Click.
Luo Shu closed the office door behind him and turned his gaze towards Utaha, who had stepped out first:
"Looks like the matter's settled."
"You should be grateful that Teacher Natsuki only scolded you a bit."
Utaha folded her arms and looked at Luo Shu's face, letting out a small sigh:
"Not only did you leak information about Spirits, but you deliberately revealed Kurumi's existence to Teacher Natsuki to drag her into this."
"Do you just have a thing for legal lolis?" Utaha teased.
"Hey now, even if it's you saying that, I'll still get angry if you slander me."
Luo Shu chuckled and stretched his arms:
"Besides, pulling Natsuki-chan into this wasn't just my idea alone."
Hearing this, Utaha froze momentarily before realisation dawned, her arms dropping in surprise:
"You mean... Chairwoman Lacus and the others..."
As the words left her mouth, Utaha understood. Given Luo Shu's cautious nature - the kind where he'd prepare multiple contingency plans just for a mission - intentionally leaking their own information could only mean this was deliberate, perhaps even a collective decision among the Familia's higher-ups in the SDS.
Only in this situation would Luo Shu openly carry out his earlier actions.
Seeing Utaha's slightly stunned expression, Luo Shu glanced at the closed office door before saying:
"Do you remember the Abyss World I anchored after my last mission?"
"I see. So you need Teacher Natsuki's power to utilise that Warring States World in the Abyss Zone?"
Utaha looked enlightened. The Abyss Warring States World, controlled by the Hidden Management Department, remained completely undeveloped.
She'd heard rumours about spatial arcanist shortages caused by the development of Abyss Worlds.
Now, it seemed that the SDS higher-ups, including Luo Shu, had set their sights on Natsuki Minamiya.
Luo Shu simply smiled: "Trustworthy and powerful spatial arcanists like Natsuki-chan are rare worldwide."
"Lacus and Meer prefer gentle persuasion over forceful methods, but Kirika and I lack such patience."
Utaha could only shake her head helplessly and warn:
"Recruiting Teacher Natsuki into your Familia seems rather overambitious."
Though their acquaintance was brief, Utaha understood Natsuki had firm principles.
Persuading such a person to join a Familia would be extremely difficult.
Unless...
"You wouldn't... have some leverage over Teacher Natsuki like you did with Eriri last time?"
Utaha voiced deep suspicion.
Though unsure whether Luo Shu obtained intelligence through the Mysticism Encyclopaedia's divinations or other channels, she knew he possessed unusual secrets.
Like Eriri being a model student while secretly working as a highly liberated doujin artist.
Suzuka Dairenji secretly plotting to resurrect her brother.
Yukino Yukinoshita being utterly defenceless against cute cats.
Utaha had no idea how Luo Shu acquired such bizarre intel, yet he somehow knew.
If Natsuki Minamiya similarly had exploitable weaknesses...
"Natsuki-chan's leverage?" Luo Shu blinked at Utaha's suspicion. "That wouldn't be useful."
"You actually have some?!" Utaha stared wide-eyed before sneaking a glance at the door. She stepped closer, whispering urgently: "Quick, tell me what dirt you have on Teacher Natsuki?"
Seeing Utaha's gossipy expression, Luo Shu warily checked the door before murmuring:
"Fine, but you mustn't breathe a word!"
"Mhm!" Utaha nodded vigorously, even miming zipping her lips to emphasise her discretion.
Leaning close, Luo Shu whispered in her ear.
"Eh~~"
Utaha's eyes sparkled as she listened:
"Teacher Natsuki personally imprisoned her closest friend in a special prison?"
"And her contract with demons is to create an ideal land where all races coexist peacefully?"
"Teacher Natsuki, who's usually full of mature feminine dignity, actually has this kind of dream?"
"Shh, keep your voice down."
Luo Shu immediately pressed down on Utaha's head in exasperation:
"Mind the setting, you idiot."
"Ah, sorry." Utaha quickly apologised, raising her hands in surrender.
Then, she sneakily glanced at the door before leaning closer to Luo Shu and whispering:
"But speaking of which, these things can't really be used as leverage, right?"
"Though I don't know much, I do know the Five Great Powers govern our world. It's impossible for non-human races to take the stage."
Luo Shu didn't bother refuting this, as from what he understood, the Five Great Powers seemed to possess an extremely terrifying high-level Abyss Artefact that required maintaining normal human societal order to function.
Under these circumstances, any non-human race attempting to step into the limelight would be provoking those major powers and inevitably face severe suppression.
Thus, Natsuki Minamiya's ideal lacked the fertile ground for success from the outset.
However...
"Utaha, you seem to have forgotten why the SDS is so urgently seeking talent related to spatial abilities."
Hearing this, Utaha froze momentarily before suddenly realising the key point:
"You mean... that Abyss Warring States World we control?"
Creating an ideal land where all races could coexist peacefully within an Abyss Warring States area roughly equivalent in size to Japan?
Wait... could it really work like that?
Utaha was completely stunned, having never considered this approach:
"Looking at it this way, Chairwoman Lacus's friendly invitation does seem viable..."
"It certainly has potential for success, but you're forgetting something..."
Luo Shu raised his hand and roughly ruffled Utaha's hair:
"There's a difference between the SDS recruiting Natsuki and me recruiting her!"
"Er..." Utaha instantly had no rebuttal.
If the SDS recruited her, it would likely be more cooperative, but if Luo Shu did, it would be primarily as Familia.
Between these two, Utaha naturally stood on the Familia side—after all, that was the chair she was sitting on.
"Alright, so you've all got everything neatly arranged then."
Utaha sighed with mild exasperation.
She finally understood: Lacus and Meer leaned towards peaceful recruitment, having people cooperate with the SDS first to develop the Abyss World.
Whereas Luo Shu and Kirika Tachibana preferred going straight to making Natsuki Minamiya Familia before participating in the Abyss World's development.
Between these two plans, Luo Shu's inclination clearly held the upper hand at present.
'Even though Chairwoman Lacus's approach was more convenient, they'd still chosen the one favouring Luo Shu...'
Utaha shook her head, uncertain whether this influence was good or bad.
Though, from her standpoint, she'd naturally side with Luo Shu.
"So, after telling me all this, surely you're not expecting me to help, are you, Shu-kun?" Utaha narrowed her eyes, probing.
"What do you think?" Luo Shu smiled and countered.
Seeing this, Utaha's lips twitched violently. Having her, a Familia member, help Luo Shu recruit new Familia was, in principle, perfectly reasonable.
But emotionally speaking... letting your own woman pull another woman into this...
Utaha said with a forced smile:
"Luo Shu, you really are quite the scumbag..."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Luo Shu responded with a smile, then raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the corridor on his right. Upon spotting Kisara's familiar figure, he said:
"Alright, before condemning me, Miss Utaha, perhaps you should think about how to deal with our jealous demon first."
Hearing this, Utaha couldn't help but turn her head. Her expression froze momentarily before she took a deep breath.