Chapter 41

You say your birthday isn’t today? Joking!

After hearing Leon’s doubt, the Black Goat couldn’t help but pout and said, “Stop fooling around. Either you misremembered yourself, or your parents messed up, or the person who registered birthdays in the Kingdom wrote it wrong for you. Your birthday is definitely today.”

“But…”

“Stop speculating wildly. No buts.”

The Black Goat looked confident as they counter-questioned, “Do you think the probability of you, your parents, or that registrar making a mistake is higher, or the chance that the authority of a true deity had an issue and mapped the correct zodiac position wrongly for you is higher?”

“…”

That does make sense…

Recalling their past life’s birthday, after confirming that the dates didn’t match, since all possible explanations had been ruled out, Leon could only agree with the Black Goat’s statement, thinking that perhaps his younger sister got his birthday wrong. As for why he didn’t misremember…

Of course, it’s because he doesn’t remember anything at all!

Three years ago when he “came,” he was completely a blank slate. Forget about things like birthdays; he didn’t even know his own name until Anna told him.

Hmm… I’ll ask her again when I get back.

Although which day is the birthday isn’t really a big deal, if one can truly utilize that [Star Map Blessing] to obtain a degraded version of the ability to have wishes come true on the birthday, then it really should be confirmed properly.

After keeping this matter in mind, Leon pulled out a folded piece of rough paper from his pocket and started scribbling with a piece of charcoal.

Practice guns – brush badges – visited Nurse Hanna after reaching Bronze – found the Happy Apartment where Black Goat buys cigarettes and brushes demonic badges – reached Silver but temporarily can’t afford to continue

Investigate water pipe incidents, try to obtain evidence of violations –

Find Black Goat’s “Seven Sheep Miscellanies” –

Hmm… looking at it, almost everything I wanted to do before has been completed!

Satisfied, he marked a check next to the water pipe incident and drew a heart next to “Sheep Miscellanies” indicating that the location of the sheep heart has been found. Then Leon clamped the witch’s broom between his legs, held the charcoal stick, and added three more items on the rough paper.

Check the situation of that blond middle-aged man from the Lane family, look for information about the sheep heart –

Ask Anna to confirm my birthday, see if I can take advantage of good luck next year –

Find a newspaper with background and guts, without exposing my identity, expose the water pipe incident –

Hmm… that’s all for now! After staring at the rough paper and pondering for a while, Leon thoughtfully drew a black circle next to the word “newspaper.”

Since there’s still some time today, I’ll go to a few newspapers first, buy a few newspapers, read their news selection criteria, and see which one dares to expose issues!

…

Although the theft of data from Chaer Water Power Corporation isn’t a small matter, for a super city with a population over ten million, this little stir won’t cause significant ripples. The entire capital continues to operate normally.

And as the sun in the sky slowly sinks westward, this bustling city known as being composed of “factories, smog, and people” finally begins to quiet down bit by bit.

As the clamor and roar of machines gradually cease, countless hardworking yet tired industrial gears stream out one by one from various factories, walking home under the dim streetlights with weary faces…

“It’s Big Sister! Big Sister really came back!”

“I knew Big Brother wouldn’t lie to me!”

When they heard noises at the door, the two little ones were initially a bit scared, but upon seeing that it was indeed Anna who had been gone for several days, they immediately rushed over with joy, clinging to her legs like koalas and refusing to let go, as if letting go would mean she’d run away.

“Hmm, Big Sister is back.”

Dragging the two little koalas forward a couple steps, the frail girl struggled to put down her luggage on the table. Like a mother coming home from work, she affectionately patted the heads of her younger siblings, then bent down and kissed each of them on the cheek, smiling and asking, “Were you two good during these days I was gone? Did you cause any trouble for Big Brother?”

Upon hearing Anna’s question, the atmosphere in the room momentarily froze. The two little ones instinctively exchanged glances, and then, amidst Melanie’s panicked expression, William, the honest one, truthfully opened his mouth:

“We were very good, but… um…”

“No no! We did nothing!”

“…”

“Hmm?”

Just as Melanie covered her mouth too late, she couldn’t help but turn her little head and gave her silly brother a fierce glare, then confessed with a face full of regret: “It wasn’t just causing trouble… Jack and his friends kept saying that this time… this time Big Sister definitely wouldn’t come back. We were so angry, so we slightly… slightly played a trick on them…”

“…”

After hearing Melanie’s explanation, seeing her委屈 (wronged) little face, Anna couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain in her heart and touched her messy golden hair.

This really wasn’t entirely their fault. If anyone’s to blame, it should be herself.

A few days before this episode, she already had a premonition that she might not return, so she discussed with families in the alley beforehand, hoping they could help keep it secret so her older brother could continue receiving her pension.

Jack is also a kid from the alley and happens to be one of those families. It must be that the adults slipped up, and the kids overheard, then brought it up during playtime, angering Melanie.

William’s personality is more steady and quiet, so he probably just bottled up his frustration silently, waiting to complain once she returned. But Melanie, with her quirky and somewhat petty character, would surely find a way to retaliate directly.

Hmm… if my guess is right, she likely used the excuse of “protecting her younger sister” to coax the honest William into joining her. Judging from her stammering, these past few days must have caused quite a fuss for others.

“You, you! Sigh!”

After lightly pinching Melanie’s smooth cheeks, which are softer than boiled eggs, the frail girl shook her head helplessly. Considering how scared the two had been these days, she originally intended to pick up heavily but lay down lightly. However, she ultimately hardened her heart and scolded sternly: “Don’t try to dodge! Quickly confess honestly! What have you two little rascals been up to these days?

If it’s not too excessive, Big Sister will take you to apologize tomorrow. But if it’s worse than last time, regardless of the reason, both of you will get a beating today!”

Hearing Anna’s words, Melanie couldn’t help but shiver. She grabbed her skirt hem, lowered her head, and fidgeted her eyes as she said, “Well… if it’s not too bad, it seems a bit excessive, but if it’s too bad, it’s… well… not particularly excessive, mainly… um… that…”

“Don’t beat around the bush! When we stuffed horse manure into Jack’s mouth, I knew we were bound to get beaten!”

After tugging at his sister who was still resisting, little William skillfully took off his pants, revealing his bare bottom, then turned his little head and seriously suggested to the two shocked sisters behind him, “Big Sister, I’ve calculated. If you’re going to hit me, just double the amount from last time. As for Melanie… start with five times as much!”

(End of Chapter)