Theresa being treated by Oleg like a little girl and urged to behave made everyone burst into laughter. Sampo was having a hard time holding it in, his shoulders shaking wildly, while the Stellaron Hunters and Bronya struggled not to laugh as they watched Theresa's face darken.
"I'm not a child! As for how old I am, I don't want to say. A girl's age is a secret! In any case, I'm an adult!"
Theresa shouted in an annoyed, sweet voice. Yet even her indignant babyish voice made Oleg doubt that she was an adult.
"Ahem, Leader Oleg, Theresa really is an adult. We can vouch for her."
Dan Heng maintained his composure and did not laugh as he spoke to Oleg, though the corners of his twitching mouth proved just how hard he was holding it in.
"Haha, that's right. Don't be fooled by how tiny she is, actually, she, uh..."
"Forget it. I'm fine now..."
Before March 7th could finish, Theresa suddenly turned and fixed her with a knowing stare. March 7th shuddered and gave an awkward smile.
She was sure that if she dared say it, that enormous Judas would smash down on her head. That would only make her already dim little brain even worse. March 7th did not want to become an idiot!
"That's right, Leader Oleg. She really is an adult."
After struggling to suppress his laughter, Sampo finally let out a breath and explained to Oleg.
"Huh? This little runt is an adult?"
Seele—with no surname—looked at the utterly adorable Theresa in confusion and complained.
"Why would I lie to you? I don't want to pretend to be young and act cute. That's disgusting!"
Theresa glared at Seele angrily. A mere Quantum Head-splitter actually dared mock her for being short. Later, she would stir things up in front of Bronya and make Bronya properly teach♀her a lesson!
Emm, as long as Bronya did not advance Seele's action, it probably would not be Seele's turn for the whole night, right? At the very least, Bronya should be able to take the initiative once?
"Uh, fine. Let's just say you're an adult. You all know why I had Sampo bring you here, right?"
Oleg gestured to the Underworld Fire members, and they began to leave one after another. Now that they were getting down to business, only Seele and Sampo remained at Oleg's side as Underworld Fire began communicating with the Stellaron Hunters and Bronya.
"I'll do it."
Dan Heng was genuinely afraid that Theresa would suddenly start acting foolish halfway through the discussion, so he quickly stepped forward.
Theresa was naturally delighted at the chance to slack off. She smiled knowingly, walked over to Bronya, then jumped into her lap. Bronya gave the light Theresa in her arms a surprised glance and smiled, holding Theresa as she sat down in a chair.
For some reason, Seele felt that Bronya looked familiar, as if she had known her when she was little.
She stared sourly at Bronya and Theresa in her arms. She found the feeling hard to describe. She suddenly felt very unhappy, seized by a bitter, awkward sensation that made her angrily clench the long handle of her scythe.
Dan Heng also sat down across from Oleg, while Sampo poured everyone water with a fawning smile. He seemed to sense that Seele was upset, and fearing that she might take her scythe to him, he hurriedly found something to do by pouring water for everyone.
"Yes, we have a conflict with that Cocolia from the Upper City. She has put out a citywide warrant for our arrest on fabricated charges of endangering Belobog. Left with no choice, we came to the Lower City. After clearing out the Fighting Club that had been squeezing the Lower City dry, we received Sampo's invitation, which led to today's meeting."
"We have come here to cooperate with Underworld Fire and jointly resist the pressure from the Upper City."
Dan Heng spoke calmly and directly to Oleg. In truth, he did not expect Underworld Fire to be of much help. During his trailblazing journey, he had seen all kinds of scheming and deception. This negotiation was more like a contest of mutual interests.
Dan Heng's blunt words also caught Oleg off guard. He had seen negotiations that threw out trump cards right from the start, but when he saw Dan Heng's calm and resolute expression, he knew that Underworld Fire had no choice.
"Heh, you're a very straightforward young man. But I appreciate that straightforward personality."
"Ever since the Supreme Guardian suddenly ordered the Guards withdrawn from the Lower City, we Lower City folk who refused to meekly await death began to unite on our own. We endured countless hardships before finally establishing Underworld Fire."
"And since I once served in the Silvermane Guard, I taught the Underworld Fire members the Guard's training methods, allowing them to quickly grow strong enough to fight those terrifying Abyss Monsters."
"But battles are not won simply because you want to win. When I led those fine lads into battle, the poverty here meant that the equipment and weapons we produced were nowhere near comparable to those of the Upper City. As a result, Underworld Fire's first battle suffered grievous casualties. Hundreds of fine lads, heh..."
"Only a little over a hundred returned, barely clinging to life. You can imagine how devastating that was to the morale of our first deployment!"
"But we had no choice. If we did not crusade against those Abyss Monsters, then one day they would break through Rocktown's defensive checkpoint. Rivet Town had already fallen in exactly that way. We only have this last town left. There is nowhere left for us to retreat!"
"So I beg you, help the Lower City. Save the people here!"
Oleg looked at Dan Heng, tears streaming down his face as he shouted. Seele lowered her head and bit her lip. Her home, the orphanage in Rivet Town, had been destroyed this way. Half the children who evacuated had been left behind there by those hateful Abyss Monsters.
Natasha had protected her as she and the others struggled to break through with Underworld Fire's help. Those Underworld Fire members who had protected them kept falling amid the monsters' roars.
The splashing blood had been deeply etched into the heart of the still-young Seele. She did not want to be so powerless again!
In the end, she, Natasha, and several children were rescued by Underworld Fire and brought back to Rocktown, where Oleg adopted her. After being saved, the girl began training every day without rest. She had to get stronger as quickly as possible. She had to avenge everyone!
It was precisely because of that belief in vengeance that she awakened to the Path of the Hunt and became a Pathstrider.
Later, she acquired a weapon Sampo had scavenged—this incredibly light, swift, and razor-sharp scythe in her hand. After receiving it, she made up her mind to become the grim reaper of those Abyss Monsters. She would reap their lives with her scythe and make them atone for the people who had died.
To that end, she began training herself every day. With Oleg, a retired Guard, giving her proper training, Seele's physical fitness gradually improved.
And with the support of some power of the Path of the Hunt, she did not become covered in muscles from the intense training, instead retaining the slender figure a girl should have.
{Work was exhausting today, so just one update for now. I'll return to two updates tomorrow.}
Daily image. As expected of the Quantum team—there was no sense of mismatch at all!
Before you continue