The moment Sylvia saw that grin, she knew trouble was brewing. Was this jerk about to seize the opportunity and make some shameless demand?
And Silver Wolf, clearly reading Sylvia's mind, had no intention of being polite.
"Come on, call me 'Daddy' and I'll help you out. This greatsword's something else—its internal structure is completely seamless. Unless you wanna break it by force, that speaker isn't coming out."
"You—!"
Seeing Sylvia's eyes widen in outrage, Silver Wolf felt a wave of satisfaction.
Yes, yes!
This was exactly the look she wanted to see on Sylvia's face!
"Hmph! You think I'd call you that over something so trivial? No way! Just go—I don't need your help!"
Sylvia stiffened her neck, stubborn and defiant. Unfazed, Silver Wolf propped the greatsword upright, crossed her legs, and leaned back into the sofa.
She watched Sylvia's performance with smug assurance.
"You sure about that? You think I don't know why you're extracting these tracks? Give me a break. Sure, plenty of people could help you, but right now, how many can you actually turn to? Probably just me."
Silver Wolf kept teasing, pretty sure she had Sylvia figured out.
These songs—she didn't know exactly what Sylvia planned to do with them, but it definitely wasn't just for listening.
According to the script Elio gave her, what happened today would determine whether Sylvia even stood a chance of getting an invitation to the Penacony Charmony Festival.
And invitations to the Charmony Festival weren't just handed out to anyone.
Seemed like Sylvia might be trying to go through that famous Robin. Not a bad angle, honestly.
This greatsword was strange—its internal structure incredibly intricate and nearly impossible to analyze. Plus, the materials used were ridiculously tough.
With Punklorde tech, it'd be a cinch. But using ordinary methods? Good luck trying to explore its insides without breaking it.
That's why Silver Wolf was sure—Sylvia needed her skills.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have actually shown up just over some trash talk online. It wasn't like Sylvia had nothing better to do.
--+--
Crap. Silver Wolf had her cornered.
One look at that smug face, and Sylvia knew—this woman had probably already seen her intentions in Elio's script.
Watching Sylvia squirm sent a thrill through Silver Wolf!
It felt like revenge, sweet but incomplete. Only when Sylvia said the words aloud would she feel fully satisfied.
Thinking it over for a second, and considering Sylvia might be too proud to cave, Silver Wolf suddenly raised a hand. A glowing screen materialized in the air.
After a few quick taps and swipes, an Interastral Peace Corporation notification popped up on Sylvia's phone.
'Account Credited: 100,000,000 Credits.'
"Holy sh—!"
A hundred million!
Sylvia's eyes went red with greed.
In an instant, she dropped into a full kowtow, clutching Silver Wolf's thighs as she cried out:
"All my life I've drifted, lost, with no true master to call my own! If you'll have me, I, Sylvia, swear to serve you as my sworn father!"
"…"
Silver Wolf looked down at Sylvia, now wailing and clinging to her legs, and chuckled.
"Don't get too excited. That's a hundred-year interstellar loan I just took out for you."
"???"
Sylvia's head snapped up, her eyes locking with Silver Wolf's.
They stared intensely for a second—then Sylvia let out a wild shriek, leaped to her feet, and dropped into a combat stance, poised to strike.
"Hah—! A true man stands between heaven and earth—how can he linger meekly in another's shadow?! You reckless fool, I cannot suffer you to live another day!"
"Stop messing around."
Watching Sylvia's theatrical flip-flop, Silver Wolf felt her annoyance melt away.
She picked up the greatsword, examined it carefully, and after a short while—
Popped out a tiny memory card hidden deep within a slot.
"Here. There was a memory card tucked away inside, pretty well hidden. I checked—it's all the original music files."
Sylvia stared, her face flushing red with fury.
"Are you kidding me, Silver Wolf?! You scammed me!"
But Silver Wolf just flashed a grin and, before Sylvia could throw a punch, dissolved into a stream of data and vanished from the room.
With the troublemaker gone, Sylvia cooled down.
She picked up the memory card from the sofa and slotted it into her phone, utterly exasperated.
She never would've guessed the thing was hiding something as low-tech as a basic memory card…
The only impressive part was the special material encasing the whole assembly—able to protect these cheap components from the shocks of swinging and intense heat.
She scanned the contents: not just the vocal tracks, but also some instrumental BGM she hadn't randomly encountered before.
There was quite a lot. After copying everything over to her phone, Sylvia went to reinsert the card—but paused.
She picked up the greatsword, now missing the memory card, and tilted her head in confusion.
If the card was removed, the music should stop during fights, right?
No one would be so ridiculous as to include an external memory card and built-in storage, right?
Thinking that, she closed the coverplate, gripped the sword with one hand, and let flames envelop the blade once more.
For a few seconds, there was silence.
Just as Sylvia thought she'd finally fixed the "automatic BGM during combat" issue—
Melodious music swelled again.
Sylvia's face fell.
"Dammit—!"
Are you serious?!
You've got internal storage and you put a memory card in here as a joke?!
"Pfft—"
Beside her, Silver Wolf—who'd slipped back into the room unnoticed—let out a highly impolite snicker.
She'd figured out what Sylvia was testing. When she'd taken the sword apart earlier, she'd noticed the inner casing was too hard to open without force—making the internal speaker inaccessible.
Now, even with the memory card removed, the music kept playing.
Clearly, that card was nothing but a decoy, left there for laughs.
The thought of Sylvia being outsmarted like this made Silver Wolf beam:
"This is too good! Who even made this greatsword? They did an amazing job!"
Sylvia couldn't hold back an eye-roll.
"I thought you left. Why are you back?"
"Forgot to tell you something. Good thing I came back, though—would've missed this comedy gold."
Silver Wolf's smile was unstoppable. But seeing the danger rising in Sylvia's eyes, she decided not to push it.
"My next mission with Kafka is at the Herta Space Station, one month from now. Elio said it's up to you whether you come. But if you do, he can introduce you to Kafka."
With that, Silver Wolf's form dissolved into data once more and faded from the room.
Sylvia arched a brow, turning the words over in her mind.
Why would Elio say it didn't matter if she showed up? Did he want her involved or not?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, 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.