Chapter 153. Eden's Joining and Griseo's Arrival
"This should be fine now, right?"
At the moment she signed her name on the paper, Eden's joining Gensokyo Company became a sure thing.
When she finished saying she wanted to serve as music director, Xander was still chatting with a smile, and Bronya directly had the relevant manager draft an employment contract overnight.
The manager dragged out to work overtime had some complaints at first, but the instant he saw who the contract was for, he shivered all over.
"Wait, who is this?"
"Holy—Eden?"
"No way."
"Look again."
"Holy—it's really Eden!"
At once, he stopped complaining and stopped saying he was tired.
As if shot full of chicken blood, he prepared a contract at the fastest speed of his life and sent the digital version over.
"Boss, is it really Eden?!!!"
As he sent it, he couldn't help asking again, excited.
"Keep it quiet."
Those four short words were more convincing than a direct confirmation.
The manager's spirits hit a peak, and then he shut his mouth and said nothing more.
This feeling of keeping a secret for his idol—woohoo—hyped him right up.
"Actually, there was no need to be so hasty."
Her golden gaze tinged with a bit of helplessness, Eden looked at the group of girls opposite her who seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
"Ah, my dear Eden, don't say that."
"If we can't put Ya-ya and the girls at ease today, they might not be able to sleep~"
As she spoke, Elysia leaned against Eden and winked at Xander sitting directly across from them as if claiming credit.
Eden noticed this, yet rather than be annoyed, she found Miss Pink Elf in this state quite interesting.
A bit of inspiration bubbled up in her mind, so her gaze toward the two grew even softer.
"Um, Eden..."
"If you're addressing me, just follow Elysia."
Hearing that, Xander let out a breath and said with a smile, "All right then, Sister Eden, can we discuss the official announcement?"
Eden did not answer at once.
Instead, the corners of her lips curved slightly.
She had keenly noticed just now that when Xander called out "Sister Eden," the expression on Elysia's face changed quickly.
Was it jealousy or envy?
Was it because her unique form of address had just been occupied by a second person?
Interesting.
Coming here was the right choice after all.
Her thoughts flowed, and after a few seconds she refocused on Xander, the same smile on her face.
"As for me, the timing is flexible."
"We only need to coordinate with my studio in advance."
"Then could we push it back a bit?" Xander asked tentatively.
He hadn't planned to announce Eden's joining right away.
Rather than stir up waves now, it would be better to ignite the news when Apex was about to launch.
That heat couldn't be wasted.
Instead of letting unscrupulous media feast, he might as well make use of it himself.
For that, he naturally needed to ask Eden's opinion.
After hearing his careful explanation, Eden looked relaxed and nodded lightly.
"I have no problem."
"Besides, as a member of the company, I naturally need to follow the boss's arrangements, don't I?"
"No, no, no—if I get to be Sister Eden's boss, I'm the one who should feel honored."
Her firm answer steadied Xander's heart, and he then requested that the staff liaising with Eden maintain strict confidentiality.
It was already very late.
After chatting a while longer, Eden took her leave.
Within a couple of days, she moved in next door.
As an honorary professor, she had the right to apply for a villa.
This satisfied the girls' fangirl dreams.
They would often go over together to visit, and Eden was happy to oblige, frequently hosting tea parties with conversation about topics among girls.
Unfortunately, these young ladies were not old enough yet.
If she wanted to drink, Elysia was, for the moment, the only friend who could accompany her.
On the company side, as soon as Eden's matter was wrapped up, Xander brought Bronya and Kaguya, called in the Scarlet Devil Mansion team and the trio including Ken Sugisaki to the large conference room, and started assigning tasks to the lot of them who were raring to go.
"We still have too few people."
Planning which groups would handle which parts, Xander sighed.
"Then keep hiring?" Bronya, sorting documents not far from him, turned and offered the suggestion.
"I already asked Mei to handle this earlier."
"Plenty of resumes have come in, but they're basically all newcomers."
"We can only assign them to edge work for now and have them learn while they work."
"Then take it slow."
"Husband doesn't need to be so anxious," Kaguya said, looking over with a gentle smile to comfort him.
"Mm, I guess I really am being too impatient."
"This isn't Anti-Entropy."
From the start of making games until now, either the content could be completed by a few of them alone, or it was a collaboration backed by the many elites of Anti-Entropy.
Suddenly switching the environment to Gensokyo Company and seeing an efficiency much lower by comparison, he hadn't adapted yet.
After a pause, he leaned back in his chair and relaxed as he said, "In that case, we'll advance steadily, start from the foundations bit by bit, and leave enough time for those newcomers to learn."
"Production cycle... let's tentatively set it at eight months."
"We can just catch the Schicksal Game Expo by then."
"Preparing to open a second major team?"
"Yeah."
"Expand Scarlet Devil Mansion a bit, then put the rest into the second team."
"Ken Sugisaki and the others have followed me for almost half a year now."
"It's time to give them more to carry."
The workhorses had been trained well enough.
It was time to load them up and set off.
With eight months and more convenient, efficient tech to support them, that was entirely enough time for these people to make a game, with time left over for optimization.
As for music, with Eden here there was nothing to worry about.
Voice-over and motion capture...
"For game dubbing, save a role for Kiana."
"Let her try in half a year."
"As for mo-cap, that can't be delayed."
"We'll borrow the professional team over at Anti-Entropy for now."
Saying this, Xander turned to Bronya.
"I'll leave that to you, okay?"
"Mm. I'll tell Cocolia-Mom."
"No need."
"Just go straight to the manager we worked with at the time."
"Go through a formal hiring arrangement."
"No need to use her personal favor."
"We're not short on mo-cap money now."
"That's true."
After a few more words about the game, Xander checked the time, stood up from the chair, and put on his coat at the door.
"Time already?" Bronya raised her brows at the sound and asked.
"Mm. The plane lands in an hour. I promised, so I can't break my word."
Seeing this, Kaguya quickly set down the mouse, pattered over to his side, and reached up to gently straighten his collar.
"Husband, have a safe trip~"
"Mm."
Lowering his head, he kissed Kaguya on the lips, pinched her slightly flushed cheek, and then Xander left the office with a smile.
The company didn't have cars yet, so he simply hailed a taxi and headed for the airport.
Meanwhile, a cute girl with sky-blue hair looked through the airplane window and saw the outline of land.
...
As one of the most important transportation hubs in a region, the airport was naturally quite lively and crowded.
After getting out of the taxi, Xander followed the flow of people to one of the exits, found a free spot, and stood there waiting.
He checked the time.
There were still a bit more than ten minutes until the plane landed, so there was no rush.
He casually sent her the location of the exit where he was waiting, then leaned against the railing and, a bit bored, gazed at the azure sky.
The weather was very nice today.
The sky was as clear as a sapphire, and drifting clouds wandered at will across this inverted ocean.
Plane after plane either broke through the clouds or disappeared into them.
Would the one that just landed be Griseo's flight?
He didn't know.
He only knew he was very bored right now.
He idly flipped through his phone.
The chat group was silent, which made sense—everyone was still working at this hour.
Who had time to loaf in front of their boss?
If he'd known, he would've brought Seele along, or called Elysia.
With them around, he wouldn't have any time to pay attention to boredom.
Or... a thrilling round of Plants vs. Zombies?
Just as he was thinking that, the flow of people around him suddenly thickened.
He glanced at the time and realized that, while he had been spacing out, ten minutes had already passed since Griseo's flight landed.
The timing was perfect now.
He straightened up and carefully watched the passengers walking out one after another.
"Blue hair, blue hair..."
Unfortunately, while he spotted a few with blue hair, he never did see the petite figure in his impression.
"Is she walking too slowly?"
"Maybe she had a lot of luggage and the baggage claim delayed her?"
Thinking this, Xander kept waiting.
Five minutes later, he started glancing inside more frequently.
Ten minutes later, he began to tread in place.
Fifteen minutes later, he opened his phone and sent messages to ask.
Twenty minutes later, a contact he had just labeled "Griseo" a few days ago called.
Xander answered at once, and soon a soft voice with a hint of youth came through the receiver.
"Um, sorry. I got lost..."
"..."
All right, case closed.
He rubbed his brow, then answered gently, "Don't worry. Have you already come out through that exit?"
"Mm."
"I came out, but there are so many, so many people."
"After walking for a while I found I didn't know where I was."
"I can't find the exit you sent me."
"I see."
He had chosen to wait outside precisely because there were too many people inside and he was afraid he might not notice Griseo.
Who knew Griseo would be the one to get lost instead.
"Do you know how to send your phone location?"
"Mm."
"Good."
"Find a place nearby to sit and rest, send me your location, and I'll come find you now."
"Mm. Thank you, big brother."
Big brother—nope.
"Big brother" is forbidden!
Grumbling that inwardly, Xander hung up.
Soon, a pin dropped into the chat.
Xander opened the map right away and fed the location in.
Seeing the two coordinates not far apart on the screen, Xander relaxed a bit.
Luckily, she wasn't far.
It was roughly two exits away.
So Griseo had already come out—she had just left from the wrong exit?
He followed the navigation straight ahead, a light breeze picking up along the way.
From a distance, he spotted the neat, sky-blue silhouette standing by the roadside.
Her height still looked like that of a girl who had just entered middle school.
Her long hair was tied with two white ribbons into low ponytails that swayed as they hung down.
She wore a pure-white long dress decorated with blue ribbons and trim.
A sky-blue shawl covered her tender shoulders.
Her cute little face was half-buried in the collar.
Such a cute figure naturally drew people's interest.
Seeing her standing alone, a few bold ones came up to ask where her parents were and whether she needed help.
Facing these strangers, Griseo only shook her head softly and did not want to open her mouth to speak.
Later she simply buried her face in the collar, a picture of giving up on conversation.
As for those with less wholesome ideas, under the patrols of several police officers walking by, they lost the nerve to come over and chat her up.
Seeing this, Xander quickened his pace and soon walked up to Griseo.
Just as she thought it was another person coming to hit on her and was about to play dead again, a gentle voice sounded by her ear.
"Griseo?"
"Mm?"
Hearing someone call her name, Griseo opened her gorgeous violet eyes at once and raised her head toward the voice.
In her sight was a big brother who looked warm and cozy.
Before she could say anything, Griseo noticed the phone in the big brother's hand, held up toward her.
"Oh no—was this that Far East-exclusive hypnosis?!!"
Thinking that, Griseo squeezed her eyes shut at once, but quickly opened them again.
"No, no, no—that was from the manga I read yesterday."
"And the big brother felt warm and made me want to get close."
"He probably isn't a bad person."
A few seconds later, she finally noticed the chat thread with her on Xander's phone.
Only then did she look a little enlightened.
She tilted her small head and tentatively asked, "Big brother?"
"Mm, but could you not call me big brother?"
Honestly, he had a bit of PTSD about that form of address.
Hearing this, Griseo touched her chin in puzzlement.
After thinking for a moment, she tried again.
"Mm... then, Brother?"
"Ahem, that one's not great either."
"If you call me 'Brother' when we get back, Seele might not let me into bed tonight."
Having her suggestion vetoed again, Griseo puffed out her cheeks cutely.
Her little brain spun quickly, and soon her eyes lit up at a thought.
Then she looked at him expectantly.
"In that case, can I call you Mr. Knight?"
"Mm? Why Mr. Knight?"
"Because, because... in stories, Mr. Knight is always the girl's hero."
"I came here to learn to draw manga."
"When Mom and Dad heard you were willing to help, they agreed to let me come."
"Since Mom and Dad are willing to trust you, I will trust you too."
Her voice was soft.
She was clearly a little shy.
"So, Griseo thinks I've become your Mr. Knight?"
At that, the blue-haired little head nodded quickly.
Seeing such a cute sight, a smile naturally crept onto Xander's lips.
Come to think of it, Griseo's personality was completely different from what he had imagined.
But that made sense.
There was no Honkai here, and Griseo's parents were both alive.
How could she have become that picture of a shut-in child?
Truly, thanks to future father-in... ahem, Uncle and Aunt's assist.
Smiling, he held his hand out to Griseo and said gently, "So then, would 'Princess, milady' like to go see the place you'll be living?"
"N-no, don't say it like that."
"It's too embarrassing outside..."
Mainly, they were not that familiar yet.
She promptly tucked her small hand into his warm big hand.
Watching Mr. Knight take hold of her suitcase with his other hand, soon the two figures blended into the crowd, and no trace of them could be seen.
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