Bronya stared carefully at Otto's handsome face. She could guarantee that today was the first time she had ever seen this man.
"...Who are you?"
Bronya spoke in her utterly flat tone. Project Bunny behind her returned to its quantum state, and she did not act rashly, because this blond man was far too strange.
"Bronya, I have no intention of becoming your enemy, nor do I wish to hurt you."
Otto directly called Bronya by name, making her narrow her eyes. She could tell that he knew her.
Could their encounter at the convenience store have been a trap he had laid for her?
"My name is Otto, though you may call me the Prophet."
Otto? A very common name.
But what did Prophet mean?
Bronya looked at Otto, and Otto continued speaking with a smile.
"I can foresee everything in the future."
"Perhaps you don't believe me, but Bronya, take a look at what is by your leg."
"That is my Book of Prophecy."
Otto pointed at the item beside Bronya's leg. Bronya also noticed the stack of white paper and picked it up, but the title alone made her frown.
My Wedding?
She could not make sense of it.
Bronya looked back at Otto, but he said nothing. He merely gestured for her to continue reading.
Her gaze returned to the item in her hands. Bronya flipped to the next page, then frowned.
"This is... a comic?"
Bronya looked suspiciously at what was drawn on the paper. Comics were not unfamiliar to her; she was a devoted reader of HOMU comics.
But the thing in her hands was incredibly crude. There were no drawn backgrounds or settings, only written annotations. This was just the line art for a comic, wasn't it?
Bronya touched it with her finger. The ink had not even dried yet.
And after seeing the contents, Bronya frowned.
Otto proposed to Bronya, and Bronya agreed to Otto's proposal with tears of happiness streaming down her face.
That summed up the first page of the comic.
Even Bronya, who had always been clever, failed to react for a moment.
She raised her head, looked at Otto, and said in an even tone.
"Did Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei swear brotherhood in your mouth?"
Otto smiled without answering, gesturing for Bronya to keep reading.
But compared to Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, he preferred Cao Cao.
Bronya frowned, but she still turned to the next page.
Otto wanted to give Bronya a wedding, but he did not want to use Bronya's money, so he worked hard. Yet the money was still not enough.
Bronya continued turning pages, then widened her eyes.
Because she saw Seele!
Looking at Seele's comic depiction, she was exactly the same as the Seele in Bronya's memories, except her chest had been drawn a little too large.
If he could draw her this accurately, then that meant this man named Otto had met Seele!
Although Bronya remained expressionless, her breathing grew slightly more rapid.
But the plot that followed left Bronya completely stunned.
Seele approached Otto when he was short on money, saying she could provide funds for Otto and Big Sister Bronya. After Otto agreed, the seemingly innocent Seele actually kissed Otto!
Bronya:???
Rejected by Bronya
Bronya calmly finished reading the Seele doujin. Although its title was Bronya's Wedding, she barely had any scenes in it at all.
Even when she appeared, she was merely a pitiful wife kept in the dark by her husband and best friend.
But...
"So, do you believe I am a prophet now?"
Otto was not surprised to see Bronya looking like an emotionless doll, without even the slightest sign of anger.
Bronya's emotional circuits were currently damaged. Only after she obtained the Herrscher of Reason Core and reconstructed those emotional circuits would she be able to show other expressions.
Bronya placed the Seele doujin on her lap and shook her head.
"I don't believe you."
"Compared to calling yourself a prophet, I think calling yourself the Terminator would be more convincing."
Bronya recalled Otto's steel neck that could not be twisted.
"I suppose so." Otto smiled. Although Bronya was not very old yet, having become an assassin at such a young age made her the most mentally mature of The Big Three.
"Still, waiting for you to wake up was rather boring."
The little pervert was still browsing pink apps, while the old pervert already knew how to make his own content.
However, Bronya pulled several pages from the Seele doujin and said.
"Cocolia Orphanage is not much of a secret, so it is not strange that you know information about Seele's and my names and appearances."
"But... why do you know about this?"
Bronya showed Otto the pages she had pulled out.
Bronya was cooking in the kitchen, while Seele and Otto were in the living room. But the next moment, Seele's aura changed. The once innocent Seele became like a succubus.
Black Seele.JPG
A label had even been thoughtfully added above Seele's head, surrounded by a pitch-black aura, naming her Black Seele.
Black Seele dragged Otto into Bronya's room, then acted out, "Black Seele, why are you wearing Bronya's clothes?" "If we're going after excitement, then let's go all the way."
In the end, Black Seele could not take it anymore and cried, "Please, my other self," before changing back into White Seele.
During the days she spent with Seele, Bronya had sensed that there was a Seele who was not Seele.
Because Anya had been traumatized by Black Seele and would overreact whenever she heard Seele's name, Bronya had realized that Seele might have a side she had never seen.
But not even Cocolia knew about this. Bronya had merely noticed a few clues, and the only one who had witnessed Seele's other side was the reclusive Anya. So why did this man know?
"Seele Vollerei has a split personality."
"The Seele you know is merely one of her personalities. Her other personality is filled with madness and brutality. I call her Black Seele."
Otto explained.
"But you need not worry. Black Seele dotes greatly on the Seele you know."
"Even in the Sea of Quanta, she has always stayed by Seele's side."
"You know a great deal." Bronya looked at Otto. There was something indescribable about this blond man. She always felt that...
He was a little like Cocolia.
"Yes, I know a great deal. For example, you wish to rescue Seele from the Sea of Quanta."
"But you are destined to fail."
Otto pointed at Bronya.
"And there is only one reason for your failure: you rely on Cocolia, not me."
"You do not know how strong Anti-Entropy is." Bronya said flatly.
"Then you do not know Schicksal's strength either."
Otto said with a smile.
"You are from Schicksal?"
As an unofficial member of Anti-Entropy, Bronya naturally knew of Schicksal.
"Yes. I can help you bring Seele back. Cocolia may be able to open the gate to the Sea of Quanta, but what returns will definitely not be Seele."
"It will be a vicious turtle waiting for an opportunity to escape."
A turtle lives a thousand years, a tortoise ten thousand; one Kevin equals five Kamisato Ayakas.
If Kevin were released in this version, no one would be able to stop him.
Once Kevin carried out the Stigmata Project, fewer than one in a hundred humans would survive. And the first places he would probably flatten would be Schicksal and Otto, who could obstruct his plan.
So Otto would prevent Kevin's return.
"You want me to betray my former foster mother, then seek help from someone I have only met for the first time?"
Bronya did not care about the turtle Otto mentioned and spoke coldly.
"If I am more useful than Cocolia, there is no harm in choosing me." Otto said with a smile.
Although Cocolia held some place in Bronya's heart, Seele was unquestionably first in her heart.
"What do you want from me?"
Bronya asked. Every gain came with a price tag.
She must have been unconscious for a long time, but she had found no trace of violation. That meant this man was not after her body.
"Your strength, your skills, everything you have."
"Bronya, I want you to become my subordinate and work for me."
Bronya's outrageous hacking skills could even infiltrate Schicksal's database. In both looks and ability, she was an exceptional talent.
And with Seele involved, this girl would be very easy to control.
Useful and easy-to-control people were Otto's favorite kind, especially while his foundation was still shallow.
Otto held out two fingers toward Bronya.
"And I guarantee that within two years, you will see Seele."
As he spoke, Otto tossed the cane he had prepared long ago to Bronya.
"If you are willing to swear loyalty to me, then break this cane."
Late at night, Otto was the only one left in the empty room.
His right hand stroked the cane resting across his knees.
This cane had not been broken.
Regrettably, Bronya had dumped him.
Bronya had not sworn loyalty to Otto because she had more than one option, and Otto's promise was not attractive enough to her.
She was not a girl who could be lured away with a single lollipop.
At least for now, Cocolia had not disappointed her.
Thinking about it, Bronya had joined St. Freya Academy under Cocolia's instructions to act as a mole there.
Otto did not care too much. He had merely been dumped by a woman. After Bronya rejected him, he decisively let her leave.
Men who clung on desperately were not very popular either.
If Seele had already been in his hands, the outcome this time would surely have been different. Unfortunately, Seele was still in the Sea of Quanta, so he could only paint Bronya a rosy picture, while Cocolia was also painting her one.
However.
Otto had already achieved his most basic objective.
That was to let Bronya know that Cocolia was not the only path she could take.
Before you continue