As for Hoshiguma, it was even more impossible for her to show her face at the ceremony.
You have to remember she is an Inspector for the Lungmen Guard Department. She was the primary executor of the major operations from just a few days ago, and she will likely be appearing on the news alongside Ch'en Huijie in a couple of days. If the citizens saw her now, they would think, "Wait, the news says you just busted a major terrorist group, yet this person is appearing at an unofficial and extremely dangerous competition?"
A single report letter could lead to her suspension pending investigation, and all the credit from her recent mission could be wiped out. Consequently, neither she nor Madam Fumizuki could appear at the awards ceremony for the top three.
Thus, Texas, who had physically finished in fifth place, moved up the ranks to become the official third-place winner. Texas naturally noticed the two of them slowing down at the last moment, but she was no fool. After recognizing their identities, she easily guessed the reason. For those two, being able to participate in this race was reward enough; when it came to rankings—especially the top three—they wouldn't dare compete for them during such a sensitive time. Besides, it was just a bronze medal with no prize money; there was no point in them fighting for it.
After the race ended, Lady Fumizuki was very happy. She looked at Flandre, who was still riding on Emperor's head, and picked the girl up with a smile.
"Let's go, it's my treat today! To Desheng Tower Restaurant!"
Hearing Lady Fumizuki's words, everyone broke into smiles. Desheng Tower Restaurant was considered a relatively famous large restaurant in Lungmen. Crucially, it was incredibly hard to get a reservation. Since it was a free meal and a high-quality one at that, naturally no one refused.
After arriving at Desheng Tower, the group went straight into a private room. Except for Flandre, everyone else was an adult, so alcoholic drinks and beverages were no problem. As for Flandre... she was currently lost in bliss over the bowl of milk in front of her.
Lady Fumizuki had naturally investigated Penguin Logistics beforehand. Among the people here, aside from Emperor—who commanded some respect from her—the others were just children in her eyes. Since they weren't people with ulterior motives deliberately trying to get close to Flandre, she saw no reason to restrict the girl from making friends.
After dinner, Exusiai mentioned they had game consoles and asked Flandre if she wanted to play. Flandre thought about it and agreed. Although she had consoles at home, she had never gone to play at someone else's place before. So, she went with Beatrice to the Penguin Logistics headquarters to play, while Hoshiguma escorted Lady Fumizuki back to the Governor's Mansion.
Exusiai watched Flandre, who kept asking to interact with Emperor to the point where he was getting visibly annoyed, and couldn't help but smile. It seemed she had never seen her boss look so ready to cry but without tears. She found it very amusing. That was also why she had invited Flandre in the first place, though she certainly couldn't say that in front of Emperor. If she did, Emperor would kick her ass while shouting in his heavily accented, translated-sounding voice.
The others saw Emperor's plight, but no one "helped" him. After all, Flandre wasn't doing any harm; she simply wanted to play with him. It was also the first time Beatrice had seen someone attract Flandre's attention so much.
It wasn't until they entered the building and a girl with horns like croissants on her head came out to greet them that Beatrice shifted her attention.
"It's you!"
"It's you!"
Beatrice and the other girl stared at each other the moment they met. Beatrice instinctively reached for her waist, then felt a bit awkward when she realized she was off duty today and at someone's home. The other girl, on the other hand, backed away nervously and hid behind a cabinet.
"Uh... Croissant... do you two know each other?" Texas asked, curious. Judging by their movements, they definitely knew each other, but certainly not as friends.
"She's the meanest and fastest ruthless superintendent from Central Plaza. I've been caught by her and sent to the station several times before!" the girl called Croissant said while staring at Beatrice.
Beatrice shrugged. "Central Plaza is an entertainment and leisure area with a designated stall zone. You set up illegal stalls outside every single time and caused traffic congestion repeatedly. Who else would I arrest if not you?"
"But the entry fee for the stall zone is so expensive! I only earn a little bit of money a day. Once I pay the entry fee, I've basically worked for nothing. So why wouldn't I sell outside? If I get caught, it's just a day's work for nothing. If I don't get caught, I make a profit for the day!" Croissant said righteously.
"Wait, that's not right. Setting up stalls in Central Plaza has always been free!" Beatrice frowned.
Central Plaza was a "prestige project" specifically created by the Schwire Family and the Governor's Mansion. The goal was to provide nearby residents with a sufficiently spacious recreational area; if needed for other purposes, the plaza could also be requisitioned. Because it was near the Governor's Mansion, it was considered a landmark project in the core district of Lungmen. And since this was part of the Schwire Family's overall investment strategy for Lungmen, they never intended to make money from it.
Just like the stall zone Beatrice mentioned, it was completely free for people to use. One only needed to go to the person in charge of managing that area and fill out an application form to basically obtain a temporary stall. Of course, since all stalls were free, to prevent any single stall from being occupied long-term, applications were once a week, and each person could only apply once a month.
So Beatrice was very confused when she heard Croissant say it cost money—and quite a bit at that. That money had never entered the finances of the Schwire Family or the government. She had absolutely no idea such a thing was happening.
Beatrice carefully inquired about the reasons and learned this had been going on for over a year. Ever since the management personnel at Central Plaza changed last summer, they started charging stall fees. It wasn't much at first, but it went up almost every month, and the current price had reached a point where individual small stalls could hardly afford it. Crucially, the management would say that if you didn't rent it, plenty of others would. As a high-traffic area, Central Plaza indeed had many wealthy entrepreneurs willing to rent a stall there. As a result, the stall zone that was originally meant to benefit commoners had become a toy for the rich.
Hearing Croissant's words, Beatrice slapped the table in anger. "This is really too much!"
"Tell me about it, but they have people backing them up," Croissant sighed. "It's not like no one has tried to report them, but those who did never came to a good end. So now everyone has just accepted it as the norm." Croissant expressed that she was just an ordinary citizen and couldn't afford to offend such a giant. Instead of provoking the management there, she'd rather play cat and mouse with the Guard Department outside.
"Don't worry, I'll handle this. By tomorrow at the latest, I guarantee things there will return to the way they were," Beatrice said through gritted teeth.
"Ha~ Sister, you're just a Beat Officer, you can't afford to provoke them." Seeing Beatrice's bursting sense of justice, Croissant quickly pulled her back, fearing she was acting on impulse.
"Can't afford to provoke them? Heh! Do you know what my last name is?" A flash of green light flickered in Beatrice's eyes.
"Uh, I remember those police officers seemed to call you Miss..." Croissant recalled.
"My last name is Schwire. Beatrice Schwire."
"Schwire... what a familiar name!" Croissant felt the name was familiar. Then, a spark of realization hit her, and she looked at the other woman with even more shock. "You're from the Schwire Family!"
Beatrice nodded and then shook her head. "It's not just as simple as being from the Schwire Family. The current head of the Schwire Family, Adams Schwire, is my grandfather."
This sentence drew a chorus of "Holy crap" from the room. Working in logistics in Lungmen, they naturally knew the name Adams Schwire. It could be said that he was the one who helped Wei Yenwu build up the entire commercial sector of Lungmen in the beginning. Precisely because of this, the Schwire Family held such a transcendent status. None of them expected his granddaughter to be standing right in front of them.
However, not far away, Emperor, sitting at the bar sipping a drink, remained calm. He wasn't like these youngsters who would get all worked up. Not only had he known Beatrice's identity for a long time, but he wouldn't be surprised regardless. He had seen many big shots, and Adams Schwire didn't even rank among the very top of his list.
In front of everyone, Beatrice took out her phone and dialed a number.
"Old man, do you know what's going on at Central Plaza?"
"Ho ho ho, why is my little girl suddenly interested in such trivial matters?" The voice on the other end was aged but full of vigor.
"First of all, I'm not little! And those guys have gone way too far. Charging money is one thing, but they're pocketing it all for themselves. How can you stand for this!" Beatrice wasn't polite with her old man at all, speaking as if she were scolding a grandson.
The person on the other end didn't get angry, but instead asked, "Then what do you think should be done?"
"What else? Arrest who needs to be arrested, fine who needs to be fined. Our Schwire Family cannot let these few people break the rules!" Beatrice said as if it were only natural.
"And what if the participants include your aunt and cousins?" the other party asked.
"I don't care who it is, rules are rules!" Beatrice said decisively.
"Ho ho ho... since you know what to do, why are you calling me? Although I am the head of the family, setting up a private court is illegal. Our Schwire Family does not do illegal things!" The person hung up after saying that.
Beatrice then had a look of sudden realization. "Sorry, I'll leave Flandre to you guys. I have some things to handle!"
After Beatrice finished speaking, she left in a hurry. Flandre waved at her and then continued to focus on the game in front of her. Exusiai and Flandre were going back and forth, fully concentrated on controlling their characters to deliver a final blow to each other.
"Watch me fire a blast!"
"Oh, you're firing a blast? Take this inexplicable skill of mine!"
"Take my Super Blazing Dance!"
"Muda muda! After four rounds of drinks, take my Super Boom-Boom Whirl!"
The two of them kept fighting for control of the speakers, having a blast. Emperor breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Flandre's attention was fully absorbed by the game; this kid was way too difficult to deal with.