In the reception room, Kal'tsit and Amiya sat on chairs.
Kal'tsit's gaze shifted to the clock on the wall from time to time.
It had already been two days since they arrived at Umbrella and learned that the boss wasn't at the company. Even so, Kal'tsit had decided to stay and wait for Umbrella's boss to return.
And today, they finally received news that Umbrella's boss was back at last and would meet them in the reception room soon. Thus, Kal'tsit had brought Amiya to the reception room early. She thought they would meet Umbrella's boss before long, but half an hour had passed, and Kal'tsit and Amiya still hadn't seen the so-called boss of Umbrella.
"Teacher, could there be a mistake?" Amiya asked in a low voice.
Kal'tsit shook her head without speaking, choosing to continue waiting.
After another ten minutes, Kal'tsit intended to ask what was going on. But just as she stood up from her chair, the reception room door opened.
The person leading the way was the boss of Umbrella whom Kal'tsit and Amiya had been waiting for: Asagami Fujino.
With the emergence of Umbrella, Fujino's information had appeared in the hands of the leaders of various organizations. Rhodes Island naturally had it too. This was why when Little Fujino had snuck into Rhodes Island and was discovered by Kal'tsit, Kal'tsit had asked what her relationship was with that Umbrella boss. Because the two looked very similar—the little girl was like a younger version of Fujino—Kal'tsit had her suspicions, but she didn't know much more than that.
Rhodes Island and Umbrella had virtually no communication. Even during their two-day stay at Umbrella, they were restricted to the cafeteria and their guest rooms, unable to go anywhere else.
Their visit to Umbrella this time was only possible thanks to an old friend from Blacksteel Worldwide, who had previously cooperated with them and acted as a mediator.
"Sorry, I had some matters to attend to, so I was delayed."
Fujino walked in with a beaming smile. Although she spoke words of apology, to Kaltsit's ears, they sounded incredibly perfunctory.
Kaltsit's brow furrowed slightly. For some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of irritation upon seeing Fujino.
"Kaltsit, long time no see." Saria also walked in from behind the door, coming to stand beside Fujino.
"It's you." Kaltsit was somewhat surprised to see Saria at Umbrella. Silence hadn't told her that Saria had also left Rhine Lab, let alone that she had joined Umbrella.
Kaltsit didn't know that Silence hadn't intentionally kept Saria's move to Umbrella a secret. It was simply that Silence had made a different choice from Saria and the others, and since Kaltsit hadn't asked, she remained completely ignorant of Saria's presence at Umbrella.
When Silence decided to take Ifrit to Rhodes Island, she had contacted them alone. Throughout the process, she never mentioned that Saria and the others were going to Umbrella. Due to Silence's intentional or unintentional omission, Kaltsit believed that Silence and Ifrit had defected from Rhine Lab on their own.
"Alright, we can catch up later," Fujino spoke up, immediately drawing the attention of both Kaltsit and Amiya.
"Let's move to another place; this isn't a good spot for a conversation."
Hearing this, Amiya instinctively moved to stand up, but she was stopped by Fujino just as she rose from her chair.
"Aren't we changing locations?" Amiya looked at Fujino in confusion, her donkey-like ears, which were actually mutated rabbit ears, swaying back and forth.
This gave Fujino a sudden urge to reach out and pull those peculiar ears.
"Just stay in your chair." As she spoke, under the bewildered gazes of Kaltsit and Amiya, Fujino called out to the ceiling: "Pandora, Spatial Displacement."
"Yes, Master."
Following the sudden appearance of a sweet, loli-like voice, Kaltsit and Amiya were astonished to find their surroundings instantly transformed.
The simple reception room had turned into a lavish office. On a large round table sat freshly brewed tea, its rich aroma filling the air and instantly refreshing the spirit.
This tea is no ordinary drink!
The same thought occurred to both Kaltsit and Amiya, and their expressions shifted in the next moment.
They were shocked to find that the Originium within their bodies was actually being miraculously suppressed by the scent of the tea, making their bodies feel much lighter.
0--- Is this the effect of the tea?!
Before they could think further, A2, who had brought them to the reception room earlier, appeared beside them and placed two cups of steaming tea in front of them.
"Please, enjoy." With a slight bow, A2 returned to stand behind Fujino and Saria.
"Does this tea have the effect of suppressing oripathy?" Amiya couldn't help but ask. Just smelling the tea's aroma made her body feel much lighter, and the Originium inside her became incredibly quiet. For a fleeting moment, she even had the illusion that her oripathy had vanished.
"Whether it does or not, why don't you try it for yourself, Miss Ami-donkey?" Fujino said with a slight smile.
"It's Amiya! And these are rabbit ears! Not some messy, random ears!" Amiya retorted excitedly, covering her ears with both hands.
She had heard the word 'donkey' countless times during her two days at Umbrella!
These are clearly rabbit ears! They are definitely not donkey ears!
She thought back to how she had tried her best to explain to a certain Umbrella staff member that her ears were rabbit ears, but the other person simply didn't believe her. The staff member even pulled out a picture of an animal called a 'donkey'—which Amiya had never seen in the Terra Continent—and pointed at the stupid-looking ears in the picture, saying they looked exactly like hers.
If it weren't for Dr. Kaltsit constantly comforting her, Amiya felt she would have become completely withdrawn.
"They clearly look like donkey ears," Fujino said with a laugh. "Maybe they're a mutation. But don't lose heart, Miss Ami-donkey. We at Umbrella don't just develop weapon technology; we also have excellent research in plastic surgery. Turning your donkey ears into rabbit ears wouldn't be difficult for us at all."
"If you're interested, Miss Ami-donkey, you can take a look later. Considering the contributions Rhodes Island has made to the Terra Continent, Umbrella won't charge you this time."
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