"Aren't you keeping any for yourself?" Clara asked, giving Firefly a puzzled look.
"No, no, I still owe you tens of millions, after all."
Firefly quickly shook her head.
"Alright then, I'll take it." Seeing her insistence, Clara didn't press further.
Though a bounty target worth only five million wasn't much to Firefly, the fact that she handed over every bit of the reward without keeping a single credit for herself…
A girl willing to give you everything she has—now that's a rare find.
Clara was utterly smitten.
Even if this money was just Firefly repaying a debt…
But speaking of which, exactly how much does Firefly still owe me now?
She paid back five million, so that leaves… uh… fifty million, right?
The original fifty million, plus the interest that's piled up over these days, comes to around fifty-five million. Now that she's returned five million, Firefly still owes me fifty million.
Yep, that's right—still fifty million to go.
"Firefly, after paying back five million, you still owe me fifty million, you know~" Clara "kindly" reminded her.
"Huh? But I only borrowed fifty million, didn't I?" Firefly looked confused.
"Loans come with interest, silly. It's a rule passed down from the ancestors—can't break tradition."
"Oh, right, of course." Firefly nodded, not sensing anything off.
Her desire to earn money burned even brighter now.
"By the way, how did you turn in the bounty target and collect the reward from the Corporation?"
Clara thought of this point and asked Firefly curiously.
Logically, Firefly's own priority should be far higher than some five-million-credit fugitive.
So, if Firefly brought the target to the Corporation, not only would she likely not get the reward—she might end up getting caught herself.
"I didn't activate Sam. When I captured the fugitive, I used only my own strength," Firefly explained to Clara.
She usually carried out missions in her Sam form, so the Corporation's bounty was only on Sam. Firefly herself wasn't on their wanted list.
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Clara looked at her with surprise and asked with interest,
"With those slender arms and legs of yours, you actually managed to take down a fugitive?"
"Who are you looking down on!"
At that, Firefly pouted, seeming a little offended.
"Even if my personal combat skills aren't much, dealing with some low-tier million-credit fugitives is more than enough, okay~"
After saying this, Firefly summoned her own sword—a gleaming emerald-green blade.
She then gave it a few practice swings, demonstrating her grip and posture. She really did look like someone trained with a sword.
"Well? What do you think?"
After showing off a few moves, Firefly shot Clara a proud look.
Clara placed her hands on her hips and calmly uttered a single word.
"Rusty."
Firefly: …
Well~ should've seen that coming from Clara /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
"But even if it's rusty, it's barely passable."
Seeing Firefly looking somewhat dejected, Clara quickly added.
"Hehe, it's not too bad, I guess."
Hearing Clara's praise, the sadness in Firefly's heart instantly vanished, and she scratched her head a little sheepishly.
With Firefly cheered up, Clara turned her gaze to where Silver Wolf had been.
Huh? Where's Silver Wolf? Wasn't she just here?
Puzzled, Clara followed the lingering traces of her presence and soon found Silver Wolf pinching Sparkle's cheeks.
"Masked Fool, Sparkle, isn't it? Ha! Bet you didn't expect to end up like this."
"Weren't you all high and mighty before? Where's that arrogance now?"
"What's wrong? Lost your spark?"
Silver Wolf kept squeezing Sparkle's cheeks while relentlessly taunting her.
"Ahahahahaha!"
"You damn—!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
Bound and helpless, Sparkle could only laugh uncontrollably while trying to retort.
"Ahahahahaha!"
"Just you… ahahahaha… wait."
"Ahahahaha!"
"Still threatening me?"
Hearing this, Silver Wolf raised an eyebrow, moved her hands to Sparkle's sides, and started tickling her mercilessly.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sparkle completely lost control, her laughter growing louder and more frantic.
"Ahahahahaha!"
"S-sorry… ahahahaha… I was wrong!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
Under normal circumstances, Sparkle would've kicked her halfway across the room by now. For the Aeon's sake, what does any of this have to do with me? Why am I taking the blame?
Are you insane, or am I?
But completely at Silver Wolf's mercy, Sparkle could only put on a pleading act.
However, Silver Wolf was too fired up to care about Sparkle's apologies. She casually grabbed something and stuffed it into Sparkle's mouth.
Then she proceeded to toy with her relentlessly, venting all her previous frustrations.
"Uh…"
Watching Silver Wolf like this, Clara decided it was best to keep it a secret that the so-called "Sparkle" from before was actually herself…
Sorry, Boss Sparkle, I'll remember you fondly~
...
Hey everyone, since you seemed a bit thirsty, I whipped up a filler chapter for you—don't I deserve some praise?
Just kidding, Shenhe's been messing with my flow, so these last two chapters might feel a bit messy /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~ I'll try to clean them up over the weekend when I have time.
Now, about Firefly—I've got two options in mind.
First, stick to the original plan and have them get together within a hundred chapters, probably around the Jarilo-VI arc. The pacing might be fast, and the emotional buildup could feel a bit light.
Second, have them confess during the Penacony—Land of Dreams arc. I promise I'll put my absolute best into writing the emotional progression for that.
Of course, this is just my own take /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
As for a third option… there isn't one.
As a harem story, there has to be a heroine!
(Too bad we can't go full harem ending though…)
…
T/N: No harem is great! Jarilo-VI arc bad ):
…
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