READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 21: "We'll give you 30% percent off for this commission,"
Koleda stepped into the Random Play Video Store, admiring the aesthetic of it. It's a small little business, tucked away in the corner of Sixth Street. But as Koleda ventured through the display room, she was floored by the emotion it invoked.
Movie night with family, slumber party with friends, a lazy Saturday night after a long week. It was raw nostalgia that has long since been taken from her, ever since she became the CEO of Belobog Industry. The strange feeling of cherishing memories she never made.
"Welcome to Random Play, is this your first time here?"
A certain blue haired girl greeted her, with a kind and playful smile on her face. Koleda froze for a split second, the urge to say yes, and have this girl walk her to some of the new release was unbearable. "Uhh..." she shook her head. "Come on, Proxy, I..." she paused again, remembering that she's been blocking her. "I came here to apologize,"
Belle giggled softly. "Ehehe~ No need for all that," she waved her hand. "It's prolly some business stuff, it's okay~ I blocked Nicole all the time when she start begging for cash to pay off her loans,"
"Hey!" Nicoled exclaimed from behind the counter. "That's slander! I don't beg you for cash to pay off my debt!!" something tells Koleda that it's a blatant lie.
Koleda turned back to Belle and sighed a little. "Yeah, still, after all the things you've done for us and all those people, blocking you is one hell of a jerk move," she folded her arms. "Our mechanic learned that the hard way..."
"Mechanic? You mean Grace?" Belle tilted her head. "What happened?"
"She got... hurt in an incident at the hollow, she's hospitalized now," Koleda averted her gaze, failing to notice the faint smile tugging at Belle's face. "We... I'm not taking any chances, you're the best Proxy there is, and I want to get this done lest Grace do something even more stupid."
Belle nodded gently. "I get it," she looked around. "But let's not talk here, my little uhh... side gig, isn't exactly registered in the government, if you know what I mean," she led Koleda into the staff room. "Come on in, lemme show you around~"
Koleda stepped into the dim room Staff Room. An array of monitors glows blue at the other side of the room, a workspace on another side, and a large sofa facing a CRT TV at another end. Lying on the sofa is a certain cat thiren, sleeping peacefully, making scratches on the leather.
"Hey," Belle pat the cat.
"Ny-nya!?" Nekomiya sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Is it my shift?" she then turned to Koleda. "Oh! You're Koleda right? Hi~" the cat girl grinned.
"Hello, nice to meet you, Nekomiya,"
The cat girl smiled at Koleda, though there's something strange about her smile. It was almost that of... pity? Guilt?
"Nice to meet you too!" Nekomiya took her hand. "Are you here for a video? Or for our other service?" she winked.
"It's the latter,"
"Mm, got it," Nekomiya stretched her arms. "I'm gonna go help Nicole at the floor nyaa~" she waved her hand and walked out of the staff room.
With that, Koleda and Belle sat next to each other on the sofa. The CRT TV in front of them showing a clip from Cunning Hares Origin. It's a bit funny, Koleda realized, all of Nekomiya's lines are a mixture of nyaa and meow, with a caption below it translating it. She wondered if it's an actual artistic choice to have Nekomiya talk in cat language instead.
"So, about the commission?" Belle asked, pausing the movie.
"Right!" Koleda cleared her throat and straighten up her pose. "You see, due to some bug in our Smart Machinery, some of our machine was lost in the Hollow. Or rather, they fled into the Hollow," she began. "Our mechanic managed to retrieve the two of them, a boring machine and a grappling machine. But the last one, our Pile Driver is deeper into the Hollow and..." the girl averted her gaze. "She... said she never managed to track the signal..."
Belle nodded understandingly. "I see... So you need us to retrieve the last one?"
"Yes, we need your help to find the Pile Driver so that Grace can fix them all once she gets better," Koleda looked down. "And... as an apology for blocking you, we'll offer you..."
"We're giving you a discount," Belle cut her off. "I know how much vicious Nicole is at haggling, so, I guess our price really is problematic, ahaha!" she giggled a little. "We'll give you 30% percent off for this commission,"
"Wh-what!? No! It's not about that!" Koleda bit her lip. "Proxy you... it's not about the price, you've been very generous with us!"
Belle stood up. "Too late, I've made up my mind," she grinned. "Anyway, it's getting late, are you going to return now?"
Koleda looked down, feeling nothing but guilt. Not only did she return Proxy's kindness by literally blocking her, she also made Belle feel like their service just isn't worth the price. Anyone else would have gotten the boot right now.
"I guess..." Koleda muttered to herself. "S-sorry," she shook her head. "Anyway, we'll meet you at the construction site tomorrow then?" she asked. "Or maybe you need a few days to prepare?" she added, not wanting to rush the Proxy.
"We'll see you tomorrow," Belle replied. "Don't worry, I can guess that these machines are very important for you guys, so I'll get ready right away!"