Because I Am Surtr

Then—

Plop—

A pile of documents, at least a foot high, was unceremoniously placed in front of her by the white rabbit beside her. A white Caster, smiling.

"Amiya, you still have a lot of work to do, you can't rest yet."

Amiya's pointed ears and the smile that had just begun to form froze. At the same time, the sound of an elevator door opening and another set of hurried footsteps could be heard from the hallway—and so she could only slump down, her ears drooping, and wave goodbye to Miss Provence.

And so the wolf lady left.

She walked out of the office, making way for the hurried clerks. The glow of the setting sun gradually disappeared outside the window, leaving only the faint twilight to paint the land.

Then, she saw a red figure standing at the end of the hallway.

Her fiery red hair seemed passionate yet lonely in solitude. Time and space seemed to stretch infinitely, with only the presence of the girl at the edge of her vision becoming infinitely prominent.

The figure seemed to sense something, turned, and looked back.

A light breeze stirred.

The last trace of twilight in the world converged in the depths of her scarlet eyes.

Time and space continued to operate.

And she, must be Surtr.

………………………………

Wrote about five thousand characters… My hands just can't stop, ahaha (:з」∠)

Also, using 42 in Contracts really lowers my IQ. For now, I'll assume reaching the top here (I can't even find a low-unit Contract above 23 without 42…)

Chapter 40: Sesame, Sesame, Open Up

Surtr was spacing out.

Yes, literally spacing out.

Because she had been busy all day, and even a handyman gets tired occasionally. First, she dealt with a bunch of troublesome matters for the Reunion Movement, then she cleared out an area in District 59. When the timing was right, she unleashed a heavy cleave at the Cataclysm clouds in the sky with her full power. And after these planned tasks were completed, Persephone piled on a bunch of unplanned, miscellaneous chores.

After all, the Ember Demon is the Ember Demon, and the Fire Giant King is the Fire Giant King. Now that Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals had taken over Chernobog and stepped into the spotlight, it was bound to attract the attention of various international ambitious figures. According to Talulah's previous strategy, the Ember Demon's actions against the Infected and Originium Cataclysms would have a chance to buy the Infected a little breathing room. But to inherit this legacy of Reunion, the successor's first task would be to distance themselves from the Ember Demon… but not entirely.

Whether others believed it or not was another matter, but at least it would give the major international powers an excuse to play dumb. After all, even a muscle-brained warmonger like Yan Ke could see Surtr's true identity through the simultaneous appearance of the mercenary Fire Giant King and the Ember Demon, as well as Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals inheriting the legacy of the Reunion Movement. And on this land of Terra, there were surely many more intelligent minds than this Swordmaster.

In short, Persephone used a lot of strange—because someone couldn't understand half of it, it felt strange—reasons to prove that Miss Surtr could not rest yet and had to work overtime like Amiya. Thus, the handyman lady had no choice but to rally her spirits and dive into the trivialities of post-event cleanup.

The content wasn't complicated, just sweeping around Chernobog, destroying some terrain, and clearing out the Ursus Group's field armies hidden in the surrounding wasteland—without Persephone's calculations, a certain handyman wouldn't have been able to find these field armies at all. After this part was completed, she appeared in different Mobile Cities under different identities, or used the influence of Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals to create false activities mimicking her other identities.

In short, it was very tedious. According to Persephone, Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals' biggest profit direction was to operate Chernobog as a semi-independent city-state comparable in scale to Lungmen next door. This would become a medical city for the Infected on Terra, and to achieve this goal, using borrowed power and deliberately exposing flaws to appear bluffing, gaining the underestimation of major powers while becoming a point of contention for various national forces due to its considerable size, was a suitable method.

If there were a Skip button, Miss Surtr would have mashed it to pieces. But the problem was there wasn't one, so she just had to let it go in one ear and out the other and go do the missions—she had been busy with this for six or seven consecutive hours after the Cataclysm clouds collapsed. And when Persephone finally stopped sending new requests and she returned to Chernobog, it was already dusk, with the night about to fall.

Dusk, she liked this color.

Watching the setting sun, she would often empty her mind, staring blankly at the afterglow of twilight—she seemed to hear footsteps and gazes from behind, and felt a sense of familiarity. As her mind went blank, she calmly turned her head, and was met with a familiar face.

Purple hair, a fluffy tail, messenger attire, Lupo ears—the approaching girl's face was full of joy, her delicate face flushed, and she spoke rapidly. Her small fists were clenched at her chest and swayed slightly, appearing quite agitated.

—What is she saying? Uh… Who is she again?

Surtr's mind was blank. She didn't know what to do herself, just instinctively put on a lazy, indifferent, but slightly friendly smile. And as she tried hard to sort out her thoughts and get her brain working, the girl in front of her seemed encouraged, her words and actions becoming even more animated.

"...Surtr... squad... help... work hard..."

—It seems I understood some of it, squad? I helped her squad? What is that? I don't remember. Speaking of which, this girl seems to be called Provence… Does her tail feel comfortable to pet?

—But what is Provence? It sounds like a French place name… Lavender? Something feels off… Damn it, my brain, work!

Her pupils contracted, the corners of her lips slightly upturned. The handyman lady felt like she was back in a calculus class; she could hear people talking, and every word felt very clear, but they couldn't form any meaningful sentence when put together. Her tired body and melancholic brain struggled in her neural network, letting out a silent protest that only she could hear.

—Brain, don't want to work!!!

She blinked, as if responding to a math teacher, nodding slightly as if she understood the lesson. This was like a signal, a sign that made the girl in front of her even more delighted.

It seemed she had done something significant, something illogical. Perhaps waking up now and immediately clearing up the misunderstanding would be a reasonable plan. But…

—No buts! Work, damn it!

Her gaze sharpened.

Surtr's eyes suddenly became sharp. Words could form in her thoughts, colors were no longer blurry and shapeless.

And then—

And then she saw the Lupo girl in front of her bow.

"Understood, I will submit the corresponding application to Amiya. I look forward to our future interactions, Miss Surtr."

—Huh?

Surtr blinked, looking confused and bewildered.

Then the Lupo girl in front of her suddenly jumped up as if startled, turned around, and ran off with light but hurried steps.

—Wait! What did you just say? What did I just agree to again?

Someone felt anxious, and anxiety made her irritable. She looked around and found herself completely alone. Amiya and Yelena were working hard in offices a short distance away, and besides them, many clerks were busy working with them.

So she quietly asked the wall.

"You're listening, aren't you, Persephone!"

"I always am." — Then, a drone equipped with a communicator flew in through the window and hovered silently beside her.

Good. Just as expected of Persephone, always stirring up trouble.

"What... what did Provence just say?"

"She believes you are a senior worthy of learning from and wishes to join your squad to strengthen her own abilities."

"Squad?" Surtr frowned. "What squad do I have? I've always worked alone."

"Your designation at Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals is undoubtedly that of an Elite Operator. And all Elite Operators are assigned their own squads. While you can certainly request an unmanned squad, before you do so, it is also their own freedom to apply to join your team."