I'm on the Ark, and I start out as Gretchen.

Make it at home...

……

Time always seems to fly by when a person is focused on something.

Chen, having finished her work as quickly as possible, glanced at the time and, realizing it was almost time to leave, stood up and tiptoed to Gretchen's side, whispering a reminder:

"It's almost time, we should leave. Gretchen, continue drawing when you have time later."

Having read about Gretchen's painting in "New Sister's Care Notebook," Chen was extremely careful in all her actions, afraid that abruptly interrupting her painting would make her uncomfortable.

"Well……"

Upon hearing this, Grey paused slightly as she applied color to the canvas. After a moment of silence, she slowly put down her brush, turned her head slightly to look at Chen, who had appeared beside her at some point, and gently nodded her head.

"Okay, then you can pack your things first." Looking at the super cute little one in front of him, Chen couldn't help but pat her little head again before returning to his desk to pack his things.

"it is good."

After Gretchen nodded in agreement, she seemed to suddenly notice something and quietly peeked out from behind the easel to look at Hoshiguma's workstation.

Then, realizing that he was still engrossed in writing the report and hadn't noticed him, he quickly and directly stored all his unfinished paintings, drawing boards, and other materials in his space.

"Hmm???)..."

After finishing these things, Gretchen glanced at Hoshiguma with a hint of regret.

I was so engrossed in drawing that the little girl didn't even notice when Hoshiguma finished and returned to the office, and now it's too late to put on the stickers...

Of course, it was a pity, but she wasn't angry. After all, there would be other opportunities in the future. For her, unlocking Mei-neechan was just a matter of time.

"What are you staring at Hoshiguma like that, so engrossed?" Chen finished packing his things and turned around to see his cute little sister staring at his friend, seemingly lost in thought. He couldn't help but tease her with a smile.

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but recall the time Gretchen was very attached to Hoshiguma... Really, she was becoming more and more curious about the "colors" she saw.

Unfortunately, when Chen went to call for help, she couldn't glean anything from the unfinished painting. Let alone discern anything from it, she couldn't even be sure who Gretsch was painting it for…

"Hmm..." Upon hearing this, Gretchen withdrew her gaze, then walked over to Chen and gestured for her to lower her head. She then whispered in her ear in a calm tone, "I was thinking about what to bring back as gifts for Hoshiguma and Swire when I go out tomorrow..."

"Oh, I see. Don't worry, I'll secretly tell you what they like tomorrow." Hearing Gretchen's words, a smile flashed in Chen's eyes, and he also lowered his voice to say.

"Hey, I'm still here. Chen, what are you two plotting? Why don't you go outside and say it!" Just as Chen and Gretchen were whispering to each other, Hoshiguma looked up and complained with a hint of helplessness.

"Hoshiguma, just pretend you didn't hear that. Alright, Gretchen and I will head back now. See you next time!" Chen smiled without a care in the world in the face of Hoshiguma's teasing.

"See you next time, Lao Chen." With that, Hoshiguma waved helplessly at the two of them.

"Um... Goodbye, Hoshiguma-neechan."

……

"...?"

After watching the two leave the office, Hoshiguma subconsciously glanced around the room, and then a question mark appeared above her head.

She scratched her head, somewhat bewildered, and muttered, "Where are Gretsch's easel and paintings? Did she take them?"

P.S.: Who got up at 2 a.m. to write this? Oh, it was me. Nothing's wrong... I don't know if I can finish another chapter before 6 a.m. If not, I'll have to sacrifice a sick leave note.

Chapter 116 Swire: "What did you say you went to his house to steal?"

"Phew... Swire, aren't you tired?"

Taking a deep breath, Patto, who was holding Swire's arm, couldn't help but rub her stiff arm and whispered something in her ear.

At this moment, the cat wasn't physically tired. It was mainly feeling mentally exhausted. Why was it able to walk around so much?!

If they were shopping in other places, like food streets or fun places, Patto wouldn't be in this state, but unfortunately, Swire keeps going to big shopping malls.

It's not that big shopping malls aren't fun, but cats aren't really that interested in them.

And to be honest, she had a legitimate suspicion that someone had deliberately sneaked into her shopping mall and stolen the piano before retaliating...

As for why there is such suspicion, there is, of course, evidence. For example, Swire once bought a bunch of things and planned to have Patto help carry them.

In the end, if she hadn't been so overwhelmed with carrying that it would have been too easy to expose the handcuffs, she probably would be covered in things by now.

Of course, this little "revenge" didn't stop there. Originally, Swire even planned to have Patto pay for it, but she suddenly remembered that someone seemed to be a "thief," so she gave up the idea.

After all, the little tiger was also afraid that if he squeezed someone too hard, that person would run away after running out of money.

To go around causing trouble for others... that would truly be a sin.

"What's there to be tired about? We've only been out for a short time." Hearing this, Swire, who was thinking about where to have dinner next, looked up at the person next to her and said expressionlessly.

But in fact, the little tiger was already feeling very tired at this moment, otherwise she wouldn't have been thinking about finding a shop to rest and have dinner.

But could she really say that? Giving in was out of the question! She could fight another 800 rounds!

"...Waaah, but I'm so tired! Let's find a place to eat, it's my treat!" Hearing Shiwai Yamu's heartfelt reply, Pado couldn't help but let out a mournful cry, then hugged the person next to her and started to act coquettishly.

She really couldn't shop at all in this lousy mall!

"Cough...cough cough..." Suddenly being hugged and then seeing Paddy's pitiful expression, Swire's face couldn't help but turn red. She then turned her head and coughed twice, saying, "Since you've begged me like this, let's go eat."

"Great!"

Upon hearing this, Paddy, who had been feigning pitifulness and acting coquettishly, instantly changed her expression, then excitedly gave Swire a big hug and couldn't help but cheer. She looked just like a cat having a blast.

Not only her, but even the canned food that had snuggled into Swire's arms earlier had its eyes light up when it heard the word "eat".

"Stand still, and don't try to hug me all the time!"

Swire, whose face was already flushed from someone's actions, became even more unnatural after being hugged like this, and couldn't help but speak in a "fierce" tone.

Swire's words only made things worse. The cat, who had been frolicking, immediately drooped its ears and looked at her pitifully with its big, watery heterochromatic eyes, accusingly saying, "Waaah, Swire, you actually look down on me..."

"I didn't..."

Seeing the change in the person beside her, Swire subconsciously spoke, but halfway through her sentence, she suddenly realized what she was doing, her expression abruptly changed, and she reached out to pinch Patto's cheek, saying, "Patto Phyllis! You think it's fun to tease me!?"

"If you're so energetic, let's shop for another two hours!"

"Oops! We were wrong!"

Upon hearing this, Pado, disregarding the pinched cheek, quickly said, "Let's go find a restaurant to eat now, Swire, what would you like to eat!"

“…I want to eat something good.” Seeing that Patto had given in, Swire finally released her soft cheek and said.

“Okay, you choose.” Pato, who was barely able to free her hand to rub her cheek, readily nodded in agreement after hearing Swire’s request.

Although the cat felt that eating two good meals today was a bit extravagant and wasteful, it didn't matter. As long as Swire was happy and didn't cause her any trouble, that was fine.

"...Let me see."

Padrefilis's decisiveness prompted Swire to give her a complicated look.

……

After looking around, Swire ultimately didn't try to rip off Patto, but instead chose a reasonably priced restaurant with decent food.

"Hmm? Swire, are you sure you want to go to this place?" Seeing Swire's final decision, Patto couldn't help but look at her with a strange "you've changed your personality" gaze.

Swire, whose mood had calmed down after the afternoon's events, felt a sudden surge of anger when she met Padre's gaze. She said with a forced smile:

"What? You think this place is too cheap? Then I wouldn't mind looking for another place!"

"Oh, no way! You can't go back on your choice now!" Hearing this, Pado quickly shook her head and said with a smile.

"Then why are you asking? Let's go."

Swire glanced speechlessly at Patto, who was acting like a clown, and said.

"Uh-huh!"

---------------

Inside the restaurant—

Sitting in the private room, Swire handed the menu to the waiter, then turned to Padre sitting next to her and said, "We've done enough shopping today, Padre Phyllis, shouldn't you keep your promise?"

"There's no one else here. Quickly tell me the whole story. What exactly happened?"

“I knew it! Swire, you’d definitely be curious about this. Don’t rush, let me think about where to begin.” Patto said with a smile as she watched Swire finally start asking questions after holding back for hours.

"Anyone would be curious about something like this, right?" Swire's lips twitched as she listened to Pado's exclamation.

"No, shouldn't no one believe this kind of thing normally?"

After muttering her complaint under her breath, Pado began to explain to Swire, "Actually, it wasn't a big deal. I just sneaked into Wei Yanwu's house to steal his secret stash of money and some contraband he had hidden away..."

"???"

The moment Swire heard Patto's words, she began to wonder if she had misheard something again. "What did you say you went to his house to steal?"

"Is it really necessary to be so surprised?" Looking at the incredulous expression on the person's face, as if she had misheard, Pado muttered to herself, touching her nose.

P.S.: Today was a real time crunch; I was just a hair's breadth away from using up my leave slip. I don't get many leave slips each month, so I just try to avoid using them if possible... I was just a few seconds away from using it up, it scared me to death! I couldn't possibly miss the deadline.

Chapter 117: The Cat's Subtle Attempt to Recruit People

This matter

Is it really necessary to be so surprised?

"What do you think! Would a normal person do something like that?!" Hearing Paddo's mutterings, Swire snapped out of her shock and asked back with a slightly distorted expression.

To be honest, before meeting Padofelis, the little tiger had never heard of anything like this before. This time, he really learned something new!

What kind of person would sneak into the home of a city's lord (governor) and steal his private stash of money...? Aren't you afraid of being crushed to death?

Just as Swire had roughly guessed why an arrest warrant wasn't issued, she now roughly understood why the higher-ups only intended to "crush" the guy next to her privately...

After all, scandals shouldn't be aired in public. Especially considering the way Padofelis looked, it seemed the little tiger had successfully stolen her secret stash of money...

“Why not? We’re just normal people!” Paddy blinked innocently at Swire’s question and retorted without any real basis.

“No, Padrephilis, you’ve already been kicked out of the realm of normal people in my eyes.” Upon hearing this, Swire’s lips twitched involuntarily, and then she said emotionlessly.

"Eh!"

Hearing Swire's words, Patto couldn't help but widen her cat-like eyes and accuse her, "How can you do this? Swire, you have no right to expel me from the ranks of normal people!"

Meeting Padre's accusing gaze, Swire couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch her face, which was so close to hers, raising an eyebrow and saying, "I think I would, no, rather, anyone who heard about your glorious deeds would do the same thing as me."

"Ugh... Swire, why do you always pinch my cheeks? It's a bad habit!" Suddenly having her cheek pinched, Paddo no longer cared about the previous topic and complained helplessly.

"Hmm? I've already done it. Do you have any objections?"