"So you knew the whole time?"
Sakuya's pale blue eyes glinted with a sharp, half-playful hint of murderous intent as she looked down at the gatekeeper.
"Gah!" Hong Meiling froze completely on the spot, her jaw dropping.
Why on earth did I have to go and run my big mouth?! She mentally slapped herself across the face in frantic regret, taking a tiny, timid step backward.
Not far off, it happened to be their turn in line at the artisan's counter. Remilia sat down gracefully on the wooden stool in front of the old craftsman, curiously observing his swift, dexterous movements as his fingers molded the damp clay.
It had to be said, the master was exceptional at his trade. In a matter of minutes, a lifelike figurine of the Scarlet Mistress took shape under his worn hands.
After the rest of the party took their turns getting personalized clay figures sculpted, they agreed to return in half an hour to collect the dried, finished pieces. Flandre cheerfully settled the payment, and the group temporarily scattered across the illuminated market.
Flandre grabbed Komeiji Koishi by the hand and vanished into the dense crowd in the blink of an eye, leaving behind two helpless older sisters.
"Aren't you going to go look for them?" Komeiji Satori asked, turning to Remilia.
"Forget it," Remilia replied, shaking her head with a relaxed smile. "There's no real danger in this city anyway; let them enjoy themselves. Besides, I just noticed an artisan shop over that way selling carved hairpins and small accessories. Their crafts looked rather charming—shall we go take a look?"
Remilia had decided to let the little ones run free. After all, within the borders of Lungmen, there was virtually nothing capable of threatening Flandre and Koishi, so keeping them on a tight leash was entirely unnecessary.
The two elder sisters, accompanied by Sakuya and a bruised Meiling, strolled off toward the row of boutique stalls.
Meanwhile, Flandre and Koishi were weaving through the bustling crowds when Flandre suddenly spotted a group of Lungmen Guard Department officers patrolling nearby. The officers seemed to be sweeping the market stalls, searching for something with visual intent.
Curious, Flandre scurried over to them. "What are you guys up to?"
Hearing a child's voice, the LGD officer at the lead instinctively opened his mouth to direct the kid away from the operational zone. However, the moment he turned his head and recognized Flandre, he immediately snapped his boots together and stood at crisp attention.
"Instructor Flandre!"
Hearing the formal title, Flandre's crimson eyes crinkled into happy little crescents. "What are you looking for? Maybe I can help!"
The officer glanced around at the crowded thoroughfare before leaning down to explain in a hushed tone.
"Last week, Officer Ch'en confiscated a major shipment of black-market fireworks attempting to cross into Lungmen through illegal smuggling routes. Our division followed the supply chain and raided the underground workshop, only to learn that a batch from that lot had already slipped into the local night markets. To make the explosions more dramatic, the illicit manufacturers illegally mixed raw Originium Dust into the powder."
The officer's expression turned solemn. "Once those firecrackers are ignited, anyone standing nearby risks inhaling the active dust and contracting Oripathy on the spot. We've been ordered to recover every single unit before they can be set off. We know for a fact that one small crate slipped into this specific square."
Flandre nodded in sudden realization. "Then with so many stalls set up around the square, how are you going to locate that specific batch?"
The LGD officer scratched his head, looking thoroughly stressed. "We have to find them no matter what. Even if the actual amount of Originium Dust in each unit is minute, the risk of infection is absolute—we can't let a single buyer light one."
He sighed, adjusting his tactical belt. "Our team has already established inspection checkpoints at all four exit gates of the square. Anyone carrying fireworks out has to submit them for scanning. Furthermore, that illegal batch bears a specific manufacturer brand—called something like Sky-Rising Cracker. You tell me, Instructor: these merchants have the money to print fancy brand logos on their packaging, so why can't they just manufacture legitimate, safe goods?"
"I think I've seen those!" Koishi suddenly chimed in, tilting her head.
"Huh?" Both Flandre and the LGD officer whipped their heads toward her.
"On our way over here earlier, I saw a stall displaying those exact boxes," Koishi said matter-of-factly.
"Let's go take a look right now!" Flandre patted Koishi's shoulder eagerly.
With so many families roaming the market, if an unsuspecting buyer bought those hazardous firecrackers and set them off near children, an entire household's life could be ruined in an instant.
The officer hesitated, opening his mouth to ask if the young girl's memory was reliable, but seeing Flandre already marching into the crowd behind Koishi, he quickly hurried after them. If the lead was genuine, securing the hazard immediately was his top priority.
Guided by Koishi's sharp visual memory, the three of them navigated through several lively alleys before arriving at a brightly lit fireworks stall. Sure enough, resting prominently on the front display shelf were several colorful boxes clearly printed with the label: Sky-Rising Cracker.
"It's them!"
The LGD officer called out first, smoothly flashing his official badge as he stepped into the stall.
He concisely explained the situation to the merchant, who initially looked thoroughly displeased. After all, with business booming during the peak evening hours, having an LGD officer march in and demand the seizure of popular merchandise was an absolute mood killer.
However, the moment the officer mentioned the illicit inclusion of active Originium Dust, the merchant's face turned completely chalk-white with sheer terror. To the citizens of Terra, few things were more horrifying than direct, unshielded contact with Originium—especially when mixed into volatile explosives.
Trembling violently, the merchant scrambled to pull out his remaining inventory from under the counter. A quick inventory count revealed the horrifying truth: over a dozen units had already been sold to random shoppers over the past hour.
The vendor collapsed onto his knees, his voice shaking uncontrollably. "O-Officer... I swear on my life, I had no idea there was Originium Dust inside those! If an accident happens, you can't pin this on me!"
The officer cast a stern look down at him. "Illegally trading black-market pyrotechnics without an official municipal sales license, and you're telling me you bear no responsibility? Do you honestly think the court will buy that? You better pray our checkpoint teams recover every single unit you sold, otherwise..."
Though he left the sentence unfinished, the merchant had already slumped onto the floorboards, paralyzed by fear.
The officer quickly raised his communicator, transmitting the location and inventory count to command. Learning that the point of sale had been secured but over ten units were unaccounted for, the central dispatch immediately tightened security sweeps across all market sectors.
Half an hour passed. A fresh update crackled through the radio handset: LGD agents at the perimeter checkpoints had successfully intercepted almost all of the sold units—except for two final firecrackers that remained unaccounted for within the crowded square.
Koishi looked over at Flandre. They had been away for quite a while, and it was almost time to meet back up with their group and collect their finished clay figures.
Noticing Koishi's subtle glance, the LGD officer offered a respectful salute, assuring Instructor Flandre that his unit would handle the remaining search and that she should go attend to her personal plans.
The two little girls trotted back to the artisan's stall, where they found the old master sitting by his table, waiting patiently for them with a warm smile.
As he handed over the hardened, beautifully painted clay figurines, the old man began packing his sculpting tools into his wooden carrying crate.
"Grandpa, are you closing up shop for the night?" Flandre asked casually, admiring the miniature figure in her hands.
"Ah, yes, little girl. My old bones can't stand the winter chill for too late into the evening," the old master chuckled gently, pulling a small paper bag out from under his stool. "Besides, my little grandson back home has been begging to play with firecrackers all week, so I bought two from a neighboring stall earlier to take back and make the little boy happy."
Flandre and Koishi looked at each other, their eyes widening in unison.
Talk about finding something without even looking!
The items the old master had just pulled out of his bag were the exact two missing units the entire LGD squad had been frantically searching for. It turned out they had never even left the market square in the first place.
While the LGD command center was practically tearing its hair out in anxiety at the perimeter gates, the final two hazardous firecrackers had been sitting quietly right under their noses the entire time.
Noticing the peculiar, wide-eyed expressions on Flandre and Koishi's faces, Remilia—who had just strolled up with Satori, Sakuya, and Meiling—asked what was going on. Flandre pointed at the old man's paper bag and quickly summarized the whole story.
Listening to the explanation, Remilia couldn't help but let out a soft, amused sigh, shaking her head gently. Sometimes, the strings of fate really were that delightfully ironic.