Seeing Nicole's expression, the black-and-white doll immediately put its hands on its hips and snapped in anger:
[What, never seen an Ethereal before? What's with that face? Believe it or not, I'll eat you!]
"I have seen one, but..."
Nicole still looked terrified, her eyes full of shock.
In truth, the moment she first saw the black-and-white doll, she had already guessed it was an Ethereal.
After all, one look was enough to tell this thing wasn't a Bangboo, and it was leaking a faint aura of Ether activity. Just getting close to it made Nicole's whole body crawl.
It was like finally splurging for an ice pop in the middle of summer, only to realize with your very first lick that something felt wrong. You look down and discover that [some employee, loving their boss far too much, had racked their brains to cut costs by adding "extra weight," stuffing their own hair into the ice pop].
After a long "but..." Nicole still couldn't get the words out.
Noticing the growing displeasure in the doll's eyes, she hurriedly turned her head toward Phaga and whispered anxiously:
"Hey, Phaga, how did you even manage to bring an Ethereal out of the Hollow? It looks so mean... does it bite?"
"The Black-and-White Doll is a trade secret," Phaga said, shrugging as he sat back down. "But I can tell you this: once it leaves the Hollow, it's weak. Even an ordinary person who can't wring a chicken's neck could strangle it."
Right now, he no longer felt like going out for coffee.
Because Nicole was here.
Since she'd already shown up, he might as well get business over with quickly, then head to Belobog Heavy Industries to apologize. The rest of the day was meant to be his private time with Ellen.
"Oh, so that's how it is!"
Nicole smacked her right fist into her left palm in sudden realization.
The next second, she planted her hands on her hips and stepped forward.
A huge, ominous shadow instantly fell over the black-and-white doll, making it freeze for a moment. Its floating body instinctively drifted backward.
But then it thought about how losing face was unacceptable, so it puffed itself up again, forcing out a tough tone:
[W-what do you want?]
"What do I want?"
Nicole lifted her chin high, like a proud little swan, and quite matter-of-factly held out her hand, demanding:
"You just scared me. I want compensation for emotional damages!"
[You can scam for this too?!]
The black-and-white doll was stunned, its tone suddenly jumping an octave.
But soon, it narrowed its eyes, staring straight at Nicole with a deep, unreadable look as it reached down and started patting around its body.
[Fine, I'll let it slide. You're cute enough—consider it eye-candy compensation.]
A moment later, it fished out a handful of Dennies—pocket money the kind-hearted little Corin had given it.
The doll stretched out its hand and slapped the Dennies into Nicole's palm.
Under Nicole's astonished gaze, the Dennies suddenly flared with white light. A warm sensation flowed from the coins into her arm, spreading along her skin until it filled her whole body with comforting warmth.
So... so comfy!
Nicole's eyes flew wide as she looked up in disbelief.
What she saw was the black-and-white doll wearing a thoroughly smug expression, lips curled as it said:
[I'll throw in a full-body treatment while I'm at it. No need to thank me.]
"Hehe, thanks!"
Nicole happily cupped the Dennies in both hands and hugged them to her chest.
Her pink eyes sparkled as she stared at the black-and-white doll in delight.
Handing over a handful of Dennies so casually—looked like even if it was an Ethereal, it was still a warm-hearted...
[Damaged.]
Suddenly, the doll spat out two words.
In an instant, the glowing white Dennies in Nicole's hands turned mottled black and white. A sharp sting shot through her fingertips, making them twitch.
The pain then raced along her veins, surging through every corner of her body in a flash. Her whole frame trembled, and she collapsed forward, catching herself with both hands on the edge of the counter, barely able to stand.
[Heh-heh~ You actually dared to try and extort Lord Black-and-White Doll. Now you know you were wrong, don't you!]
[Even though Lord Black-and-White Doll's powers weakened a lot after leaving the Hollow—I can't even kill anyone now—making someone suffer unbearable pain is still easy.]
The black-and-white doll twisted proudly, then, knowing Phaga and the others were busy, decided not to drag things out. It waved a hand, pretending to be magnanimous:
[Fine, I'll be generous and let it go. Your name is... Nicole, right? Greedy little Nicole. Now put Lord Black-and-White Doll's Dennies down, then bow properly and apologize, and I'll...]
"Are you kidding me?!"
Before it could even finish, Nicole cut it off with a roar.
[Eh?]
The doll stared, blinking.
Right before its eyes, Nicole forced herself upright against the effects of [Good and Evil Obliteration], then stuffed the handful of Dennies straight into her wallet. She declared boldly:
"Once Dennies are in my hands, don't even think about getting them back! Not a chance!"
[Wow, being able to say that with a straight face is... truly impressive...]
The black-and-white doll was a little dazed. It had never met anyone this shameless before—but then it shook its head again and again:
[No, wait, that's not it. Being shameless is one thing. You seriously don't feel any pain?]
"Of course it hurts. But is there anything more painful than watching delicious Dennies slip away right in front of my eyes?"
Nicole clenched her fists tight, her gaze filled with iron resolve as she stared off in a certain direction.
All at once, she snapped her head around. Her neck cracked audibly, and she fixed Phaga with a burning stare, taking a step toward him.
"Dear Mr. Phaga, your pet hurt me. How about you pay a little extra on the commission?"
As she spoke, Nicole's eyes grew more and more intense, practically turning into Dennies themselves. She didn't even notice her breathing getting heavier, like she was about to devour Phaga whole.
Suddenly, she felt an irresistible force shove her in the stomach.
She looked down to see Ellen's tail braced against her abdomen, using brute force to push her back.
When she lifted her head again, she saw that Ellen—who had been sitting on the sofa watching a movie moments earlier—had somehow slipped in front of Phaga. Like she was declaring her claim, she wrapped her arms around his waist and tugged him two steps away from Nicole, warning warily:
"Paying more on the commission is fine. Just don't get so close."
Phaga couldn't help but chuckle. He looped his left arm around Ellen's waist and patted her lightly a few times.
Ellen's whole body went stiff. When she lifted her head to look at him, she met his gentle smile.
"Relax, Ellen."
Phaga patted the hand she had clasped around his waist. Normally, he didn't mind her holding onto him like this, but right now, they weren't alone.
"Ahem."
Only after Ellen let go, cheeks flushed red, did Phaga give a couple of deliberate coughs to pull the atmosphere back to something resembling serious. He smiled pleasantly:
"So then, Miss Nicole, for this incomplete commission, how much are you expecting in fees?"
It was an eighteen-million-Dennies commission.
The job: rescue Phaga from the Doppelgänger Hollow.
But in the end, Phaga had dispelled the Hollow himself.
Strictly speaking, it was questionable whether Cunning Hares had even completed half the task.
"Right, we didn't even finish half. By market standards, getting one-tenth as a consolation fee would already be pretty generous."
Nicole suddenly turned around, biting her nails as her thoughts spun.
"But since Ellen said I could quote a bit higher, asking for one-fifth shouldn't be too much, right?"
"No, it has to be one-fifth. Not a Dennie less!"
Her gaze sharpened. Turning back around, she thumped her chest and declared, "This matter... Ahem, Cunning Hares really didn't do a good job. But Mr. Phaga, even if there's no merit, there's still the effort, right?"
"You can't seriously give us nothing at all. How about this: Cunning Hares dropped the ball, we admit it, so we'll just ask for one-fifth of the fee—three million six hundred thousand Dennies. How does that sound?"
"This is our bottom line. Absolutely cannot go any lower!"
Phaga blinked in surprise.
After a long moment, he let out a quiet sigh. "I'm afraid that won't work."
Nicole tensed instantly, thinking he was about to haggle. She replied firmly, "No way, that's our bottom line. We absolutely won't—"
"What I mean is, I'm sorry, but I don't have change."
"Huh?"
Nicole froze, then looked down at the four savings cards Phaga held out.
"One million Dennies each. I really don't have anything smaller. The extra four hundred thousand Dennies can be your tip."
Nicole went blank, blinking dumbly as she reached out and grabbed the hand Phaga was offering, shaking it up and down.
"Pleasure doing business. I look forward to working together again."
With that, Phaga released her hand and said, "Let's go, Ellen. You too, my pet."
[Don't call me a pet! Show some respect to Lord Black-and-White Doll!]
Before long, Phaga, Ellen, and the others had left. Their voices drifted faintly back on the wind, making Nicole's ears twitch.
"Didn't they say Nicole's crazy about money? We even had nine million ready at first. Why'd she suddenly ask for so little?"
"No idea. Maybe she's just... subtly generous."
Wait... my nine million!!!
As the voices faded into the distance, Nicole finally snapped out of it. She wailed in her heart and hurried to dash out of the video store.
But before she could even take two steps, a small hand suddenly rested on her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace.
Nicole turned her head and saw Belle's face, eyes narrowed in a mischievous smile:
"Oh, my dear Miss Nicole. Now that you're loaded, shouldn't we... settle some old scores?"