Kotoko Iwanaga looked at Luo Shu with hesitation, her pitiful expression resembling that of a newborn country dog.
Yet faced with Kotoko's pitiful look, Luo Shu just scoffed:
"Playing pitiful won't work."
Hearing this, Kotoko immediately changed her expression, accepting the brown scroll from Yukino Yukinoshita with visible disdain. Before opening it, she muttered helplessly:
"Seriously, what's with this indenture contract nonsense?"
"It's the modern era, in a civilised country no less. How can you even produce something like this?"
Luo Shu glanced at her and retorted:
"Then what's that in your hand?"
Kotoko immediately made a face, mumbling:
"Can't we negotiate the terms a bit more?"
"Or is your Hidden Management Department really so short-staffed that you desperately need me to join?"
"Not join, but sell yourself to join." Luo Shu propped his elbow on the sofa armrest, resting his cheek on his hand. "To be more precise, it's about signing a contract to become my Familia."
"Oh?" Kotoko narrowed her eyes at this point, her expression resembling a kitten that just got some fish jerky: "Your Familia? That's not a term to be used lightly~"
As she spoke, she unrolled the scroll. With just a quick scan, she memorised the contents:
"It's just an ordinary employment contract..."
"Monthly salary of 300,000 yen, one raise per year. Aside from tax exemptions similar to religious bylaws, it's just an above-average job..."
Coming from a wealthy family, Kotoko naturally wouldn't care about the salary - a year's pay here wouldn't even cover her weekly allowance.
What caught her attention more were Luo Shu's earlier words and the implications revealed by the contract in her hands:
"The scroll's texture seems off... No, perhaps these patterns are the actual contract contents..."
"It somewhat resembles the divine script I've seen before, and bears some similarity to the demonic language secretly passed down in Truth Astronomy. Is this a variant?"
Luo Shu quietly watched Kotoko Iwanaga bite her thumb while meticulously studying the scroll, listening to her murmurs, before giving her a strange look:
"What's the point of saying all this out loud?"
"If I hid the real contents within the patterns, clearly it's because they can't be exposed."
"And yet you're studying them right in front of me while narrating your thoughts?"
"Had you refused outright without examining these, I might have let you off, citing ignorance of classified matters. But now, do you really think I can let you go after refusal?"
"Are you trying to shorten your lifespan?"
Upon hearing this, Kotoko covered the lower half of her face with the scroll, revealing only her cunning eyes:
"So, this in my hands is the reason for establishing the Hidden Management Department?"
Luo Shu glanced at Kotoko before turning to extend his hand towards Yukino Yukinoshita, standing by the sofa.
Miss Yukino calmly handed Luo Shu a Type 54 pistol, thoughtfully equipped with a silencer, then gave Kotoko a meaningful glance as if everything was understood without words.
Before Luo Shu could turn the muzzle, Kotoko immediately raised both hands:
"I surrender, I surrender! No need for such violence~"
Luo Shu responded with a cold chuckle, slapping the pistol down beside the teacup. He took a sip of tea before fixing his gaze on Kotoko:
"No tricks, no nonsense. Just a simple yes or no - can you do it or not?"
"Has no one told you your tone sounds exactly like a gangster..."
Kotoko feigned ignorance, but seeing Luo Shu's displeased eyebrow raise, quickly amended:
"So after signing the contract, I'll definitely receive the Phoenix Tears, right?"
"Just this one question - my final one. So... please take your hand off the gun..."
"My body isn't bulletproof, you know."
Luo Shu removed his hand from the weapon and explained:
"I'll arrange for the Phoenix Tears to reach you. Of course, if you want to include this as part of the contract terms, I can't say I'd refuse in principle."
"I see..."
Kotoko gave a bitter smile, then used her canine to bite her thumb. As she signed the scroll with blood, she complained:
"Somehow I feel cooperating with you, Luo Shu, might be a terrible decision..."
"In the end, it seems I'm losing myself in the deal too. What a massive loss..."
Luo Shu silently observed Kotoko signing the scroll with her bloody thumb. Only when she had nearly finished did he remark:
"You could've used a pen for this contract. As long as it's personally signed, it remains valid even without blood lineage information..."
Kotoko blinked, instinctively putting her thumb in her mouth to suck on it as she processed Luo Shu's words.
At once, Kotoko Iwanaga wailed with a crestfallen face:
"You could've mentioned this earlier, couldn't you?"
Luo Shu's lips twitched as he barely suppressed his laughter, quickly turning to look at Yukino Yukinoshita:
"Yukino, why didn't you remind Miss Iwanaga?"
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't respond, merely silently raising the pen in her hand and murmuring:
"I was just about to give it... But she suddenly bit her hand. It was too fast, I couldn't stop her..."
This single failure to stop sent Kotoko Iwanaga's mentality crashing down.
Yet before her breakdown could be complete, streams of information suddenly transmitted from the void, flooding into her mind.
In an instant, Kotoko Iwanaga became like a soulless doll, blankly leaning against the sofa with vacant, bewildered eyes.
Witnessing this increasingly exaggerated catatonic response, Luo Shu couldn't help but ask curiously:
"So, what knowledge updates did you lot feed the Familia this time?"
When forming contracts, the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System imparts relevant knowledge to each new Familia member - knowledge that can be modified or updated.
Currently, only three people hold approval for these modifications: Yukino Yukinoshita, Sharon, and Kurumi Tokisaki.
Among them, Yukino updates general mystic side knowledge, Sharon always inputs what she deems necessary to understand, while Kurumi makes the fewest updates - but hers concern Demigod-level research and above, making them the highest quality.
Judging by the sheer volume of updated educational content, Yukino Yukinoshita appears to be the most culpable - the number one enemy of new Familia members!
Yet when faced with Luo Shu's question, Yukino Yukinoshita's tone carried subtle nuance:
"This time it was Lady La Folia's update. I merely handled the Divine Pantheon input."
"What did she update?" Luo Shu asked curiously.
At this, Yukino Yukinoshita murmured:
"She updated this month's... sleeping arrangements for you, Director."
Luo Shu: "???"