"Hm? Brother, is something wrong?" Belle asked, noticing his reaction.
"No, nothing. I just got a message from Nicole… but it's kind of confusing."
Wise glanced at his phone, the message giving off a restless vibe.
It was full of lines about how grateful she had always been to them, and that she would definitely repay them well when she returned. The whole thing sounded like a death flag.
'Uh, wait…'
He suddenly remembered something and quickly sent a warning to the other party. However, no reply came after the message was delivered, leaving him unsure whether it had been received.
After that, Wise did not linger. Everyone else was still waiting, so he put away his phone and followed the group into the Hollow.
Their temporary objective was to find Rain, and since she was very likely on the rooftop of Tower B, the group decided to head there first.
Inside the poorly lit building, they were currently at the entrance of Tower A. On the way, they could also lend a hand to the Victoria Housekeeping team with their maintenance work.
At the same time, to demonstrate Phaethon's professionalism, Belle specifically asked Fairy to give it her all.
The latter responded with confidence, stating that she would not allow her master and Assistant No. 2 to be looked down upon.
The journey went smoothly. Although they encountered a few Ethereal along the way, none of them posed any real threat. Wise also took the opportunity to briefly showcase his strength.
Most of his fights ended in single blows due to the overwhelming gap in stats, leaving little room for spectacle. Even so, Corin's eyes sparkled as she praised him.
"Wise is amazing!"
"Thank you for your recognition, Corin."
"Hehe, you're welcome."
Suddenly, the lights in the building flickered a few times. With the creepy atmosphere around them, it felt like something out of a horror film.
"I always feel like something's off. The lights along the way seem to keep flickering."
"Eh, i-is that so? Ha… haha…" Corin sounded nervous and unconsciously leaned closer to Wise as she spoke.
Ellen, who was standing nearby, nodded in agreement.
"It has happened a few times already. It seems the rumors might be true."
"Oh? What rumors?" Wise asked with interest.
"What? Wise, you haven't heard about this?" Ellen looked a bit surprised.
As far as she was concerned, this was almost common knowledge.
"Ah, Miss Ellen…"
Before Ellen could continue, Corin interrupted from the side.
However, Ellen simply shrugged it off, seeing no reason to keep anything a secret.
"Is this something that can't be said? The boss's mission instructions were way too long, so I didn't read them, but it should be fine, right? Even if Wise hears something he shouldn't, he won't tell anyone. Or, if it really comes down to it, we can leave it to Rina to handle… Hmm, that doesn't sound quite right. Maybe I should do it myself instead."
Hearing that, Wise felt a bit uneasy. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what kind of "handling" Ellen was referring to.
Still, given her high favorability, it probably wasn't anything risky.
Right?
"Ellen, little Corin~ Talking like that might give our guest the wrong idea about Victoria Housekeeping."
Rina appeared out of nowhere, floating closer as she calmly stepped in to clarify the situation.
In the end, it all traced back to that rumor, a supernatural legend about the Ballet Twins that had recently been spreading around.
According to the story, when the Ballet Twins towers were consumed by the Hollow, a well-known pair of twin dancers perished inside.
After that, rumors began to circulate that the sisters' vengeful spirits had become the masters of the building. If someone entered without permission, flickering lights would appear as a warning.
Should the intruder continue to linger, the spirits would trigger a power outage and harvest the visitors' souls in the darkness.
Originally, it was nothing more than an old, outdated tale. However, not long ago, someone claimed to have experienced almost the exact same events inside the building.
That very incident was the reason why Victoria Housekeeping had been commissioned to come here.
After listening to Rina, Wise felt a little surprised. Combining it with his own hazy memories, he was certain that this incident had truly happened.
That said, aside from his natural fear of horror movie-like situations, he didn't feel flustered at all.
"Mr. Wise, we originally assumed the rumors were merely baseless gossip. However, considering what just happened, the possibility of an actual power outage cannot be ruled out. If that occurs, it will bring additional complications. The atrium entrance connecting to Tower B has an automated fire-resistant partition that will close immediately once the power is cut."
Lycaon was clearly implying that since finding the target came first, they needed to move faster and avoid wasting time.
Before long, the group continued advancing while dealing with the Ethereals along their path. At one point, Wise stepped in and helped Corin take down an Ethereal that had attempted to ambush her.
As a result, Corin's favorability toward him rose by a few points. To her, Wise was someone reliable, capable of making her feel safe.
It was also worth mentioning that the fighting styles of the Victoria Housekeeping members could only be described as elegant, truly too elegant.
Unfortunately, despite everyone's efforts, they still failed to reach the atrium entrance between the two towers before the sudden and inexplicable power outage occurred.
With no other choice, they activated the backup plan. It was a contingency measure specifically meant to deal with power failures, requiring them to carry out a series of complicated steps to restore power from the underground supply.
The process wasn't tiring, but it was undeniably troublesome. Thankfully, after some time, the door eventually opened.
Once they entered the other building, Belle quickly spotted a backpack resting in the stairwell and moved closer to inspect it.
"If I'm not mistaken, this backpack belongs to Rain. It looks like she really did come here," Wise said, recalling the photo Nicole had given him.
Rain in that photo had been carrying the exact same backpack.
"Hmm, I'll look for clues then," Belle said as she dug through the bag and pulled out a rectangular player with a countdown timer.
When the countdown finished and a sound played, Belle instinctively tossed it away. Her reaction instantly made everyone nearby tense up.
Luckily, nothing happened. Other than the music, there was no explosion. Belle let out a breath of relief.
However, when she tried to retrieve the player, Wise stopped her and fixed his gaze on it, his expression unusually serious.
Seeing this, the group held back from making any rash moves. As expected, an Ethereal emerged in the next instant, its limbs long and slender, its legs sharp as spears, and its body dressed in what looked like a silver-gray ballet costume.
The Ethereal possessed a metallic body that gleamed faintly, while a hazy gray veil covered its face, giving it an oddly elegant presence.
It did not attack. Instead, the Ethereal calmly picked up the player from the floor with two fingers, performed a high flip, and landed gracefully in the center of the hall.
After striking several fluid dance poses, it extended one hand, as if inviting everyone to join.
"What should we do? This Ethereal doesn't seem to want to fight…"
Belle watched it dance alone nearby, the music player still in its grasp. The Ether concentration around it was overwhelming, making it feel dangerous to approach.
"This Ethereal is drawn to music and can even dance ballet. Could the rumors actually be true?"
Ellen looked at the Ethereal with clear interest. She had dealt with various Ethereals before, so she didn't find this situation particularly unsettling.
"Since the other party has invited us to dance, it would be rude to refuse," Lycaon said as he stepped forward, elegantly extending his hand.
Soon after, everyone joined in, coordinating their attacks against the Ethereal. During the battle, the music player held by the Ethereal slipped from its grasp and fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Wise immediately seized the opportunity and threw it into the spatial rift below.
The Ballet Ethereal, sensing this, attempted to retrieve the music player and ended up falling into the rift as well.
"Phew, that was troublesome. Good thing there was a spatial rift down there."
Belle let out a sigh of relief as the matter came to an end.
At that moment, Lycaon spoke up.
"It seems someone intended to use this Ethereal to deal with us."
"Yes, but who would do something like that?"
Belle frowned, trying to figure out who inside the building would pull off something like this. Before she could think it through, several missiles with flaming trails came rushing toward them.
Startled, Belle instinctively raised her hands over her head, initially thinking the missiles were aimed at her. However, upon closer inspection, she realized that the real target was Wise.
Before Wise could react, Ellen stepped in front of him. She knocked all the missiles away with her scissors and immediately rushed forward through the gunfire, her face full of disdain.
"Ellen, try to leave one conscious…"
Lycaon tried to remind her, but it was already too late. By the time he arrived, every enemy was already lying unconscious on the ground.
Meanwhile, Ellen leaned against the wall with her eyes shut, arms crossed, and her scissors standing by her side.
Seeing this, Lycaon let out a helpless sigh before stepping forward to examine the fallen attackers, hoping to uncover some useful clues.
"I didn't expect there to be other people in this building," Wise said as he walked over to Ellen.
Once he got closer, he noticed her steady breathing and slightly open mouth. She was already asleep.
Without thinking much about it, he stepped forward and supported her so she wouldn't fall. Ellen relaxed immediately, naturally leaning into his arms.
"Eh? What happened to Ellen?" Belle asked anxiously after finally noticing the situation.
"It's nothing. She just fell asleep," Wise said as he shifted slightly, adjusting his grip and lifting Ellen into a proper princess carry to make her more comfortable.
No one really commented on it. Corin didn't get what was happening, Rina smiled gently, and Lycaon looked over the people sprawled on the ground.
"They won't be waking up anytime soon. Let's get them out of the Hollow first. And… Wise, I'll leave Ellen with you."
This time, Lycaon didn't bother using any honorifics. Wise simply nodded.
Not long after, the group left the Hollow. The unconscious people were taken away by Victoria Housekeeping, who planned to question them once they woke up and then hand them over to the Public Security.
Ellen woke up shortly after leaving the Hollow. The moment she realized she was in Wise's arms, her cheeks reddened, and her lips parted slightly in shock.
Trying to maintain her composure, she asked Wise to put her down.
He smiled and did as she asked, then, before leaving, casually invited them to visit his home for dinner sometime.
After that, he headed back to the video store. The moment he got home, Belle dragged him into his room and checked him over from head to toe.
Only after repeatedly confirming that he wasn't injured did Belle finally let out a sigh of relief. Just then, Fairy spoke up with a hint of apology in her voice.
[|I apologize, Master. Due to the ongoing Hollow data analysis, I was unable to detect the approaching heat source in time.|]
"There's no need to blame yourself, Fairy. You did very well, and I wasn't hurt, so please continue your work. I'm counting on you."
[|Yes, Master.|]
Fairy's tone remained calm, yet Wise felt as though there was a faint trace of joy hidden within it.
Afterward, the siblings discussed the incident. Based on their past experiences, it was easy to tell that Rain's situation was far from simple.
It's just that they had no idea what the Victoria Housekeeping members would think, considering they had only referred to Rain as 'ordinary friend' at first.
"Don't worry, Brother, it's no big deal. After all, you have such a good relationship with them, don't you?"
Belle deliberately emphasized 'them' in her words. If Wise tried a little harder, he might even turn the two people involved into three.
"That's exactly why I think I should explain it properly."
"Hmm, I feel the same way."
Having made his decision, Wise headed out once more, stopping along the way to buy plenty of candy.
It was partly for Ellen, since she had helped deal with those missiles earlier, and partly to make up for interrupting her sleep.
As he neared the Ballet Twins, Wise spotted Lycaon and Rina pressing someone into a corner. Their target was shaking uncontrollably, eyes filled with panic, clearly terrified of what might happen next.
Upon closer inspection, he realized this man belonged to the same group that had attacked them before. As Wise moved closer, he heard the person shouting nonstop.
"Stop! I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything, please… don't come any closer!"
"Ahem, congratulations, dear guest. Looks like you've finally come to your senses. If you'd figured this out a bit sooner, we could've saved ourselves a lot of trouble."
Rina smiled softly as she spoke, but to the terrified man, that calm expression was far more frightening than any direct threat.
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