"Your Grace."
Amber rapped softly on the office door, waited a moment, then pushed it open and walked straight in.
Just as expected, Otto was there, staring intently at his computer screen, his expression grave. He hadn't noticed Amber at all.
"So, Your Grace…"
Amber sighed. "Have you really reached the point of not even bothering to pretend while playing Kallen Fantasy during work hours?"
"No, no, Amber…"
Otto closed the laptop with a serious look. "This time, it's different from usual."
"And how, may I ask, is it different…?"
"Some mysterious individual started ten accounts simultaneously, naming them from Sakura One to Sakura Ten, and kicked my account right off the leaderboards."
"Oh, that is a grave situation indeed…"
Amber droned in a flat, emotionless tone. "To surpass you in Kallen Fantasy… was it Lynelle?"
"I did suspect her, but it's probably impossible."
Otto shook his head. "Whoever can get ten accounts onto the leaderboards must have loads of free time every day. And Miss Lynelle… well, no offense, but dealing with Kiana alone keeps her plenty busy."
"Not to mention, my old friend hasn't been at St. Freya recently… I assume, Amber, you've brought news of her, correct?"
"Indeed, Your Grace."
Amber placed a stack of reports on Otto's desk, opening it to a specific page.
"The top one is the official report from Ragna. Below is my consolidated version, combining the investigative reports from Rita and Wraith. It essentially reconstructs the entire incident."
"Hmm… Good. You're as capable as ever, Amber."
Otto didn't even glance at Ragna's report, merely flipping through Amber's version before setting it aside.
"While it deviates somewhat from my expectations, it's not a major issue. I never really anticipated getting a fully satisfactory result from this front anyway."
"Eh?"
Amber was taken aback. "But then, the purpose of Your Grace laying this groundwork here for a year was…"
"It's not that I'm unwilling to explain, but my explanation might sound somewhat obscure."
Otto fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Ever since Lynelle disrupted my plans for the Second Honkai Eruption, the ripple effects have influenced all subsequent events. Even now, we can't be sure if certain puzzling points stem from something she did during that time."
"Therefore, to ensure the accurate implementation of my plan, I devised several contingency plans for different scenarios, each designed to precisely steer things toward the final outcome I wish to see."
"The setup in Oceania was merely a minor move. Success would be ideal, but even failure would send me a signal, indicating which plan I should pivot towards next."
"So, have you found your answer, Your Grace?"
"I have, but it's not a favorable one."
Otto sighed. "The tide of events is against us. A miscalculation has been made."
"Amber, relay my orders. Once Durandal's next mission concludes and she returns to headquarters, you are to grant Immortal Blades some leave."
"Then, have Durandal take Oath of Judah and proceed to halt the adaptation experiments for the Gem of Serenity. She is to secure the gem. The container for its storage will be provided to you tomorrow."
"Additionally, retrieve the samples of my own bodily remains that I brought back from London a year ago. I intend to use the residual power of the Third Divine Key on them to create a little trinket."
--+--
"So, Instructor Ragna really managed to smooth things over just like that?"
Wendy sat on the edge of the bed, blinking as she looked at Lynelle, who had just returned from outside.
"What else could she do? When you get down to it, Otto's the one with a guilty conscience in this matter. Even if he wanted to pursue it, now isn't the time. After all…"
Lynelle gently patted Wendy's fair, smooth leg, clad in sheer white tights. "This experiment of yours was always in a gray area, not exactly legal."
"I see…"
Wendy suddenly fell quiet. "Then, Lynelle, since my situation is resolved… are you going to leave?"
"I'm not leaving."
"Eh?"
"I mean… did you not listen to a word I said before?"
Lynelle pinched Wendy's cheek, amused. "Didn't I tell you? Coming to Oceania to protect you was only one reason."
"The other reason is that it's a sort of unspoken agreement and compromise between Otto and me."
"If I'm at St. Freya, he worries I'll disrupt his plans. And I don't want Otto constantly watching my every move. So, I disappear from St. Freya, and he stops lurking around trying to catch me off guard. It works out for both of us."
"As for when I'll go back… probably not until the Valkyrie exams in September. I just spoke with Sister Ragna. I suggested she and St. Freya form an exchange study group, start a collaborative program, so Theresa can recruit some people from Oceania too."
"With this channel open, even after I return to St. Freya, you can come see me anytime."
Lynelle proudly put her hands on her hips. "So? Pretty impressive, right?"
"Yay!"
Wendy cheered, playing along. "This works out perfectly! Because of the scare from your injury before, it seems to have stimulated the core's potential."
"Now, I feel like I can control even more of the Herrscher's authority. We can keep working on our combination attacks together."
"Eh??!"
Hearing this, a mischievous little idea popped into Lynelle's head.
"Well, if me getting hurt once helps you unlock a bit more of the core's potential, maybe I should get seriously injured in front of you a few more times… Ow!"
Before Lynelle could finish, the world spun around her. By the time she regained her bearings, she found Wendy sitting atop her, pinning her down.
"?"
Now it was Lynelle's turn to be dumbfounded. "Y-Your legs… I thought you still couldn't move them?"
"Not having feeling in my legs doesn't mean I can't manipulate the air currents to move them, you know~"
Wendy looked down at Lynelle, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Besides, I believe I just heard someone say something very, very reckless…"
"W-wait! Hold on!"
Lynelle hurriedly tried to explain. "I was only joking… Mmph—!"
Before she could finish, Wendy pressed a finger against Lynelle's lips. "No explanations allowed!"
"For a Lynelle who doesn't take care of herself, punishment is in order!"
"Mmph~?!"
Having spent so much time roughhousing together, the two girls were intimately familiar with each other's sensitive spots.
So, with Wendy going all out, it took only a few minutes for the atmosphere in the room to turn distinctly ambiguous.
The form of this "punishment" gradually began to carry the distinct fragrance of citrus.
"Gulp…"
Watching the silvery strand connecting their lips, Lynelle's eyes were hazy with desire.
"Are we… going to continue what Ragna interrupted last time?"
The cyan-haired girl didn't answer with words. Instead, she conjured several rapidly vibrating vortices of air in reply.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.