Anne didn't know Erica's address before. Although it was normal for friends to visit each other, Anne's special status made it rare for her to go out alone, and she lacked experience in this area, so she didn't think there was anything wrong with Erica never revealing certain personal information.
But no matter how you think about it, it's strange that Erica doesn't live with her guardian, right?
I heard that Erica has real parents in Port Alple, and the change of guardianship was just for her school registration... If she has other relatives living in the capital, then it makes sense for her to live with her relatives instead of her adoptive father.
I just don't know if the capital's household registration supervision department will manage this kind of deliberate change of household registration...
With all sorts of random thoughts in her mind, Anne got on the bus according to the address Ford Hill had provided to the Red Line Legion.
About an hour and a half later, she finally arrived at her destination smoothly after navigating complex traffic controls and countless restrictions. She was a little worried that Gresham and Bertie had already arrived.
However, the area around the apartment building still looks peaceful. It stands normally on the street corner, with lush gardens and balconies. A small outdoor swimming pool is built under the wall and has been carefully maintained. It seems that it has just been used in recent days.
The red-haired girl took a step forward with some trepidation. Just as she was about to ring the doorbell, the outermost hollow iron door opened automatically. Then, a young man with curly brown hair, dark brown eyes, and simple attire strode out. From the dark circles under his eyes to the bloodshot whites of his eyes, he could hardly conceal his sleepiness.
When he saw Annie, he was slightly startled and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Uh." Anne took a step back and looked at the house number again. "Does Erica live here?"
The Alpha man looked her up and down, his sense of oppression suddenly becoming obvious: "She lives here." Even so, he did not give up his position. "Who are you?"
Anne felt a little uncomfortable and said cautiously, "...I'm Erica's friend. Who are you?"
Erica lives with an Alpha? They don't look alike at all. Are they cousins?
The man didn't answer her question. After a moment's contemplation, he suddenly realized: "Agnes Joyce? Are you the little Saint Anne?"
"I want to see Erica!" Annie raised her voice. "Is she home now?!"
"She's not here." The man put his hands in his pockets and looked at her and said slowly, "Although today is a legal holiday, sometimes it's not suitable for family reunions."
"Very well," Anne said dryly, taking another step back. "I'll come visit her again when she gets back. Thank you."
She turned around and wanted to leave. The man watched her take two steps forward and suddenly said, "Wait a minute."
Anne almost broke into a run.
"Ulysses Valen. I'm a student of one of Erica's seniors, so Erica can be considered my junior." Yuri said, "If you have something urgent to talk to her about, I can help you send a communication."
Anne's pounding heart slowed down a bit. "No, thank you."
Yuri walked out and closed the door. "Are you in a hurry to leave?"
"No, I..."
Anne heard footsteps behind her getting closer and closer. She was standing at a crossroads. There was no traffic light or zebra crossing ahead, and there were very few pedestrians around.
"I'm going out too. Is it on my way?" The man walked over at a steady pace. Every strand of his hair and every muscle line on his face looked sluggish. "You'd better not walk so fast..."
Anne rushed forward almost reflexively.
She vaguely remembered the location of the downtown area. As long as she passed this intersection and turned left, there would be a small commercial center.
“Crack!”
"Bang!"
Anne staggered under the pull of the opposing forces and barely managed to stand still. She felt warm liquid splashing on her body and flowing down her arms.
She calmed down for two or three seconds, then gritted her teeth and opened her eyes.
Yuri was standing about half a step in front of her, with one wrist twisted unnaturally.
Seeing her open her eyes, the man said calmly, "I told you to slow down. There's an industrial area nearby and the traffic is very fast. Plus, the corner is quite wide and there's no traffic light. It's easy for a child to run around when they first arrive here and get into trouble."
Anne looked at his hand with confusion and a hint of guilt. She touched her cuff and found it was the familiar bright red. "Your wrist..."
The truck driver happened to stick his head out of the window, glared at Annie first, then looked at Yuri, and asked in a guilty and short voice: "Hey, is your arm okay?"
Yuri moved his wrist smoothly. "It's okay. You should drive slower too."
"I know, I know. Don't run around, little girl."
The truck started to drive away again. Anne was surprised to find that Yuri had put his hands back in his pockets and was looking at her sullenly.
"I'll pay for the medical expenses," Annie said quickly. "I'll call 911 right now!"
"...It's not necessary." Yuri held her back. "It's just a scrape, it will heal in a moment."
——Is that so?
Anne recalled the scene she had glimpsed earlier and felt that a normal, intact wrist would not be able to form such an exaggerated angle. However, facts spoke louder than words; Yuri now looked completely intact.
"Thank you anyway," said Anne, raising a hand to ruffle her matted red hair. "Is there anything I can do in return?"
The man looked at her with an inexplicable look.
Then he said, "If you don't resent Erica for this in the future, that will be the most precious reward."
After saying that, he struck Annie on the back of the neck with a knife.
**
"You look so perverted now," Hugo said.
"Thanks to you," Yuri responded grimly, "where do I put her now?"
"Can't I just stuff her somewhere safe?" the android said in a distressed tone. "I didn't expect her to come so suddenly. This is what humans call plans can't keep up with changes."
"I thought you'd be pleased to find we have an extra bargaining chip."
"But it will make Erica sad." Hugo sat on the steps of the flower bed, holding his chin and watching Yuri's actions. "I don't want to offend Azathoth yet."
Is this the reason?
I thought robots wouldn't deceive themselves.
Yuri thought as he placed Annie on the bench and took off his coat to cover her.
"I think the two of us didn't pick up a bargaining chip, but instead got ourselves into trouble."
Hugo watched Yuri undress with a cold eye, his right wrist occasionally pausing as he did so. "Is there a connection between your ability speed and the size of the wound?"
"Yeah." Yuri said nonchalantly, "Inversely proportional. The smaller the wound, the slower it heals. The more serious the wound, the faster it heals."
"If I cut a wound on you and never let it heal, will you die from excessive blood loss?"
The human glanced at it and said, "You can try it. I have no objection."
The android shrugged dully.
Yuri sat on another bench, lost in thought for a moment, then asked, "Are we just going to wait like this?"
"Oh." Hugo changed his hand to support his chin, "I didn't want to do that either. It's their fault that they came too late."
"...Gresham and Bertie wouldn't come over like this so soon." Another voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. "Haven't you seen how the military operates? Although the Red Line Legion is affiliated with the Vatican, most of their troops have been stationed on the border for the past ten years."
"You're awake?" Yuri looked at Annie who had sat up in surprise and shook his wrist. "Didn't I use enough force?"
Not feeling pain is not a good thing either.
He could never figure out how much strength he should use.
"I've been trained." Anne looked at him, then at Hugo, "But your strength wasn't enough. It seems I wasn't unconscious for long."
Hugo smacked his lips. "What the hell? The Vatican would let an underage girl go to the battlefield?"
"I'm an Alpha!" Anne keenly noticed a certain gender bias in the android's words.
"Then you're a minor too," Hugo said. "What kind of rubbish adult would bring a child to the front lines?"
"...I've gotten used to it a long time ago, and I wouldn't go to a dangerous place." Annie pulled her hair and tucked it behind her ears. "Besides, I think it's necessary to get used to it in advance. Look, didn't it work today?"
Hugo snorted, "That just shows that the adults protecting you are too incompetent."
Yuri interjected, "Just lie back down now. I can pretend you never woke up. Well, it'll be hard for us to handle if you wake up so suddenly."
It also makes the person who took action earlier look very embarrassed.
After all, any smart kid would know to pretend to be asleep at this time, right?
"Why?" Annie turned around and asked, "I just want to ask, if you wanted to do something, you just had to not stop me when the car came by, right?"
"Do you want to die?" Yuri asked back.
"Of course not." Annie glared at him and grabbed Yuri's coat tightly. "Where's Erica? What have you done to her?"
"If you don't want to die, then live well," Yuri said to himself, the dark circles under his eyes looking even heavier in the sunlight. "I can save you once, but I don't know if anyone will be able to protect you next time."
"I say!" Anne climbed up and knelt on the bench. "Where's Erica?"
"Hey." Hugo put his hands down and straightened up. "Do you think we really don't want to hurt you?"
"Varied--"
Yuri: "Why are you scaring her?"
Hugo: “…”
Its momentum collapsed: "Which side are you on?"
"Of course it's your side." The brown-haired young man said, "But our target is only the one with the long name and the one with the short name. It has nothing to do with her."
"It's Gresham and Bertie...and she's from the Church."
"She's also Erica's friend," Yuri said. "It's rare for people of different species to understand and appreciate each other."
"...You think so?" Hugo's expression darkened as he sneered, "You don't think they'll still be friends after today, do you?"
"I'll try to ask God to erase her memory, but I don't know if it will work," Yuri said listlessly. "Otherwise, I'll have to kill her. But what about Erica? She's still so young, she can't stay like us forever."
In fact, he was just saying it casually, and the "we" he mentioned specifically referred to himself.
However, Hugo's expression suddenly froze and he swallowed back the rest of his words.
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