What? Theresa's Actually Pretty Cute / The Plan Enters Phase Two

Xia Ling's expression also became somewhat embarrassed. After all, touching the Stigmata was a necessary step to connect with the dream world, and the location of Theresa's Stigmata was...

No, we can't think like that. What if one day, Hi-maru changes the Stigmata to the chest like Seele did? That would be even more disastrous.

After a moment of silence, Theresa suddenly became self-destructive.

"Ugh—whatever!" Theresa looked up and glared at Mei Xia Ling. "Anyway, Mei saw us this morning, right? Let's just leave it at that. You can come to my room and sleep with me for the next few days!"

"Let's explain things properly to Mei after the erosion is over. The most urgent thing is to solve the problem of the Stigmata."

"Huh, huh?"

Xia Ling was stunned by Theresa's sudden remark.

"What are you 'ah'ing about? Sleeping with this headmaster is beneath you, isn't it?!" Theresa's face was flushed red, it seemed that this decision had brought a considerable challenge to her sense of shame.

After all, our Dean's mindset is clearly not very compatible with her physical age (laughs).

"Anyway, it's settled then!" Theresa pushed Xia Ling out of the room, muttering to herself, "Once this is over, I'm going to make that Corruption guy pay!"

"Hahahaha... Little Xia Ling, you guys are just... so cute, hahahaha..."

With a soft, bell-like laugh, Xia Ling pouted in dissatisfaction and drew out her voice.

"Elysia —I'm here to ask for your advice on what to do tonight—"

"There's nothing we can do about it, after all, Little Xia Ling's daily life is just too interesting."

Elysia gently rubbed Xia Ling's cheek. "You look like a daughter running to her mother before her wedding, asking what to do that night!"

"What kind of weird analogy is that!" Xia Ling shook her head, her face flushed. "I don't have any experience in this area, and I don't seem to have any friends. Xi and Highmore have slept with other people before, but who would specifically empathize with that?"

"That's why I said Xia Ling is cute, right?"

"You..." Xia Ling was at her wit's end. In a fit of anger, Xia Ling snapped and then quickly gave in.

"Sister Elysia ~ Please help me~"

"Pfft, okay, okay, I'll teach you?" Elysia was amused by Xia Ling's pitiful look, patted her head, and then said, "I remember you said Theresa's Stigmata are on her back, so..."

Elysia's hand slowly moved up from Xia Ling's waist, encircling Xia Ling's body. Her fingers lightly touched Xia Ling's back, causing Xia Ling to tremble all over.

"Tonight, just hug Theresa like this!"

"Huh? Eh?" Xia Ling exclaimed in surprise, "Straight, directly..."

"Trust me?" Elysia blinked. "I'm good at judging people. Theresa already has a pretty high opinion of you, so she won't refuse if you hug her like this?"

"It's not some dating game, so where does the 'affection level' come from...?"

Xia Ling muttered softly.

"Whether there's a problem or not, you'll know once you try it tonight~"

"Alright, let's leave Theresa's issue here for now. Next, we should go talk to Vill-V about your experience in the dream yesterday, shall we?"

"Ah... I see." Vill-V nodded thoughtfully.

"So, what's going on? I feel like I'm just a beast of burden doing tasks."

Whenever Xia Ling recalls her dream from last night, she feels as if she has burned out completely.

"I worked from the east end of the village to the west end all night. Heaven knows how the houses in Yae Village have survived!"

"Haha, these things don't matter. Maybe the Herrscher of Corruption will be dismantling you while repairing you."

Vill-V didn't discuss this topic much. After all, the task given to Xia Ling was just a smokescreen. It didn't matter how the Herrscher of Corruption reacted. She had already collected the core data through the dream-entry device she gave Xia Ling.

"By the way, where is Doctor Mobius?" Xia Ling saw that Vill-V didn't want to say more, and guessed that she probably had some unspeakable plan, just like in the previous message.

"Mobius ..." Vill-V smiled broadly. "I had her modify the product for me."

"In the past, it was always her or Mei who was my client. Hmph, this time I can finally experience the joy of being a client."

"Moreover, because of the nature of this matter, she couldn't refuse me, which was really satisfying."

"Oh, I see..."

"Instead of that, let's talk about something else." Vill-V changed the subject. "You said that we can find information about the Black Box in the history of Schicksal?"

"That's right." Xia Ling nodded. "I was just about to talk about this. It's also a story related to the Herrscher of Corruption."

"The protagonist of the story is named Yae Sakura..."

Chapter 8? Oh well, Theresa is still pretty cute.

Through Xia Ling's narration, Vill-V and Elysia learned about the Black Box's history in the present civilization, as well as the reason why Theresa obtained this Stigmata.

"So that's how it is, no wonder..." Vill-V murmured to herself.

"My dear Teacher DaV, have you come up with some new plan?" Xia Ling immediately leaned closer.

"No, basically we'll stick to the original plan, but I'll need to get Mobius to revise it a few more times..."

Vill-V spoke in a calm tone about something truly terrifying.

"Oh, by the way, Xia Ling, if... you need to take Flame-Chasers with you to deal with the erosion later, who do you think would be better to bring?"

"Hmm... I guess it still has to be Elysia."

Xia Ling gave her answer without hesitation. Putting aside personal preferences, Elysia had a history of fighting against corruption in the original work. Moreover, Xia Ling felt that the mysterious power of the Origin might play an unexpected role in the Awakening Bell.

"Besides Elysia, don't you manage to Elysia out for three days every month? I've already included Elysia in my count."

"That... Sakura?"

Xia Ling thought for a moment. Putting aside the relationship between Sakura and Erosion, for Erosion, Sakura's sword skills, which were capable of freezing time and space, were indeed an unexpected trump card.

"Sakura? Sakura won't do. You might not know this, but she doesn't know anything about Rin..."

Elysia explained softly.

"Actually, she knows."

"Ah?"

Now it was Elysia and Vill-V's turn to be dumbfounded.

"Sakura actually knows... While you don't want her to be sad because of Rin, she also doesn't want her companions to worry because of her..."

"She actually knew from the very beginning..."

"Wait, let's stop for a moment." Vill-V shook her head somewhat haphazardly. "Leaving aside how you know about this, I just want to ask, how are we going to prove that what you're saying is true?"

"Hmm... I'm not really sure about that. Why don't you ask Aponia? Or, perhaps you could subtly ask Sakura?"

Vill-V's question immediately stumped Xia Ling, as she really had no way to prove the credibility of the matter.

"Since it can't be proven for now, let's talk about it later... it's not the right time yet anyway."

Vill-V didn't dwell on the matter too much, but instead glossed over the issue.

"I need to go back and revise the next phase of the plan. For the next couple of days, just stick to the previous arrangements. I'll contact you again once I have some results."

"Wei, should we maintain the previous arrangements?" Xia Ling's face flushed slightly, as if she had thought of something.

"By the way, Vill-V, could you modify your dream-entering device to one that doesn't require physical contact...?"

"I'm sorry, no. Whether you want to enter her dream or the Stigmata Space, this is the simplest way. In fact, the closer your physical contact, the better the effect."

"Of course, if you don't mind wearing one of those huge helmets with a bunch of wires attached, I can replace it with one of those."

"Well, let's forget about it then..."

Xia Ling shrank back and withdrew her suggestion amidst Elysia's snickering.

Evening, inside the villa.

"Oh, Sister Xia Ling, are you not playing so early?"

Seeing Xia Ling put down the game controller, Bronya checked her watch and realized it was just past eleven o'clock.

"No, no, I've been quite tired these past few days, I need to go to bed early."

For some reason, even though she often used this excuse, today she felt that Bronya's gaze was a little strange.

"Oh, so you're a little tired... Well, there's nothing I can do about that then." Bronya's voice became meaningful.

"Sister Xia Ling, please take care of yourself."

Xia Ling felt that Bronya might be implying something, but she had no evidence.

Sigh... We can only wait until this incident is completely over before we can explain.

With this in mind, Xia Ling hurriedly left Bronya's room.

That night, Xia Ling, clutching a pillow, appeared in Theresa's room.

Theresa's bed is very big, so Xia Ling doesn't need to bring any blankets or anything. She only needs to bring her own pillow to spend the night with Theresa.

Of course, judging from the situation in the dream, neither the death cycle nor the village official of Yae Village can be considered a good night.

However, the situation in their dreams cannot help them with their awkward situation in reality.

Theresa was still awake, currently hugging a Hormu doll and sitting in a duck-like position, constantly operating the teacher terminal on the bed.

Of course, that's only on the surface. In reality, she had already secretly glanced at Xia Ling several times.

However, for Theresa, since Cecilia's death, she has rarely acted so intimately with others.

After all, although Theresa is usually quite approachable, she is still the headmistress. Even though most students treat her as a mascot, they generally don't dare to be too presumptuous.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Looking at Theresa, whose face was slightly flushed and who was holding a doll, Xia Ling suddenly felt that Theresa was actually quite cute.

Then she remembered Elysia's teachings.

Under Theresa's shy gaze, Xia Ling hugged Theresa and lay down together.

"What are you doing...?"

Theresa shifted her body slightly, somewhat unable to meet Xia Ling's gaze.

"Didn't you suggest we sleep together...?" Xia Ling blinked her dark eyes, revealing the innocent look that was unique to her when she was pretending to be stupid.

"But... isn't this a bit too sudden...?"

At this moment, Xia Ling suddenly realized that Theresa seemed... a little weaker than her?

Xia Ling was now intrigued. After all, she had always been the weaker party when she was with Elysia. Now that she had finally met someone she could bully, she naturally wanted to savor the feeling.

Xia Ling leaned even closer, blinked, and breathed softly:

"But I don't think it's surprising. Isn't it normal for close female friends to sleep together?"

However, Xia Ling forgot that although Theresa appeared somewhat weak, she had extensive experience in mentoring students.

"Xia Ling... are you deliberately teasing me...?"

Theresa, having already noticed the problem, glared at Xia Ling, then reached out and pinched Xia Ling's soft cheeks, twisting them into various shapes in retaliation. "Naughty children are never well-behaved~"

"Waaah, I... I won't do it again..."

After being given a good "lesson" by Theresa, the two finally quieted down.

Xia Ling wrapped her arms around Theresa's slender waist and traced the Stigmata on her back with her fingers.

With the activation of the dream-entering device, Xia Ling once again embarks on her journey of building Yae Village.

Chapter Nine: The Plan Enters its Second Phase

Xia Ling spent several days in blissful comfort, sharing a large quilt with her husband.

Being able to sleep with the sweet and soft Theresa every day made Xia Ling sigh with regret for the hard life she had lived before.

However, although I slept very comfortably, the situation in my dream was a bit uncomfortable.

Theresa's dream has yet to make any breakthroughs; so far, Theresa has never successfully woken up from a dream.