Stelle: Can't I just peacefully complete commissions?

"Cocolia is merely a fool with a bit of petty cleverness. Look at all the foolish things she's done since taking power—cowering outward, with nothing but cowardly self-preservation, and clamping down inward, sealing those miners in Boulder Town completely underground, never to see the light of day. Lady Rosalind once thought she was a creative person, but what has her creativity brought us?"

"Labor shortages, resource output collapse, countless valuable research projects shut down, the closure of Belobog University, military budget cuts... As the head of the Technical Development Department, you couldn't possibly have been unaware of all this."

The woman with long, brown hair paused briefly before speaking again.

"Someone used me, creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. That person lured Cocolia and her adopted daughter out of Belobog together. So I must complete the seizure of power in Belobog within this shortest possible time."

"On the Silvermane Guards' side, I've already won over twelve officers, essentially securing half of their forces. Next... as long as you're willing to hand over the 'Automaton-Soldier Key,' the entire armed strength of Belobog will fall into our hands."

With that, she dropped another bombshell.

"And, Doctor Elisabeth, I'm not betraying Cocolia purely out of personal ambition. I obtained a piece of critically important information from the one who used me."

"Cocolia has already abandoned the 'Preservation.' She no longer has any qualification to be the Supreme Guardian!"

"If you're willing to produce the key and cooperate with us, after reclaiming Lady Arisa's scepter, we will support you in setting things right and becoming the new Supreme Guardian!"

Chapter 044: Spanya, You Deserve Death a Thousand Times Over! (4/4)

Doctor Arlan, Elisabeth McSmith, was born into an upper-class noble family.

When she was ten years old, the then-Supreme Guardian, Rosaliya Landau, secretly announced that she would select an adopted daughter to inherit the Landau name.

For noble society, the succession pattern of the Supreme Guardian was no great secret.

Every generation of Supreme Guardians bore the surname Landau, inheriting the will of the first Supreme Guardian, Alisa Rand.

Of course, this rule was actually established by the second Supreme Guardian, Svetlana.

Because she herself was a girl adopted by Alisa Rand, and after taking the throne, to prevent any single family from monopolizing the position of Supreme Guardian in the future, she decreed that Supreme Guardians could not marry during their reign.

Thus, every generation of Supreme Guardians was an adopted daughter of the previous one.

This adopted daughter could be an orphan from an orphanage or a nobleman's daughter—as long as her abilities were outstanding enough and she could completely sever ties with her birth family, she was eligible.

Elisabeth McSmith had naturally been on the candidate list. She too had once hoped to be chosen by the great Guardian and become the main force protecting Belobog in the future.

But unfortunately, a younger girl than her—Cocolia, then only eight years old—became Rosaliya's adopted daughter and inherited the Landau name.

At the time, many nobles lamented Elisabeth's loss. Some initially believed that if she had inherited the Landau name, she would surely revive Belobog, an excellent Guardian comparable to the iron-fisted Svetlana.

But reality did not meet the nobles' expectations. Elisabeth, born into an upper-class noble family, ultimately lost to Cocolia, who came from an ordinary household. Cocolia's parents were merely a common Silvermane Guard and a housewife. Many nobles realized this was Rosaliya's deliberate choice.

However, after the malignant incident during the Eighth Supreme Guardian's era, when Minister Spanya had usurped power and sidelined the Guardian, a deep rift had always existed between the Supreme Guardians and the nobility. From the Ninth Supreme Guardian onward, the nobility had no further say in the selection process.

Cocolia inherited the Landau name in this way. Though she soon displayed intelligence and decisiveness, in the eyes of the noble faction, her achievements were still insignificant compared to Elisabeth, who had completed her doctorate certification at Belobog University by age fourteen.

This genius girl had once been the object of great expectations. In fact, she lived up to them, achieving a large number of research results in her youth, with notable accomplishments in both civilian and military technology. At just twenty-two, she became the chief of one of the Technical Department's divisions. Many at the time believed this girl would surely become a brilliant light in Belobog's long night, and so the name "Doctor Arlan" spread far and wide.

But later, as Cocolia fully took over Belobog, the upper and lower cities were separated, social resources grew scarce, and large quantities of rare materials could no longer be mined from the mines. Even a clever housewife can't cook without rice. The Technical Development Department shelved numerous research projects, and with funding cut again and again, by now the department had been reduced to little more than a maintenance and repair shop for military arms.

To say Doctor Arlan felt no resentment would be a lie. But to betray Belobog over something like this would completely negate over thirty years of her own efforts.

She had never worked for Cocolia or the Supreme Guardian. She had faithfully followed her family's precepts, striving for the revival of Belobog.

"Cleo Jackal."

Standing behind the high-voltage barrier, Doctor Arlan quietly watched the woman trying to tempt her with heavy rewards. She knew something of Cleo's situation. The current Minister of Internal Affairs was her brother, but in truth, this Miss Cleo had also displayed remarkable talent and cunning at a very young age. This pair of siblings—one in the open, one in the shadows—had risen to prominence among the noble faction in recent years, showing signs of becoming its leaders.

"I have no interest in your plans. I let go of my obsession with the Supreme Guardian long ago."

Her gaze was extremely calm, showing no temptation at the prospect of being pushed to Belobog's highest peak.

"If your coup succeeds, I'll still work here in the Technical Department. If you don't need me then, I can leave. If you want to put me on trial, I'm willing to die."

"But that's your business. I won't interfere, and the entire Technical Department won't either."

"Today, you withdraw, and we'll have no trouble. If you insist on forcibly invading the research institute and harming Technical Department personnel, we will completely destroy Belobog's data archives before you can get your hands on them."

Hearing this, Cleo's expression instantly turned ugly. All the Technical Department's data was indispensable. The nobility were but a drop in the ocean compared to the commoners. To rule the many with the few, technology was essential—and even Doctor Arlan's own mind was one of their targets.

This uprising had come suddenly. The masked stranger had even left her several vulnerabilities, forcing her and her brother to act hastily. If they missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, who knew how many years it would be before the nobles could once again set foot in Kliperburg.

The Supreme Guardian losing the Power of Preservation gave them the perfect justification for rebellion. Standing on moral high ground, they could even win the approval of Belobog's people—after all, it was true that under Cocolia's rule, all aspects of Belobog's industry and resource yields had plummeted.

But...

They were stopped right here at the Technical Department.

"I can't give up just like that."

A fierce, cold light began to gleam in her eyes. True to their clan's name, they possessed the dark, vicious pupils of a jackal, and their temperament matched. As she pondered a way to break the deadlock, suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from outside. Cleo turned her head, and in an instant, a man in silver-blue full-body armor, holding a giant case-shaped shield, appeared in the corridor behind them.

Her heart sank heavily. Uncontrollable madness finally spilled from her light brown pupils as she roared at her subordinates.

"Fire! If we can't have it, we won't leave it for Belobog either!"

Chapter 045: Who Isn't a Little Warmonger?

"To be honest, I really don't want to help you."

Standing on the open platform of Everwinter Peak, Mr. Emiya looked at the mother and daughter before him with some headache. Because of that little devil girl Sparkle, to prevent the scenario she had designed from playing out smoothly, he had been forced to lend a hand to this pair.

And now, if he pulled out, the two of them might well end up as pawns in Sparkle's hands. On this small planet, Sparkle, suspected to be an Emissary of Joy, had almost no natural enemies and could act with complete impunity.

"But I don't want that little devil girl to have it too easy either."

Mr. Emiya rubbed his forehead, then looked at Cocolia and spoke.

"To be honest, my impression of you is terrible, exceptionally terrible. Even though I've never met you before, your name and face remind me of a twisted woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals—someone who directly turned three to four million people into living corpses just to push forward one objective."

"And that person, she claimed it was all for her daughter too, but then she doubted her daughter's absolute loyalty to her and stuffed a control chip into her daughter's head."

"By the way, that controlled daughter's name was also Bronya."

Hearing Mr. Emiya say this, Cocolia's expression showed little fluctuation. Instead, Bronya furrowed her brow and stepped forward, as if wanting to defend her mother somewhat.

"I really could do the things you described."

Cocolia's expression was very calm, very composed. Her voice was steady, without even a trace of hesitation detectable.

And Bronya's expression froze completely in an instant...

[Emotional value from Bronya +55]

"When I killed the first person, I felt guilt in my heart. When I killed ten people, the guilt gradually weakened. By a hundred, a thousand people, I would treat it as ordinary... because that's how I am now."

"Alright, you know yourself how much of a beast you are."

Mr. Emiya even felt a bit amused in his anger. This mother-daughter pair really had screws loose—knowing full well the mother was a beast, yet refusing to change; knowing full well the biological mother was a beast, yet still thinking she could be saved.

"Forget it. Compared to you two, that little devil girl is still more infuriating."

"That inherently evil little brat of Elation—I have to personally make her eat dirt today!"

But this version of Cocolia, though still a beast, was at least not the true beast from the Honkai Impact 3rd universe who sacrificed millions of innocents as offerings. At the very least, she made her decisions after genuinely weighing pros and cons, then being seduced by the Stellaron. If anything, she still had a bit of a moral bottom line.

To be honest, back when playing Frostpunk, who wasn't a living Yama? In a true apocalypse setting with scarce resources, the lowest-tier labor force was bound to be expendable. But what made this Cocolia a beast was that she only went after that labor force, refusing to swing the blade at the privileged class that contributed little labor yet enjoyed special rights. If it were him, Lord Emiya, he'd definitely learn from the Teacher (Emperor)'s methods and turn those troublesome nobles into stinky canned goods.

That Lilia Land's assessment wasn't bad—Cocolia's governance wasn't off-track in terms of stance. It's just that when the Supreme Guardians had their gatherings, she'd better remember to sit at Siriil's table; everyone else probably found her a bit distasteful.

Still, this mother-daughter pair—one stupid, one stubborn—if no one else had interfered, Mr. Emiya would never have mixed with these two.

But that little devil girl Sparkle was now completely gambling with the lives of the remaining hundreds of thousands in Belobog. That Stellaron was almost certainly in the hands of someone prone to losing control. Once the Stellaron broke through the limiter's restraints and fully exposed itself, that out-of-control person would immediately merge with the Stellaron, becoming a Stellaron Jinchuriki.

Then they'd start a massive rampage in Belobog. If things went wrong, by the time they returned to Belobog, they might see a Tokusatsu drama scene of "a monster suddenly appearing in this peaceful city."

"According to my original plan, it should have been an armed uprising in the Lower City, storming your Upper City, charging into Kliperburg, and personally seizing your position as Supreme Guardian."

"But now... Bronya, you said you're giving up the position of Supreme Guardian, right?"

Mr. Emiya looked at this gray-haired young girl and spoke decisively.

"Actually, the best thing would be to fight a civil war. Only a civil war can sweep the original order, class, and everything else into the dustbin of history. All those nobles, Guardian systems—clearly just one town, yet internally it's like a constitutional monarchy, then like a cabinet parliament—a mess of weird stuff. Administrative efficiency is slow, and the people below are full of complaints."

"I usually like to do things thoroughly. This time, I can help you retrieve the Stellaron, even solve it along the way and suppress the rebellion. But I have a few conditions you need to agree to in advance."

"Go ahead."

Cocolia nodded. Since Bronya had made her choice... then she didn't want her daughter to relive everything she had gone through.

The Supreme Guardian wasn't simply a position of great power where one could comfortably enjoy privileges.

The moment you opened your eyes, it was hundreds of thousands of people needing to eat and drink. Just a single town, yet it had to possess all the functions a nation should.

If they could revert directly to an ancient primitive society, using education of ignorance and exhaustion, that might work.

But the external conditions simply didn't allow it. The reserves of various resources were clearly visible at a glance.

By the time it was passed down to her generation, they could only scrape by.

If she didn't embrace the Stellaron, by the next generation, the burden of the mess would only grow heavier.

Her heart was actually very conflicted. She didn't want Bronya to suffer the same hardships she had, nor did she want Bronya to be purged by other superiors in the future.

Her original way of protecting her was to solve most of the problems in her own generation, letting Bronya take over a stable, maintainable situation. Those nobles, traitors—her original intention was to take them all away in one go.

Now Bronya wanted to leave Jarilo-VI, offering a new choice. To be honest... she was fully in favor.

"First, my help isn't unconditional. You need to sign a letter of commission."

"Second, after this problem is resolved, I need you, as Supreme Guardian, to completely abolish the noble system."

"Finally, if I need anything from you in the future, you must come whenever called and cannot refuse."

A cold smile appeared on Cocolia's face. Going after the nobles—she felt not a shred of guilt. Since Siriil's generation, their Guardian lineage had been irreconcilable with the nobles. Given the chance to abolish the nobility, even if Mr. Emiya hadn't proposed it, she would have done it herself.

As for the final condition of coming whenever called and not refusing—if she was still alive after this incident, such a thing was trivial. Bronya also needed a new support. In that case...

Why refuse?

"I accept."

"Good. In that case, write the letter of commission quickly."

"Once this matter is settled here, I might still need to find an assistant to cover for me. Also, those two people over there need to be released."

[Ps: Since it's not yet published, I'll explain here. The power levels of other works have all been arranged. There won't be cases where someone drops in and is overwhelmingly strong without reason. For Type-Moon's modern Western mages, they need a Mage Foundation. Only someone capable of creating their own foundation can play here. The same goes for Thought Key Patterns. It won't be a case of just pulling any mage over to act as a Deus ex Machina.]

Chapter 46: There's a Cow! There's a Cow!

"In the snowy outskirts of the city, Lingbao was seen there before. But the latest sighting was four days ago."

"The situation at Lingbao's campsite is also obvious—she didn't even have time to pack her supplies."

"All the clues we've gathered prove that Lingbao was attacked right after her last known sighting."

"The Silvermane Guards on duty seem to be hiding something... We need to pry more precise intel out of them."

"...Lingbao was indeed taken by the Silvermane Guards. The Guard has been heavily infiltrated by members of the Jackal Tribe."

"Everwinter Peak—they actually took her there? Why?"

"Miss Serval was lured there by them as well."

"...The Supreme Guardian has also entered Everwinter Peak..."

"That place, due to the defensive line, has always been a restricted zone for the Guards. But now, with the Guards compromised, it's become a favorable location for them."

"Now, every thread points to Everwinter Peak. Stelle, March 7th—we might face a tough battle up there. You need to prepare yourselves mentally."

Closing the notebook in her hand, Pela looked toward the 'Sea Ranger' duo who had traveled with her and contributed a great deal.

"Don't worry, we're battle-hardened Nameless. Whatever comes our way, we'll overcome it!"

"Nameless?"

"...Another name for Sea Rangers."

Little Pink Hair forced a stubborn explanation, but the Intelligence Officer didn't press further. Nameless or Sea Ranger—to her, their identity was only one thing now:

New friends.