Nagamitsu: Is Otto Actually Serious? / A Chance Encounter

Although Anna felt quite frustrated when Gwen advanced to A-rank before her, witnessing firsthand how hard Gwen worked helped her quickly adjust her mindset, and she herself became even more diligent.

Although Anna has not yet been promoted to A-rank, her efforts have not stopped.

"Speaking of which, Anna, you'll be promoted to A-rank soon, right?"

"After your equipment is upgraded, I believe your combat power will far exceed what it is now once you adapt."

Although Anna's mental state seemed stable, Gwen still smiled and comforted the girl.

"Hmm~"

Upon hearing this, Anna put her fair hands behind her back, raised her chin slightly, and narrowed her eyes, looking quite pleased.

"Promotion to Grade A is certainly not a problem for me now..."

Anna, who was already a little genius, became even more hardworking under Gwen's influence. Even though she was limited by her talent and physical abilities and could not train as hard as Gwen and You Lan Dai Er, she still made considerable progress.

However, with two oddballs, Gwen and You Lan Dai Er, by her side, Anna showed no arrogance whatsoever.

"Even if our combat strength improves by then, we'll still rely more on equipment. Our raw strength is far inferior to yours and Bianca's."

"That's not how it works. Being able to fully utilize the power of equipment is also a skill."

Gwen laughed.

"Moreover, to be honest, a large part of my combat power also relies on the Xuanyuan Sword..."

Even though Anna, who came from the Schariac Family, didn't have any special privileges, the family's secrets still made her aware of the existence of the Divine Keys, so Gwen didn't need to deliberately hide anything from her.

Upon hearing this, Anna smiled and said:

"But as someone just said, being able to fully utilize the power of a weapon is also a skill."

"You're learning pretty fast..."

Hearing Anna's reply of "an eye for an eye," Gwen smiled, reached out and gently tapped Anna's head, causing the girl to roll her eyes.

What are you planning to eat for lunch?

After a period of playful banter, the two had already left the office area. Anna, with her hands behind her back, asked with a hint of anticipation.

Although they had met once in between, they hadn't spent much time together in the past two weeks, which made Anna a little hopeful.

However, Gwen's answer shattered the girl's expectations—

"For lunch... I'll probably have to eat a boxed lunch."

"Box lunch?"

Anna blinked, her expectant expression instantly freezing, replaced by deep confusion.

"Yes."

Gwen shrugged helplessly.

"As I just mentioned, I'm currently in charge of an experiment, which means I'll be spending a lot of time in the lab. Based on past experience, I'll most likely be having lunch with the researchers in the lab at noon."

Chapter 110 Changguang: Is Otto serious?

"Huh!?"

Anna looked somewhat surprised upon hearing Gwen's answer.

Anna had initially thought that Gwen's experiments were just about testing weapons, never expecting that he would be involved to this extent.

Okay~_~

However, despite feeling a slight sense of disappointment, Anna didn't throw a tantrum. Instead, she wrinkled her pert little nose and forced a smile.

"Then Gwen won't get any of the big lunch today."

"You know I'm eating boxed lunches, but you still secretly eat fancy meals. Anna, how can you be so heartless?"

Upon hearing this, Gwen's expression turned somewhat grave, and he spoke in a low voice.

"Hehehe, just kidding. I'm exhausted, how could I have the energy to cook lunch?"

Anna covered her mouth and chuckled softly, gently punching Gwen's shoulder with her little fist.

"Alright, hurry up and go. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish."

Remember to message me if you get back tonight.

"Okay, see you tonight."

Gwen said no more, waved his hand, and headed toward the St. 1504 Research Institute.

See you tonight...

Waving her little hand, Anna watched Gwen leave, her pearly teeth gently biting her pink lips, a hint of hesitation appearing on her face.

Meanwhile, in the director's office of the St. 1504 Research Institute, Changguang was welcoming a rare guest... if one could ignore her less-than-friendly attitude—

"Mr. Otto, when I signed the contract, I didn't say that I would provide emotional counseling, did I?"

Although the blond man in front of him was his direct superior, Changguang made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction.

"Ha, of course..."

Facing Changguang, who stood with his hands on his Changguang and questioned him condescendingly, Otto chuckled and raised his hands to indicate that he recognized his mistake.

"If that's the case, then why did you give me that order in the first place?"

Seeing that Otto was not making excuses as expected, Changguang's stern expression relaxed somewhat.

"In my memory, Bishop Otto, although you are not a good... good man, you are not so bad as to issue such a stupid order."

Although his own talents gave Changguang some confidence when facing Otto, Changguang, being a smart man, was also very clear that it was not without limits.

Therefore, after Otto showed cooperation, Changguang's attitude quickly softened.

However, although his attitude softened, Changguang's eyes remained fixed on Otto, waiting for his answer.

"Yes, a stupid order."

Otto nodded in agreement with Changguang's still very blunt criticism, even though Changguang had toned it down a bit.

"So..."

Changguang was staring intently at Otto's expression, confirmed that his superior's words were indeed from the heart, and his doubts only deepened.

Knowing the order was foolish, why did you still issue it? Has Otto lost his mind?

However, despite Changguang's questioning gaze, Otto's smile remained unchanged, and his tone was calm:

"But, my dear friend, you must know that folly is often the keynote of this world."

"..."

Changguang blinked, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Otto's subjective and arbitrary nonsense, but he couldn't help but wonder what Otto was trying to say—

Does she look like the kind of girl who can be easily fooled by a few words?

Facing Changguang's questioning gaze, Otto smiled without saying a word. A faint light quietly shone from his hand behind his back, and an illusory feather silently appeared in his palm.

However, before the invisible mental fluctuations could spread, there was a knock on the door of Changguang's director's office.

Immediately, before the two people in the room could say anything, the door was pushed open, and Gwen, carrying his haul from the past few days, entered the room.

"Um?

Lord Bishop? "

Looking at Otto with some surprise, Gwen quickly realized why Otto was there—

"Are you here today to check on the progress of the experiment?"

"It's not really an inspection, I just had some time and came to take a look."

The feather in his hand, which was behind his back, quietly disappeared, and Otto, as if nothing had happened, wore a warm and welcoming smile.

"Gwen, you should have just gotten back this morning, right? Why did you come straight to the research institute?"

"Yes, research is the priority after all."

Gwen nodded, lifted the box containing the Demon Spirit Stone in his hand, and smiled brightly.

Now, when facing Otto again, Gwen was no longer as apprehensive and cautious as he had been the year before; he was able to face him with composure.

Don't push yourself too hard.

Seeing Gwen's smile, Otto felt a slight stirring in his heart, stood up, and patted Gwen on the shoulder.

"Health is the most important thing..."

I don't want to lose humanity's best future warriors because of some trivial experiment.

"Please rest assured, Your Lord Bishop, I will handle things appropriately."

Gwen straightened his back, head held high, eyes fixed straight ahead, and said solemnly.

If Gwyn hadn't known that the man in front of him was a madman whose heart was only set on a woman who had been dead for five hundred years (according to Treasure of Knowledge), Gwen would almost have been captivated by the man's charisma.

But even now, Gwen can only act.

"Good child, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Seeing Gwen like this, Otto's face showed even more satisfaction, and his voice carried a hint of relief.

"You are still young and have a long way to go. There's no need to rush. The biggest test is to keep going."

"I will try my best to develop this kind of resilience."

Gwen, his expression solemn.

"Yes, that's ambitious."

Otto patted Gwen on the shoulder again with a smile.

"However, this kind of resilience cannot be obtained simply by hard work; a balance between work and rest is also an important part of it."

"..."

Looking at Otto's kind and paternal demeanor, Changguang couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

Could it be that Otto's absurd mission for himself was simply because he admired Gwen's arrangements too much, rather than some kind of conspiracy?

Even with Changguang's supposedly good eyesight, he couldn't see anything fake about Otto, and began to doubt his previous guesses.

"Alright, since you've put it that way, let's continue the experiment this morning—"

I'll lend a hand too; let's try to finish today's task by noon.

After chatting with Gwen for a few more minutes, Otto, who hadn't managed to persuade Gwen to go back, didn't try to persuade him any further and could only say this.

"Your Lord Bishop, you really do care about Gwen..."

Seeing Otto's determined look, Changguang, who had been watching quietly from the sidelines, laughed.

"Well-behaved and sensible children deserve more attention, not be ignored, right?"

Otto simply smiled in response.

Meanwhile, Anna, who had thoroughly freshened up, did not relax as she had said she would. Instead, she changed into her training uniform and headed to the training field...

Chapter 111 An Encounter

Time passed slowly as the research progressed. With the strong support of a certain dedicated Archbishop of Schicksal, the materials Gwen brought back were completely used up by noon.

With the input of a new batch of materials, this research project, which had only been initiated a little over a month ago, has finally begun to show some progress.

"How beautiful..."

Looking at the energy distribution map on the monitor, Changguang, who had wrapped himself up like a dumpling again and could only see a little bit of his skin through the eyepiece, couldn't help but sigh.