La Folia glanced down at the suspicious contract Luo Shu had produced, tilting her head slightly before giving him a peculiar look:
"Suddenly producing something this dubious... Luo Shu, do you have some ulterior motive towards me?"
"It's just an ordinary contract, nothing suspicious about it," Luo Shu asserted confidently.
"No, this is extremely suspicious."
As she spoke, La Folia picked up the brownish-yellow scroll, running her fingers over it:
"The texture resembles parchment... yet also feels like yellow paper. It's an unfamiliar material... Hmm, here..."
She gripped both ends of the scroll and pulled them apart, revealing faint golden patterns beneath the white surface at its centre. With a deadpan expression, she remarked:
"These patterns are clearly some kind of technique circuitry. Though they look decorative, they must be part of an unfamiliar technique, right?"
Pointing at the brown border of the scroll, she added:
"And here at the edges—these ornamental designs are also part of the technique, aren't they?"
"Put together, does it really seem that suspicious?" Luo Shu's tone carried a hint of guilt.
Though he knew the patterns on the scroll were merely a receiver—a device created to accept the contract power of the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System, not the actual entity—being nitpicked by La Folia still made Luo Shu feel somewhat guilty.
"Actually, it's not particularly suspicious," La Folia crossed her arms and tilted her head with a smile. "It's just that when you brought out this scroll, everyone's expressions changed. That's the truly suspicious part."
Luo Shu immediately turned to look at the people nearby, his gaze first landing on Yukino Yukinoshita.
At that moment, Yukino was lowering her head, fiddling with the paws of a calico cat, pretending not to see Luo Shu at all.
Seeing this, Luo Shu then looked at Natsuki Minamiya, only to find her holding up a large newspaper, feigning interest in the morning edition while completely obscuring her face.
With two people already acting suspiciously, Luo Shu couldn't help but glance at Haruno Yukinoshita.
Oh... that retreating figure near the door looked an awful lot like Haruno's back...
"You lot..." Luo Shu's lips twitched as he stared at these so-called allies who were actively sabotaging him.
Originally, he had planned to come up with a convincing reason to trick La Folia into signing the contract. He had even prepared a plausible and necessary justification, along with backup plans, all with the goal of thoroughly deceiving her today.
Yet at the critical moment, he had been stabbed in the back by his own people!
Thinking this, Luo Shu forced out a stiff smile:
"Couldn't you all have controlled your expressions just now?"
"Well..."
Yukino Yukinoshita, hearing this, turned her head slightly away, avoiding Luo Shu's gaze with a hint of guilt:
"When I heard it was a contract, I instinctively took a look. When I realised it wasn't the department's usual white paper, I immediately knew something was off... and then... I couldn't control my expression anymore."
"Sorry, Director. I didn't mean to."
After Yukino's apology, Natsuki Minamiya folded her newspaper slightly, revealing her face as she remarked:
"Speaking of which, when did you come up with such an underhanded trick? I don't recall you ever using it before."
Natsuki Minamiya wasn't sure if her past self would have fallen for this trick. Since Luo Shu was now one of their own, there wasn't much need for excessive caution. Yet as a teacher, watching Luo Shu gradually learn these underhanded methods felt truly dreadful!
At that moment, Megumi Kato, who had been hiding nearby, quietly explained: "This... seems to be a method accidentally discovered on Miss Enigma yesterday. Though I never imagined the Director would try using it on La Folia-san."
"So it was a trap after all, this scroll."
La Folia glanced at the contract in her hand before smiling curiously: "Is this some kind of one-sided compulsory contract? A derivative of an Abyss Artefact, perhaps?"
Meanwhile, Natsuki Minamiya rested her chin on one hand and picked up her teacup, calmly remarking: "It's not exactly a compulsory contract. More accurately, it's a 'comrades-only' agreement. Something along those lines."
"Essentially, it's built on a foundation of trust."
As she spoke, her tone remained utterly composed: "After all, this fellow shares your temperament – the type who inherently distrusts outsiders."
"Sorry for having such a personality!"
Luo Shu sighed, propping his cheek on one hand, clearly frustrated by his failed scheme.
"Ah, having your schemes exposed face-to-face must be quite embarrassing. Though I'm sure the Director is resilient enough to endure it."
Hearing this, Luo Shu turned to look at Megumi Kato.
Meeting his gaze, Megumi replied serenely: "If Senior Utaha were here, she'd probably say something like that."
"That's clearly what you wanted to say! Don't pin everything on Utaha! She's never said anything like that about me!"
Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Luo Shu summoned Raziel into his hand with a wave: "Admittedly, having the plan exposed is awkward, but no matter! I've got Plan B!"
"Plan B?"
Natsuki Minamiya and Yukino Yukinoshita looked over curiously, while Kanon Kanase also watched Luo Shu in puzzlement. Even La Folia, the intended target, inquired with interest: "What might this Plan B entail?"
Megumi glanced at Raziel in Luo Shu's grasp and immediately understood: "The Director summoned Raziel... meaning Plan B involves forcibly making La Folia-san sign the contract using its power?"
"But that would essentially be coercion, wouldn't it?"
"And whose fault do you think it is that we've reached this point?"
Luo Shu retorted irritably, though he didn't immediately activate Raziel. The version he held was enhanced for intelligence gathering rather than the future-altering control variant.
Holding Raziel as insurance, Luo Shu addressed La Folia: "Though I feel somewhat apologetic... could you please sign that contract before I'm forced to use my ability?"
"While I appreciate the sentiment..."
La Folia slowly rolled up the scroll in her hands before smiling and handing it back to Luo Shu: "But can something already signed be signed again?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu paused, dismissed Raziel, and unfurled the scroll. In the signature field, he found only blank space.No, it couldn't be called blank. Instead, an obscure spirituality permeated that emptiness, eventually forming a sky-blue name.
At this moment, La Folia cheerfully explained:
"Spirit script... A signature technique only used by women of the Rihavein family. It's a special type of writing that can be revoked or made visible at any time~"
"This trick is super useful when signing business contracts~ Paired with special paper, it can completely make names disappear from documents. It's a secret technique for commercial fraud!"
After saying this, La Folia expressed slight regret:
"However, it seems this technique doesn't work on these contract scrolls."
Hearing this, Luo Shu raised his head with a thoroughly puzzled expression.
"Don't look at me with that 'why' face."
La Folia sighed lightly, then flashed a radiant smile as she continued:
"If Luo Shu ever asks you to sign on a brownish scroll, I hope you'll sign it."
"This was advice specifically reminded to me by my dearest friend Lacus... no, it was Meer."
"Though the risks are high, unfortunately, I'm the type of woman who trusts her friend's first piece of advice~"
Looking at the beaming La Folia, Luo Shu thought for a moment before saying somewhat enviously:
"A trustworthy best friend... What a rare creature indeed..."
After a pause, Luo Shu turned to La Folia and said:
"Then the reward for that trust should already be on its way."
Hearing this, La Folia froze momentarily. But in the next second, under the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System's remote control, the abilities within her began to awaken.