Huh? Something about me?
Phaga frowned and was about to stand, but someone reacted faster than he did.
A blur flashed past. By the time Phaga registered what happened, all he saw was a tail swaying in front of him.
Its owner had already grabbed the deputy captain by the hair, yanking his head back. Her glare was so vicious the deputy captain genuinely thought he was about to be eaten.
Ellen yanked again, pressing the giant scissors against his waist. A slight push forward made the cold metal bite into him, sending a chill straight through his heart. He instantly howled and begged for mercy.
Seeing how pathetic he looked, Ellen snorted and demanded, "Who sent you?"
"I'm just a deputy captain! How would I know?!"
The deputy captain wailed, his voice filled with grievance.
Not just him—the squad captain next to him was nothing more than a grunt in the rebel ranks. How could either of them possibly know who commissioned the job?
And these two were the "lucky" ones—they at least knew the identity of the person they were ordered to kill.
The rest of the lower-level rebels knew nothing at all. They just showed up with rifles—without even a W-Engine.
"Are you hiding anything else?" Ellen pressed again.
Terrified of responding too slowly, the deputy captain shook his head desperately, his whole body trembling. "No, no, absolutely not!"
"I really told you everything!"
"Tsk."
Seeing the fear on his face, Ellen clicked her tongue.
She knew the man didn't have the guts to lie, but the moment she remembered their target was Phaga, her anger surged again.
It built rapidly—until she could no longer contain it. Her fury burst out like a dam breaking.
Thud!
Ellen yanked the deputy captain's hair and slammed him onto the floor with brute force.
Everyone stared in shock. Lycaon even called out her name.
"Ellen!"
His past experience made him think Ellen would stop. She might be reluctant, but she would listen.
But she didn't.
Her gaze wavered for a moment. Just when everyone thought she might calm down, she suddenly raised the giant scissors, the cold blade aimed straight at the deputy captain's abdomen.
"Don't..."
His eyes trembled, staring wide at the blade. His voice cracked with terror.
Hum!
Ellen struck—bringing the giant scissors crashing down!
The deputy captain watched in despair, certain death had arrived. He shut his eyes.
But just before they closed completely, a long blade cut into his line of sight—another sliver of hope.
Clang!
The scissors were knocked aside.
They smashed into the floor, shattering tiles and scattering debris. Pebbles flew everywhere, several hitting the deputy captain's face.
It hurt.
But it also felt… relieving.
He finally let out a shaky breath.
Ellen, however, felt no sense of relief. Her expression twisted with grievance as she looked up and asked, "Phaga?"
"Leave him alive for now. We still need more intel."
Phaga shook his head. After pinching Ellen's cheek, he pulled her aside and said, "Mr. Lycaon, I'll leave the rest of the questioning to you."
Then he led Ellen away.
They found a quiet corner with a bench and stopped there.
Phaga sat first.
Ellen stood in front of him with a simmering glare, clearly unhappy.
Understandably so—she was furious because people had targeted Phaga, yet it was Phaga who stopped her from venting that anger.
"Well… you know. They deserve it, but this isn't the time…"
Seeing her expression, Phaga softened his voice, trying cautiously to reason with her.
Truthfully, even ignoring Phaga's involvement, what rebel had clean hands?
New Eridu was still rebuilding after the disaster, but order had already taken shape.
Victory in the war against the Hollows had boosted morale, solidifying the city's stability.
In this political environment, being a raider wasn't honorable, but even the struggling Cunning Hares could survive in New Eridu.
So why did most of these people join the rebels?
Answer: They'd committed crimes and couldn't stay in New Eridu.
And their crimes were likely unforgivable.
In other words: if encountered, kill on sight.
Some might call it extreme—but no one would call it wrong.
"We still need more information."
Phaga leaned forward slightly, reaching to touch Ellen's face.
But Ellen swatted his hand away.
"Eh?"
Phaga blinked, confused.
Then Ellen suddenly lunged.
With a loud clang, the giant scissors dropped to the floor as she pounced.
Her Belle thighs, wrapped snugly in black tights, landed on either side of him as she settled onto his lap, cupping his face in her hands.
"Ellen?"
Phaga's cheeks were squished inward, making his words muffled.
Ellen lowered her head, her scarlet hair hiding half her face as she whispered:
"Don't lecture me. Sharks are fish too, you know—we only have a seven-second memory. In the end, I won't remember anything anyway."
Eh~~~
Phaga's expression turned absolutely priceless. He blinked, clearly thinking:
Are you seriously using that as an excuse?
Ellen didn't answer. Her cheeks burned bright red as she stared straight into his eyes.
But after a moment, she seemed to lose her nerve. She pushed his face upward and buried herself against his chest, murmuring in a voice soft as a mosquito:
"But I do remember one thing—I'm furious, and I need a little vampire to vent it on."
With that, she parted her lips and gently nipped Phaga's collarbone.
...
Clang!
A metallic sound echoed in the distance, drawing everyone's attention.
Corin tugged at Rina's sleeve nervously. "Miss Rina, maybe I should go check. Mr. Phaga and Miss Ellen… maybe they're…"
Miss Ellen was angry because Mr. Phaga stopped her. What if they were arguing?
But Rina quickly blocked Corin's path, her floating body drifting in front of her as she smiled gently. "Corin, it's better to let them work things out themselves."
"But…"
"No buts, Corin."
Rina pulled Corin into a hug, arms wrapped around her neck. "It's something they need to handle privately. If you go now, they'll just hold back."
Why?
Corin didn't understand, but Rina's gentle stroking was comforting. Corin melted into the embrace and hugged her back.
Rina stiffened for a moment, then relaxed again.
Meanwhile, Lycaon let out a sigh.
After glancing over at them, he turned back to the deputy captain and continued the interrogation. "Let's move on to the next piece of information, Rebel Captain."
"Who exactly is Rain?"
As he asked, Lycaon gave a deliberate look toward Eous.
Eous appeared deeply worried.
The deputy captain was baffled. You came here to rescue Rain, yet you're asking me who she is?
But one look at the growing danger in Lycaon's eyes made him answer immediately. "Rain is a master hacker! We need her to work for us!"
A hacker?
And one targeted by the rebels?
Lycaon turned toward Eous, tension thickening between them.
Soon, he asked, "Master Proxy, do you have anything to add?"