"Ah! You're going to be the death of me!"
Beatrice Swire lamented. Although she didn't know exactly how much she had bought, after visiting so many shops, she realized it wouldn't be a small amount.
"You realize there's too much stuff now? Too late! Come on, let's go see exactly how much this fellow bought!"
The group got out of the car and walked to the front, where they saw a variety of boxes filling up two-thirds of the road. Chen Huijie turned back to look at Beatrice.
"This is what you meant by 'a little bit'?"
Beatrice swallowed hard. She hadn't expected there to be quite so many, but facing Chen Huijie, even if she was wrong, she couldn't admit defeat.
"A 'billion' bit more is still a little bit. Besides, I thought Flandre's clothes were too few, so I bought them specifically for her."
"Wait, boss, are you saying all these boxes are full of clothes?" the red-haired Sankta, Exusiai, asked with wide eyes in disbelief.
"That's right. I even specifically chose different brands to ensure that none of the clothes would have completely identical styles!" Beatrice said with a rare sense of pride.
"If I remember correctly, our truck is also... Boss, are you planning to open a children's clothing specialty store here? Isn't it a bit remote?" Exusiai looked at the truck her group had driven over.
"What specialty store? I just thought little Flandre didn't have many clothes to wear, so I bought them for her," Beatrice corrected her.
"There must be at least a thousand sets here? For one person, even if they wore a different set every day without repeating, it would take several years to wear them all," Exusiai remarked, seeing such an unpretentious, tycoon-style way of shopping for the first time.
"Is that so?" Beatrice also realized that she might have indeed bought a bit too much. She then said it didn't matter; once Flandre picked out the ones she liked, she would donate the rest. Although it was all girls' clothing, those truly in need wouldn't mind.
But now, a huge problem stood before Beatrice: how was she going to move such a large pile of things into the house? Chen Huijie certainly wouldn't help her. So, she set her sights on Hoshiguma and the red-haired Sankta who had come to deliver the goods.
Sensing Beatrice's gaze, Exusiai subconsciously took two steps back. "What are you doing? We only deliver goods, we don't sell ourselves!"
"Ahem, I'm not asking you to sell yourself. Just help me out; I can't move all this stuff by myself..." Beatrice said, putting her arm around Exusiai's neck.
"No way, no way, you have way too much stuff..." Exusiai shook her head while looking at the vast expanse of boxes.
"I'll pay more! I'll add enough to make it a price you can't refuse!" Beatrice indicated that her only superpower was "money power."
Faced with such formidable power, Exusiai and the Pocky-loving driver eventually succumbed. "Alright, boss! Let's get to work!"
After settling on a satisfactory price, Exusiai and Texas got out of the truck and began helping to move the items. Meanwhile, Beatrice hugged Hoshiguma's leg. "Hoshiguma, please help me, okay...?"
"...Sigh, fine!" Hoshiguma looked at Chen Huijie, who had already carried Flandre Scarlet into the house, then at the teary-eyed Beatrice, and finally softened her heart.
"Yay!"
Inside the house, Chen Huijie noticed Hoshiguma hadn't followed and naturally knew what was happening outside, but she didn't bother to say anything. After all, there really were a lot of things outside—so many that when she came in, she had to jump over the pile of things while holding Flandre. If Beatrice were to move them alone, she probably wouldn't finish even by tomorrow.
Flandre Scarlet poked her head out and whispered, "Actually, I can help!"
"Don't help her. She needs to learn her lesson so she doesn't cause this kind of joke from time to time!" After saying that, Chen Huijie pulled Flandre Scarlet upstairs. Since Flandre already had many clothes in her closet, she wanted to see if they really couldn't find a single suitable outfit among them.
Just as Chen Huijie began to study the outfits, the six people below (Beatrice had also called over the twin maids) started moving the items into the house pile by pile. With many hands making light work, after more than two hours, the boxes were finally all moved in, filling the entire inner courtyard and the first-floor hall.
"Boss, if there's more work like this in the future, feel free to come find us. Penguin Logistics always delivers!" Exusiai thought this job was great; it was safe and paid well. Aside from the physical effort, there was no trouble at all. The money earned today was equivalent to one or two months of dangerous work outside the city. Faced with such a super-rich boss, Exusiai felt they must hold onto such high-quality clients.
"Penguin Logistics, right? You guys are great. If there's an opportunity for cooperation next time, I'll look for you first." Beatrice was also very satisfied with them. They were low-maintenance, worked quickly, and provided excellent emotional value throughout.
"Alright, then we'll be going now. Rest well, boss!"
After finishing up, Exusiai's group returned to the headquarters of Penguin Logistics—The Ends of the Earth Bar. Upon entering, they heard the honk of a penguin.
"Oh, damn it, where did you two go to play? Why are you back so late? I was about to tell Is to go to the Guard Department and report you missing." The Emperor spoke with a heavy translation-style accent.
"Boss, we've brought you a big client. Look, we earned a huge sum for the company today..." Exusiai excitedly handed the check given by Beatrice to the Emperor.
"Swire? How did you get mixed up with their family?" The Emperor looked at the name on it and asked curiously.
"Isn't it that project you found at noon...?" Exusiai recounted the story of loading the truck, being stopped at the villa, meeting the owner, and the reward for moving the goods.
The Emperor looked again at the signature—Beatrice Swire. "So it's her. By the way, did you see clearly what that kid who was brought in looked like?"
"Of course, that child was quite eye-catching. Her blonde hair is even more beautiful than that of the Swire Family's young lady. And her wings were covered with a bunch of little things that looked like diamonds. But those wings are very special; they have no feathers or anything else, just like two protruding branches."
"As I thought, it's her!" the Emperor said with a look of realization.
"Ah, 'as I thought' who?" Exusiai asked curiously.
"You remember that incident a while ago when the Guard Department was almost entirely mobilized, right?" the Emperor said, biting a cigar. "According to the information I got, it was that child and the Swire Family's girl who went out to investigate a smuggling case. Those bandits blocked them, and the result? The two were completely unharmed, while most of the bandits died there, and the small remaining portion all went completely insane. This member of the Swire Family doesn't have that kind of ability, so the one who did this could only be that Blood Demon girl."
Exusiai and Texas couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines. Criminals who could cause enough trouble that the Emperor told them not to go out had been wiped out by a single child.
"But there's no need to be afraid. That Governor will probably present the child tomorrow. We just do logistics; harmony brings wealth. Having a contact might even be useful in the future."
"Boss, can you finish what you're saying all at once? You scared me so much; my little heart has been thumping."
"Your heart would be beating even if I didn't scare you!" The Emperor pushed away the acting-cute Exusiai and looked at Texas. "Good work today!"
Texas calmly opened a brand-new box of Pocky. "It wasn't hard!"
In the house on the other side, Flandre Scarlet sat watching the adults argue over the pile of clothes. Beatrice and Chen Huijie were locked in a "Dragon and Tiger" debate over whether tomorrow's style should be gorgeous or simple.
Hoshiguma sat with Flandre, drinking black tea brought by the maids. "Hoshiguma, you be the judge!" the two shouted.
Hoshiguma scratched her head, saying she didn't have any coordination skills—she usually wore Guard Department clothes or a biker style, neither of which fit Flandre. Flandre herself just nodded and said everything was fine.
"Sister Hoshiguma, how much longer do you think they'll argue?" Flandre whispered.
"I don't know, but from the looks of it, it'll probably be another half hour. Because as far as I know, Old Chen can only tolerate another half hour at most..."
Flandre nodded in understanding. Everyone in Gensokyo was like this too; when reasoning didn't work, they would have a tense and exciting Danmaku battle, and whoever won was the one to listen to.