Taming the Protagonist

Volume 3

Chapter 33: In Anselm's Eyes

In the largest alchemical workshop of Strife Fortress, machines roared and operated.

Mingfuluo frowned as she looked at the workbench covered with a few rust spots, her expression extremely displeased.

"This kind of place deserves to be called an alchemical workshop? If materials were sufficient, I could build a workshop ten times better than this in a week."

Not to mention the most top-notch and luxurious alchemical equipment on the entire continent on the Notun in Hydra's Domain, even the equipment quality of the most basic apprentice alchemical workshop in Babel Tower was better than here.

"Asking for concepts of town equipment allocation planning from a city ruled by adventurers is too difficult for them."

Anselm, sitting on the workbench with arms crossed over his chest, said: "Anyway, it's not particularly high-level stuff; with your ability, even without using these instruments, just relying on Nidhogg, you can manufacture it, right."

"That is unstable; without your Ether supply, it would disassemble by itself very quickly."

Mingfuluo looked at the wristband on her wrist that was exactly the same as the one on Anselm's wrist, lowered her eyes and sighed: "After all, it is not a true Deus Ex Machina."

However, she only felt complex emotions for this brief moment, then shook her head and skillfully picked up the tools on the table.

Anselm sized up Mingfuluo's increasingly serious profile; Miss Scholar's quiet solemnity when conducting research and study possessed a very special, intoxicating beauty.

If it were Hit, it would be her baring fangs and brandishing claws when fighting... um, her appearance with a brilliant smile.

The young Hydra, staring at his petite friend while resting his chin on one hand, unconsciously revealed an increasingly distinct smile on his face.

Regarding the thing called romance, although Anselm could easily manipulate others' emotions, when it fell on himself, he did not have any particularly distinct concept.

He just truly thought that Hitana and Mingfuluo were special, indispensable girls to him, that was all.

It was just that the more he spent time with them, the more he could discover prettiness and beauty from them that he seemed to have never discovered before, a relaxing comfort and peace of mind.

... So this is the feeling Hit talked about, liking me more every day than yesterday.

Anselm, who was in a semi-vacation state, thought this, his mood extremely pleasant.

Was finding Ivora urgent? Urgent, very urgent.

He didn't know what chess piece Fate would use Ivora as, or where She would place her, and even disregarding the factor of Fate, he absolutely could not let Ivora return to the Empire peacefully.

Hydra currently reached a delicate balance with the Imperial Grand Dukes—with Deus Ex Machina as deterrence, no one wanted to be the first victim to die, and the prestige and reputation Anselm accumulated over many years added another weight to this balance.

But the premise of all this was built upon the Empire having only Anselm, a Divine Species with "no hope of advancing to the sixth tier".

If Ivora returned, what would the Grand Dukes think?

Did Her Highness the Grand Princess already have the possibility of advancing to the sixth tier?

Or perhaps, since the Grand Princess didn't die, did their Majesty preserve her life from the burning of the Source Flame using some method?

And if the Emperor didn't die...

Anselm Hydra, who designed the killing trap in the Imperial Capital, would be the person most deserving of death.

Even if they might not necessarily think towards the second possibility, just Ivora's return was already the greatest destruction to the balance.

She possessed the authority to dominate space, even if thirteen Grand Dukes besieged her collectively, as long as she remained vigilant, she could retreat unscathed.

Then would the Grand Dukes, for Ivora's sake, aim the guns that were either wavering or already put down at Anselm again?

The current balance was fragile and sensitive.

Anselm's current posture of faintly looking down on the Empire and the prosperity and stability of Hydra's Domain were all built on the circumstance that the Flame-Feasting Royalty was already cut off.

Once Ivora successfully appeared in the world, coupled with Fate's promotion, the consequences would be unimaginable.

That was why Anselm let Shadow Swamp take over this task and didn't openly reign over the West Kingdom with the identity of Hydra; he couldn't let anyone discover his abnormality.

However, having said that, Anselm no longer had that nearly mad, hysterical frantic urgency from before.

Searching for Ivora in the gates of the Zero Point Labyrinth was originally an extremely massive project.

Judging from the frequently opening gates in the West Kingdom, there was a high probability that Ivora was not even inside a certain Maze Realm, but drifting directly within the endless Zero Point Labyrinth, attempting to directly open the door back to the main plane, at most jumping to a certain Maze Realm for rest and resupply when needed.

As for whether Fate would deliberately push things so that Ivora coincidentally rested, then coincidentally the gate there opened, letting adventurers discover Ivora, or letting Ivora directly possess a way back to the main plane, Anselm was not worried.

With the "plot" advanced to this point, the future had long become chaotic and unclear; he had already lost the greatest reliance for contending with Fate.

But Anselm, who had gamed with that transcendent existence sitting high above the heavens for a full six years, could already vaguely see through the clouds and sky... on which grid square that hand would place the chess piece.

He was waiting for an opportunity.

The gathering of winds and clouds in the West Kingdom, two Grand Dukes fighting to the death, Dragon Tongue sitting in the west looking east ready to make trouble, plus Lapis Lazuli Grand Duke, this warmonger stuffing mercenaries everywhere, wishing Sky Soil and Blood Dust would fight until the heavens and earth of the West Kingdom cracked, and finally adding that the Dragon Calamity had arrived, the contemporary Dragon King might have already cast an extremely dangerous slaughtering gaze.

Many conflicts entangled and merged here; the large fruit finally shed was the timing Fate was waiting for. Ivora... was extremely likely to be the person plucking the fruit.

Of course, she could also be the sacrifice for the fruit.

Regardless, Anselm just needed to deal with Ivora before that timing arrived; urgency wouldn't help.

Better to calm his mind, maintain calm observation of Fate's move, while doing some things he wanted to do before, and also supplement Mingfuluo with some worldly affairs she should have experienced.

At the moment he stopped in the flower field and watched Flamel fall into slumber, Anselm indeed received unprecedented redemption.

This world also became more open before his eyes.

"Roughly... the prototype looks like this, Anselm, help me look... Anselm, Anselm?"

Mingfuluo's call brought Anselm back to his senses; he cast his gaze toward a huge... box-shaped instrument on the workbench, tilting his head slightly: "This thing?"

Mingfuluo was still somewhat strange about what Anselm was laughing at just now, but considering he had this smiling appearance every day, she didn't think much about it, speaking to him very seriously:

"You also said before, a place like the West Kingdom... especially territory cities controlled by adventurers, they don't understand what city planning is at all. No, they just won't truly care what a city looks like."

Mingfuluo placed her hand on that machine, saying in a low voice: "There are many places that are too... absurd. If possible, I hope to make a little change, even if it's really only a little bit."

"So you just... made this?"

Anselm glanced at this square instrument, raising his eyebrows slightly: "Purification, conversion... oh, used for processing the environment."

He saw through the function of this instrument at once: "You want to purify the environment of the Lower District?"

"You educated me."

Mingfuluo looked up at Anselm, her expression incomparably serious, "Reform is complex and difficult... if not controlled, some people benefit, and more people sacrifice."

"So now, I plan to start with some things that, although not big, can still bring impact."

Although saying this, Mingfuluo's expression was still somewhat apprehensive; obviously, she still lacked confidence in her direction, which was why she wanted to consult Anselm's opinion.

"This device is just as you said, just a very simple... air purification device. Mass production is very simple; according to the structure of the Lower District of Strife Fortress, about thirty can completely cover it."

Mingfuluo, who had witnessed the absurd structure of the Lower District, said: "Living in that kind of place, living past fifty can be considered a miracle. Even if I can't change their living conditions, changing the living environment... I can still do it."

After finishing speaking, she looked at Anselm somewhat uneasily; the shadow brought by the Soil Enhancement Potion incident back then had not yet faded until now.

"In this case, there shouldn't be extra victims, right?"

"..."

Anselm just looked at this air purification device which was extremely simple for Mingfuluo and only took a few minutes to build, and didn't speak.

He suddenly understood one thing, that, no matter how Mingfuluo understood him, had the same tacit understanding and same vision as him, fundamentally, she was still a person of this world.

Some things, no matter how ahead of her time Miss Scholar was, no matter how genius she was, being a person in the game, she absolutely couldn't consider.

Actually, he had determined this matter long ago, otherwise he wouldn't have handed the power to Marina; he just occasionally hoped Mingfuluo could share a telepathic connection with him, suddenly understanding many things.

It was just ultimately... not very realistic.

But this wasn't any problem; Hitana and Mingfuluo were already very, very good girls, and Anselm never wanted to demand anything more. Other things... were his own business.

Rather than say that, compared to these matters, Anselm was actually more willing to satisfy their heart's desires, because the things they chased were also very close to his former expectations.

"I'll take you to see Hit and Marina."

When Mingfuluo looked increasingly nervous, Anselm suddenly smiled: "Since you want to do these things in the Lower District, you always have to ask for their opinions first, right?"

"... That is true."

Although she didn't know why Anselm was silent, seeing that Anselm didn't raise any objections immediately, Mingfuluo still breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Hitana clumsily and diligently followed the guidance in her heart, advancing unswervingly toward her life's guidepost.

And what about Mingfuluo?

When she saw those commoners in Strife Fortress living in tin boxes and rotten wooden houses, she actually also had determination.

-I really... still want to change all this, not for Grandpa, not out of obsession, but for them, for the future.

This world, everyone living in this world, shouldn't be in this current appearance.

Even if urgently needing growth, still looking at the road ahead with bewilderment, a hero is always a hero.

Hitana was squatting on the large chair in the office, obediently hugging her legs.

Although she had already listened until extremely confused, she still tried hard to force herself, must must listen to Marina's words.

"Must make them think from the bottom of their hearts that living on has value and meaning, instead of blindly looking forward to the gifts from Transcenders when their interest strikes, to change their lives."

Marina's voice was light but firm: "So create more jobs that can bring them positive feedback, transforming their life motivation from unrealistic delusions into realistic power, specific situations..."

Actually, Marina had simpler and more efficient methods to change the status quo of the Lower District.

That was to directly copy the political system and class structure within the Empire.

Following the Empire's system which was constantly perfected and now had a thousand years of history, replacing the chaotic rule of adventurers; this way, not to mention making the commoners of the Lower District feel happy, at the very least it would definitely be much more stable than before.

But Marina didn't do this.

First, adventurers were not worthy and even less capable of becoming the superstructure of this kind of system; second... she also didn't wish to continue using something she originally detested.

Moreover, she also secretly vowed to let Hitana leave with satisfaction, to dedicate all her power for Anselm who pursued that path.

So Marina was groping for a new path, but she wasn't treating the commoners of the Lower District as test subjects again; after all, Mibaita was one of their own, if there were any omissions, just adjust immediately.

Such opportunities were few and far between, and must be firmly cherished.

Marina even occasionally felt that this was the reason Anselm deliberately arranged her by Hitana's side; this was a great honor for her.

As long as she could do it until even Hitana couldn't pick any faults... then she would definitely go a step further.

"In the name of the commoners, cleaning up the lawless elements in the Lower District through commissions is one of the ways to make them unite and possess a sense of 'collective honor', allowing them to—"

Dong dong dong—

Dull knocking sounds interrupted Marina's words; Hitana immediately frowned in dissatisfaction, shouting: "Who is it! No time!"

"Fen, Big Sister Fenrir! That... that Faust, the legendary adventurer! He came to find you!"

Bang—

Hitana jumped up directly from the chair, instantly forgetting Marina to the back of her head, jumping to the door in one bound, pulling the door open in a burning hurry, startling the underling outside the door.

"Where is the person? Where... where is he?"

After seeing that familiar face close at hand, the girl's anxious voice immediately became obedient subconsciously.

"O-Okay!"

In just a moment, Miss Fenrir forcefully propped up a serious tone again, driving away her underling, while crossing her arms over her chest, lifting her chin: "What, looking for me for something?"

While putting on this proud posture, she peeked around to see if her underling had gone far; after the person had disappeared at the end of the corridor, she immediately put away the serious expression just now, grabbed Anselm's wrist at once, and dragged him in directly.

"Anselm, hehehehe, Anselm!"

The girl just wanted to jump directly onto Anselm for a bear hug, but iron-gray particles already condensed into form in front of Anselm, pressing Hitana down directly.

"Anselm didn't come here to let you act coquettishly." Mingfuluo frowned, "Move aside."

"Humph, Anselm doesn't even use that fake face when seeing me, none of your business."

Seeing these two girls about to quarrel again, Anselm looked leisurely and calmly at Marina standing quietly by the desk, saying softly: "Have you been well these few days, Ganlei?"

"I am very well, Mr. Faust?"

"Why bother caring so much for your stupid younger sister?" Mingfuluo pulled the corners of her mouth, "Hard to endure, right? The taste of jail is not pleasant."

"You must be joking, Miss Mingfuluo."

Hitana also grabbed Mingfuluo angrily: "Exactly, what do you mean jail! I treat Lina very well! Every day..."

"Alright alright, for Anselm's sake, I won't argue with you... hold this."

She waved her hand, and a large iron box landed in Hitana's hands.

The girl was startled by this iron box, her face full of suspicion: "This big square square... what is it for?"

Mingfuluo's eyes carried a slight disdain, but she still explained the use of this thing and her purpose to Hitana.

"... Anyway, that's how it is."

After a brief narration: "I followed Anselm's meaning to seek your opinions."

She tilted her head slightly: "Do you want to deploy these things in the Lower District?"

"Yes! Of course yes!"

While Marina's pupils shrank slightly and her eyes flickered, Hitana had already said with eyes lighting up immediately: "Such good stuff, why not install it quickly! You are still quite useful, little dwarf!"

Because this time could be considered reaching an agreement, Mingfuluo didn't care too much about Hitana's wording, just saying indifferently: "Then I will bring all the purifiers tomorrow, and I will teach you how to install them properly then."

"Good good good... rest assured! After these things are installed, I will definitely make people protect them well!"

Hitana patted her chest with extreme confidence: "Whoever dares to touch them recklessly, I'll blow his head off!"

Mingfuluo breathed a sigh of relief secretly, while turning to look at Anselm who had not expressed an opinion all along.

Her intuition, as well as her tacit understanding with Anselm, were telling her that Anselm should still have something unsaid.

But until now, Anselm still smiled without speaking, not expressing his own view.

So was Anselm... tacitly approving?

Until now, Mingfuluo certainly wouldn't think Anselm still had the heart to pit her; her suspended heart also dropped bit by bit—

"Miss Mingfuluo, Miss Fenrir, could I trouble you two... to listen to my view?"

Just at this moment, Marina, who had also been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"... Oh? Ah! Right, there is also Lina; Lina is much smarter than me."

Hitana, who reacted, scratched her head: "Her view must also be more meaningful."

Mingfuluo nodded slightly: "Please speak."

"Thank you for your tolerance."

Marina lowered her head slightly; after a brief silence, she said in a very light tone:

"I do not think the Lower District of Strife Fortress... is suitable for installing these things."

"... What?" "Ah?"

Although the two girls' words were different, astonishment and incomprehension were exactly the same.

Only Anselm, standing quietly on the side, tapped his arm lightly, a strand of satisfaction and sigh flashing past the bottom of his eyes.

Mingfuluo reacted first: "Why don't you say... why?"

Why?

Marina looked at Mingfuluo's doubtful appearance, a little bitterness emerging at the bottom of her eyes.

Miss Mingfuluo, a remarkable genius like you also cannot understand why?

Yes, after all, you are a Transcender.

The reason for not letting this kind of thing appear in the Lower District couldn't be simpler.

Purifiers, these things, indeed wouldn't benefit one group while causing a huge impact on another group like the Soil Enhancement Potion; in that place, the Lower District, there were no sanitation workers.

But... it affected the adventurers' entertainment, affected their "purification".

The current environment of the Lower District was originally designed deliberately by Mibaita, a miserable place used to let himself and other adventurers administer salvation. This misery was reflected in many places, the environment was only one of them, but even if it was only one of them... adventurers wouldn't agree to have this "entertainment" touched by others.

Marina organized her language, thinking of how to explain with concrete, yet slightly obscure in deeper meaning words, continuing softly: "Taverns will be incorporated into spheres of influence, casinos suffer control by others, even toilets might be controlled by people... Miss Mingfuluo, the situation of the Lower District is very complex."

"You install such a thing, the intention is of course good, but will you stay here forever? Will Mr. Faust stay here forever? After you two leave, who will govern these purifiers, who will control them? When the residents of the Lower District get used to fresh and healthy air, but these purifiers fall into the hands of dangerous dominators... will they, again, suffer a kind of control and oppression?"

"I..."

Mingfuluo was startled; she thought of Little Pelican City, thought of the Pelican Guild, thought of that man who sacrificed everything in exchange for a chance to advance to Transcender, her back faintly breaking out in cold sweat in an instant.

How could she forget this point?

Oligarchs who monopolized new things and brought oppression or even slavery on this basis... if unable to restrict them, they indeed would only cause greater destruction.

And Marina worried not only about this; if Strife Fortress took these things for themselves, it would undoubtedly be more convenient for them to send down "gifts", more convenient for them to dominate and toy with the commoners.

But she didn't say these to Mingfuluo and Hitana; telling those words to them who were Transcenders... in Marina's eyes, was already a kind of offense.

"Then just bring out Anselm's name." Hitana didn't think that much at all, "Just say Faust wants to do this thing; whoever dares to touch recklessly gets killed. I want to see if there are idiots with big guts."

"... Do you think Mr. Faust will keep his gaze here every moment?"

"Uh..." Hitana was stunned, scratching her cheek somewhat awkwardly, "Probably not, but even if not, their guts can't be that big, risking—"

"One day." Marina interrupted Hitana's words, "Maybe effective for a moment, but one day, there will always be a guy with very big guts to touch the taboo, and Mr. Faust has a greater probability of not watching here."

She stared at her younger sister's eyes which began to dodge, her tone unconsciously becoming somewhat strict: "As long as it happens once, everything will return to before, there won't be any change."

"Is... is it that serious?"

Marina sighed: "Mr. Faust also tried to stop the slave trade; he once killed in all directions in the Imperial Capital's black market, but only three years later, the slave trade in the black market continues, let alone the entire Empire."

"Miss Fenrir, you say, is it that serious?"

"I..."

Hitana paused, pondered for a while, but still said unconvinced: "Wrong wrong, for things like slave trade, that what... the profit is too big! So people always do it, and Anselm can't manage the entire Empire, so they have the guts to keep doing it."

"But this thing... this thing is different!"

The girl tried hard to wave her hands, using everything she learned from Marina, trying hard to explain: "The people controlling it can't get any benefits! The people of the Lower District are used to this kind of air; even if you control these machines and threaten them with this, at worst they'll just breathe the original air... it's not like selling people to make money at all, how would they risk losing their heads to do this kind of thing that can't make money at all!"

Hitana actually said a series of logically rigorous words very rarely, which shocked Mingfuluo greatly and also calmed her down a lot.

"That makes sense... The commoners of the Lower District have no fat to squeeze originally; whether the air is purified or not won't directly and vividly affect them. Just enduring it will pass; them using this as threat and oppression... shouldn't be effective, let alone this is meaningless."

Because originally it was meaningless... because adventurers never coveted the commoners' interests; they just wanted to squeeze the commoners' miserable lives into juice and taste it slowly.

So even if it looked "meaningless", they would do it; this was the extremely twisted relationship between Transcenders and criminals.

Marina opened her mouth, but didn't say this sentence; she didn't know why she kept silent on this matter, but changed to another method to advise: "But if using Mr. Faust as a figurehead, it will affect him directly, this... is not good."

To some extent, this sentence was much more lethal than the argument just now; the hesitation on Mingfuluo's face became thicker, and Hitana didn't clamor immediately, also somewhat hesitant.

But not long after, the Wolf Lady's eyes gradually brightened up.

"But... Anselm doesn't mind, right! Ah, I mean, Anselm definitely also hopes they can live good lives, right."

Hitana looked toward Anselm, blinking her bright eyes unceasingly; the joyous expression emerging on her beautiful and moving cute face made it impossible for people to refuse.

"Call me Faust, Miss Fenrir." Anselm pursed his lips slightly, as if suppressing a smile.

"You don't even use that face in front of me, why still use this weird name... Anselm Anselm, you definitely think the same as me, right!"

Facing Hitana whose eyes were full of expectation and twinkling with little stars, Anselm just smiled, then turned his head to look at Mingfuluo: "What do you think, Aluo?"

"I think..."

Mingfuluo was still somewhat hesitant, because she knew Anselm planned to do something with the identity of "Faust"; if because of her choice, Anselm was forced into a difficult position, then...

"I was doing some commissions before that seemed meaningless to others."

Anselm recalled lightly and leisurely: "Then it's not strange even if Faust did this kind of thing, right?"

Such an answer made Mingfuluo's eyes brighten up just like Hitana's instantly; she hesitated for a short while, looked at the instrument Hitana was holding, and finally said firmly:

"Anselm, I want... to change this place, even if only a little bit is fine; can you help me?"

"Of course." Anselm answered without hesitation, "Go do it, Aluo."

"... Mn!"

Mingfuluo hugged Anselm forcefully, then stood on tiptoe to kiss her sweetheart's side profile, which made Hitana scream immediately, running over directly to hug Anselm's neck, kissing fiercely on the other side.

While Marina watched all this blankly, like an outsider... no, she was an outsider.

But before this, she didn't think she was an outsider.

Mr. Anselm... he clearly knew this was wrong; this was only a temporary plan, this might add completely unnecessary, completely avoidable trouble to himself.

He clearly knew very well what was correct; it was he who guided me, the things I can think of, Mr. Anselm definitely can also think of.

But why...

Gazing at the warm affection smile on the blond youth's face, Marina was somewhat in a trance.

Why is Mr. Anselm's choice different from mine?