I watched from behind as Levi and Nisha stepped through the entrance. Before they’d made it two steps, the lady bolted toward them and leaped onto Levi, nearly taking him off his feet. He staggered back, arms wrapping around her instinctively.
"Levi!!"
The man followed at a more asured pace. Brown-skinned, grey-eyed, with black hair that fell across his forehead in damp-looking strands. Glasses perched on his nose, held in place by a cord that looped behind his neck. He moved with the easy confidence of soone who knew exactly where he stood in the pecking order.
He reached Nisha first and pulled her into a brief embrace. Then, as Levi finally extracted himself from the lady’s grip, the man turned to him.
"You made it back alive." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "That’s a relief."
They clasped hands, and Levi grinned.
"Why would I die? That would be unfair to you."
The man’s eyes went wide, and he sharply adjusted his glasses by the corner of the fra.
"If you don’t want to be unfair to , then perhaps we should consider..."
"Granny!" Levi shouted, cutting him off before he could finish. He was already moving, crossing to the old lady standing at the entrance and folding her into a hug. He had to bend nearly in half to reach her.
"You shouldn’t be out here. Who stressed you?" He shot a glare at the bespectacled man. "Was it Milo?"
’So that’s Milo.’
Levi swung his gaze back to the old woman.
"Don’t mind him. He can be so annoying."
The lady fixed him with a look of mild disgust.
"Did I say I was complaining? You’re the boss. Of course I should co out to greet you." Her gaze shifted, settling on with unsettling directness. "Besides... didn’t you bring an important visitor?"
I stiffened as her eyes t mine. Her grey hair was tied back without a single strand out of place. She looked like sothing cut from a Victorian painting, pearl necklace and earrings catching the light, a dull white gown flowing to her ankles, one hand resting on a wooden cane. The effect was almost theatrical in its precision.
I tried to look away, but Levi spoke before I could.
"Oh, of course. Everyone, et Cade. He’s an Otherworlder."
A strange silence suddenly enveloped the front of the base.
In that stillness, Levi gestured toward Tristan as an afterthought.
"And this is Tristan. You know Tristan."
Still nothing. The lady, the two won in black-and-white servant attire standing behind the old woman, all of them just... stared.
Then the girl stepped forward, her face becoming less distant as she approached.
Long midnight-blue hair spilled down her back in glossy waves, catching hints of teal where the light touched it. Like moonlit water folding over itself. Her eyes were a piercing turquoise, too vivid to be rely decorative, holding a quiet confidence that felt older than her soft features suggested.
A pale dress clung to her figure, simple in cut but made delicate by small ornantal ties at the sides. They accentuated her fra perfectly and made it quite evident that her chest fell sowhere between small and non-existent.
At least her lower body seed to compensate, almost as if the creator had started getting serious when he reached that area. But it wasn’t anything extraordinary. Not even close to Maggie.
’Although...’
Her smallness had its own allure. I just wasn’t sure if I was into that kind of allure.
"You’re an Otherworlder?!" She whipped her head toward Levi before I could even open my mouth. "Is he going to be working with us from now on?!"
Levi grabbed her collar and shoved her back a step.
"Not everyone appreciates you shoving your pretty face at them, Cress."
Instead of fighting back, which everything about the past few seconds suggested she would, she rely squird in a strange way. Almost pleased.
"Levi... you think I’m beautiful."
anwhile, the old woman stepped forward and studied for a long mont. Then she exhaled.
"This one looks like trouble."
Levi chuckled.
"As expected of you, Granny. You’re not wrong." He glanced at with sothing like approval. "But that’s what makes him interesting."
The old woman shook her head.
"What a weird one you are."
Levi turned to with a small smile.
"This is Grandmother. She’s our accountant."
Grandmother fixed him with a tilted glare.
"Accountant? What is that supposed to an?"
Levi chuckled again.
"Ah, right. Accountant sells it short. She’s in charge of our finances as a company, but she does more than that. She makes sure everyone and everything that needs to get paid gets paid. And nothing gets traced."
I lowered my head in a respectful greeting.
A smile blossod across her face, warm and sudden, and she took my hands in hers.
"Welco to Black Snow, my child. You can call Grangran."
I returned the smile.
"Grangran. Thank you."
She laughed, delighted. "Right away! I like him already!"
’Didn’t she just say I looked like trouble? Does she have dentia?’
Levi laughed and continued the introductions.
"The girl is Cressida. She’s one of the company’s primary combat assets, alongside Nisha and Po. Rank C Regular Summoner. A fearso ranged combatant." He paused, his expression turning wry. "Even I don’t want to be on the receiving end of her firearms."
I stiffened internally at the word.
’There are firearms in this world?’
Of course there were. Why was I surprised? There had to be, considering the level of technology I’d noted since arriving. The chanisms were different, of course, heavily dependent on spirit essence, which honestly made them even more interesting.
The midnight-blue-haired girl planted herself in front of , smiling with entirely too much energy.
"Welco, Cade! Glad to et you!"
I managed a smile back.
"Thank you, Cressida."
The two servants stepped forward, and Levi gestured toward them.
"These are Ophelia and Odelia. They help with mundane chores and anything else you might need."
Both bowed their heads in perfect sync. Black hair tied into matching ponytails, pristine skin, deep dark eyes. It would have been easy to mistake them for twins based on their features alone.
But they weren’t. The differences were there if you looked. Ophelia’s skin tone ran warr. Odelia’s cheekbones sat thinner on her face, and she stood slightly taller.
’Actually, I take that back.’
They had far more similar features than differences. The resemblance was almost uncanny.
Levi watched with an expression that suggested he was enjoying this.
"And no, they aren’t twins. They aren’t even from the sa mother. Not blood related at all."
My eyes widened.
I had no issues believing they weren’t twins. But that they weren’t blood related at all sent a genuine shock through .
"Ah... I see."
He let out a satisfied breath.
"Okay then. Introductions over. Let’s head in."
He paused. Turned back.
"Oh, and I know you’ve all been busy, but we have a job. A big one."
The atmosphere shifted imdiately. Grangran’s expression hardened. The lightness drained from the room.
"Owie! Co on!" Cressida’s complaint cut through the tension. "We only just finished one! Let us rest!"
Ophelia and Odelia looked monts away from collapsing where they stood.
"How big?" Grangran’s voice, ancient and asured, steadied the room sowhat.
Even Milo leaned forward, waiting on Levi’s response.
But it was Nisha who answered. She curved one corner of her lips upward.
"Manhattan big."
Every eye in the room went wide.
"What?!"
"We’re finally going after them?!"
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