In the reception room on the third floor of the Hidden Management Department garrison.
"Strange, could it be that you don't like this ethical taboo type, Luo Shu?"
The silver-haired princess continued spouting her outrageous claims.
Seated on the left single sofa, Luo Shu merely glanced sideways at La Folia before crossing his legs:
"Whether I like it or not is beside the point, but having Kanon join the Familia would indeed benefit me."
Here, Luo Shu gazed calmly at La Folia and Kanon Kanase:
"Although Raziel's omniscient power has verified the success rate of the Spirit Sorcerer Class, considering Eriri will be the Class user, we'll need two test subjects as a precaution against accidents."
Hearing this, La Folia slightly raised the corner of her mouth but remained silent.
Instead, Megumi Kato reminded Luo Shu:
"Director, such cruel explanations will make women dislike you."
"After all, terms like 'test subjects' sound rather unpleasant."
"But that's essentially what they are."
Ignoring Megumi's reminder, Luo Shu propped his chin on one hand, sipped his tea and said:
"What matters to me is using the Class's power to strengthen Eriri and obtaining Nature Spirit Blood from her."
"Ensuring her safety takes priority since I gain nothing from a corpse."
"Naturally, one of you two would be first to test the Class's power."
Luo Shu looked at Kanon Kanase and La Folia as he continued:
"Though I'll do everything to ensure safety, that doesn't eliminate the Class's inherent risks."
"Considering this, more test subjects for this new Spirit Sorcerer Class would be ideal - greater numbers improve both problem detection and risk mitigation."
"But given current limitations, widespread Class adoption during early development is nearly impossible."
La Folia raised her hand like a curious student:
"So what exactly are these limitations? Points perhaps?"
"If it's points, we could consider Aldegia's royal treasury. I recall from basic knowledge that containing Abyss Artefacts generates stable point income."
"Therefore, we could establish a Hidden Management Zone in Aldegia's palace to seal Abyss Artefacts, convert them to points, then use those points to train suitable Spirit Sorcerers."
"I believe this plan should be feasible, no?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu gave La Folia a meaningful look.
Meanwhile, Natsuki Minamiya sipped her black tea and chuckled:
"How ruthlessly you seize every opportunity to strengthen your kingdom."
Unfazed by Natsuki's teasing, La Folia remained expressionless, utterly confident Luo Shu would consider her proposal.
Seeing La Folia's confident demeanour, Luo Shu narrowed his eyes slightly. After taking a sip of black tea, he set down the cup and remarked:
"It seems the Familia contract has given you great confidence, La Folia."
Faced with Luo Shu's teasing, La Folia responded with assurance:
"Since it's a contract that binds our futures together, isn't it natural to trust one's destined partner?"
As she spoke, La Folia suddenly seemed to remember something. Pressing a finger to her chin, she continued:
"Though considering I'll need a convincing reason to persuade Mother to allow the royal family's collected Abyss Artefacts to be stored in the Hidden Management Zone..."
Here, La Folia gave a slightly bashful smile:
"Perhaps I should simply tell her that Luo Shu has already claimed both my body and heart."
"How... bold..."
Haruno Yukinoshita shielded her eyes as if blocking out glaring sunlight:
"This woman is completely the aggressive type... What should we do, Yukino? We're falling far behind in points."
Yukino Yukinoshita sighed at her sister's words: "Please refrain from such nonsensical remarks in future."
After admonishing Haruno, Yukino turned to glance at La Folia, then at Luo Shu's smiling face, before frowning slightly.
Objectively speaking, La Folia's approach wasn't unreasonable. Yet Yukino found herself reflecting on whether she'd overlooked Luo Shu's contributions.
After all, La Folia had been prepared to serve as an experimental subject and accept Luo Shu's punishments to obtain the Spirit Sorcerer Class.
Whereas she herself had effortlessly received the promising Fairy of Knowledge Class from Luo Shu.
Upon reflection, even as his Familia member, the benefits she'd received seemed disproportionately generous.
So the reason for Luo Shu's selfless generosity...
'Could it be that he likes me?' Yukino tilted her head slightly, startled by her own thought.
'Wait, am I being influenced by my sister's nonsense just now?'
'The Director liking me? That's impossible...'
'No, being liked by someone as promiscuous as the Director wouldn't be good anyway.'
'But if he's promiscuous, then secretly fancying me would be normal too?'
Miss Yukino Yukinoshita, beside them, seemed to have fallen into a flawed logical loop.
Meanwhile, La Folia maintained her smile, patiently awaiting Luo Shu's response.
Yet even the most patient person would grow anxious facing Luo Shu's silence.
Finally unable to bear it, La Folia ventured:
"So, what are your thoughts, Luo Shu? If you disagree, I can retract my earlier suggestion..."
Hearing La Folia's conciliatory tone, Luo Shu merely turned his head slightly to glance at her:
"Can Aldegia afford the points required to purchase the Class materials?"
About to offer assurances, La Folia suddenly caught the implication behind his words. Hesitating momentarily, she countered:
"How about... ten times the price?"
Without waiting for Luo Shu's response, her eyes suddenly brightened: "If my immediate family needs materials, they can purchase them at ten times the points. For collateral relatives, fifty... no, a hundred times!"
"For the points earned, how about we split them 3:7, with you taking 7 and me 3?"
Seeing La Folia like this, Luo Shu finally smiled in satisfaction:
"It seems you've finally understood where your stance should lie."
In truth, Luo Shu had no issue with family loyalty, but one's stance needed to be clear.
The wealth of Aldegia belonged to the Aldegia Royal Family, but La Folia no longer wholly belonged to the royal family as she once did.
'Now that she's my Familia, thinking of wavering? Wishful thinking...'
Luo Shu picked up his black tea, took a sip, and said:
"Set the price at ten times for immediate family and fifty times for collateral relatives, lest their assets be drained and they can't afford the advancement materials."
"Additionally, for a long time, the materials sold must be kept below Elite Rank. After all, once one reaches Hero Rank, Class holders can essentially produce low-tier advancement materials themselves. This wouldn't benefit our interests."
"Lastly..." Luo Shu glanced at La Folia before adding, "Let's split the profits fifty-fifty."
Hearing this, La Folia immediately beamed:
"Alright, darling~"
"Changing your tune awfully fast..."
Luo Shu muttered under his breath, then shifted his gaze to Natsuki Minamiya:
"Natsuki-chan, I'll need you to make a trip and bring that fool Eriri back quickly."
Since La Folia was now one of them, obtaining the Soul Summoning Art no longer needed to wait until after the transaction was complete. They could start immediately.
"Such an impatient man," Natsuki Minamiya grumbled.
Fully aware of the situation, she didn't refuse Luo Shu's request. With a turn, she vanished completely from everyone's sight.
Within seconds, Eriri, clad in mourning attire, was dragged back by Natsuki Minamiya, looking utterly bewildered.
"Done~"
Natsuki Minamiya sat back down and picked up the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Luo Shu looked at Eriri, who was still clutching paper money and utterly confused, and smiled:
"Though you might not grasp the situation yet, the time to gain power has finally arrived, Eriri!"
Hearing this, Eriri paused before uttering her first words since appearing:
"Um... what are you talking about?"