June, 1998.
Three years and six months passed after the Fourth Holy Grail War ended.
It has been almost a month since Kuroto Mikiya broke into the office "Galan no Hall" which had not yet officially opened to the public. Currently, Mikiya has successfully become an employee of "Galan no Hall" and is the only official employee besides the director Orange.
Sakura and Fujino, who were paid part-time workers, didn't know whether this kind man who was always gentle and never seemed to get angry had any regrets in his heart. After all, this was not a formal company at all. It had not been registered with any government department, and it did not have a legal license. The dolls that Kaneya cared about did not have a specific prototype, but were just accidental carvings when Orange got inspiration. Kaneya himself had dropped out of the top university he had finally entered in order to work here, and had a big fight with his family, almost breaking up. From the perspective of ordinary people, this was a loss-making thing.
Perhaps only Shinji, who has a God's perspective, can understand what is in Mikiya's heart. For this reason, among the few people who often come in and out of the office, Shinji and Mikiya have the best relationship, even though they are ten years apart in age.
"Shinji, you stayed up late again."
Kaneya, who was sorting documents on the coffee table, spoke to Shinji, who was lying on the sofa opposite him, with a tone that was half concerned and half scolding.
"Oh, yes." Shinji looked at the ceiling lazily, "If you have time, make me a cup of coffee. The stronger the better."
"Minors can't drink—" Gan Ye shook his head helplessly, "Forget it, you won't listen even if I tell you. I also know that I can't treat you as an ordinary minor, but please take care of your body a little bit."
"Don't worry about him. This guy will be fine even if he stays up all night." Orange, who was lying on the table listlessly, raised his hand. "In a sense, he is no longer a human being. By the way, I want a cup of coffee too, thank you. I have no work, so I am so free."
"Well, Ms. Orange." Kan'ya's helplessness rose to the point of sighing, "Even if I don't have a job, I have a lot of things to do, such as summarizing the income and expenditure of the office."
"That's something you have to do yourself. I'm just too idle." Orange was unmotivated.
Shinji turned over and looked at the first man he could call his friend since he came to this world: "Kanye, listen to my advice. Forget about other things, don't do the financial summary or anything like that. The money you get will be spent soon anyway. Just keep an eye on your income and intercept your salary in advance to prevent some spendthrift girl who can earn more and spend more from not being able to pay your salary."
"Well, this is illegal." A hint of embarrassment appeared on Kanye's face.
"This is an underground office, not protected by the law."
This sentence immediately caused Orange's dissatisfaction.
"It's a rare nice day, I don't want to quarrel with you."
"I don't want to either. In my current state, I probably can't win an argument with you."
The so-called quarrel is not just about talking, sometimes it will escalate to physical contact, but the two of them maintain a tacit understanding. Orange will not use puppets, and Shinji will not use treasures. They only use rune magic to fight.
"Oh? What's going on?" Orange sat up with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. This little bastard didn't give in voluntarily very often.
"I've been investigating something that I'm concerned about recently, and I haven't had a good night's sleep for several days." Shinji yawned listlessly.
"Do you need my help? I'm somewhat confident in the investigation." Among the three people present, the only one who would take the initiative to take the responsibility was the good guy Gan Ye.
"I appreciate your kindness, but what I'm investigating is quite dangerous, so it's better for you not to get involved, lest you get hurt."
If this were not the case, would Shinji not use this investigation expert? You know, in his previous life, this person was a human-shaped search engine called "Kurotoshi Google".
"Is that so? Then be careful."
"Got it. I'll be careful."
After spending time with Gan Ye, you will find that this seemingly ordinary young man has many shining points. In addition to his good temper and ability to get along well with everyone, he also has a strong acceptance of the uncommon sense.
If anyone else heard Shinji's answer, they would definitely not be so calm. This is probably one of the reasons why he can live so easily and comfortably in the mysterious side as an ordinary person.
"Don't worry about him. Although this guy is so small, when he goes crazy, there are few people in Japan who can stop him. You should remind him not to make too much trouble." Orange ruthlessly exposed Shinji's past.
Shinji was not angry, but said with a half-smile: "You are one of them, Sister Orange."
"I can't really do anything to you." Orange replied unhappily, "You are my creditor."
"These days, the one who owes money is the boss."
"Then call me uncle and let me hear it."
"You are a woman, you should call me Auntie."
"Well, this name is too malicious towards women, let's forget it." Orange retreated gracefully and changed the subject, "Speaking of which, Kurogiri, you went to visit your friend, right? How was it?"
Gan Ye scratched his cheek a little embarrassedly: "Well, she hasn't changed at all... That seems a little unnatural."
"What do you mean?" Orange became interested.
"Well... because her body seems to have not changed at all in the past two years, as if it has completely stopped growing. Well, it is indeed hard to believe for a while."
Orange snorted, "Only dead creatures stop growing. No, even the dead will grow as they decay. The only thing that moves but doesn't grow is the automaton you accidentally activated not long ago."
"But what I said is true." Ganye lowered his head and rubbed his hands awkwardly, "She showed no signs of aging after that."
Orange, noticing Gan Ye's anomaly, gently pushed his glasses down and said, "What's wrong? Your expression doesn't seem like you're worried about your sleeping friend, but rather like you're thinking about something else."
"Yeah, a little bit." Gan didn't deny it, "I sometimes wonder, Shi, if she doesn't want to wake up or something."
"Where are my friends? Where are my friends?" Shinji blinked his eyes vigorously, which made him feel uncomfortable.
Orange also smiled playfully: "It seems there is a story. Well, since this is a rare opportunity, tell it to cheer me up."
"You really just want to relieve your boredom, I refuse." Gan Ye turned his head to avoid the two malicious eyes, "Miss Orange, such a big place is very problematic."
"What? You were the first to bring this up. Tell me now!" Orange knocked on the table in dissatisfaction. "I'm not asking because I'm interested. Xianhua always mentions the name Shi when she calls. If I don't even know what kind of person she is, I won't be able to respond."
"I wanted to say this before, Flowers is very pure, please don't teach her bad things, she is at an age where she is restless."
After hearing what Kanye said, the teasing on Chengzi's lips became even stronger: "Flowers are very, pure, haha, they can be considered pure. Well, I won't get involved in the sibling issue, go make some coffee first, and we'll talk slowly."
Next, it’s time for Kurodori Mikiya to tell stories.
PS: Regarding the issue of Shiki, I would like to mention that Shiki is a dual personality of both men and women. Kanye first conquered the male Ori before conquering the female Shiki. They are gay. Sorry, this book refuses to spread the atmosphere of gays. As for Kanye, those who have read "Kara no Kyoukai" know that he said that although it would be better if Shiki was a girl, he would not mind if she was a man. Without this awareness, who would dare to snatch Shiki
PS2: Now .asxs. seems to have organized some kind of fan festival, where we can give book friends a unified title. What title do you think is better? Let's brainstorm. I have only one request, don't give book friends the title of "piglets" like my friend, the author of "Food Hunter", the purple-blue pig, and I also forbid pen names like what I came up with on a whim.