Chapter 16: Victoria Housekeeping

Afterward, Ellen and Ruby left first. Qingyi stayed behind with Phaga for a short while longer, but in the end, she still couldn’t persuade him.

She gently blew across her tea. The leaves drifted to one side, leaving the clear liquid in the center to reflect her calm, unreadable face.

Not long after, she closed her notebook, rose, and escorted him all the way outside the Public Security Bureau. Waving goodbye, she suddenly called out just as Phaga was about to leave.

“If your job search doesn’t go smoothly, consider the Public Security Bureau.”

Phaga glanced back, hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

With that, he raised his umbrella and walked quickly toward the bus stop.

...

As soon as he entered the station, he spotted two familiar figures. One of them had a long shark tail swaying behind her waist—impossible to miss even from a distance.

Sensing his gaze, Ellen, who was chatting with Ruby, turned her head.

Ruby noticed too, following Ellen’s eyes until she spotted Phaga approaching. Instantly, she bounced on her toes and waved excitedly.

“Phaga, over here!”

Phaga saw her, thought for a moment, then made his way over.

“Phaga, you take the bus too?” Ruby asked, brimming with excitement.

“I’m going to Sixth Street,” Phaga replied.

The Public Security Bureau stood at Lumina Square, one of New Eridu’s busiest commercial centers. The area was packed with shops, crowded with residents, and the foot traffic was absurd.

Naturally, housing prices here were outrageous. If you stacked up all the Dennies spent on a single home, the pile might actually be taller than the building itself.

Phaga could afford a place here, but he saw no need.

Instead, he lived on Sixth Street, where the rent was cheap for reasons unknown.

“So you live on Sixth Street, Phaga? That’s pretty close! Next time Ellen and I will come visit you!” Ruby exclaimed.

Their school had blown up, and no one knew when classes would resume.

Even with the worst possible assumptions about the principal, there was no way classrooms could be fixed that quickly. Not even a miracle would bring school back in less than a month.

Which meant—this month was made for fun!

Before Phaga could refuse, Ellen cut in with a splash of cold water. “But Phaga has to find a job. When would he have time to play with you?”

“Hmm, true...”

Ruby deflated for a moment, then suddenly remembered. “Oh, right! Phaga, did you agree to join the Public Security Bureau with Officer Qingyi?”

Phaga shook his head slightly. “No.”

At that, Ellen’s eyes gleamed as she leaned against a billboard, arms crossed.

Ruby, on the other hand, grew even gloomier. Thinking of her own forced future left her heart sour, like an overturned bottle of vinegar.

Her face scrunched up into a pitiful pout.

Phaga shot her a puzzled glance. “You’ve already made it to shore. Is it really that bad?”

“It is!” Ruby shouted. “I’m a woman destined to become a legendary Proxy! I’ll open a coffee shop at the quiet end of the street. By day, I’ll sit behind the counter with a warm cup of coffee. By night... heh heh heh!”

“Raiders will bow before me, Officers will treat me with respect, and with a flick of my fingers I’ll command networks from both sides of the law!”

“Just imagining that life gets me fired up!”

Ruby clasped her hands together, eyes shining with dreams of a future that felt like it belonged to another worldline.

Passersby turned to stare, some even snapping photos.

Phaga quickly stepped away, leaning toward Ellen to ask quietly, “Was she always like this?”

Ellen sighed. “Sorry you had to see that.”

“Hey! I heard that! Don’t talk bad about me, Ellen!”

Ruby dropped her hands and puffed her cheeks out in protest.

Click!

A flash went off.

Ruby spun around to see a man dressed like a reporter snapping another shot, the flash so bright it nearly blinded her. She raised her hands to block it.

“Hey, quit taking pictures! Dammit, Ellen! Phaga! Why are you just standing there? Stop him! Make him delete them!”

Ruby’s wail was desperate.

Phaga and Ellen exchanged a glance, then slipped silently behind the reporter. The handle of Phaga’s parasol pressed firmly against the man’s back.

Ellen’s expression chilled. “You heard what she said, didn’t you?”

The reporter had planned to tough it out, ready to rely on his Level 8 rhetoric skills to talk his way through.

But the pressure from Phaga’s parasol only grew, stabbing into his back until pain forced him to give in. “Alright, alright! I’ll delete them—look!”

Under their watchful eyes, he deleted the photos.

Muttering, he added, “Seriously, that girl was so cute. You should have some spirit of spreading beauty.”

Phaga cut in coldly, “Citizens have the legal right to their likeness. Paying fines is beautiful too—maybe you should pay a little more.”

The reporter went silent, shoulders slumping. “Fine, fine. I heard a school got hit by a Hollow. I’ll go chase that story instead.”

With that, he boarded a bus, though it was doubtful whether he’d find anything worthwhile at Phaga’s school so late.

...

Before long, Ruby’s bus arrived. She waved goodbye.

“See you, Phaga, Ellen! Later!”

“Bye!”

“Yeah, see you.”

Phaga and Ellen waved her off, leaving just the two of them waiting at the stop.

Without Ruby, the most talkative of the three, the air turned quiet and cold. Neither Ellen nor Phaga spoke, simply waiting for the bus.

Time slipped by. Tonight’s buses were unusually slow. The numbers on Ellen’s phone ticked from 0 to 9, reset, then cycled again and again, while the sunset burned the clouds crimson, lighting the streetlamps one by one.

Click.

Phaga closed his umbrella and tidied it.

Ellen shifted her gaze toward him. “Aren’t you afraid of the sun?”

Vampires were said to love darkness and despise sunlight, dwelling in shadowy castles.

“A little sunlight won’t kill me. Even poison needs a dose to be lethal. Otherwise, wouldn’t we vampires be stuck indoors at night too? After all, moonlight is just reflected sunlight.”

He finished stowing the parasol and fell silent again, a closed-off figure.

After a while, Ellen suddenly asked, “Do you want to join Victoria Housekeeping?”

Phaga turned his head.

Just then, two buses arrived at once.

One would take Ellen home. The other headed to Sixth Street.

It was the last run of the night. Miss it, and there’d be no more until morning.

“Hey, you getting on or not?” the driver shouted, horn blaring.

Phaga turned back, waving him off. “It’s late. Another time.”

Ellen suddenly stepped forward, her voice firm. “Victoria Housekeeping doesn’t discriminate against non-human races! Even if your race’s name sounds terrifying!”

Thud.

His footsteps stopped—then resumed a moment later.

The Sixth Street bus roared off into the distance.

The other bus opened its doors. Passengers filed in, fewer than half the seats taken.

A soft breeze swept through. Ellen rested her chin on her hand, gazing out the window as her hair tangled gently around her ears. Her heart felt too calm, too at peace—she only wanted to savor the moment in silence.

Soon, the bus stopped. Ellen got off.

“Welcome home, Ellen... Oh? Did you bring a guest?”

“This won’t do, Ellen. Victoria Housekeeping cannot neglect a guest’s dinner because of an oversight.”

“Which means you should give advance notice!”

“Advance notice! Advance notice!”

The door had been opened by an elegant woman dressed in white, accompanied by two flying Bangboo chiming in beside her.

So tall, Phaga thought—until he looked down and realized she was floating toward them.

Ellen crossed her arms with a sigh. “I know, Rina.”

“Hehe.”

Rina chuckled softly, covering her mouth. She drifted aside, body still suspended midair, bending gracefully as her hands folded neatly at her lower abdomen. With a refined smile, she said:

“Please, come in, honored guest.