In Arknights, Starting as Griseo

However, not fully believing her was one thing; satisfying the little cutie's small wish was another.

"..."

After Talulah agreed, Griseo turned her gaze toward Alina beside her, silently asking for her opinion.

"Hehe~" Alina chuckled, nodded, and teased, "Go on. Tonight, Talulah will be in little Griseo's care~"

"Mm, I will." The little girl obediently nodded.

"What? Obviously, I'm the one taking care of Griseo!" Hearing her best friend's teasing, Talulah smiled and argued, "And you little rascal actually nodded!"

"Hehe~"

"Alina, you're still laughing!"

After that exchange, Griseo more or less managed to stay behind. That night, she also successfully followed Talulah to her tent.

The pitch-black night—

"All right, get some sleep early. I saw you yawning over there earlier." Talulah stood by her bed and reached out to pat Griseo's little head.

"Mm, then what about Sister Talulah?"

"Me? I still need to look over a few things. I'll go to sleep later." As she spoke, Talulah pointed toward the table nearby.

Hearing that, Griseo could only helplessly nod and softly say, "All right... Sister Talulah, remember to rest early."

As the leader of the Reunion Movement, Talulah naturally had many matters to handle. But Griseo was completely unable to help with that sort of thing.

Still, she had already decided to find a chance to properly display her strength before Talulah as the leader.

Because Griseo no longer wanted to be protected like a child. She wanted to protect others, and she could clearly fight too. She was even very strong.

Of course, Griseo had also made two preparations regarding joining operations. If Talulah and the others still refused to let her participate after she showed her strength...

Griseo would switch identities and interfere that way...

After all, she had spent even longer in Yelena's arms tonight than she had yesterday, and Sakura's unlock progress had been pushed straight to 75%.

If nothing unexpected happened, she would only need to cuddle once more before Griseo could unlock a new identity. When that happened, she could simply take Sakura and return to her old trade.

"..."

As she lay in bed thinking, sleepiness gradually washed over Griseo. In the end, she slowly drifted into sleep and went to see Mister Crab.

Within the entire tent, aside from Griseo's steady breathing, only the soft scratch of Talulah writing remained.

But who knew how much time had passed...

"!"

P.S. The second chapter today should still be out before midnight. Send some votes my way.

On the Matter of Shearing the Black Serpent's... Snake Scales

"!"

Griseo, who had been having a pleasant dream in bed, suddenly sensed an uncomfortable aura and was instantly startled awake. She opened her violet eyes, still tinged with confusion.

Then, rubbing her eyes, she slowly sat up and observed her surroundings.

It was then that Griseo noticed no one was beside her. Talulah, who should have already gone to sleep, was currently sprawled across the table lit by a dim candle, seeming to be asleep.

But Griseo did not think Talulah was merely asleep. Others might not be able to see anything strange, but she saw it clearly.

In her eyes, a faint, illusory black mist surrounded the Dragon Girl sprawled over the table, and that layer of black mist was constantly churning.

Griseo did not need to guess what that black mist was. As for why this situation had suddenly appeared, she felt that her painting must have taken effect.

And just as she was about to get out of bed and do something... an unexpected voice suddenly rang out.

Ding. "Infinite" Mobius is being unlocked. Unlock progress: 1%.

"...???)!"

"???)???"

After clearly hearing the voice in her mind, Griseo froze halfway through getting out of bed. Although her little face remained expressionless, her eyes were filled with shock and confusion.

Her little head had already been somewhat muddled from being awakened unnaturally, and this sudden blow left her utterly dumbfounded...

"..."

"!"

After taking a while to recover, Griseo finally reacted. She reached out and pinched her little face, and only after feeling a trace of pain did she finally confirm that she was not dreaming.

?

Then, Griseo quickly summoned her panel and flipped to Mobius.

Sure enough, just as she expected, Mobius, whose specific unlock method had not previously been displayed, now had one marked on her panel.

"Infinite" Mobius

Unlock method: Collect nightmare value from the Black Serpent (Koschei)

Current unlock progress: 2%

The instant she saw the unlock method, Griseo was so happy that she nearly jumped up and cheered. Unfortunately, her naturally blank expression restrained her actions.

This time... in her view, it was like receiving a pillow just when she felt sleepy. She had struck it rich.

It was only then that Griseo finally realized what had happened tonight.

To verify her thoughts, she nimbly jumped down from the bed and walked toward Talulah, leaving one little footprint after another.

After reaching the Dragon Girl's side, Griseo first took a deep look at the still-churning black mist.

Then she reached out with her little hand, gently pushed Talulah's shoulder, and softly called, "Sister Talulah... wake up."

"..."

Yet Talulah showed no reaction at all to Griseo's shaking and calling, as though she had fainted.

At that moment, Griseo completely understood what was going on.

Not only had her painting worked tonight, its effect had been exceptionally good. It had merely been delayed slightly.

?

As for why she said that, it was because Griseo had just discovered through contact that the painting's power had affected not only Talulah, but also the snake inhabiting the Dragon Girl's body.

If nothing unexpected had happened, the Black Serpent was currently seeing the thing it feared most deep inside... As for what exactly that was, the little girl had no way of knowing.

Of course, Griseo also did not know what Talulah had seen or what she was currently experiencing.

"Mister Knight... please help carry Talulah to the bed."

Griseo slowly withdrew the hand resting on Talulah's shoulder, then softly called for her loyal knight.

The azure Mister Knight responded to his princess's summons at the fastest speed possible, appearing beside Griseo almost instantly.

Then, he carried out the command his princess had just given, gently and gallantly lifting Talulah into his arms and walking toward the bed.

As Griseo watched Mister Knight's movements, her little mind had already started turning.

Now that she knew Mobius's unlock method, she naturally had to keep harvesting it until she unlocked the snake.

But Griseo knew Koschei was no fool. Being caught off guard like this would happen at most once. If there were a next time, he might run away... and possess someone else.

By then, catching the Black Serpent again to shear its wool... snake scales would not be so easy.

So Griseo had to take advantage of the Black Serpent still being affected and think of a foolproof way to harvest snake scales...

Even if she accidentally let the Black Serpent escape in the end, it would have to be after Mobius had been completely unlocked.

"Ugh..."

After thinking for a while, Griseo could not come up with a particularly good method for the moment.

Keeping the Black Serpent was simple. She only had to paint something now and seal him inside it. But making him constantly afraid was difficult, because a "dream" would eventually end.

"Ah..."

Just as Griseo stood on the ground deep in thought, Mister Knight moved to her side at some point, scooped her up, placed her on the bed, and gently tucked her in.

"Mm... thank you, Mister Knight."

Feeling the warmth beneath the blanket, Griseo comfortably narrowed her eyes before politely thanking her Mister Knight.

After thinking for quite a while longer, Griseo still could not come up with a better way. In the end, she decided to use the stupidest method to obtain nightmare value from the Black Serpent.

As for that stupid method... it was to extend the time the Black Serpent spent confronting its fear this time, until she collected enough nightmare value.

The method of extending it was simple as well. She only needed to use the Black Serpent's color to paint something and place it before Talulah.

"Mister Knight..."

Just as Griseo was about to call Mister Knight and state what she needed, he had already acted ahead of her and set up the easel.

"...Amazing."

After marveling at Mister Knight, Griseo left the warm blankets once again and sat on her own little stool.

Since she did not know when the Black Serpent's state would end, time was tight. This time, Griseo directly took out her exclusive weapon, Starlight of the Past, to assist with her painting.

This time, she planned to prepare two paintings. One would extend the effect on the Black Serpent, while the other would seal Koschei away and prevent him from escaping...

P.S. I'm exhausted. Going to sleep. Good night.

Tomorrow, I need to properly think about what the Black Serpent is confronting as its fear...

Today's increase in favorites wasn't great. Send some votes my way.

Sleep Well... Talulah

After coming up with an idea, Griseo dipped into the Black Serpent's color and began painting.

What, you ask why she had not been dyed with the Black Serpent's color?

Don't even think about it. Never in this lifetime. Griseo would absolutely not allow herself to be dyed that pitch-black, obviously abnormal color. What if she turned bad?

Thus, for the sake of the little snake's unlock progress, the little girl stayed up in the middle of the night and kept working hard.

Within Koschei's dream...

"How... how is this possible..."

Koschei, who had lost the game, was currently listening in shock to the report from his subordinates, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Ursus... How could Ursus be destroyed by a rabble like them?! Impossible!"

Bang—

At that moment, the manor's gates were viciously kicked open from outside. As the doors opened, blazing flames carrying terrifying heat swept in from beyond.

"Nothing is impossible, Koschei... It is time for you and me to settle things."

As she spoke, Talulah stepped in from outside. With every step she took, the ground melted a little more...

"Settle things? Hahaha, you cannot kill me, Talulah... my dear daughter."

Koschei, who had been wearing an expression of disbelief, instead relaxed upon seeing Talulah and burst into laughter.

"I may have lost this game, but you cannot kill me. As long as I live, I will have another chance to rise again!"

"Is that so?"

Hearing Koschei's words, the mature Dragon Girl's expression did not change at all. She merely tightened her grip on the sword in her hand and fixed her prey with a sharp gaze.

In the next instant, terrifying flames erupted like a hunting red dragon—ferocious and blazing.

"It is merely a body... Wha—! Aaaah!"