Chapter 71

Amber continued, "The Valkyrie will fight for all that is good in the world. If the Elves no longer experience Spatial Quake, then Schicksal will naturally have no reason to fight them."

Upon hearing this, Kotori couldn't help but say, "That depends on what Möbius thinks."

Ratatoskr doesn't rely entirely on Kotori, and in the eyes of outsiders, Schicksal doesn't rely entirely on Yulande either. You are indeed the strongest fighter, but a large organization isn't just about having the strongest fighting power. Besides, everyone knows about Möbius's reputation. The Stigmata experiment is definitely not something that can be done without sacrifice. It can only be said that World Serpent hid it well, which is why it wasn't discovered. To say that the Stigma Plan was completely clean, no one would believe it.

Möbius, who orchestrated the Stigma Plan, was naturally not considered a good person.

Unfortunately, because no evidence could be found that she conducted human experiments, no one could criticize her for it, which made Schicksal's reputation exceptionally indestructible.

Black Amber knew that the whole world was looking for evidence of her moral depravity, but what was the reality? In reality, she did sacrifice a lot, but finding evidence was impossible.

After all, the victims are not in this world.

That's a bit of a tangent.

Kotori's meaning is actually quite simple. She, Ratatoskr Kotori Itsuka, needs to oversee and manage Ratatosk's attitude towards the elves, and Schicksal also needs Yulande's attention. Why do you think Schicksal won't let you down? Although Yulande's strength is unparalleled in the world, Möbius is no pushover either, and is far more dangerous than the higher-ups of Ratatoskr.

Why do people think that Schicksal is a better place than Ratatoskr?

While this is true, it does sound a bit childish to say it at this moment. Clearly, Kotori's rationality hasn't fully returned, and she's still caught up in Shiori's attitude.

Fortunately, Tohka couldn't hear the sound in her earpiece, so her words only drew concerned glances from the Fraxinus ship and didn't affect the overall situation.

Kotori, who had caught their gaze, could only purse her lips in a terrible mood.

Amber didn't know what Kotori was thinking, but she could guess that she must be feeling pretty bad right now, so she didn't say anything to add fuel to the fire. She could only say, "No matter what, I respect the choices you two Shiori and Tohka."

Shiori's heart has already turned towards Schicksal.

After all, the slogan "Fight for all that is good" is indeed quite catchy, and Yulande's impression on her is much better than that of Ratatoskr.

"So... how will Schicksal treat Tohka?"

Shiori asked.

"Hmm... Actually, it depends on Tohka's own thoughts."

After thinking for a moment, Amber said, "Even if her Spiritual Power is sealed, Tohka may still have a reverse flow of Spiritual Power. Therefore, if Schicksal is to act as Tohka's guardian, then as the one who sealed her Spiritual Power, Shiori, you also need to join Schicksal as a guarantor."

"Ha!?"

Kotori's eyes widened. "You're going too far, taking both food and money!!"

She initially thought Ratatoskr's plan to bring Schicksal into the fight against DEM was a good idea, a case of using someone else to do the dirty work. But now, it seems like she's just inviting trouble.

Although she knew that Yulande was giving Shiori a choice, but...

"Join Schicksal..."

The worst part for Shiori is Kotori's situation.

"Kotori, Ratatoskr more important than Shiori?"

Amber asked.

"Of course, Shiori is more important!"

Kotori answered without hesitation, even though she knew her series of actions made the statement seem less convincing, but it was indeed the truth.

"How about we all join Schicksal? Everyone from Fraxinus can join us."

Amber said.

"Putting aside whether you, as a combatant, have this right, why should I believe in the sincerity of Schicksal?"

Kotori immediately raised a question, "I have been in Ratatoskr for five years. Although there were some external reasons for me to become the commander, I still have some real power. Fraxinus cannot survive without Ratatoskr, but Ratatoskr will also be severely damaged without me and Shiori. Even the very foundation of its establishment will become empty talk."

"I can guarantee that I have a voice in Ratatoskr and can protect the elves, but if I go to Schicksal with you, it would be tantamount to betraying Ratatoskr, and I might not be valued by the higher-ups at Schicksal. I would be caught in the middle, and I have no reason to take the risk."

If it were an offer of surrender between enemies, then considering all aspects, Kotori would be very likely to accept it, but Schicksal is not a violent organization, and Ratatoskr is a legitimate organization.

Kotori did not mention Yulande's position in her speech, which clearly indicated that she felt Yulande did not have much influence on such decisions. After all, high-level decision-makers usually contribute money, just like in Ratatoskr. Without this money, the organization would have difficulty operating, and no matter how strong your military force is, it is useless without money.

Or are you going to use force to make money? If that doesn't work, you'll just end up being at the mercy of others anyway.

Unless you try to steal it, but Yulande is clearly not that type in her eyes, which is the limitation of a good person.

"Schicksal is not the kind of organization you imagine."

Amber spoke calmly, but her words were packed with information. "All the power in Schicksal rests with Bishop Möbius. There are no high-ranking officials like you mentioned. Bishop Möbius and I... have a decent relationship, and he will support my decisions."

Is Schicksal a one-man show by Möbius?

No wonder the whole world can't find an opportunity to turn the top echelons of Schicksal against them, or investigate the structure of the top echelons of Schicksal. It turns out there simply isn't one.

So where did your initial funding come from? Even if you amassed a lot of initial capital through World Serpent and expanded Schicksal, a large corporation like Schicksal can't be managed by one person alone. It inevitably needs a large number of capable managers. Are your managers just cattle? Don't they want any benefits or say? Capable people will naturally demand the rights commensurate with their abilities. Why should they work for Schicksal for free and obey your decrees, Möbius? Are they all unambitious robots?

Chapter Eighteen: Heartbeats Through the Kotori).

If Amber could hear Kotori's thoughts, she would surely answer, "That's true."

It would be impossible for Kotori not to be moved by Amber's clear answer.

After all, from any perspective, Shiori's heart is now leaning towards Schicksal. Even though Kotori was raised and educated by Ratatoskr, her most important person is still her older sister. If she had to choose between the two, she would choose her sister.

'However... all of this is predicated on the fact that what Yulande said is true.'

It wasn't that Kotori suspected Yulande of fooling her, but rather that Möbius had such a renowned reputation that Kotori was genuinely hesitant to believe him.

Yulande's cunning is obvious at a glance. You can only say she has some cunning, but it's hard to say how much. She might even be sold out by Möbius and still help count the money. The only useful information about her statement to Kotori is that 'Schicksal is Möbius's one-man show'.

If Möbius were to take control of her, Shiori, and the Princess, and then find an excuse to send Yulande away, they would be out of luck.

It's better to stay in Ratatoskr; at least there's room to protect yourself.

Even so, Kotori knew that even with an element of gambling involved, she had to consider Yulande's opinion.

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, the most important thing is the elves."

Kotori leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes briefly, and decided to leave the topic aside for the time being, turning instead to the important matter at hand. The appearance and disappearance of spirits were not fixed, and the most urgent task was to leave a stronger impression on the Princess. Judging from the current situation, it might be possible to resolve the issue in one go.

Although she changed the subject, the people on Fraxinus exchanged glances secretly.

They were basically all people personally recruited by Kotori. As the commander, Kotori wouldn't be without this much power. Therefore, their future plans naturally depend on Kotori's decision. If Kotori really wanted to go to Schicksal, they had no reason not to follow.

Unless we no longer need them.

However, it's impossible for them all to be Kotori's people. After all, this is a Ratatoskr warship. It's normal for a spy to be planted and then be taken a liking by Kotori.

Songgang was extremely conflicted. When he came, he only said that he was going to report the situation on Fraxinus to headquarters. He was no stranger to this kind of thing, but now that such a big thing had happened, he was a little confused.

To be honest, after working with Kotori for more than three years, his feelings for Kotori had shifted dramatically. After all, Kotori was indeed a very good boss. Not only was she cute, but she also possessed the qualities of an excellent boss: she was decisive, wouldn't shirk responsibility, and was very capable.

Most importantly, she trusts her subordinates a lot. Despite her seemingly bad temper, she rarely punishes her people.

After careful consideration, Songgang decided to keep the matter to himself.

Shiori also knew that the more important thing now was to seal the Spiritual Power. Before the Spiritual Power was sealed, anything else was meaningless.

"So... Princess... no, Tohka, is it alright to seal your Spiritual Power next?"

Shiori asked.

"I'm fine..."

Although Tohka's thinking wasn't intellectually diminished, it still possessed a unique simplicity: since Yulande could defeat her but didn't attack her, it meant Yulande was trustworthy, so she didn't have much doubt.

"But what do I need to do for this?"

"Hmm... Anyway, let's go on the date first."

Shiori was too embarrassed to say anything about feelings or kissing, afraid that the other person would think she was a shameless girl. Although the date seemed to have some of those connotations, at least in her original intention it was just a date, which she could use to deceive herself.

"A date? What does that mean?"

However, Tohka was far less aware of this than Shiori had imagined.

"Ah?"

Shiori couldn't tell whether Tohka was being sarcastic or genuinely unaware.

"It means you guys go out and have fun together."

Amber said, "Going out and having fun, and then developing feelings for each other, that's dating."

"Play?"

Tohka still didn't understand much about this, but she didn't care much. "I'm leaving the human affairs to you. Don't let me down!"

"Just leave this to Shiori; she'll make the plans, roughly."

Amber had been quite confident, but upon closer reflection, it seemed that those idiots from Fraxinus in the original story hadn't offered any useful advice beyond material matters.

Well, their main responsibility was to operate Fraxinus and monitor its equipment, otherwise they wouldn't have become failures in love.

Is it really okay to have this group of relationship failures act as Shiori's relationship mentors...?

"Huh? Isn't Yulande coming along?"

Shiori was somewhat surprised.

"After all, it's a date. If I go with you, it might slow you down."

Amber had also considered going along, since watching the Date A Live up close would be quite interesting, but after thinking it over, she decided against it.

Rather than just observing from the sidelines, it's better to contact your other self first and make some arrangements in advance.

"Ah... um, that's true..."

Shiori finally realized what was happening and awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

"?"

Tohka was a little confused. Why couldn't the three of them go together? Why was it better to go with only two people?

However, she was aware of her lack of common sense about humanity, so she didn't say anything and left it to them to make arrangements.

After the two left, Amber said to Kotori, "Kotori, would you like to come and talk tonight?"

"So you do have something to do. Do you need to explain the situation to Möbius?"

Kotori wasn't surprised by Amber's invitation. "But, is it really okay to talk to me about this in public like this...?"

"I don't think there's anything to hide about this."

Amber said, "I need to report the current situation to Bishop Möbius. The cooperation between Schicksal and Ratatoskr may change, so I need you as the liaison to discuss it."

Kotori really wanted to say that such discussions should generally take place in formal settings, and should be recorded with audio and video, and notes should be taken.

But considering that the other party had little negotiation experience, and that the last negotiation had been completed at her home, she nodded and said, "I understand. You said before that you and Möbius have a good relationship... So will Möbius be involved this time?"

This statement was somewhat hasty, but the conversation between the two had already subtly revealed Kotori's bias, and since the others in Fraxinus unconditionally followed Kotori, no one spoke up.

Amber knew that Kotori wanted to confirm Möbius's intentions directly, as if she was testing the waters for her own move to join Schicksal, so she naturally didn't refuse.

"I will explain this to the bishop."

She felt a surge of excitement. She had initially thought she was just there to join in the fun, but she never expected that she might be able to bring the Itsuka Sisters into Schicksal in one fell swoop, along with Muramasa Reine.

Chapter Nineteen: A Brief Introduction

Schicksal belongs to Black Amber, so it naturally belongs to Amber as well. However, Amber usually doesn't care about anything, and Schicksal is basically run entirely by Black Amber and Gray Serpent. Amber, being a hands-off manager, is naturally too embarrassed to make decisions unilaterally. After returning to the hotel, she contacted Black Amber to explain the situation that had just occurred.

Unexpectedly, on the other side of the video, there was not only Black Amber, but also the Yamae Sisters, who looked excited and thrilled.

Although only Kaguya's expression was exaggerated, the fact that Yuzuru, who usually has little expression, showed even a little emotion should be considered a violent emotional fluctuation.

Bianca!

Upon seeing Amber appear before her, Kaguya suddenly felt a surge of courage and intended to tell her about the oppression Black Amber had exerted on them during this time. However, before she could even speak, she felt a cool, refreshing sensation enveloping her calf.

Sensing that there might be danger, she swallowed hard.

"What's wrong, Kaguya?"

Amber looked at her suddenly stiff expression and was a little taken aback.

"Um... it seems like something's wrong, but it also seems like nothing's wrong...?"

Kaguya was starting to lose her temper. Although she really wanted to complain, Bianca couldn't possibly be back so soon, and she might get a good beating from Snake Sister before Bianca returned.

On the contrary, if he didn't speak up, he might not only avoid being punished, but also have Snake Sister cancel his punishment.

"...?"