Hearing the handsome youth before her call her a beautiful girl, Firefly still felt a touch of shyness in her heart.
She quietly glanced at Yun Fan from the corner of her eye. Only when she saw that his attention didn't seem to be entirely on her did the girl finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"No matter what, thank you for your help. May I know your name, sir?"
"Yun Fan. Just call me by my name—'sir' feels too distant."
'We don't even know each other that well to begin with, do we?' the girl silently grumbled in her heart.
"Are you a local of Penacony as well, Mr. Yun Fan?"
Firefly asked curiously. In truth, however, she already seemed quite certain in her heart that the person before her was not a native of Penacony.
"Not at all. I'm merely a traveler passing through Penacony. It won't be long before I leave." Yun Fan lightly shook his head, withdrawing his gaze from the road ahead and letting it settle once more on Firefly.
"Compared to me, though, I'm actually quite curious about you, Miss Firefly. What exactly is your identity?"
"Ah? Me? I'm a newcomer performer from the Iris Family…"
"A newcomer performer from the Iris Family, huh? Mm, Miss Firefly is indeed very cute. Then why were those people from the Bloodhound Family calling you a stowaway just now? Could it be that they made a mistake? How strange, how strange."
Yun Fan stroked his chin, putting on a very puzzled expression, while his gaze kept sweeping over Firefly nonstop. This left the latter feeling awkward, and at the same time, a wave of shy annoyance surged in her heart.
Firefly understood that the person in front of her had definitely seen through her 'stowaway' identity. Everything he was saying and doing right now was purely to tease her.
"Um… well… maybe they really did get it wrong?"
"Then why did you run?"
"…"
Firefly nervously poked her fingers together, momentarily at a loss for words. The girl's CPU was running at full speed, trying to weave together an excuse or come up with a reasonable explanation.
But in the end, the girl sadly and indignantly realized that she couldn't think of any suitable reason at all.
"Fine, I admit it—I'm a stowaway. Satisfied now? Hmph~!"
Firefly let out a light huff and straightforwardly admitted her identity. After all, this identity was just a cover. As long as her Stellaron Hunter status wasn't exposed, nothing else really mattered.
"Mm, good girl. I like honest children."
Seeing Firefly pout unhappily with her little mouth, Yun Fan looked quite pleased. He reached out and gently pinched the girl's small face, speaking as if praising a child.
"Wu…! You're so rude! How can you just casually pinch a girl's face?!"
The girl slapped Yun Fan's hand away with a look of disdain, hands on her hips, puffing up like an angry little pufferfish.
"Uh, sorry, sorry. It was just a reflex…"
Yun Fan felt a bit awkward himself. The reason he had done it was purely because he was used to pinching March 7th's and Robin's little faces. The moment he saw a girl puffing up like a little pufferfish, his hand had moved on instinct.
He and Firefly had only just met for the first time; they weren't even ordinary friends yet. His actions had truly overstepped.
"Mm… How about this then? To make up for what just happened, let me treat you to afternoon tea at Clockie Restaurant. What do you say?" Recalling Firefly's preferences, Yun Fan thought for a moment and tentatively suggested.
"Afternoon tea at Clockie Restaurant?!"
Upon hearing Yun Fan's words, Firefly's gem-like sparkling eyes suddenly lit up with a flash of delight. Though it was only for an instant, Yun Fan still keenly caught it.
"Um… well… maybe we should forget it. That restaurant is a bit… a bit expensive, so I wouldn't want to make you spend too much… And besides, I'm not really that fond of sweets anyway…"
Yun Fan's suggestion made Firefly's heart race, but out of a girl's reserved nature, she still symbolically refused.
"Oh, in that case, never mind then."
Firefly: '???'
Hearing Yun Fan's reply, the girl opened her small mouth in shock, her face filled with disbelief and grievance, as if to say:
'Wait, big bro, aren't you going to insist just a little longer?'
Seeing the girl lower her little head with a somewhat aggrieved and dejected look, Yun Fan ultimately couldn't hold back. He let out a soft chuckle, then gently patted her fragrant shoulder a few times.
"Alright, alright, don't be sad. I was just kidding. Come on, let's go to Clockie Restaurant."
"You… Hmph!"
Lifting her head, Firefly finally noticed the teasing expression on the youth's face. Realizing she had been played, the girl gave a cold huff, yet her body honestly followed behind Yun Fan.
The endless radiance of the eternal dusk in the 'Golden Moment' poured down from the dreamscape sky, illuminating the two figures gradually moving farther away.
...…
On the other side, in the real world of Penacony—unlike the eternal day and night of the dreamscape, the real world still had the cycle of day and night.
And at this moment, the real Penacony had just welcomed a dark, windy night.
The Harmony Family's residence… the place where the Family's secret tomes were stored…
"I say, Ruan Mei, do we really need to dress like this?"
Looking at Ruan Mei in front of her, dressed like some chivalrous thief, and then down at her own similarly outrageous outfit, Herta couldn't help but complain speechlessly.
Both she and Ruan Mei were Emanators of Erudition. With just a slight use of the power of the Path, they could easily conceal their presence and slip past the Bloodhound Family guards to enter the Family's library.
Why did they have to dress up like this? They looked exactly like a pair of burglars sneaking across rooftops.
"Isn't it necessary? When I looked up information online, I found that people undertaking infiltration missions all dress like this."
Hearing Ruan Mei's words, Herta helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead. She never should have let Ruan Mei handle the preparations for this. Now that things had turned out this way, she herself bore some responsibility too.
"Forget it, forget it. This look is fine. But don't you dare breathe a word about what happens today. Otherwise, neither of us will have any face left to show in the Genius Society."