The deep blue curtain of night gradually fell, like a heavy velvet cloth unfurling slowly, wrapping up the uneven skyline of New Eridu.
All the noisy edges and sharp daytime lines seemed to be kneaded smooth beneath that enormous sheet—leaving only dark undulations and silent silhouettes.
Buildings rose and dipped against the navy sky like the spine of a sleeping beast, settling into stillness under the night's gentle hand. Streetlights lit one after another; dim yellow halos dripped down soundlessly, bleeding into hazy orange patches on the wet asphalt.
After the day's clamor finally settled like dust, the alleys deepened into a kind of quiet mystery.
A car would occasionally pass—tires whispering over the damp road, soft and brief as a tired sigh—then swallowed again by a wider silence. Headlights streaked by like a meteor that vanished in an instant, and afterward the night only looked thicker, deeper.
Inside the video store on Sixth Street, after seeing off the last customer of the day, Wise hung up the CLOSE sign on the front door. He turned around, patted the always-on-duty little 18 on the head, then looked at Belle sprawled limp on the sofa and sighed.
"I'm so tired, so tired… without Chiya-energy refills I'm gonna die…" Belle let out a weak groan. Her dark-green eyes had lost focus as she stared mournfully at the ceiling.
"Belle. Chiya has his own things to handle," Wise said. "Besides, didn't we already recover two of the three… uh… smart heavy engineering machines for Hollow operations?"
"Ugh." Belle groaned again. "When Grace said 'three kids' got lost in the Hollow, I almost had a heart attack. Then she said it was three machines and I finally breathed again."
Sinking deeper into the leather sofa—so soft it felt almost unreal—Belle squinted, raised a hand to block the overly bright lights overhead, and muttered, "And one is 'Gleite,' a lovelorn tunneling machine that fell for a half-finished building. The other is 'Hans,' a rebellious grabber machine with terminal chuunibyou."
Remembering the absurd yet oddly cute scenes from earlier, a faint smile climbed onto her lips.
"Honestly… thinking about those weird, funny things… it was kind of interesting."
But the smile sank like a pebble into a deep pond. Her voice dropped, soaked in disappointment.
"Still… when I think that Chiya wasn't there with us—didn't see Gleite shave off a load-bearing wall, didn't hear Hans's cringe-level proclamation—I just… feel so sad."
Like a wronged little animal, she curled smaller in the sofa.
Watching her sulk, Wise smiled helplessly and patted her head. "Speaking of which, Eous felt a bit down today too. It hasn't seen Xu Ge Ya in a long time… Wait, Belle—back at Belobog Industries the other day, Xu Ge Ya didn't show up either, did it?"
At that, Belle—who had been half-asleep—shot upright, frowning, pinching her chin as she thought. "Now that you mention it… when Anton asked Chiya about that, Chiya didn't answer either. Then the topic got redirected…"
"Yeah," Wise said. "If you think about it, there's definitely something behind this. What if we—"
Before he could finish, Belle's phone started vibrating. She checked it—an account she vaguely recognized had sent a message.
[Lei]: "Independent investigator—this is your Knock-Knock account, right? Good. Now I have a private way to contact you."
[Oatmeal queen]: "That name's familiar. Who goes there, before the court?"
[Lei]: "Heh. As that child said, you really are entertaining. I'm Lei from the Huyesta Society. And yes—I was once one of Chiya's teachers. Or perhaps you're more familiar with the title: 'Chiya's dearest partner'?"
[Oatmeal queen]: "Shut up! Shameless old thief! Chiya's dearest partner—past, present, or future—is me and my brother! You can lie to others, but don't lie to yourself!"
[Lei]: "Very well. In that case, I can only hand this high-value commission to someone else."
[Oatmeal queen]: "Wait?! Objection! Tell me the value first!!!"
A moment later, staring at the number that appeared on the screen, both Wise and Belle rubbed their eyes, whispering, "This… isn't a dream, right?" Their voices trembled with disbelief.
A flat voice cut in:
"Staaaare—Master, your heartbeat is accelerating and your face is flushing. I infer your adrenaline is skyrocketing. Also, from a purely objective standpoint, I hope you accept this commission so I may finally run wild to my heart's content. Not because of electricity costs, of course—purely for your personal benefit."
Belle's excited blush instantly faded by half. Her mouth twitched.
"…Fairy," she said weakly, "when you put it like that, I suddenly lose all motivation. Thinking about how most of my hard-earned dennies get swallowed by you… my heart hurts so much I can't breathe…"
Even so, that astronomical number on the screen was the sweetest poison, radiating lethal temptation.
Belle forcefully wiped away tears that didn't exist, fingers flying as she typed words so syrupy they practically overflowed with flattery:
"'Chiya's dearest, most reliable, and most deserving-of-attention partner'—Miss Lei, please, please reserve this commission for us!!!"
After all—praising others is just a roundabout way of praising yourself.
And I'm praising myself, so what's wrong with saying pretty things?
Besides, Chiya can't possibly be tricked away by her.
Thus Belle congratulated herself smugly while also wracking her brain to praise the "fat sheep" on the other end, trying to secure the hefty commission.
[Lei]: "Such a sweet mouth. Honestly, even if you didn't say it, I'd still reserve it for you. In New Eridu, only death, Hollows, and work are unavoidable. A capable partner like you—naturally I'll make full use of you."
[Lei]: "If you're free, come to the Scott Outpost and see me. This needs to be discussed face-to-face. I have things to do—logging off."
[Oatmeal queen]: "Got it! Boss, take care!!!"
Belle put down the phone and looked at Wise with shining excitement—dark-green eyes full of hunger for dennies, as if two Nicoles had moved in.
"Brother! If we take this job, we'll have the capital to maintain Chiya!"
"Belle…" Wise said. "Honestly—ever since we found out Chiya was hiding things from us last time, I had Fairy investigate a bit. As far as I know, Chiya's assets could support a hundred Fairys with money to spare."
"Are you sure it wouldn't be Chiya maintaining us…?"
Belle's sunrise-bright smile froze solid.
A cold air called reality check spread through the room.
But everyone knows happiness doesn't disappear—it just transfers.
Watching his little sister lose her smile, "robot Wise" experienced the exact same kind of complex joy a priest might feel meeting mapo tofu: a strange blend of schadenfreude and "concern for an idiot," finally turning into a grin he could barely suppress.
"Brother! Stop laughing!"
"Okay, okay. I won't laugh." Wise cleared his throat. "Belle, go sleep. Staying up late is bad for you."
"Fine. Night, brother."
"Yeah… night."
A moment later, upstairs came the soft sound of a door closing—click.
Light, crisp, brief.
Like a pebble dropped into a silent deep pool: one small ring of ripples, then nothing.
Night was lightly tapped by that sound—yet only sank deeper into its own boundless belly.
New Eridu's night wasn't truly dead.
It had simply put away its claws and fangs, curled up its tired body.
When daytime noise receded like a tide, the city's bones quietly bared themselves under dark velvet, revealing a different kind of tenderness.
It gathered up the tire-sighs on wet roads, the soft snap of cat paws on dead leaves, and that tiny knock of a lock—
Those micro-sounds, like needlepoints dripping into a deep lake, only made the stillness deeper, wider, drifting farther away…
"Caramel pudding?" The dessert instructor's voice was almost cruelly calm.
With the back of a silver spoon, he tapped the lump of black stuff on the plate: bonk, bonk—the crisp sound of hard objects striking.
"Heat was savage—like you were cooking someone to death. This caramel layer? Burned blacker and harder than pan-bottom ash. I can't even crack it with the spoon. Failed."
He mercilessly used a knife to cut through the rigid "caramel armor," exposing the cloudy, watery interior.
"Inside? Thin like soup. Shake it and you can see the 'majestic waves.' Where's the silky custard you promised? This is tofu-dregs construction. Failed."
He leaned in to sniff, frowning even harder.
"Egg-and-milk aroma? Long buried under that strong, stinging bitter burn. One bite and your whole mouth is a smoke-and-fire disaster site. Failed."
His gaze shifted to the equally tragic "puff pastry Napoleon," and his verdict sharpened further:
"Puff pastry? Damp, collapsed, limp. Stacked up like cardboard soaked in rain then half-dried in the sun—zero layers, zero structure. Bite it? You don't even get a decent crack. Failed."
Finally, he pointed at the overall shape and summarized with pained outrage:
"Presentation? Crooked, ugly. It looks exactly like a mud pile on a construction site. One glance kills appetite. The failure among failures."
In front of him, the little Bangboo—Xu Ge Ya—had huge eyes that slowly dimmed from brilliant expectation to dull, unfocused emptiness.
All that remained was helpless confusion and heavy disappointment. Even its small body seemed to shrink, leaking silent sorrow.
The instructor sighed hard, crouched down to meet Xu Ge Ya's eye level, and his tone finally softened with a trace of pity.
"Little Bangboo. Let me give you some honest advice."
He lowered his voice.
"I still recommend you go find your master and have him pay to install a professional 'housekeeping' chip module for you."
"Stop… wasting time, and torturing yourself. Okay?"
"Mm-nye! Mm-nye-nye!"
(No! I have to use my own hands, not rely on outside power! Desserts made that way can't convey my feelings!)
"Mm-nye! Mm-nye mm-nye-nye!!!"
(If you're willing to help me, I'll do anything! If… if I don't have you, my desserts…)
The instructor watched its stubbornness with complicated eyes. He pointed at the plate—this "disaster art"—and spoke with a cruel sort of bluntness.
"But can you convey your feelings like this?"
"With… this lump—this plate—this thing that makes golden retrievers happy and dung beetles go insane?"
"Mm-nye…" (But… but…)
Xu Ge Ya wanted to say something, but couldn't.
It wanted to argue, to tell him how long it had practiced, how many times it had failed, how much effort it had poured in.
But cold reality pressed down like shackles. Its circuits trembled, its whole body shaking with a soundless howl—sadness filling the room.
Seeing that, the instructor's heart softened, but remembering all the comforting words he'd already used—words that had turned into chains binding both himself and this cute Bangboo—he gritted his teeth and decided to pierce the fantasy anyway.
"Little Bangboo, let me ask you this."
"Where does the money to hire me come from? Isn't it from your master?"
"Sure, I could keep comforting you, again and again, so you light up with hope and keep persisting."
"But that would be torture—for you, for me, and especially for your master."
Xu Ge Ya fell silent. Its round head lowered.
It couldn't refute him.
Every denny spent was clearly logged in its core storage, and every line traced back to the person it most wanted to repay.
And the daily costs were probably enough to make a certain pink twin-tailed someone drool. It knew the instructor was right.
It didn't have the talent.
"Little Bangboo… you really are a Bangboo who only ever thinks about yourself."
"Give up. Go home. You've stayed here a long time."
"Your master… must miss you."
Late-night streets were so quiet that only the wind's whining through gaps in metal pipes remained.
Under dim streetlights, Xu Ge Ya's tiny shadow stretched long, then shrank short.
It wandered in a daze, little legs tapping the ground—each crisp sound painfully lonely in the open emptiness.
The instructor's words replayed in its core processor like cold code, loop after loop, each cycle bringing heavier powerlessness.
After who knew how long, it finally dragged itself to that familiar door.
No light seeped through the crack. The master was probably asleep.
Xu Ge Ya lifted its small hand and held it hovering above the doorbell button. In its eyes flickered hesitation and fear.
It imagined the master's face upon seeing it.
Surprise? Scolding? Or… disappointment?
It thought about how it hadn't made a single decent dessert, had spent so much money learning, and still came back reeking of burnt sugar and endless failure.
It shrank back.
In the end, it didn't have the courage to press the bell.
The little Bangboo turned around, leaned its back against the cold metal door, and slowly sat down curled up in the shadow outside.
It buried its round head into knees that didn't really exist.
The night wind seemed colder, piercing through its metal shell, making it feel a kind of "cold" it had never felt before.
Time flowed soundlessly through the silence.
Just when Xu Ge Ya was about to be completely swallowed by guilt and dejection—
Click.
A tiny sound of a lock turning came from behind it.
Xu Ge Ya stiffened, its entire metal body tensing, then turned its head with awkward shock.
The door opened from inside—just a crack.
Warm orange light spilled out like an embrace, instantly driving away the darkness and chill around it.
Inside the doorway stood Chiya.
He hadn't gone to bed; he still wore soft dark loungewear. His short silver-gray hair looked especially gentle under the warm indoor light.
On that refined face that always carried calm, there was no surprise, no scolding.
His gaze landed on the pitiful little Bangboo curled in the shadow outside.
In his emerald eyes passed a flicker of understanding, which quickly melted into a helpless, yet deeply tender ripple.
He didn't ask, Where did you go?
He didn't ask, Why are you back so late?
He simply bent down, naturally and lightly, opened his arms, and lifted that dew-damp little body—faintly smelling of burnt caramel—into his embrace.
He weighed it slightly, as if confirming its weight.
Then, in his usual clear, cool voice—carrying an almost imperceptible sigh of relief—he asked softly:
"…You're back?"
"…Mm-nye…" (I'm back…)
"Battery's almost empty, right? The charging dock at home has been resting for a long time…"
"Tired?"
"Mm-nye, mm-nye-nye…" (Little master, um, I—)
"I don't want to hear the self-pitying stuff."
"Right now, you're back. You said, 'I'm home.' That's what I want to hear."
"Mm-nye…" (I… wuwu (wipe tears)… I understand!)
"Also—I asked Lycaon. He said Butler will come visit tomorrow."
"You'll learn properly from him, okay?"
Xu Ge Ya didn't answer.
It only curled up, greedy for the warmth of family in Chiya's arms—unchanged as always, never once different.
O night, I feel your beauty now.
Your beauty is like a lovely woman… when she turns off the light…
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
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