Chapter 243: Farewell, Grand Overseer
"Void Archives?" Fu Hua looked at the thing Irene had tossed over, a little surprised. "Irene, were you just now, um..."
"Looting Otto's corpse?" Compared to Fu Hua beside her, who was still trying to find a more delicate way to put it, Little Senti was far more blunt. "But you went and looted this off him."
"Of course there was that too." Irene nodded, and with a flip of her palm, a Herrscher of Binding Core glittering with golden light appeared in her hand.
"Everything worth looting, I've looted." Irene smiled. Her waiting there had naturally not been simply to listen to Otto's final words, or to let Kallen complete one last farewell with Otto.
She wasn't that kindhearted, was she?
[The other me really doesn't need to keep up the tough act like this.] [Irene] poked Irene's spiritual form with a finger in her mind. [If it weren't to let Kallen have a few words with Otto, why would you have gone out of your way to bring Kallen along?]
[Don't blow my cover. Besides, that was only an incidental part of it.] Irene shrugged in her mind, as if to say she didn't care in the slightest. [It's just that, at a time like this, you might as well let Otto pass with some peace of mind.]
[Mm-hmm, let's just say that's how it is.] [Irene] smiled and didn't press the matter any further. Ah well, the other her was just like that.
Still, she could understand the other her's way of thinking well enough — she just wanted to make the story seem a little more beautiful. As for the Void Archives and the Herrscher of Binding Core, those were really just things she'd brought back along the way.
Paying no mind to the other her's cover-blowing, Irene looked at Joyce. "I'm sure you've felt it too. Yes — this is the Core of the Previous Era's Herrscher of Reason."
"It's certainly no match for your native Core, but it'll do in a pinch — it should give you quite a bit of help."
"Wait a moment — as I recall, isn't this thing..." Durandal looked at the Void Archives in Joyce's hand. "Doesn't it have an AI in it? Is it really alright to keep him around?"
Though Durandal wasn't really worried that the AI would cause any trouble — after all, Irene's team had Little Senti and the others — still, given its ties to Otto, a little caution couldn't hurt.
"Oh, him? Don't worry, it's fine." Irene nodded at Durandal. Just a mere Void Archives — a fellow Otto had whipped into utter obedience — couldn't cause them any trouble.
What's more, there was still Vill-V — with his own mother here, this guy wouldn't dare act out. Still, Joyce probably wouldn't appreciate having a nagging fellow around, so once they got back they could have Vill-V do them a favor and take it apart.
Joyce looked at the square Core in his hand and sensed the power within it a little, only to find that there seemed to be some sort of permission lock inside — it appeared he had no way to use it directly.
"Miss Irene, something seems a little off." Joyce held up the Void Archives in his hand. "There really is a Core inside, but it seems I have no way to use it directly."
"It's a permission lock set up by that Vill-V." The Void Archives suddenly spoke up. "You'll need my help to wield its Authority — and there's no way I can help you bypass it."
Hearing the voice coming from the cube in his hand, Joyce frowned — not out of any dislike for the voice, but simply because he found it terribly inconvenient. He had to go through an extra procedure just to use his Authority?
At a time like that, he might as well just use his own Authority.
"Oh? Is that so?" Irene leaned in closer to look at the Void Archives. "Why didn't I hear you mention this before?"
"Did you ever ask?" The surface of the Void Archives flickered with a tiny bit of light, as if rolling its eyes. "In case you still have doubts — Otto had to go through this same procedure too."
"This is a restriction Vill-V put in place. Because at that time, I was the last Divine Key ever made, and combined with the database inside me, it was absolutely necessary to set a safety lock to ensure security."
"But when I watched you serving Otto before, you were quick enough to respond." Kiana looked at the Void Archives. "Was that within the bounds of your safety lock too?"
"If you were to witness the darkness of the Previous Era, you'd understand that the things Otto did, on the level of civilization, are dark methods that can be made use of."
The Void Archives wasn't making any excuses. To put it plainly, as long as Otto didn't directly threaten civilization, it could lend its aid — and while Otto did indeed have selfish motives,
his overall conduct still amounted to helping this civilization live better — at the very least, far, far better than the Previous Era.
So it would cooperate with Otto, letting him employ the mimicry Divine Keys that came with the Void Archives to search out problems — that was a personal matter between it and Otto.
On that front, Vill-V hadn't set any lock, nor required it to necessarily cooperate with a suitable wielder.
"..." Little Senti scratched his head. "As much as I hate to say it, what he's saying really is the truth. The things the Previous Era got up to sometimes — you all couldn't even imagine them."
"But if that's the case, it seems no better than just using my own power." Joyce looked at the Void Archives, and after experimenting with it a little, the Void Archives transformed from its original little golden box into a golden Judgment of Shamash.
"On the permissions side, it's restricted far too rigidly — it can essentially only mimic the handful of Divine Keys it has data on. For me, it's not of much use."
"That's perfectly normal, because Vill-V never would have imagined that the one using me would be a Herrscher of Reason." The Void Archives replied flatly. "And for an ordinary person, those dozen-odd Divine Keys are already more than enough."
"As for anything else — make it yourself. That was probably his thinking. Whether it's actually so, well, he's Vill-V — who knows what he's really thinking?"
"Mm, looks like we'll still have to get Vill-V to help take it apart later on." Irene nodded. The thing wasn't very usable, didn't quite meet expectations — but no matter, they had after-sales service.
They'd just have Vill-V extract the Core later, and as for the rest...
"Hold on — who?! Vill-V?!" The Void Archives' voice suddenly turned shrill, and everyone could hear the terror laced within it.
"That's right — your own mother." Irene nodded at the Void Archives, taking it back from Joyce's hand. "A living, flesh-and-blood Vill-V. I'm sure the two of you will have plenty to talk about."
"Wait — what do you mean, living?" There was sheer panic in the Void Archives' voice. A living Vill-V? Wasn't he dead? How could he possibly be alive?
"In the literal sense." Having finished scaring the Void Archives, Irene tossed it over to Einstein. "This thing still has quite a bit of Previous Era technological data stored inside it."
"Export all of it. If he won't cooperate, just bring out Little Senti — he'll cooperate then. After that, just ask Miss Vill-V to extract the Core."
This thing was no saint either — it had long since been thoroughly marinated by Otto — but luckily there were plenty on their side who could keep it in line, so it couldn't stir up any waves.
She certainly wouldn't want this thing to actually develop into some A Post-Honkai Odyssey, counting on others to solve the Honkai — and an already-solved Honkai at that. That would be far too foolish.
"Understood." Einstein took the Void Archives, an interested look appearing in his eyes. The database contained inside this thing — now that was a fine prize.
As for this AI — well, they'd just hand it over to Miss Vill-V to deal with when the time came. Given the degree of this AI's terror toward Miss Vill-V, it surely wouldn't dare not cooperate with them.
"But Irene, this Herrscher of Binding Core..." Tesla looked at the Herrscher of Binding Core in Irene's hand, then turned to look at the Herrscher of the Legion Core in Theresa's hand.
"And this Herrscher of the Legion Core. What do you plan to do with them? Find a suitable wielder?"
Irene looked down at the Core in her hand. "I don't know. There's no suitable wielder left among us anymore, and these two Cores..."
"I have an idea. Can you leave them to me?"
"As long as you don't go aiding the enemy like that again, it's fine." Theresa tossed the Herrscher of the Legion Core to Irene. "And about you knowing all this and not reporting it this time — I haven't forgiven you. Once we get back, I'll be coming after you."
"You're welcome to, anytime." Irene nodded, then looked up at Amber approaching from afar and Rita following beside her. "Oh, looks like the last part is about to begin."
"The last part?" Everyone turned to look at Amber and Rita as they approached. Little Senti scratched his head. "No way, there's still more to it?"
"It's not like that." Amber shook her head. "It's Overseer Otto's final order. He commanded that once the dust had settled, the Overseer inauguration ceremony could formally proceed."
"Lord Theresa."
"Hmph, he's quick to act — so he'd already arranged a grave right here." Irene, carrying a bottle of wine, stood beside Theresa, looking at the headstone that had been erected here well in advance.
"And besides..." Irene turned her head to look at the tall tree on a small hill not far away. "This place suits it rather well. It seems he really was a sentimental sort after all."
"Irene..." Theresa held the Overseer's scarf she'd taken from Amber. According to Amber, this was something Otto had knitted for her himself in his room over these past days.
"If you want to cry, then cry." Irene, holding the wine, looked down at Theresa and reached out to pat her head. "Don't worry, no one else came — it's only me here, and I won't tell on you."
"I don't want to cry at all." Theresa looked at Irene with red eyes. "And besides, I don't believe for a second that you haven't got people stashed in your head..."
"This time I really didn't bring anyone." Irene smiled. She had in fact wanted to bring Kallen along, but Kallen hadn't been willing to come — she wanted some quiet time to herself.
Still, judging from the fact that Kallen had asked for the address, she would probably come on her own in secret later. As for the reason — probably the same as Theresa's: she didn't want everyone to see her cry.
"Then why did you follow me?" Theresa looked at Irene, her reddened eyes already brimming with tears. Though Theresa was indeed furious about everything Grandpa had done before,
she also remembered everything Grandpa had done for her, and now, as her anger settled, Theresa began to recall all that had once been.
"Mm, I just wanted to offer the Grand Overseer a cup of wine." Irene took a wine glass from her bosom, set it before the headstone, and uncorked the red wine she'd been carrying all along.
"Though to us he was an enemy." Irene poured the red wine into the glass. "To the vast majority of people, he truly was a Grand Overseer of dazzling brilliance."
"So consider this my respects — and respects to the Pure Love Warrior as well."
Irene placed the red wine before the gravestone. "It hasn't been decanted, but it'll have to do."
"I never expected you of all people to offer a toast, Irene." Theresa watched Irene set the glass before the gravestone. "Weren't you always on your guard against Grandpa before?"
"Being on guard and paying respects aren't mutually exclusive." Irene shrugged, then poured another glass of wine and handed it to Theresa. "For ordinary people, the things Otto did really did protect the well-being of the masses."
"There's a good saying — the only good Otto is a dead Otto. If he passes away peacefully, then a cup of wine is only fitting. But if he climbs back up..."
Irene pointed at the wine bottle that hadn't yet been emptied. "Then I'll treat his head to a whole bottle~"
"Isn't that just smashing him over the head with the bottle?" Theresa was no fool — however delicately Irene put it, she caught Irene's meaning.
Irene gave a faint smile and poured a glass for herself too, taking a light sip. It was Otto's collection, after all — the flavor really was quite good. Though Irene knew nothing about wine tasting, she could still tell good flavor from bad.
"I could actually loot a whole haul of it — could give some to Eden."
Eden had been wanting some good wine these past few days — clearly her craving had flared up — but good wine that could meet Eden's discerning eye wasn't so easy to come by.
Looting a haul from Otto's stockpile should be enough to keep Eden drinking for quite a long while.
Listening to Irene's words, the corner of Theresa's mouth twitched. "Grandpa's body is barely even cold yet — and you're already starting to divide up the inheritance?"
"It is a bit late, really — we should have started discussing the division earlier." Irene nodded, then handed a leaf to Theresa.
"This is your share."
Theresa looked at the leaf in Irene's hand, then at Irene in some confusion. Irene only smiled and pushed the leaf toward Theresa.
Theresa didn't suspect that Irene might mean her harm, and took the leaf directly. The leaf instantly radiated a bright glow, pulling her consciousness into it.
As for what was inside, there was really nothing especially remarkable — nothing more than the final words Otto had spoken at the time, and his words asking Irene to take good care of Theresa.
The sobs Theresa had barely managed to hold back could no longer be suppressed — she simply clutched the scarf in her hands as the tears in her eyes came streaming down.
Irene looked at the weeping Theresa and smiled. There was nothing wrong with this either. Then Irene raised her head to look at the gravestone before her and the wine set before it.
This counted as unlocking an achievement of sorts, too — offering Otto a toast.
"Farewell, Grand Overseer." Irene raised the wine glass in her hand one last time, then gently patted Theresa's back and turned to leave. Best to let Theresa have a good, thorough cry and let it all out.
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