"Sorry, my boss just called me. I just put on my headphones. Where were you guys in the conversation?"
"Ellen is way too serious about her part-time job."
Ruby couldn't help but complain, while Lynn seemed to have thought of something, placing a hand on her chin as she analyzed the situation.
"Is she trying to adapt to the workplace early?"
"It's hard to imagine Ellen becoming a workplace elite in the future."
Monna's eyes widened in disbelief, and Ruby still found it difficult to understand.
"So why is she so dedicated to her part-time job?"
"I'm just earning pocket money."
Pocket money... referring to the two sets of maid outfits, each worth millions of Dennies, that she had bought just so she could change outfits.
"Hello... hello? Why is there no sound?"
"Ah, sorry. The store's Wi-Fi seems to have disconnected. I'll restart it right away. It won't take long."
After answering Ellen, Lynn temporarily stopped speaking.
Taking advantage of the silence, Wise curiously asked, "Actually, I wanted to ask you the same thing. Why are you so dedicated to school? Is this part of Victoria Housekeeping's evaluation?"
"Failing exams would be troublesome... It's best to pass them on the first try," Ellen's tone was completely flat as she answered.
If she failed, the teacher would definitely call her parents. In the past, she could only trouble Lycaon and Rina.
Neither of them would want Ellen to have poor grades.
Now, she could ask Wise for help, but...
"...Is that really all?" Wise asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Is this reason really that hard for you to believe? Hmm... then consider it one of our service tenets. Only excellent students can better serve wealthy masters."
As Ellen said this, she deliberately rested her face against Wise's shoulder, acting cute and coquettish.
However, she hadn't realized the consequences of this joke yet.
"Uh..."
"Hmm..."
"Ellen?"
Monna, Lynn, and Ruby's voices came through the communication one after another.
Hearing this, Ellen's expression changed slightly.
"Hmm? Is the signal back? What did you hear?"
"Serving wealthy masters... or something? Eh? Ah... no, no, no, I didn't hear anything!"
"Uh... if I said it's completely different from what you're thinking, would you believe me?"
Ellen's tone became uncharacteristically flustered. She clearly understood how huge this misunderstanding was, while Ruby, on the other end of the communication, tried to comfort her.
"Um... I'm not saying I don't believe you! But it's just..."
"Interrupting. I'm Ellen's colleague. Ellen was only joking; that's her part-time persona..."
Fortunately, at that moment, Belle, who had finished repairing the network cable, finally returned.
Since she had been wearing headphones the entire time, she already knew what had happened.
"Ha, hahaha, so that's it! I understand. I definitely didn't misunderstand anything. You guys get back to work..."
Ruby's voice sounded awkward as she activated the all-mute function.
Seeing this, Wise looked helplessly at Ellen beside him.
"Um, should we type an explanation?"
"No, no need. It's too embarrassing... I'll explain it to them in person later."
Ellen covered her face with her hand.
The situation just now had completely caught her off guard.
As for Wise, he couldn't say anything at that moment either.
Otherwise, there would only be two possible outcomes.
The first was to avoid revealing his identity and simply explain the misunderstanding. In that case, the three best friends would most likely think he was the master Ellen had mentioned.
Although technically... Ellen had called him that many times before.
The second option was to directly reveal his identity.
In that case, even if they misunderstood and thought the two of them were simply playing some strange role-play, it wouldn't be a problem since their relationship was legitimate.
However, it might make the three best friends think Ellen had abandoned their group discussion just to spend time with her boyfriend, which would also be troublesome.
The two continued moving forward, and after dealing with another wave of Ethereal, Ruby's voice suddenly came through the communication.
"Ellen, what happened on your end?"
"Hmm? Nothing at all?" Ellen answered, trying to maintain her usual calm tone.
"I clearly heard it! I just turned off the all-mute, and I heard a really loud sound from your microphone!"
"Uh..."
Ellen began thinking of an excuse to get away with it when Monna's worried voice immediately followed.
"Ellen?"
"...Just some minor trouble I encountered at my part-time job."
"Was that sound just now really only a minor trouble?"
Monna wasn't reassured by Ellen's explanation. Instead, her tone became even more suspicious.
Ruby also stammered, gathering her courage.
"E-Ellen, don't be scared! We'll help you!"
It seemed they had misunderstood again. There was nothing she could do.
"Ah... It's me again, Ellen's colleague. Ellen and I were just organizing documentaries related to the Hollow disaster."
Belle spoke again, trying to cover for her.
"Can a documentary have such realistic sounds?" Lynn asked doubtfully.
"The place where I work... the boss is quite wealthy, and the sound equipment is very good."
"No! How can a documentary not even have background music? That doesn't make sense!"
As soon as Ruby's suspicious words came out, Ellen quickly hummed a background tune.
"That's you humming, Ellen, isn't it? It must be you humming, right?"
"No, that was the background music just now. I can even hum it. Didn't you hear it?"
Ellen chose to continue playing dumb, and with Belle's help, she managed to temporarily get away with it.
"Alright, my part-time job is almost over. I need to prepare to... handle the wrap-up. I'll come find you guys later. Hanging up, bye-bye."
As soon as she ended the call, Ellen let out a sigh of relief.
"Ah... It's finally over. Although after leaving the Hollow, I still have to find them to continue discussing the assignment topic."
Compared to fighting Ethereal, dealing with the three of them seemed even more exhausting.
[Master, data storage has been read. However, after verification, one piece of data required for transfer is missing. It has been determined that the missing file is not located here.]
Just as they were about to leave, Fairy's voice came through the communication channel.
After hearing this, Ellen looked puzzled.
"Boss Lycaon's designated recovery location was indeed here. I'll double-check when I get back. Thank you very much for your help this time."
"No need to be so polite. But compared to a verbal thank you, shouldn't it be..."
Wise pointed toward his face.
Ellen didn't say anything. She simply walked up to him, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
"Hmm, I'm very satisfied with this commission. If you need anything in the future, remember to come find us. Also, I'm a little curious. How did you become friends with people with such different personalities?"
"Ugh... why is there a 'why'? It just happened. If you really want to know, I'll tell you later. I'm leaving now."
After leaving the Hollow, Ellen quickly departed.
Wise planned to return to the video store, but on the way, he saw an acquaintance again.
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Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street
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