores the boys as her eyes lit up and she started hugging both Phil and the rabbit Thiren. "Y-you two are so cute!!!"
"S-Seed! N-not the time!" Phil exclaims as Seed lets them go. "C-can you contact the lecturers and report the boys for attempted rape?"
"...perhaps a special contact to 'deal' with these bastards?" Seed asks sweetly as she pulls out her phone.
"N-not that extreme!" Phil waves his hands in panic as Seed pouts. "J-just the lecturers, informing Goony, Dummy, and Silly did a misconduct for an attempted sexual assault on..." Phil pauses. "Um, who are you?"
"...I-I'm sorry," The rabbit Thiren clears her throat, trying to hold her laughter upon hearing their names. "I-I guess a proper introduction is required. I'm Xiao Zhao, nice to meet you."
(A/N: I have a feeling some of you guys are gonna ask a question like 'what's Zhao doing here so early!?'. All I can say is that wait for future chapters.)
To be Continued