Lian lay in hot water held by a big iron cauldron, chin tilted forty-five degrees toward the star-salted sky, steam curling like white dragons. A sigh slipped out. "So quiet~"
Flan smiled, a crescent in the candle-dark. "Yeah." Then—plop—the water took something, ripples spreading like rings on a pond.
"Hey, Flan, do you think every corner of the world is that kind of beautiful?" Her voice drifted like a paper lantern.
"Think so~" Plop again, like rain tossing stones into a well.
"If the world ends, who would you stay with?" The words tasted like ash on wind.
"I guess my sister." Plop~ again and again, like a drum in the bath.
Lian withdrew her gaze from the stars and looked at Flan, a smile tugging at her mouth like a hook.
"Hey, Flan, what have you been doing this whole time?"
Flan stopped the knife that was slicing vegetables, its light flicker like moon on steel, and gave a healing smile, warm as tea.
"This is for beauty~ You know how the ancients soaked in flowers before bathing?" Petals floated in her tone like tiny boats.
Lian pinched up a carrot between her fingers. "So your house uses this stuff?" Her brow throbbed like a drum.
Flan didn't flinch; her eyes held steady like polished stones.
"Lian-sis! That's where you don't get it! Carrots have strong whitening effects on skin!" Her certainty flew like a banner in wind.
"Eh?" Seeing Flan's earnest face, Lian's doubt wavered like a reed in wind.
"You have to know this! Carrots are packed with nutrients." Her words piled like kindling.
"Forget those chemical names we can't pronounce." She waved them off like buzzing gnats.
"Look at their mana makeup instead." Her tone glowed like coal.
"Carrots hold up to eighty percent natural mana under heaven." The claim boomed like a temple bell.
"Natural mana moistens the body like spring rain." She nodded as if feeling the drizzle.
"You know that, right?" Her gaze pressed like a fingertip on glass.
"Carrots also play nice with other ingredients." Her hands flowed like streams.
"They mix without bad reactions, like streams joining a river." The picture ran clear.
"They're the most natural, most effective beauty component." Her voice rang like a gong.
"How can Lian-sis not know such basic common sense?!" Her disbelief flashed like lightning.
"Eh... really... it kind of makes sense..." Confusion fogged her chest like morning mist.
Lian was instantly confused, like mist over a pond. It even sounded plausible. Whatever; let it drift like a leaf on water.
Seeing no more questions, Flan happily kept chopping, the knife pattering like rain.
"Flan, this too?" Lian raised a scallion Flan had tossed in, green as a spring reed.
"Yep~" Her reply chimed like a bell.
"This onion too?" The cut stung like smoke.
"Mm~" The hum purred like a cat.
"Even this cilantro?!"
"That's right~" Her confidence landed like a seal.
So Lian gave up thinking, like a lantern blown out.
"Alright, I'm done. I'm heading out." She wrapped her pale body in a towel like a cloud. Lian hurried away like a startled deer.
Flan watched her vanish into the corridor like mist. From the shadows, a red silhouette slipped out, a flame stepping from ink. "Is it done?"
Flan flashed an OK with her right hand, like a tiny flag.
"She didn't notice?" The voice was thin as a needle.
"A dumb loli like that? A little sweet talk is enough, easier than tricking Sis." Her tone was sugar over a blade.
"Is that so? Hard to tell she's clever by day, yet so dense now." The words tapped wood like knuckles on a door.
"Well, she's a loli after all~" The shrug fell like petals.
The scarlet figure turned toward Lian's bath, a wooden ladle in hand like a scepter.
A small hand blocked her just as she neared. The red figure looked at Flan and curved a smile like a sickle.
"Threatening your own master now?" The words drifted like smoke.
Flan shook her head. Her gaze on the scarlet figure glittered with business, like coins in sun.
"One bowl of all-vegetable loli soup for one Remi-coin. Cheap enough, right?" Her voice rang like a market bell.
The scarlet figure scratched her head. With a helpless sigh, she opened her gallery. She showed a photo—Remi, nervous, secretly trying on black stockings. The picture gleamed like forbidden moonlight.
Flan's eyes lit up like lanterns, her face painted with desire.
But the red figure snapped the phone away. She smiled at Flan, sly as a fox. "How many Remi-coins is this worth?"
You could see Flan swallow, clear as a drop down glass. Her voice trembled. "O-one Remi-coin."
"Rea~lly~?" The word stretched like taffy.
Flan's gaze began to dodge like minnows. "T-two. No more."
In the end, the scarlet figure got the sweet, savory soup. Flan, cheeks flushed like peaches, stared at Remi's photo. It was worth five Remi-coins, she knew. Even at the end, she couldn't lie and cheapen Remi's worth.
Still, it was win-win. Both got what they wanted. So... where can one buy loli soup? The question drifted like a paper boat.
In firelight, three lolis and one maiden sat around a campfire. Outside them, a horse dozed with half-lidded eyes. Only the crackle of flames reminded them time hadn't paused. Sparks rose like fireflies.
"Hey, Lian, has Ling contacted you?" Alicia's voice broke the hush like a pebble on still water. The ripples felt worse than the quiet.
"Nope~" Lian tried to sound light, but the topic weighed like wet cloth.
"I see... still not ready to reach out?" Not the answer she wanted; Alicia felt loss settle like dusk.
"But... we might have a new lead." If that body even counted, she thought. Still, she had to hand the girl a candle of hope.
"Really? For real?!" Her words popped like sparks.
"Don't get hyped. Calm down. It's just a lead. I figure it won't be long, since it's only one problem." She knew she was bluffing, the promise thin as smoke. Maybe no one would fault a kind lie.
"Yeah! News beats nothing. At least we won't wait blind." Her relief spread like warm broth.
Seeing expectation bloom on Alicia's face like spring, Lian felt she shouldn't have raised it so high. This waiting-without-answer hurt like frost. She should carry it alone, not lash others to the same wind.
