*No matter what happens, am I still your sister?*
Looking at Leon, who seemed to have already fallen asleep, leaning peacefully on her shoulder and breathing lightly, the promised Anna found no relief. Instead, she unconsciously bit her lips until they turned pale.
*But what if... I'm not your sister at all, and all the happiness I have now is stolen? After you find out what I've done to you, will you still think the same way?*
In the midst of the sickly girl's fears and anxiety, the carriage that carried the family of four raced through the streets of Capital City. On the carriage, Leon was woken up by the whistle when it arrived, after barely a thirty-minute nap.
*Could carriages really be this fast?*
Rubbing his sleepy eyes and yawning again, Leon first reached over to smooth out the creases on Anna's shoulder. Then he gave a pat on the behind of each of his younger siblings, who were snoring on the seat opposite him.
"Wake up! We're at the new home!"
Hearing Leon's words, William rubbed his eyes and sat up, imitating Leon's gesture to tidy up his rumpled clothes. Without mercy, he then nudged his sister's ribs.
"Get up! We've arrived!"
"Don't make noise..."
Melanie, disturbed from a sweet dream, grumbled twice, her little feet in small leather shoes kicking into the void. Then, like a little grub, she squirmed along the seat in an attempt to get away from William, leaving a saliva trail over ten centimeters long.
"Let me sleep a little longer..."
"Ew... so disgusting!"
Disgusted, William grabbed Melanie's arm and used her sleeve to wipe the saliva off the seat. Then he patted her face, saying,
"Quickly wake up! Our new home is on the sixth floor. If you don't get up, how will you go up?"
"Mmm... don't pat..."
Pouting, she crawled up from the seat and saw Leon, who looked helpless on the opposite side. Melanie's eyes immediately lit up, and she stretched out her arms toward him.
"I want to sleep in Big Brother's arms. Big Brother can carry me up!"
"Nope, Big Brother really can't carry you today."
"Because Big Brother has to go to work and earn money, so he can buy you pretty little dresses!"
With a smile, Leon pinched his sister's small pouty face, then, holding her and William, got off the carriage. He turned his head to glance at Happiness Apartment.
As expected, the old man, who claimed to be "not in good health," was glaring at him from the small garden in front of the building, holding a gardening shear over a meter long. His pair of enormous dark muscles bulging beneath his tank top were intimidating, and he was snipping shrubs as thick as a bowl with precision.
*Please, stop trimming, can't I just not go over there?*
Glancing at the old man's bulging muscles and then at his own, not even as thick as the man's forearm, leg, Leon, worried that he'd end up more of a "bro" than a brother, truly didn't dare to linger a moment longer. Struggling to haul the luggage from the carriage to the apartment entrance, he promptly made his escape.
Seeing the "Little Demon" wisely refraining from approaching, the old man gave a cold snort. He casually jabbed the entire garden shear into the ground, then limped his way to the door, eyeing the new tenants of Happiness Apartment.
Having visited Happiness Apartment twice in these days, Anna was already familiar with the menacing-looking administrator. After politely greeting him, she picked up as much luggage as she could manage and urged her younger siblings to do the same. Then, full of apologies, she said,
"My brother is a bit busy with work, so he couldn't help us move. Could you please... ah!"
Before her stunned eyes, the administrator, as robust as a bear, grinned menacingly and then, as if performing a trick, tossed six or seven large bags into the air before bumping them onto his shoulders.
After slightly adjusting his position and stabilizing the several hundred pounds of luggage, the old man swooped in and snatched away the luggage in Anna's hand, hanging it on himself without giving her a chance to refuse, and walked off without a word.
Scared, Anna quickly reacted, pulling her siblings along to follow. She wanted to help with some of the luggage, but seeing the mountain piled on the old man's back, she couldn't find a way to lend a hand, so she trailed behind continually thanking him.
*Phew... seems everything's fine now.*
Seeing that Anna and the others had truly been accepted by Happiness Apartment, Leon, who had been hiding at the street corner, finally let go of his worries. He then furrowed his brows and quickly headed for the Purification Bureau.
*Just over 600 more live fire exercises, and the Shooter's Badge can be advanced. But before that, I need to visit the Director and use her connections to investigate Anna's situation and see what could be weighing on her mind.*
*What? Didn't I just promise half an hour ago, that I wouldn't ask about things Anna doesn't want to talk about?*
*I did say I wouldn't ask, but I didn't say I wouldn't look into it! In the Director's words, not asking is not asking, but investigating is another matter—they're entirely separate issues.*
*Or as Senior Emma would say, never harbor any illusions. Only by having enough intelligence in advance can you ensure you're always in control!*
*Regarding Anna's secret, if it's inconsequential, I could pretend to know nothing for a lifetime. But if it's something dangerous, if I don't investigate and resolve it early, am I supposed to wait for her to do something foolish?*
Armed with the steadiness learned from Senior Emma and the audacity learned from the Red-haired Director, Leon arrived early at the Purification Bureau and forcefully knocked on the Director's office door.
"Director, are you there?"
However, probably because he was early and the sun hadn't fully risen, the Red-haired Director, either not yet awake or not at work, hadn't responded.
After waiting and seeing no response, Leon knocked again, raising his voice slightly,
"Director, it's Leon! Are you there?"
Leon's raised voice seemed to have had an effect as the Red-haired Director finally responded. However, the voice didn't come from inside the office but rather seemed to come directly from the ceiling.
"Director? Are you upstairs?"
Answering with a calm, almost indifferent tone, the Red-haired Director's voice was slightly muffled,
"Do you need to see me? If so, come up."
Hearing the Director's words, Leon couldn't help but be slightly startled, instinctively feeling something was amiss.
Although there's no rule against going upstairs at the Sixth Purification Bureau, in his observation, no one ever went upstairs. The stairway lacked even a single footprint and had a thick layer of dust, indicating no one had been there in at least half a year. Why would the Director suddenly call me up today?
Also, didn't the Director mention that the upstairs is filled with her Anomalous Objects?
While it sounded like she was joking at the time, when I asked about the Bureau's work content, she also used a joking tone to convey it.
Later, after confirming with Senior Emma, I found out that although it might take years to encounter such things, everything she told me was indeed true, so...
*Could it be true this time too? Is it possible the Director's Anomalous Object is the one talking to me right now?*