“Yes! Ah!”
Upon hearing the answer that she wanted to hear, she suddenly jolted upright, causing her head to make intimate contact with the table beside her. A series of collisions echoed from upstairs, causing the expressions of Hachi and Rin downstairs to continuously change.
“Hachi, you should get to know each other better. I’ll go up and check.”
Saying this, Rin went upstairs, leaving Hachi and Zeraora together. As a newly added male in the house, and being a feline in a canine family, it was indeed necessary for them to have a proper conversation.
Upstairs, Setsuna heard the approaching footsteps and gradually felt the inherent pressure of her bloodline. Seeing the overturned table and the bewildered Wanda, she suddenly had an idea.
“Wanda, is this thing delicious?”
“It’s delicious.”
“I didn’t bring much this time, but I’ll bring more delicious things for you in the future. But can you do your big sister a favor now?”
“What favor?”
“This…and this.”
Setsuna spoke rapidly, and before Wanda could fully understand, she assumed her conditions were accepted and moved her to a suitable position. Just as she had set up the crime scene, Rin came up.
“Setsuna, it’s been so many years, and you’re still as…”
She thought Setsuna had caused some trouble, but when she arrived, she saw Wanda standing amidst a pile of snacks and gift boxes, with Setsuna busy organizing things.
“What’s going on?”
“Wanda accidentally knocked over my backpack. It’s nothing serious; I’ll tidy up right away. Did you have a good chat with Zeraora?”
There seemingly wasn’t any flaw in what she said, but in fact, it was full of flaws. Based on Rin’s understanding of Wanda, she wasn’t that curious by nature, but Wanda went along with Setsuna’s explanation.
This was a spur-of-the-moment way for Setsuna to shift blame, which was much better than her being all flustered. Rin noticed something but didn’t expose it. If the sisters had a good relationship, it wasn’t a bad thing.
So, she joined in the tidying up, and a few minutes later, they had cleaned up the place.
“Let’s go. You suddenly came back, but dinner isn’t ready yet. Looks like we’ll need to make extra portions for two more.”
As they were heading downstairs, Rin said, “Next time, think carefully before lying. While Wanda is strong enough to pull your backpack, she couldn’t have overturned your table. Besides, everyone heard your scream just now.”
“Oh, Mom, what are you talking about?”
“You know what I mean. I’ll let it go this time. Come on, let’s see how your father is getting along with him.”
Just like a mother-in-law tends to warm up to her son-in-law over time, Rin didn’t have any particular issues with Zeraora, but the same couldn’t necessarily be said for Hachi.
When they appeared downstairs again, the scene was surprisingly harmonious and strange. Hachi seems to be wearing tight-fitting clothes while smoking a cigar, and Rin could also smell alcohol.
That was the stuff Queen had confidently stuffed into Zeraora’s backpack. According to him, cigarettes and alcohol would always come in handy somewhere, and it must be admitted that he was right this time.
Due to their nation’s location, tobacco and alcohol were scarce resources on Zou Island. Even ordinary tobacco couldn’t be grown here. Most of the tobacco smoked by the Minks here was dried leaves.
The effect of tobacco was negligible on this group of monsters, who generally have strong constitution. They enjoy the feeling, so Queen’s high-quality cigars piqued Hachi’s interest.
Some of Kaido’s goods were also packed by Zeraora. Under the influence of cigarette and alcohol, Hachi and Zeraora quickly became familiar enough in just a few minutes to the point of exchanging clothes.
Exchanging clothing is the highest form of etiquette for outsiders on Zou Island. Although Zeraora, in their eyes, was also a Mink, this different kind of Mink born overseas was still considered an outsider and therefore warranted this custom.
This was one of the reasons why Setsuna wanted to exchange clothes with Zeraora every day, but since she wore women’s clothing, Zeraora had refused until she changed into a unisex outfit. Before that, Setsuna had been somewhat disappointed for a while.
However, there was quite a size difference between Hachi and Zeraora. Hachi’s clothing was like a cloak on Zeraora, and for Hachi, Zeraora’s clothing was like a tight-fitting suit.
If it weren’t for that Zeraora’s clothing has excellent elasticity and were suitable for fighting, Hachi might not have been able to put it on.
Although it was somewhat comical for Hachi to wear clothes that were much too small for him, and his fur was all bunched up, it showed that he accepted Zeraora’s presence.
“Stop fooling around, Hachi. Let’s prepare dinner.”
“Wait a minute, I’ll help too. I’ve brought back a lot of great stuff this time. Zeraora, don’t cause trouble, I’m entrusting Wanda to you.”
Zeraora is a terrible cook. This has been personally confirmed by many people on Onigashima.
Bowls, chopsticks, tableware, seasonings, jerky—Setsuna had brought back almost everything a household would need. In addition to this, there was a battery and an ice maker. Minks were sensitive to heat, so equipment that could make ice was a treasure for them.
As for the issue of electricity, it was easily solved because Minks had the ability to generate electricity on their own and Setsuna had also brought back a small human-powered generator.
Setsuna rushed into the kitchen, leaving Zeraora and Wanda staring at each other with widened eyes. It’s not that he hadn’t raised children before; he had looked after Setsuna initially and later Yamato, but he just didn’t expect to continue looking after children in this new place.
Just as they were about to sit down for dinner, the Millennial Dragon outside let out a roar. When he opened the door, a goat Mink with a crown on its head appeared at the entrance.
The current Duke of Zou Island, Hitsugisukan.
“Your Grace.”
“Your Grace.”
“Don’t mind me. I heard Setsuna was back, so I came to take a look. I received the news about those rascals, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi, a few years ago, but there was no word from Setsuna for a long time. It’s really good that she’s back now.”
Hitsugisukan took out a handkerchief and wiped away his tears. He is just a conservative king with no notable achievements, but he remembers the names and faces of every resident of Zou Island.
Previously, when Roger had come here, he had brought letters from Nekomamushi and Inuarashi, so their safety had already been confirmed. Only Setsuna had been missing all this time.
While joy and laughter filled Zou Island, a ship without any flag appeared on the sea. The sails were white with no identifiable markings, but the attire of the people on board indicated that they were subordinates of the World Government.
The leader of the group was looking at a floating Vivre Card. Their destination was Zou Island, and the purpose for this journey was to find a more suitable test subject for human weapon research.
Chapter 278 The correct way of using little sister and the approaching ship
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