Bishop Otto Is Here

"Here we go again. Could you stop thinking I'm such a terrible person?"

Mobius pouted indignantly.

"Whenever something breaks, it's Chakravartin's fault. Whenever someone feels unwell, it's Mobius's fault. When will these rumors ever end?"

"You probably don't even know what a rumor is."

Mei sneered.

Don't be fooled by Mobius's pitiful, harmless appearance. Once the snake bared her fangs, Mei would not even have a chance to run.

"I'd bet the two of us have been wrongly accused even more often."

"Then... who made that huge crater outside the door?" Mei asked.

"It was Chakravartin!"

Mobius did not even hesitate for a second before answering with absolute certainty.

It had to have been Chakravartin!

"But there's half a green, scale-like thing at the bottom of the crater."

"Chakravartin did that too."

Mobius said it without even blinking, as though Chakravartin had done it all by himself and it had absolutely nothing to do with a certain kind-hearted little snake.

"At least now I know where the rumors about Chakravartin came from."

Mei sighed, silently sparing Chakravartin a second of sympathy. But only one second.

The footage ended there.

Kiana: "So that's how it is! Mobius even helped pin the black pots Chakravartin carried on Chakravartin himself. No wonder he had such a terrible reputation in Fire Moth."

There were green scales in the crater, yet she could still say it was Chakravartin without blushing or missing a beat.

As expected of you, Mobius!

Theresa: "Chakravartin's reputation has been ruined. Even Mobius is dumping black pots on him. That's just too miserable!"

Chakravartin: "Mobius... a tiresome creature, but one worth killing! Destroy everything, kill everything, Ouroboros!!!"

Elysia: "Chakravartin, you still haven't finished over there?"

Hua: "Perhaps there are rather a lot of people he wants to kill."

Chakravartin: "Soon. It will be over soon. They are merely trapped beasts waiting for death in their cages. Only through despair and pain can their sins and filthy souls be burned away completely!"

Tsk, tsk. Just hearing Chakravartin's roar was enough to imagine how miserably the people he had targeted would die.

They deserved it!

Pardofelis: "Actually, Sister Snake isn't wrong. That scale fell off when she was fighting Brother Jie... Tsk, if I'd known, I should've picked it up. Maybe I could've sold it for a good price."

Raiden Mei: "Pardo, are you really willing to risk your life for money?!"

Bishop Otto Arrives

A scale that had fallen off Mobius was naturally valuable, but whether one could survive long enough to take it away was another matter entirely.

Pardofelis: "Hehe, I was just thinking about it. I wouldn't dare go to Sister Snake's laboratory... Maybe I can sneak in when she goes on a business trip."

Kiana: "Then Mobius will just happen to return, and when you come out of the laboratory, you'll turn into Pardo and Felis."

Pardofelis: "N-No way I'd be that unlucky, right?"

Glancing at the invisibility cloak she wore and the Shenzhou lightness skill she had recently learned, Pardofelis figured she could be considered half an expert.

Even with Sister Snake, it was not like she could not take a gamble.

Eden used the Life Coin trial version. Coordinates: St. Freya Academy. Trial duration acquired: twenty-four hours.

"Eden?"

The people at St. Freya Academy were suddenly stunned. None of them had expected Eden to come over without even giving them a heads-up.

A flash of white light suddenly appeared behind them, and the richly dressed Previous Era artist appeared at their backs.

"It's been a long time, Hua."

Eden smiled faintly at the two Fu Huas, then lowered her head and thought for a moment.

To be honest, she truly could not tell which one was Fu Hua and which one was the Herrscher of Reason.

They had identical faces, identical bodies, and even equally flat chests. Trying to find any difference between them based on appearance alone was genuinely difficult.

"Eden, you didn't recognize which one was the old antique and which one was me at all, did you? So, aren't we exactly the same? You simply can't tell us apart."

"Once you spoke, I could tell."

There was no mistake. That way of speaking definitely belonged to the Herrscher of Reason.

Eden rummaged through her pocket, took out a black-and-red gemstone, and placed it in the Herrscher of Reason's hand.

"It's our first meeting, and I don't have any particularly impressive gift to offer. I just happened to have this gemstone. I thought before that it suited you well, so I brought it along."

"Wow, you really are generous, Eden."

The Herrscher of Reason picked up the gemstone and thought that Eden really was Eden.

Giving someone a gemstone as a present the moment they met was something only Eden could do.

"Oh, right. Kiana, Teacher Himeko, Principal Theresa... I heard you say in our previous chats that you liked gemstones, so I prepared one for each of you."

Gemstones of every color glittered brilliantly, and the overwhelming aura of wealth nearly made Himeko's legs go weak.

Rich lady, let's be friends!

"Auntie, we only mentioned it casually back then. Eden really prepared gemstones for us?"

"Big niece, pinch me quickly. Let's see if I'm still dreaming. Hiss... That hurt."

Theresa rubbed her pinched, reddened arm. It seemed this was not a dream.

A rich lady was really showering them with gemstones!

Pardofelis: "Sister Eden, why did you leave? You didn't even say goodbye."

Eden: "It was just a sudden whim. I wanted to taste the wine of the later civilization and experience more of this era's radiance."

Elysia: "So our poor Eden wanted to make up for her old regrets."

Eden: "Regrets... Although we all made the choices we believed were best, who among us did not leave with regrets in the end?"

As one of the traitors, Eden had betrayed hope and betrayed the future.

She should have carried out the Kindling Project and borne the responsibility of guiding the later civilization, but Eden chose instead to be buried forever alongside her art in the era that belonged to her.

A new civilization would display new artistic brilliance. The art of her era should likewise vanish along with the destruction of that civilization.

Eden had firmly chosen to face her Finality.

She merely regretted that she would not have the chance to witness the splendor of Fifty Thousand Years later and experience its flavor for herself.

"Drinking? Leave that to me. I've got some fine wine stashed away. Eden, we won't stop tonight until we're drunk."

Himeko Murata pointed toward her room.

She had secretly hidden quite a bit of fine wine from Theresa. Since she had finally met someone who could drink, she naturally had to bring it out.

"Himeko, drink a little less..."

"Got it. Theresa, go drink your bitter melon juice. Adults should drink adult things."

"..."

Theresa watched Himeko's retreating figure, lowering her head to consider whether she should dock Himeko Murata's pay so Himeko would stop secretly hiding alcohol.

St. Freya Academy's funds were tight. Her grandfather had not given her a chance to act cute for money in a long time. If this continued, the academy might face the risk of bankruptcy and closure.

"Lady Theresa, there's a call from Bishop Otto."

"Huh?"

Theresa looked completely bewildered.

What was this supposed to be? Rain after a long drought, or had her punishment finally come?

Bishop Otto had not called for a long time, nor had he issued any orders to Fu Hua. Theresa did not think this was a good sign.

Something was definitely strange. There was an eighty percent chance that her grandfather had noticed something.

"My dear granddaughter, have you missed Grandpa?"

The video call from Schicksal Headquarters connected. The blond man seated on the other side was Theresa's grandfather.

The Archbishop of Schicksal, Otto.

And standing beside Otto was Amber, Schicksal's chief secretary.

He was still as gentle as Theresa remembered, and his tone was still so affectionate. But now that she knew of his plans, all Theresa felt toward her grandfather was fear.

Turning Kiana into the Herrscher of the Void, betraying Fu Hua... Every evil deed Otto committed would hurt Theresa's friends, and he did not care about her feelings in the slightest.

Even Theresa herself was merely a piece on his chessboard.

Thinking of that, sweat began to form on Theresa's back.

"O-Of course I missed you. I haven't spoken to Grandpa in months, and I've even lost several pounds."

Although she was panicking like crazy inside, Theresa forced herself to put on an utterly calm expression.

Don't panic. If I panic, I'll expose myself!

"Hahaha, Theresa, you miss Grandpa's funding, don't you? But when I have the chance next time, I'll visit St. Freya and hug my dear granddaughter. Let's see whether you've really grown thinner from hunger."

"Of course! Grandpa, you absolutely have to come!"

Don't panic. Even if her calves were trembling, Theresa absolutely could not panic!

"Hahaha, Grandpa was only joking with you. Schicksal Headquarters is so far away, and Grandpa is swamped with work. How could I possibly have time to actually come over?"

"That really is a pity... hahaha."

Theresa scratched her cheek awkwardly.

It was great that he could not come. The truth would be exposed sooner or later, so she could delay it for as long as possible.

If he really came, Theresa could hardly convince herself not to have the Herrscher of Reason tie him up and torture him until all his evil plans were made public!

"All right, I won't tease Theresa anymore. Grandpa has already transferred all of next year's funding over. Theresa, don't spend it all on manga again."

"W-Who would use academy funds to buy manga?!"

Theresa snapped indignantly.

She had only moved a tiny bit of discretionary funding. How could that be called embezzling public funds?

But when the call ended, she finally let out a breath of relief.

Lying to Otto had put far too much pressure on her, but it seemed her performance had been flawless. Her grandfather had not noticed anything at all!

She truly was both wise and brave. Even Bishop Otto had been fooled by her!

Theresa: "As expected of me! Big niece, my flawless acting just fooled my grandfather completely."

Kiana: "Really? Auntie, you're not lying to me, are you?"

Raiden Mei: "The principal seems very confident."

Theresa: "Of course. Although I was just a tiny bit nervous earlier, the mental fortitude of an S-rank Valkyrie allowed me to remain calm in danger and proudly show Grandpa my unyielding spirit. He did not notice anything unusual about me at all."

Bronya: "Uh..."

Kiana: "Auntie, I was sort of starting to believe you, but after hearing you say that, I don't really dare believe it anymore."

Iron-willed Theresa, do you even believe what you just said?

When you see Bishop Otto, you'll probably be like a hamster seeing a cat. The slightest movement from him will make you jump in fright.

Theresa: "Ahem, ahem. I admit there was a tiny bit of artistic embellishment in what I said just now, but I really did muddle through it. Grandpa didn't mention anything else. He also didn't notice that Fu Hua had defected."

Hua: "Principal, isn't 'defected' a rather harsh way to put it?"

Otto was clearly the one who stabbed her in the back first. How had she become the traitor?