Chapter 634: Hit On, and First Encounter with Cila

"Mace, I've told you, you don't need to be nervous. You only need to pretend to walk normally past those people while I'm drawing their attention, secretly slip your hand into their pockets, and quietly take their wallets."

At the street corner, Cila looked somewhat helpless. Today she had brought Mace out to work, but they were nearly discovered by a passerby they'd targeted. Fortunately, she was quick-witted and immediately pulled Mace away. Otherwise, once those people reacted and realized they were pickpockets, they'd definitely get a beating.

"Sorry, Cila, but I just can't control myself. I feel scared and nervous."

Mace felt apologetic for nearly dragging her companion down, while Cila felt somewhat helpless.

The companion before her had once been caught red-handed and beaten badly. Since that time, after her injuries healed, she had gained nothing.

One could surmise that the incident back then had cast a large shadow on her, causing her current situation. But for mixed-bloods like them, who have no parents to care for them, are rejected by both Leka and Boman, and can only fend for themselves, if they don't pick up the skill of earning a living, they likely won't survive.

Although Qida raised them, he might not be willing to keep raising a girl who will never bring any repayment in the future.

Mace might therefore be driven away, have nowhere to go, sleep on the streets, and ultimately die outside.

【But what can be done?】

Cila was somewhat troubled, but then her eyes suddenly brightened.

"Mace, you have to overcome the fear in your heart. We don't have to overcome it directly on adults, but we can first overcome it on peers. We don't have to overcome it on Leka or Boman first, but we can first overcome it on aliens.

Look, there's an alien kid over there. I'll go over and draw his attention in a moment, then you circle around behind him and touch his pocket."

"Ah, Cila, we're going to steal from a fellow kid? Would the other party even have money?"

Mace's eyes widened.

"This is a method to overcome the fear in your heart, not really to steal.

Of course, if the other party has money, taking it isn't out of the question.

Compared to us who can only rely on ourselves, an alien kid who can come to this planet is definitely living better than us!

Alright, Mace, it's decided. I'll go draw his attention now. You wait for the right moment, then go touch his pocket!"

Cila patted the girl's shoulder and walked straight toward the other side of the street, toward Broly, who was walking with his head down, thinking about how to make big money.

"Hi~"

Broly got hit on / was approached.

"Are you alone?"

A cute girl wearing somewhat plain clothes, with green skin and white hair, looking like a Leka, blocked his path.

Broly was a bit stunned, but the reason for his stupor wasn't being hit on or being blocked.

Rather...

【Discovered new capture target, Cila, current Happiness Value 0】

A wife — no, a capture target acknowledged by the Crystal Palace, in the same world as himself, never seen before, had just appeared before him so abruptly.

"I am alone. Do you have business with me?"

Because the other party appeared too suddenly, Broly still hadn't quite reacted. Subconsciously, he used honorifics with the girl before him.

"You?"

Cila froze for a moment. It was the first time she'd heard someone address her with such a polite form of address. But she quickly reacted and said politely to the alien boy before her: "Just now I saw you looking worried, thinking you might have encountered some difficulty, like being lost, so I came over to ask about your situation."

"Is that so?"

Broly was somewhat absent-minded. He recalled the three necessary conditions the Crystal Palace wives had formulated for him to find people to join the Crystal Palace in this world:

1. Must be a capture target acknowledged by the Crystal Palace. Hmm, the girl before me satisfies this.

2. Must be a target I like. First meeting — do I like the other party?

3. Must be a situation where the other party also likes me. Same as above — does the other party like me?

When these thoughts emerged in his mind, Broly's image in Cila's eyes became a bit subtle.

【What's with this guy? He looks a bit dull, just like a simpleton...】

Bullying a somewhat simpleton alien boy seems a bit bad, but Cila also felt comparatively lucky.

【Even if Mace misses and fails to touch the pocket and gets discovered, we should be able to bluff our way through, right?!】

She thought this.

【No, under circumstances where we don't even know each other, talking about like or dislike is too early. First, I have to get to know the other party...】

As Broly thought this, he discovered that the Happiness Value on the girl's Crystal Palace Panel had suddenly risen a little.

This situation made him freeze for a moment, and he involuntarily produced a strange conjecture: 【Does this green-skinned capture target before me like me?】

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Cila saw the boy staring dully at her and couldn't help waving her hand in front of his face.

Such a dull guy — she counted it as her first encounter.

"I'm fine."

Broly snapped back to his senses and replied with a sentence.

"So, is there anything you need me to help with?"

Cila had already seen Mace walking over. To divert the other party's attention, she hurriedly asked.

"I don't... uh, actually I'm lost. Can you help me?"

Broly had just started speaking when he reacted that he was supposed to get to know the girl before him, and immediately changed his words.

"Of course, I'd be very happy to serve you, but you might have to pay me a little compensation."

The girl made an OK gesture, feeling it should represent money.

(Japan's OK gesture represents money)

"No problem. I'm Broly, a Saiyan. What about you?"

Broly introduced himself and asked the girl's name, even though he already knew it through the Crystal Palace Panel.

"You can call me Pachi. As you can see, I'm a mixed-blood of Leka and Boman."

Cila also introduced herself with a smile.

Broly: "......"

He glanced at the Crystal Palace Panel, then at the girl before him.

"You say your name is Pachi?"

"Yes, is there a problem?"

Cila asked, timely showing a puzzled expression.

"No, no problem."

Broly waved his hand, not exposing the other's lie.

But suddenly, he felt someone picking his pocket from behind.

"What do you want to do?"

Broly grabbed the hand reaching into his pocket, turned around, and asked.

"I, I......"

Mace hadn't expected her movements that light to still be caught red-handed; although the one who caught her was an alien boy who didn't look much older than her, it still made her recall being caught by adults a year ago and beaten in the street, and fear involuntarily surfaced on her face.

"Ah, she's my friend; she probably mistook you for my friend too, so she wanted to play a prank on you."

At the side, Cila also hadn't expected the boy before her to be this alert; seeing her companion caught, she immediately started explaining.

Broly: "......"

Does he look like a stupid person? Could such a clumsy excuse make him believe it?

"So that's how it is!"

He "believed" it, letting go of the hand holding the girl behind him.

Only, he recalled the words of the housing intermediary Kaka from this morning, connecting the situation that these two girls were mixed-bloods; these two people's identities were actually already self-evident.

【Eh, just like that it passed?】

Although she felt this somewhat dull alien boy might be easier to deceive, after actually succeeding in deceiving him, Cila instead felt somewhat disbelief.

【In this world, there really are guys this simple?】

For a moment, Cila actually produced a bit of guilt.

"Pachi, what's your friend's name?"

Broly asked.

"Hm?"

Waited a while, didn't hear a response, he turned his head to look at Cila.

The girl, seeing the boy look over at her, was at first a bit blank, but when she reacted that the other was calling the fake name she had just made up, she replied somewhat hurriedly: "Mace, my friend is called Mace!"

Once the words were out, Cila started regretting; how could she have subconsciously told the other her companion's true name.

【Fortunately, he shouldn't have discovered our identities, nor what we were just doing, but if we can slip away, we should slip away early!】

Cila was thinking this when she heard the boy's next words.

"Mace, huh, good, then I'll hire both of you. I'm looking for Building 4 of the apartment complex on Norta 103rd Street; do you know where it is?"

To get acquainted, first need an intersection; Broly spoke the rental location from this morning, and asked the two.

"Eh?!"

Cila and Mace made eye contact, both a bit surprised; that place they knew too well.

"We live right at the place you mentioned......"

Mace had just answered when Cila added a "nearby".

"We can take you there, but what are you looking for that place for?"

Cila inquired, somewhat worried whether her companion had stolen the person's things, and the person found out their den and came looking for trouble.

"I only came to this planet yesterday. I rented an apartment there with the owner of that apartment building. It's just that the roads here are a bit complex, and I got turned around dizzy."

The girl before him lied about her name; him lying about his own situation counted as lies reciprocated; Broly disguised himself as a lost person.

Cila and Mace again made eye contact, their doubtful eyes seemingly saying: That Qida's broken apartment building, unexpectedly even has alien customers taking a fancy to it and willing to rent?

Of course, can't blame them for thinking this, because besides having water and electricity connected, that place really has nothing whatsoever.

However, it is the peaceful dwelling of these mixed-blood children; as long as they help clean, they can live there for free.

"Then we might be neighbors."

"Such a coincidence?"

Broly looked at the girl with some surprise.

"I'll take you there."

Pulling Mace's hand, Cila said a sentence to the boy, and led the way ahead.

Her own thief identity not seen through, the other party was still a customer renting at Qida's apartments.

Everything just now could completely be treated as if nothing happened.

Broly followed them all the way, and when passing a shop selling paste food, called a stop.

Cila and Mace stopped, and saw the boy buy a pile of colorful pastes from inside the shop.

Mace swallowed saliva; Cila wasn't much better off.

Those pastes that looked brightly colored were actually high-grade goods they rarely ate.

【Alien kids, truly all big spenders.】

Just as they were thinking this, some cut paste was stuffed into their hands by the boy.

"Eh?"

Cila and Mace looked at Broly with some confusion.

"You guide me, I treat you to food. This red paste I think is tasty, but if you like other colors, you can swap."

Broly said with a laugh to them, right in front of their faces, throwing a pile of paste-like food into the Crystal Palace Space.

Mace pulled Cila's hand, her other hand tightly pinching the red paste, clearly not wanting to exchange it.

"Not needed, we also like the red ones, thank you."

Cila hurriedly said.

And her impression of the boy had already changed from a fool, into a good fool.

Specifically embodied in the Happiness Value, it was an increase of two points.

Gnawing on the red paste on the road, and after finishing gnawing, the place to guide to had also arrived.

"Here is Building 4 of 103rd Street, we still have matters, so we'll leave first."

Cila didn't plan to enter, she had to take Mace back to the Old Tavern Noru, to inquire with Qida about the specific situation, and this was the vigilance and carefulness as Norta's thief mouse girl.

"Pachi and Miss Mace, wait a moment."

Broly called out to the two people.

"Don't know if you still have what matter?"

Cila restrained the instinct to turn and run, turned her body and asked with a smile.

"I haven't given you the guide fee yet."

Broly said, taking out a stack of Leka Currency.

Not a lot, only about ten thousand, and handed it over.

"Ah..."

Cila had a stack of Leka Currency stuffed into her hand, feeling the substantial thickness in her hand, for the first time feeling money was somewhat heavy.

"Don't need that much."

And it was also her first time declining money that had reached her hand.

"Extra, just count as making friends, I'll stay on this planet for a period of time, later there might be places needing your help."

Broly waved his hand at them, marked Qi on the girl named Cila, and walked into the rented apartment.

"Mace..."

"What is it, Cila?"

"You say, for people like us, should there be a thing like conscience?"

Watching the boy enter the apartment building, standing in the sunset light, Cila suddenly asked.

"Hm?"

Mace looked at her somewhat confused.

"We clearly wanted to steal from him, but he treated us to a meal, and even gave us so much money, I suddenly feel a bit embarrassed."

"Uh, then return the money?"

Mace asked.

"Haha, that won't do, that person at a glance is a master who doesn't lack money, but we lack money."

Cila decisively stuffed the money into her pocket, but then pulled out a few bills from inside, stuffed them into Mace's bosom.

"After going back, you tell Qida, this is what you earned, but remember to keep this matter secret."

Ten thousand Leka Currency is a lot to them, but wanting to buy a house belonging to themselves it's still not enough, Cila prepared to keep the money off the books, however, this probably doesn't count as off the books.

After all, this isn't money earned by the craftsmanship Qida taught, but money she earned by guiding others.

"Broly, huh..."

No doubt, just the work of guiding, the boy left a very deep impression on her.

Fool, rich fool, willing to be good to mixed-bloods like them rich fool...

The girl's mood was very good, stepping with light steps, headed to the Old Tavern 【Noru】.

Broly at the upstairs window, watched the other's departing figure.

And on the Crystal Palace Panel, the girl named Cila, Happiness Value had already arrived at 7 points.

(Chapter End)