In Penacony, Sparkle got her ear grabbed and received a thorough scolding.
She knew Sampo had set her up, but she still had to come up with an excuse.
In a panic, she said, "Little boss, don't worry... Before I came here, I had another coworker help out. Her name's Sparkle. Old Sampo gets things done, you can rest easy. Nothing's going to happen to the factory."
Hearing that, Nero let go of her ear and gave her a sidelong look.
Then he belatedly realized...
'Wait a second. Aren't you Sparkle?'
The scene of everyone meeting like this looked familiar, and Nero finally remembered what was going on.
The Sampo in front of him seemed to be Sparkle in disguise.
But the experience he'd gotten from playing the game might not be reliable anymore. After all, even Phantylia was about to end up getting caught by him.
So he leaned closer and gave this "Sampo" a sniff.
Confirmed.
This wasn't Sampo's smell.
Then this really was Sparkle.
Sparkle watched Nero's every move and felt extremely nervous, especially after she saw the look in his eyes that seemed to say he'd already seen through her.
Right now, she really felt this was troublesome.
Even though Sampo had tricked her, he'd also told her part of the truth.
This little coworker really wasn't easy to deal with.
Under Nero's gaze, Sparkle rubbed her ear. She was tense the whole time, but when Nero ultimately said nothing, she let out a sigh of relief.
'Good, good.'
Then Sparkle copied Sampo's manner again and said with a grin, "Hahaha, really, I'm not lying. Don't worry."
———
"It's over, guys, I'm telling you. Sampo's done for. He's fallen into Nero's hands." Watching Sampo get his ear pinched by Nero on the game screen, Siberian Duck immediately started commenting.
[Belobog Wild Man: Agreed.]
[Aha's Emanator: Old Sampo gets kept in line by Nero every day.]
[I Use Pantene: I can only say, this moment is just like that moment. Remember back in Belobog? Sampo got completely handled by Nero the exact same way.]
[So Handsome I Get Beaten on the Street: When in doubt, grab the ear. Nero's really practiced at this, really practiced!]
[Brewing Tea with Snow: Damn it, why does this somehow feel shippable?]
[Getting Bald Day by Day: Of course it's shippable. I've even drawn fan art of it.]
[Sampo Stays Up Late at Night: No need to deny it. You can tell how much Old Sampo spoils Nero just from my username.]
[Dark Blue Handsome Guy: We're really never getting past the "Sampo Never Sleeps" meme, are we?]
[Put Nero's Feet in My Mouth: This is the eternal mark Nero left on me, after all. Let me introduce myself. I am none other than Dark Blue Handsome Guy, Belobog Wild Man, Mr. Cold Feet, Nero's best companion, Sampo Koski. Today Nero grabbed my ear again. Those little hands were warm and bright, the strength was just right. I've ascended to heaven!]
[Siberian Duck's Assistant: @Doctor In The Psychiatric Hospital Where's the doctor? Somebody save him!]
[Doctor In The Psychiatric Hospital: Director Tang got knocked out by Brother Yellow Pee. (Sad)]
[Glue Man: Explain in detail. How exactly did he get... knocked out?]
———
Firefly watched Nero and Sparkle talking and was a little confused.
She turned to look at Stelle, who didn't seem surprised at all, as though she'd seen this exact scene countless times already.
Firefly frowned slightly, puzzled.
Had her caution and worry just now been unnecessary? They looked very familiar with each other... though "Belobog Wild Man" was a rather strange nickname...
She asked Stelle, "Um... this person is...?"
The moment she finished speaking, "Sampo" said,
"Oh my, Miss March, you've already forgotten me? After everything I did to help you in Belobog..."
Sparkle deliberately imitated Sampo's tone, and somehow even sounded a little aggrieved.
Stelle immediately raised an eyebrow and snapped at Sparkle, "What's wrong with your eyes? Does March 7th look like this?"
Firefly's expression twitched subtly as well. She introduced herself, "...My name is Firefly. I'm an artist of the Iris Family."
"Oh! So that's it." Sparkle paused for a moment, but quickly kept the act going. A Fool's professional skills were still reliable. "I was just thinking... even though it hasn't been that long, Miss March has changed way too much."
At the same time, Sparkle was cursing Sampo in her heart.
"Aha damn it, that damn Sampo actually left me another trap."
"Stupid Sampo, rotten Sampo, awful Sampo!"
"Aha, just you wait until I catch you. You're going to have a bad time!"
"The next time I get my hands on you, you're finished."
At the same time, she observed Nero's reaction again. Seeing that he still said nothing, she relaxed a little more.
This little coworker might be difficult to deal with, but he was much more reliable as a teammate than Sampo.
'He probably figured out I'm not Sampo, but he's actually helping me cover it up.'
'What a good kid.'
What Sparkle might not realize was that, on this matter, Sampo shared exactly the same opinion.
With that thought, Sparkle straightened her expression and bowed to Firefly.
"A pleasure, a pleasure! My name's Sampo. I'm an old friend of Stelle and this little boss here. Please take care of me!"
Stelle blinked twice.
Although she vaguely felt there was something a little off about this Sampo...
The moment she remembered he was Sampo, that feeling of something being off suddenly felt perfectly normal.
In Stelle's eyes, Sampo clearly had a label that read "weirdo."
Beside them, Firefly narrowed her eyes. She wasn't about to completely lower her guard against this Sampo because of that.
What she was more curious about now was Nero's background.
According to Kafka and Blade, that child had a very good relationship with General Jing Yuan of the Luofu, and might even be a candidate for the next general.
And now this Sampo kept calling him "little boss."
Was he the young master of some influential Luofu family?
But this Sampo didn't look like someone from the Xianzhou.
If Nero really were the heir of a Xianzhou noble family, it would be rare for him to have a short-life species as a personal attendant.
At the moment, among the four of them, the two Nameless had minds so clean they practically reflected light, thinking about nothing at all, while the other two, the Stellaron Hunter and the Fool, were each thinking quite a lot.
Under this strangely awkward atmosphere, they chatted casually for a while. Then Sparkle took the initiative to suggest showing everyone around the Golden Hour.
She even emphasized that she, Sampo, knew very well what adults enjoyed for entertainment.
To be fair, hearing those words come out of Sampo's mouth made them very believable.
His face looked like someone who was deeply knowledgeable about that sort of thing.
Sparkle had chosen her disguise well. Even though there had been all kinds of unexpected developments, Sampo's image could smooth them all over.
Because he was Sampo.
Nothing he did ever seemed surprising.
Of course, bullying children was outside the range of things people would consider normal.
No matter what, words like "adult entertainment" and "the world of adults" were very appealing to the three of them.
Firefly was a born soldier. Burdened with an incurable illness, after awakening she had traveled everywhere with the Stellaron Hunters.
She knew very little about normal society, wasn't good with words, and was still trying to learn. Aside from occasionally going shopping with Kafka, so-called adult entertainment was a completely unfamiliar concept to her.
Stelle had no memories of her past. Everything began when she woke up on the space station. Every day she spent her time fooling around with Nero and March. Even now, she wasn't even a year old. How could she know what adult entertainment was?
As for Nero, he hadn't been in this world for long. At least since the point where his memories began, it hadn't even been a year.
Before crossing over, he hadn't been very old either. He'd been a well-behaved child spoiled by his family, and likewise had never experienced what the world of adults was like.
Almost instantly, Sparkle had successfully captured all three of their attention.
Firefly remained fairly reserved, but the little raccoon and the little honey badger's eyes were already sparkling.