The Beauty Collector

At the Miseri Do Mar island, the trio of Zeno, Charmie, and Ziah continued to venture deeper into the city as they looked around the places with curiosity like a typical tourists. They could see that the buildings grew closer together as they walked deeper into the city, creating many narrow alleys for the residents to hang their colorful laundry from the windows and between the buildings, which were fluttering like flags in the breeze.

( AN: Charmie is the clone of Mittelt. )

The trio walked down one such alley while the smiling Charmie, who was walking beside Zeno, took pictures with her HMT of Zeno together with the ever curious Ziah, who grabbed on her papa's hair like handles with her little hands.

"Master~! Master~! Can we buy some souvenirs for Ziah-chan?"

While they were walking, Charmie suddenly looked up at Zeno as she suggested the idea of shopping for souvenirs for the baby that was popping up in her head with a smile.

"Ah, I don't mind."

Zeno nodded, thinking it was a good idea to give Ziah something to remember for this outing. Well, she is a baby right now, so Zeno doesn't really know if she will remember it when she grows up.

The trio then walked out of the alley to a small market square, where various local vendors had set up their stalls and shops. The delicious and smokey smells from the stalls filled the air as some of the locals walked around the market. It was quite an interesting sight for the baby as Ziah moved her head around to observe her surroundings with a curious expression behind the sunglasses she was wearing.

The market has many types of shops and stalls that are filled with peculiar items, from small handcrafted wooden objects to colorful rugs and mattresses. Each stall had its charm, and Zeno was sure that they would find something that would catch Ziah's fancy.

"Kyaa~!"

As they were walking through the market, a group of children chasing a football ran past them on the street and ended up catching Ziah's attention. She let out a happy squeal and stretched her arms out to reach towards the bouncing sphere in the distance.

"Hehehe~! You want that, don't you, Ziah-chan?"

"Ai~!"

Charmie, giggling as she quickly looked around and approached one of the stalls she spotted nearby that sold various handmade toys and trinkets. She picked up a small beach ball that was small enough for the baby to hold and then walked back and held it up to show Ziah, which caused the baby to become excited while she reaches out for it eagerly.

Zeno saw that the white ball had a cute picture of a smiling sun and little stars scattered around it as he received it from Charmie to give it to Ziah before she turned around to the vendor and pulled out the money bill from her backpack for the merchandise.

"Here and keep the change, old lady~!"

"Thank you~"

An elderly woman in a green floral dress nodded her head with a warm smile and gentle face as she received the money from Charmie. The old lady was very calm and displayed no other emotions on her face, even though she received more money.

"Here's the present for a cute little baby~"

Zeno said while he tossed the ball into the air as Ziah's eyes and hands followed it with anticipation. The ball fell down as Zeno caught it and handed it to Ziah behind him with a smile.

"Kyaa~!"

Seeing that the ball was within her reach, Ziah giggled in delight as she grasped the ball with both hands and brought it to her face, her eyes observing it with great curiosity, and then she started to squeeze and pull on the beach ball in wonder.

"Let's see what else we can find more for you, Ziah."

"Ehehe~ that's right, let's go, let's go~!"

Zeno said with a chuckle as Charmie walked back to them after she paid for the ball and then wrapped her around his arm while Ziah was currently playing with a new toy in her hands. The trio then continued their stroll through the market that was bustling with activity that betrayed the bed reputation of Miseri Do Mar.

They stopped from time to time as they browsed the items from various stalls and shops. When Ziah found something she liked, Charmie immediately brought it for her.

As the stuff quickly piled up in the baby's arm, Zeno had to carry some of it for his daughter. It was quite difficult to make Ziah let go of her hoard of toys.

"Muu~!"

The baby was pouting with displeasure as treasures in her arms got taken away.

After that, the trio decided to go strolling at the beach, which rifted the baby's mood as she stared at the vast horizon over the sea in wonder.

Charmie smiled looking at the baby before she found the perfect angle to take a picture of Ziah and Zeno.

"This will be perfect in the album~"

÷×÷×÷

As the Zavior family went away to the beach after five minutes, the lively scene of the market suddenly frozen, like the time had been stopped. Then the market and the local people in the market started to glitch and fade out of existence like they never existed in the first place.

Everything was revealed: the lively market was just an illusion that was created by Zeno with Godblood for his daughter all along.

What was left of the lively market previously were now just desolate streets and abandoned buildings, as well as a group of local men in various appearances who scattered around the place while kneeling and had their hands behind their heads on the ground without making any movement. They were staying incredible still without any expression on their faces, but their eyes told a different story as their eyeballs were rolling around in panic.

These people are a local gangster, thief, robber, and pickpocket that unfortunately picked the Zeno group as their target. And the result was evidently not very good for them.

They did not even know what was happening before they became paralyzed and began moving on their own to kneel down, imprisoned inside their own bodies.

Zeno has been merciful to them since he is currently having a family outing with his daughter, so he only left them like that, permanently.

"What the...?"

Some local people that just stepped into the scene were confused by the many kneeling men on the street, but they decided not to pay much attention or get close. In the Miseri Do Mar, it was an ironclad rule that you shouldn't involve yourself in stranger business if you don't want to die, as this place was lawless and violence is the first response in any conflict.

The frozen men can only scream in their minds, as no one intended to help them while they were trapped in their own bodies.

Later, some people, both mundane and supernatural, decided to examine these kneeling men and found out that all of their nerves somehow became disconnected from their brains and their muscles constantly tensed in the kneeling position, making them unable to move or speak, yet their minds remained fully aware of their surroundings.

The news of this mysterious incident quickly spread through the underbelly of the city, striking fear and confusion in all who heard it. The criminals of Miseri Do Mar had always operated with a certain level of freedom, but now they realized that even they were not above some kind of retribution. But those supernatural residents on the island just thought that those guys probably messed up and accidentally picked a supernatural entity as their target and paid for it.

They are all unaware that this is just a prelude to the greater commotion in the near future.

÷×÷×÷

In the evening of the same day, the trio of Zeno, Charmie, and Ziah finally returned from Miseri Do Mar with many toys and various objects that Ziah wanted as Asia welcomed them in front of the villa with Himiko and Leila beside her.

( AN: Leila is the clone of Kalawarna. )

Ziah then got kidnapped by Asia to the bathroom, and Zeno got mannapped by Leila and Himiko to another bathroom for some wet and soapy fun, leaving the hesitant Charmie behind, who don't know which one she should join.

"Muuu~! Why do I have to choose...?"

She was torn between playing with Ziah and "playing" with Zeno in the bathroom. What a luxury problem she has; if any girls ever hear about her dilemma, she definitely gets beat up.

In the end, the diminutive fallen angel maid realized that she could just play with the baby now and "play" with her master later in the bedroom.

"Ehehe~! I'm so smart~!"

She sang carefreely as she skipped inside the villa.

÷×÷×÷

"Impossible..."

Ruth muttered with disbelief as she ogling at one of the hologram screens in the intelligence analysis department.

"I cannnnn't~ feeeeeeel~!"

The angelic singing voice of a female resounds in the room as the video on the screen displays a woman with long red hair tied in a ponytail and purple eyes singing passionately while she plays electric guitar skillfully on the stage inside a bar in Los Angeles.

"Is it really her...?"

Ruth questioned while she started to give the spy drones in Los Angeles to searching for the woman in the video.

"Who's that?"

"....??!!"

Suddenly a voice of Zeno coming from behind her almost makes her release an embarrassing squeak in fright. Ruth quickly rotated around in her chair and saw Zeno in a simple grey t-shirt and white track pants standing behind her with his arms crossed and his head tiled to the side as he observed the red-haired woman on the hologram screen.

He was passing by and decided to surprise visit his Spymaster, as he just finished his bath with Himiko and Leila after he exhausted the two girls thoroughly.

"Si-Since when were you there...?!"

Ruth stammered as she tried to calm her racing heart down with her hand on her chest while she glared at him with a blush. This man was too stealthy despite being such a big man, she thought.

"Hahaha, since when you said, 'Fufu~ another one for my collection~' or something."

"I never said that!"

Ruth instantly denied his accusation with her cheeks redden even though she was actually saving some videos for later use before she found out about the red-haired woman; she never didn't say anything like that out loud, alright?

"Heh, I wonder..."

Zeno smirked in amusement as he saw her trying to hide her embarrass as she rotated her chair back to her workstation with a snort.

"So who is she, someone you know?"

"Yes..."

Ruth muttered as she looked intensely at the woman on the hologram screen.

"She was... a friend..."

She continued while Zeno hummed in acknowledgement, and then he placed his hand on her shoulder, causing Ruth to jump a bit as he could feel her body tense up for apparently no reason, but she didn't seem to be frightened. Zeno raised his eyebrow in a bit of confusion with her reaction.

"What wrong...?"

"N-Nothing...?"

Zeno asked her, but she just refused to tell him while she started to fidget in her chair without looking at him and rubbing her thighs together secretly. Zeno can't see her face or what she is doing from behind, but if he could, he would see a nervous/horny teenage girl trying not to embarrass herself in front of her crush.

"Do you want to visit or contact her?"

Zeno asked her as he looked at the hologram screen. He wondered if the red-haired woman on the screen was a devil from the Old Satan faction, just like Ruth.

"I... I think I want to gather information about her first; she is supposed to be dead after all..."

"Mm, I see. When you are ready, tell me."

Ruth whispers as Zeno nods his head while squeezing her shoulder firmly, which causes her to accidentally let out a sensual moan.

"Ahn~"

"..."

Zeno turned his head slowly to look at her with an amazed expression. Why are you moaning? He wants to ask, but the tomato Ruth was just looking down in embarrassment, avoiding his gaze at all costs.

It was very awkward in the intelligence department today...