Arknights: The Holy Son's Leisurely Life — Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Girl in a Cardboard Box

Lucian felt the distinct, crackling energy of Originium Arts flaring in the distance and immediately adjusted his course to give chase. The target seemed to be moving by leaping erratically across the rooftops. Lucian furrowed his brow, glancing up at the sunlit skyline. ‘Playing acrobatics in the middle of the city in broad daylight. Are they actively trying to cause trouble, or are they just genuinely foolish?’

Lungmen was a crowded, bustling metropolis filled with endless chatter and watchful eyes. Car chases and gunfights in the dead of night were one thing, but pulling off Spider-Man stunts under the midday sun was a guaranteed way to draw unwanted attention. Lucian did not know if this rooftop runner was a friend or a foe, but they clearly had not bothered to learn the unspoken rules of Lungmen. To prevent a much larger headache from spilling over into his territory, Lucian decided to do Swire a favor and intercept the troublemaker.

Focusing his mind, Lucian allowed his Sankta traits to manifest. His radiant halo materialized above his head, and the glowing wings floating behind his back shimmered into existence. The soft, holy light illuminated the dancing dust motes in the alleyway, instantly heightening his senses to the Originium molecules drifting in the air.

He pivoted sharply. ‘Over here.’

The air across the world of Terra was perpetually saturated with Originium dust. Every breath a person took was an intimate contact with the volatile mineral. If a precise medical examination were conducted, the vast majority of people in this world would register trace amounts of Originium in their bloodstream. A small amount was harmless, but once the concentration crossed a critical threshold, the body’s cells would be irreversibly assimilated, forming jagged black crystals both inside the organs and on the skin. That was the tragic reality of Oripathy.

Lucian, however, was an anomaly among anomalies. Originium could not assimilate his cells; instead, his unique physiology assimilated the Originium. This gave him an absolute insulating physique, leaving zero trace of the infection within his body. He did not know if this was simply because angelic Sankta senses were inherently sharper, but he could physically feel Originium reactions just by concentrating his mind. He could identify an ordinary Infected simply by brushing against their skin, and once an active Arts was channeled, he could track the caster from blocks away depending on the raw power of the spell.

If Officer Ch’en ever figured out he possessed this exact ability, she would stubbornly refuse to ever be in the same room as him, let alone allow any physical contact. Unfortunately for the strict dragon, Lucian had already taken advantage of her proximity many times and was well aware of her deeply guarded secret.

Setting aside the potential scandal that could rock the Lungmen Guard Department, Lucian casually handled the labyrinth of streets and narrow alleys, keeping pace with the person bounding across the rooftops above. The erratic fluctuations of her Originium energy were growing wilder and more unstable. It was glaringly obvious that she was not a highly skilled Caster, and her stamina was rapidly burning out.

Lucian felt no need to rush. He simply kept a leisurely pace on the ground, mirroring her trajectory.

Sure enough, barely ten minutes later, Lucian felt a sudden, desperate surge of Arts.

‘See, you fell.’

The uncontrolled Originium energy violently dissipated into the atmosphere, followed immediately by a sharp, distressed cry from the sky.

“Eek yah!”

A heavy thud echoed through an alleyway just a short distance ahead of Lucian. Fortunately for the falling girl, she had at least possessed the situational awareness to steer clear of the main pedestrian avenues, crashing into a sparsely populated back alley instead of face-planting onto the bustling asphalt.

With his hands tucked casually into his pockets, Lucian hummed a light tune and strolled into the alley, ready to draw his Guardian Gun at a moment’s notice.

Amidst a scattered pile of discarded, rotting furniture, he found his target.

Lucian paused. ‘…?’

He was staring at a moving cardboard box.

A dilapidated, oversized cardboard box, just large enough to conceal a crouching person, was overturned on the damp pavement. It was shifting and shuffling with immense effort, seemingly trying to make a stealthy escape. The person inside clearly believed the box was providing perfect camouflage, completely oblivious to the fact that a massive, fluffy tail was sticking straight out from under the cardboard flap.

Most inhabitants of Terra possessed animalistic traits, and having an extra appendage often proved to be a massive liability in situations requiring absolute stealth. It reminded him of Exusiai, who constantly complained that the blinding glow of her halo kept her from getting a good night’s sleep. Fortunately, Lucian had always held his ground, firmly denying her requests to sneak into his bed every night just so he could suppress her halo for her.

But that was a problem for another day. Looking at the adorably ridiculous scene unfolding before him, Lucian seriously debated whether he should just turn around and let her go.

“Heave-ho, heave-ho…” a muffled voice chanted from beneath the cardboard.

The box, with one end slightly propped up by the swishing tail, continued its agonizingly slow crawl forward, completely unaware that Lucian was standing directly in its path.

Lucian stroked his chin, taking a moment to carefully appreciate the glossy, impeccably maintained fur of the tail. Drawing on his extensive experience of teasing Texas, he quickly deduced that this voluminous, incredibly soft tail belonged to a canine species. But unlike Texas, who was a Lupo, this tail was far softer and fluffier, practically begging to be wrapped around someone’s neck like a luxurious winter scarf. Lucian trusted his tail-identifying expertise implicitly. This was undeniably the tail of a Vulpo.

A moment later, the clumsy little fox finally bumped right into Lucian’s shins.

“Hmm…? Heave-ho, heave-ho…!”

She did not even realize she had hit a person. Assuming she had merely snagged on some debris, she hunched down and pushed even harder against the inside of the box, trying to force her way forward.

‘Just what kind of airhead is this?’

Lucian smiled, highly amused. “Hello, anyone home?”

“Guji!?”

The cardboard infiltrator let out a bizarre, squeaking noise and froze completely solid. However, her fluffy tail was still trembling violently in the open air, causing the entire cardboard box to rattle and shake, entirely defeating the purpose of her camouflage.

Lucian reached down and effortlessly lifted the cardboard box away.

Just as her squeaky voice had suggested, a very young girl was cowering on the ground, tightly hugging her head with both hands as she muttered a frantic prayer.

“Can’t see me, can’t see me… can’t see me…!”

‘Your Originium Arts definitely do not include invisibility.’ Lucian felt a wave of deep speechlessness wash over him.

He knelt down in front of the trembling little cutie, reached out, and lightly tapped her fluffy head.

She instantly let out a dramatic cry of distress. “Haoo! That hurts…”

“Good to know you can still feel pain,” Lucian said to the back of her fluffy head. “What is your name? Where are you from? What exactly are you doing sneaking around Lungmen? Depending on how you answer these questions, I will consider whether or not I drag you straight to the police station.”

“Wah, wah wah! Please do not hand me over to the police!”

The fluffy-haired Vulpo girl burst into a flood of tears, yelping in pure panic.

Only then did Lucian finally get a clear look at her face. Her wide, tear-filled eyes were a striking reddish-brown, and her tender, delicate features marked her as exceptionally young, definitely still of high school age. Because she had plummeted straight out of the sky, her carefully styled, voluminous curly hair and her stylish clothes were completely coated in alleyway dust, making her look like a pitiful, abandoned puppy.

She lunged forward and grabbed Lucian’s leg, shaking her head desperately. “I am not a bad person, I promise, I am truly, truly not a bad person! I am just a Messenger from Siracusa, I only came here to deliver a letter! Someone told me they could get me into the city, and they even gave me a border pass, so I came… But the moment I showed it, the police discovered me…”

“You ran straight into a scammer,” Lucian sighed, shaking his head. “You are what the locals call a gullible fool. Do not ever assume that everyone hanging around the Slums is a good person.”

“Wuwu… wuwuwu…”

The fox girl sobbed pitifully, large drops of tears splashing onto the dirty ground.

‘So, what to do now…’ Lucian felt his resolve instantly soften.

She did not look like she was capable of lying. Taking on the incredibly dangerous and grueling job of a Messenger at such a tender age meant she was almost certainly an Infected trying to make a living. Handing her over to the Lungmen Guard Department would resolve the immediate issue, but it would guarantee she would be permanently exiled and never allowed to step foot in Lungmen again. He had no idea if she even had a safe place to return to, and just tossing a naive kid back out into the unforgiving wilderness felt far too cruel.

While Lucian was still weighing his options, a harsh voice suddenly echoed from the entrance of the alley behind him.

“Officer! The sound came from over here!”