The shopkeeper stared intently at 'Silver Wolf', her gaze flickering back and forth between the mask resting on the table and the woman's face.
She recognized that mask; it was the same style worn by the Aeon of Elation during their ascension.
Coupled with the fact that this woman had crawled out of the Originium, the shopkeeper reasonably suspected she had some connection to that Aeon.
Perhaps she was an emissary of the divine?
"Who... who are you? And why did the Aeon of The Hunt cast a glance here? Don't tell me... you've come to Punklorde to settle a score?"
Given the shopkeeper's shallow understanding of the Aeons, she could only interpret the meaning of "The Hunt" in its most literal sense.
Thus, she surmised that the girl before her possessed an extraordinary background and had arrived seeking vengeance.
'Silver Wolf' really wanted to say it was all just an accident. After all, she hadn't expected that simply gaining a Spiritus would be enough to make The Hunt drop by twice.
By that logic, if the Lightning Lord of Propagation from last time hadn't been dealt with, The Hunt probably would've shot an arrow through the place by now.
Pushing those stray thoughts aside, 'Silver Wolf' swallowed a mouthful of burger and spoke:
"Don't overthink it. It's just that this is the first time someone has made a wish for such pure Elation, so they decided to pop in for a look."
'Silver Wolf' wasn't lying.
So far, fewer than ten people had made wishes, and only Silver Wolf's wish was born of a desire for pure, unadulterated fun. As for the others, there was always some lingering greed or ulterior motive mixed in.
Not that 'Silver Wolf' denied the nature of desire—everyone has stray thoughts, after all. But it was rare to see something so untainted. Plus, since it was Silver Wolf, she'd chosen to come take a peek.
"As for that glance from The Hunt just now, it's no big deal. I don't have any enemies in Punklorde anyway, so don't worry about me flipping the place upside down."
"..."
'Silver Wolf' intended it as a comfort, but to the shopkeeper, the words carried a terrifying weight.
The woman was truly just an ordinary fast-food shop owner.
She might have enough grit and skill to keep her shop safe in this district, but her "power" was only marginally better than any other commoner's.
To an ordinary person, the physical act of overturning all of Punklorde was an unimaginable feat.
The problem was that the person saying it was someone who had just been acknowledged by the Aeon of The Hunt.
This forced the shopkeeper to wonder if the statement was a hyperbolic joke or a literal threat.
On the other hand, this woman's origins were clearly anything but simple.
Putting the danger aside, to the shopkeeper, 'Silver Wolf's' words were practically equivalent to saying: The child you raised has been chosen by a god.
That was why she was here.
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to stay calm, and asked, "Are you going to take her away?"
"Take her away? Where to?"
'Silver Wolf' paused mid-bite, her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of little Silver Wolf peeking from the basement stairs.
"You shouldn't be asking me that; you should ask her. Besides, if she really wanted to leave, she wouldn't need my help."
'Silver Wolf' glanced at the fortune hovering over the shopkeeper's head.
It wasn't exactly booming, but it wasn't bad either. It was the kind of luck that suggested a long, peaceful life.
The original Silver Wolf's fortune, however, was burning bright—which made sense, considering her future exploits.
This was why 'Silver Wolf' had little interest in changing the girl's current situation. Silver Wolf's life wasn't bad right now, and if she took her away, she wouldn't even know where to settle her.
"I think you've misunderstood. I only came here because I wanted to meet little Silver Wolf and grant her wish. Even if she is 'favored,' I have no intention of taking her away or meddling in things I shouldn't."
"..."
The shopkeeper didn't know how to feel.
She felt a wave of relief that the girl she raised wouldn't be leaving, yet a pang of regret that she could never provide a better environment for her. After a long silence, she asked one final question.
"Your appearance... are you blood-related to her?"
"Does it matter?"
"..."
The shopkeeper nodded silently. It truly didn't matter.
In a place like Punklorde, a biological connection you'd never seen before wasn't worth much—at least not to those living at the bottom of the ladder.
The shopkeeper stopped talking and stood up to leave, leaving 'Silver Wolf' alone by the window to finish her fast food.
When she was done, it was actually little Silver Wolf who ran up from the basement to clear the table.
Apparently, the shop's cleaning robot was broken and hadn't been fixed yet, so the manual labor fell to her.
She was wearing an oversized staff T-shirt and a baseball cap. She scurried over with a look of [ᗜ˰ᗜ] on her face, her hands moving with practiced ease as she cleared the mess.
It was obvious she desperately wanted to go back to her games, but as the only employee, she had to play the part of the busboy.
However, when Silver Wolf looked at this older sister who looked so much like her, the expression on her face softened. She even offered 'Silver Wolf' a small smile as she nimbly packed the trays.
Instead of heading straight back down, Silver Wolf stood before 'Silver Wolf', holding up her piece of Originium and asking curiously:
"Aren't you going back?"
"Back where?"
"Into the Originium. Aren't you the genie who grants wishes?"
Silver Wolf had categorized the woman as an NPC tied to the Originium. She hadn't expected the NPC to stick around for a meal, let alone stay after finishing.
'Silver Wolf' smiled at the innocent child. "Who said I was a wish-granting genie?"
"Then who are you?"
"Hmm..."
'Silver Wolf' pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. She really didn't know how to introduce herself.
Saying "I'm an Aeon" felt a bit weird, and a kid this age probably wouldn't understand what an Aeon actually represented anyway.
"You can just think of me as a relative... or an elder."
"...You aren't actually my mom, are you?"
Little Silver Wolf's face was a mask of confusion and skepticism.
Before making her wish, she had actually thought about another wish in her heart. But the Originium never said it could grant two wishes at once, right?
Even if the adult Silver Wolf was cool and carefree, the current Silver Wolf was just an adopted orphan.
She didn't necessarily need a mother, but she certainly fantasized about her parents appearing one day. It was the kind of leap in logic only a child would make.
Compared to the awkwardness she felt the first time she heard it, 'Silver Wolf' found the girl's expression quite amusing this time around. Still, she had to set the record straight.
"If you really want to call me something, call me 'Big Sister'."
Of course, while she refused the title, 'Silver Wolf' decided she could probably extract the memory of little Silver Wolf calling her "Mama" and turn it into a Light Cone.
Then, when Silver Wolf grew up to be a cool, wanted criminal, she could show it to her.
Ha, the look on her face then would be priceless.
"Oh..."
Silver Wolf nodded, looking a bit disappointed, but she didn't push it.
Being a little clerk in this shop, she had developed the professional discipline not to throw a tantrum. While she was let down, it wasn't the end of the world.
She had so many interesting games waiting to be conquered. Any lingering sadness would be forgotten as soon as she started playing on Project Bunny.
'Silver Wolf' didn't go anywhere after eating. In a place like Punklorde, all the interesting stuff was in the virtual world. The physical reality was drab and boring—not nearly as fun as Greek-themed Amphoreus.
So, she headed to the basement, intending to try out the retro arcade machines and experience the local flavor of Punklorde's data-scape.
Once the cleaning was done, little Silver Wolf dived straight into Project Bunny's system, intending to work her way through her game list one by one.
The two Silver Wolfs—one big, one small—immersed themselves in their games in the empty arcade, ignoring the rest of the world.
The arcade was quiet, with no customers in sight.
According to little Silver Wolf, the place didn't get lively until after dinner, and the rush would last until midnight. She would go to bed before twelve, leaving the shopkeeper to handle the late-night crowd.
As 'Silver Wolf' marveled at the little one's disciplined routine, she linked her mind to the data-scape of Punklorde.
She was momentarily stunned by the sheer contrast between reality and data.
Compared to the dilapidated, suffocating physical world, the digital realm was beyond prosperous. A volume of data far exceeding Punklorde's physical limits surged through the virtual world.
'Silver Wolf' surmised that the legendary hacker who pioneered Aether Editing must have done something to this planet.
She could clearly sense traits unique to Elation within the Aether Editing techniques.
There was a high probability the creator was a Pathstrider of Elation; she just didn't know their exact level or if they were an Emanator.
She didn't intend to pry too deeply, though. She just thought that, by this logic, Silver Wolf could be considered a Pathstrider of Elation.
It was quite a fascinating thought. Back when she played the game, she never would have pegged Silver Wolf for the Path of Elation.
As 'Silver Wolf' continued to explore this virtual world built by generations of hackers, a string of data completely at odds with Aether Editing forced its way in from outside Punklorde.
To 'Silver Wolf', this discordant data was strangely familiar. It looked exactly like Digimon code.
But the Digimon race only existed in Amphoreus. Why would someone from Amphoreus travel halfway across the universe through the network just to reach Punklorde?
'Silver Wolf' watched the data entity darting through the digital world, throwing the virtual realm into chaos in mere seconds.
With a casual flick of her hand, she reached out and pulled the intruder right in front of her, completely undetected.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL