"Sister!!"
The normally composed and rational Yukino Yukinoshita finally lost her cool.
She looked at Haruno with grave seriousness and asked earnestly:
"Do you truly believe that's just a non-disclosure agreement?"
Even Yukino herself didn't notice the slight tremble in her voice.
Haruno signing the Familia contract wasn't necessarily bad for Yukino. Having another ally in the Familia, especially her caring elder sister, was hardly a negative.
The sole issue lay with their mother—the Yukino Family Head's perspective.
One daughter would inherit the family's secular influence, continuing their foothold in politics and business through marriage.
The other would enter the mystic side's domain and develop there.
Supporting each other, they would become the family's twin pillars, strengthening the Yukinoshita lineage.
This was the Family Head's expectation - the mission Yukino and Haruno were meant to fulfil.
Both sisters understood this perfectly.
Originally, as the second daughter deemed a failed investment by their mother, Yukino had been destined for a political marriage or matrilocal union.
But Luo Shu's unexpected intervention led their mother to place mystic side development expectations on Yukino.
Precisely because of these expectations, Haruno—the daughter meant for political and business development—absolutely couldn't trespass into the mystical side, especially not in ways that might disrupt the family's strategy.
Signing a Familia contract was clearly an act of binding oneself deeply to the mystical side.
And this wasn't something that could be brushed off in front of their mother with some flimsy excuse about mistaking it for a confidentiality agreement.
Even now, Yukino Yukinoshita still couldn't believe that her sister—who had always obediently followed their mother's will—would suddenly try to play dumb at a time like this.
"Eh? Yukino-chan is so mean, scolding me like that."
Haruno Yukinoshita, having been reprimanded, put on a pitiful expression as she looked at Yukino, resembling an abandoned puppy.
In response, Yukino took a deep breath before saying:
"If I hadn't brought it up, were you planning to just play dumb and sign the Familia contract like that?"
Just as Yukino said this, Luo Shu suddenly spoke up from the side:
"Yukino, could you step back for a moment?"
Yukino turned her head in surprise, but before she could react, Luo Shu continued calmly:
"This isn't a request. It's an order."
"Step aside, Yukino."
"...Understood."
Yukino opened her mouth slightly, but faced with the Chief God's command, she had no choice but to comply, retreating to the side in unease and confusion.
Yet, despite Luo Shu clearly creating an environment where they could let the misunderstanding slide, Haruno instead seemed annoyed:
"Wait a minute! Luo Shu-kun, how could you bully Yukino like that?"
"Absolutely unacceptable! Bullying girls is something a gentleman should never do!"
Hearing this, Luo Shu composed himself, merely narrowing his eyes as he looked at Haruno with a faint smile:
"Have I ever claimed to be a gentleman?"
"Or perhaps, Haruno, you're actually terrified deep down?"
"Well, I can understand the fear of your mother stemming from your childhood upbringing, but at your age, you should be in your rebellious phase... Oh, I almost forgot. Your rebellious phase seems to have already expired."
"I can't ignore such blatant age-shaming!"
Haruno glared at Luo Shu in irritation before striding up to him, placing both hands on the table as she stared at his face with a stern expression:
"Luo Shu-kun, bullying Yukino is absolutely not allowed in my book!"
To this, Luo Shu chuckled before replying:
"Projecting your own past desire to rebel onto your little sister?"
Hearing such blunt words, Haruno frowned and said seriously, "Big sister is really getting a little angry now!"
But at that moment, Luo Shu raised his right hand and lightly waved it—Raziel materialised in his grasp.
Before picking up the quill, Luo Shu spoke in an indifferent tone:
"Speaking of which, because you helped Yukino with her secretarial work, you've come into contact with quite a few Hidden Management Department documents, haven't you?"
"That was because—" Haruno started to explain that it was something he had tacitly allowed, but then she realised something was off.
"Because what? I permitted it? Do you have proof?"
Luo Shu twirled the quill in his right hand, smiling ambiguously:
"Do you have a recording? Or perhaps a paper trail? Or even a witness other than you and your sister—can you produce even one?"
Haruno immediately grasped the situation and looked at Luo Shu with a wry smile:
"I see. So it was a trap all along."
"Starting from dumping an excessive workload on Yukino, was it all to prompt her to come to me for help?"
Hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita immediately wanted to say that wasn't the case at all.
Initially, it was simply because the Hidden Management Department was newly established, coupled with the excessively high confidentiality level, which led to an overwhelming amount of secretarial work. Yukino Yukinoshita had no choice but to outsource some peripheral tasks to Familia members.
At that time, apart from Haruno Yukinoshita, there were also Utaha Kasumigaoka, Ms. Kurumi Tokisaki's clones, and even the head of the intelligence department, Ms. Meer, as well as the Director of the Operations Department, Ms. Kirika Tachibana, helping out.
Haruno Yukinoshita's involvement was purely accidental—she happened to visit the Hidden Management Department once and lent a hand upon seeing Yukino buried in work.
However, Luo Shu then said with an eerie tone:
"Surely, surely, without my permission, no one in Familia would actually hand over documents and materials to outsiders for processing, would they?"
"That's simply impossible, isn't it?"
Yukino Yukinoshita's expression froze. If Luo Shu stubbornly denied it, then... it truly couldn't have happened. After all, even if it did, Luo Shu could retract it at any time, making it disappear from the records.
If that were the case, then this kind of framing would be utterly inescapable!
"So, Ms. Haruno, could you explain why you know so much about the Management Department's affairs?"
As Luo Shu spoke, he asked with a smirk:
"Please don't attempt to lie. After all, you should be aware that there are individuals with mental-type abilities within the Hidden Management Department, right?"
Yukino Yukinoshita hesitated to speak, and the reason was that she could tell from Haruno Yukinoshita's body language that something was off...
Her sister... seemed... somewhat happy?
Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly realised something.
Could it be that all of this was premeditated by the Director and her sister?
Accidentally coming into contact with internal materials, being passively implicated, then having to join to keep the secret—was this entire procedure concocted as an excuse to placate Mother?
Just as Yukino Yukinoshita had this epiphany and grasped the possible truth, Haruno Yukinoshita sighed and confessed:
"Fine, I admit I did obtain some materials through Yukino."
"So, Director, how do you plan to deal with me?"
"Have me sign this confidentiality agreement? Or just eliminate me outright?"
"By the way, taking Yukino away is one thing, but if you take me, the Yukinoshita family won't let it slide."
Hearing this, Luo Shu calmly opened a drawer, took out a document, and said indifferently:
"The Hidden Management Department lost a confidential file yesterday. During the investigation, it was accidentally discovered that this file seems to have been sent by an infiltrator to the home of a certain local real estate operator in Chiba Prefecture."
"Hmm, should we dispatch the Execution Squad from the Operations Department, or deploy the Hidden Management Department's direct combat forces?"
"Oh, considering the critical importance of this intelligence, surely Mrs. Yukinoshita would understand if we sent a Demigod, wouldn't she?"
Haruno Yukinoshita and Yukino Yukinoshita listened to Luo Shu's outrageous claims, their faces contorting uncontrollably.
Was it really necessary to go this far?
Both of them thought about their mother's strong-willed personality and Luo Shu's shameless act of sending a Demigod to apprehend her; their expressions immediately darkened.
"Director Luo Shu, are you sure you're not aiming for a mutually destructive outcome here?"
This could literally kill someone!! Mother would absolutely choose death over surrender!!
Imagining that terrifying outcome, Haruno Yukinoshita spoke to Luo Shu with an extremely unnatural expression:
"You're making this so extreme that I'm almost afraid to sign the contract now!"
She did want to rebel for once, but she never intended for her mother to die!
Hearing this, Luo Shu nodded in sudden understanding, then turned to Yukino Yukinoshita and said:
"Yukino! Do you remember what recently happened with Eriri?"
"Huh?" Yukino Yukinoshita froze momentarily before hesitantly nodding.
Seeing this, Luo Shu smiled contentedly and continued:
"Due to a certain visit of mine, the head of the Sawamura Family, Mr. Robert, met with an unfortunate demise, and Mrs. Sayuri Sawamura unexpectedly became a widow. Then, the very next day, rumours emerged about Mrs. Sayuri having a close relationship with a certain Director surnamed Luo."
At this point, Luo Shu's smile turned rather malicious as he said:
"I believe Mrs. Yukinoshita wouldn't want what happened to the Sawamura Family to befall the Yukinoshita Family, would she?"
His words left not just Yukino but even Haruno utterly dumbfounded.
If he can't have the eldest daughter, he'll take the mother instead?
This...
What kind of outlaw is this guy?