"So which way?" Jun asked.
He was seriously wanting out of this hollow.
"Straight ahead." Eous responded.
Jun continued to stare at the absence of an exit.
"See that wall? Ram straight into it!" Eous responded. Bell controlled Eous to point at it to confirm their suspicions.
Billy was about to go crazy about not having enough to blast through and his fear of Nicole.
Anby clarified "Idiot, space within a Hollow is chaotic. This means a way out can look like a dead end, and a dead end might just be a dead end."
Suddenly the bangboo disconnected and Billy ran straight into something hard and real. Jun could only sigh and curse Aha internally.
He just knew everything seemed to be going smoothly.
He cursed Aha mentally with all his might. Such a thing had to be the result of his intervention.
Soon the bangboo reconnected but there was a new issue. The data had been deleted and now the only potential way to get out was to utilise the item within the safe.
Jun already had run out of patience and the terms being slung around gave him nothing but a headache.
Nicole gave her authorisation from the other end "Go for it!" Jun did not wait as Naught was brought out and the bottom of its scabbard slammed onto the safe with a spark of purple lightning.
The external hard case cracked open leaving the interior untouched.
"Wow that was decisive!" Belle noted.
The chip was inserted in and the voice went silent but the bangboo started leading them outside as normal.
Jun merely followed it with a strange look, the one in charge was no longer the voice he recognised but rather something else.
Finally they had made it out.
The group finally ran through as the group meet a pink haired girl which Billy mentioned to be their boss.
Jun could only smile, finally out of the damned hollow.
He saw the sign "Welcome to New Eridu" He was full of relief.
Nicole saw the two while Billy called him over "Hey come on, we're going to meet the siblings. Highly likely it's who you are looking for."
The group got into the car as they headed towards the Sixth Street.
The video store soon came into view as they entered.
It was only now that Nicole thought to ask, "And who are you?"
Jun blinked before regaining his composure, "Acheron, I happened to meet Anby and Billy after I got lost in the hollow."
Billy immediately jumped in "This is my new idol! Super powerful and super strong. One-hit kill for every ethereal we encountered."
Anby nodded "Acheron, big shot, carried us through the hollow."
Nicole sensed something wrong. "Wait a minute, so you freeloaded off the proxy that I commissioned no?"
Jun could sense something coming. "Possibly..." He replied, keeping it as vague as possible.
Billy jumped in again to defend his idol. "Hey Nicole cut him some slack, we likely wouldn't come out safe if it wasn't for him. And the safe is thanks to him taking down a high rank ethereal too."
Nicole thought about it for a bit before compromising "But still you should pay for your share of the price otherwise it would be unfair."
Jun nodded "A reasonable conjecture. But perhaps maybe the siblings would not charge me at all."
The two siblings where a little bit apprehensive from his words. It was a strange confidence.
"Perhaps may I ask if you two are from Helios Academy? Or rather have attended Helios Academy?" He asked.
The siblings froze before looking at Nicole "Let's settle the fee after, this is a private matter."
Nicole immediately seized the opportunity to ask "Hey, could I have your number?" Jun shook his head "I don't have a phone."
Nicole deflated before re-inflating, "Then your address?"
Jun shook his head again "I don't have a place to stay" This was beginning to get uncomfortal.e
Luckily the siblings helped out "He'll stay with us."
Nicole sighed as she soon left with Billy and Anby. "Idol I'll treat you to a meal next time we meet!"
Jun nodded as they soon entered the store.
The sign flipped from open to closed as they had a serious talk.
"So why have you been looking for us." Wise asked.
Jun nodded "So I assume you two know a Professor Arche and a Carole Arna."
The two names immediately settled the two siblings down. "How did you associate them with us?" Belle asked.
Jun simply replied "A lingering obsession left by Professor Arche hoped to know the remnants of his legacy and his past. I spent a few days lost before leaving and happened to chance upon a few messages. Supposedly this is from Professor Arche about someone named Carole Arna. He also somehow asked for me to watch over you two."
"Although I have not much idea about the relation between the two it was his lingering request."
The piece of paper was given to them along with a separate message left over from the past.
The two recognised it as the handwriting belonged to their teacher and foster parent. It was a message that had never arrived for them. Something written but never delivered and handed to them by chance.
The other was from Arche, however he had not looked at what the contents contained. The siblings went quiet while they opened Arche's note only to be bewildered.
"It's gibberish." Wise noted.
Jun nodded "I'm unaware of what he wrote. But considering he was on the edge of falling into nothing it is not unusual for him to be writing nonsense. Regardless I will carry out his request and watch over you two."
"It matters not the reasons, but the request itself is that of a kindness and one I'm willing to accept." Jun mentioned.
The siblings nodded "Alright we already mentioned to Nicole you'd move in with us. Plus we must thank you for bringing this to us. It means a lot."
Soon his room was sorted out and he had become a member of the Random Play shop.
Some daily necessities were immediately brought to him as he started to ponder a thought. It seemed more like the siblings were taking care of him.
Finally it seemed like his acting progress had increased in the presence of more people.
[7%]
Perhaps something good would happen at 10%?
He soon exited his room which he had just finished cleaning before asking for a favor. "Apologies for troubling you, but is it possible to get a navigator and phone for New Eridu? I get lost pretty easily."
The siblings nodded as they had a spare phone ready and helped him download a map. "Thank you."
They sat down at the sofa still pondering about the day's events. Belle and Wise talked about their new AI Fairy, something that Wise had shown Bell while he was cleaning his room.
"I'm planning on becoming a freelance Agent not affiliated with anyone." His sudden declaration snapped the two siblings out of their stupor.
After all the two had seen his monstrous combat capabilities and had trust that he would fare fine.
"How should I go about getting commissions? I assume it is harder for a singular individual to gain commissions than it is for a known group." He laid out his thoughts.
Wise nodded "Yeah you're right about that. But we can help you make an account on the Interknot"
Soon after a bit of thinking they had fully fleshed out an account that belonged to him.
"Finally what do you want the username to be?" Belle asked as Wise thought for a bit about suggestions.
He thought a bit before coming up with something random, "Lost Peach"
Belle giggled for a bit, "Cute username. Sure."
With that his identity on the Interknot had become a combat specialist freelance agent. Also capable of working as a subcontractor.
If any other organisation was willing to hire him for a task if they need extra combat power.
[Lost Peach]
[Inbox: 1]