"I've already asked G36 and the girls before. Commander, you don't seem to have any festival habits... although this request is a bit...," Springfield said, gauging Renault's expression.
Renault waved his hand dismissively. "Okay, no need to be so twisted. You just want to celebrate the holiday, right? Do you have things prepared?"
Usually, M1 Garland and G36 were straightforward when talking to Renault. Suddenly encountering someone like Springfield, who paid attention to wording, caught Renault off guard. He soon noticed a few little ones hiding on the deck nearby, their eyes fixed on him, fearing he would refuse Springfield's request.
After spending several days in the city, if Springfield and the girls had remembered, it was nearing Christmas, they should have already prepared their supplies, right? He didn't think he had limited the amount of supplies they could purchase for the ship.
Although the amount of supplies they purchased was quite large, the money spent wasn't particularly significant. After all, dolls weren't humans, and aside from RFB and G11, who were the two big spenders, the other dolls didn't have any bad habits. Probably?
Moreover, most of the things the dolls purchased were ordinary products. They didn't need expensive cosmetics or luxury items for window dressing. The money spent during the days in the city wasn't worth mentioning compared to what Renault had spent on the black market before.
"Hey? Because there was no permission, so..." Springfield was surprised by Renault's words and was about to explain when she recalled that all root protocol restrictions had long been deleted by Renault.
Their behavioral patterns had no limitations anymore.
Two days ago, because Renault didn't mention it, they naturally didn't make any preparations and were waiting for Renault to give orders. Now that she thought about it, Renault had said at the time that procurement of supplies only needed to be mentioned to M1 Garland.
But she had focused on buying various appliances for the café and later purchased coffee beans and even a coffee sapling with NZ75 and CF05. She had wondered why Renault would agree to growing coffee on the airship. Now it made sense.
Her mode of thinking was still stuck in the previous state and hadn't transitioned. Buying the coffee sapling was probably CF05's idea.
The few dolls who had just joined Renault's side were likely in the same state, unable to adjust quickly.
"So, unprepared? How about this: you guys discuss it, make a list, and then we'll buy the stuff and leave. We won't linger in the city."
Hearing Renault's suggestion, Springfield nodded and turned back to the little ones hiding nearby, waving them over.
"How's it going? Did the commander agree?" MG42 asked eagerly as Springfield approached.
The other dolls looked at Springfield expectantly, hoping for good news.
"Yes, he agreed, but..."
"But what?"
"Eh, nothing. The commander just reminded us to be more proactive next time..." Springfield scratched her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
They had missed an opportunity to make purchases when the airship was in the city before. It was unavoidable to feel a bit foolish.
"Be proactive?" G43 tilted her head, not quite understanding.
"Could it be that he wants us to be more proactive when buying things?" MG34 was surprised. She hadn't thought a commander would advise his team to be proactive in shopping.
Only Renault had the courage to let his dolls buy things as they pleased. In Griffin, their little salary was spent on necessities, with no extra money for shopping.
A commander allowing free shopping was unheard of!
"Ahem, probably. Let's discuss and write a list of things to purchase, and ask others if there's anything they want," Springfield suggested.
A group of dolls sat in a circle, chattering and discussing what they wanted to buy.
Renault gathered up the clutter around him and greeted the SOP2 and UMP9 still running wild on the nearby island.
Returning to the familiar airport was a breeze for WZ.29. Renault wasn't planning to visit any other closer cities; a little time back and forth didn't matter.
Besides, Springfield and the girls were familiar with Griffin's headquarters location, making it easier for them to get what they wanted.
"How come you guys didn't mention wanting to celebrate festivities in the past two years?" Renault asked M1911, who was walking back from Springfield's side.
"Eh, before, our situation didn't look good, so we didn't bring it up..." she said. With better food under Renault's care, they almost forgot about festivals.
Renault touched M1911's head, exchanging a small expression of dissatisfaction.
Scratching his chin, he wondered if he should prepare some gifts for his dolls. Christmas was about giving gifts, right?
Thinking about their preferences, Renault pondered where to buy the gifts without being discovered by the dolls. Why did this seem more challenging than those previous commissions?
Although there were only a few dozen dolls, distributed across an entire city, it was nothing. But the dolls could connect to the public communication network, and with Renault's help, they could access some public facilities' monitoring equipment. Hiding from their view would be a real challenge.