25. Pollen (2)

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In the end, it took a little longer before I could finally leave Neria's house.

It was just past the usual quitting time for office workers—the hour when they boarded the subway to meet people for drinks.

I blended in among the suited commuters and claimed a seat all the way in the corner.

At this time of day, I often had to stand all the way to my stop. I was lucky.

'Still, since I'm already running late today…'

There was one place I wanted to stop by.

A flower shop with a sign reading 'Edelweiss'—supposedly Orca's research lab.

A map showing how to get there was already open on my smartphone screen.

…Ah, I wasn't planning to settle things with Orca today...