The desert stretched on—barren and desolate.
This was the wilderness more than ten kilometers away from Blazewood Town. Abandoned structures lay scattered everywhere, remnants discarded by civilization, with scarcely any sign of human habitation.
Layers of dust coated the ground. At some point, a yellow wind rose around them, carrying gauze-thin sand that drifted through the air and blurred their vision. A moment of carelessness was enough to end up with a mouthful of grit.
"Pfft—pfft… whew. Ellen, you brought me all the way out to the middle of nowhere?"
Phaga spat out the sand he'd accidentally inhaled, wiped the corner of his mouth, then looked over the broken walls and ruins around them. He sighed helplessly and turned his gaze toward Ellen.
Ellen looked just as flustered. She bit her fingernail anxiously, saying nothing, her toes tapping against the ground again and again. Her expression darkened as she clenched her teeth.
"Damn it. I didn't expect the Proxy to have no carrots for any nearby Hollows. Total miscalculation."
Today, Ellen had decided she was going to be the "wolf-type" girlfriend.
She'd heard there were quite a few relics from the previous era inside the nearby Hollow, so she'd wanted to take Phaga in for an adventure.
Sure, most of those old relics weren't very useful anymore, and they wouldn't sell for much either.
But as long as they had fun, none of that mattered.
Yet when they arrived at the Hollow, she could only stand there blankly, staring at the rolling purple mass ahead of them. Ether's distinctive glow flowed slowly across the Hollow's surface.
Only then did Ellen suddenly realize she knew absolutely nothing about this Hollow—let alone had a carrot for it.
She contacted Belle. Belle said she'd never been there before either, and without any data to work from, she couldn't make a carrot.
"No choice… I'll post a commission on the Inter-Knot and see if anyone's selling one."
Ellen let out a quiet sigh.
If it came down to it, she'd just buy a carrot and make do.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, Ellen turned around and said, "Phaga, you go mess around over there for a bit. I'll finish this up real quick, okay?"
Phaga: "?"
Wasn't it you who dragged me out here?
And you didn't even prepare properly?
After thinking for a moment, Phaga suggested, "Then maybe we should head ba—"
"No!"
Ellen was completely focused on typing on her phone, not even looking up. "I'm posting the commission on the Inter-Knot right now! In no time at all, Proxies will be fighting over each other to sell me carrots!"
Almost immediately, Ellen's eyes lit up.
Less than ten seconds after she hit [Post Commission], a Proxy who was clearly glued to the Inter-Knot requested a private chat and sent over a quote.
"NICE!"
Ellen clenched her fist and pumped it in the air, turning around in excitement and holding up her phone, practically wanting to slap the Proxy's message straight onto Phaga's face.
But the excitement only lasted a moment.
Realizing she might be acting a bit too happy, Ellen quickly forced her smile down, gave a soft huff, and turned her head aside. She left Phaga with only a side profile—cheeks faintly flushed—as she tried to look cool and aloof.
"Hmph. See? I told you I'd handle it quickly."
Phaga couldn't help but smile wryly at the sight. He shrugged, then reached out and gently patted her head, treating his clumsy girlfriend with the same indulgence one might show a child.
Before Ellen could get embarrassed enough to bite him, Phaga sighed helplessly and said,
"Alright, I admit it—you're amazing. But you don't seriously think that phone in your hand can decompress several terabytes of carrots, do you?"
A moment earlier, Ellen had been extremely unhappy about Phaga touching her head.
Today, she was supposed to be the domineering wolf-like woman. How could she keep getting doted on like usual, making Phaga look like he had no awareness of being the junior at all?
But the instant she heard that her phone couldn't decompress the carrot data, Ellen froze.
She blinked, once… twice… her mind completely blank.
When she finally raised her head again, the first thing she saw was Phaga's gentle smile—warm, patient, without the slightest hint of reproach.
Something heavy settled in her chest.
An unfamiliar emotion piled up there, making her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
It was as if some invisible force was pushing her from behind, urging her to crash straight into Phaga's chest, take a big bite out of him, then close her eyes and wait for him to bite back—
"Mmmph! Mmmph mmmph!"
Ellen suddenly let out muffled cries.
A hand covered her mouth, and an arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her up and carrying her several steps away before ducking behind a rock.
"Shh. Keep it down. Someone's coming."
The calm, steady voice made Ellen slowly regain her composure.
She looked up, blinking repeatedly. Her long lashes nearly brushed Phaga's face as she stared into his crimson eyes.
First glance—beautiful. Like amber.
Second glance—wait, no.
Phaga had activated his vampire vision.
After spending so long together, Ellen knew his eyes were normally black.
Only when he spread his wings, or deliberately activated his vampire vision, would his pupils turn that deep crimson.
Which meant—
If Phaga's eyes were red, there was an enemy nearby.
Ellen reacted instantly. She slipped out of his arms and crouched low, eyes sharp and alert as she scanned the surroundings—from the staircase to the west all the way to the dunes in the south.
"Which direction?"
"South by southwest. About thirty degrees," Phaga replied quietly. "They're blocked by a big rock. You can't see them from here."
As a vampire, Phaga's vision ignored terrain and locked directly onto heat signatures. Seeing people behind cover was effortless for him.
Put him in an FPS game and he'd absolutely be vote-kicked for hacking.
Ellen frowned slightly. "How many? Could they just be passersby?"
"More than ten. And resting here? I don't think so."
Phaga shook his head, hesitated briefly, then said, "Their clothing… it looks like rebel gear. Hm—Mr. Lycaon?"
Before he could finish the sentence, his jacket pocket vibrated. He took out his phone—it was a call from Lycaon.
Without hesitation, Phaga swiped to answer.
[Good afternoon, Mr. Lycaon.]
[Good afternoon. But this isn't the time for pleasantries. Phaga, we've received a new commission. You've seen the recent news, right? TOPS has been pushed into a corner and is trying to hire rebels to incite an uprising.]
[Mrs. Meilin has directly commissioned Victoria Housekeeping to eliminate the rebels as much as possible. If we can do it in the Outer Ring, even better.]
Phaga's gaze unconsciously drifted toward the large rock not far away.
Behind it, the dozen or so rebels resting there suddenly felt a chill run down their spines and sprang upright.
They turned around.
…It was just a rock.
And it was still the middle of the afternoon. How could it be cold?
They laughed it off, scolding themselves for getting spooked, and lay back down again.
After all, once they reached the city, they'd be risking their lives anyway.
They never realized that a vampire had been watching them intently for a long time before finally looking away.
Phaga let out a slow breath and replied,
[Understood. Though, if I recall correctly, Mrs. Meilin isn't officially an executive of TOPS… I see how it is now.]
At first, he hadn't understood.
But the pieces fell into place quickly.
Was this "every man for himself when disaster strikes," or simply the inherent weakness of a certain class?
[As long as you understand. Whether it's fulfilling Mrs. Meilin's commission or protecting ordinary civilians, this is our responsibility.]
[Understood.]
Phaga nodded. Just as he was about to hang up, another thought crossed his mind.
[Mr. Lycaon.]
[Do you have another question?]
[Where has the military been deployed?]
[Possibly to something more important. Possibly to the borders of New Eridu. I don't have that information.]
[Then the Outer Ring…]
[The Outer Ring isn't considered part of New Eridu. Taxes can't be collected there.]
[…That's one hell of a dark joke. Alright. I understand.]
Phaga ended the call and let out a deep sigh.
After a long moment, he opened his eyes and spoke rapidly.
"Ellen. Call Corin right now and have her pass the phone to Lucy. Tell her there's a large concentration of rebels gathering in the Outer Ring—she'll know how to read the situation."
"Then go back to the car and grab your weapons."
"We're about to make a big move."