"Miss Helian, is everything alright after last time?" Gentian who was observing Helian's somewhat weary expression in the holographic image couldn't help but express her concern.
"It's fine, thanks to those combat recordings you submitted. Headquarters didn't deem us negligent, especially considering Renault's physique like an outright monster," Helian replied, visibly relieved.
Since Renault's sudden appearance and his forcible extraction of the Scarecrow's neural core, Kalina's combat report alone couldn't adequately explain the situation. Therefore, Gentiane had Papasha send both the combat records she had recorded on her phone and Kalina's written combat report to Griffin Headquarters.
It was thanks to these combat records that Headquarters finally realized the true nature of Renault.
Additionally, there were some things Helian hadn't mentioned yet. Not only did Headquarters affirm Renault's combat prowess, but even the military didn't hold them accountable.
After all, Renault's inadvertent rescue at the weapons expo had saved the military from a dire situation. Although Renault had unhesitatingly extorted an advanced tiltrotor aircraft, it was an undeniable fact that he had saved a group of people from the military under the rampage of the mecha.
And for a Scarecrow who was merely at the bottom among the elite doll models manufactured by Sangvis Ferri, the military obviously didn't care much. Although Griffin wanted to obtain the data hidden by Scarecrow from Renault, as M4A1's true superior, Persica from 16lab didn't seem interested in requesting information from Renault. Despite the considerable time since their mission to besiege the Scarecrow ended, Persica hadn't inquired about it.
It was unclear whether she didn't want to deal with Renault or simply wasn't aware of the situation...
"As long as everything's fine."
"It's not completely fine. The commander we collaborated with before still has some complaints about it. But fortunately, it's just some trivial complaints. Anyway, let's put our minds at ease and focus on our work. There are still large areas in Sector S09 that haven't been reclaimed."
"Understood."
"Oh, one more thing. There's an exercise targeting Sangvis tomorrow. Remember to have Kalina remind you to participate."
"An exercise?"
"Yes, let Kalina tell you the specifics. I have other matters to attend to. That's all," Helian said, raising her hand to end the communication.
Gazing at her nearly overflowing desk with various documents and recalling the multiple inquiries from Headquarters lately, Gentiane almost felt as if they were accusing her and Renault, insinuating some kind of clandestine transaction between them.
Fortunately, the matter had been quelled... except...
"That bastard Renault! Why hasn't he called to check on my condition!?"
With a touch of indignation, Helian slapped the desk, retrieved the phone Renault had given her, glanced at Renault's number on it, hesitated for a while with her finger hovering over the screen, and ultimately couldn't muster the courage to call Renault.
"Renault, you bastard!"
...
"Achoo!" Renault who was assisting CF05 in cutting dried chili peppers suddenly sneezed.
This surprised Renault somewhat. He knew his body well, and it was only chili peppers, not enough to induce sneezing. It seemed someone was cursing him behind his back.
"What's wrong, Commander? Is it too spicy?" CF05, upon hearing Renault sneeze unexpectedly, didn't think much of it. Sneezing was a common occurrence, wasn't it?
"It's nothing. By the way, why hasn't MG3 returned yet? It's just slaughtering a sheep, but they've been absent for half an hour, right?" Renault expressed. He was somewhat puzzled by MG3's delay, considering MG3 claimed to have worked on a ranch for a while and should be experienced.
"Perhaps it's their first time and they're not familiar? Or maybe the animals have been tamed, and they can't bear to do it?" NZ75 chimed in, noting that such situations were quite common for dolls.
"I'll go check," Renault said, setting down the scissors and heading to the ranch.
Upon pushing open the ranch gate, he heard MG3 wailing on the other side, "Baa baa! I'm sorry! Waaah!"
I...
Observing MG3's tearful state, Renault's mouth twitched. If he had known, he would have sent someone else. MG3 apparently have treated the livestock at the ranch as pets?
Come on, seriously, if you wanted a pet, you should have said so earlier, and we would have bought you one. But now that you've raised them and want to eat meat, you're crying like this. How can others feel comfortable eating them?
However, it was rare to witness MG3's true emotions. Renault felt it was necessary to capture this scene as it unfolded.
Just as Renault took out his phone and pressed the record button, he saw MG3's crying suddenly stop, and with a forceful move, she knocked the sheep down and clamped its neck between her feet, while the small knife in her hand cut a slash in the sheep's belly!
Hiss!
Renault gasped as he saw MG3 holding the knife and doing something in the sheep's belly. The sheep, which had been bleating just a moment ago, became completely still in no time.
What followed was a series of butchering processes, swift and orderly, with incredibly skillful movements that Renault couldn't help but admire.
"Sorry, baa baa, you're so fat, I actually feel like eating lamb too. You look so fat and delicious!" Watching MG3 dissecting the sheep while murmuring, Renault couldn't help but shake his head in speechlessness.
What were you crying for earlier?
With the meat ingredients settled on MG3's side, CF05 and NZ75 had also prepared plenty of vegetables, while G36 and G3 had made a lot of meatballs and some noodles.
Everyone was getting ready, and it didn't take long before a large pile of hotpot ingredients was ready.
Sitting in front of the table, Scarecrow watched the red broth continuously rolling, and couldn't help but remember the first time she mooched off Renault's meal at his place. However, that time she didn't really eat, just shared a bit of taste with Jaeger...
And this time...
She regretted a bit, if she had known, she should have asked Renault for a clear broth pot... Would this spicy hotpot harm the doll body's frame?
"Hurry up and eat, Scarecrow! If you don't grab some meat soon, it'll all be gone!" Seeing Scarecrow holding the bowl and chopsticks without moving, Maria immediately took action, skillfully picking up a large slice of meat directly from the pot with her chopsticks and stuffing it into Scarecrow's bowl.
"Maria! That's my meat!"
"Swift hands reap the rewards!"