"Your Grace... what intel did Miss Wraith just upload? Why are you smiling so... smugly?"
In the Archbishop's office, Amber couldn't hold back her question any longer as she watched Otto, who seemed unable to stop his gleeful chuckling.
After all, Otto had been laughing for several minutes straight after reviewing the intelligence Wraith had sent back.
"Heh, Amber... I'm merely reflecting on how exceptional individuals often carry numerous burdens. Even my old acquaintance, Miss Lynelle, is no exception."
Otto wore an expression of profound sentiment.
"Yet Miss Lynelle possesses such a passive disposition—she struggles to refuse anyone's affections."
"Despite having only awakened two years ago and visiting merely two places, traces of romantic entanglements are already beginning to surface around her."
"It reminds me of an old friend... However, both I and Miss Yae Sakura seem to have moved past that juvenile stage of rivalry. In the end, we never managed to let Kallen experience that... uniquely vexing feeling."
"Your Grace... You're not actually this delighted just to watch Miss Lynelle's predicament, are you?"
Amber responded with some exasperation.
She asked because she genuinely believed Otto might be capable of such a thing lately—especially since his Kallen Fantasy account was constantly being harassed by cheaters, or rather, one specific female cheater.
Emotionally, it almost made sense.
"Perish the thought. As I said, I've long outgrown such childish tendencies."
Otto smiled faintly. "In our prolonged covert struggle, our seemingly prescient Miss Lynelle has consistently gained the upper hand against my schemes, even managing to counter-block me at times…"
"I've constantly pondered the reason behind this."
"To break this pattern, I reassigned Wraith from Central Intelligence as supplemental support on the intelligence front, and newly promoted Ana to establish a Valkyrie squad equivalent in caliber to the Immortal Blades…"
"It appears these moves have indeed helped me regain some advantage—precisely because their presence often catches Miss Lynelle off guard, sometimes even escaping her notice entirely."
"Based on this, I suspect Miss Lynelle likely infiltrated Schicksal's databases once through some means, or perhaps even my own body."
"The most probable window was when we were still unaware of her Herrscher of Corruption powers, and before the Void Archives obtained the simulation data for the Jizo Mitama—essentially, during the decade we generally believed she was in slumber."
"During this infiltration, she learned all of Schicksal's trump cards from that period."
"That explains why her plans appear so meticulously structured, yet lack flexibility against unforeseen variables... but that's a tangent."
"What I truly wish to convey is that the conflict between Miss Wendy and K-423 presents a perfect opportunity for me."
"An opportunity? Does Your Grace intend to initiate the plan ahead of schedule?"
"No, no..."
Otto shook his head repeatedly. "Respecting one's opponent is respecting oneself. A trivial emotional matter like this would likely take Miss Lynelle merely a few nights to resolve."
"Moreover, exploiting such a childish loophole to advance the plan would be far too rash."
"What I mean is, without this incident, Rita's visit to St. Freya would have remained just that—a simple visit. Her observations of K-423 would have remained superficial, potentially even yielding incorrect conclusions under Miss Lynelle's misdirection."
"However... when dealing with two young maidens embroiled in a war of love, even Miss Lynelle won't find them so easily managed."
As he spoke, Otto set down his pen and paper, handing a handwritten note to Amber.
"Send this to Rita through the channel I previously encrypted with the Void Archive. Then..."
"Let us see exactly how much K-423 has grown thus far."
--+--
"What? You've already met Kiana and the others?!"
Fresh from the mental shock of her visit to Kiana's dorm, Lynelle had barely regained her composure when she was hit with another bombshell from Wendy.
"Ehehe..."
Wendy laughed sheepishly. "Well, it might sound hard to believe, but it really was a coincidence!"
"If I'd known that Kiana was the white-haired girl you mentioned, even I wouldn't be dumb enough to basically taunt her right to her face..."
"Oh, right, Lynelle. There's something else I'm curious about. Why do Kiana's eyes turn gold when she gets angry? Is it some strange condition or special ability? That kind of trait... actually sounds pretty cool when you think about it."
"Ssssp—"
Lynelle sucked in a sharp breath.
"Y-you mean... her eyes changed color during your conversation?"
"Y-yeah..."
Hearing Lynelle's shocked inhalation, Wendy grew somewhat uneasy. "Um... Lynelle, did I cause trouble for you...?"
"Trouble isn't quite the word, it's just..."
Lynelle subconsciously pressed her legs together, the white stockings outlining their slender curves. "I have a feeling... I'm definitely not going to survive the next couple of days."
"Huh?"
"Anyway..."
Lynelle let out a soft sigh. "Principal Theresa arranged for us to stay in the same lodging as the headquarters delegation, correct?"
"Mhm, that's right. But I'm not really planning to stay there. I thought I'd visit some of my old classmates at St. Freya—they probably haven't graduated yet..."
Wendy's eyes sparkled mischievously as she grinned. "Lynelle... you're not thinking of something naughty, are you?"
"Too bad the guest rooms have pretty thin walls. No funny business allowed, okay?"
"Perfect. In that case, I'll just head back to my own dorm, or maybe bunk with Himeko."
Lynelle retorted with mild annoyance. "And what do you mean 'naughty'? I just don't want to stay near those headquarters people. Knowing Otto, he's definitely assigned someone to watch me. I just don't know who yet."
"Staying with Himeko, huh..."
Wendy instantly recalled the intel she'd gathered that afternoon. If she remembered correctly, didn't Kiana and her group happen to be staying there too?
"What, want to join me?"
Hearing Wendy's hesitation, Lynelle chuckled. "Himeko should have plenty of space. One more person won't hurt."
"Hmph, no thanks."
Wendy sniffed lightly. "That would mean living under the same roof as that white-haired girl. We just had a dispute this morning—wouldn't it be super awkward to stay together tonight...?"
"Besides... seeing how pitiful she looked this morning, and I'm not some yandere... You haven't seen each other in so long. Just for these few days, you should catch up properly with her~"
--+--
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.