Zenless Zone Zero: I'am a Dullahan!

Five hundred thousand a day was the average peak daily revenue of Hare's House—now it was being earned by Anby alone.

In other words, they had essentially prepaid Anby's salary for five years.

Nicole knew that with Zane's personality, even if he did take Anby in, she'd probably just end up relaxing. It'd definitely be easier than life at Hare's House.

After all, with the big missions Zane handled, there was no way Anby could even get involved.

Honestly, forget five years—at this rate, Anby might end up doing nothing after just one month. Then, in her free time, she could come back and help out at Hare's House...

Wahaha! Total profit!

Zane looked visibly stunned. Now he understood why Nicole was considered a business genius.

One: you need business acumen.

Two: you need to be a genius.

Seeing Zane's unsure expression, Nicole immediately turned to Anby, leaned in with a grin, and asked,

"So? Are you in?"

Anby shook her head, so Nicole quickly tried to tempt her.

"There'll be endless hamburgers…"

"Mountains of hamburgers…"

At this point, Nicole looked just like a shady older sister trying to lure a child, and Zane couldn't help but sigh.

"Alright, alright. Like I'd believe you'd actually sell Anby. Now, where's the item?"

Clearly, he didn't take Nicole's words seriously and just waved her off.

"Hey, my offer was perfectly reasonable!"

Nicole pouted, lowered her legs, and reached over to peel the tape from Anby's mouth before untying her.

"But yeah, you're right. If I really sold Anby, I'd feel kinda bad…"

Hearing that, Anby recalled what she'd said at the door earlier. A pang of guilt crept into her heart.

She looked up and softly explained,

"Actually, Nicole… I got that line from a movie I watched last night. The hero, after being betrayed, hits rock bottom but then goes all out and solves everything in the end."

"I figured… you could do that too."

"Oh, so that's what it was."

Nicole raised an eyebrow, though the explanation didn't really surprise her.

After untying the rope around Anby's ankles, Nicole stood up, waved at Zane, and said,

"Come on, I'll get your stuff."

Zane had been quietly watching the whole exchange. At her signal, he followed. Nicole leaned in close and whispered,

"Zane, I meant what I said earlier."

"How about letting Anby work for you for five years to repay the debt?"

"Nicole. Anby can hear you."

"What? No way—my voice was super low…"

"She's literally staring at you right now."

"Seriously?!"

...

"You dragged me here just to write me an IOU?"

Zane glanced at the paper filled with zeroes and the official Hare's House debt note signed by Nicole, raising an eyebrow.

So after sending the cats back to the Tanuki House, Nicole brought him here just to tack another billion onto Hare's House's debt?

Talk about digging your own grave.

"What else did you think?"

"This is Hare's House's custom paper—makes sure no one forges IOUs. We owe so much that even I can't keep track anymore."

Nicole gave a smug smile, hands on her hips.

"What, you thought I was joking about the debt? I'm dead serious."

"Though, to be fair… it'll probably take a very, very long time to repay."

She sighed. After all, the debt was massive, and Hare's House was always short on funds.

The only silver lining: Zane's debt didn't have a deadline.

"This is what we call wishful thinking."

Zane understood her intent—she wasn't being polite, just giving herself a reason, a sense of closure.

Whether she could actually repay it didn't matter to him.

"Heh, I even gave you a repayment plan. With that IOU, you can call on Anby anytime."

"Same rate—500,000 Dennies a day!"

"Nicole, I don't approve of this."

Anby, standing nearby, tried to object.

"Objection overruled!"

Hearing Nicole's reply, Anby fell into thought. Two seconds later, she looked up at Zane and said,

"Zane, I'm willing to work for you—no pay needed. Just food is enough."

"As for the debt… it doesn't matter."

"No way, Anby! I can't let you work for free!"

That'd be no different from Hare's House losing one of its key members. The loss would be massive!

Before Anby could finish, Nicole immediately cut in.

"Objection overruled."

Anby calmly turned to Nicole.

"Objection overruled."

Now it really was a battle of wits and bravery.

Nicole was stunned for a second, opened her mouth, then sighed in defeat.

"Fine, fine. I give up."

A rare loss for Nicole.

If they really did it Anby's way, it'd be like throwing money into a void.

"You two actually watch movies about the Ethereals?"

Zane had noticed a few videotapes on the table. He recognized them—two girls had asked about those tapes back at the video store.

"Nicole found them after she met you for the first time. She wanted to learn how to communicate with you, so she got those tapes."

"But she didn't watch much. They've been lying here because I've been the one watching them."

Anby, still in pajamas, blinked and chimed in.

Back then, they all assumed Zane was an Ethereal who'd retained his sanity, so it made sense.

"I stopped watching because they were useless. I tried the Ethereal body language stuff—didn't work at all."

Nicole folded her arms and shook her head. Just thinking about how she used to wave her arms at Ethereals in the Hollows made her want to bury her head in shame.

All thanks to Anby's suggestion.

After chatting a while longer, Zane didn't linger. He said his goodbyes and left Hare's House.

A few moments later, Billy—still pinned under the door—finally woke up groggily.

When he saw Nicole had returned, he perked up, about to ask what happened—only to get cut off.

"Oh, Billy, you're here too!"

"Hurry up and fix the door! And hang the sign back up too—what kind of mess is this…"

And just like that, Billy—still clueless about what was going on—was promoted to proud repairman under Nicole's orders.

...

Outside the video store, before even stepping in, Zane could already hear the sibling argument going on inside.

No. 6 opened the door when it saw him. Belle, mid-argument with Wise, spotted Zane and rushed over like she'd found her savior.

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him over to stand in front of Wise, and asked seriously,

"Zane, can you use multiple types of Ether energy?"

"I remember during your last fight—you used ice, fire, and lightning, right?"

Zane was a bit surprised, curious what they were up to. He nodded in confirmation.