I Apologized, and You Still Want Me to Be Sincere?

For some reason, he felt the kind of worry a mother had when her son traveled far from home.

Kiana, Kiana... if things really turned out as he thought, then it was fortunate that she hadn't caught up this time.

Only after returning home did Otto and Cecilia let go of each other's hands.

The woman had been staring blankly into space, seemingly lost in thought. After a long while, she finally spoke. "Sniper sniper rifle... what was that?"

"What sniper sniper rifle?"

Otto lay on the sofa, taking a moment to process it.

"I mean... the sniper—sniper rifle you mentioned earlier," Cecilia said somewhat anxiously, gesturing with both hands as she imitated Otto's tone. "You even corrected Durandal."

Oh, the sniper rifle... Say, miss, had she considered the possibility that he had simply repeated himself?

This Cecilia was adorably spacey.jpg

"For me," Otto answered with his eyes closed, too lazy to move, "I only see the benefits involved."

"Then... what about Miss Durandal?"

"That depends on fate," Otto replied. "As long as she doesn't get shot, anything can be discussed—I'll still need to keep an eye on her afterward."

"Thank you." Otto heard Cecilia let out a sigh of relief.

"I watched her grow up, and we have a very good relationship," he began playing the emotional card without changing expression. "For example, just now, she could bypass the secretary and report directly to me. She is the best student in my heart. You needn't thank me for that."

"Okay." Cecilia responded, saying nothing else as a relieved smile appeared on her face.

"Of course, I have no plans to send her there for the time being."

Otto considered the woman's thoughts before answering.

"She'll soon go into seclusion to prepare. In three days, she can submit an application to Amber for the S-rank Valkyrie examination. Around the beginning of the year, she'll become an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal."

"S-rank Valkyrie..." Cecilia seemed to grasp fragments of a memory: a Valkyrie being awarded a medal by a blond man. "Then... it must be very hard, right?"

"..."

She hadn't even recognized her yet, and she was already worrying like a mother...

For who knew how many times, Otto marveled at the telepathic bond between this mother and daughter. He nodded. "Yes, it's quite tiring. If I were her father, I'd want nothing more than to take all her work upon myself and let her play happily with her friends for a few days."

"Then... where is her father?"

"He went off in pursuit of freedom," Otto said, having been waiting to poison the well. "He took one of my experimental subjects, claiming it was for her freedom and protection. As a result, he was separated from both himself and his daughter. Then, unable to control it, he abandoned that experimental subject in the wilderness and ran off to another organization."

"That... experimental subject... sounds rather pitiful."

"...?"

How powerful did her sixth sense have to be to so accurately feel sorry for her own child from those two highly leading topics?!

Otto opened his eyes, his gaze filled with shock.

Were women's instincts all this terrifying?!

Cecilia felt uncomfortable beneath his fixed stare. She shifted her delicate body and asked, "Brother, what are we doing next?"

"Judging by the distance, it really was quite a walk from the office to here," Otto said after thinking for a moment, rising from the sofa. "Then—sleep."

"Sleep?"

Cecilia's mind went a little blank, but that didn't stop her from washing up, changing into the pajamas Amber had delivered earlier, and then waiting beside Otto.

The man understood and led Cecilia toward the master bedroom. "You'll have to make do with this room tonight. Afterward, we can consider whether you should move into a new home or return to your old residence."

It wasn't an inconvenience.

Cecilia heard her heart answer.

Lying in bed, she looked at the man standing at the doorway. For a moment, she felt the urge to ask him to sleep here as well and keep her company.

The moment that thought arose, her unfathomable memories snuffed it out completely. The fragments that were becoming clearer and clearer told her that, no matter what, she should try not to trouble the man before her.

Besides, he was definitely in this home.

He would be here. So, she didn't need to fear loneliness.

Her churning thoughts gradually subsided, but deep in her heart, an unnamed little seed slipped inside, waiting to take root and sprout.

Brother... was such a gentle person, someone who made her feel safe.

Sleepiness washed over her. Cecilia mumbled a "Good night" toward the doorway, then collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep the instant her head touched the pillow.

Thirteen years of hibernation were still different from truly sleeping.

Especially such a slumber, one practically akin to brain death. Her brain had only returned to normal after Otto gave the Book of Origin its command.

Otto stood at the doorway, watching Cecilia fall asleep with her little head pressed to the pillow before she had even pulled up the blanket. He smiled gently.

Being able to fall asleep so relaxedly meant she had enough trust in him...

Otto tucked Cecilia in, then walked out and sat on the sofa. He closed his eyes to rest while reviewing everything he had done before bed.

The past few hours had truly been extraordinary: transmigrating into Otto Apocalypse, gaining Void Archives' recognition, obtaining a cheat, rescuing Cecilia Schariac, accompanying this amnesiac Saintess of Schicksal while she bathed, wandered around, and ate, flirting with Cecilia in front of Durandal...

During that time, he had also arranged things for Theresa and Siegfried, initiated a conquest plan against World Serpent, and occasionally turned his gaze toward Anti-Entropy...

He didn't know how what he had done compared to the original Otto, nor did he dare guarantee that he could bring about any great changes to the future. After all, he had taken over the body of the pinnacle of human intelligence in the current civilization. Anyone sitting in his place would be uneasy.

Chapter 16: I Apologized, and You Still Want Me to Be Sincere?

Winning over the Saintess and weakening Kevin were among the few moves his intelligence could come up with.

There would probably be countless troublesome matters ahead...

He could only take one step at a time.

Ha, it was funny. When the thought of taking one step at a time appeared in his mind, he unconsciously questioned himself: if it were the original Otto, would he live so planlessly?

He had caught Otto fever.

"No matter what," the current Archbishop of Schicksal murmured in a voice too indistinct for outsiders to hear, "with the game's plot and the ancient records of time, my contributions in fighting Honkai will not be inferior to yours."

"I will weave a colossal lie and make even the gods dance to my tune."

His consciousness grew hazy. In the blur, he seemed to hear a girl angrily screaming at him from some distant place.

"Grandpa!!!"

Otto leisurely shrank Oath of Judah into a tiny cross—Oath of Judah had already removed all superfluous components, including the device that restrained the activity of the Honkai Beast genes inside Theresa, and no longer weighed half a ton—and wore it around his right wrist. Then, he leisurely asked Theresa through the video call:

"What is it? Which bastard bullied my dear granddaughter?"

He was sitting by the table, with Rita, the black-stockinged maid who had delivered Oath of Judah, standing behind him.

It was the next morning. After Otto lifted the block, Theresa finally managed to connect to his video call after eighty failed attempts.

Just as he intended.

"Who else besides you, you rotten grandpa?!"

The forty-something loli glared furiously. The anger over what was stored in St. Freya's basement and her rage at being unable to reach Otto for so long erupted together. "You know what I want to say! You know better than anyone what you did!!!"

"Oh, Theresa," Otto answered with a smile, "didn't I merely take your Divine Key? But you still have me! In my heart, little Theresa has always been the second cutest in the world~"

"Who wants you, you rotten grandpa—wait, no!" Theresa jumped up, only to have her attention diverted. "What? Second cutest in the world! Then who's the cutest in the world?!"

"Why, of course it's Schicksal's most hardworking and diligent Valkyrie, little Durandal."

Rita behind Otto and Cecilia, who was sitting blankly on the bed with sleepy eyes, both lit up.

"Waaaaaah!!!" Theresa's shout nearly pierced the sky. "You are the most hateful grandpa in the world!!!"

"Oh, sorry."

"Hm." Theresa's anger eased slightly because of Otto's sudden apology. "And then?"

"And then?—Nothing else, right? Then—goodbye, little Theresa?"

"Grand—pa!!! Your apology isn't sincere at all!!!"

"Huh? I already apologized, and little Theresa still wants me to be sincere?"

Otto tilted his head as if he had heard something novel.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! I'm coming to Schicksal right now!"

"Rita, notify Schicksal's air harbor. Refuse entry to anyone from the Far East Branch."

Otto leaned back, only to bump into a pair of soft, elastic hemispheres.

Tch, and they smelled rather nice.

"As you command, Lord Bishop."

Rita's face reddened as she hurriedly stood straight—she had wanted to see Theresa get angry, so she had unconsciously leaned a little closer.

"Grandpa, how dare you!!!"

Otto rolled his eyes. "It's December 24th, Christmas Eve tonight. If you intend to abandon all the vacation reports from St. Freya's Valkyries and come here to cause trouble the day before Christmas, then I'll have no choice but to discuss St. Freya's future affiliation with you."

Though he himself hadn't set much of an example, still... he had Amber. Did Theresa have a secretary this capable?!

Otto caught sight of a red figure flashing by nearby and suddenly had an idea. "Oh, right, Murata Himeko beside you is quite good. While talking with you, I've seen her taking care of you several times. She looks like a very responsible person."

"Himeko?" Theresa reacted as if she had heard a joke. "Responsible? Grandpa, you have no idea how little restraint she has when drinking... Fine, fine, I won't badmouth you."

As if she had encountered her natural predator, she shrank her head back.

"Haha, it seems little Theresa is having a wonderful time at St. Freya." Otto interlaced his fingers. "Hello, Murata Himeko. I'm sorry my granddaughter has caused you trouble."

"Oh, no, it hasn't been much trouble, Lord Bishop." The red-clad woman in her twenties appeared on screen, seeming to want to say something but looking somewhat restrained.

"If I'm not mistaken, you have some familial relation to Murata Ryusuke?"

"Yes, yes, I'm his daughter." Himeko looked excited.

"Ah, your father was an important contributor to Schicksal." Otto drew upon memories from the manga "Alien Space." "He repaired an important Divine Key for Schicksal."

Murata Ryusuke had been responsible for repairing the Fourth Divine Key, the weather satellite.

Though that bastard later wrecked it again.

"Really?" Himeko still looked excited while forcing herself to remain composed. "Then where is he now... Sorry, Lord Bishop, what I mean is, is he doing well?"

He was dead. He had tried to obtain the Herrscher of Reason's core and Anti-Entropy's leader position, only to be crippled by Welt.

But Otto could not possibly say that. Let her investigate for herself, then obtain a processed result under his guidance. That would be more convincing than telling Himeko directly.

Although it would take more time and effort, the resulting trust would be far greater.

After all, Himeko had a clear and undeniable blood feud with Anti-Entropy over her father's death.

As long as he quietly pushed things along, as long as he lightly placed his pieces in details like these... St. Freya would become the thread through which Schicksal controlled Anti-Entropy's actions.

It would become a human puppet that could sustain itself, one that could be used repeatedly.

"I can't answer that question." He shrugged while refining his plan in his mind. "Later, he took part of the Divine Key's information to Anti-Entropy, and then vanished without a trace."

A silence fell. Everyone knew what that meant.

Betrayal.

Himeko's father, Murata Ryusuke, was a traitor to Schicksal.

The red-haired woman raised her head as if to say something, then lowered it again. She pressed her lips together before finally speaking in a somewhat timid voice. "I'm sorry, Lord Bishop."

"There is nothing to apologize for, Himeko." Otto quietly dropped the words "Murata," deliberately drawing closer to her. "Your father may have had more advanced ideas, so he left Schicksal—after all, every move Schicksal made affected humanity's fate, so we were somewhat hesitant to advance. That disappointed your father."