Both Sigmarus and Grace stared at the door with dumbfounded expressions. Neither of them expected Madame Lee to slam the door so suddenly. Their thoughts on the action greatly differed, however. Grace couldn’t comprehend her boss’ reason for doing such a thing. Sigmarus, on the other hand, furrowed his brows and placed a hand over his chin while contemplating the fact that the woman had slammed the door the moment she heard his name. Up until that point, he had been studying her face because it looked incredibly familiar. Since when did he meet such a gorgeous woman down here, though?

Images of the woman’s beautiful face and sensual figure flashed through his mind as he thought, I’m sure I would have remembered meeting a woman like her. Surely she’s not from upstairs, too?

“Hey, kid.”

Sigmarus’ words pulled Grace from her reverie. Once she processed the words, she frowned and said, “I’m not ‘kid’. My name’s Grace, remember?”

“Right… Do you know that woman’s name?”

Needle and scissors still in hand, Grace folded her arms in front of her and replied, “Madame Lee? So she’s your type of woman, huh? I’ll warn you now. Trying to get with her will only get you killed.”

“Nah. She just looked familiar.”

“Well, whatever.”

With that, Grace resumed the business of stitching up his chest wound. As the sterilized needle pricked his skin, Sigmarus winced, but he still restated his question.

“So, do you know her actual name?”

“Nobody does. It’s a secret.”

“Hmm… I see.”

From there, he fell deep into thought. The idea that he might actually know another muskrat but couldn’t remember her bugged him. Occasionally, he winced or flinched because of the needle piercing his skin, but he continued searching his memories for any similar faces. Later, when Grace was close to finishing the stitching of his chest wound, Sigmarus’ eyes shot open with realization, briefly startling the girl. Luckily, her hands were stable enough to avoid stabbing him.

It can’t be. Nah. There’s no way.

“What is it? Did I poke you with the needle or something?” Grace asked with a concerned tone while deftly tying the stitches together.

“No. You’re good. I just remembered where I met your Madame before. At least, I think it’s the same person.”

“Well, I’m sure she’d be hard to forget if you met her before. She’s the prettiest woman I’ve ever met.”

Well, she’s certainly attractive, but it’s kinda par for the course up there, Sigmarus noted inwardly while sighing. If she truly was the person he suspected, then she had only changed enough for him to not recognize her at first glance. In fact, he couldn’t even spot the signs of appearance augments. He couldn’t help musing, Time’s really flown by, hasn’t it?

For the next hour or so, Sigmarus and Grace didn’t talk much. He was busy recalling the few encounters he had with ‘Madame Lee’ back in high school, whereas Grace focused on redoing the stitching on his right arm.

“Thanks, by the way,” Sigmarus said as soon as she finished.

A bright smile appeared on the girl’s face. It slightly warmed his otherwise cold heart. Indeed, children should be able to smile like that.

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“Hehe. You promised to help me, so it’s normal if I help you, too, right?”

Sigmarus didn’t know what to say. Originally, he didn’t intend to get anything out of this situation other than the hope that he could also grasp a reason to live despite his dreary circumstances just like this girl had. Coming here could barely count as a passing whim. He didn’t expect nor desire anything else in return. Yet, the moment he heard the girl say she’d help him too, his heart clenched up with an unfamiliar emotion. Even if the words had been spoken without much thought behind them, they made him feel thankful, though he refused to show it on his face. At least, he tried not to.

“Oh, you smiled,” Grace said, gently poking his bare shoulder as her lips widened into an even brighter smile than before. “Alright. I’ve decided. My goal whenever you come here from now on is to make you smile once.”

Clicking his tongue, Sigmarus stood, jabbed her forehead with his index finger, and said, “Don’t tease your elders, you brat.”

In response, Grace playfully stuck her tongue out at him. Then, she placed the needle, scissors, and stitching thread back in the med-kit and handed the box to him while adding, “Your eyes are still smiling.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means what it means.”

Since he couldn’t keep up with Grace’s conversational energy, Sigmarus sighed, silently turned away, and put his meld-suit back on. Afterward, he subtly slipped the med-kit back into his inventory. Unfortunately, Grace was quite keen and noticed that the box was no longer in his hands.

“How did you do that?” She asked. “Do meld-suits have hidden pockets or something?”

“Nah. I’m a wizard,” Sigmarus joked while maintaining a straight face.

“A… wizard? What’s that? It sounds cool.”

Sigmarus gave her a strange look. Although muskrats avoided reading, they still told stories to their children, didn’t they? He considered explaining the idea of wizardry, but then decided it would consume too much effort.

“Nevermind.”

“At least tell me what it is, you lame old man…”

“Yep,” Sigmarus replied while plopping back onto the couch, “I’m old and lame.”

The fact that he totally accepted the insult put a grin on Grace’s face. She also sat on the couch and stared at him with curious eyes. Unbeknownst to him, she was gradually figuring out what kind of person he was.

From there, the two of them sat on the couch in awkward silence. Sigmarus lazed about on the couch with a relaxed expression since was perfectly fine with simply resting in the company of another human. In complete contrast, Grace fidgeted and glanced in his direction multiple times, obviously trying to think of something to talk about.

“So, you’re a foundation melder, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s that like?”

“Pretty shitty.”

“Oh.”

A handful of brief conversations passed like that. Short silences followed each one until she could think of another ice breaker. Eventually, Sigmarus started feeling bad for the girl. Her attempts almost made her look desperate for social interaction.

Since he didn’t want to make her feel more awkward, he pulled a book out of inventory, once again making the girl stare with widened eyes. Unfortunately, finding specific books required scrolling through the folder in the first inventory slot. That would look both suspicious and weird. Instead, he could only grab random books by reaching over the couch arm and into his inventory in order to feel around for them and pull them out in a random draw. He looked at the title of the first one and shook his head. It was a crime thriller novel. He pulled out another one. This time, it was a short modern fantasy novel which would be decent for readers new to the genre.

Under the girl’s curious gaze, he held out the book and asked, “Wanna read?”

Looking back and forth between the book and Sigmarus, Grace frowned. For now, she set aside her questions about how he was pulling these things out of thin air and said, “I can’t read very well, though. I only learned enough to do my job here during my training.”

Unsurprised, Sigmarus rubbed his chin. He still held out the book and asked, “Since we’ll be hanging out here quite a bit anyway, do you want to learn?”

“Really?!” Grace exclaimed while leaning toward him with vivid excitement in her eyes.

“May as well. What else are we gonna do?”

“Umm… I mean… This is a brothel, so...”

Averting her gaze, Grace formed a loose fist and moved her arm up and down in a stroking motion. Her lips puckered as though stifling a laugh.

Without sparing a second, Sigmarus smacked her forehead with the fantasy novel, causing her to recoil.

“Don’t mess with me, brat.”

“Ow. Why do you have to be so violent?”

“Do you want to learn to read or not.”

“Yes! Definitely yes!”

“Then don’t patronize your elders.”