Early the next morning, Haiyina Inspector arrived at Moriarty Manor with an authorization order from the Surveillance Bureau.
This time, she had clearly learned her lesson from yesterday.
After a quick breakfast, Haina immediately rushed over, arriving even before seven o'clock.
At that hour, Aiwass had not yet woken up, so Oswald, the butler, could only seat her in the reception room and have the maids serve her tea and refreshments.
It wasn't until Aiwass had woken up, washed, and finished breakfast that Oswald informed him that Haiyina Inspector was waiting in the reception room.
...You're here so early this time, senior. Wasn't our agreed time nine-thirty?
Aiwass sat in his wheelchair, slowly pushed into the reception room by Oswald.
As he entered, he saw Haina dressed in "formal attire."
Completely different from her attire yesterday, Haina was now wearing a two-piece leather armor set.
However, this leather armor was more akin to a uniform than protective gear. It didn't fully cover all skin, and while it offered some protection, its primary significance likely lay in its ceremonial aspect.
"Armor" holds sacred status in the Avalon Kingdom.
In the Avalon Kingdom, the primary power classes are divided into "Knights" and the civilian system's "Civil Servants." The former, in addition to the hereditary Knight families who can enter the Senate, also include Observers, Arbitrators, and the entire cavalry system. Only "Knights" can wear armor; members of parliament must also be fully armored when entering the Senate, as entering in civilian clothes is considered a provocation to the Authority of the Round Table Hall.
Aside from Knights, anyone wearing, or even possessing, armor can be directly sentenced to the severe penalty of death. Even within Knight families, the children of the head of the household cannot wear their parents' armor without authorization from the Queen.
Because of this, anyone seeing an armored person on the street can immediately discern their identity. One can even discern their rank from the specifications of the armor the more inconvenient to move in, the more solid the material, the more majestic the appearance, and the closer the color is to silver-white, the higher their status.
This was not from game experience... after all, the Avalon Kingdom fell too early. This knowledge came entirely from Little Aivas's memory and common sense.
Aiwass could tell that Haina's leather armor was brand new. He could even smell a faint oil scent.
Because of this, Haina was hesitant to sit on the Moriarty family's sofa. She cautiously sat on the edge of the sofa, sitting upright, fearing she might accidentally dirty it and cause displeasure.
"Better early than late."
Seeing Aiwass, Haina let out a long sigh and hastily stood up from the soft sofa: "It's fine, Mr. Aiwass. I can act according to your convenience that's the Bureau's requirement."
Aiwass raised an eyebrow.
Late by two and a half hours last time, three hours early this time...
"I feel like you're a bit too extreme."
"What?" Haina was somewhat confused.
"Nothing," Aiwass smiled slightly, "The leather armor looks good."
"This was specially approved for me by the Bureau!"
Hearing this, Haina immediately perked up: "Although my equipment and griffins have been approved, they are still on their way. The Director said it might take another two months to get them.
"However, because I reported your matter, the Director felt that if something happened to you, the Surveillance Bureau would be in trouble, but not agreeing would also cause trouble. And if I sent many people to follow you, you might be unhappy; but if I let something happen to you, the problem would be even greater. So the Director made an exception and approved the armor and sword for me first!"
Saying this, Haina gleefully patted the sword she had placed on the table.
Aiwass followed her gaze.
It was a leaf-shaped short sword with a scabbard shining with silver light. It was about twenty-four inches, or sixty centimeters, long. The scabbard was etched with beautiful thorn patterns, and small pieces of red, green, and blue crushed glass were embedded in the thorns, appearing dazzling and brilliant in the sunlight from the window. One could tell at a glance that it was a very typical elven style whether it was practical or not was another matter, but at least it looked very good.
Because the sword's appearance was too beautiful, its style was quite different from Haina's somewhat simple leather armor. Instead, it blended very naturally with the elven-style decorations in Aiwass's home.
Aiwass's first thought was that it was one of his own art pieces.
So you brought it. That's fine then.
"I will definitely protect you well!"
Haina said with immense determination.
Her calloused fingers carefully stroked the thorn patterns on the scabbard. After taking the sword into her hand, her confident aura suddenly ignited.
Unlike the timidity, clumsiness, and cautiousness of last night, her entire demeanor had changed. Even her eyes had become brighter.
To use an analogy, it was like the difference between a horror game player without a gun and one who had obtained a gun.
Aiwass looked deeply into Haina's eyes, falling into silence and thought.
He noticed that she clearly hadn't slept well last night one could say she was too excited to rest.
Of course, part of this was due to getting her sword early. But the greater excitement stemmed from her belief that she could finally "show off her skills."
After yesterday's test, today's interaction, and an investigation into her background, Aiwass could now roughly deduce and organize Haina's thought process.
She was clearly not very intelligent; once things became complicated, she would be too lazy to think logically. At the same time, she likely came from a poor background but possessed extraordinary talent in her own field for example, swordsmanship enough to be proud of. Therefore, her personality would gradually tend to become stubborn; rather than hesitation, self-reflection, and complex analysis, she would be willing to trust the results of her intuition.
Simply put, she was a "martial arts fanatic."
Because her background was indeed ordinary, as a village girl who never bothered to dress up, her appearance naturally couldn't compare to the refined young ladies of the capital. Thus, she also harbored a faint, unperceived sense of inferiority.
This inferiority would transform into a kind of aggression and hostility directed at those "of higher status." But at the same time, she was afraid of causing trouble for herself, having no background, so it wouldn't manifest as actual words or actions. Yet, it would still reveal itself in her attitude under pressure and her instinctive reactions when making choices.
Because of her straightforward personality, her more approachable background, her exceptionally outstanding achievements, and her survival wisdom of not easily offending people, she would be very popular in a school environment, especially among students with relatively simple minds yet such a person, upon first entering society, would encounter setbacks everywhere, making it easy for her to become confused, even manipulated, and led astray in life.
Now was her moment of confusion.
Such a person could be completely utilized.
The weakness and helplessness Aiwass displayed when he met her yesterday were precisely the postures he had carefully selected, after reviewing Haina's information beforehand, that would most easily attract her attention immediately.
The act of "reading poetry" would subconsciously suggest to people that this person was inactive. The wheelchair beneath him further reinforced this intention of "stillness," thereby avoiding direct confrontation with Haina, who had self-confidence in areas like "movement," "physical ability," and "swordsmanship," preventing him from immediately arousing her competitive spirit or attention.
Aiwass had looked in the mirror, and his aesthetic sense was normal. He certainly knew that the face of his current body was quite striking.
So, on this basis, Aiwass had his personal maid apply makeup beforehand to create a face that appeared weak and pale from blood loss. He adjusted the fireplace to just the right temperature, which would give a feeling of relaxation, and the firelight would provide a warm-toned filter for Aiwass.
In this way, Aiwass's image would trigger Haina's protective instincts, at least not provoking her hostility due to his background. A "weak," "injured," "handsome" superior was now completely under her control, which would make her "hope" that Aiwass was good. Thus, he would not become her adversary.
Up to this point, Haina's instincts would tell her not to investigate further. Her work experience was not rich enough, and her behavior was easily guided by emotion. Once she had given herself an answer, she would actually only be looking for evidence to support that answer.
However, when a person's impression is too strong, their image is easily abstracted and one-sided in memory.
If Haina's goodwill towards Aiwass was too high, then when Aiwass made actions that did not meet her expectations, she would become "disappointed of her own accord."
Because of this, Aiwass needed to do some things beforehand to make his first impression not so good or perfect. So he used Haina's tardiness to say some unpleasant truths, making her feel as if he was attacking her.
In fact, she, being at fault first, actually hoped Aiwass would attack her. This would allow her to relax a bit.
After she interpreted Aiwass's strange remarks as an attack, she would subconsciously rule out their possibility. And when Aiwass proposed a possibility she could accept, she would immediately cling to it, thereby reducing her guilt and alleviating psychological pressure.
Thus, today and in the future, she could become a very reliable bodyguard for him.
After their interaction yesterday, Haina would assume they had become friends. And she desperately needed to display her proud strength her swordsmanship in front of this noble, innocent, gentle, artistic, delicate, and handsome new friend.
If she could truly demonstrate this, she would believe that "she had displayed her proud strength." And thus, she would hope for Aiwass's affirmation.
If Aiwass affirmed her in this regard and expressed that he indeed needed her help, such a request would greatly satisfy her social needs.
In that case, Aiwass, who was originally a suspect and viewed with caution and wariness before their contact, could, after just one day of interaction, conversely become her good friend. This would naturally draw Aiwass into her social circle from school.
Although bullying a young girl who had just graduated in this way made Aiwass feel a bit bad.
This was his debt.
And Aiwass never liked to owe favors. Once he owed a favor, he would immediately try to repay it.
Otherwise, it was easy to get too close to others. And having "friends" was a very dangerous thing; one often gets dragged into dangerous situations to help friends, and it's easy to suffer a painful betrayal by relaxing one's guard with friends.
Aiwass never liked to be too close to others.
That would only make him feel tense and uncomfortable.
It's better for both parties to maintain a state of mutual help and mutual utilization. Staying in a healthy, efficient, and reproducible business relationship would prevent sadness from betrayal, and resentment from being abandoned... Likewise, there would be no hesitation or guilt when preparing to betray others.
Aiwass's previous life was an example.
Being too enthusiastic and naive, he trusted his pen pals and considered them friends, and indeed paid a heavy price.
But for him, repaying favors was a very simple matter.
And in Aiwass's memory, the name "Haina" did not exist in the game. If nothing went wrong, she should have died in the first version of the game when Avalon was invaded.
Aiwass was not saving Avalon for her; he was doing it for his own stable life. Therefore, saving her along the way couldn't be considered repaying a favor.
But with Haina's personality, knowledge, and ability, there would undoubtedly be many villains in school, just like himself, with ulterior motives who would try to become her fake friends. Aiwass could easily identify those people and then help her distinguish between trustworthy, reliable, and less prone to betrayal true friends.
He was very good at analyzing others.
To be honest, the HR profession has a bit of an Eastern Depot nature.
It not only requires sharp insight and objective attitude but also must be sufficiently ruthless and capable of decisive action. A mere flick of the wrist could mean someone being "eliminated," losing their job, or having their salary reduced... and this was Aiwass's job itself.
The more Eastern Depot-like aspect was that ordinary employees could not easily offend HR.
In fact, HR professionals from different companies in the same industry are usually in the same group, the same circle. If someone in a company did something stupid, offended someone, or had some dark history, everyone in the group would know just by asking. It was not a secret at all.
As long as you are still a corporate drone and still job hopping within the same industry, you cannot offend HR.
At least you can't offend the first two companies because background checks only investigate the first two.
Aiwass had just recently experienced a full three years of unemployment. He had just found a job, and before he could officially start, he arrived in this world with an uncertain future.
Even though his demeanor was calm and his expression serene, he had already analyzed himself psychologically he now felt a strong sense of instability.
He was very satisfied with his current life, but he clearly knew of the future catastrophe.
He desperately hoped for a stable life and did not want to become a person of a fallen nation, homeless and drifting.
To combat the fear of this world's future, he had to climb as high as possible, as quickly as possible. To gain a portion of the Avalon Kingdom's Authority. At the very least, he absolutely could not let his teammates behind him drag him down when he was fighting the world's great enemy alone.
That was definitely not a delusion of persecution.
Aiwass could be sure.
His vision was far more long-term than that of most people in this world; their decisions based on known information would certainly be incomplete and one-sided. And Aiwass could not easily reveal the future prophecies he had obtained he was not a saint. This prophetic information could become his valuable asset.
Because of this, Aiwass needed to gain sufficient influence.
Not his adoptive father's "Knight" title. That kind of thing was merely nominal status; even entering the Senate would only mean contending with a group of cunning old people. Anything he tried to do would become as sticky as syrup, making it impossible to act freely.
That feeling of life drifting with the current, of one's destiny not being in one's own control... it was very uncomfortable.
What Aiwass wanted was for those in power to have to consult his opinion before making decisions. He could not become one of them, preferably not close to any faction. Nor could he become a casualty of internal power struggles... but rather become an existence higher than them.
Not to control others, but to avoid being controlled himself.
It was to avoid being sacrificed, and also not having to sacrifice others.
Aiwass vaguely remembered that this incident would eventually directly involve a certain minister.
In the original history, it was the players who gained high prestige by resolving this incident.
And since there were no player characters in this world, he had to join the investigation of this incident.
Fortunately, thanks to Yulia although Aiwass still skipped the cutscenes, he still remembered some details. For example, where the most crucial intelligence was, and what enemies and their levels were in the final dungeon.
Because after a chaotic investigation, the game's first dungeon would open:
A Level 10 dungeon, "Pelican Bar, the Nexus of Sin."