Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

The rapid economic development and rise of forces in the Western European region, even giving birth to an entity like the Future City, was not without reason. No flowery words or generous benefits could compare to having a member of the Kaslana family under your command.

This had been a hard and fast rule in the entire Western European region for who knows how many years.

Is that company any good?

They have a Kaslana working for them.

Then they must be a righteous, upstanding company. Otherwise, why hasn't that Kaslana rebelled yet?

As a family with a history of several hundred years of rebellion, having acted as heroes countless times to save the entirety of Western Europe from dire straits, their ascension to nobility was entirely due to the support of the common people.

People weren't even afraid that the noble class would corrupt this family, because the family's hobbies were a bit...

Low-class.

This was the consensus among all nobles. Even the Apocalypses, who supported them, said so directly, which had made the Kaslana patriarch so angry he had threatened to sever ties with the Apocalypse patriarch on the spot and had stolen all his little cakes.

He had even roped in the daughter of the Schariac patriarch. This was probably the most despicable trick they could come up with.

---||---

Far away in ARC City, Otto's nose suddenly itched. He gently rubbed it and popped a small piece of cake into his mouth.

How nice, not having that inscrutable white-haired couple around to steal his little cakes...

---||---

In short, with this family around, there was no need to worry that this was some irredeemably evil organization. The Kaslana reputation could still be cashed in on.

And the real heavyweight was the lazy woman Shu had taken with him.

That was Schrödinger, wasn't it... She couldn't fail to recognize a face from a textbook.

So the cat in her hands was one of the legendary four great divine beasts—Schrödinger's cat?

Frélle couldn't resist reaching out to pet Little Hei. The soft, fleshy, and solid feel was indeed different from other cats.

So cats really can get this fat...

Sensing the malice, Little Hei rolled over, exposing its round belly. Its four short paws flailed "ferociously" at Frélle through the air, as if warning her not to get any ideas.

It seemed their relationship with the Future City was indeed good, Frélle thought. And thinking about how these people all seemed to be Shu's squad members and so obedient to his commands...

The credibility of what Shu had shown her had already risen to 90%...

"Grrr—"

Little Hei leaped off Frélle's lap in a flash, apparently afraid that this person, whose stomach was growling with hunger, would grab it and take a bite.

It wasn't as if it hadn't happened before...

Frélle's face turned red. She looked down at her stomach, a genuine embarrassment mixed with her embarrassment.

She just remembered that her meal for the day was still in that big bag, and that bag had been left by Shu in that ecological room...

Her last meal was yesterday. She hadn't eaten for over 24 hours...

The hunger in her stomach made her want to curl up, but she maintained her posture rigidly, keeping her knees together and her hands folded.

Sirin narrowed her eyes. She stared at Frélle for a while before finally extending a hand from behind the Homu doll and pointing to the side.

The small Homu-chan and even smaller Homi-chan, propped up in the corner of the sofa, seemed to be pulled by something. Then, as if they had come to life, they pushed themselves up with their hands and staggered off the sofa.

"Crinkle—" The sound of a plastic bag made Frélle look up. She saw not a person, but a pink cloth doll rabbit holding up a bag of pineapple bread with both hands. Beside it was a light blue rabbit of the same design, holding a carton of milk.

What... what is this? A magical creature? Or another kind of superpower?

Like a string puppet?

Frélle looked up in a daze. For the first time, she met Sirin's eyes and cast a pleading glance at her.

Sirin still only showed half her face. She slowly pointed at Homu-chan and Homi-chan. The two Homus straightened up, offering the bread and milk a little higher.

The meaning was clear. With a Kaslana around, there was no need to worry about being poisoned.

"Th... thank you..." Frélle lowered her head and gently took the bread and milk, speaking in a voice just loud enough for Sirin to hear, but not very clearly.

Sirin's ears perked up. Homu-chan and Homi-chan heard Frélle's soft thanks on her behalf.

After maneuvering the two Homus back onto the sofa, Sirin revealed her signature Sirin☆ "just-as-planned" expression.

Hmph, does she really think I can't see that she's deliberately acting pitiful? Does she really think such a trick can fool the great Sirin☆, who may be small in stature but is vast in wisdom?

This kind of trick would only fool an idiot like Kiana. Shu has emotional empathy; he knows exactly what you're feeling!

And don't even think about fooling the great Sirin☆. When she's asleep tonight, I'll sneak into her dreams and drag out whatever wicked schemes she's plotting!

Ah, wait... Shu probably wouldn't allow me to do that...

Sirin was suddenly lost in thought.

Frélle, taking small bites, noticed the gaze was gone. She quickly glanced up but could only see the especially large Homu doll. Sirin was completely hidden behind it, and from Frélle's perspective, she could only see her waterfall of purple hair.

Her hair is so long... Frélle subconsciously touched her own hair. It had been somewhat neglected over the past three months and was a bit frizzy.

Although it had a different kind of beauty, Frélle preferred Sirin's smooth, long hair.

How nice... she must have been well taken care of these past three months...

---||---

Meanwhile, Schrödinger stood before the "dragon's hoard." After a moment of adjustment, she turned to look at Shu.

"Van Gogh and the others' paintings... If you like them, she'll give you several. And you'll probably become a model in their paintings," Schrödinger said with a sigh.

Shu recalled the painting styles of the others. Thinking of a certain abstract artist who had called others abstract, the smile that had just begun to form on his lips immediately vanished.

He didn't dare to imagine a future where an abstract masterpiece titled "Shu" was being auctioned off to a crowd.

If that happened, his life would be...

"Forget the paintings. You should look at these gold coins and swords," Shu interrupted his fantasy, speaking to Schrödinger with a sense of helplessness.

"Hmm..." Schrödinger let out a meaningful hum. "If you want to hide some private funds..."

"I don't need to," Shu replied curtly. Why did Schrödinger talk as if someone was managing his money? Otto would reimburse his expenses.

"Oh, then all of this can be taken. They're all precious metals, very useful for manufacturing or alchemy," Schrödinger nodded, a little disappointed.

She thought there might be some juicy gossip.

But Shu tilted his head, his tone rising.

"Alchemy?"

"You guys don't know how to do that either..." Schrödinger was even more disappointed.