As I made my way back from my meeting with Song Qian Long, I suddenly spotted a veiled girl with beautiful long sky blue hair. She was currently about to get on the escalator going down.

No way...is that...?

After slipping on my mask, I decided to follow, and also got on the escalator. Since there were quite a few people in between us, I doubted she noticed me. Still, I chose to keep a safe distance, just in case. After arriving at the floor below, she turned right and began walking in that direction. I didn't know what was down that way, but followed regardless, constantly maintaining a safe distance.

At the time, I didn't notice it, but looking back on it now, I realize how creepy I must've looked to outsiders, following a girl from behind like that. Luckily, no one cared enough to stop me or tell the girl there was a creepy guy following her. I assumed this was because everyone had a lot on their minds, with this whole disaster and all.

In any case, the girl continued walking, until she suddenly turned right into another hallway. For a moment, I lost track of where she went, but after confirming she didn't continue straight forward, the only other option was this short corridor you could access by turning right. Therefore, I followed...which was a bad idea.

I looked up, and saw a sign.

Bathrooms.

...Did I really just follow her all the way here to the bathroom? Wow, putting it that way, even I think I'm a pervert now. Though in my defense, I had no way of knowing where exactly she was planning to go...yeah, I doubt that's going to help me in court if I get sued for this.

I cleared my throat and slowly walked back out of the corridor, acting as if nothing had happened. I then leaned against the wall, waiting for the girl to come out.

After around two minutes or so passed, a girl walked out of the female bathroom, but...

Hang on...this isn't the girl I followed...wait, what? That bathroom can only accommodate one person, and the girl I followed definitely went inside. But this girl, walking out right now, doesn't have light blue hair. Instead, she has a mixture of pink and blue. I've definitely seen that hair somewhere before on the news or something, just can't remember exactly. She's also wearing sunglasses and a black fedora, too...indoors? And her veil has been replaced with a pure black mask, much like my own...

...What the hell is this?!

Despite all these questions in my head, I still grabbed the girl's arm right as she passed by me, causing her to almost yelp in surprise.

"W-What do you want?!" she asked fearfully. Then, after looking at me for a while, she calmed down a little. "W-Wait..you are..."

I chuckled. "So you know who I am?"

She stiffened up. "N-No, I don't! I have no idea who you are, so please let m-"

However, I didn't do as she said. Instead, I tightened my grip on her forearm.

"H-Hey!"

"No matter how much you act, you're already exposed. I know who you are," I said quietly. "I don't care about what you did there or why, but I just have something I want to confirm with you. Of course, you're free to leave if you want, but...I think you'll want to hear this news I have. It's about Lan Gui Ying."

She perked up at the mention of that name, and looked at me with her eyes wide open. "You...you know Lan Gui Ying?"

I sighed. "Yes. And as I thought...you have some sort of relationship with her too, don't you?"

She averted her gaze. "I...I did."

Past tense...? Oh...things are getting more interesting.

After glancing both directions, I spoke. "Hm...let's talk about this somewhere more private."

*****

- 5 Minutes Later -

Lan Xiao Su and I sat in a fairly less crowded cafe compared to the one I had been in with the other girls earlier. I was honestly pretty surprised she actually decided to come with me and not just run away. I had many questions I wanted to ask her about her new appearance and everything, but since I said earlier I didn't care about why she would do that, I couldn't really ask her now.

"First off, I want to know how you got to the safe zone," I said, initiating the conversation.

"R-Right! The entire Hunters' Guild, staff and all present Hunters, evacuated as one as soon as we heard the news, and we were able to fend off the monsters that came our way with all of us together!"

I see...since the Hunters' Guild operates 24/7, there were some Hunters in the guild even at midnight.

I nodded. "And you didn't get hit by the rain, correct?"

"U-Um...no? One of the Hunters specialized in water magic, so she put up a transparent dome-shaped barrier around all of us to act as a shield against the rain, but...why?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. As long as you didn't get hit by the rain, you're fine."

She tilted her head in confusion, but I didn't see a reason to tell her anything further, so I stopped there.

Then, I got onto the main topic of our meeting. "So, anyway...what's your relationship with Lan Gui Ying?" I asked, not taking my mask off even though there was a cup of coffee in front of me.

"W-Wait...first, you tell me about that news you mentioned earlier," Lan Xiao Su replied, similarly not taking off her mask.

I scoffed. "I'm not stupid. If I tell you now, you're just going to run away immediately after, no? To avoid having to answer my question, that is."

"..." she fell silent, which usually meant I was on the mark.

I raised an eyebrow. "So? Are you going to talk?"

"...O-Okay! Fine!" she exclaimed, then looked around to see if anyone was listening in. There wasn't, so she continued.

"Lan Gui Ying...she's my sister," Lan Xiao Su murmured quietly. "But don't get me wrong! I don't like her at all...in fact, I could probably say that I hate her. Or more accurately, her mother...in other words, my aunt."

I narrowed my gaze. "Oh? You, the usually all cheerful and nervous receptionist, actually has someone she hates?"

"Yes...oh, but that doesn't mean I'm secretly dark and evil or anything! I genuinely enjoy my job at the Hunters' Guild," she quickly added. "I'm able to meet new people like you, and the other staff there all treat me very well too. I'm just...still slightly nervous when talking to others at close-range, haha..."

"Exactly my point. You're a nice girl, so why would you hate your aunt? What did she do?"

She looked away. "That's...I don't really want to talk about that."

I blinked a few times, then sighed. "Whatever then. Everyone has their own dark parts of their history...and I understand that. As for the news I have for you..."

I lowered my voice, and continued. "Your sister...Lan Gui Ying. She's dead."

"H-Huh?" Lan Xiao Su tilted her head, unsure if what she heard was correct.

I repeated what I said once more. "Lan Gui Ying turned into one of those monsters. In other words, she's dead."

"H-Hold on, what?! How do you even know this?" she asked, flustered.

"I have no reason to lie to you, but it's your choice whether you want to believe me or not," I replied calmly.

"..." after several moments of hesitation, she gave in. "O-Okay, I believe you..."

"One more thing," I continued. "You say Lan Gui Ying is your sister, but...does that mean you have the same parents?"

Lan Xiao Su shook her head. "Same father, different mothers. I was born under one of my father's concubines..."

I sighed. "I can guess how the story went from there. Your father favored your mother, and Lan Gui Ying's mother got jealous, so she harmed your mother somehow. Correct?"

"W-Wha..." she seemed shocked at how accurately I had deduced this.

"And after that...you probably didn't want to stay in that kind of environment anymore, so you left the family, huh?"

She was left speechless for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Haha...I didn't want to talk about this originally, but you figured it out all on your own...Kai Xuan, you're pretty smart, huh?"

Smart? Nah. Anyone with common sense and a little logic would be able to deduce what happened, but...yeah, I'm not going to say that.

I shrugged. "I guess. Oh, and there's one more thing I want to ask. You have no reason to stay here anymore though, so you don't have to answer this one if you don't want to."

She laughed a little. "You already know nearly everything about me, there's no point running away now!"

"Okay, then...why did you change your appearance in the bathroom earlier?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "You've completely changed..."

"Ah...that, I was afraid of getting recognized by my sister or aunt, since everyone still alive is gathered in this mall, so..." she murmured quietly.

I fell into thought. "Then why wear a hat and a mask? Wouldn't that just make you stand out more indoors?"

"E-Eh? Ah..." she averted her gaze, and I knew something was up. I narrowed my gaze and waited for a proper response.

Lan Xiao Su...what are you hiding?