"Stealing is definitely not a good thing—but given how suddenly it happened, and the fact that you, Phaga, came all the way here to apologize, let's call it even."
Koleda folded her arms, clearly not that hung up on the theft itself.
What she cared about far more was how Ellen pulled it off. In such a short window of time, she'd slipped past every camera without a trace, then charged through the front door, knocked Anton and Big Ben out before they could react, slung Sacrifice over her shoulder, and walked out. It was ridiculous.
Koleda really wanted answers, so she turned to Ellen.
Ellen thought for a moment, set down her teacup, and said, "Oh, that's because I already memorized all of Belobog Heavy Industries' cameras last time I came."
Phaga shrugged with a helpless smile. "Don't let Ellen's usual laid-back act fool you. She is, after all, a member of Victoria Housekeeping."
"And your senior, at that." Ellen shot Phaga a sideways glare, clearly displeased at being subtly roasted, but quickly continued:
"After that, it was easy. Belobog' doors aren't exactly junk, but they're nowhere near top-grade security doors either. If you really focus, you can break them open. Once the door was down, I just used the momentum to knock Ben and Anton out on the way in."
"You make it sound so casual..."
Koleda looked completely done, the corner of her mouth twitching nonstop.
She turned to look at Anton and Ben. Both of them wore deeply embarrassed expressions, faces flushed as they avoided her gaze.
Koleda's mouth twitched again. She let out a heavy sigh, then asked, "And Sacrifice? What did you do with it?"
At that, Phaga reached into his chest and pulled out the black-and-white doll, setting it down on his leg.
"Here. Right here."
[Hah, finally out. Lord Black-and-White Doll was about to suffocate in there... You damn vampire, do you even—]
The doll turned around, ready to lay into Phaga.
But before it could finish, it suddenly felt weightless and was flung rapidly in some direction.
Huh. That didn't hurt.
Soft. Springy. Like some girl's cheek.
The black-and-white doll tilted its head to see who it was, when urgent, flustered breathing sounded just above it.
"Mnh... so soft! Is this Sacrifice, gender-swapped into a doll-girl? Mmm, too soft, and it smells so nice, this is totally cheating!"
Grace, who had been sitting around with nothing to do, lit up the instant she saw the doll in Phaga's hands. She immediately grabbed it and pressed it against her face.
What is wrong with this woman?!
The black-and-white doll stared in shock, then quickly hardened its resolve.
For an infamous Ethereal like Lord Black-and-White Doll to be hugged like this by some human girl... this is an unbearable humiliation!
No. I have to get out of here!
It braced its little hands and tried to wriggle free of Grace's clutches.
But that only seemed to flip some switch in her. She hugged it even tighter, rubbing her cheek against its face like she was spoiling a child.
No... I'm gonna die...
A sharp crack sounded from its waist. The black-and-white doll could practically hear its own bones crying. It threw its head back, little mouth hanging open as its soul nearly flew out.
Seeing this, Koleda reacted immediately. She wrapped her arms around Grace's waist from behind and tried to pry her off. "Stop, Grace! You're about to squeeze this Ethereal to death!"
"Nooo, I finally found such a cute little thing. Look how black and white it— Huh? This is an Ethereal?"
Hearing Koleda's shout, Grace snapped out of it as if waking from a dream. She quickly held the doll out at arm's length and carefully looked it over from head to toe.
Soon, she confirmed that the barely-breathing black-and-white doll was indeed an Ethereal—and a really, really weak one.
"Tsk. So it's just an Ethereal?"
Grace's interest dropped off a cliff. Disappointed, she put the doll back, sighing:
"I thought it was Sacrifice gender-swapped..."
"Uh... haha..."
Phaga gave an awkward laugh and gently patted the doll on the head, dryly remarking:
"Putting aside the fact that Sacrifice is a robot and might not even have a gender... I really don't get your tastes, Miss Grace."
"What's that supposed to mean? You make it sound like I'm some kind of deviant."
Grace planted her hands on her hips, the flush from her earlier excitement still lingering on her face. With everyone staring at her, she couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
She coughed twice, pretending nothing had happened, then bent over and took a closer, "researcher" look at the doll.
Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, Grace said, "Still, an Ethereal being able to leave a Hollow... that has to be Sacrifice's ability, right?"
"Right."
Phaga nodded slightly. "The reason Ethereals normally can't leave Hollows is that their ability to store Ether substance is extremely poor. Once they're out of the Hollow, without constant Ether replenishment, they die very quickly."
"But Sacrifice is extremely good at controlling Ether substance. Using it, you can 'lock' the Ether inside an Ethereal's body and keep it from leaking out. In theory, with this method, even Nineveh could be brought out of a Hollow."
At this point, Phaga suddenly remembered something and added:
"Oh, and also because of Sacrifice. Its Ether-locking ability is too strong, so outside the Hollow, an Ethereal's combat power drops sharply."
"Ohhh, so that's how it is. I didn't realize you'd gotten this far with your Sacrifice research already, Phaga. You're way ahead of us."
Anton's eyes lit up in sudden understanding. Phaga's explanation was simple enough for even a hot-blooded idiot to follow, and he gave him a big thumbs-up.
Phaga just smiled and shrugged. "It's not that amazing. I only found out early because I poached the hacker who was supposed to help you."
Originally, Rain had been hired to help Belobog Heavy Industries crack Sacrifice and the prototype. Then Phaga swooped in and stole the job. Rain took a huge payout and went off to enjoy himself; who knew when he'd remember to start working again.
"Even so, knowing this much is still really impressive."
Right after Phaga finished, Big Ben's honest, booming voice rang out. When Phaga looked over, he saw Ben squinting his small eyes, smiling guilelessly as he said:
"But if we're talking like this, Phaga, it sounds like your research into Sacrifice goes way beyond just that."
"It does..."
Phaga nodded, then reached into the inner pocket of his steward's uniform.
A moment later, he placed a USB drive on the table with a light tap, pushed it forward, and looked at Koleda with a deep, unreadable expression.
He paused there for a few seconds, then let out a long breath. "President Koleda, this contains Sacrifice's memory data. In its final memory fragments, I saw a middle-aged man. It might be your father. He's not dead."
"What?"
Koleda's heart lurched. Her pupils shrank, disbelief written all over her face. Her small hand reached out, fingers trembling.
The instant her fingertips brushed the USB drive on the table, it was like she'd been shocked. A tingling numbness spread through her entire body in an instant.
She snatched the USB up and pulled it back as fast as she could, clutching it tightly to her chest as if someone might try to steal it away.
She lowered her head and said nothing. Only the faint sound of quiet sobs could be heard.
"Hey, Koleda, try to calm down."
Grace rested a hand on Koleda's shoulder, quietly comforting her.
Then she turned back to the others, eyes full of apology. "Sorry. Our president's... having a bit of a moment."
"It's only human. Anyone would be shaken if they suddenly heard news about a relative they thought had died."
Phaga smiled gently, showing he understood.
Soon after, he stood up and shrugged. "Well then, since we've pretty much wrapped things up, we'll take our leave."
"No problem. Anton, see them out."
Grace also wanted to go with Koleda to check the memory data, so she asked Anton to escort them.
Anton nodded and stepped forward to open the door.
Before long, Phaga and Ellen were standing at the gates of Belobog Heavy Industries.
"Anton, you can stop here. Until we meet again."
Anton nodded, gave Phaga a thumbs-up, then turned and headed back.
Once the outsiders were gone, Phaga finally relaxed. He casually pulled off his monocle, his dark eyes—quiet as the night sky—turning to rest softly on Ellen.
"From here on out, the whole day is ours."
Without realizing it, Phaga took Ellen's hand. His fingers slipped between hers; their fingers laced together.
Ellen didn't pull away. Her cheeks flushed slightly red, and she turned her head aside, her voice barely louder than a mosquito's hum. "Mm."
"Then..."
[What about me?]
Before Phaga could finish, the black-and-white doll squeezed itself between them, glancing left and right, clearly feeling awkward.
"You can drive home."
Phaga shrugged, amused.
[Drive... home...]
The doll looked down at its own tiny body, then turned to stare at the pickup truck. A strange scene flashed through its mind—
It sat in the driver's seat, too small to reach the steering wheel above or the pedals below, staring helplessly at the speedometer needle, forever stuck at zero.
Suddenly, it yelled:
[Forget it! It'd be easier for me to drive Cunning Hare's baby stroller!]
...