Chapter 397: Rejecting "Loli Aesthetics" Starts With You
By the time Steven stepped out of Kal'tsit's office, the sky was already sliding into dusk.
He wasn't even sure how the two of them had managed to talk for that long.
It had felt like they only discussed his escapades in Kazimierz and some future plans… though, to be fair, he did ask quite a lot about those Feranmut.
But what satisfied Steven the most was that he'd finally managed to scratch some of that curiosity that had been bothering him.
For example, what exactly were those Feranmut? What was a "Beast Lord" like the Duck Lord supposed to be?
At the very least, he was no longer completely clueless, forced to guess their power level purely from the names floating above their heads and their HP bars.
And naturally, the moment Kal'tsit caught sight of the Shoggy he was squeezing like a stress toy, she had questions. Lots of questions.
Steven didn't bother hiding anything.
He told her, quite cheerfully, that it was a leftover product from killing the Collapsal in Ursus.
He could still remember the way Kal'tsit looked at him after hearing that—as though she were staring at some kind of rare, extremely dangerous zoo specimen.
Thinking back on it now, Steven found it hilarious.
Honestly, that was one of the reasons he wanted to keep Shoggy in the first place.
Who wouldn't want a pet that could shock people into stunned silence?
Wasn't that amazingly cool?
Fortunately, Kal'tsit didn't try to stop him from keeping it.
Not after she'd gained a clearer idea of his capabilities.
At this point, nothing Steven did could surprise her enough to make her want to scold him anymore.
If he wanted to mess around, she'd let him mess around.
After all, if he screwed up, he'd clean up his own mess.
Rhodes Island certainly didn't have the strength to control him, nor the qualifications to tell him what to do.
So Kal'tsit chose the wisest option: stop trying to restrain him, and just go with the flow.
Having dealt with ancient monsters and eldritch beings for centuries, she knew better than anyone—the more you try to bind someone like him, the more likely you are to provoke him.
But danger came hand in hand with opportunity.
Steven lingering on Rhodes Island—and possibly maintaining a friendly relationship—would definitely bring chaos, but also benefits beyond imagination.
Those healing potions alone were something none of her previous research could have produced.
Steven himself wasn't thinking that deeply.
After confirming that Rhodes Island was sailing east and would inevitably pass through the lands of Yan, he casually informed Kal'tsit that Yan would be his next destination.
Kal'tsit simply nodded and agreed.
Arranging something like that was trivial for her.
Her thoughts were focused elsewhere—namely, how to maintain a good relationship with Steven.
Because if he liked you, he was absurdly easy to get along with.
He had none of that oppressive arrogance that powerful beings often carried.
He didn't discriminate between the infected or the non-infected.
He didn't act superior.
But trying to deliberately become his friend?
That was a challenge in itself.
Steven was someone you couldn't win over with calculation or force.
Trying too hard would only push him away.
And that… was what made dealing with him so maddeningly difficult.
There were plenty of people on Rhodes Island who got along well with Steven, but if one asked who he personally acknowledged as friends, the list was surprisingly short—basically the Elite Operators, Warfarin, Gavial, and a few others.
But if Rhodes Island relied only on those relationships to persuade Steven to do anything beneficial for the organization, it absolutely wouldn't be enough. Otherwise, the entire Medical Department wouldn't be tearing each other apart over a few bottles of his healing potions.
Kal'tsit knew very well that while Steven always claimed those potions were precious, the way he casually took them out and tossed them around suggested a different truth entirely.
He clearly had more of them—way more—than he pretended.
However… figuring out how to deepen their relationship even further? That was a far trickier problem for Kal'tsit.
After all, she'd always been the one others tried to get closer to—not the other way around.
Steven was the first person who ever made her wonder how to raise her favorability rating.
And honestly, she suspected that in Steven's heart, even Mon3tr might rank higher than she did.
The way his eyes kept drifting toward the creature behind her throughout the meeting made that painfully obvious.
This kind of situation… really should be handled by someone more specialized.
Maybe it was time to move up the schedule on waking up the Doctor.
At least there was one thing she could feel relieved about—Steven was genuinely good with Amiya.
Whenever he was free, he'd drop by to tease her or play around a bit, always making the little girl laugh like a blooming flower.
Maybe he just liked younger girls?
Otherwise, how could one explain why nearly all the underage girls on Rhodes Island had such a good impression of him?
…Could he actually be a lolicon?
Just as Kal'tsit was entertaining this extremely malicious speculation, Steven—who had only just stepped out of her office—suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose, puzzled.
"Who's secretly complimenting how handsome I am this time? They could at least say it to my face, you know…"
Muttering to himself with far too much confidence, he quickly shifted his attention to the white-haired, violet-eyed girl waiting at the door.
Her serene expression, mixed with a clear hint of annoyance, made it obvious she had been waiting for quite a while.
"You sure get along well with that old lynx," the girl—Nian—remarked, covering her mouth with her folding fan. Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
"What were you two talking about for so long? She likes riddles, sure, but she doesn't usually drag people off forever. Don't tell me… the two of you are lovers?"
"I'm not interested in an old relic like her," Steven replied calmly. "But you waiting out here this whole time… doesn't seem like you came just to discuss movie sponsorships, does it?"
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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