It's Not Too Much to Call Me Mom, Is It? (Continued)

Rita emphasized again—this gave Sirin goosebumps.

"What... what do you want to do?"

Sirin's tone was full of a sense of being all bark and no bite.

However, Rita held him down and he couldn't break free at all.

"Hmm... What are we doing? Doing something really satisfying?"

"You, you... you wait until I regain my strength, the first thing I'll do is kill you!"

"Oh dear, it seems our Herrscher of the Void still hasn't realized her true identity~"

Rita flashed her signature villainous smile.

"In that case, I'll reluctantly teach Miss Sirin a lesson."

Ah... these lines really sound inappropriate for children.

Okay, another 50 cents.

"Get out! Get out of here!"

Sirin struggled for a while, but eventually managed to break free from Rita —or perhaps Rita deliberately let go?

"Let's go! Bella! Don't get together with the teacher... um... that bastard!"

"..."

Bella was dragged away by Sirin in a daze—after all, besides Liu Bai, Sirin was Bella 'Bella closest friend now.

Rita watched the two of them go, her gaze somewhat strange. "Miss Sirin, that way you addressed her just now..."

"Are these two influencing each other?" Liu Bai stroked his chin, slightly startled by Sirin's Liu Bai address of him as "teacher." "Their consciousnesses were almost entirely opposed before, but now..."

"Because of Miss Bella, the two have started to get along... is that what you mean?"

Rita also looked thoughtful at that moment.

Although these two were essentially one body with two souls, their antagonism was almost irreconcilable. Unless one of them died, they would inevitably engage in a great battle to seize control of the body.

However, because of Bella's situation, Sirin was originally prepared to reclaim her body and take revenge on the world, backed down first, and then Fu Hua intervened to mediate...

"These two might actually end up becoming twins like Seele."

The two influence each other; as long as Fu Hua blocks the interference of the Honkai, Sirin will definitely be the first to fall.

After all, although Sirin is full of thoughts of revenge against society, it is undeniable that Sirin sincerely yearns for a warm and beautiful life.

Kiana is not lacking in this regard.

On the contrary, Sirin might be able to hold on in the early stages of Sirin mutual interference, but later she will probably have to suppress herself to prevent her memories from flowing into Kiana's consciousness.

"Some things become irreconcilable simply because of a lack of communication..."

Liu Bai sighed as if he had remembered something.

"But some people are beyond the reach of communication—like Bishop Otto."

Listening to Liu Bai's emotion, Rita also thought of her own family affairs.

"Bishop Otto's dictionary may not even contain the concept of 'sincere reciprocity'...it may even elevate him to the status of a 'useful tool'."

"..."

Otto...

"Your expression looks strange, what's wrong?"

"Um... Rita, what if one day someone tells you that Bishop Otto is a woman..."

"One private room in the mental hospital."

Rita smiled warmly.

Why did you suddenly bring up this question?

"... It's nothing, go to sleep."

"Lord Otto, please stop playing games. Your files are piling up like a mountain..."

Amber, standing behind the blond man, couldn't help but remind him.

"Moreover, today is the day for the regular maintenance of the Soul Steel Body."

"... Is that so?"

These words seemed to bring Otto back to his senses.

"Isn't it a bit too early?"

"The headquarters was previously disrupted by Ms. Fu Hua, so according to Ms. Nagatsugu's calculations, maintenance and inspection need to be carried out in advance."

"... Well, that's true. My old friend is no ordinary troublemaker. Although it didn't affect the deeper areas at the time, some things might still happen... I'm sorry to trouble Nagatsugu."

Otto then put down the controller and stood up.

"Let's go, Amber."

"Yes."

Amber bowed slightly to the man before her.

Afterwards, the two walked one after the other through the Schicksal Laboratory in the middle of the night. After going through a series of complicated verifications, Otto and Amber arrived at the lowest level of the Schicksal Headquarters.

Drop--!

As identity verification was successful, the heavy metal door slowly opened, revealing dozens of cabins inside.

Inside were all his spare soul steel bodies. At the same time, there was a special manufacturing device next to him. In case of an emergency, this manufacturing device would instantly create a temporary body for him.

Everything seemed perfect.

Otto walked through the room, his eyes scanning each of the pods.

"...Um?"

Otto suddenly stopped.

Did I just see something strange?

Otto instinctively took two steps back and noticed the strangeness of the body inside the cabin—it wasn't him.

Or rather, this is the "she" of a woman.

How could such a thing exist?

Manufacturing error? Or...?

Drop--!

With a faint mechanical sound, the light in Otto's eyes faded, and he fell backward with a thud.

"Well done, Amber -chan~~"

A figure descended from the ceiling and pounced on Amber, giving her a good rub.

"Ugh... Kallen, please let me go..."

"What Kallen? Even if you don't want to call me 'Mom' or 'Grandma,' you should still call me 'Lady Kallen.'"

"... Stop messing with my secretary."

The capsule containing the only female body was opened.

The woman... no, the real Otto, trembling, sat up, holding onto the edge of the cabin.

"And what the heck is 'Lady Kallen'? Has someone finally realized they're getting old and past their prime?"

"Mmm..." Kallen nodded nonchalantly, looking up at the sky. "So, Otto, can you call me Mom?"

"..." Otto smirked, "Keep dreaming!"

"Otto, your temper has been getting worse lately. Have you finally reached menopause?" Kallen looked at Otto with affection. "This is not ladylike at all... But if you're shy, I can accept calling me 'Mother'."

"...I just don't want you to call me unladylike." Otto rubbed his head, feeling like he might need brain surgery. "Amber, help me up."

"Yes."

Amber lent a hand and pulled Otto out of the cabin.

She also knew that her own bishop was extremely weak.

"Has it been ten years? Why are you waking me up again? Is the time up? Or is this body showing signs of losing control again?"

Otto looked at Kallen. Her method of awakening was once every ten years when nothing was wrong, and she could wake up at any time with the help of the Imaginary Archive when something happened. Kallen's method was relatively more flexible. She could wake up whenever she wanted. Coincidentally, in all the years when something big happened Kallen was always the first to get up.

... Or is it that this guy will encounter something big as soon as he gets up?

Even now that she's matured, Kallen's tendency to cause trouble remains strong.

"It's more accurate to say that both are true."

Kallen scratched her head. "I genuinely feel that copying thoughts and then fabricating memories is far too dangerous."

"But this is the only way to ensure that Schicksal will operate according to my will while I am asleep." Otto put on the shirt Amber handed him.

"You might as well just transfer your consciousness."

"Distracting consciousness?"

Otto kicked the Soul Steel body lying on the ground. "It turns out that even false memories can cause unexpected obsession or even loss of control if someone feels five hundred years of loneliness."

She wasn't waiting aimlessly, so why would she want to shift her focus?

A mere five hundred years... Otto would never allow his feelings for the Lord God to change!

"... Fine, fine, I can't argue with you."

Kallen also kicked the Soul Steel body.

Otto used a male Soul Steel body largely because, in situations where there is no clear difference in body size, a male body is more convenient for handling affairs.

"But compared to that, would you like to hear some funny stories from last year?"

"Explain?"

"Your soul steel body was used to open the Immortal Lady's brain, the kind that involves a 'biu~'."

"?"

Otto's face darkened.

Such a big thing and you didn't wake me up? What are you good for, Imaginary Archive?!

"Bullshit! Don't you understand how to think straight? Under normal circumstances, wouldn't you be guarding against me like you're guarding against a wolf?"

The hatch next to him, which had been opened, seemed to have seen through Otto's thoughts and couldn't help but curse loudly.

"Furthermore, you left me in this godforsaken place. How am I supposed to handle those bodies that have copied your way of thinking? Not to mention the alternate accounts I created! I only created them by borrowing some of Himeko's power. They're fine for fighting, but they're simply not good enough for intrigue!"

"Can't you check the consumption rate of the Soul Steel Body?! I've wasted my time putting you in charge of this place!"

"What's the use of looking at the consumption? You know when the Soul Steel body was depleted the last time! In London! I woke you up, and in the end you still scolded me! Saying that you didn't need to do such a trivial thing!"

Imaginary Archive is extremely dissatisfied.

"You bastard, unless the other side is some big boss, you might not die at all. Like that time seventeen years ago, you didn't even lose any energy!"

If we're talking about the biggest event of these years, it would undoubtedly be the Great Honkai seventeen years ago.

However, although Otto's Soul Steel body didn't escape unscathed, it wasn't damaged at all...

"..."

Otto remained silent; that was indeed the case.

"... How was I supposed to know they were so weak, that I couldn't even kill one of them?"

"Back then, I was the one cleaning up Otto's mess."

Kallen was also a little annoyed when the topic came up.

"Just to wipe your butt, I almost fell in... For that alone, it's not too much to ask you to call me Mom, is it?"