"Councilor Kiramman, Caitlyn, welcome to Zaun."
At the entrance of The Last Drop, Cipher personally greeted the two visitors to show his warm hospitality. Beside him stood other high-ranking officials of Zaun's government, which clearly showed how seriously this visit was being taken.
"Cipher, I don't think we need to be quite so formal with each other," Cassandra replied with a cheerful smile and shook his hand.
Then her attention was caught by the sight of Heimerdinger speaking with Powder.
"Professor, people throughout Piltover assumed you were either dead or had permanently left the cities. I didn't expect to see you here of all places."
She truly hadn't been informed about Heimerdinger's current situation or whereabouts.
"Ahem, ahem~"
"Glad to see you again, Councilor Kiramman. It's been five years since we last met."
Heimerdinger gave a couple of polite coughs and stopped whispering with Powder. Straightening his posture with hands clasped behind his back, he immediately resumed the bearing of the respected Piltover councilor he had once been.
This time, he didn't need to count on his furry fingers, he'd been asked about the timeframe far too often recently.
"Please, both of you, come inside. Let's talk in more detail upstairs."
Cipher stepped aside and made an inviting gesture toward the bar's interior.
Cassandra agreed with a nod and warm smile.
As Cipher began to lead the way into the establishment, his attention was suddenly caught by Vi, who was fidgeting like someone with ADHD, completely unable to remain still or focused.
She kept trying to get closer to Caitlyn, darting back and forth with the erratic energy of an excited animal.
Her antics inevitably caught Caitlyn's attention, and Cipher couldn't help but notice a subtle, intriguing smile beginning to form on her lips.
When did that troublemaker get back? Didn't I specifically send her into the lower districts to catch criminals?
Observing this developing situation, Cipher's expression darkened, and he furrowed his brow hard.
"Vi, weren't you supposed to be completing an assignment in the depths of the city? Why are you back?"
Caitlyn and Vi, these two with the same misguided interests, were like opposite magnetic poles: inevitably attracted to each other despite all logical reasoning.
Among the vast crowd of people in any room, once one caught sight of the other, it became impossible for either to look away or focus on anything else.
They absolutely had to be separated, no opportunity could be given for them to engage in private conversation.
"Oh, I finished it," Vi replied casually, stretching her arms behind her head.
"Ekko's hoverboard is amazing! I used it to zip around the district and located the target in no time. He tried to run, but I jumped down and punched him out cold."
"He's already in custody at the Security Bureau."
Her large, beautiful eyes seemed magnetically drawn to Caitlyn's face, she appeared incapable of stopping her staring.
A hoverboard? That thing is still in the Security Bureau, isn't it?!
Ekko hadn't even reported for his scheduled appointment yet. He still had fines to pay and needed to complete his mandatory community service, plus his detention period wasn't officially over either.
Furthermore, hoverboard flight permissions required paperwork and official registration.
Only a very select few individuals in Zaun possessed the governmental authority to authorize such restricted access.
Cipher instinctively glanced toward Powder with suspicious eyes. She immediately averted her gaze guiltily, pretending to strike up an intense conversation with Heimerdinger.
But in reality, she was still actively eavesdropping on every word of the exchange with keen interest.
"Powder, go show Caitlyn around."
"Vi, head back to the Security Bureau, there's an new assignment waiting for you."
There were important guests present. He simply didn't have time or energy to deal with Powder and Vi right now.
His primary goal was to prevent Vi and Caitlyn from becoming emotionally entangled with each other before the situation had been properly resolved.
This meeting would involve showcasing some of Zaun's most advanced military weapons and strategic capabilities to Cassandra for evaluation.
Caitlyn was not supposed to be present.
At this stage, she still harbored deep emotional loyalty to Piltover and did not yet support Zaun's planned "liberation" of the Upper City. She wasn't suited to be involved.
Therefore, Caitlyn's planned itinerary was designed around touring Zaun's impressive civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, and community service centers.
There were also scheduled visits to review the citizen-benefit policies that had been specifically tailored to address Zaun's unique social and economic situation.
"Hmm, alright, I'll gladly show her around."
Powder squinted her eyes and agreed cheerfully. But in reality, she harbored no intention of behaving according to expectations.
She had to find a way to sabotage this ridiculous potential political marriage arrangement.
What era were they living in? Still arranging feudal, backward marriage alliances?
They were supposed to be in the modern age of free romantic choice, true happiness had to be earned through personal effort and genuine connection!
"Ugh, I don't wanna go on a mission, I wanna go sightseeing!"
Vi's pout was so much you could hang a bottle from her lower lip, whining in discontent.
She just wanted to spend time getting to know Caitlyn better.
Cipher couldn't be bothered to deal with Vi. He simply took Cassandra and the other officials upstairs.
The Last Drop was one of the few genuinely old buildings in Zaun that hadn't been demolished during urban renewal or extensively renovated.
It perfectly preserved and showcased the classic wooden architecture of pre-industrial Zaun, old, shabby, and cramped.
People possessed naturally nostalgic tendencies, and this historic establishment held sentimental value for many established families who had grown up in the area.
Cipher had intentionally left the structure untouched to preserve those precious memories.
The ground floor continued functioning as a traditional bar, remaining open for regular business and gathering.
But relatively few current Zaunites could afford the establishment's prices regularly, mostly veteran members or highly decorated officers with sufficient disposable income.
Once Cipher and the group departed for their discussions, only Powder, Caitlyn, and Vi remained at the entrance area. The three young women glanced at one another, and the atmosphere suddenly shifted to become distinctly awkward.
Ring ring~
Powder's communication device chimed at her waist. She first directed an apologetic look toward Caitlyn, and after receiving an understanding nod in response, she walked several steps away to answer the incoming call privately.
"Hey, so you're Caitlyn, huh? Hmm... you're much better-looking than I expected."
Vi casually slid over beside Caitlyn, throwing an arm over her shoulder and pulling her in close.
She even sneakily leaned in and sniffed at Caitlyn's neck, catching a scent that made her feel oddly comforted.
Her cheeks flushed out of nowhere, and her expression started to break down, like one of those creepy train creeps in anime.
Caitlyn deliberately showed a look of mild distaste and disgust, shaking her shoulder in what appeared to an attempt get Vi's hand off.
When that strategy proved ineffective, she feigned helplessness and spoke, "When properly greeting someone new, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
"Also, we're not that close. Please remove your hand from my shoulder."
After struggling to push away the persistent hand, she lowered her head slightly. Her flustered face showed a faint blush.
She crossed her arms defensively and retreated several steps, adopting the posture of a shy person being overwhelmed by unwanted attention. Her panicked gaze even contained traces of what appeared to be wounded feelings.
What a gem.
Vi's eyes immediately brightened like illuminated headlights. She even made several small appreciative sounds, showing visible signs of infatuation.
But she completely failed to notice the subtle, satisfied smile that briefly tugged at the corner of Caitlyn's lips.
Who represented the prey and who was the hunter in this situation? That distinction wasn't nearly as clear as it appeared. After all, the most skilled hunters often disguise themselves... as prey.
"Just call me Vi. I know every inch of Zaun inside and out, if there's anything you don't understand or want to see, just ask me. I'll definitely help you out with whatever you need."
Vi said this with exaggerated sincerity, even thumping her chest proudly to emphasize just how dependable and trustworthy she considered herself to be.
"I do need to understand Zaun better than I currently do. But... don't you have a mission to carry out?"
Caitlyn appeared to have been moved by Vi's enthusiasm, slowly letting her guard down, as if that overly friendly hand from earlier had just been a misunderstanding caused by excess passion.
"Oh, that's no problem at all! Powder is my sister, so I'll just swap with her. She can handle whatever boring task they had planned for me. Leave everything to me."
Vi didn't think much of it and darted over to Powder, who had just finished the call.
"Powder, let's switch. I'll personally escort our Piltovan visitor around. I'll even bring you back something delicious when I get back."
That call had actually been something Powder staged in advance, to make it more convincing, there was even a real call log.
She had just been acting, and had unfortunately missed witnessing Vi and Caitlyn's interaction while she was occupied.
Now that it was over, she was beginning to seriously regret not intervening more directly from the very beginning.
She felt she should've chosen a better method to stop the political marriage.
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