Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 305 67. Stare~
"Maki Takemura."

Carl read the name, but it felt very strange. He didn't seem to have seen anyone with this surname among the participants of the Arasaka Tower meeting in Night City:
"I haven't heard of that name."

"It's just a small family."

Maki chuckled and said, "This is just a small family that was able to enter Arasaka in the previous generation because of their relatives' appreciation. Compared with the old families in Arasaka, it is really nothing."

"Your relatives have been recognized and accepted into the small families of Arasaka. Your family should be highly respected."

Ordinary small families that are appreciated cannot allow even the younger generations in the family to drive the Herrera Outlaw GTS at will, not to mention that Ma Xi's appearance in this fourth-floor banquet hall represents a certain status.

The level of the participants in this banquet hall is not low.

The two chatted for a while, and Ma Xi took a small plate with four sweet shrimps from a passing servant.

"Boiled sweet shrimp, would you like some?"

Mahi held the plate in one hand and gestured to Carl.

"I thought sweet shrimps were preferred raw at banquets like this."

"Sashimi? That kind of thing might be more common in banquets held in Kyoto, but this is still North America after all."

"Even at the party in Arasaka Tower, is this the case?"

"It's because of the different styles of the people in charge."

Ma Xi said, moving the plate closer to Karl: “Do you want me to peel it and feed it to you?”

"No, that's really eye-catching."

Carl didn't mind his friend peeling shrimps for him, but the slow action of peeling the shrimps and handing them over would probably attract the attention of people nearby. It was suspicious no matter how you looked at it if a party participant handed shrimps to a security guard who was on guard.

"Really not?"

".How about you get me something that doesn't need to be shelled, so I can eat it secretly when I have time."

Carl glanced at Maki's hands and complained, "At the Arasaka banquet, participants are actually required to peel their own shrimps. I thought it was some basic etiquette to have an elegant banquet and not let participants get their hands dirty."

"This is his habit, I guess."

Seeing that Karl didn't eat, Ma Xi had no intention of eating either. She put the small plate on a table next to her and said:

"I heard that when he ate shrimp in the army, he ate them with the shells, probably because this could replenish the calcium that the human body lacked. So because of his preference, he would not remove the shells when cooking whole shrimp dishes."

"That person's habit, the military. Arasaka Saburo?"

Saburo Arasaka, the head of the Arasaka Group, is already 157 years old. If it is his preference, then the Arasaka Group must indeed follow it from top to bottom. However, an old man who has lived to such an old age eats shrimps with the shell.
"He's not afraid of getting a puncture in the stomach from a shrimp shell and causing bleeding."

"He has a dedicated medical team on hand. Even if his stomach is damaged, let alone bleeding, it can be immediately replaced with a biological stomach developed by the Biological Department. He can eat whatever he wants, but I heard that he often just eats an energy bar for a meal."

"Is this energy bar also considered as some kind of memory of the past?"

I think I understand.

The emperor at the top has his preferences, and the people below have to cooperate with him.

When Karl was about to say something, he saw a figure approaching. His eyes moved.

Sakura colored kimono.

"It's been a long time since I last met you."

When Maki saw the approaching figure, she lowered her head slightly, placed her hands on her waist and abdomen in front of her, and bowed to the girl in front of her as her spine bent: "Ms. Haruko."

"Maki."

Calling someone by their first name without any extra words is a very intimate way of addressing them, just like the gentle expression Haruko showed to Maki now:
"It's been a while since we last met."

Are the two people acquaintances?

Carl, who was standing aside, looked at the two people, then looked at the place in the distance where Haruko had been, and found that those people had dispersed and were chatting in the banquet hall. It seemed that the relevant courtesies and oaths of allegiance were over, and it was time for free activities.

These people are quite knowledgeable. When necessary, they need to show up in front of the leader, and then leave before the leader becomes impatient, leaving a good impression and leaving. No wonder they can hold such positions in Arasaka, they are all very smart.

Of course, Carl also noticed that those people who seemed to be scattered and moving freely were glancing over here intentionally or unintentionally. They seemed to have left to do their own things, but in fact, from beginning to end, their hearts had never left where Haruko was.

Who Haruko talked to, what she did, and what she said to whom, all of these were very important to them. Often, a glance or a word could reveal a lot of things.

Turning his eyes away from those particularly active Arasaka executives, Carl returned his attention to the conversation between Maki and Haruko. The conversation between the two was ordinary. They didn't say anything special. They just chatted for a few sentences.

From what they said, the two seemed to be quite familiar with each other in the past, but they never met again after Maki came to study at Arasaka Academy in Night City. This was also the first time Haruko met Maki after coming to Night City.

Is it like meeting friends after a long time? That's almost the same for me.

As Carl was thinking this, he noticed that Haruko's gaze turned to him.

Stare~
?

Stare~
? ?
Maki noticed that Haruko was staring at Carl next to her, and thought that Haruko was concerned about the security personnel. Although she didn't know the purpose of Carl's visit today, Maki, who was willing to cover for him, looked puzzled and looked at Haruko who had stopped talking:
"Ms. Haruko?"

Haruko was attracted by Maki's doubtful words, and she withdrew her gaze from Carl. Facing Maki, she smiled slightly and said:
"Let's go eat something over there, Maki. I'm kind of hungry."

This sentence was exactly what Maki wanted as she didn't want Carl to be exposed, so she gave Carl a look, nodded, and followed him, then walked towards Haruko who was standing aside.

Mahi's eyes and nod seemed to silently tell Carl that she would not let his identity be exposed.

But this was exposed from the beginning.

It would be better to say that the client this time is Haruko, and the real reason why Carl hid his identity is to avoid causing panic among others at the banquet.

But it's not easy to say this now. It's impossible for a security guard wearing a helmet to naturally join in the conversation between Miss Haruko and her friends.

Looking back, I have to find a chance to explain it clearly.

Watching Haruko, Maki, and Chiyome following Haruko walk to another corner, Carl withdrew his gaze and scanned the banquet floor, but found something strange.

Where is Mr. Kenichi Shiro?
Where is Mr. Kenichi Shiro who was chatting with someone just now?

(End of this chapter)