Knowing Koji was the other Vill-V's good buddy, the Magician Vill-V warmly took him around to see the room.
"Vill-V, shouldn't you be with the Flame Chasers? How did you sneak out?"
"Who do you think I am? A place like the Flame Chasers—if I want to leave, I leave. They don't have the right to restrict my personal freedom," Vill-V said confidently.
As a genius, if she could be put under house arrest that easily, wouldn't that be humiliating?
Still, by now, someone had probably noticed she was gone.
"Honestly, if the Flame Chasers weren't rich, I wouldn't even want to stay there," Vill-V said bluntly. She needed funding for all kinds of research.
She didn't have any sense of belonging to the Flame Chasers. It was purely transactional—what each side needed from the other. The Flame Chasers needed her talent to develop weapons, and she needed their budget to research her own ideas.
If she found a wealthy patron, she'd jump ship immediately.
And it's not like she didn't know what the upper ranks were like.
A rotten leadership like that, on the road of fighting the Honkai, was nothing but a stumbling block—completely useless in any positive way.
On top of that, she felt stifled staying there… especially since her funding kept getting docked.
"Hey, bro," Magician Vill-V said with a grin, "do you know any rich people? I can switch jobs."
"Hm? What was that I just heard?" A sweet voice cut in. "Vill-V, where exactly are you planning to jump to?"
The moment Vill-V heard it, her expression turned helpless. She looked toward the door.
A pink-haired girl stood there, flawless face wearing a knowing, meaningful smile.
"Elysia. Didn't expect it to be you."
"Wow. I'm such a tiny nobody… and you came out personally."
Magician Vill-V wasn't unfamiliar with this famous figure among the Flame Chasers. Powerful strength, dazzling achievements, and a fairy-like face without a single flaw—her popularity was absurdly high.
At the same time, Elysia was also hard to deal with. She had amazing people skills. Many admired and worshipped her, but didn't dare get close. She was the kind of person you could admire from afar… but not casually mess with.
"Vill-V," Elysia said with a smile, "you're not a 'tiny nobody,' you know?"
She was a dangerous person. Even Mobius acknowledged her danger and unpredictability—calling her "the same type." Mobius even hoped the Flame Chasers would eliminate Vill-V, the "dangerous element."
"And this gentleman is…?" Elysia looked at Koji, crystal-blue eyes filled with curiosity. She had met all kinds of people, but Koji felt special—different from everyone else.
"This is my bro, Koji," Magician Vill-V said, not even thinking, slinging an arm around his shoulder.
Hearing that, Elysia became even more interested.
"Hello, Elysia—Herrscher of Origin," Koji said with a faint smile, directly calling her by a title that made Elysia's heart seize.
Hako no Chikara (Box Power), activate!
Elysia's smile vanished on the spot. She stared at Koji, shocked and uncertain.
She was a Herrscher?
In truth, she already knew she was unusual, but she hadn't been one hundred percent sure she was a Herrscher.
"Elysia… you're a Herrscher?" Magician Vill-V stared, completely dumbfounded.
She had been with the Flame Chasers for a while; she wasn't unfamiliar with Herrschers. But she never imagined there was one right beside her.
Every Herrscher that had descended so far had been humanity's enemy—so what about Elysia?
Was she standing with the Honkai… or with humanity?
"I… I think I might be…" Elysia's face turned pale. She was scared.
If she really was a Herrscher… what would her friends think?
Elysia, who was always open and confident, was genuinely feeling fear right now.
"Elysia," Koji said, "you don't want other people to find out you're a Herrscher, do you?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Vill-V gave him a weird look.
That sounded like one of those lines you'd hear in "certain island-country" scripts.
"Please… don't tell anyone," Elysia pleaded pitifully. "Elysia will do anything…"
High offense, low defense—an absolute glass cannon. Even saying that made her feel embarrassed.
"Tch. Relax," Vill-V said. "Even if you're a Herrscher, there's no way you're the enemy."
She could tell. Elysia was fundamentally different from those other Herrschers. Elysia had humanity—something the others didn't.
They hadn't known each other long, but Vill-V trusted her.
Elysia would never hurt you.
"You like girls, don't you?" Koji kept "unboxing" her.
"…?!"
Vill-V's eyes went wide. She stared at Elysia like she'd just discovered a live mine.
So that's why she kept running over to her place all the time.
No. Absolutely not. From now on, Vill-V was setting up a threshold—Elysia was not allowed in. She had no intention of getting "bent" by another woman.
Elysia's smile froze. Internally, she was losing her mind.
Why would you say the quiet part out loud?!
"Ahem—no, that's not it," Elysia hurriedly explained. "I just… like being around cute girls, that's all."
What's wrong with cuddling girls anyway? Girls were soft, and they smelled nice.
"Elysia… you really do like the same sex?" Vill-V didn't even know what kind of look to give her—disgust? wariness?
Thinking back carefully… inside the Flame Chasers, Elysia really did like drifting toward the girls.
The more Vill-V thought about it, the more horrifying it got. At this moment, she felt like she was finally getting to know the "real" Elysia.
"Th-that…" Elysia didn't know what to say. She could only glare at Koji with a resentful look.
Why bring this up?! This was social death!
"Elysia," Vill-V asked, "the Flame Chasers sent you to find me… are you here to take me back?"
"Yeah," Elysia nodded. "The upper ranks are very wary of you."
"Tch. A bunch of parasites," Vill-V curled her lip. "I should just strap bombs to them and blow them into the sky."
At the beginning, the Flame Chasers might truly have existed to fight the Honkai. But now? Greed, indulgence, obsessing over status—fighting each other inside their own nest.
Elysia only smiled noncommittally. "Vill-V, killing them is easy, but the consequences would be huge. If things go wrong, it could make the Flame Chasers collapse completely."
"I have a plan," Koji said.
He took out several feathers—something he'd gathered earlier from Schicksal: a fragment of Fenghuang Down.
"…"
"…Interesting," Vill-V said, eyes lighting up. "With something this good, those upper-rank idiots will have no choice but to behave."
After hearing what Fenghuang Down could do, Vill-V's smile turned excited. She had been sick of those people for ages.
She'd use Fenghuang Down to turn them into puppets.
After that, how much funding did she want?
Whatever she said.
Elysia opened her mouth, hesitating. It really was a method… but would it truly have no repercussions?
"If you want more funding later," Vill-V said happily, "you'll be the one calling the shots, right?"
Elysia pressed her lips together, still uneasy. "This… really won't cause any trouble?"
(End of Chapter)
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