After breakfast with the Cunning Hares, Nicole, Billy, Anby, and Nekomata headed off together to complete a Hollow commission.
Apparently, that TV promotion from a few days back had worked—clients were finally trusting the Hares with retrieval jobs.
Hopefully, the client wasn't some gang boss. Otherwise, Sol was worried that Nicole might pull another black eats black move and ruin the group's hard-won reputation.
Lounging on the couch, watching the team leave, Sol thought about it with a sigh.
That's right—he hadn't joined this commission.
Sure, he had just gotten a fresh set of abilities and wanted to try them out, but with no upper-tier Ethereal in the Hollow, it simply wasn't worthy of the Judgment of Shamash's debut.
The thought that even Ethereals didn't match his current strength made him lose all desire to test [One-Slash Asura].
Baal, however, had tagged along with Nicole's team. Having only arrived in this world days ago, everything was still new to her.
That left Sol as the sole guardian of the Cunning Hares' base.
But… was he really alone?
He opened Inter-Knot and went down the list of contacts, greeting them one by one.
Tsundere little sister Koleda, defeated rival Ellen and her friends, Hoshimi Miyabi who had promised to train willpower with him, gluttonous Soukaku and the refined Tsukishiro Yanagi, Qingyi, Zhu Yuan…
Even his two "good little sisters," Bertha and Lyla, each received a friendly message.
For now, the relationships were just friendships. But someday, surely, flowers would bloom.
What he was doing now was simply watering and fertilizing his future garden.
By the time he finished his round of check-ins, morning had quietly slipped into afternoon.
"Phew, time flies." Sol let out a sharp breath. "Becoming a true master of time management is really a long road."
Just chatting had devoured four hours of his day. If he tried to do anything else, there'd be no time at all.
With that in mind, he pinged Belle to fulfill his promise of hot pot.
They met at Lumina Square, heading for the Simmer Hot Pot Restaurant next to Coff Cafe.
"Sol, Sol, you're actually reliable for once." Belle hopped with excitement like a sparrow. "Today I'm going to eat till you're bankrupt, you rich dog!"
"Go ahead, eat all you want. I've got plenty of savings."
Even after burning through 1.5 billion Denny in pulls yesterday, he wasn't so broke he couldn't afford hot pot. Selling Ethereal core fragments earlier had left him flush with cash anyway.
Watching the cheerful blue-haired girl beside him, Sol thought of Wise's dark expression yesterday and asked, "By the way, does Wise know you're here with me?"
"Nope. I told him I was hanging out with a friend at Lumina Square." Belle winked playfully. "If he knew it was for dinner, he'd start a whole mess."
Yesterday, Sol's "blonde delinquent" act had rattled Wise so badly he almost triggered.
She still couldn't understand—how could Sol's acting be that good?
Was he secretly a two-year trainee from some idol company?
Soon enough, they were seated inside, a divided hot pot bubbling, plates of sliced meats filling the table.
Belle dug in happily, while Sol watched her with a twinge of melancholy. A sigh escaped.
"Hey, why are you sighing at me?" Belle frowned. "Don't tell me you're heartbroken over the bill already."
"No, no." Sol shook his head. "Even if you ate for a lifetime, I wouldn't mind. I was just thinking—what a shame it is that someone as beautiful as you isn't mine."
If it were just Belle alone, he was confident he could win her over.
But his target wasn't one tree—it was the whole forest.
And even he didn't have confidence in harvesting it all.
"Eh? W–what?!" Belle's eyes went wide, her words tripping over themselves. "Is this… a confession? You playboy carrot, don't even think about it!"
"See, that's exactly what worries me." Sol leaned back with a troubled sigh. "Nicole and the others seem to think the same. What am I supposed to do?"
He could easily claim one, but never the entire garden.
Belle wanted to crack open Sol's skull and see what insane circuits ran inside.
This guy was actually troubled about not being able to build a harem smoothly? And he dared to say it straight to her face?
If only he'd said something like "one and only forever"… she might've actually accepted him just now.
Grinding her teeth, Belle snatched the tripe from his side of the pot, dunked it in her broth, and wolfed it down.
"C'mon, give me some advice." Sol shamelessly slid closer. "What would it take for you to accept a carrot like me?"
Her disposable chopsticks snapped in her grip.
This guy had no sense of danger—dancing on her landmines like it was a rave.
"Drop dead!" she snapped. "The day you die, I'll say yes!"
"Promise?" Sol asked seriously. "If I die, you'd better not back out."
He happened to have three revive coins. Dying once in the future didn't sound so bad.
"Yeah, yeah. I promise." Belle rolled her eyes, half laughing from exasperation.
"Then until I fulfill that promise, we're just friends."
Sol gently placed two slices of lamb into her bowl.
Belle paused, then nodded. "As long as you don't make a move on me, we're good friends."
Of course, if Sol ever stopped being such a carrot, she wouldn't mind him making a move.
As for her earlier "go die" comment—she brushed it off as a joke. No way Sol would ever die. He was too strong.
As he continued serving Belle food, Sol quietly thought over his future strategy.
First, secure the ones within reach. For the rest—maintain steady contact, nurture affection, but don't confess.
That way, the love battlefield would only erupt among the ones he'd already claimed, while the others would merely feel uneasy.
And as long as they didn't realize his true "plans," he'd slowly become indispensable to them.
Even if it blew up, it wouldn't explode too badly—probably no yandere trying to take his head off.
Sol decided to dub this plan: [Project Eden].
"Hey! Don't think your gentleman act fools me—I know you're a scumbag at heart. I'm not falling for it!"
Belle shot him a glare as he served her again.
"Until the promise is fulfilled, we're siblings. Just feeding my sibling, that's all." Sol smiled. Follow current novels on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵
"Tch." Belle pouted, muttering under her breath, "You'd better not have ideas about your sibling."
Still, she didn't push away the food he offered.
For now, she'd accept him as a sibling. Sol as a sibling was reliable, even chivalrous—a good friend to have.
An hour later, the meal ended.
Sol had hoped to watch a movie with his "temporary sibling," but Wise must've noticed something strange—one phone call, and Belle was dragged back to help at the shop.
After wandering Lumina Square a while, Sol had been ready to head back when an idea struck him.
He stopped at a phone shop, bought a new device, and registered a fresh number.
For a contact book with so many "targets," a second phone was essential. It made managing time—and relationships—far safer.