To be honest, Bai Xiao really hadn't meant anything by it. It had just been a joke.
Even though they hadn't known each other for long, he had already figured out that Hoshiguma was the open, easygoing type, so he'd assumed a joke like that would just earn a laugh and pass right by.
Who could have guessed that the moment she heard it, Hoshiguma would stare at him with wide eyes, her face full of disbelief?
"What? You want to court me? Well... I guess it's not impossible, but you'd have to let me think about it..."
?
Looking at the suddenly flushed Hoshiguma, Bai Xiao slowly produced a mental question mark.
When I'm giving you a question mark, it's not because there's something wrong with me—it's because I think there's something wrong with you.
No, seriously, that was obviously a joke. What kind of reaction was that? Just a second ago, you were grinning while trying to set me up with Ch'en, and now that the topic's turned to you, you're suddenly stammering?
And what do you mean, think about it?
You're not actually going to think about it, are you?!
For a moment, Bai Xiao genuinely didn't know what to say. Hoshiguma, meanwhile, gave him no chance to explain and hurried ahead awkwardly.
"Business first. We can talk about our situation later!"
What situation do we have?!
Bai Xiao was too drained to even complain. All he could do was follow behind her. Just moments ago she'd been laughing and chatting away, but now she'd fallen silent, clearly overthinking things.
Go ahead, think all you want...
Even if it was a misunderstanding, Bai Xiao wasn't stupid enough to run up and say something like, "Officer Hoshiguma, you misunderstood—I was joking."
The two of them turned into a narrow alley, and around the bend sat a bar.
Why would anyone open a bar in a place like this?
"The End of the Earth... Hoshi-sir, this is where we're going?"
Hoshiguma nodded. "Yeah. This is Penguin Logistics' base. I already set it up—Texas is inside."
Bai Xiao silently committed the name to memory, though he guessed she probably wasn't all that important to the current mission. After all, the game objectives hadn't mentioned her at all.
Since it was still daytime, the bar had no customers. The moment they pushed open the door, they saw an empty interior. Unlike most bars, this one had a distinctly classical style, both in décor and overall design.
If most bars were driven by fast electronic beats, this place belonged to elegant jazz.
Whoever owned this bar clearly had taste.
Hoshiguma didn't slow down. She headed straight for the counter, which made it obvious this wasn't her first time here. Someone was already seated there, back to the entrance, revealing only long ash-gray hair falling to the waist.
"Sorry to disturb you, Miss Texas." Hoshiguma took a seat at the counter with Bai Xiao beside her.
The girl named Texas turned slightly, revealing a cool, distant gaze.
"Hello, Inspector Hoshiguma."
At first, Bai Xiao thought this would be a simple meeting. But the instant he saw the girl, the long-silent game system suddenly chimed.
He almost thought someone in the real world was calling him back again, but instead a notification popped up.
[Stage Boss detected — Cellinia Texas. Data updated. New stage unlocked.]
Bai Xiao froze.
A stage boss?
In other words, this cool, aloof wolf-girl in front of him was the heroine of a later stage, just like Ch'en was now?
He hadn't expected merely seeing her to unlock a new stage. That really was an unexpected delight!
While Bai Xiao was still studying the new stage prompt, Hoshiguma had already started talking with Texas.
"Hello. We came here because we want to understand the situation... You know what situation I mean, right?"
Texas gave a slight nod. "Of course."
"Then go ahead and tell us?" Hoshiguma said. Then, turning to the Sankta girl behind the counter who was polishing glasses, she added, "Miss Exusiai, get me any drink. Bai Xiao, what do you want?"
Bai Xiao was speechless. The two of them had come here to gather clues, and this woman was ordering a drink?
So they really were dumping the entire case on me, huh?
He turned to look at the girl behind the bar—then froze again, widening his eyes and sucking in a breath.
"Ahem. Just water for me."
"Sure thing~ (✿＞◡❛)"
The orange-haired girl gave him a wink, then pulled out a pile of bottles and started mixing something. As ice clinked against the shaker, Bai Xiao lowered his head, barely keeping control of his expression.
Another prompt had appeared.
[Stage Boss detected — Lemuel. Data updated. New stage unlocked.]
Two?!
He'd only come here for an investigation, and he'd already run into two heroines at once. Was this game just absurdly casual about assigning heroines, or was Penguin Logistics itself something special?
Bai Xiao glanced between Exusiai and Texas and found that both of them were stunning to an almost unreasonable degree. Each was beautiful enough that it was hard to look away. Among all the women he knew, they were undoubtedly top-tier—arguably even among the very top.
This Penguin Logistics really was stacked with heavy hitters.
While Bai Xiao was still marveling inwardly, Texas began recounting what she remembered.
"After Officer Ch'en took the Originium that day, she left before she could ask anything. But I knew she'd come asking sooner or later, so I went back over what had happened."
Texas spoke quietly.
"Seventeen days ago, around noon, we were making a delivery on Goldsmith Street. When we came back out, we found someone acting suspiciously beside a dumpster."
She paused for a moment, then continued:
"This may sound a little awkward to admit, but Goldsmith Street and the surrounding roads are Penguin Logistics' territory. Normally, nobody comes there to cause trouble. The way that person was acting made it obvious something was wrong, so Exusiai and I stayed hidden upstairs and watched."
At that point, Texas took a sip of her drink and let out a small sigh. Hoshiguma, already hanging on every word, immediately urged her on.
"And then?!"
From Bai Xiao's perspective, he could clearly see one of Texas's brows twitch ever so slightly.
Combined with everything he'd observed so far, Bai Xiao, master of emotional push-and-pull that he was, immediately concluded one thing:
She was doing it on purpose.
She was deliberately stringing Hoshiguma along.
Bai Xiao didn't know what her aim was. Just then, Exusiai finished the drink and slid it over to Hoshiguma. Bai Xiao lifted his glass, took a sip of water, and smiled.
"It's alright, Miss Texas. We have plenty of time. Take it slow—think it through and tell us at your own pace."
With that single sentence, the sense of tension Texas had carefully built up instantly dissolved. The gray-haired girl couldn't help giving Bai Xiao a glance.
"And this is...?"
"Oh, him?" Hoshiguma said. "His name's Bai Xiao. He's... he's my assistant."
"Your assistant? I don't think I've seen him before. What we're about to discuss is important, and there'll be some rather sensitive details, so..."
Texas didn't need to finish the thought.
But Hoshiguma simply shook her head. "You can speak freely. In fact, in this case Bai Xiao is the one taking the lead. I'm the assistant."
That left Texas with no room to object.
"Alright." She set down her glass. "Exusiai and I were hiding upstairs, and then we saw something strange."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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