She walked over and crouched beside him. She casually picked up a piece of clothing and held it against him. "This one’s nice."
Barto: "No way. It’s not formal at all. I have to wear a suit."
Gu Ning: "..."
’Does it have to be that formal? Besides, where would you even find a suit in a place like Zone 19?’
"This one is great," Gu Ning said, picking up an orange windbreaker.
Barto: "No. It has to be formal. At least a shirt and tie."
Gu Ning asked, "Well, do you have one?"
Barto stopped rummaging around. "No, but I can borrow one from someone else." The malls in Zone 19 didn’t sell clothes for formal occasions like this, but the higher-ups definitely had some. He could just go swipe a set from them.
"You go handle your own stuff first," Barto said. "I’ll borrow it in no time. I’ll need to dress a bit more formally for the in-person interview with that guy tomorrow anyway."
Seeing the little fox insist, Gu Ning decided to let him have his way.
She thought for a moment, sized up his build, and said, "I’ll borrow it for you."
Barto: "Who are you going to ask?"
Gu Ning: "Cyril. He has some. Definitely."
The little fox’s human form was about the same as Cyril’s in both height and build.
She had also seen shirts and ties in Cyril’s room before.
This was perfect. She also needed to go out and shoot some material for work. She had to hand off her duties to Cyril, and since her salary had already been paid in advance, she needed to turn in this month’s assignments.
After learning from Barto about the land-beasts’ hostility toward outsiders, she felt she couldn’t afford to be complacent. She had to juggle both her work for Claw-print and the Military Department.
When Barto heard Gu Ning was going to ask Cyril for a suit, he was about to refuse. But then he remembered they were leaving Zone 19 soon, and he decided it was better not to leave her side, just in case something happened again.
"Fine," he muttered with a slight pout. "Let’s go tomorrow. It’s too late today."
...
The next day, Gu Ning got up bright and early. After breakfast, she headed out with Cook the puppy and the little fox.
"Put this on."
Before they left, Barto wrapped the scarf he had knitted around Gu Ning’s neck, then grabbed her hand and put her gloves on for her.
"Good, they aren’t too big." Barto slid a finger into Gu Ning’s glove and wiggled it.
Gu Ning said in amazement, "Barto, you’re so... handy."
Barto pinched her cheek and grinned. "Come on, say it properly: ’Barto, you’re so handy. You’re the most amazing fox in the world.’"
Gu Ning pursed her lips, stood on her tiptoes, and pinched him back. "Won’t. Say. It."
"Oh, you won’t say it, huh?" Barto slid his hands under her arms, lifted her up, and spun her in a big circle. "You ungrateful little thing, I’m going to toss you outside."
As he spoke, he carried her downstairs in his arms, pretending he was about to throw her into the snow.
"Don’t, don’t!" Afraid he would actually throw her, Gu Ning quickly wrapped her legs around his waist.
Barto continued to act like he was going to throw her.
Gu Ning: "Cook, save me!"
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!" Cook thought the two of them were playing and ran in circles around them.
Barto huffed, "No one can save you."
With that, he pulled her off him, held her horizontally in his arms, and tossed her toward the snow.
Gu Ning cried out in alarm and quickly threw her arms around his neck. "You’re amazing, you’re amazing!"
She had no choice but to repeat the praise he demanded.
Listening to her mumbled, stuttering words, Barto’s gaze fell on the ear where she wore her translation earpiece. ’I need to get her started on speaking practice,’ he thought. ’She can’t always rely on the earpiece to translate.’
After a moment’s thought, he supported her with one hand to straighten her up and took off her earpiece.
Gu Ning: "?"
’That petty fox! Why is he taking away my translation earpiece?!’
She tried to snatch it back, but Barto held the hand with the earpiece high in the air. "From now on, you can’t rely on this earpiece. The translation isn’t accurate."
Gu Ning: ’...I’m screwed. I can’t understand a thing.’
"Give me, Barto." Gu Ning braced one hand on his shoulder and used the other to grab for the arm holding the earpiece.
Seeing her scrambling all over him, Barto had no choice but to put her down.
Gu Ning jumped, trying to grab his hand.
Barto held her by the shoulders. "Can you understand what I’m saying?"
Gu Ning shook her head.
Barto chuckled. "See? You understood that, didn’t you? Stop relying on this thing. If you keep using it, even your writing will become a problem."
Gu Ning could only understand a few words here and there and had to guess the rest.
She realized that without the translation earpiece, she couldn’t even form a complete sentence. When she took out a pen and paper to write something, she froze for a long moment before she could barely manage to write anything.
Halfway through writing, she understood that Barto wanted her to break her dependence on the translator, so she gave up on asking for the earpiece back.
Barto saw her let out a small sigh and adjusted her face mask for her. "Don’t be afraid. I’ll be by your side until you can properly integrate into Beastman society."
Gu Ning only understood the first part of that sentence. She wasn’t really afraid, just worried that communication would be difficult.
Seeing her lost expression, Barto suddenly leaned in close and said, "*&%#^."
Gu Ning: "..." ’You know what, maybe he should just give the earpiece back first...’
Barto’s lips curved into a strange smile. "*&u#i/"
Seeing him smile like that, Gu Ning knew he hadn’t said anything nice. She pushed his approaching face away and decided to ignore him, calling for Cook instead.
Cook had already run off to play with Seth, the little wolf.
Downstairs was guarded by Alex’s wolf pack, as usual, and Cook was having a blast playing with them.
When Cook heard Gu Ning call him, he happily ran back to her side, wagging his tail, though he kept glancing back at the other pups.
Seeing how he was acting, Gu Ning smiled and patted him. "It’s okay, go on and play."
"AWOO." Cook nudged her with his head, then happily wagged his tail and charged into the snow.
Seth, who had transformed into his beast form, looked at Gu Ning. Smelling his boss’s scent approaching, he stopped himself from walking toward his little boss.
Gu Ning took out her camera sphere to film the cheerful, heartwarming scene of Cook playing with the little wolves. ’If only I had a real camera,’ she thought. ’This camera sphere is useful, sure, but a traditional camera is much more comfortable to handle.’
Once she had filmed enough, she was about to turn off the terminal when Alex’s black wolf form appeared in her frame.
Gu Ning lowered her wrist and watched Alex walk up to her.
Alex gently nudged her with his muzzle, then lay down in front of her.
Gu Ning petted his wolf head, grabbed onto his fur, and climbed onto his back.
The weather was decent today. It wasn’t snowing, but the accumulated snow outside was already too thick for someone of her size to get around easily.
"You’ve got a lot of free time, don’t you."
Barto said to Alex, then transformed into his beast form, picked up his pants, and leaped nimbly onto Seth’s back. "Let’s go, pup. To the other side."
The good-natured Seth carried him toward the construction site on the other side.
Sitting on Alex’s back, Gu Ning activated her camera sphere, filming the surroundings and the patrolling Beastman soldiers as they moved.
Alex glanced up at the small sphere flying around them. After a moment’s thought, he slowed his pace to let Gu Ning film a little longer.
Gu Ning felt Alex slow down. She scooted forward, leaned over his head, and whispered close to his ear, "Alex..."
A flicker of light passed through Alex’s eyes. He stopped and lifted his head slightly, signaling for Gu Ning to continue.
Gu Ning took out her pen and paper and wrote: *Can you turn into your human form? I want to take a picture of you.*