World Serpent Sub-base
Inside a World Serpent sub-base, Jackal paced back and forth, restless and anxious.
Beside her, Gray Serpent was silent, but judging from the atmosphere, he was clearly not in a good mood either.
"Raven is such a good-for-nothing!"
Jackal finally spoke, launching into a tirade against the captured Raven.
"She got caught after releasing Chiyou, didn't even bother with a disguise before the operation, and now look! She's been identified!"
"Now Otto has sent people to Shincheng Pharmaceutical's Shenzhou branch and headquarters, saying he wants to have a 'good chat'—damn it, isn't he just trying to dig into our background?!"
"Alright, that's enough."
Although Gray Serpent was also in a foul mood, as a master of emotional control and the current backbone of the World Serpent, he couldn't afford to vent his frustrations like Jackal.
While Jackal was a formidable researcher, outside of her scientific pursuits, the only commendable thing about her was probably her good looks.
As for her other abilities—Gray Serpent was already being polite by not calling her useless.
It wasn't a problem if a subordinate lost their composure, but as the de facto leader of the World Serpent before Kevin's return, Gray Serpent absolutely could not lose his.
That was why, despite being furious with Raven, Gray Serpent wasn't venting his emotions like Jackal, but was instead contemplating how to handle the impending crisis World Serpent was about to face.
"Raven was away from our organization for a period of time. The time she officially spent at Shincheng Pharmaceutical wasn't long."
"It doesn't matter if Otto believes this excuse or not. As long as we stick to this point and claim we have no idea why she would do such a thing, we'll be fine."
"Tch."
Jackal looked at Gray Serpent suspiciously and questioned him.
"You really think that'll work? That gigolo Otto might be a coward who hides behind Valkyries, but even I have to admit, he's full of dirty tricks."
"In the past, he sent countless corporate spies to try and get his hands into Shincheng Pharmaceutical's internal affairs, wanting to uncover what we were hiding."
"If I hadn't listened to you and kept all the important data inside the organization's base, he would have found out what we were doing long ago!"
Yes, Otto is no fool.
In fact, in Gray Serpent's view, Otto not giving World Serpent any time to react and striking immediately after the Jiuyou incident was the best proof of that.
He gave Gray Serpent and Jackal no time to prepare, directly sending his subordinates over with a tougher stance than ever before to 'talk'...
There was no choice. If they didn't hand over a little 'something,' Otto definitely wouldn't back down.
If we hadn't prepared for this long ago, Otto might have really taken a few bites out of us this time.
Gray Serpent gently tapped his fingers on the table before him and then slowly said to Jackal.
"Jackal, do as I say now."
"To put it bluntly, Otto just wants us to cough something up. After all, things have reached this point, he's been suspicious for a long time, and now that the opportunity has presented itself, he certainly won't let it go easily."
"Actually, I anticipated this day long ago. You have several companies under your name, and inside them are some obsolete files from our past research."
"Some files?"
Jackal, who had absolutely no interest or ability in business management, asked Gray Serpent in surprise.
"Which files—wait, when did you make these preparations?"
"While you were arguing with Raven."
After snapping back, Gray Serpent made a light swipe in the air, opening the base's intelligence light screen.
"While Shincheng Pharmaceutical was conducting rescue missions everywhere, it never hid its involvement in human experiments. That was the operational policy I gave you back then."
"The reason I did that was to tell those people that Shincheng Pharmaceutical was never pure white from the beginning."
"And at the same time, in those companies under your name, I left behind some data on human experiments."
"This data is from research on human resistance to Honkai Energy. Just by looking at this data, the most Otto can see are the initial steps of our research."
Looking at the data on the light screen, Jackal frowned slightly.
Then, as realization dawned, she immediately gasped.
"Isn't this the preliminary research topic for the Stigmata Project???"
"You actually plan to disclose this to Otto? Gray Serpent, have you lost your mind?"
The Stigmata Project was World Serpent's most core plan.
In Jackal's eyes, anyone trying to expose the Stigmata Project at this moment was clearly insane.
If not for the fact that Gray Serpent was the de facto 'boss' of World Serpent at this stage, Jackal would have suspected that Gray Serpent felt the situation was dire and was preparing to defect on the spot.
"Don't be a fool, Jackal."
Gray Serpent, still deep in thought, continued to explain to Jackal.
"This data only proves that Shincheng Pharmaceutical has conducted some even more unsavory experiments. And for Otto, this kind of data... probably won't satisfy him."
"But if he pushes further, we can just play dead."
"We've already established a firm foothold in the world with our anti-Honkai drugs. Schicksal is indeed strong, but Otto won't make a move on us without sufficient evidence."
"I don't know what that man is plotting, but if Shincheng Pharmaceutical really goes under, Schicksal can't afford to handle the medicinal support for other regions."
"Of course, he doesn't care about the lives of those people, but this person... heh, he loves to put on a show. At the very least, I am certain that without sufficient confidence, Otto will not tear off that hypocritical mask of his in front of everyone."
"As for you mentioning the data leak, I'm not an idiot either."
"After processing that data, you think Otto can deduce that it's a prelude to the Stigmata Project just by looking at it?"
"Don't overthink it. In the 'past,' there was plenty of experimental data like this. Unless someone can predict the future or lived in the past, they wouldn't be able to know what we're planning."
"But—"
Seeing Jackal's agitated gesture, Gray Serpent didn't speak, but quietly waited for her to ask another question.
And under Gray Serpent's confident demeanor, Jackal actually calmed down a bit.
And now that she had calmed down, Jackal realized they had an even more troublesome problem to face.
Raven is still in their hands!
That woman is a core executive of World Serpent. Gray Serpent even entrusted her with a precious Divine Key, which is enough to show how much he values her.
However, Jackal did not trust this woman.
She had left the organization once before. And before leaving, Raven had already been exposed to some of World Serpent's secrets.
Yet, Gray Serpent just let her leave like that.
When Raven returned later, she admitted that she came back because it was more comfortable to make money in World Serpent.
And because of this, Jackal didn't trust a colleague who had once 'betrayed' the organization, was only interested in money, and had no loyalty to the organization.
This kind of person, once they sense trouble, is very likely to defect.
"It seems you've calmed down. In fact, the real problem we need to face right now is Raven."
Putting away the light screen, Gray Serpent suddenly leaned back on the sofa.
Even though she knew he was a cyborg, Jackal could still see the obvious fatigue in Gray Serpent's posture.
"You and Raven, as core members of our World Serpent, have both been told the coordinates of several dispensable sub-bases."
"I don't expect any loyalty from Raven, but she's not so stupid as to expose our secrets right away."
"For a captive, spilling all the information at once is a suicidal act."
"And what we need to do now is, before she spills the information she's not supposed to, either rescue her, or..."
"—silence her."
"So, I need you to provide sufficient combat power, then use the Quantum Teleportation System to send that power straight to Raven's location and cause a huge scene."
"Combat power..."
Listening to Gray Serpent's plan, Jackal pondered for a moment before replying helplessly.
"That cat has indeed been modified by me into an Emperor-class, but it can only transform into a Honkai Beast for a few minutes at a time."
"And the potion that can turn you into an Emperor-class Honkai Beast is currently in short supply. I need to keep some for backup analysis."
"And now, that idiot Raven must have been taken to the Far East Branch. Honestly... our combat power isn't quite enough."
Seeing Jackal's predicament, Gray Serpent couldn't help but feel that the current Jackal was much more agreeable than usual.
After the organization encountered a major crisis, even a brute like Jackal actually knew how to weigh the pros and cons and analyze the strength of their forces before taking action.
This fully proved that even a cornered dog will leap over a wall.
Only now, both the temporarily clever Jackal and the always-clever Gray Serpent had the same thought.
World Serpent's high-end combat power was still too weak.
And this problem even led Gray Serpent to a deeper issue.
The problem wasn't particularly severe yet because he speculated that Otto would, for the time being, play along with them within the rules of the game.
But the problem was, whether Otto played by the rules or not was up to him.
If he wanted to flip the table, he could do it at any time, and facing an Otto who didn't play by the rules, World Serpent had no recourse.
Unless, World Serpent could now seize a Herrscher Core, bring it to the Abyssal City, and welcome back their Lord Kevin.
Just as Gray Serpent thought of this, his communication device suddenly rang.
"Who could it be at this time?"
"Heh, our ally has arrived, Jackal."
Seeing the name on the communicator, Gray Serpent immediately chose to accept the call.
After Gray Serpent made this move, a light screen immediately appeared before the two of them.
On the light screen, Cocolia stared at Gray Serpent with a grim expression, clearly suppressing the anger within her.
"Mr. Gray Serpent, I believe I need an explanation."
"You promised that World Serpent would also dispatch a cadre to Jiuyou, but—where were your people?"
Oh, Cocolia's words mean she doesn't know Raven was captured?
That's great. This is more advantageous for us.
After making his initial judgment, Gray Serpent immediately retorted in an impatient tone.
"You have the nerve to ask that question? Cocolia, I really don't know how you could be so foolish as to let a brain-dead brat run around with Titans."
"Raven already told me. After discovering Sin Mal's reckless actions, she determined that Sin Mal would expose her coordinates, so she chose not to contact her."
"And as it turns out, she and her team of Titans were still taken care of. Raven's judgment was clearly correct."
"But—"
"Are you trying to say that our World Serpent's action of releasing Chiyou was too extreme and interfered with your plan?"
Suddenly, the scarlet cybernetic eye on Gray Serpent's head burst forth with an ominous crimson light.
"Know your place, Cocolia. The actions of our World Serpent..."
"—When did we ever need to report to a stray dog like you?"
Under the pressure of Gray Serpent's presence, Cocolia really wanted to curse him out.
But she didn't dare.
After all, her forces had been further reduced after Sin's failure.
Although she didn't want to admit it, the current Cocolia, aside from the last trump card she held, was indeed a stray dog in name and in fact.
Even if the current Cocolia was unwilling, after calming down, she didn't dare to offend Gray Serpent any further.
"Very good. It seems you've calmed down quite a bit."
Having completely confirmed that Cocolia didn't know about Raven's capture, Gray Serpent drawled slowly to Cocolia.
"I have given you more than one chance, Cocolia."
"But unfortunately, you always manage to disappoint me."
"According to my investigation, that adopted daughter of yours, Bronya, has already joined Schicksal."
"And now, your other adopted daughter has been taken away by Schicksal's people. Her status is currently unknown, but..."
"—I might be more at ease if she were dead."
At that moment, Gray Serpent's tone gradually became incomparably cold.
"I have a real headache now—if your two daughters sell you out, then I, having helped you so much, will be implicated."
"I rarely make losing deals, and Cocolia, in this regard, you are truly full of surprises."
Aided by Gray Serpent's already unsettling mechanical voice, his mocking words towards Cocolia made her feel even more uneasy.
However, Cocolia, feeling she was in the wrong, could only try to continue winning Gray Serpent's trust to help her complete her subsequent plans.
"Mr. Gray Serpent, please calm down. Although you might find it laughable for me to talk about feelings, I believe my daughters have not betrayed me."
"Especially Bronya. If she had completely betrayed me, with her electronic warfare skills, my current coordinates would have been found long ago, and I would have been surrounded by Schicksal forces."
"Hmm, that makes sense, but can you guarantee they'll always be like this?"
"That's—why I need your help this one time, Mr. Gray Serpent."
Listening to Cocolia's awkward transition, Jackal almost cursed out loud.
How does this woman have the nerve to ask us to clean up her messes every day!
Only, the current Jackal, because the organization was facing a crisis, found her mind working faster than usual.
She knew she wasn't as smart as Gray Serpent. In such important negotiations, Jackal felt it was better to keep her mouth shut than to speak.
Seeing that Gray Serpent on the screen had said nothing more, Cocolia immediately continued speaking to him.
"Indeed, as you said, Mr. Gray Serpent, I cannot guarantee that they will never betray me. That is why I need to get them away from Schicksal."
"Hmm, and so?"
So this is also beneficial for you, Mr. Gray Serpent. After all, you don't want your organization to be exposed because of my two daughters' betrayal either.
Cocolia originally wanted to say that, but now she was the one asking for help, and the initiative was in Gray Serpent's hands.
If she dared to use such near-threatening words to coerce him now, and he decided to wash his hands of her, the trouble she would face later would only become more and more numerous and severe.
"So... I hope Mr. Gray Serpent can provide some combat power, so that I have enough strength to bring back my daughters."
Cocolia, her mind racing, immediately continued speaking to the clearly impatient Gray Serpent.
"Moreover, over at St. Freya High School, Leo Ash has already gone to Schicksal headquarters and won't be back for a while."
"Among the remaining combat personnel, the elites have likely been severely weakened by Chiyou's rampage."
"If we want to abduct Raiden Mei, if we can launch a surprise attack now, we might achieve the best results."
After saying all this in the fastest possible speed, Cocolia didn't say anything more.
She knew very well that a person like Gray Serpent didn't care about personal feelings, only about benefits.
And now, as long as Cocolia threw out a benefit tempting enough for Gray Serpent to act, he would definitely choose to help her.
After all, Cocolia's rapid rise to power was inseparable from Gray Serpent's support in the shadows.
And precisely because Cocolia was propped up by Gray Serpent, he knew exactly what trump cards she held.
For Gray Serpent, Cocolia's threat level was low, but his investment in her was not.
Even if only for the sunk costs, Gray Serpent was highly likely to help her after hearing her preliminary plan.
After waiting for about a minute, Cocolia got the answer she wanted.
"Three Emperor-class units, one of which can only maintain Emperor-class combat power for a short time. This is the maximum loss I can accept."
After saying this, Gray Serpent looked at Cocolia and said to her with extreme indifference.
"You have disappointed me time and time again. If possible, I hope this situation does not repeat itself in the future."
"...I understand. Please rest assured."
On the other side of the communication system, although Cocolia received news that Gray Serpent was willing to provide support, it didn't mean she was at ease.
If Gray Serpent had continued to curse her in a fit of rage, Cocolia would have felt that this cyborg didn't know how to restrain his emotions and would be easier to manipulate.
But now, although Gray Serpent was clearly dissatisfied with the negative consequences of Cocolia's successive failures, he was still able to calm himself down and continue to cooperate with her.
It wasn't a bad thing for the other party to be calm, but in the moment she faced Gray Serpent, Cocolia genuinely felt a dangerous, 'snake-like' feeling from him.
Tsk, I was originally planning to use those clones to pretend to be the leader and calm down those restless guys a bit.
But now... forget it. As long as I can bring back Raiden Mei, nothing else matters.
After bringing back Raiden Mei, it's obviously impossible to expect her to cooperate with me obediently.
At this point, I can only directly remove the gem from her body, and then work hard to complete the Sky Father and place the gem inside it.
Power...
The reason I'm so passive is, in the end, because I don't have enough power.
But this time, as long as I can obtain the Gem of Conquest, my biggest weakness will instantly disappear.
So this time, I must recapture Raiden Mei.
Bronya, I hope you are just as I suspect, and have only chosen to infiltrate the enemy's ranks.
If you choose to betray me, I...
—will have no choice but to use the Valkyrie System to teach you a lesson, my disobedient daughter.
On the other side, after Gray Serpent terminated the communication, Jackal had to admire his maneuvering.
It was clearly their side that needed more combat power to rescue Raven, but after talking with Cocolia, Gray Serpent instantly spotted the weakness in her words.
And using this weakness, Gray Serpent immediately turned the tables, making Cocolia obediently start providing combat power for them.
If it were Jackal... she would probably have her secrets probed out by Cocolia in a few exchanges and be forced into a passive position.
"But speaking of which, Gray Serpent, although we don't have much combat power on hand, three units..."
Jackal had just started to speak when Gray Serpent interrupted her helplessly.
"Three units is what I told Cocolia. I will use my intelligence network to find Raven's location."
"After rescuing Raven, I'll need to leave a 'me' behind to transform into an Emperor-class and buy time."
"Don't trust Cocolia too much. If you tell her everything, you'll be screwed over by that woman sooner or later."
"In the end, if it weren't for the Abyssal City being in Anti-Entropy's territory..."
As he said this, Gray Serpent, despite being a cyborg, truly felt a wave of fatigue, which shouldn't exist, wash over his body and mind.
"—Who would want to cooperate with such an idiot."
.......
Next day. Schicksal Headquarters.
At the banquet hall in Schicksal Headquarters, Leo Ash looked at everything before him and felt only one thing...
—Tense.
Since he had transmigrated, only about forty days had passed.
In these forty days, his life had been extremely busy, so naturally, he had no time to learn things like high-society etiquette, which he considered useless.
Moreover, both the past Leo Ash and the current one were just ordinary commoners.
For him, wearing a formal suit to attend such a high-end-looking, and in fact, very high-end banquet, only made him feel uncomfortable all over.
Alright, to put it bluntly, he was a country bumpkin.
Letting a country bumpkin into the venue of high society would naturally create a feeling of being out of place.
To others, the elite of the Apocalypse family, whom Otto was currently promoting, was calmly observing everyone, befitting everything the Lord Bishop had done for him.
But only Leo Ash knew—if it weren't for the effect of the Cold, Handsome Man title, he would have started panicking long ago.
Right now, he felt like a husky in a wolf pack. He looked fine on the outside, but was panicking like crazy on the inside.
[Panicking? The thought of the image in your mind almost makes you laugh out loud.]
[You are Schicksal's strongest male warrior, and you even possess the preliminary strength of an S-rank.]
[You are no husky, but the Fenrir of the wolf pack.]
[For the current you, why should you care about the opinions of others? You need to understand...]
[—You are the protagonist of this banquet now! It is they who should be fawning over you, not you who should be considerate of their feelings!]
After the System finished speaking, Leo Ash did not respond.
But in the eyes of the crowd, Leo Ash, who had been calmly observing everything, moved at that moment.
That direction is—the Branch Commander of the Far East Branch?
However, after walking in that direction, Leo Ash did not, as the other banquet participants did, engage in conversation with them.
Leo Ash stopped in front of the food, very naturally picked up a plate, and began to eat by himself.
[Um, Host, what are you...]
Although you were probably joking, I think what you said makes a lot of sense.
To think I was some kind of husky, I'm such an idiot.
[What?]
Just now, I hadn't figured out the situation and still thought of myself as that helpless little orphan from the past.
A helpless little orphan like Leo Ash would, of course, need to be cautious and meticulous in such a banquet.
But Leo Ash, the elite knight of Schicksal from the Apocalypse family with sufficient strength, indeed, as you said, doesn't need to care too much about the feelings of others.
Eat when I should eat, drink when I should drink. If someone thinks I'm an uncultured country bumpkin—what does their opinion have to do with me.
I just need to do what I'm supposed to do. Wasting time initiating conversations with these people is clearly not my style.
[Um, if you don't interact with them, your persona of striving to climb the ladder...]
Will it collapse?
Leo Ash is an avenger who chose to strive to climb the ladder in order to take revenge on the Honkai.
My external persona is already that of a reckless and desperate hothead.
Expecting such an avenging hothead to proactively curry favor with people who may not even need to be pleased is in itself a strange behavior.
Although I don't like acting, this play will probably have to go on for a few more years.
Under these circumstances, I naturally have to actively immerse myself in this role and play the 'avenger' as I see him.
My words might be enough to fool those naive little girls, but among the people present now, besides the Valkyries, the remaining Branch Commanders and council members, which one of them isn't an old fox who has climbed up by stepping on others' heads.
Talking too much with them, even if I don't expose any flaws, will be very tiring.
It's better to act a bit aloof now, which can also avoid a lot of trouble.
[...There's actually such a way of thinking?]
[Alright, this System has to admit, your line of thinking does have some merit.]
[Hmm, wait, no, why did some of them really start thinking that way—did you use Phantasmagoria for such a trivial matter?]
Are you kidding me? Why would I use a dangerous power like Phantasmagoria for such a boring thing.
These people are all smart. Smart people always trust their own judgments more.
Knowing this, I can basically predict the direction of their assumptions. I just chose the one that is most beneficial to me and started acting accordingly.
[Wow, your scheming is a bit terrifying.]
Please call it the wisdom of survival.
After he formed the thought, the gazes directed at Leo Ash really did diminish.
Clichéd plots like 'everyone laughs at Leo Ash for being too much of a bumpkin' didn't happen at all.
In the end, among the people present, apart from a very few young people thrown in by their clan elders for socializing, most of them came with their brains.
Leo Ash's star was on the rise, and he was a warrior personally promoted by Lord Bishop Otto. Anyone who crossed him would be crossing Lord Bishop Otto.
And crossing Lord Bishop Otto—isn't that just asking for death?
Moreover, even setting aside Lord Bishop Otto's promotion, Theresa, as the Matriarch of one of Schicksal's Three Great Houses, also thought very highly of Leo Ash.
In addition, Leo Ash's adoptive sister Rita and his close friend Durandal, with whom he had lived for a long time, were also S-rank Valkyries.
Now that Leo Ash had defeated Chiyou, he clearly had the strength of an S-rank as well, lacking only the official certification from Schicksal Headquarters.
With a little bit of thought, one would realize that Leo Ash had three closely related S-ranks around him, and he himself had S-rank strength.
At a time like this—who would be bored enough to go and mock a young man with a boundless future.
Who knows, if their branch runs into trouble in the future, they might need Leo Ash to come to the rescue.
If you make him unhappy or lose face now, what if the young man gets angry and holds a grudge, leading to some unfortunate events? They wouldn't even have a place to cry.
And for these various reasons, after Leo Ash gave off the aura of 'I'm not interested in any of you,' it really did become much quieter around him.
There would be plenty of opportunities to befriend Leo Ash in the future.
Right now, since he didn't want to be bothered, it was better not to get on his bad side.
However, while most of the old foxes with brains understood this, it didn't mean everyone did.
At this moment, a member of the Schariac clan frowned upon seeing someone start to approach Leo Ash.
At the same time, Leo Ash, who heard the footsteps, had no choice but to put down his plate and look in the direction the sound came from.
In front of him, a girl with chestnut-colored hair, looking as if she were feigning composure, had stopped awkwardly in front of him, as if unable to make up her mind.
This... ah, it's this person.
The real husky has appeared.
Looking at the girl with chestnut hair who was clearly uneasy, Leo Ash didn't speak, quietly waiting for her to take the initiative.
And under Leo Ash's cold gaze, the girl named Anna Schariac seemed to muster up her courage and said loudly to him.
"Mr. Leo Ash, my name is Anna Schariac! I have admired you for a long time. May I, may I ask if you would dance with me?"
Facing the girl who had struggled to say those words, Leo Ash didn't know what to say.
There wasn't much description of Anna in the original work, but just from the fact that she would blush after exchanging a few words with Chen Tianwu, it was clear that she was a rather shy girl.
Would a shy girl voluntarily walk up to Leo Ash and loudly say these words to him?
[The answer is obviously yes. You immediately made this judgment because—the power of love can make people overcome all obstacles!]
[She has already gathered the courage to change herself for you. At a time like this, you should strike while the iron is hot, win her over, and then—]
And then my foot.
It's obviously impossible for her to suddenly muster up courage after seeing me.
This little girl's body is visibly trembling and tense right now. This is clearly a sign of nervousness... or even fear.
She definitely didn't come here voluntarily. Someone instructed her to act before the ball even started.
[So?]
So, right now I must of course...
At this moment, Leo Ash made a move that few people had anticipated.
After gently wiping his hand with a handkerchief, Leo Ash very gallantly took Anna's hand and gave her a slight smile.
"It would be my honor to share a dance with such a beautiful young lady."
"Since Miss Anna has extended the invitation, what reason would I have to refuse?"
Anna, who had been extremely anxious, suddenly felt completely at ease after Leo Ash's gesture.
To be honest, Leo Ash's actions weren't even average. In his eyes, this exaggerated posture could only be described as clumsy.
But the problem was... people are judged by their appearance.
Leo Ash was already handsome enough, and under the 'Handsome' characteristic of the Cold, Handsome Man title, his charm towards the opposite sex was further enhanced.
Plus, Anna was already a little uneasy, and Leo Ash, who had just been exuding a 'keep your distance' vibe, was now actually smiling at her.
Critical hit.
Without a doubt, this was a critical hit.
While it might not be enough to make the girl fall in love with him at first sight, it wasn't difficult to make Anna feel a little bit of goodwill towards him while also putting her at ease.
[Occasionally, this System has a small question. You—you're not secretly a master at picking up girls, are you?]
You, a system with such vast powers, must know how tragic my past was.
Do you not have a clue in that head of yours whether I'm a master at picking up girls or not?
[I used to, but now... it's hard to say.]
And to be honest, why do you think I'm trying to pick her up?
Anna was the host chosen by Prometheus. In other words, even if she hadn't encountered the Manila Incident in the future, she would have become a Herrscher in some other incident.
If I were to reject her hard-won invitation now, it would more or less leave a thorn in her heart.
And the actions I'm taking now, while they may not completely prevent her from becoming a Herrscher in the future, being a little nicer to the young lady can at least prevent her from becoming more radical.
Everything I'm doing now is just to avoid more dangers for my future self.
[Haha, that's right, but you know very well in your heart...]
[Your true thoughts are unknown to others. They will only judge you based on your external actions.]
[So now, you can be certain that the girl named Anna Schariac has already developed a favorable impression of you.]
So be it. If this can become a trigger for her to suppress her Herrscher personality...
I don't mind continuing to be a liar and an actor.
Anna, whose right hand was being held by Leo Ash, felt much more at ease than before.
Originally forced to approach Leo Ash for certain reasons, Anna now discovered that the young man before her was surprisingly easy to talk to.
"Alright, then now..."
After reaching their destination, Leo Ash did not let go of her hand. Instead, he smoothly raised her right hand and gently placed his own right hand on Anna's smooth back.
"Please, dance with me, Miss Anna."
"I understand, Mr. Leo Ash."
Even though it was the first time she had contact with a peer of the opposite sex other than her clan brothers, Anna, who should have been shy, felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation in front of Leo Ash.
Perhaps it was the sense of security Leo Ash gave her that allowed her to display a completely different demeanor than usual.
During the dance, Leo Ash, who had actively initiated Mind Like Still Water, began to observe the dance steps of the others around him.
Relying on the characteristics of Mind Like Still Water, Leo Ash, who was originally a complete amateur, was now, by observing the movements of those around him, able to dance with the grace of a seasoned veteran.
Anna, in front of Leo Ash, also matched his steps, maintaining eye contact with him.
Although his eyes were like still water, giving Anna a sense of tranquility.
Yet just by looking into his eyes, Anna felt her heartbeat accelerating nonstop.
If she weren't trying hard to control her emotions, she felt that she would definitely flee from him with a face flushed red from extreme shyness.
When the music ended, Anna was so lost in thought that she even tried to continue dancing with Leo Ash.
"Eh, I..."
It wasn't until she saw the men and women around them separating that she realized that she...
—actually felt a tiny bit of reluctance for the dance to end.
Looking at the girl who had suddenly become flustered again for some reason, Leo Ash did not let go of her hand this time. Instead, he assertively led her towards a corridor where few people were present.
"Eh, Mr. Leo Ash, you..."
"Alright, Miss Anna, I know you came to find me for more than just a dance."
Leading Anna to the corridor, Leo Ash let out a breath, leaned casually against the railing, and looked up at the ceiling.
"I can tell that you were probably instructed, or even forced, to come over."
"Tell me, who forced you to do such a boring thing?"
......