"Where did that unlucky kid run off to—?"
The group split up to search the city for a certain pink-haired girl who had broken free.
"To be honest... she'll probably come back after she's done acting like a fool—is there really any need for us to chase after her?"
Nuwa, who was about to melt under the scorching sun, complained listlessly.
"You can say that to Kalpas..."
"Never mind then... Brother Kalpas cares about that child even more than Sister Sakura does, he was the first one to rush out..."
"Cangxuan, don't you think Sister Sakura and Brother Kalpas look like a married couple?"
"A married couple...??? I think they clash, one is calm and rational, the other is an angry older brother..."
Hearing this, Cangxuan muttered a line.
"Isn't that just right for balancing each other out... And honestly, Brother Kalpas has actually always been the type to be meticulous despite his rough exterior, right?"
"And Sister Sakura... she's actually quite impulsive sometimes... especially when it comes to her sister."
"Hmm, the more you say it, the more I see their resemblance as a couple..."
Behind Snow and Kallen, the two of them kept whispering about Kalpas, who was not present.
-
"How about it? Can you feel where that child is?"
Kallen cast an expectant glance at the Herrscher of Sentience, who was performing her self-proclaimed Heaven and Earth Soul-Searching Great Method.
"Hmm... I've found her, but, uh, that pink-haired girl's mental state might be a little... not so good...?"
"Not so good? Oh... She got caught by Kalpas, didn't she?"
Snow interjected into their conversation and quickly guessed the answer.
"Ah... That hot-tempered uncle I'm so fond of is currently holding that unlucky kid by the scruff of her neck and muttering to himself. Who knew that guy named Kalpas had a side to him like this? Tsk tsk tsk."
"You really can't judge a book by its cover—"
Senti, clicking her tongue in amazement, pointed in a certain direction, taking the lead as a guide and leading everyone toward Rin and Kalpas.
-
The pink-haired girl, dangling from the masked man's hand, seemed to have regained her senses. She lowered her head timidly, listening to the man's rather irritable muttering.
And Sakura was also by her side, lecturing her own younger sister, though her tone was much gentler than Kalpas's.
"Hmm, Sister Sakura and Brother Kalpas really do look like a married couple, don't they?"
Cangxuan and Nuwa looked at the two people in the distance, one playing the bad cop and the other the good cop, and finally nodded.
"So when are they getting married?"
"Nuwa, if you want to know so badly, you can go ask yourself. Anyway, I haven't lived long enough yet..."
"Forget it, forget it... I haven't lived long enough either."
"Tsk tsk tsk, how embarrassing. If you won't ask, then I'll go ask. It's no big deal."
Snow, listening to the two clowns muttering behind her, curled her lips in disdain. Amidst Cangxuan and Nuwa's "Big Boss, you're awesome" expressions, she led the group forward quickly.
But...
Before the blonde girl could ask that direct question, Rin, who couldn't stand being lectured anymore, started making a loud fuss...
"Alright, alright, Brother-in-law, stop lecturing me! I know I was wrong, I know!"
"I'll definitely change next time, definitely!"
"You little brat, you dare say there will be a next time?!"
Kalpas, oblivious to the oddity in Rin's words, focused solely on her blatant admission that there would be a next time.
"Brother-in-law, huh..."
"So he's the brother-in-law..."
"Are Miss Sakura and Mr. Kalpas's relationship progressing so quickly?!"
"Miss Sakura, Miss Sakura! Can we interview you on your thoughts about your sister calling Brother Kalpas her brother-in-law?"
The gossip-hungry crowd shoved a microphone into Sakura's mouth.
"Rin, what are you saying?!"
"Huh? Big sister, aren't you and Uncle Kalpas in that kind of relationship? You go on missions together, work in the same place, and even mutter in the same way!"
"Uncle Kalpas, why don't you just marry my sister? She's usually very gentle, you'll definitely be winning if you marry her!"
To avoid being lectured further, Rin started shifting everyone's attention...
"You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting?!"
Finally snapping out of it, Kalpas was about to give the unlucky girl a few knocks on the head.
"Whoa, Uncle Kalpas, don't be so shy!"
Seeing she was about to get hit, Rin immediately started struggling, successfully breaking free from the momentarily flustered Kalpas, who had been holding her up.
With a whoosh, the pink-haired girl hid behind Snow and began to cheer on the idea of marrying off her older sister.
"Big sister, you've been working together for so many years!"
"Even for a long-term romance like in those TV dramas, it's about time you ran into a result, right?!"
"Little Rin, you...! Your Uncle Kalpas and I are just simple colleagues!"
"Sigh... Sister, I get it, I get it. Office romance, there's nothing to be embarrassed about."
Hiding behind Snow, Rin unleashed a furious barrage of words. It seemed she had fully entered the zone, determined not to stop until she married off her sister today. All she needed was a teammate to deliver an assist.
"Hmm... How much is the red envelope? Where do we get the wedding candy? Which table will we be at for the banquet...?"
Snow Apocalypse, acting as Rin's human shield, looked at the two MANTISes in front of her, Kalpas and Sakura, who were either fuming with rage or too embarrassed to be exposed. As everyone's best teammate, Snow decisively delivered an assist.
"We already told you, we are not that kind of—"
Kalpas's voice cut off abruptly. He saw Senti, Kallen, and Cangxuan hiding even further back...
Compared to Rin and Snow, who were on the front lines dealing out the damage... the rest of them, acting as the rear support, had already taken out their phones, computers, and photo albums to start picking out hotels, suits, wedding dresses, and other strange things for themselves and Sakura.
Kalpas, realizing that he and his comrade-in-arms were about to be completely arranged by their own people, finally gave up struggling. A voice in his heart seemed to be telling him...
[Come on, come on, Miss Sakura is so beautiful, and she can fight so well, and she's even virtuous. What's wrong with that? Don't you agree?]
Recognizing whose voice that was, Kalpas glared fiercely at Senti in front of him, who stuck her tongue out and made a funny face at him. In the end, he just let out a low grunt and stopped speaking.
"Yay, Uncle Kalpas isn't talking anymore, which means he agrees! What about you, Big Sister, what about you?!"
The pressure shifted to Sakura's side...
"Little Rin, you... sigh—"
"Mhm, mhm... It's just that you've always been taking care of me, Big Sister, and you've almost forgotten about yourself."
"Sister, you have the right to pursue your own happiness too!"
"...So you just dragged your Uncle Kalpas into this pit?!"
"Ehehe~"