Since Rain had other matters to attend to that day, she reluctantly took her leave.
Before departing, she promised to drop by the video store again soon, watching as the siblings prepared to head home as well.
Like Rain, they also had business to take care of, and judging by the time, Koleda and Grace would be showing up at any moment.
When they returned to the video store, Wise felt Grace's intense stare right away as he walked in.
He figured it was because Koleda hadn't come home that night, though he couldn't help wondering if she'd mentioned the other girls to Grace.
Knowing Koleda's personality, it was easy to picture her confiding in her beloved older sister about it.
Thankfully, apart from a somewhat peculiar expression, Grace kept quiet. Koleda, however, spoke up first.
"Wise, I heard Rain already cracked that storage unit."
After the "failed" date, Koleda had become acquainted with some of the other girls, so she knew very well that Rain was the hacker responsible for decrypting the storage unit.
"Yeah, that's right. We actually just got the SD card this morning."
Wise retrieved the SD card Rain had given him earlier, and both Koleda and Grace nodded in acknowledgment.
"That's good. Lately, I've been feeling like the whole city is in chaos. I wonder if constantly thinking about that monster is starting to get to me."
Koleda stopped for a second, then smiled at Wise.
"But when I think about you guys, I can't really stay upset about anything. I wanted to see what's inside as soon as possible, but now that we're finally here, I'm actually feeling pretty nervous."
"Don't worry, Sweet Pea. Whatever's in there, we'll deal with it together, same as always."
Grace cast a sideways glance at Wise when she spoke, then her cheeks colored slightly as she turned away.
"Grace is right. We're all here with you, Koleda, so just relax. Fairy, I'll leave the rest to you."
[|Understood, Master. Analyzing the data in the SD card now...|]
As Fairy set to work, Koleda made small nervous movements with her hands.
Thankfully, Wise immediately grasped her tightly clenched small hand, which helped settle her nerves a bit.
Before long, Fairy finished the task.
[|Master, an audio data file has been detected. The system recorded time is on the eve of the Old Capital's fall.|]
"Audio data?!" Koleda's emotions flared upon hearing this, her voice rising.
Noticing her reaction, Wise addressed Fairy once more.
"Fairy, can you play this audio?"
[|Certainly.|]
Everyone then gathered in front of the sofa and began listening to the audio data Fairy played. The moment Koleda's father's voice came through, she grew visibly agitated.
Because judging by the voice, her father seemed to have been injured at the time. Despite this, she also knew it was only an audio from many years ago.
After hearing the whole thing, everyone got what had happened back then.
Essentially, Koleda's father had discovered that monster, and to keep Koleda safe, he'd gone to confront it alone.
Apart from the monster, there was also a mysterious figure. That person had been speaking with Koleda's father.
Through this, everyone learned the monster was called Sacrifice.
The instant they heard this name, the siblings exchanged shocked looks, while the two beside them questioned with visible confusion.
The siblings didn't hold anything back at this point and openly told them they'd heard this name before, not too long ago.
It came from those who attacked the courthouse airship in an attempt to eliminate Perlman, which caught Koleda off guard.
"Wait, why is Perlman involved in the matter we're investigating?"
After all, competing with Belobog Industries for work was one thing, but now their investigation somehow involved him, too.
The siblings had been thinking the same thing. Moreover, based on reliable intelligence, Perlman had vanished after boarding the airship, apparently having escaped to the Outer Ring.
Just as Wise was contemplating gathering information from that region, at that very moment, on a rooftop along Sixth Street, Lycaon and Rina stood gracefully, both gazing down at the video store across from them.
"I never expected Wise and his group to be investigating the same thing we are... Lord Lycaon, they already know about Sacrifice. Are we really going to let them keep investigating?"
Rina glanced at Lycaon beside her, and he responded with composure.
"It doesn't matter. The Master has altered the plan and issued new directives. They're already entangled in this and can't back out now, but they might prove to be valuable allies. Offer help or direction swiftly when the time comes."
Meanwhile, everyone inside the video store was totally clueless about it all, not even realizing how bad the place's soundproofing was.
After making sure there wasn't anything useful in the SD card, they talked about some questions they still had about the Vision Corporation case and what happened all those years ago.
It was pretty late by the time they said goodbye to the two. Koleda had initially planned to spend the night at the video store, but then she recalled that Belle was still there.
Also, with her older sister beside her and company business that required attention, she had little choice but to depart with some regret.
Seeing that, the two prepared to turn in for the night, but Belle, finding herself alone, seemed somewhat frightened and hesitant about going to sleep.
In the end, she gave in reluctantly.
The next morning, Wise woke up to find Belle still sleeping soundly. Not wanting to wake her, he got up alone to open the store.
But right then, someone unexpected showed up. A pink-haired woman came running in, all panicked, and crashed right into him.
Wise, catching on to what was happening, automatically caught her, and just from how it felt, he knew who it was without even looking.
"Nicole, why are you in such a panic again?"
Wise gazed at Nicole, who was pressed against his chest, gasping for air. From this position, he could faintly glimpse the view into the deep ravine.
While this particular sight was something only Nicole could offer at present, it wasn't sufficient to rattle Wise's composure.
'Now that I think about it, since the Vision Corporation case has been put on hold for now, she shouldn't have anything urgent happening, right? Maybe she picked up another commission?' Wise thought to himself.
While he was absorbed in these thoughts, Nicole, who had finally caught her breath, turned slightly red and withdrew from Wise's embrace.
Noticing her reaction, he motioned for her to follow him into the staff room.
Yet the moment she stepped inside, her nervousness became obvious. She kept rubbing her palms against her legs, shifting slightly in place.
It felt like she had something on her mind but didn't know how to say it.
Watching her act like this, Wise couldn't help feeling curious about what was bothering her so much.
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