In Arknights, Becoming Griseo at the Start

"W... you said that child was highly valued, so don't go poking around her. Be careful not to get yourself burned."

"Tch, it's not like I'm going to do anything to her."

After hearing Ines's warning, W clicked her tongue softly and put away the teasing smile on her face.

Still, while her smile had vanished, the excitement and curiosity in her eyes had not diminished in the slightest.

"Listen to Ines and be careful. That child's summon is no weakling."

Seeing W like this, Hedley spread his hands helplessly and gave her a warning.

But knowing W's personality, he did not say much more. After those two sentences, he fell silent.

"..."

As Griseo walked alongside Alyona, she could be said to be starting to regret coming out of the tent a little.

Although the little girl's expression had not changed, nor had there been much change in her gaze, the hand clutching her companion's tightened unconsciously.

#

As for why she regretted it...

The reason was simple. Because of what Griseo had shown earlier, the moment she stepped out of the tent this time, she became the center of everyone's attention.

It was even worse than before. If people had previously merely looked Griseo over out of curiosity and confusion, quickly losing interest afterward...

Then now, it was blatant, intense attention. Wherever the little girl went, all kinds of complicated gazes followed her, openly and covertly...

Most of those gazes were not malicious, and they were not particularly close either, but this time, Griseo truly felt a little uncomfortable.

The little girl had thought that, influenced by Griseo's memories, she would no longer care about other people's gazes or actions at all...

But she now realized she had been wrong. It was not that she did not care; it was simply that things had not reached a certain point yet.

"Hm?"

Feeling the little hand holding hers tighten, Alyona froze slightly before quickly reacting. She adjusted her position and shielded Griseo from much of the attention.

"Does it feel unpleasant? If it does, let's go back. If it's something important, I can help you find Talulah." As she spoke, Alyona turned around and looked at Griseo with concern.

"I'm fine. I'm just not used to it. As long as Alyona is with me, it's okay."

Looking into her companion's worried eyes, the light in Griseo's eyes flickered slightly. Then she gently shook her little head.

"..."

Although Alyona did not say anything, the helpless look in her eyes seemed to say, Honestly, what am I supposed to do with you?

"Um... Mister Knight."

Seeing the helpless look in her companion's eyes, a trace of amusement flashed through Griseo's beautiful violet eyes. Then she called softly.

Since this had already made her uncomfortable, the little girl naturally did not intend to keep enduring it. Rather than slowly walking over there, she might as well summon Mister Knight directly.

After the azure knight appeared, he first gave an elegant bow. Then, with light movements, he picked up his little princess and her companion before continuing toward Talulah.

Because of Mister Knight's sudden appearance, the intense attention surrounding Griseo was instantly reduced by more than half. Most of what remained was also blocked by the azure knight.

"Um..."

For a moment, Griseo did not know what to say.

If she had known those people would react this way upon seeing Mister Knight, she would definitely have summoned him the moment she left the tent.

"..."

As W sat beside the campfire, bored out of her mind, fragments of a discussion from another campfire nearby drifted into her ears.

It made her narrow her golden eyes slightly.

At the same time, the conversation over there continued...

"Just now, I saw that little girl and that knight over there. It looked like they were searching for something..."

The two people beside W knew from her expression that she had gotten excited and was about to stir up trouble.

However, Ines and Hedley both knew that W still had some sense of restraint in this regard, so neither of them said anything more.

P.S. My tooth hurts so badly. The more I write, the more irritable I get. So annoying. I'll write a few more slice-of-life chapters next, then lay some groundwork. This arc can temporarily come to an end after that, since there will not be any major events on Griseo's side for a while—just daily life.

Give it a little push, everyone. Good night.

Staining and Griseo's Smile

As Griseo lay in Mister Knight's arms, wandering through the camp in search of Talulah, she suddenly seemed to sense something. She tilted her face slightly and looked to the right.

At that moment, the azure knight seemed to understand his princess's needs as well. He temporarily stopped moving and simply stood there quietly, holding the two little ones in his arms.

"..."

When Griseo turned to look, her gaze immediately met a pair of golden eyes filled with excitement and curiosity.

After seeing who those eyes belonged to, the little girl's heart skipped a beat, and she silently thought that things were bad.

Although Griseo had previously considered taking the initiative to approach W, that had only been a thought. At least for the time being, she did not intend to act on it.

But now, before the little girl could make a move herself, it seemed that someone had already set their sights on her...

Knowing W's personality fairly well, Griseo could say with certainty, after seeing the emotions in her eyes, that W had become interested in her. Unless something unexpected happened, there would be no shortage of pranks and interactions from her in the future.

For a moment, the little girl did not even know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing... If possible, she would even rather replace W with that Sarkaz Big Girl, Mudrock.

Of course, Griseo knew that was unrealistic, so she only thought about it.

"Heh..."

When W, standing some distance away, saw the azure knight stop and the child in his arms meet her gaze, the light in her eyes flickered. Her lips slowly curled into a wicked smirk aimed at Griseo.

If it had been an ordinary child, suddenly meeting W's smile would definitely have startled them, perhaps even frightened them.

But Griseo was not an ordinary child. She could even be called special. However...

"..."

Griseo, whose face had always been expressionless and whose eyes had held little emotion, suddenly changed after staring at W for a while and seeing the mixed colors behind her wicked smile.

The innocent, pure aura around the little girl was swept away, replaced by madness and delight. Yet this seemingly contradictory temperament was strangely not out of place on her at all.

Then Griseo raised a hand and gently brushed her tender lips. Her own lips slowly curled upward as she returned W's wicked smirk with one almost identical to it.

"..."

Perhaps because the contrast before and after had been too great, W herself froze for a moment when she saw Griseo's smile.

However, she quickly recovered. The interest and excitement in her beautiful golden eyes grew even stronger.

But just as W was about to do something else, she suddenly stopped. Although the look in her eyes remained unchanged, the smile on her face faded.

Then Griseo's large violet eyes, now filled with madness, were suddenly covered by a pair of small hands with thin calluses.

This abrupt development directly cut off the eye contact between the little girl and W. More precisely, it stopped the little girl from continuing to look at the colors on W.

At the same time—

Talulah had just finished discussing the next plan with Patriot and the others when she left the tent and saw the azure knight in the distance, along with the two little ones in his arms...

Then the Dragon Girl followed the direction Griseo was facing and spotted the mercenary W. Her mouth twitched at first.

Then, upon noticing the wicked smile on her little one's face, her mind went blank with a buzz. Once she recovered, she quickly ran toward Griseo.

"Why did you come out?"

After rushing to Griseo's side in one breath, Talulah carefully stood in front of her, shielding her from everyone else's eyes as she asked helplessly.

"..."

After hearing Talulah's words, Griseo, whose eyes were still covered by Alyona's hands, merely had the ahoge atop her little head sway. She did not answer.

Because the little girl had not yet shaken off W's influence and needed to calm down. Besides, she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, W's fully sarcastic way of speaking would come out instead...

"Hm? Does it feel bad?"

Seeing Griseo remain motionless without answering her question, Talulah frowned slightly, her tone filled with concern.

After all, despite the distance, the Dragon Girl had clearly seen that wicked smile on Griseo's face just now.

"She should be fine. She just got stained by someone else's colors." Seeing Talulah frown, Alyona slowly removed her hands and explained.

"..."

Talulah did not say anything after hearing that. Instead, she turned to look at W, who was still standing some distance away.

When W noticed the Dragon Girl's gaze, she showed no fear or intention of avoiding it. Instead, she spread her hands with an expression that was rather punchable.

Then, apparently finding it boring, she did not linger any longer. After waving her hand, she turned and left, leaving only her back behind.

Seeing W act this way, Talulah could not figure out what she had come for.

"?"

At that moment, Yelena also noticed the situation here. As she walked over, she used her eyes to ask what had happened.

"The little one suddenly ran out and accidentally got stained by someone else's colors. Come on, let's find somewhere without people and let her settle down first."

Meeting Yelena's questioning gaze, Talulah showed a helpless expression and explained.

After saying that, the Dragon Girl looked toward the azure knight. Her meaning was obvious.

"..."

After the knight nodded, the group headed toward the tent where they had just been discussing matters.

Inside the tent—

Although Griseo had been stained by W's colors this time, the contact had been interrupted midway and had not lasted long. Thus, she quickly broke free from the colors and returned to normal.

After she recovered, the others—including Patriot, who had returned—turned their gazes toward her.

However, Talulah and Yelena merely wanted to ask what Griseo had come to find them for. Patriot, on the other hand, wanted to know about the two Elite Guards from earlier.

Being stared at by three people at once, Griseo's large eyes flashed with a trace of guilt. She hurriedly explained, "Um... I remembered something important, so I came to find Talulah."

After all, the little girl still remembered that she had sneaked out... and she still remembered that she had promised Talulah earlier that day not to run around.

P.S. Come to think of it, I suddenly kind of want to write about Female Su. That bad girl with shoulder-length short hair. I found her kind of appealing.

W's Discovery

"Hm? You came to find me? What is it?"

Talulah noticed the fleeting guilt from her little one just now, but she did not say anything. Instead, she reached out and rubbed Griseo's soft blue hair.

?

"Um..."

After not hearing the scolding she had expected, a glimmer of light flashed through Griseo's eyes. She blinked softly before saying, "It's about that painting from before."

"It's no use staying with me, so I plan to give it to Talulah."

After the little girl finished speaking, she took the "Elite Guard" out of her space and held it out to Talulah.

At that moment, the gazes of all four people present unconsciously fell upon the painting in Griseo's hands as they examined it.

"Mm... Little one, are they still alive?"

Looking at the painting held out before her, Talulah accepted it and asked curiously.

"I did not hurt them. I merely invited them into the world inside the painting. If Talulah needs it, I can release them as well."

Hearing Talulah's question, Griseo gently shook her little head and explained with a serious expression.

After the little girl finished speaking, before Talulah could react, the red light in Patriot's eyes flickered as though he had thought of something.

After all, the purpose—or rather, the confusion—behind his visit this time had just been answered.

Yet even Patriot could not help sighing inwardly at the power of Griseo's abilities.

Especially this ability to seal people within paintings. Aside from requiring some preparation time, it was practically the perfect weapon against people like Elite Guards—walking pollution bombs.