Chapter 26: Guest of Yunkui Mountain (Patreon)

"Kid, I don't care who you are, but I figure you'd be interested to know who I am. Mess with me here, and I'll make sure you're lying flat by tonight..."

Before Lin Ba could finish, the next instant—

Bang!

With a dull thud, Musachi's fist slammed straight into the man's jaw.

In the span of a heartbeat, the man's eyes rolled back, pupils gone slack and unfocused.

Then he dropped straight to the ground.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

Behind him, Lin Ba's underlings rushed in and caught him before he could hit the floor.

"All that yammering, and what was it even about..." Musachi muttered.

Then he glanced at the Hollow Raiders nearby who clearly wanted to jump in but didn't dare, and waved a hand.

"All of you, get moving. Stick around any longer and you can join your boss for a nap right here."

Musachi flicked his hand impatiently.

Seeing that, the rest of the Hollow Raiders hesitated for a moment, then simply dragged their KO'd boss away and left.

With their boss down for the count, none of them dared act on their own — what if they got hit too?

"You... why are you here?"

Venus's eyes sparkled as she looked at Musachi, who had appeared beside her out of nowhere.

If Musachi hadn't shown up just now, those men might well have dragged her off for drinks whether she liked it or not.

Nothing bad might actually have happened, sure — but she was still a woman, and that wasn't a bet she was willing to take.

That kind of situation was simply too dangerous.

So when Musachi arrived, Venus let out a breath of relief.

At first she'd watched him with a flicker of worry — he was just a Proxy. Could he really beat a battle-hardened Hollow Raider Agent like that?

But Musachi answered that question with action: no problem at all.

Facing Venus's doubt, he just smiled.

"My dear middleman, Sister Venus, wouldn't even give me the time of day, so what's a poor unwanted kid like me supposed to do but go find work on his own? And wouldn't you know it, my luck was so good I ran straight into you here. Shame is, I've gone and offended that guy just now — he looked pretty tough, too. I'm afraid I won't be able to work this turf anymore... ah, well..."

Listening to Musachi's silly rambling, the corners of Venus's mouth curled up, and she almost let herself smile.

Then she remembered — she was supposed to be angry right now. No smiling allowed.

"No wonder they say Proxies can wander through Hollow Zero as they please — you really are something. That Lin Ba is quite famous around here, and you knocked him flat with one punch..."

"Beats me too. You know me — I'm just an ordinary Proxy, no great power to speak of. But the second I thought about some thug bullying my dear Sister Venus, I just got angry. And you know how it is — a person pushed to the edge of fury can tap into hidden potential. Maybe I've got more talent than I thought? Maybe I really can fight?"

"Pfft..."

In the end, Venus couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Not angry anymore?"

Musachi leaned in close as her smile broke through, and asked.

"Who said that? I'm still angry."

Venus snapped her expression back to cold in an instant, her round little cheeks puffing up along with it.

Too bad she wasn't some Officer Chen who liked to wear a permanent scowl — even furious, her soft, oval face just couldn't manage a stern look.

Faced with that, Musachi's solution was simple. He looked at her puffed-up cheeks so close at hand, reached out, and gave them a pinch — and in an instant, her round little cheeks deflated flat.

"Who told you to do that... you jerk..." Venus said, swatting his hand away in mock indignation.

"Can't help it. Don't I have to butter up my dear sister a little? Otherwise a rookie Proxy like me, without a middleman, won't find work at all."

"No rookie Proxy lands back-to-back rave reviews from the Cunning Hares and Frankenstein. My god, how did you even manage that? That mysterious Frankenstein barely ever hands out a good review, but they praised you without holding back at all..."

By now, Venus's anger had melted away completely.

As the two of them walked, she said to Musachi, still a little worked up.

"Nothing much, really. I told you I'm strong. Frankenstein's small potatoes — even a Void Hunter-level Agent would sing my praises working with me!"

Musachi said with a grin.

"Alright, alright, quit bragging. A rookie Proxy like us doesn't get anywhere near a Void Hunter-level Agent. Even the legendary Proxy Phaethon has a hard time getting close to someone at that level!"

In response to his boasting, Venus just laughed and waved him off.

"Maybe I'll get to work with a Void Hunter before too long..." Musachi muttered. "Anything's possible."

Beside him, Venus simply pretended not to hear it — as if a legendary Void Hunter-level existence could just be met on a whim. Besides, people at that level had their own government-provided investigators; why would they ever need to come to the Inter-Knot looking for a Proxy?

Chatting and laughing, the two of them left the area.

Then Musachi checked the time and looked at Venus with a smile.

"Since it's already this late, would the lovely lady do me the honor of joining me for dinner? Let me thank you properly — these last two commissions made me a small fortune."

He grinned at her.

"Of course," Venus said with a smile, wearing an expression that said lucky you, and put her hand on his arm without waiting to be asked.

Earlier, Venus had been upset because she'd felt that once Musachi gained some real ability, he'd started to care less about her — that was what had hurt her. But his behavior today had swept those doubts away. Between clearing up her earlier misunderstanding and his timely rescue today, playing the hero to her damsel in distress, Venus's fondness for Musachi shot up by a wide margin.

...

Time passed, day by day.

Over the following seven days, nothing much happened to Musachi.

Even Victoria Housekeeping Co. had gone quiet after their last commission.

Not that Musachi cared much about any of it.

Politics, after all, was just endless stalling.

Even with evidence in hand, the Mayor's side could still find ways for TOPS to drag things out, or hide behind so-called due process.

Politics really was a tedious business.

That was exactly why Musachi couldn't be bothered to get involved.

He glanced over to see Ellen sitting listlessly with her phone, chatting away about who-knew-what.

As for Remielle, she'd been going out often these past few days, hardly staying at the shop at all.

The reason, apparently, was that she'd somehow gotten mixed up with the three girls of Angels of Delusion, and was now supposedly going to choreograph for them — act as their dance teacher, or something along those lines...

With Ellen around the shop now, Musachi didn't much mind Remielle wandering off to slack during work hours.

Still, since she'd gone and ducked out on the clock, he decided he'd dock her pay hard for it.

Just as Musachi's mind drifted, the door beside him swung open, and two figures stepped into the shop.

If they'd been ordinary customers, he wouldn't have paid much attention. But this time, he noticed the uniforms they were wearing.

The style of that uniform, Musachi knew all too well.

[Author's Note: Please keep reading and vote with your monthly tickets, meow~ New author, new book — thank you, meow~]

[Author's Note: During this early period I'll try to keep the pacing tight, but for the sake of foreshadowing down the line, some necessary groundwork is still needed. I hope you readers will keep supporting me! After all, there really aren't many people out there writing Zenless Zone Zero fics!]