Wise went upstairs to grab a pair of his own trousers and lent them to Ellen, since it didn't feel right to bother Belle now, and Belle's pants would probably be too small anyway.
Though his pants were a bit big on Ellen, at least she no longer had to worry about accidentally exposing herself.
"Thank you, I'm leaving now."
After slipping them on, Ellen hurried out, leaving only that brief line behind. She was clearly desperate to get away.
Wise understood. Few girls could stay calm after what had happened, and in the end, things had turned out surprisingly well for him.
Pushing the thought aside, Wise closed the door and went back to his room. He'd just finished showering and was ready to lie down.
But when he reached the bed, he noticed the blankets bulging, as if something was hiding underneath.
Seeing that, Wise let out a helpless sigh. He didn't even need to guess who it was. Shaking his head, he climbed into bed anyway and prepared to sleep.
Then a familiar figure leaned against him, slipping an arm around his.
Who else could it be but Belle?
Wise gently patted her back and was about to drift off when Belle suddenly spoke again.
"Brother, what I just said... if, I mean if, is it possible..."
"ZZZ..."
Before Belle could finish, Wise was already snoring, as if he had fallen asleep instantly.
"Brother! Seriously, that makes me so mad... Fine, go to sleep!"
Belle puffed her cheeks in frustration, but she couldn't wake him back up. So she gave him a soft punch, hugged him tight, and closed her eyes to sleep too.
As for Wise, was he really asleep?
Obviously not. He just didn't know how to respond yet, so he chose to avoid the question entirely.
Wise was not ready to make a move on Belle yet, and he knew all too well that he was the only one holding himself back.
Belle, on the other hand, was a completely different story. However, at least he had managed to survive another day without incident.
><
The next morning, Wise woke up, washed, and followed his usual routine. It was still early, so he skipped opening the shop and focused on breakfast.
But before long, a special guest arrived. And no, it wasn't any of the female agents. It was the shepherd.
"Sorry to bother you so early. Did I wake you up?"
Belle had heard the noise too and got up, so the two siblings greeted the shepherd together.
"No, not at all. But is there something important that you're here so early?"
Facing the mysterious shepherd, Wise's first thought was that he must have some special request, since he usually had nothing else to trouble them with.
"Of course, listen to me. I have important news for you, Phaethon, and that is…" The shepherd slowly began to speak, dragging his words out.
"Say it already! Don't talk like you're telling riddles."
Belle couldn't handle his vague way of speaking and urged him to get to the point.
"Okay, okay, relax. By the way, got any tea?"
"Do you want tap water?" Belle shot back, already sounding annoyed.
"Uh, miss, that's too much. I've always been a loyal customer. Is this really how you treat me?" Shepherd asked, making a dramatic face.
"Are you going to talk or not?"
"Alright... Cough, cough, the message is simple. The routine investigation on Hollow Zero has started again."
"What?!" ×2
Both siblings reacted at the same time, their eyes going wide, while Shepherd stood there wearing a satisfied, almost proud look.
"Hmm, you heard correctly. The association seems prepared for a long campaign this time, turning the usual investigation into several stages. It might take quite a while, and upon receiving this news, I immediately thought of my most valued client, the renowned Phaethon!"
The shepherd hadn't stopped there. He figured the brother and sister would probably want to join the investigation, so he quietly left a back door open within the association's recruitment team.
If the two of them complete a test commission inside Hollow Zero, they will earn the right to legally investigate Hollow Zero as an external investigation team.
"This is indeed valuable intelligence, worthy of a cup of hot tea," Wise said, smiling.
"Well, I'll need some time to discuss it with my brother," Belle said.
"Of course. You can't make a decision like this first thing in the morning while you're still half asleep. You need to think it through carefully." Shepehard spoke calmly, then added, "Please consider it well. Once you've decided, you can come to Scott Outpost at any time to complete the testing request. I'll be on my way now."
With that, the shepherd hurried off, casting one last regretful glance at the teapot before leaving.
'Hmm, I'll treat him to a nice cup of tea next time,' Wise thought.
After talking it over, the siblings agreed they had no choice but to get involved with Hollow Zero, since the situation concerned their own teacher, who was also one of the culprits linked to the Hollow Zero crisis.
Even though they didn't like it, they chose to become Proxies so they could keep investigating, uncover the truth, and clear their teacher's name.
Putting that aside for now, Wise went to prepare breakfast, and after the two of them ate together, he decided to head to Scott Outpost.
Once they arrived by car, a soldier guided Wise to a tent. The moment he stepped inside, a woman greeted him with a smile.
"Hello, handsome young man, or should I call you 'Independent Investigator'? Let me introduce myself. My name is Ray Yersin, a researcher at the White Star Institute. You can just call me Ray as everyone else does."
"Hello, Ms. Ray," Wise said quietly.
"Hmm, very polite, but you don't need to be so formal with me. As long as you deliver my lovely observation data to me, I'll happily call you my dearest partner."
Wise had no objections. After accepting her commission, he got to work gathering the data.
However, he definitely wouldn't handle this himself. The system shop did have the Ether Resistance Constitution, but he hadn't redeemed it yet.
Since it wasn't needed at the moment, it made more sense to let Eous take over, especially because the decision was his to make anyway[1].
All Wise had to do was hand Eous to an association investigator and have her escort him into the Hollow.
She was a cute girl, too, but since she wasn't one of theirs, Wise could only act like an ordinary Bangboo.
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[1] The original author was clearly trying to drag the story, so just ignore that.