I was the fourth disaster in Yokohama and was loved by everyone.

Are you referring to those two French masters—Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud?

Fukuzawa Yukichi: "..."

He nodded calmly, but his mind went blank for a moment.

Well... this trip should be safe now.

Only this thought remained swirling in my mind.

*

The days leading up to the competition were peaceful. Zhu Yu was nominally an assistant, but in reality, Ranbu didn't restrict her from going anywhere. He just told her not to sleep anywhere at night and to remember to come back to sleep.

Having finally unlocked the new country, Zhu Yu was busy running around the streets. If Verlaine hadn't been there to keep an eye on her, she might have ended up sleeping at some random NPC's house because she had gone too far.

Once, while exploring the map, she didn't pay attention to her stamina and accidentally ran out of stamina. Before she could replenish it, she collapsed. Fortunately, Verlaine caught her with quick reflexes and carried her back to the hotel.

Upon waking, Verlaine said with a serious expression, "Sister, you need to rest." She had been wandering around outside all day, helping many humans in the process. Were those wretched humans really worth all this running around for?

"Okay brother."

NPCs care about players; NPCs are good.

Verlaine's serious expression immediately vanished, and he continued with a slight smile, "Just rest well at the hotel today."

The NPC is trying to prevent the player from exploring the map; the NPC is bad.

Before Zhu Yu could refuse, Verlaine lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a shadow beneath them. His once gentle blue eyes now seemed veiled in a thin mist, revealing a hint of disappointment.

He lowered his head slightly, and his tied-up golden hair softly slid down to the side of his face.

"...Does the younger sister not want to listen to her older brother?"

Zhu Yu: ...Buhao, the player has been hit by a beauty overload.

Seeing that Zhu Yu was stunned and didn't say no for a moment, Verlaine inwardly gave the book "How to Be a Popular Brother: One Hundred Tips You Must Know" a "not bad" rating.

—【Tip #46: When your younger sister/brother wants to reject you, learn to express your disappointment appropriately. Popular older brothers all do this, so give it a try!】

Zhu Yu inwardly sighed, realizing she had been completely outmaneuvered by this little gamer...

It's just one day.

Zhu Yu agreed.

Rimbaud, who was drinking coffee nearby, smiled quietly.

Ranpo secretly curled his lip—the stupid assistant had fallen for it.

However, he won't expose it.

After all, he hadn't played with her in a long time...

Everyone was satisfied in an instant.

*

The day of the competition arrived quickly, and Zhu Yu and his group waited outside the venue for Luan Bu to finish his match.

Although Zhu Yu really wanted to slip away halfway and come back to pick up Luan Bu when it was almost time.

However, Ranpo emphasized: "The famous detective will come out in no time. The famous detective will see you waiting for me at the door at a glance."

So she obediently waited in the waiting area outside the venue.

During this time, she tried to talk to all the NPCs in the waiting area, but no quests came up.

Just as she was about to leave, an NPC entered. He looked very wealthy and his name was Fitzgerald.

dialogue--

After the NPC rattled off a bunch of self-introductions, he started exchanging pleasantries with Verlaine and Rimbaud.

Turning to talk to the woman next to him who seemed to be an NPC, he was also a beautiful NPC, a gentle and kind older sister named Zelda.

Zhu Yu immediately began to enthusiastically circle around the new NPC.

Looking down, I noticed a small NPC named Isabel, who is the daughter of two large NPCs.

The little girl with golden hair, her slightly curly hair carefully styled and cascading down her back, had big eyes like lakes filled with scattered stars. Her features were delicate, her skin was fair, and she wore a pink and white tutu, just like a porcelain doll.

Zhu Yu curiously held it up to observe.

"Cute." She fully affirmed the little NPC's beauty, expressing a strong desire to kidnap her. "Come with me."

Fitzgerald: "...Miss Meichuan, what are you going to do to my daughter?"

Chapter 167 Let's Play Together

Fitzgerald never imagined that in the short time he turned around to chat with the two transcendents, his daughter would be at risk of being abducted.

The culprit glanced at him, lifted his lovely, innocent daughter high in the air, and said with self-righteousness, "Take her away and raise her, can't you see?"

Fitzgerald's eyes widened suddenly, and a vein throbbed on his forehead.

Whose daughter is she anyway?!

Zhu Yu looked up and saw that the rich NPC's head was repeatedly switching between yellow and red.

She waited quietly for the final result.

Verlaine naturally noticed the commotion, frowned slightly, and murmured, "Does my sister want to raise this human child?"

Rimbaud keenly caught Verlaine's words, subtly glancing at Fitzgerald's reaction. He noticed Fitzgerald staring at Zhu Yu, looking visibly shaken, and communicated with Verlaine using lip reading: "What's wrong, Paul?"

“Since my sister likes it, then take it back.” Verlaine understood Rimbaud’s intention, his lips moved but no sound came out.

He had a completely matter-of-fact expression on his face.

In his view, human children were nothing more than little toys for his sister to pass the time.

If you like toys, of course you should bring them along.

The problem is that the parents of this human child are the troublesome ones.

Verlaine glanced casually at the Fitzgeralds.

Rimbaud quickly reached out and pressed down on his shoulder: "...Wait."

Although he somewhat disapproved of the act of taking someone else's child back to raise, if [Kuzi] really liked raising children, there was still room for negotiation.

As a former intelligence agent, Rimbaud was not as peaceful as he appeared to ordinary people when enjoying a tranquil life in Yokohama. On the contrary, ruthlessness, weighing the pros and cons, and striking decisively once he had his target in sight were the true nature of his character.

He thought somewhat indifferently: it would be fine to let the little girl go to Yokohama to stay for a while.

Once the initial enthusiasm for [Kuzi] fades, he probably won't remember this anymore.

Rimbaud had seen too many times when she became enthusiastic about something, but this enthusiasm usually didn't last long before she forgot about it.

When she talked about raising that little girl, the look in her eyes was like seeing a doll in a cupboard—appreciative, fond, and wanting only to collect and possess it.

It won't last long.

Rimbaud's judgment.

The two flexible and adaptable individuals exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's thoughts. They then turned to look at Zhu Yu, awaiting her final decision.

Fitzgerald took a few steps closer, approaching his wife, daughter, and a certain arrogant player.

Zelda habitually put her arm around Fitzgerald's, trying to smooth things over, saying, "Darling, don't be so serious."

Zelda didn't take Zhu Yu's words to heart, thinking it was just a joke. She patted her daughter's hair and said, "Baby, this older sister seems to like you a lot."

Although Isabel was pampered growing up, her parents valued her education and did not spoil her. Therefore, although she was a bit spoiled, she did not have the temperament of a spoiled princess.

When the older sister, whom I was meeting for the first time, "enthusiastically" lifted me up, I only moved slightly awkwardly and calmly waited for her next move.

Isabel felt a little embarrassed after hearing her mother's words, and her fair face immediately turned rosy.

"Does my sister want to play with me?"

Being liked is something to be happy about.

Unfortunately, she couldn't go home with this older sister, otherwise her parents would be sad. But she didn't want to make this older sister sad either; if they played together, the older sister would be happy.

Zhu Yu noticed that a yellow exclamation mark had appeared above the little NPC's head!

——【Receive】

"What do you want to play?" Zhu Yu asked, putting down the person who had commissioned the task.

Seeing that Zhu Yu seemed to have given up that despicable idea, Fitzgerald's expression softened. His family was his Achilles' heel; his daughter had almost been kidnapped, and he simply couldn't maintain the flawless mask he wore in the world of fame and fortune.

His intuition told him that the girl in front of him was not joking, and that she really meant what she said.

His intuition guided him countless times, creating one miracle after another of turning losses into profits.

He trusted his intuition.

Zhu Yu glanced indifferently at the yellow name above the rich NPC's head, and felt a little regretful—it would be better if it were a red name, then players could beat the corpse before looting it.

*

After Ranpo came out, the group went together to Fitzgerald's house in the area.

Fitzgerald believed that no hotel could compare to home, so he and his wife and daughter would buy a property to stay in every place they visited.

Inside the villa, Zhu Yu, Ranbu, and Isabel sat together playing a deduction game.

Sunlight streamed through the white gauze curtains, bathing the entire children's room in a warm, golden glow.

Isabelle has a hobby of reading detective novels, and she enjoys the process of finding the murderer through her own reasoning.

It was because of this hobby that Fitzgerald invested in the "Detective Contest." As the main investor, he could bring his daughter to get up close and personal with the contestants and watch the case-solving process from the front row.

She was kneeling on the carpet, her small hands solemnly supporting her chin, her head nodding as she pondered.

Ranpo, on the other hand, casually played with the pencil in his hand, tossing it up and down repeatedly, waiting somewhat boredly for Isabel to find the culprit.

"So slow!"

He dragged out his words, complaining.

When Isabel scratched her head in disappointment, indicating that she really didn't know who the culprit was, Ranpo immediately picked up a pencil and circled a name in the book.

"Isn't it obvious at a glance? The great detective has won again!"

Ranpo's lips curled into a smirk as he arrogantly crossed his arms and raised his chin, looking down at his two defeated opponents.

"Ranpo-nii is amazing."

Isabel's eyes lit up. This was Edgar's brother's latest detective novel. He said the murderer was very well hidden, but Ranpo found the murderer in one go.

Zhu Yu stuffed a cookie into her mouth and joined in the fun: "Ranpo is amazing."

In a game where there's no reward for winning, players might as well just slack off.

So she didn't express any opinion throughout the entire process.

Although Ranpo was somewhat dissatisfied, Zhu Yu shared a portion of the cookies with him...

Ranpo: Well, the famous detective will have to accept it reluctantly.

The investigation team, the atmosphere team, and the slacking-off team all gathered together, having a great time.

The afternoon passed quickly, and Fitzgerald invited a few people to stay for dinner and overnight.

Zhu Yu accepted the invitation immediately.

The remaining three were indifferent and agreed.

After dinner, Isabel played with Zhu Yu and Ranbu until bedtime before reluctantly saying "Goodnight."

Zhu Yu nodded and left Isabel's children's room. She decided to explore the large mountain village under the cover of night.

I hadn't walked more than a few steps when someone grabbed the hem of my clothes.

Turning around, Ranpo's lips were pressed into a stubborn line, his eyes narrowed, and he said somewhat angrily, "Aren't you going to bring the famous detective along again?"

Chapter 168 Pet No. 2