Chapter 495: Outlook on the Streets of Chicago

After confirming that he and Ling had left the campus of Kassel College together, Zhuo smiled at Ling who was paying attention to him as if nothing had happened.

"Um, I'm sorry, I didn't get back on time to run the bath water as agreed."

Zhuo held Ling's arm cautiously, and his words and actions were also cautious, creating an atmosphere of "I already know I was wrong".

Seeing that Ling seemed to be struggling to walk as before, Zhuo chose to let go of Ling's hand who was walking silently beside her, and then walked in front of her and squatted down.

"?"

"Anyway, it's over. You should take a rest first. I'll carry you back first. This is not a flattery. I will reflect on it after I return."

Zhuo thought there should be no problem, so he turned around to look at Ling behind him, only to see her reaching out her hands to push his face back. So he gently lowered his head and spread his arms backwards, and then he felt Ling's weight covering his back, allowing Zhuo to carry her on his back.

Perhaps because he hadn't yet recovered from what happened, Zero seemed a little dazed.

After shaking her legs, she stood up and walked away. Although things were almost over, she couldn't stay here forever.

……

Since they spent much longer than expected at Kassel Academy, even without mentioning the time, the two of them were both very tired and probably not suitable for cooking. Or rather, considering that Ling might force himself to cook, Zhuo chose to take the initiative - parted with Ling in front of the hotel and walked to the snack street alone.

Zhuo came back with lunch and opened the door of the hotel room, only to find Ling sitting upright in a chair, waiting quietly.

By the way, she was holding a paper cup of coffee in her hand, which she must have prepared specially to keep herself alert.

Noticing Zhuo's return, Ling heaved a sigh of relief, and his eyes softened. Seeing this, Zhuo's eyes also softened.

"I am back."

"Welcome back. Have you calmed down?"

"…Actually, you don't have to worry."

"I don't want to answer that question."

Zhuo seemed to be a little dominated by emotions at that time, so Ling woke him up so seriously. Zhuo thought that her worry was indeed not wrong.

Facing the somewhat dissatisfied Ling, Zhuo chose to touch her head. Ling did not choose to avoid or resist, but kept looking straight at her with her eyes raised until she saw Zhuo's accommodating expression, then she lowered her head and took a sip of coffee to put the matter behind her.

It seemed that even if Zhuo almost made a big mistake, she had no intention of pursuing the matter.

Zhuo felt that if he really killed the people there on impulse, the rest of his life would be completely different.

No matter what, Zhuo was grateful that Ling showed up in time to sober him up, and was also grateful that she did not pursue the matter further.

After all, Zero did this for his own good.

After confirming that the paper cup was empty, Zhuo bent down and took the empty paper cup in his hand, then covered her knees with the casual clothes draped over his shoulders.

This apartment is fully air-conditioned and always maintains a suitable temperature, but due to the opposite climate between the northern and southern hemispheres, and the fact that Zero may have been injured before, the combat uniform on his legs has a lot of damage. This coat was originally kept for Zero to wear.

"Here, put it on. It's too conspicuous to go out wearing that."

Because it was agreed that they would attend the festival celebration in Chicago today, Zhuo felt that even if he used her physical condition as an excuse, Ling would still choose to insist, so he simply didn't want to mention it.

Going out in combat uniform would attract a lot of attention, and Chicago is also the headquarters of the "Hankel Alliance". In order not to cause unnecessary confusion, Zhuo prepared this outfit.

Because of the height difference between Zhuo and Ling, the coat can cover the thighs, so it is not so conspicuous to put on the coat. Ling is conspicuous to begin with, and it is inevitable that he attracts attention with his exquisite appearance.

Zero looked up at him, put on the coat handed to him honestly, and fastened the chain in front tightly.

I always feel that her mood has improved a lot compared to before.

She rolled up her overly long sleeves and sniffed with her nose close to it. Her expression softened a lot, as if she no longer cared about what happened before. But Zhuo hoped she wouldn't do that. Her satisfied look with narrowed eyes made Zhuo's heart stop for a second.

But this also shows that her mood has really improved a lot. When Zhuo saw this scene, he began to take off his tight vest with a relieved smile on his face.

Ling frowned and looked over at this time, hiding his smile, but the smile deepened in his heart.

However, Zhuo didn't want to be lectured by Ling about the previous incident, so he took out the handbag containing the luggage from the ghosts in the hotel. If he took off the vest and changed into a jacket of a different color, he wouldn't be so conspicuous when walking outside in the city.

Zero also knew that he had to change his clothes, so he withdrew his gaze, stood up, helped him take off his vest and took out a new uniform.

"Then let's go out. We'll see the festival on the other side of the world."

"Okay. We'll talk about this later."

"Hey hey hey~~Don't bring up this kind of thing when you're happy."

Zhuo's evasive response made Ling frown again, but because Zhuo had already held her hand, she couldn't put on a serious expression. She could only leave the hotel with Zhuo with a subtle and complicated look in her eyes.

"Regardless of whether you were reckless or not, you are not someone who would do something like that. I should have been more alert and stopped it."

Even if she was paying attention, sometimes she would be found out. Besides, those who wanted to plot against her must be smarter than Zero. It was impossible to stop those who were determined to plot against her.

Zero seemed to blame herself for her carelessness, but people who would take action would do so anyway, so she was not at fault at all.

"You're not wrong. It's not normal to say something stupid like 'I'm blaming you for not thinking about it in advance'. Some things just can't be helped. Anyway, you helped me in the end."

"...Yeah. Don't blame yourself."

Zhuo, who was originally preparing to comfort Ling, instead heard Ling's gentle and low persuasion, and Zhuo lowered his brows with some warmth.

Then Zero leaned back against his arm.

"…Our life has just begun, and I don't want it to end like this."

Ling's whisper was a little trembling, so Zhuo held her hand again and comforted her.

Because they were talking while walking, people kept looking at them.

Anyway, everyone in Kassel College knows about his existence now, so there is no need for him to hide anything.

It's not comfortable to be watched all the time, but if that's all, you can get used to it gradually.

“You may say life has just begun, but you haven’t even started to generate the most basic revenue.”

"The commission for this job has been remitted, it's half a million dollars." "Can you remind me right now? I've never seen such a long number before!"

After learning the shocking fact, Zhuo couldn't help but look at Ling.

I felt that her worried expression had regained some vitality, and she was waving the old-fashioned keypad phone she had been using.

"I don't think that's enough money for us to buy the store."

"That's what I said..."

"And there are a lot of expenses. Housing in Tokyo is expensive, and baby care and medical care will cost money."

"Don't tell me that. I'll get carried away."

"Don't you want a child?"

"After all, I am a man. It's true that I want a child. To be more precise, I want our child, but it's too early."

Zhuo certainly wanted Ling to have children for him, but he knew that this came from the male possessiveness in his genes, so he was always careful not to have unnecessary fantasies.

He also knew full well that Zero wouldn't hate this.

She probably wanted to have a child too. She said that it was very comfortable to share body temperature with Zhuo, and that contact with Zhuo made her feel at ease.

However, if Zhuo wanted to possess Ling completely under the influence of desire, or if he tried to calculate Ling like tying her up, Zhuo would feel that it was too much.

With this in mind, he felt even happier and luckier when he heard with his own ears that Zero's response was the same as his.

Not knowing whether Ling could understand Zhuo's mood as she turned her head away, she turned off the phone that was displaying the string of numbers, put it away, and then hugged his arm tightly.

"You know, I had similar thoughts."

"……Um?"

"Tie up Zhuo completely."

“… Like this.”

Even though I knew that what she said might be an act of self-indulgence, I still felt my heart beating faster when I heard her say it so clearly.

Let's discuss this matter when everything is stable and we can take responsibility - Zhuo decided secretly in his heart. Seeing Ling looking back at him quietly beside him, Zhuo scratched the palm of her hand.

……

After changing into coats of different colors to cover up their original black clothes, Zhuo and Ling walked around the streets of Chicago, planning to take a tour of the city.

It is now well past dinner time, but temporary food stalls are still actively operating. Many stall owners will work overtime at this time, and it is better to say that the crowd may gradually increase.

The two were tired from their work as hunters in Kassel, and even after eating something they felt hungry again, so they walked slowly in the street of snacks, wanting to buy something else to eat... As expected, Zero was very eye-catching.

From time to time, you can hear people say "They don't look like brother and sister", which shows that the difference between the two people in their minds is quite obvious, and many people are paying attention to them.

This situation had happened to Zhuo in high school, and it was only then that he felt uncomfortable. Now he has let it go, or has become accustomed to ignoring his surroundings.

Zhuo is now able to face other people's gazes calmly with a smile, which reminds him of the time when he and Ling first walked on the street together, so he naturally smiled and said.

"We don't feel like brother and sister now, but in 20 years, they will probably think we are not father and daughter."

“…obscene.”

Hearing the same response as before, Zhuo smiled and clenched his other hand. Ling looked aside and asked.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Let me think about it, it would be best if it's something I can't eat normally."

"Is there anything you can't usually eat... fresh milk pate or raw steak?"

It's not that there's no meat sauce and steak at home, it's just that Zhuo doesn't like things with strange flavors, so he only makes salted meat sauce or well-done steak. As for raw meat sashimi, they don't like unprocessed things anyway.

The two of them didn't often go out to eat, and Zhuo had no chance to try any food other than Neon.

This was a rare opportunity, so Zhuo planned to eat thick-crust pizza... Zhuo had heard that this seemed to be a specialty of Chicago, the only certified pizza in the world. It was said that countless layers of meat filling and cheese were interwoven together, and that a single bite of this thick-crust pizza would satisfy all of one's fantasies about pizza... Zhuo was looking forward to this, so he walked towards the pizza shop.

Because it is an outdoor sales model, the only option is "package".

Zhuo looked around and felt Ling pulling him, and then saw her pointing at the small path left between the shops and houses. Zhuo thought that the gaps between the houses were usually the homes of stray cats, but they were almost stray cats here, so maybe it was appropriate, so he went over with Ling and found a step to sit down.

Halfway through his meal, he heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the street.

The sound came from the street outside the house. Zhuo thought to himself, how could someone find him in such a dark and remote place? He raised his head and looked at the street outside... and then found a person he had just started to communicate with.

"Hmm? Is that you two?"

"No. 7" recognized the identities of the two people with a surprised tone, and Zhuo also blinked in surprise when he saw him.

The nearest city to Kassel College is Chicago, and there is nowhere else to stay. "No. 7" is not surprising here... What surprised Zhuo was his posture.

He casually hung a submachine gun-like weapon on his chest, and in his hand he held a huge pizza with half bitten off, as if he was afraid that others would not know that he was not a good person.

“…What are you doing here?”

"Hmm? Just like you can see, eating."

Zhuo was eating pizza next to Ling, while Ling was leaning on his left side with one hand under his chin, as if trying to prevent the pizza from falling - the scene was obvious at a glance.

Because he hadn't finished chewing, Zhuo made a fuzzy sound, looked at "No. 7", and then swallowed the pizza in one gulp... But because he was too anxious, he pounded his chest again.

Ling seemed to have expected this. He said, "Chew slowly..." while unscrewing the bottle of tea and handing it to him.

When Zhuo drank about one-third of the drink, his expression became much more relaxed, probably because the stuffy stuff went into his stomach. Ling was using a wet tissue to wipe his mouth. Because he had just eaten a pizza with a lot of toppings, the sauce was all over his mouth, staining the wet tissue with a distinct brown color.

Zhuo didn't resist, but felt a little embarrassed in front of outsiders. So he showed a slightly dissatisfied expression to Ling, and whispered to him, "Don't treat me like a child~", but Ling just blinked and continued to wipe.

(End of this chapter)