Know Your Stand, Cold-Faced Hunk (cont.)

[Alright, this system will be quiet for now. After all, you'll be very busy right now.]

After the system finished speaking, Lin Yu looked helplessly at Anna, who was waiting for his response.

"Okay, I promise you, I won't tell anyone else what you said today."

"Okay, I'll tell you then."

"The elders of the clan suddenly told me yesterday that they had secured a spot for me at today's banquet and wanted me to attend."

"At first, I didn't understand what they were trying to do, so I tried to refuse the mission by saying I was too young and not strong enough, but..."

At this point, Anna's face suddenly turned bright red.

"The elder said that our Sania clan is in a somewhat awkward situation because of the death of Lady Cecilia and the betrayal of Lord Siegfried."

"Although Bishop Otto also has the blood of the Sania clan, that was five hundred years ago. Because of Lord Siegfried, our clan and the Kaslana clan are now in a declining position."

"Although Lady Theresa and Bishop Otto certainly didn't intend to deliberately suppress us, our reputation alone is enough to give them a headache, so..."

"They want me to represent the Sania clan and to build a good relationship with you, the newly emerging genius of the Apocalypse clan."

Hearing Anna's words, Lin Yu fell silent.

He had vaguely suspected before that Anna had been pushed into this situation, but...

This reason cannot be said to be unreasonable.

But why does it feel so melodramatic to me?

And there's another problem.

"Miss Anna, may I ask you something? You look very young, what year were you born?"

"Me? 1999, so what?"

Anna, completely baffled by Lin Yu's thoughts, suddenly spoke with a hint of resentment.

"Although I am indeed not very old, aren't all of us Valkyrie of Schicksal around this age when we start training?"

"Although my strength is far inferior to yours, Mr. Lin Yu, I am still B-Class, just like you."

No, what I meant was...

I didn't notice you because you didn't have any scenes in the original story, but it turns out you're only a year older than Bronya.

While it's not honorable for Bronya to go out pretending to be a young 'princess,' at least it's an act.

Is a little girl born in 1999 being sent out to do this kind of thing?

These people are beasts.

Looking at Lin Yu, who was silent at this moment, Anna suddenly felt that she might have gone a bit too far.

"I'm sorry! I got too carried away!"

"No, it's not your fault. Anyway... please continue."

"At first I didn't understand what the elder meant, but after the elder realized I didn't understand, he began to patiently explain some things to me."

"He said that in recent years, our Sania clan has been far worse off than before. Because of the death of Lady Cecilia in battle, there are no strong warriors in the clan who can stand up, so our voice in all aspects has been much weaker."

"For this reason, we not only failed to retain the right to use the Black Abyss White Flower, but also the allocation ratio of Stigmata and Honkai Energy weapons has decreased significantly."

He also said that if you, the newly emerging genius of the Apocalypse clan, could get closer to the Sania clan, perhaps this situation could be changed.

"At that time, the clan will receive more equipment, and with better equipment, the clan members will have a higher survival rate."

At this point, Anna suddenly looked away and stammered, unable to speak.

Just a few seconds later, as if she had made up her mind, she spoke softly in a barely audible voice.

"After saying these words, the elder directly told me to be bold and... seduce you."

The case is solved.

They are even more beastly than I imagined.

Lin Yu really wanted to tell the girl in front of him, "Have some self-confidence."

However, unlike the other girls, Anna Sania grew up in the Saintess Clan.

She did use various resources within the clan when she was young, so expecting a little girl who doesn't understand the harsh realities of society to simply refuse the elders' demands at this point...

Okay, making demands is a bit of an exaggeration; it's clearly moral blackmail.

By portraying the Sania clan in a pitiful light and linking Anna's actions to the 'survival rate of the tribe's warriors,' even if Anna harbored a thousand grievances, her kind heart, after being morally coerced, naturally prevented her from doing anything against the wishes of the elders of her tribe.

Seeing Lin Yu remain silent with an indifferent tone, Anna asked with a hint of disappointment.

"I'm sorry, but that's really what I came here with, Mr. Lin Yu... Are you disappointed in me?"

"Don't overthink it, Anna."

Feeling the gentle breeze around him, Lin Yu looked at the Schicksal members in the banquet hall and suddenly sighed.

"Before absolute power is achieved, people are not in control of their own destiny."

"You're being morally blackmailed by the people in your clan, which is simply because you're too kind and lack social experience. It's not your fault."

"This..."

Looking at Lin Yu's face, Anna suddenly burst out laughing.

"I always felt that Mr. Lin Yu was quite different from the rumors."

"Ha... Although I know that my image in the outside world has been distorted into a mess, I am still curious about what Sania internal impression of me is like."

"Hmm... He's capable, wants to climb the ranks, and definitely has the ability. Plus, he wants revenge against the Honkai?"

After a moment's thought, Anna continued speaking to Lin Yu.

"Before meeting you, based on these impressions, I thought you weren't the kind of person who was easy to approach and talk to, so I was a little scared when I tried to get close to you."

"After chatting with him for a while, I realized that everyone has a lot of misunderstandings about Mr. Lin Yu. Aren't you supposed to be easy to get along with?"

After Anna finished speaking, Lin Yu immediately saw a character introduction template pop up in front of him.

Name: Anna Sania

[Identity: A young girl from the Sania clan, B-rank Valkyrie Schicksal.]

Current favorability level: 25

[Note: You've only met for a few minutes, you know what that means.]

Yes, how could the level of likability skyrocket so quickly after just a few minutes of meeting?

Is there a problem with your detection system, or...?

What do you think?

As expected, Anna was the one who caused the problem.

This increase in favorability is ridiculously high.

I saved Theresa once; I remember she only had around 20.

First of all, 20 is already a high age for someone you've only known for a short time.

Secondly, even though Theresa is constantly called silly, she's still much smarter Anna, that naive little girl.

Ultimately, she treated you as a junior, while Anna treated you as an equal.

[Given that you were difficult to get along with, you actually showed her such strong kindness...]

Well, I just said a few nice things after listening to what she said.

[Also, at the banquet, he took her hand to help her ease her embarrassment and get her out of a difficult situation.]

That counts too?

Moreover, beauty is in the eye of the beholder—even if you're not her lover yet.

Whether it's intense or not is up to her, not you. Get your stance straight, Cold-Faced Hunk.

Maybe I should just turn off the Cold-Faced Hunk.

Sometimes I feel that if I keep this title for too long, it might cause some unexpected problems and lead to my downfall.

"Um, Mr. Lin Yu..."

Seeing Lin Yu suddenly fall silent, Anna asked again with some unease.

"Could it be that my attitude was too arrogant and made you angry?"

"Haha, I told you not to think about it so much."

Looking at the girl in front of him, who was easily startled like a small animal, Lin Yu put aside his thoughts and spoke softly to Anna.

"I'm not crazy, I wouldn't suddenly change my temperament and turn on you on the spot."

"Besides, we're all colleagues Schicksal, and you've always been so 'sir'..."

"I'll call you Anna, and you can call me Lin Yu. Let's skip those troublesome titles."

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Anna realized that she had really overthought things before.

Although Lin Yu had always thought that Anna was a naive young girl, this was clearly a misperception on his part.

Anna Sania was, after all, a member of a large family. Even if she herself didn't have the desire to learn actively, the social knowledge she gained from what she heard and heard in her daily life was enough for her to acquire more than the average person.

At this moment, although the other party's expression remained extremely cold, Anna could tell that Lin Yu's words were clearly an attempt to close the psychological distance between them and soothe Anna's heart by omitting the use of formalities.

After learning this, Anna felt her heart beating even faster.

At this moment, Lin Yu did not notice the subtle changes in Anna's expression.

After a moment's thought, he continued speaking to Anna.

"As for the instructions from the elders in your clan, I can only say that I have no interest in that at the moment."

Seeing Anna's bitter expression of "I knew it," Lin Yu sighed helplessly.

"Don't look like you're about to cry. I didn't say you're ugly. I just think that even if you get close to me, what they crave won't be easily obtained by them."

"Anyway, you didn't want to do this kind of thing. After we meet today, if you're worried that those old men in your clan will keep nagging, just tell them that you've successfully gotten close to me."

No, if it were me now, I wouldn't be so resistant.

Unable to guess Anna's true thoughts, Lin Yu glanced at the people at the banquet and sneered.

"Anyway, now everyone at this banquet knows that Lin Yu has spoken privately with Anna Sania, and that's not a lie."

"But is this really a good idea?"

After hearing Lin Yu's solution, Anna gently shook her head.

"If I go back and report to the clan elders like this, won't it affect your situation, Lin Yu?"

"Ha, I've never even been to the Apocalypse clan's main ancestral home. What do these pointless power struggles have to do with me?"

"In the end, apart from Patriarch Theresa and Bishop Otto, I don't know anyone in the clan. Do you expect me to give face to just anyone because of their status?"

At this moment, Lin Yu put away his Cold-Faced Hunk demeanor and said with a face full of impatience.

"I joined Schicksal to fight against the Honkai. If anyone bothers me with other things, then I'll have to show them with my fists what kind of person I really am."

Sensing the murderous aura emanating from Lin Yu, Anna unconsciously took a step back out of fear.

Although this aura wasn't the murderous intent that emanated when attempting to kill, it was still terrifying enough for Valkyrie like Anna who hadn't had much combat experience.

However, it was precisely because Lin Yu exuded this terrifying sense of oppression that Anna felt...

Lin Yu seemed more agreeable to her.

It now appears that there isn't a significant difference in the clan's assessment of Lin Yu.

At the same time, Lin Yu suppressed his emotions and chose to take care of Anna's feelings, while also helping her come up with ideas.

People crave special treatment from others.

At this moment, after Lin Yu showed two different attitudes to other people and to Anna's goodwill towards him obviously increased again.

At this moment, Lin Yu's eyes flickered slightly as Anna's character template popped up again.

The rest of Anna's character profile remained unchanged, except that her favorability rating suddenly increased by ten points.

No, I suddenly became so fierce, so why did my favorability rating actually increase?