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Medici naturally didn't know Arrodes, but as a War Angel who had once followed Ancient Sun God on countless campaigns and was undoubtedly well-traveled, this clearly didn't prevent him from discerning the subtle uniqueness of the mirror before him.
So Medici immediately picked up the mirror from the coffee table, but before he could even begin to study it, the silver-white surface rippled, and a line of white words appeared:
"Greetings, Your Excellency Medici. I am Arrodes, invited by Your Highness Lin Ruo. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Below it was even a simple stick-figure emoji, incredibly well-behaved.
If a certain deacon of the God of Steam and Machinery were here, he would probably instantly eat ten pounds of lemons.
Medici raised his brows, not surprised that Arrodes possessed self-awareness, but then looked towards the kitchen and, as always, said in a sarcastic tone:
"Lil' Black, I only knew before that you liked making all sorts of strange friends, but I never thought you'd even go after mystical items now. Are you that starved for affection?"
"I'm not starved for affection, thank you. And making friends with mystical items isn't something to be ashamed of either."
Lin Ruo, in the midst of his busy schedule, took a moment to retort to Medici. He leaned out from the kitchen doorway, looking at Medici, who was holding the small mirror, without any surprise, and said:
"Besides, the friend Arrodes wants to make isn't me. At most… well, I can only be considered an intermediary?"
Lin Ruo used a word he felt was quite fitting to describe the relationship between himself and Arrodes.
"Intermediary?" Medici's gaze fell on the small mirror in his hand. He clearly understood the meaning of the word 'intermediary,' and after a careful look, he showed a thoughtful expression.
Lin Ruo's gaze fell on Arrodes, and he slightly curved his lips as he asked, "Actually, I had Arrodes prepare some interesting programs for you. If you're bored, you can chat with it."
The 'programs' Lin Ruo mentioned naturally didn't refer to something like using Arrodes to play games that would cause Medici and others social death; that was just something Lin Ruo had casually said before.
After all, while he enjoyed mischief, Lin Ruo was always a person with a sense of proportion, and it was New Year, so he couldn't go too far, could he?
Although this also had to do with Arrodes not falling for his empty promises. Even though he had said it was just for fun and wouldn't involve any actual interests or consequences, it was still incredibly cowardly… ahem.
In short, after some friendly exchange and communication, Lin Ruo had reached a friendly agreement with Arrodes.
Today, Arrodes would be a qualified on-demand robot, providing joy to his friends, and in return, Lin Ruo would keep it by his side for a period of time.
—Although, in reality, even without this deal, Lin Ruo had planned to increase his contact time with Arrodes to further observe it.
Of course, keeping it was one thing, but whether to allow it onto the gray fog, and whether to let Klein have too much unnecessary contact with it, was another matter entirely.
After all, the contract didn't state that Klein would keep it by his side, did it?
The curve of Lin Ruo's lips remained unchanged as he looked at Arrodes and said, "Like this, Arrodes, tell a joke."
Arrodes's mirror surface immediately rippled, and then lines of text appeared:
"One day, the Amons had a disagreement about something. After arguing, they decided to hold an All-Amon vote to resolve the dispute by voting.
In the end, the Amon Main unit was stolen and eliminated, with no last words."
Medici was clearly stunned for a moment, then burst into unreserved laughter, looking at Lin Ruo and saying, "I thought you were very afraid of Little Crow now."
"Of course, I'm afraid, after all, I can't beat him, but that doesn't stop me from persecuting him."
Lin Ruo said without a trace of guilt. Although Arrodes resisted to the death and was incredibly cowardly, after a friendly discussion, it still agreed to be an emotionless tool, playing these jokes Lin Ruo wrote on the spot, and fulfilling some other responsibilities.
"Sometimes I really don't understand how you've managed not to be beaten to death by now." Medici rarely spoke without sarcasm, as if genuinely a little puzzled.
"Perhaps that's just personal charm?" Lin Ruo shrugged and turned back to the kitchen:
"You guys have fun, I'm going to continue cooking."
"What other functions do you have?" Medici didn't care. He curled his index finger and tapped on the mirror surface, asking.
"Respected Your Excellency Medici, I can also play chess with you, play cards, play songs…"
"You can also ask me questions. I will answer all questions I can, but as a rule, you also need to answer my questions."
At the bottom, this time, it was accompanied by a well-behaved emoji that said, "I can't help it, please bear with me, sir."
It must be said that after more contact with Lin Ruo, Arrodes's emoji pack update speed was truly getting faster and faster.
"Quite a variety." Medici's finger continued to tap the mirror surface, his tone nonchalant as he said, "Then tell another joke."
He actually probably guessed the origin of this mirror.
Medici believed Lin Ruo also knew.
Then let's just treat this as entertainment.
For students like Klein, Medici would still be worried, as he clearly understood Lin Ruo's attitude towards important people, and there was already a precedent with the betrayed Tudor.
But a mystical item that was guarded against, and not even listed as a friend… Heh!
Medici had seen too many people who, after hearing Lin Ruo's good reputation, thought he was easy to get along with and easy to deceive, and then approached him.
Among these people, those with no ill intentions were fine, but those with ill intentions, with impure motives, every single one of them had grass growing taller on their graves than a person.
...
Listening to the occasional bursts of unrestrained laughter from the living room, Lin Ruo hummed a cheerful tune while preparing the next dish.
After a while longer, the door was knocked again without warning. This time, the visitors were Bernadette and Bornova, the siblings.
"Good morning, Beibei, Bornova. I'm very happy you accepted this invitation, and I hope you didn't find it too abrupt." Lin Ruo smiled at the siblings, then looked at Bernadette and said, "How does it feel to become a Sage?"
"I don't think this is an abrupt invitation. In fact…" Bernadette paused here. She was probably a little nervous, just as a child revealing their feelings in front of a parent would inevitably be shy. "I'm really looking forward to this New Year."
Her eyes glanced at Lin Ruo, then she couldn't help but peek at Bornova beside her.
Since her father's demise and her godfather's disappearance, she and Bornova had also been on less than pleasant terms due to various reasons…
If it weren't for Lin Ruo's sudden invitation this time, Bernadette wouldn't have known when she would be able to stand naturally with him like this, instead of only communicating through cold letters.
A New Year with a godfather and Bornova… Even Bernadette would feel anticipation.
After all, she didn't have many family members left in this world.
If Father… Bernadette suppressed the regret in her heart and answered Lin Ruo's previous question: "The feeling of becoming a Sage is hard to describe, but I think I can probably finally somewhat experience what Father felt back then."
That feeling of constantly having to fight against the divinity and madness within one's body.
She had only just advanced to Sequence 2 and already felt the difficulty. How much more painful must her father, corrupted by an Outer God, have been…
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