With the map in hand, Sylvia's exploration speed picked up quite a bit.
At least she'd already located the central elevator's position—she could head up whenever she wanted.
As for Arlan, if Sylvia remembered correctly, he should be holed up in an empty office right about now. No real danger there, at least.
While Sylvia was midway down a corridor, a glowing screen suddenly flickered into existence beside her.
Then, Silver Wolf's voice came through:
"Hey, hey, can you hear me?"
"Whoa—!"
The sudden sound made Sylvia jolt. She turned toward the screen and couldn't help complaining:
"What are you doing… You scared me half to death. I thought another Voidranger had popped out."
"Tsk, I came looking for you out of the goodness of my heart."
"I don't believe you."
Sylvia's instant reply made a vein bulge on Silver Wolf's forehead.
"I bet you're just here looking for amusement. You definitely dumped all the work on Kafka, didn't you."
On the other end, Silver Wolf blinked in surprise. How did this woman guess everything?
Seeing Silver Wolf fall silent, Sylvia immediately snorted:
"Hmph, I knew it. And you must be here on the station too, right? Why not just come over?"
"What do you know, huh?"
Silver Wolf couldn't help rolling her eyes at the screen before explaining:
"I'm helping you avoid suspicion!"
"I modified your voice and image feed so no one notices. If I went over in person, it'd be a pain to operate remotely."
Hearing Silver Wolf's annoyed grumbling, Sylvia raised an eyebrow:
"That… considerate of you?"
"…Want me to leave right now?"
"No, no, no—keep me company. There's not a soul around here; it's really boring."
As she spoke, Sylvia pushed open another bulkhead door and, with a swift slash, dispatched the Voidranger lurking behind it.
"You're heading… toward where Herta stores her Curios?"
Silver Wolf ran a quick location check and realized Sylvia was moving toward a containment chamber.
"Mm. Asta gave me the station's 3D map. I noticed I'm nearby, so I thought I'd drop by for a look."
Sylvia's explanation sounded perfectly earnest, but Silver Wolf on the other end laughed:
"Sure it's not because you couldn't find Herta's little doll, so you're planning to swipe something else instead—so you don't leave empty-handed?"
"For one, I haven't been browsing that long, and two, are you slandering me right now?"
"Heh, you're the one doing shady stuff, and you won't even let people talk about it."
"…"
Sylvia comforted herself: since Silver Wolf wasn't here in person, she wouldn't bother fighting over this petty argument.
She'd wait until she caught Silver Wolf herself, then pay her back properly.
This time, she absolutely had to give Silver Wolf's duck hair a good, hard ruffle!
While bickering with Silver Wolf, Sylvia had already drawn near the Curio storage room.
Just then, Silver Wolf—who had been complaining about boredom moments earlier—suddenly perked up, her tone turning lively:
"Hey, hey, look what I found—a gun that gives people scores, from zero to a hundred. Go check what you'd get."
"Do you even know what its scoring criteria are? And you're sending me in."
"Nope, no idea. That's why I want you to go. If you score low, I'm gonna laugh at you so hard~"
"How childish."
"Not childish at all. Go on, go on—I'll guide you."
As she spoke, an arrow appeared on the floating screen beside Sylvia, pointing the way forward.
Perched on top of the arrow was a chibi Silver Wolf sprite.
Sylvia was speechless but followed along anyway.
"You really must be bored—skipping out on the mission to chat with me here."
"Heh, this operation's main script belongs to Kafka anyway. How was I supposed to know it'd be even duller than the last one? Only these toys are mildly interesting."
The Silver Wolf sprite turned around, sitting on the arrow's shaft, swinging her little legs and gesturing at Sylvia.
Sylvia followed behind, staring at the sprite for a while before finally saying:
"And you have the nerve to call Herta's puppets 'Herta dolls'? I think your Silver Wolf sprite gives them a run for their money."
But the Silver Wolf sprite made an obvious expression of disdain, scoffed, and said:
"Tch, clearly my sprite is cuter! That Herta's just a narcissist—she modeled her dolls after her younger self. I'd never do something that vain."
"…"
Sylvia fell silent.
Looking at the pontificating Silver Wolf sprite, she found it truly difficult to decide who was more vain—Silver Wolf or Herta.
Silver Wolf seemed to pick up on Sylvia's unnatural silence and suddenly shut up.
Then she bounced up, whipped out a mini-Prometheus, and swung it toward Sylvia's head.
"…You were totally thinking in your head that I'm just as vain as Herta, weren't you!"
Since the little thing didn't pack much force, Sylvia just raised her hand and blocked the sprite's furious attack.
Still, when the mini-Prometheus connected, there was even a comical bonk sound effect.
"You've got persecution complex, you know that? I suggest you see a therapist."
"Get lost! Your eyes and expression just now—you were definitely thinking it."
"…"
Silence. Deafening silence.
Sylvia looked at the chibi Silver Wolf sprite wearing an 'angry' face and found it hard to force out a lie.
She really did think Silver Wolf's vanity was on par with Herta's.
Just as Silver Wolf was about to jump up for another round…
A Trampler charged out from nowhere.
Sylvia flipped her wrist and brought up her sword to block, while the Silver Wolf sprite rushed forward, cursing and bashing away at the Trampler with a series of clanks and clatters.
Every time Prometheus came down, it sent a few pixelated special effects flying.
At the same time, the Silver Wolf sprite trailed a rope behind her, tying the Trampler up tightly in a few quick motions.
Sylvia watched, utterly speechless.
"Quick! DPS—I've got the enemy controlled for you!"
Just as the Silver Wolf sprite called out to Sylvia, the Trampler let out a roar, twisted forcefully, and sent the sprite flying.
"…Some control that was."
Sylvia couldn't help rolling her eyes, then stepped forward and drove a fist straight into the Trampler's abdomen!
Boom—!
Amid swaying flames came a violent shockwave and impact, instantly smashing the Trampler backward and slamming it hard into the alloy wall.
With a screeching crash, the smooth wall dented inward deeply.
Sylvia flipped her grip, raised her greatsword, and hurled it.
The long blade, trailing blazing fire, pierced the Trampler's body the next instant. The flames flickering along the sword's surface stirred as if by an unseen wind, swiftly engulfing its form.
Right then, the Silver Wolf sprite—who'd been knocked away—stuck a cross-shaped bandage on her own cheek.
At the same time, a 'Level UP' icon lit up above her head.
"Nice teamwork. We wrecked house together—leveled up ten times in one go!"
The Silver Wolf sprite reached up and patted Sylvia's shoulder.
The laughter in her tone was impossible to hide.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.