Chapter 374: The Three-Way Manifestation
Ayla spoke for approximately fifteen minutes.
Throughout the duration, Gu Mu never once checked his terminal or allowed his
focus to drift. He simply listened, occasionally injecting a precise query into
the data stream.
Sora leaned back with her tea, observing the pair from a detached, bystander
perspective.
An Elf who had spent two centuries conducting folkloric research for the Empire.
A shut-in structural technician who had spent three years on Eldritch
construction sites and two months obsessively auditing Elven culture via the
forums.
Their communication protocols were polar opposites. Ayla was logically
crystalline, her expressions possessing the precision of a peer-reviewed thesis.
Gu Mu was terse, yet he maintained synchronization effortlessly, his questions
consistently tagging the exact details Ayla had just manifested.
Sora glanced at Kaito against the wall. His soul-fire remained stable, showing
zero fluctuation. However, his bony finger tapped the armrest of the chair.
Just once.
Sora couldn't be certain of the intent behind the gesture, but her intuition
suggested it was a "Logic Confirmed" signal—a sign of approval.
At 15:40, Wen Xiao arrived.
When she pushed the door open, she clearly hadn't calculated for the presence of
other clients. She froze, her "Social Anxiety" debuff spiking instantly. Sora
stood up to stabilize the situation.
"Wen Xiao! Come in, take a seat. We had this session locked in for today,
remember?"
Wen Xiao nodded, hugging her bag to her chest as she shuffled along the wall to
the chair beside Sora. Her entry caused a temporary pause in Gu Mu and Ayla's
conversation; both turned to look at her.
Wen Xiao's face turned a violent crimson. "My apologies… am I interfering with a
protocol?"
"Not at all. The timing is optimal," Sora said. She introduced the parties.
"This is another client, Wen Xiao—a trainee nurse at the Imperial Public
Hospital."
Ayla offered a polite nod. "Ayla Windwhisper. Cultural Exchange Squad."
Gu Mu offered a stiff nod as well, before immediately lowering his head to
resume auditing the documents. Wen Xiao whispered a faint "Hello" and fell into
a "Silent Standby" mode.
Sora audited the current room configuration: an Elven researcher, an otaku
architect, a pathologically shy nurse, a "playing dead" Sovereign, and a blue
jelly hidden in a hood.
The bureau's operations were definitely exceeding standard business parameters
today.
Just as Sora was about to engage Wen Xiao in a private channel, Bochi decided to
manifest. He scrambled out of Kaito's hood, bouncing onto the table next to Gu
Mu's documents. His black-bead eyes were wide with chaotic enthusiasm.
"So, you're the one who wants to acquire an Elven wife?!"
The reception room hit a state of absolute silence.
Gu Mu's face froze with the speed of a terminal system crash. Ayla's pen stopped
mid-air. Wen Xiao's bag nearly slid off her lap.
Sora turned her head slowly to look at Kaito, her expression a mask of forced
composure. Kaito's soul-fire didn't flicker. He simply uttered a single, low
command.
"Bochi."
Bochi immediately shrank his physical volume by half. "I was just… verifying the
variables..."
Gu Mu remained silent for three seconds. He then turned to Ayla, his expression
struggling to maintain structural integrity. "My mother… that was the 'Marketing
Pitch' she gave the bureau."
Ayla set down her pen. She didn't manifest any signs of being offended. Instead,
she responded in a purely academic frequency.
"The Elven definition of a 'Partner' differs significantly from human
parameters. That particular phrasing carries a high 'Semantic Deviation' in our
linguistic context." She paused. "However, I understand your mother's intended
logic."
Gu Mu buried his face in his hands, his voice muffled by his fingers. "My
apologies."
"Unnecessary," Ayla resumed her notes. "Your mother's attitude toward
cross-species variables is significantly more 'Open-Access' than most residents
of this city. That is an objective observation, not sarcasm."
Beside them, Wen Xiao discreetly covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with a
suppressed giggle.
Sora pulled her focus back and pushed a form toward Wen Xiao. "Let's focus on
your data. You're here alone today—perfect. We can audit the questions you
weren't comfortable answering with your mother present. Specifically: What are
your requirements for a partner?"
Wen Xiao looked up, meeting Sora's gaze. She was silent for several heartbeats.
"I'm… not entirely sure."
"Then define the 'Blacklist' variables. What don't you want?"
Wen Xiao thought for a moment. "I don't want anyone… overbearing."
"Anything else?"
"...Could it be..." Wen Xiao hugged her bag tighter. "Someone who… doesn't mind
if I don't speak much?"
Sora scribbled two lines on the form without looking up. "You don't lack
speech-capacity; you simply have a high 'Familiarity Threshold.' We've had
multiple sessions, and your word-count is well within normal ranges."
Wen Xiao blinked, appearing surprised by the audit. Sora pushed the form back to
her. "Continue the log. Vocation, shift-cycles, any specific habits or
preferences. Log it all."
At the other end of the table, Gu Mu and Ayla had pivoted from architectural
structures back to botanical specimens. Ayla produced a sealed bag containing
several pressed leaves.
"I collected these in the East District, but I cannot verify if they are a
'Native Species' or a 'Post-Annexation Introduction.' Given your structural
inspections, have you seen where this flora manifests?"
Gu Mu took the bag, holding it up against the light. "I have. District Four,
near the abandoned hospital ruins. They grow in the fissures of the masonry.
They were there both before and after the Scourge-Era."
"The abandoned hospital?"
"The current Imperial Emergency Training Center. It was formerly an isolation
ward for infectious diseases, then an Anomaly nest, and now it's under
reconstruction."
Ayla flipped to a fresh page in her journal. "Can you provide 'Navigation
Assistance' to that site?"
Gu Mu handed the bag back. "I can."
Sora didn't look up, but she scribbled a small note in her ledger: [Initial
Success. Follow-up required.]
Bochi discreetly slid over, peeking at the note, and offered Sora a tiny,
encouraging tentacle-thumbs-up.
Sora whispered: "Stay in stealth mode."
Bochi immediately pulled back, resuming his "Blue Ornament" disguise.
At 16:30, the clients began their exit protocols.
Ayla and Gu Mu scheduled a "Field Audit" for the day after tomorrow at the
District Four ruins. As they left, they synchronized their communication
terminals.
Wen Xiao handed her completed form to Sora. At the door, she paused for a
second.
"Owner Sora… that 'Mr. Cold'… the Tier-4 Anomaly. You said he was seeking
someone with 'Temperature,' correct?"
Sora nodded.
Wen Xiao looked down at her hands. "I work in the hospital. I monitor body
temperatures every day. My own basal temperature is 0.3 degrees higher than the
human average."
She pushed the door open and exited.
Sora held her pen, staring at the closed door for two seconds. Then, she added a
new line to her chart:
[Wen Xiao & Mr. Cold: Awaiting compatibility audit.]
The only ones left in the reception room were Kaito, Bochi, Ruby, and Misty.
Kaito stood up, reached into his hood, and plucked Bochi out, setting him on
Sora's desk.
"I have an 'Order' to process."
Sora took a second to reboot. "You're heading out?"
"Mhm. Bochi stays here."
Bochi immediately inflated. "Master! I want to join the excursion!"
"You are assigned to assist Sora."
"But—"
"Behave."
Bochi deflated, slumping onto the desk and tapping the wood with a tentacle in
silent protest.
Kaito reached the door. Sora couldn't resist asking. "Mr. Kaito… what kind of
'Order'?"
Kaito pushed the door open. Outside, the streets were teeming with life as the
dusk began to settle. He didn't look back.
"A request from a Ghost."
Sora: "..."
A ghost?
Her terminal hadn't received a single appointment notification for a ghost since
yesterday. She hurried to the door, peeking outside. Kaito's figure was already
distant, his silhouette vanishing around a street corner.
She stood there as the wind brushed past. The terminal remained blank.
But Kaito had said there was an order. One that existed outside the perception
of ordinary humans.
Logistics: Unknown.
☆☆☆
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