Nicole felt genuinely touched by Wise's words. After all, nobody at the Cunning Hares ever bothered making her breakfast.
Everyone was constantly rushing to complete commissions, and aside from her, hardly anyone knew how to cook. So having a proper breakfast was basically impossible.
Things only improved slightly when Nekomata showed up a while ago, but within days, Anby began dragging her to the video store daily to mooch free meals.
Although Nicole convinced herself it helped cut expenses, even she felt a faint embarrassment about the two of them freeloading everyday.
Lost in those thoughts, she picked up a sandwich from the table and took a bite. In the next instant, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Mmm!"
"What's the matter, Nicole? Are you choking? Here, take some milk and drink a few sips to wash it down."
Seeing her reaction, Belle quickly poured Nicole a cup of milk, but Nicole's face immediately twisted with discomfort as she waved the milk away, refusing it entirely.
She'd already had way too much milk today. Any more and she'd start hating it.
Belle understood immediately. Nicole's current state was nearly identical to something she had once gone through herself.
She shot a fierce glare at Wise beside her before turning to pour Nicole a glass of orange juice instead.
Though Belle had calmed her down earlier, Nicole still couldn't stop herself from praising the sandwich in her hand.
"This sandwich is absolutely amazing! Best one I've ever had!" she declared, chomping down on another big bite.
When she finished, she even licked her slim, pale fingers clean, looking like she wanted more. Then she suddenly froze up.
'Wait, did I wash my hands?'
Nicole felt kinda grossed out realizing that, but she also hated wasting food. She gave Wise across the table a reproachful glare.
Getting up, she headed to the bathroom to wash her hands and rinse her mouth properly, then came back to keep eating happily.
Once Nicole was done and left looking super satisfied, Belle immediately blocked Wise's path as he tried to get up and do the dishes.
"Brother, don't you think you owe me an explanation? What exactly is going on here?!"
Belle was totally confused about how her brother had suddenly grown so close to Nicole.
Their relationship definitely hadn't been this intimate before.
"Well, it goes back to last time..." Wise told her about the deal he made with Nicole.
When Belle heard this, she was surprised and a little angry.
"So you blackmailed Nicole with this, forcing her to..." Belle stopped herself from finishing that sentence.
While she had no problem with her brother being surrounded by girls, if he'd achieved it through blackmail, that was completely unacceptable.
Realizing he'd been misunderstood, Wise immediately clarified.
"I didn't blackmail Nicole at all. She approached me on her own."
"What? Really? Using this method to clear her debt... actually, if it's Nicole, that does seem like her style." Belle hesitated, then frowned. "Hold on, that's beside the point. Even if Nicole agreed to it willingly, you're still using the Proxy's earnings to fund your personal interests!"
As she said this, she shot Wise a harsh look, though her anger had clearly lessened. Seeing that, he figured he was in the clear.
"Alright, what do you want? I'll get it for you."
"Yay, Brother, you're the best! Wait a moment, I'll go pick a few things."
Belle happily walked over and gave Wise a quick kiss before practically skipping back to her room to begin her online shopping spree.
As for why she didn't go lie down on the couch in the staff room, it was simple. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned yet.
After Belle was gone, Wise headed into the room to clean up the sofa. But right then, Fairy suddenly spoke up.
[|Master, I've just intercepted someone attempting to dox you.|]
Upon hearing this, Wise, who was in the middle of cleaning the sofa, froze. He then waved his hand casually.
"That's nothing unusual. What Proxy hasn't dealt with being doxed at some point?"
[|No, Master. While reverse-tracking them, I found something odd. They weren't trying to dox you through the Inter-Knot, but because of your novel.|]
"Novel?" Wise's tone carried genuine confusion, and Fairy elaborated further.
[|Correct, the novel. While examining the account information I retrieved for this individual, I found a private message intended for you: 'You scoundrel, hurry up and post more chapters! Who can survive on just ten chapters a day? Don't you want your gifts anymore?'|]
After Fairy delivered the other party's message with such vivid accuracy, Wise went quiet.
While he was impressed by Fairy's ability to capture the tone so well, what really caught his attention was how familiar that tone felt.
This person frequently sent him gifts and had even become his number one supporter.
On top of that, when he'd taken a break from updating previously, this same person had seemingly threatened to track him down and literally tie him up until he continued writing.
Back then, Wise had brushed it off as empty words.
Coupled with the fact that it was the eve of the Old Capital's fall, he naturally had no time to deal with such matters. He just didn't expect the other party to actually follow through with doxing him.
"Is that person's username 'Golden Silk Princess's Elegy'?"
[|Yes, Master.|]
"Alright, I get it."
Wise found it rather absurd that someone would actually dox an author just to get novel updates, but this person was his top supporter and appeared to have considerable wealth.
Even though he was no longer short on money, Wise decided to send them a message anyway.
Meanwhile, far away in Blazewood in the Outer Ring, inside the Sons of Calydon's camp.
Lucy, who had been passing time reading a novel, abruptly received a notification.
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LUCY
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"Huh? It's that author. Why would he contact me out of nowhere? Did I scare him?"
At this thought, Lucy couldn't suppress a pleased hum.
Sure, the doxing didn't really work, but if she managed to scare him, she might as well use this chance to pressure him into posting dozens more chapters.
But when Lucy actually opened his message, she completely froze up and almost dropped her phone.
| Hello, may I ask if this is Miss Luciana Auxesis Theodoro de Montefio, who lives in Blazewood? |
Lucy held her phone with shaky hands. She looked pretty nervous on the outside, but honestly, she was freaking out way more inside. Still, just panicking wasn't gonna help anything right now.
'Calm down, calm down, Lucy. You have to stay calm right now. Sure, he just called out my real name online, but… but how am I supposed to stay calm?! I was trying to dox him, and now I'm the one who got exposed instead!'
At this point, Lucy had completely forgotten about demanding more updates. What mattered now was the safety of her personal information.
She was about to reply carefully when another message came through.
| Miss Lucy, don't panic. I don't have any bad intentions. |
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-> To have access to more than 35 extra chapters, go to:
[-p -a -t -r -e -o -n . com/DysFiction.]
-> To make a don@tion go to:
[ ko - fi .com /dysfiction ]
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Novels Available:
-> Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street. (Translation)
-> Azur Lane: Don't Fight! You're All My Wives! (Translation)
-> Zenless Zone Zero: Death in White. (Original)
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