"Which era's mother are you referring to?" Roselle asked, his expression unprecedentedly serious, tinged with both nervousness and anticipation.
Alaric smiled at him, not choosing to tease, and said cheerfully, "Of course, the mother from before your transmigration. What, jealous?"
Even though Roselle had already suspected something due to Alaric's mysterious Shadow of Time ability, his eyes widened at this moment, his breathing quickening. Almost eagerly, he said, "So you really can summon people from the Old Days."
"Of course I can," Alaric said without denying it, nodding. "I thought that was obvious."
Roselle's expression grew even more serious. Looking at Alaric, he asked, "What price would I have to pay for you to help me see my parents?"
Alaric wasn't surprised by Roselle's reaction. He smiled and said unhurriedly, "No price is needed. As an employee benefit, I can help you see your loved ones once every three months."
He paused, looked Roselle up and down, shook his head, and continued, "But you probably can't enjoy this benefit right now. Or do you want your parents to see a polluted version of you?"
"No!" Roselle instinctively shook his head. He naturally didn't want his parents to see him in a polluted state. Not only would it potentially harm them, but even out of a desire to spare them grief, Roselle didn't want to appear before them like that.
Roselle knew his parents well. Even across millions of years, if they saw him in a polluted state, they would be heartbroken.
Gritting his teeth, Roselle looked at Alaric and said, "After I'm fully cleansed of pollution, then help me reunite with my parents."
"Fine, I have no objections," Alaric said with a smile, nodding.
Roselle glanced at Alaric again, sighed, and said through gritted teeth, "You really are a natural-born capitalist."
If seeing loved ones was an employee benefit, didn't that mean he'd have to keep working for Alaric?
"Nonsense, I'm a very conscientious businessman," Alaric replied with a smile, his tone serious.
Roselle, unwilling to give up, said, "Besides working for you, is there really no other price I can pay to reunite with my parents?"
"Sorry, employee benefits are employee benefits. If I liked you, I might make an exception, but unfortunately, you're a scoundrel, and I don't like scoundrels!" Alaric shook his head, his words straightforward and unabashed.
Roselle suddenly felt as if a boomerang had struck him. He could tell Alaric was speaking the truth, meaning Alaric genuinely wouldn't make an exception for him because of the terrible things he'd done in the past.
"Is this what they call karma..." Roselle gave a bitter smile, his expression sour.
"Do you resent me?" Alaric asked with a grin.
Roselle glanced at him and said irritably, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't resent you a little, but I'm not clueless. This is all my own doing." His smile turned self-deprecating by the end.
If he had chosen to be a good person back then instead of letting himself fall, perhaps Alaric would have been willing to make an exception for him today.
"Pretty rough, huh? Working for a boss who doesn't like you... Boss, you're not going to make things harder for me in the future, are you?" Roselle asked after a moment of silence, looking at Alaric.
"Wow, getting into the role already?" Alaric teased.
"Working's no big deal. Who hasn't been a cog in the machine?" Roselle shrugged, then flashed a smile. "At least I have a chance to reunite with my family and start over. That's already better than anything I could have imagined."
"Good mindset. Keep it up," Alaric said, patting Roselle's shoulder. He then pulled out a pocket watch, glanced at it, and said, "Alright, time's almost up. See you next time, Mr. Roselle. I hope by then you'll have a solid plan for crafting that Mystical item."
With that, Alaric didn't wait for Roselle's reaction and canceled the summoning of the Shadow of Time. He then turned unhurriedly to the Roselle of this era, with whom he had maintained a connection but who hadn't spoken until now, and said, "You heard our conversation, Mr. Roselle. Any thoughts?"
"You're really a natural-born capitalist," Roselle's weary voice sounded in Alaric's ear.
"Oh? Do you want to see a capitalist's tricks? Like getting two for the price of one... having you work for me while using that as leverage to make Bernadette work for me until she drops," Alaric said with a grin.
"Whoa!" Roselle's voice rang out again, whether in shock or cursing, but he quickly recovered and said, "You wouldn't do that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have told me. Besides, unlike me, the scoundrel, Bernadette's a good kid... unless everything you said before was a lie."
"You're right, I wouldn't," Alaric said with a smile, speaking slowly. "Because I'm a conscientious businessman, I respect my employees' opinions. Roselle, do you want me to approach Bernadette?"
Alaric had no intention of pulling a two-for-one deal. With Roselle in his grasp, it would be easy to enlist Bernadette. He wouldn't even need to deceive her... just stating the facts would gain him an ally.
But why bother?
Alaric didn't need a Sequence 3 lackey, and with his cooperation with the Creator's faction, he didn't need the influence of a Queen Mystic either. So there was no need to touch Roselle's sore spot for Bernadette's sake.
He preferred to let Roselle decide for himself.
Roselle was silent for a long while before saying, "You're really giving me a tough choice."
Roselle was genuinely torn. On one hand, he didn't want Bernadette getting involved with Alaric. Roselle wasn't stupid. Whether it was that power, completely different from the Mother Goddess of Depravity yet able to suppress her pollution, or the faint hints he could sense as the Black Emperor, everything told him that this Alaric guy was dangerous.
No father would want his daughter near someone that dangerous.
On the other hand, Roselle knew the apocalypse was inevitable. He couldn't rely on himself and was depending on Alaric to pull him through. In that case, letting his daughter align with someone powerful wasn't a bad move. At least Alaric seemed principled and incredibly strong. During the apocalypse, he might be able to protect his daughter.
***
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