Chapter 45: I'd Rather Believe That a Hollow Can Communicate Normally with Humans Than Believe You're a Void Hunter (Patreon)

The Hollow Zero business seemed to have wrapped up, at least for now.

But Musachi couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the end, only the beginning.

Still, that was no longer his headache.

The next day.

Musachi woke up, but not because sunlight was slipping through the gap in the curtains. Remielle woke him.

A ticklish sensation on the tip of his nose made him frown. He opened his eyes.

"The sun's roasting your backside~!"

Remielle was holding a feather, brushing it lightly across the tip of his nose. That explained the tickle.

"Waking the boss from his beauty sleep? Looks like somebody's asking for a lesson!"

Musachi snorted and reached out to grab her.

But Remielle dodged with a nimble spin, then darted out of the room like a butterfly through flowers, leaving nothing behind but her giggles.

With the girl having ruined his sleep, Musachi wasn't in the mood to doze off again. He got up and headed straight to the bathroom to wash up.

When he came out, Remie had already laid breakfast out on the table.

Today's breakfast wasn't homemade. It was takeout.

"The shops on the street outside our store finally finished renovating. The new owner's supposedly from Waifei Peninsula. Here, this is their soup dumplings and tofu pudding. Try it."

Remielle set a steamer basket of xiaolongbao and a bowl of tofu pudding in front of Musachi as she spoke.

Musachi's eyes lit up.

He hadn't expected to find this kind of food here.

Eating habits in New Eridu leaned fairly Western. Unless he cooked it himself, Chinese food was hard to come by.

"Not bad, not bad. The tofu pudding's salty, too. Perfect."

Musachi bit into a pork-and-shiitake soup dumpling, then took a sip of the tofu pudding and declared his satisfaction.

"There's a sweet kind?"

In front of Remielle sat a bowl of red date soy milk and an identical basket of dumplings.

"Of course there is, but that's not for humans. Remielle, remember this: zongzi should be sweet, tofu pudding should be salty. Anything else is heresy!"

Remielle twitched the corner of her mouth. She'd never seen Musachi this serious since they'd met.

Don't get so earnest about such random things!

"Is it really that big a deal…?"

She forced a smile.

"Of course it is! This is a very important matter! If anyone likes sweet tofu pudding or salty zongzi, they're my enemy! The fight-to-the-death kind!"

At that moment, Musachi was as fervent as a religious zealot.

"Got it…" Remielle rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, something weird happened in Hollow Zero last night. Do you know what it was? Inter-Knot's gone completely wild over it. People are saying even a Void Hunter got dispatched."

Remielle was a little curious. If she remembered right, Musachi's commission last night had been to go into Hollow Zero, hadn't it?

She knew Hollow Zero was dangerous, but she wasn't especially worried. Musachi was pretty well-known on Inter-Knot these days, after all.

"It was dangerous, all right. I almost didn't make it back."

Musachi looked like he was still shaken.

"That dangerous? Master Yixuan's a Void Hunter, you know."

Remielle was a bit startled.

Yixuan didn't officially hold the Void Hunter title, but her achievements were more than enough to qualify.

"We ran into an incredibly strong Ethereal. Master Yixuan nearly couldn't beat it."

"And then?"

Remielle was even more curious now. Something big must have happened in there last night. But an Ethereal that even Yixuan struggled against? Wasn't that a bit absurd? Could the outer regions really hold something that strong?

"And then? Then, at the most critical moment, I stopped pretending. Time to come clean. I unleashed my true form, transformed into Kamen Rider, and took the Ethereal down in three moves flat. Saved the beauty, and Master Yixuan swooned over my dashing figure. She even came over to chat me up on her own."

Musachi grinned as he said it.

"Give me a break. Quit bragging."

Remielle curled her lip.

That guy Musachi was great in every way except that he loved to brag.

First he'd claimed to be a Void Hunter, and now he was saying he'd rescued a damsel from an Ethereal, and the damsel was an investigator of Void Hunter caliber like Yixuan.

Who'd believe that? The beauty saving the hero was more like it.

"See? I tell the truth and you don't believe me."

Musachi spread his hands. Remielle just glanced at him with a smile.

"If I believed you, wouldn't I end up at your mercy? Mr. Void Hunter in hiding~"

She arched a brow and shot him a teasing look.

Musachi only gave a cold laugh.

"It's only because I'm still hiding my identity for certain reasons. Otherwise, the moment I reveal my true self, girls like you would come kneeling at my feet, swept away by my charm!"

"Reveal your true self? Why not say you're actually a conscious Ethereal living in secret among humans?"

Remielle snorted.

Musachi rolled his eyes.

You already said it. What am I supposed to say now?

Still, Musachi couldn't help being a little curious.

In his current state… could he actually have kids with a normal person?

He wasn't the type who felt he absolutely had to carry on the family line, but it was the kind of thing that would still bother him, wasn't it?

"Awesome. It's been ages since I had such a good breakfast… The owner of this place has to keep the shop open! Otherwise I'll be heartbroken! No, if he ever can't keep it going, I'll take over the shop myself! Make him cook for me every day!"

"My dear Shop Manager, why don't you worry first about how our bookstore is going to stop losing money? You're not planning to keep propping up the main business with a side gig forever, are you?"

Remielle couldn't help teasing as she listened to him.

"Ahem. Business can't be rushed. Relax, I have my own plans! My bookstore will absolutely turn a profit!"

Musachi clenched his fist and declared it with grand ambition.

Remielle just smiled.

She hoped so.

"Relax, everything's going exactly as I predicted. Starting high and sliding low is never as thrilling as starting low and climbing high. I was only playing dumb before."

Musachi grinned at Remielle as he said it.

"R-really? You were just pretending?"

"Really!"

Musachi said gravely.

"Doesn't look like it to me."

"Hey! Still slandering me, huh? Just you wait!"

Musachi held up a single finger and eyed Remielle like she was a lost cause.

Remielle only stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Blech."

"?"

Remielle stared at Musachi, a question mark practically floating above her head.

"Remielle, you need to face reality. Even if you play with little kids every day and hop around with them, it won't make you any younger. When Sunna or Nangong stick their tongues out, it looks adorable, but when you do it… all I see is effort! Ow, damn, where'd you learn that? You can pinch now? Let go! Let go or I'm retaliating!"

Musachi hadn't even finished speaking when he felt the soft flesh at his waist get twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees. He winced on the spot, teeth bared.