"Are you sure this is the place?"
"Rest assured. That's the tracker you made with your own hands. Even if it doesn't work well inside the Hollow, shouldn't it work fine outside?"
Geno looked at the round little instrument in his hand; a red dot on it was flashing incessantly.
"Is it the tracker I'm worried about? It's you I'm worried about! How can I rest easy with a guy who can get lost even while looking at a map?"
Twiggy roasted Geno's past 'glories' without holding back. Even with 'Carrot' data, he could get lost inside a Hollow. If he weren't an Ethereal, who knows which nook or cranny his bones would be buried in by now.
"I told you, that time was an accident. How was I supposed to know that dial had to be read upside down?"
Geno attempted to quibble, but he didn't expect that Twiggy wouldn't give him even a shred of face.
"Let's just say, is there a possibility that you were holding it upside down?"
He couldn't distinguish north from south on the road, couldn't understand up from down on a map—whether he understood anything relied entirely on the power of 'I reckon'.
It was a good thing Number 8 and the others had someone to guide them after waking up; otherwise, no one would have known where to fish him out from.
"I definitely didn't hold it upside down this time. When I caught that pink-haired girl, I secretly stuck the tracker on the sole of her shoe. She has an injury on her foot, so she won't discover it for a while."
Geno made a solemn guarantee. Although Twiggy was still somewhat skeptical, she chose to believe him for the time being.
After all, when it came to leading the way, this guy was always the most unreliable one. But considering she made the machine herself, she would reserve a little trust value for herself.
At least this time, she had labeled North, South, East, and West on the instrument.
Beep beep beep beep~
"Hmm? This means we're very close?"
Twiggy noticed the anomaly in the instrument and quickly looked up to survey their surroundings.
Although this was still part of the Old District, it was already the fringe zone. According to the map, this should be the Janus Zone.
"Let me see. The nearest block to here is Sixth Street. They should be right around here."
As he spoke, prepared to continue tracking, Geno suddenly discovered that the red dot representing the tracker had disappeared. No matter how he operated it, it wouldn't reappear.
"Looks like it was discovered. But it doesn't matter; the search range is already small enough. We don't need to make contact with them for now. Let's go, we have serious business to attend to first."
Geno quickly understood what had happened and didn't panic. He put away the instrument, took Twiggy's hand, and walked in the direction of Sixth Street.
-----------------
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"..."
"..."
This was a signboard... a signboard erected at the most conspicuous entrance to the street, marked with various directional arrows.
Upon finishing the content on this signboard, both Twiggy and the rather flighty Geno wore faces full of bewilderment.
Are... are the city folk here always this casual?
Geno recalled the scenic spots from his previous life; which one didn't vigorously promote their rich history or cultural specialties? This was the first time he had seen a district introduction as abstract as Sixth Street's.
"Oh my, you two must be from out of town, right?"
Geno snapped back to reality, hearing a vigorous middle-aged voice. An image of a bold and uninhibited middle-aged uncle instantly appeared in his mind.
"Ah, yes, the two of us came from outside the city area. We want to live here."
Thinking to build good relations with the locals, Geno subconsciously put on his 'social face' and turned around.
But when he looked toward the source of the voice, he found his field of vision completely empty.
"Eh? Where is he?"
"Down here, down here. Young man, lower your head."
Geno followed the instruction and lowered his head. Only then did he see the owner of the voice—a red-skinned... tumbler toy less than a meter tall?
"Sigh~ Young people these days, the nutrition is just too good. Everyone is big and tall; it's a struggle for an old guy like me to even strike up a conversation."
"Oh, look at me being overly familiar. Did I scare you two? I'm Chop. I own a ramen shop on this Sixth Street. Just call me Master Chop."
Master Chop didn't mind Geno's surprise. After all, not every place in this world had a species like his, and not every place was like New Eridu, inclusive of all kinds of cultures.
"Hello, Master Chop. Apologies, it's my first time seeing someone like you, so I was a bit rude."
"Hahaha, it's okay, young man. Are you two new to New Eridu?"
Master Chop smiled until his eyes narrowed into a slit; he had evidently seen many people like Geno before.
"Yes, we just arrived. We're strangers in a strange land, and then we saw this..."
Geno pointed to the magical little road sign behind him.
"Oh, that road sign. That was a slogan written back when everyone first moved here a long time ago. Although it looks a bit strange now, it was a very popular slogan back then~"
Master Chop was clearly good at chatting. In just a few words, he explained most of the common knowledge for entering New Eridu to Geno.
Then, he enthusiastically offered to take them to the Security Bureau to handle their identification papers.
This gave Geno quite a scare.
"Um, we can go by ourselves later. Didn't you say you have a shop open? You..."
Hearing Geno mention this, Master Chop remembered that he had come out to pick up ingredients and there was no one watching the shop.
"Right, right, look at my memory. Then, Little Geno, you guys wander around the street first. Once I've tidied up things at the shop, I'll take you to the Security Bureau. Don't worry, the neighbors on the street are all good people."
After pulling back and forth for a while, they finally managed to send Master Chop on his way.
Geno, letting out a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead. This was more tiring than beating up Ethereals in a Hollow.
"Twiggy, let's go solve the ID issue now, to avoid any complications later. Twiggy?"
Geno called Twiggy's name twice, but found no one responding.
Looking back, he saw Twiggy squatting on the ground, tinkering with something in her hands.
"What are you doing?"
Geno leaned in, slowly squatting down, wanting to see what trick Twiggy was playing.
"Ta-da~ How is it?"
"Whoa~"
Twiggy suddenly turned her head. That unfamiliar appearance gave Geno a jump on the spot.
Her originally snow-white hair was now pitch black, and her eye color had changed to brown, just like Geno's.
At the same time, Twiggy had applied a disguise to her face. Her entire appearance was completely different from before.
"You possess this kind of skill?"
"Don't underestimate a woman's talent for makeup, especially when I am also a scientist."
Although he didn't know what the connection was between makeup and being a scientist, Geno still felt it was impressive.
"This way, even if we run into Captain Anby again, she definitely won't be able to recognize me."
Twiggy was very confident. With this, she could safely investigate matters concerning Anby right by her side.
And for this purpose, they needed to have a turf of their own on this Sixth Street.
-----------------
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