Quadruple split.

Chapter 2348 Boy and Girl (II)

  Game time AM00:47

The City of Freedom, Lounge, 2nd Floor, Keworth Manor Wing

"Thank you, Cole."

Carefully taking the drink handed over by her friend, the pretty and sweet girl with light blonde shoulder-length hair squinted her eyes and leaned back in her chair. She let herself sink into the soft seat while sniffing the steaming hot soothing tea in her hand. The corners of her mouth raised a contented arc: "But, I remember that I should have asked for a refreshing cocoa."

Tan Mo's follower, Cole Shulen, who was dressed in a handsome black butler uniform, smiled at the same time as his friend in the chair, then pretended to bow and said, "I'm so sorry, Ms. Vanye, but Mr. Cholera's refreshing cocoa is out of stock, so after thinking it over, I finally chose the calming tea that also suits your taste, but with relatively mild ingredients."

"Is there a possibility that..."

Tan Mo's follower, the absolute boss of the Joker in the Free City, the 'Pious Sun Priest' Ai Fanye elegantly stirred the hot drink in front of him with a silver spoon, which would put him at a disadvantage in fighting fatigue, and whispered, "There are two boxes of 'Refreshing Cocoa' in the warehouse in the basement of the side hall?"

"what!"

Col's eyes widened immediately, and he asked in shock: "Is this true?!"

"You, you, you."

Xiao Ai glanced at her friend who was also from Pato City. Behind his panic-stricken eyes were a cunning look. She took a sip of the calming tea that had ginger, milk, and raw brown sugar added to suit her taste, and breathed a sigh of relief with satisfaction: "I haven't noticed any other progress, but he has more and more clever ideas than when we were kids."

"It's precisely because there has been no progress in other aspects that I want to at least improve my creative ideas."

Because this was not a public place, and it was a break for both of them, Cole, knowing full well that the other party would not let him stand, naturally sat down opposite Xiao Ai and said sincerely, "Thank you for your affirmation."

"Well."

Xiao Ai was speechless after being directly confronted by Cole's sincerity. She pursed her lips and was silent for a long time before wrinkling her nose and muttering, "If it had been a while ago, that sentence would have been enough to keep you awake for half a month!"

Cole raised his lips slightly and shook his head, "It's a pity that after following you, I've gone through too many difficult situations and met too many outstanding people. It wasn't until recently that I realized that if I became depressed, self-pitying, and sleep deprived for a while every time a better person appeared, I'm afraid it will be Miss Liz who will help you find the [Refreshing Cocoa] in the future."

Xiao Ai looked away and snorted, "That's great, at least Miss Liz won't take the initiative to replace the drink I want to drink!"

"But what you need right now is not [Refreshing Cocoa]."

Cole took out a delicate pocket watch from his pocket, playing with it while gently saying, "Of course, the most important reason is that I don't think you have enough time to do ideological work for me, so even if the process is a little uncomfortable, I have to get out of my past morbid thinking and face the reality that I can't be you, nor can I be Ms. Mu Xuejian."

Because he knew exactly what the other party was referring to, Xiao Ai did not make any unnecessary attempts to comfort him. He just smiled softly and said, "This is indeed not easy. After all, when we were still in Pato City, you were always the best among us. Only... uh..."

"Only Rona and Dave can outshine me in every aspect in that small academy."

Noticing that Xiao Ai was at a loss for words, Cole considerately took over the conversation and shrugged, saying, "And the former seemed to have no idea about it, as if I was the one who performed better."

"Feel sorry."

Xiao Ai lowered her eyes, met the eyes of herself reflected in the silver spoon, and said with a wry smile: "It seems that when it's just the two of us, I still find it easy to think about the past."

Cole looked at the pocket watch in his hand and said calmly, "I don't think there is anything to be sorry about. After all, Dave has received the punishment he deserves. As for Rona... I believe that Mr. will do his best within the scope he thinks is reasonable."

"Of course."

Xiao Ai nodded vigorously and said in a slightly louder voice than usual: "Lona's soul is well preserved, and Mr. Winter, your good friend, whom I mentioned to you before, is an excellent necromancer. According to some information I have, he seems to have successfully 'awakened' four dead people, so Rona...will definitely be fine."

"That's right, so we just need to trust Mr. and his friends."

Cole snapped his pocket watch shut, then looked up at Xiao Ai with a serious expression: "And up to now, you haven't closed your eyes for more than thirty hours."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ai immediately leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes tightly and said in a particularly obedient tone: "Close it now!"

"Your room is upstairs."

Cole was unmoved, and just calmly reminded: "The bed there is more suitable for sleeping than the chair here, and there are still four hours before the meeting time you agreed to meet with the guest."

Xiao Ai did not respond, and then she curled up in the chair and snored softly.

"Ugh."

After a moment, a helpless sigh sounded from the fireplace, and then Xiao Ai felt warmth on her body. It was Cole's body temperature and the touch of his butler's jacket.

Then, there was an almost inaudible sound of footsteps, and a few seconds later, the faint sound of a door opening and closing.

Ai Fanye's mouth curled up slightly. She knew that it was Cole's "practice time" now, so if nothing unexpected happened, he would arrive at the training ground in the basement of the main hall in about five minutes and fight with the "training dummy" that Mr. Cholera made in his spare time. Considering that she had a "meeting" in four hours, he would probably be back here within 150 minutes. During this time -

I can probably work for about two hours, although I will miss some rest time. However, considering that [Joker] needs to gain a foothold in the Free City as soon as possible, and the Kevos family is gradually gaining a foothold in the Bella Street Sub-district Committee, it would be better for me to use my brain to consolidate the situation.

You know, the gentleman has super connections such as the [Angel of Death], [Saint of Fortune], and [Wanderer's Hostel]. If [The Clown] wants to use their help openly without any constraints, the current level of influence is far from enough. So even if it is to make the gentleman worry less after he comes back, Xiao Ai feels that she needs to work harder during this period of time.

After all, although Resa, Cholera, and Liz are excellent, they lack the capital to survive in the "devil's den" of the Free City. As for Cole...

  If I take the initiative to ask for help after doing my job well, Mr. will definitely pay more attention to Rona's matter!

Cole would be happy too.

and so--

"Work hard!"

Ai Fanye patted his cheeks gently, stopped pretending to sleep, opened his eyes brightly, and then saw——

"Hi."

Cole, who was sitting opposite her, raised his hand to greet her cordially and praised her, "You work so hard!"

"ah!!"

Xiao Ai subconsciously let out a cry of surprise and instinctively shrank back into her chair. After coming to her senses, she blushed and said in a shy voice, "What a coincidence... Cole."

"you do not say."

Cole nodded with a smile, and then made a gesture of invitation. His movements, demeanor, and tone were impeccable, just like a senior deacon who had been in the industry for hundreds of years. He said, "Then please allow me to take you upstairs to rest."

Xiao Ai blinked innocently: "But I'm not tired."

"There is a kind of tiredness that makes me feel that you are tired."

Cole stared at Xiao Ai with scorching eyes and said in an unquestionable tone: "Besides, it's not working hours now, so even if your authority is higher than mine, I can choose to use the identities of 'friend' or 'fellow villager' to force you to rest." Xiao Ai pursed her lips and still tried to resist: "But I..."

"You didn't even notice that I didn't really leave, which is enough to prove that your concentration and mental strength are far below normal."

Cole interrupted Xiao Ai swiftly and said seriously, "Besides, I don't think the master will assign you such a heavy and tight task, so it's useless even if you use the master's words to pressure me."

Xiao Ai, who was about to raise the Motan flag, suddenly shut her mouth obediently, held the cup of calming tea, pouted her lips and kept silent.

"Ugh."

Seeing the other party's non-violent non-cooperative attitude, Cole sighed helplessly and said with a wry smile: "It's not that I don't want you to work hard, but you are neither a blood seeker like Ms. Lessa, nor an alien who doesn't need rest like Mr. and Mr. Cholera. If you really exhaust yourself, it will delay your work."

Xiao Ai nodded obediently, but still had no intention of leaving the chair and going back to her room to sleep.

Cole stood quietly in front of her, obviously not prepared to make any concessions.

"I see."

Finally, Xiao Ai, who always had the upper hand, was the first to 'give up' and muttered softly: "Then you stay here and chat with me for a while."

Cole pulled the corner of his mouth and said dryly: "I asked you to..."

"I know."

Xiao Ai interrupted Cole softly and shrugged, "But tonight's guest is special. Or rather, I think he is not necessarily a rule-abiding person, so I can't rest completely before the meeting is over."

Cole frowned, but ultimately chose not to talk too much about the "business" and just said in a deep voice: "But you are not in a good condition now."

"I have a solution."

Xiao Ai showed a tired but beautiful smile and said meaningfully: "Divine arts are very profound!"

"you……"

Cole gritted his teeth and finally chose to compromise. After sitting back down, he said helplessly, "Okay, then I'll chat with you and talk about something that can relax you."

"Uh-huh!"

Xiao Ai nodded happily and asked curiously, "So what should we talk about?"

"I'm just responsible for chatting."

Cole rolled his eyes at Xiao Ai and said unkindly, "You come up with the topic."

Xiao Ai smiled, then closed her eyes as she had just pretended to sleep, and said lazily, "I found that the master is still very good to us."

Cole nodded slightly and agreed with a smile: "Of course, sir, you have always taken good care of us. Putting you aside for now, if it weren't for sir's care, a person like me with only a standard level would not even be qualified to hear the name of this organization, let alone urge the chief steward of the Free City [Joker] to rest."

“That’s a bit too much.”

Xiao Ai raised the corner of her mouth slightly and said softly: "In my opinion, Cole, even if you are not taken care of by the gentleman, you are more than qualified to be the Three of Diamonds or the Four of Spades."

Cole touched the tip of his nose and said with a subtle expression: "I'll take it as a compliment."

"It's just a joke, sir, you won't make a mistake."

Xiao Ai bent her legs and lay sideways on the chair that was extra wide for her. She hugged the butler's coat that the other person had just put on her and said softly, "If it weren't for something that only you can do, he would never take care of you like this."

Cole smiled and shook his head, "I am here to chat with you and relax you, not to help you with psychological counseling."

"Okay, okay, then tell me how much the gentleman has taken care of me."

Xiao Ai meekly changed the subject and said in a slightly quieter voice than usual: "You should know that you have always been interested in religion and gods, right? And I am a clergyman who almost regards you as a god who saved us in times of crisis and is willing to let you command me."

"Ok, I know."

Cole nodded slightly and quietly hid his hands, which were slightly clenched due to nervousness, at his sides.

"Then you should also know that Sir, you have many... um... unique ideas about our religious field that are inconvenient for a clergyman like me to talk about or even think about."

Perhaps she had the same concerns as Cole, so Xiao Ai paused several times before she managed to express what she wanted to say: "But a few months ago, the master was very close to turning me into a heretic with faith, but in the end... he pulled me out and made me a clergyman who is a little special, but not that special."

"A little special?"

"Yeah, it's a little special."

"What's so special about it?"

"Maybe... although my faith is still strong, it is not as pure as before."

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, this is not blasphemous."

"what?"

"Or rather, from my current perspective, this is not considered blasphemous."

"What perspective?"

"If you say so, light hypnosis and self-suggestion to maintain the perspective deviation may not be effective."

"Just shut up."

"Hmm~"

Chapter 2339: The End