Just as she was finishing her meal, she suddenly smelled a scent similar to the blood in the black tea and cake. Looking up, she saw a maid not far away watching her with a calm expression. A white cloth ribbon was tied into a bow on her arm; although others wore them too, a faint scent of blood emanated only from her.
In that instant, Flandre understood where the fresh blood she had consumed came from. Upon noticing her gaze, the other party nodded with a smile.
"The blood you are consuming now was voluntarily offered by this servant of mine. There is no need to feel nervous about it. It was less than 200cc, which won't have any adverse effect on her. She simply wanted to ask how her blood tasted."
From Flandre's reaction, the group realized she could indeed confirm the source of the blood. Fumizuki asked with a smile, "The taste?"
Flandre scratched her head and then said something earth-shattering: "Don't exercise too much lately, it might affect the baby!"
??? !!!
Everyone, including the surrounding maids, instinctively looked at that woman.
"Bring your hand here." Lady Fumizuki looked at her, and the maid placed her hand before Fumizuki. Fumizuki grasped her wrist, closing her eyes to feel for several seconds.
"It is indeed a pregnancy pulse, though still very faint. This was my oversight. Go to the finance department later to draw ten thousand Lungmen dollars, and then I grant you a year of leave. Take care of your body first, and return to work after the child is born. During this period, your salary will be paid according to standard rates."
After Fumizuki confirmed it, everyone offered their congratulations. The maid also expressed that she truly hadn't realized she was pregnant; otherwise, she definitely wouldn't have participated in this blood donation.
"Flandre, how did you find out?" Beatrice asked after the maid stepped down.
"Find out what? That the blood came from her?" Flandre wondered if this wasn't just instinct, like being able to smell various fragrances; she could simply distinguish the scents of different blood types better than ordinary people.
"Of course not, I mean the fact that she's pregnant," Beatrice said, her emerald eyes full of excitement. The others were also curious if Flandre could really distinguish so much from just a bit of blood.
"Oh, because there are two scents in her blood. I tasted it before at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. My sister said it was the blood of a pregnant woman, and that it's very rare. She told me to remember this feeling, and if I ever taste this scent while drinking blood, I must stop. Because pregnant women are very precious resources."
Flandre replied... Although calling people "resources" was a bit strange, the group understood what the sister she mentioned meant: she wanted Flandre to spare pregnant women whenever she encountered them while feeding. It could be said that after these words, everyone's impression of the sister Flandre spoke of improved significantly.
With this diversion, everyone forgot about the ongoing friction between Beatrice and Chen Huijie. On the other side, Lin Yuxia was very curious about this Blood Demon who seemed to be as close to Beatrice as a real sister. This was a Blood Demon, after all. Beatrice was certainly bold; she'd heard she even took the initiative to live with the Blood Demon. Lin Yuxia knew she'd never have that kind of courage.
Then, everyone began to discuss the recent events again. Despite how quiet it was outside with no news leaking out, this was the result of the Governor's Mansion, the merchant guilds, and the Lin family exerting pressure across politics, commerce, and the underworld simultaneously. Otherwise, an incident of this magnitude would have already caused a massive uproar throughout the city.
Lin Yuxia was here to represent her father at this tea party. After all, he couldn't very well join a gathering of women as an old man. As dinner time approached, everyone went their separate ways. Beatrice pulled Flandre along and looked at Chen Huijie.
"Come on, little Flandre, let's go. Don't stay too close to this violent Pink Sausage Dragon, or you'll become brainless just like her."
...Hearing this, Chen Huijie's nose almost twisted in anger. That Char Siu Cat was constantly slandering her in front of little Flandre.
"[Lungmen Profanity], believe it or not, I'll thrash you!"
"See, see? Just a few words and she starts with the threats of violence. You must do this all the time when interrogating suspects, don't you? Murder!!!"
As Chen Huijie's old friend, Swire naturally knew that she hated it most when people brought up her background, but ehehe, I'm going to bring it up on purpose just to spite you! And sure enough, she got thrashed by Chen Huijie again... Looking at Beatrice, Flandre felt she was a bit like that ice fairy (Cirno) from the Misty Lake who loved to court death for no reason.
The scuffle between the two quickly ended with Beatrice's crushing defeat. Rubbing her chin and complaining, Beatrice led Flandre back to their room. That evening, while Flandre and Beatrice were sitting together watching an educational cartoon released by the Yan Celestial Masters Mansion called "Three Thousand Questions of the Wise Brothers," the door was pushed open.
Seeing Chen Huijie enter, Beatrice jumped up like a cat with its fur standing on end and hid behind Flandre. "I'm warning you, Comrade Chen Huijie, trespassing and assault are crimes!"
"Thrashing you? I don't have the time for that!"
Then Flandre saw Hoshiguma following closely behind Chen Huijie, carrying a large iron pot. Crucially, the pot was filled with something incredibly aromatic.
"It's food!" Flandre shouted out loud.
"That's right, I brought back some spicy blood curd stew from a Shangshu restaurant. I didn't know if you'd like the flavor, so I asked for a few different types of blood. No human blood, of course." Hoshiguma placed the large basin on the table with a simple, honest expression.
Flandre's eyes widened as she looked at the large basin of bright red food that gave off an ominous scent. "Can... can you eat this?"
The dark red, boiling contents reminded her of a place called Old Hell where her sister had once taken her to visit; the feeling that place gave her was exactly like this pot of "food."
"Of course, little Flandre, this is a supreme delicacy!" Chen Huijie indicated that although her own tastes leaned toward the light and mild, she could still manage this kind of thing.
As for why they had this dish of spicy blood curd stew, it started after she left the Governor's Mansion. After leaving the mansion, Chen Huijie ran into Hoshiguma, who was on her way home. As they talked, they eventually got onto the subject of Flandre eating the blood cake. Coincidentally, there was a shop nearby run by people from Shangshu, and their specialty was spicy blood curd stew. Hoshiguma suggested that maybe Flandre thought blood didn't taste good because it hadn't been prepared correctly.
After hearing their explanation, Flandre looked at the pot with some curiosity. Could that smelly, fishy blood really become delicious after being stewed? Under their expectant gazes, she picked up a piece and ate it carefully.
"How is it?" Chen Huijie asked expectantly.
"The fishy smell in the animal blood is indeed suppressed... but... this blood doesn't give me even a tiny bit of energy... I can only say it's for the taste."
They were happy to hear the fishy smell was gone, but Chen Huijie was disappointed to find it had no effect. "It's okay, I'll think of other ways!"
"Since we've already brought it, let's all eat together!" Hoshiguma handed everyone a bowl and sat down with a hearty air. "Flandre, come and eat! Just treat it as a taste test!"
As they ate, the conversation naturally turned to the case. "Speaking of which, Beatrice, you were really fierce this time. You have no idea, when we went to that village, quite a few things tried to escape. Seven or eight Guard Department operators were injured because of it."
Hoshiguma had participated in the previous operation, and she described how the villagers still tried to resist when the Guard Department arrived. But facing a fully armed and well-prepared Guard Department, they were caught off guard. In particular, the enemy's main combatants had basically been wiped out by Flandre, which allowed the Guard Department to take full control of the entire village in a single night.
They not only seized a large quantity of various smuggled goods but also items from previously hijacked logistics that hadn't been sold yet. According to the non-stop emergency interrogations over the past few days, it was a large-scale smuggling and robbery syndicate operating as a village unit. They used the transport vehicles from that tourist area as cover to not only trade in many items banned in Lungmen but also to accept missions from competitors to help hijack certain logistics vehicles.
As for the people responsible for transporting the goods, the lucky ones might survive, while the unlucky ones would die directly at their hands. It could be said that the numerous bloody cases during this period were all their doing. Initially, the villagers wanted to deny it. But those who had been scared witless by Flandre confessed the entire process and named all the participants. Therefore, when faced with the pile of detailed testimonies produced by the Guard Department, those people had no defense left.