Taming the Protagonist

Volume 3

Chapter 1 : The Returnee

The carriage bearing the Hydra emblem slowly drove past the main road, two white steeds with bright fur paced steadily and elegantly, even if no one was driving them, they were not disturbed by the deafening cheers on both sides of the road.

On the carriage, the young and handsome noble waved to the crowded commoners by the roadside, the smile on his face was an affinity and tenderness that made women feel weak in the knees, and an approval and trust that made men feel their blood surge.

Wherever his gaze reached, even higher-pitched shouts resounded through the whole city, and as the melodious organ sound rang out, the originally noisy and clamorous cheers gradually became the chanting sound of music in unison.

That was a ballad praising that young Hydra, composed by a bard who passed through Hydra’s Domain three years ago and eventually settled here, it had long been widely sung in Hydra’s Domain.

Newborns in these past few years would all fall asleep listening to this ballad.

“Possessing this kind of inconceivable popular support, yet still saying things like I do not want to change at all.”

Sitting dignifiedly, Miss Mingfuluo said calmly: “Your stubbornness is truly as it always was, Anselm.”

At this moment she was sitting on Anselm’s left side, enduring the baptism of countless gazes together with Anselm, this was a great torment for Miss Mingfuluo who hated socializing, she originally did not want to sit here accompanying Anselm, but once Anselm pinched her finger wearing the ring, then stared at her smilingly, she had no way out at all.

Anselm continued waving to the surroundings, maintaining the gentle smile on his face, although he did not open his mouth, his voice still traveled into Mingfuluo’s ears: “Perhaps I brainwashed them.”

“Yes, brainwashed them with a more stable environment, a more affluent life, and a future with more hope.”

Mingfuluo sighed, and gently pinched the back of Anselm’s hand: “Please change to a less perfunctory wording.”

Anselm just smiled without speaking, appearing very relaxed.

And compared to Mingfuluo who was still flirting with Anselm, our large Miss Hitana, however, tensed her body like a sculpture, she stuck out her chest and sucked in her stomach, her expression tensed to the point of being somewhat unnatural.

Inside the Wolf Miss’s mind, only one sentence was looping infinitely right now—cannot let Anselm lose face, cannot let Anselm lose face, cannot let Anselm...

The power unconsciously radiated by the Head of Wind made it harder for Hitana to control her body and mind than Mingfuluo.

The evaluation of Anselm by Hydra’s Domain’s subjects naturally did not need to be said, but the evaluation of her... she originally did not want to listen, but could not help but listen.

“Relax a bit, Hit.”

Anselm gently supported Hitana’s soft yet firm waist: “When fighting the Emperor, you were not this nervous.”

Hitana thought to herself that I could punch the Emperor in the face, but I cannot punch the faces of so many people down there, but she also did not have the time and energy to speak right now, wholeheartedly maintaining her image of a cool beauty.

The young girl was both worried and happy.

Worried that from now on, she had to act increasingly cautiously, and had to always remember not to damage Anselm’s image.

Happy that when witnessing the expressions of heartfelt love from these commoners, she finally completely and utterly put her heart at ease.

Anselm, as expected, was the best of the best!

The young Hydra knew that his Wolf Miss was probably unable to listen to any words right now, so he smilingly let go of his hand, gazing into the distance at the end of the road.

No matter how long the road was, the surging tide of people also extended all the way to the end.

All the cheering commoners seemed to simply not care about what earth-shattering things the person they were cheering for had actually done, or what the Empire had become now.

Compared to those messy matters, they wanted to care more about that person who cared about them.

Anselm raised his head, as if he, who was surrounded by the sea of people, was staring at the dazzling, brilliant heavenly light that seemed to also be welcoming him.

The Empire had changed drastically, there were still many, many things he had to do next, the enemies and difficult problems he had to face would far exceed the past.

But it did not matter, he was home.

He was also stronger than at any time in the past.

“Ah... tired to death!”

Hitana did a flying pounce and lay paralyzed on the soft sofa: “This kind of thing, I never want to experience it a second time.”

“Anselm.” The young girl’s soft face was slightly pressed by the cushion on the sofa, she said feebly, “Why do this kind of thing, you are also not a person who likes to show off.”

“This is not showing off.”

Anselm familiarly took out a bottle of wine from the wine cabinet in the living room and poured it for himself: “This is a necessary act to increase the subjects’ trust in me, their sense of belonging to Hydra’s Domain, and give them a reason to unite as one.”

The young Hydra who took a small sip of the liquor savored it carefully for a second or two, then turned his head to look at Mingfuluo who picked up a living room ornament to play with: “How is the Notun right now?”

“That is His Excellency Flamel’s great masterpiece.”

Mingfuluo, who was restoring a peculiar irregularly shaped Rubik’s cube with one hand while casting her gaze at Anselm, said: “With your... manipulation qualification, at most I can only achieve movement, I cannot even complete a spatial jump.”

“The various complex operations involved, probably only His Excellency Flamel can complete easily.”

Mingfuluo, who restored the Rubik’s cube and placed it on the table, spoke like this with a slightly complex expression.

Only by ascending to a higher ladder can one increasingly understand... just how terrifying the power of the Divine Species is.

Recalling it now, the many elements piled up when opposing the Emperor back then, if even one was missing... for instance Ivora temporarily defecting, for instance Hitana not arriving on time, or perhaps Anselm failing to find herself in the abyss, then Anselm might have already been imprisoned by the Emperor now.

Once thinking that her determination let Anselm fall into this near-death dangerous situation, Mingfuluo did not know what emotion to reveal.

“It does not matter, it is fine as long as it can be moved to the sky above Hydra’s Domain.”

While Anselm smiled indifferently: “The terrifying aspect of the Notun in the eyes of those big shots lies in that it has never truly been activated.”

“Moreover, when it comes to Hydra’s Domain, Tyr, Laurence, and the others, can also be considered to be officially sitting in town here.”

That night, Flamel’s Contract Heads did not appear on the battlefield where Anselm and Ephithand clashed, it was not because of the decline of Flamel’s power causing them to be completely useless.

They indeed lost the authority bestowed by the Contract Heads, but their own power forged through a thousand hammers and a hundred refinements would not dissipate because of this, after Flamel fell into a deep sleep, they found Anselm at the first moment.

And the reason causing them not to participate in the battle was also very simple: firstly, this would make Ephithand extremely vigilant, making the unstable factors of the war situation rise: secondly, in Anselm’s eyes, Flamel and Elnilisa’s safety was more important than anything.

Who can guarantee that fate would not play any tricks again?

Therefore, their mission now was naturally only one, which was to protect Flamel and Elnilisa well at all times, to prevent any mishaps.

Although they lost the power of Contract Heads, they were also spared from the abyss’s intrusion, although the Contract Heads were no longer the absolute powerhouses who could crush other fifth-tier absolute powerhouses at will in the past, they were still top-notch among the many powerhouses in the world.

A fate focused on rationality, no matter how much it wanted to kill Flamel, it was impossible to harm him under the protection of five top-notch fifth-tiers.

It is just that as a price, Anselm would lose five powerful assistants, but compared to his parents’ safety, this obviously counted for nothing.

“So.”

Mingfuluo floated to sit on the back of the sofa, extended her small foot wrapped in black pantyhose and gently stepped on Hitana’s butt, under the latter’s glare, she said in an indifferent tone:

“What do you plan to do next? If there is nothing for me... I am going to do research.”

“Next is of course to handle the affairs within the territory well, and by the way, hmm... move the Babel Tower over from the Imperial Capital.”

“You!”

Mingfuluo’s eyes widened slightly, and Hitana, whose butt was stepped on again, yelled angrily: “Little dwarf, what do you want to do!”

Anselm wore an expression as if it was only natural: “Since we have already contacted Layden and the others, turning back to contact Hendrik and the others is also the same, isn’t it?”

He smilingly raised his pinky finger and hooked it: “You promised me, Miss Monster.”

“......”

The petite Miss Monster’s chest heaved slightly, she fell silent for a moment, threw down a sentence “Annoying damn brat”, and floated away.

Hitana looked at Mingfuluo who floated away by herself with a baffled expression, and muttered: “Mysterious and odd fellow... ah, Anselm! Do you want to handle government affairs next?”

“Want to be with me?”

Anselm, who understood his Wolf Miss’s clingy personality extremely well, smiled: “Then come, I will first take you to get familiar with the mansion here.”

He took the hand of Hitana who happily jumped down from the sofa and bounced over, and said warmly:

“From now on, this is your home.”

“Hehehe... Woah!”

Hitana, who just started smiling foolishly, suddenly let out a strange cry, because she saw a blurry head suddenly poke out from one side of Anselm’s shoulder.

“Then what about me?” Mingfuluo, who returned at some unknown time and even put on this scary appearance, said faintly.

“I thought you went to do your own things.”

“Watching over you is the thing I should do.”

The phantom condensed into a solid body, Mingfuluo landed gently, and grandly held Anselm’s hand.

“Let’s go.” She said in an indifferent tone, “Take me to see my new home.”

Hitana wanted to grab Mingfuluo’s collar on the spot, but after thinking carefully, she still forcibly held back.

How could I always not control myself because of this little dwarf!

I, Hitana, am already a mature woman!

Obviously, the great collapse after blindly joining the battle due to a rush of hot blood caused by Mingfuluo’s provocation that day, made Miss Hitana gain a bit of wisdom.

Hitana, who hugged Anselm’s arm, gave a light hmph, did not take Mingfuluo’s behavior too much to heart anymore, and turned to ask:

“Anselm Anselm, where is Lina right now?”

“Working in the administration building outside the mansion.”

“...Eh?” Hitana froze for a moment, then looked at Anselm extremely nervously, “Anselm, you... you don’t blame Lina for not coming to the Imperial Capital with me, right? She is just an ordinary person, she also had no choice?”

Anselm could not help but laugh and said: “Who told you I blamed her because of this kind of thing?”

“But...”

Hitana thought about it, Anselm indeed was not this kind of person, so she had even less of a way to understand.

“But isn’t Lina your what... secretary?”

The young girl scratched her head: “The person who has to stay by your side all the time and help you handle various matters, why don’t you let Lina stay by your side anymore, Anselm?”

“Because putting Marina there is helpful for her growth.” Anselm answered leisurely.

“Oh... like this!”

Hitana, who received this answer, did not think otherwise, only said with sparkling eyes: “Then can I go find her? If I go find her without permission, will it cause trouble for you, Anselm?”

Anselm rubbed her head: “What are you thinking, anytime is fine.”

It is just...

The young Hydra added a sentence in his heart:

It is just that she may not necessarily welcome you.

Actually, Anselm cared about Marina, but it could not be said how specially he cared.

Although Marina’s talent and ability were undoubted, actually...

By Anselm’s side, the ones not lacking the most were people like her.

Marina had already come to this administration building for a week.

A week ago, she who still stayed in Chishuang Territory finally received Anselm’s notification that she could return to Hydra’s Domain first to prepare, the young girl naturally did not think much, and immediately set off to return to Hydra’s Domain.

But as soon as she walked out of the teleportation room’s door, she was stopped by someone.

“Marina Lansmarlos?”

Blocking Marina were a man and a woman, the man was wearing a properly fitted black uniform, there were no special features in his appearance, his whole body exuded the word 'rules'.

While the woman was wearing a gray trench coat and a women’s hat, she had a tall figure and slightly heavy makeup, the light black eyeshadow made her look slightly gloomy and stern.

Marina bowed slightly in a respectful and decorous manner: “It is me, may I ask you...”

The woman with excellent looks, as aloof and cold as a white lotus in winter, sized Marina up for a bit, and nodded: “Still considered not bad, come with us.”

Marina however did not move, but answered warmly: “Could the two of you please inform me of your specific identities?”

She smiled calmly and magnanimously, that quiet and graceful bearing also revealed a kind of pride and confidence from the bottom of her heart.

Marina was not a person who became arrogant because of being favored, let alone that she did not receive much favor from Anselm, it was just that in this place, Hydra’s Domain, she was purely proud of her identity.

The man and woman looked at each other, then sneered at the same time.

“Alright, Ms. Nailan, you won.”

The man shrugged: “That agreed-upon case is handed to you.”

“I said it, women understand women better.”

The woman named Nailan spoke indifferently like this, then directly turned around, and said without looking back: “Alright, Miss Marina, keep up with us.”

“Wait... you haven’t told me—”

“Mind your status.”

Nailan’s footsteps suddenly paused, she turned her head slightly sideways, her eyes which appeared to have extremely strong oppression due to the light black eyeshadow, revealed a dense and cold gaze.

Marina, who could talk and laugh cheerfully with many nobles in the Imperial Capital without changing her expression, actually subconsciously took a step back just by being glanced at like this.

“Marina Lansmarlos... you have to know, you are just a lucky one, never a superior person.”

The cold and stern cool beauty wearing the trench coat threw down this sentence and no longer bothered with her, leaving directly.

While the other man patted Marina’s shoulder, and shrugged slightly under her dazed gaze:

“Who isn’t a talent working for Lord Anselm?”