The red-haired girl was the daughter of cobbler Beld Pearson, a victim of the Nabris Avenue arson case.
Samantha Pearson.
After learning that the culprit, Donahue Dick, had died, she came seeking to repay the kindness.
Such a simple and pure motive made it impossible to refuse.
And moreover…
A pair of custom-made cowboy boots!
Ashley’s eyes sparkled with little stars—this was something she had always dreamed of!
As a cowgirl, she needed a pair of cowboy boots, and as a gal, she needed them too. Double the demand.
Though she didn’t know the girl’s craftsmanship, it was free, so there was no need to be picky.
In fact, Samantha’s skills were excellent. Not only was she the senior sister of the Mohawk boy Harold, but in recent years, with the old cobbler in poor health, most of the work had been handled by his daughter instead. The shop’s reputation had even improved.
Ashley brought the red-haired girl back to the dorm. As soon as she opened the door, Flora pounced over in delight, darting into her arms like a small animal and delivering a soft yet forceful impact. Then she hugged her tightly and refused to let go, eagerly recounting the fierce conflict: the parrot versus the juvenile delinquent. The battle had come quickly and ended just as fast. In the end, they had to tear up the entire floor to clean the bloodstains, but the parrot hadn’t lost a single feather.
“Gah gah!”
The fiery red big parrot waddled across the floor, pecking at the small wood chips with its beak, utterly excited.
“Sasha! You’re back!” Ashley exclaimed in surprise.
Sasha had chewed through its cage and escaped from the pet boarding center. It was bizarre, but not impossible for it.
It strutted over to Ashley’s feet, tugged at her skirt hem with its beak, then its throat bulged with a large lump that rose quickly. Puff! It actually vomited up a hairball!
No—a hamster!
The hamster clutched a piece of salt-baked cashew and gnawed away nonstop.
As if introducing a new family member, it nudged the hamster into Ashley’s hand with its beak.
Ashley pursed her lips, her gaze peculiar. Where had this hamster come from? From the pet center? Was her pet raising its own pet? No nesting dolls allowed!
–
Making shoes required taking foot measurements first.
Ashley sat on the edge of the bed, slipped her soft white feet out of her slippers—still clad in white stockings—and peeled off the stockings with her fingertips before stepping onto a sheet of graph paper.
Next, the red-haired girl took out several different kinds of tailor’s tapes and pens from her toolbox.
Ashley noticed that the girl’s hands were slim yet strong—the hands of a skilled craftswoman.
Seeing the blue-haired loli’s dainty feet, the girl’s eyes lit up.
The skin was snow-tender, faintly showing veins, perfectly proportioned, with a slender and elegant arch, and toes that were crystalline and rounded. From any angle, they brimmed with beauty—like works of art.
“I’ve probably just had limited exposure, but I’ve never seen prettier feet than these,” she sighed as she tightened the tape measure around the narrowest part of the arch.
“Oh, really?” Ashley felt a bit pleased at the cobbler’s approval.
After taking the measurements, the girl began making a foot mold with quick-dry glue and muslin. Ashley’s little feet ended up wrapped like mummies. Once hardened, she cut along the centerline and peeled it off, completing the mold.
The room filled with the pungent smell of glue, so Flora went over to open the window for ventilation.
Then, the girl flipped open a thick, augmented collection of material samples and let Ashley pick her preferred elements.
Ashley chose a brown-red patent leather style with large rose embroidery, V-shaped opening.
“It’ll be done in two or three days. I’ll bring it over then.”
The cobbler girl closed the book, hugged it to her chest, and bowed slightly.
“‘Revenge’ may not be something noble, but I’m truly grateful to you for it.”
Ashley composed herself and nodded gently.
Not long after the cobbler girl left, a small figure poked its head around the door.
“Stare~”
Chloe clung to the doorframe, peeking out with half her little face.
“Ah! It’s the bad reporter!” Flora cried out in surprise, her eyes cutely widening.
“What bad reporter? I’m working hard to play the role of society’s conscience here!”
Chloe stopped hiding, jumped out, planted her hands on her hips, and declared righteously.
Though young, she had rich reporting experience. In her judgment, the juvenile community grave-robbing case plus the underground serial killings amounted to extraordinary crime! Maximum hype.
The news value here was enormous—enough to compete for the top three spots on the annual news list.
Among this year’s events, only the Long Conch’s eight-year deep dive return and the Hoyicher Floating Meteorological Station attack and crash could reliably top it.
Ashley schooled her expression and walked to the door, reaching out to close it.
Click!
In the instant before it shut, Chloe stuck out her foot, wedging the toe in the gap. Though her little foot was pinched painfully, her cheeks trembling and on the verge of tears, she still narrowed her curved eyes into a sinister smile and said,
“Heh heh, you wouldn’t want the story of you joining the Tribunal to hit the papers, would you?”
“What’s that got to do with you?” Ashley asked, puzzled.
The Tribunal was like the FBI—hiring crime experts to help with cases was routine, pragmatic as always.
“It wouldn’t have mattered before, but now it’s a sensitive time. The little princess of the Jenkins Family joining the Tribunal would explode public opinion! You’d be dragged into the vortex, and the Tribunal along with you!”
“Sensitive time?” Ashley was a bit lost.
“Tch tch tch, want to know? Then entertain me properly!”
Chloe’s curved eyes gleamed with smugness and pride. She pushed the door open with one hand and strutted in grandly, her little leather shoes clacking and leaving several footprints on the clean floor.
Once inside, she looked around critically. “Hmph, no tea for guests here?”
“I can offer you a cup of toilet water,” Ashley said irritably.
“Tch, I won’t hold it against you. Your life’s already ruined anyway.” Chloe waved magnanimously.
“You’d better explain clearly. If you’re just bluffing, I won’t let you off.” Ashley frowned unpleasantly, unsure what intel this brat had.
“Reporters always know first. In another two or three days, the news will spread across Union City! Ashley, the Jenkins name is your lifelong curse!” The loli reporter pointed at her nose tip imperiously.
Ashley’s expression gradually changed. Could it be… the family?
“Heh heh, the Jenkins Family suddenly went berserk, committing major crimes worldwide in succession: assassinating officials, robbing labs, attacking public facilities. The most shocking was yesterday’s assault on the Hoyicher Floating Meteorological Station, causing it to crash!”
Chloe shook her head with a sigh, seemingly lamenting, though inwardly thrilled—she wished for more such incidents, ideally with her on the scene.
Seeing Ashley had no clue, she added an explanation.
The Hoyicher Meteorological Station was an aerospace vehicle formed by linking twelve lightweight modular cabins, lifted by hundreds of giant helium balloons and tethered by high-strength fiber ropes to the peaks of the Hoyicher Mountains. It rotated between peaks as needed.
A six-person research team was stationed there permanently, observing weather, studying climate change, and stellar anomalies.
Crashing from kilometer-high altitude meant zero chance of survival for the six, and the entire meteorological monitoring system was utterly destroyed.
These days, tech relied on digs for rare equipment like this—Union City couldn’t even assemble a second set.
Ashley despairingly covered her face… Those family lunatics were freaking insane! Why the hell attack a meteorological station?! Didn’t they check the weather forecast before going out?! Even Datch wouldn’t do something this stupid!
The more despairing Ashley became, the happier Chloe got. She would never forget the beating from the Arland Gang that day, being tossed into a puddle—the humiliation and pain. Her waist was bruised purple for days, she caught a cold from the chill, felt utterly drained, yet still had to care for her mother and juggle newspaper work… Those were the hardest days of her life. But she’d endured, crawled out of hell, and now she would have her revenge on the blue-haired loli who caused it all!
“Imagine if, at a time like this, it came out that the Jenkins Family’s little princess had ‘graced’ the Tribunal. Public opinion would explode. Heh heh heh.” Chloe narrowed her eyes, revealing a cunning, cruel smile.
She knew that if her small paper ran the official press release on the station crash at the same time as the big outlets, she’d get zilch. To outmaneuver them, she needed a sharp, unconventional angle.
