"How is she? Is she any better?"
March hovered around the newly awakened Stelle, questioning Wende as he checked her condition.
"Mhm, she's fine now. She just needs to rest a bit more."
Wende gently massaged Stelle's head, secretly working on the bump Welt had given her.
As expected of our little old-timer, he always leaves a bump when he hits someone on the head… This kid is already a bit of a blockhead. I hope she's still normal after she fully wakes up.
"Wende… my head feels so dizzy…" Stelle murmured, unconsciously wrapping her arms around Wende. Her small face pressed tightly against his abs, her neck straining as she tried to bury her head deeper, only for the hard muscles to squeeze her cheeks slightly out of shape.
"It's okay, you'll be fine in a little while."
Seeing Stelle murmuring as if in a dream, Wende's movements grew even gentler. The doting affection in his eyes was so thick it was about to materialize, giving March goosebumps and leaving a sour taste in her mouth.
Sigh~! What is this! I'm still here, you know!
But seeing as Stelle was the patient, she decided to let it slide this time. Since Stelle was mostly fine, she might as well leave!
"How is it? Does it still hurt?" Wende asked softly to the girl in his arms.
"Mmm…"
Stelle hummed and shook her head, greedily inhaling the faint scent of medicinal herbs on Wende's body.
"Since you're okay now, I'll go make some food," Wende said with a smile, gently pushing away the dazed Stelle with his fingers.
"Okay~"
After settling the clingy, cat-like Stelle, Wende glanced at her lying on the bed and shook his head helplessly before closing the door for her.
This kid turned into this state every time she got knocked out. And her verbal promises always followed the principle of "sincerely admit fault, but never repent." It got to the point where Wende was starting to wonder if the problem was him… or if the players in the real world were just too inhuman.
He had initially wanted to raise Stelle into an obedient little angel! Why had she turned into a chaotic evil entity who was obedient on the surface but was so full of rebellious bones they probably weighed more than she did?
"Sigh…"
With a helpless sigh, Wende walked back to the main room.
"How is she? Is Stelle alright?" Dan Heng, who had been reading the latest issue of the Corporation's daily report and was just feeling emotional about the announcement of official relations with Jarilo-VI, looked up and asked.
"Mhm, her most serious injury right now is the one Uncle Yang gave her. A mild concussion…"
Wende sat down on the sofa with a sigh, picked up the teapot from the coffee table, and poured himself a cup of hot tea. He took a light sip, then frowned at the amber liquid in the cup.
This taste… Iced black tea?
Wende looked at the teapot in disbelief. Which genius poured this?
"By the way, where did Uncle Yang go?"
Wende looked around and, not seeing Welt, asked Dan Heng, who was still reading his paper.
"Mr. Welt went to the Divine Foresight Residence. This incident was unusual; Stelle was substantively harmed. So he planned to go report the specific situation and assist the people of the Divine Foresight Residence in investigating this deeply hidden group of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus," Dan Heng said in a flat, serious tone.
Wende nodded in understanding.
Ah, he went to protect his cub.
That's good.
"Since the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus have targeted Stelle, it means that they, or the people behind them, have already targeted the Astral Express."
Putting down the empty teacup, Wende carefully savored the sweet taste in his mouth…
Yep, this is definitely iced black tea.
"Mhm… During this period of downtime, I wonder how many more incidents like this we'll encounter."
Dan Heng was also rather helpless. The fact that he could set foot here already meant "that person" wasn't pursuing the matter. If his identity were to be exposed because of a few more incidents like this…
Dan Heng's grip on the newspaper tightened, but then he turned the page as if nothing had happened.
Watching the emotions Dan Heng subconsciously revealed, Wende smiled wordlessly. As a "cloud gamer," he didn't know the mysterious past miHoYo had written for Dan Heng, but… he wouldn't leave them, right?
---o---
In the afternoon, Welt returned with his cane. Although his face was expressionless, Wende couldn't help but feel that he was in a very good mood.
"Uncle Yang, you're back! Did the Divine Foresight Residence say anything?" March asked with a curious look, noticing the change in Welt's aura.
"Mhm."
Placing his cane by the sofa, Welt poured himself a cup of tea to wet his throat. He hadn't had a single drop of water since Stelle's incident yesterday.
But after drinking the tea, Welt's brow furrowed, and he stared at the cup in his hand with a strange expression.
"So, what exactly happened? What was that thing Stelle ate?" March asked, completely confused.
"Don't worry. Although that medicine was a heretical drug from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, it shouldn't cause any major harm to Stelle. The Divine Foresight Residence has promised to compensate us and will cover all of our expenses during this time."
Welt explained the results of his trip to March.
"Yay! We don't have to go out and work part-time with Wende anymore!" March cheered immediately upon hearing that the Divine Foresight Residence would be footing the bill.
"Uncle Yang, judging by your expression, I imagine that's not the only piece of good news?" Wende said with a matching smile, noticing the faint curve of Welt's lips.
"Mhm… That's right. The Golden Automaton modification plan I discussed with Master Gongshu was approved. As the proposer, the Artisanship Commission gave me a rather generous bonus, and it was settled in credits."
"Which means…"
"Correct. The Express's deficit has now been alleviated somewhat," Welt confirmed with a nod.
"Now, we just need to continue waiting for the route to the Alchemy Commission to reopen. As for the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, the Cloud Knights have already dispatched a team to investigate them. Danshu has been hiding within the Luofu's institutions for a long time and holds a high position in the Alchemy Commission… I'm afraid the situation in the Alchemy Commission is not optimistic."
Welt shook his head. The waters of the Xianzhou were still too deep, but the Express was now tied to the same boat. They had already waded into these waters.
"By the way, Himeko has been a bit bored lately. She said if you all don't have any activities planned, you can go back and help her watch over the Express. She's been feeling cooped up this whole time. She's complained to me more than once about wanting to go to the space station to have coffee with Asta."
Welt said this to the three in the main room. He himself wouldn't be going back, as the Golden Automaton project still required his attention.
"Mhm… Once Stelle is mostly recovered, we'll set off to return to the Express," Wende agreed with a nod.
---o---