"Ouch ouch ouch!!"
On the third-floor corridor leading to the elevator, Eriri rubbed her head, her face twisted in pain:
"So what if I forgot about the promotion? Was it necessary to grab my hair and tie it into a bow?"
"And it's not my fault I forgot—there's just been too much going on lately."
By the end, her voice had dwindled to a mutter, not daring to voice her excuses openly.
"This is to teach you a memorable lesson, so you at least remember important matters in the future."
Luo Shu, walking ahead, said calmly.
"Huh?"
Eriri's voice rose sharply before dropping again as she grumbled:
"Seriously, you're only this proactive because it involves you, aren't you?"
As soon as Eriri finished speaking, Luo Shu stopped in his tracks and glanced sideways at her.
Instantly, Eriri halted her steps, clutching her head nervously as she said:
"What do you want? Haven't you already punished me?"
At this, Luo Shu merely gave her a disdainful look before raising his hand to press the elevator button on the wall:
"I just stopped to call the lift."
Eriri's face immediately flushed red.
"You two seem really close~" La Folia observed with an amused smile, her tone gentle.
"Who's close with him?!"
Eriri retorted while smoothing her hair, then shot La Folia a curious glance:
"Wait, who are you? Are you a new member of the Familia?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's mouth twitched as he couldn't help but mutter:
"Didn't you meet her last night? At Robert's funeral wake, you were the host family welcoming her, weren't you?"
"Eh?" Eriri froze momentarily before suddenly recalling something. She gave La Folia a strange look, then exclaimed in realisation:
"Oh! I remember now, you're that princess from some Al-something kingdom..."
"Because she was so good-looking, I couldn't help but notice her at the time..."
After saying this, Eriri suddenly turned her head, staring at Luo Shu with shock:
"Wait, I remember Luo Shu was supposed to have a negotiation with her last night, right?"
"How has she already become one of us by this morning?"
"Your recruitment speed is way too fast, isn't it?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu stepped into the open elevator, turned around, and looked at Eriri with exasperation:
"Seems this funeral has affected you quite a bit. Your IQ's dropped noticeably."
Eriri shrank her neck slightly, quickly entering the elevator and muttering under her breath while keeping her distance from Luo Shu:
"Just say I'm stupid already, no need to be so roundabout..."
Meanwhile, La Folia had also entered the elevator. Watching Luo Shu operate the buttons, she smiled and said:
"So this is the child who's going to receive that Class?"
"Though I hate to admit it, yes, it's her."
Luo Shu pressed the button for the Hidden Management Zone and sighed as the elevator began descending:
"Which means the hope of a Spirit Sorcerer reaching Demigod Rank will probably rest on you or Kanon."
"After all, the primary inheritor is this level of half-baked..."
"Sorry for being so half-baked..."
Eriri mocked herself, then gave La Folia a curious glance before adding:
"But speaking of which, is Her Highness the Princess going to inherit the same Class as me?"
La Folia smiled at this and extended her hand:
"That's right. Please take care of me from now on, Eriri Spencer Sawamura-san!"
"No, the pleasure is mine. Please take care of me, too." Eriri hastily shook La Folia's hand, her attitude exceedingly cordial—almost like she'd found herself a powerful ally.
'A princess of a nation!'
'And silver-haired to boot!!'
'Ah, I really want to draw her in a doujinshi...'
Observing Eriri's utterly expectant gaze, La Folia wore a rather peculiar expression.
'Why does this person seem... excessively enthusiastic?'
Just as La Folia was puzzling over this internally, Luo Shu calmly interjected:
"Considering it's an unknown Class, combined with La Folia's years of experience in Soul Summoning Art, she'll be the first to awaken to a Class later."
Rather than calling it years of experience, it'd be more accurate to say her Soul Summoning Art skills are world-class—easily top two if not first.
After all, the Soul Summoning Art has been passed down exclusively through the direct line of the Aldegia Royal Family. Currently, the only living practitioners are the Queen of Aldegia and the former queen.
Beyond them, there's only La Folia herself and her two younger sisters.
Among these, La Folia's sisters are still relative beginners. While the current queen, Polifonia, and former queen, Musette, have trained longer, their Spirit Medium aptitude pales in comparison to La Folia's.
Thus, from every angle, Luo Shu had no choice but to have La Folia receive a Class first.
As for Kanon Kanase, La Folia's aunt, she'd probably have to wait until after Eriri.
But truth be told, even so, Luo Shu held little hope that Eriri could advance her Class to Demigod Rank. In his view, though both were newcomers, Kanon's natural talent far surpassed Eriri's.
If one of the three were to advance to Demigod, Luo Shu's first thought would be La Folia, followed by Kanon Kanase, with Eriri being the last consideration...
"The venue will naturally be held within the safest Hidden Management Zone."
The Hidden Management Zone was essentially Luo Shu's Divine Kingdom. Within it, any injuries sustained by Familia members could be quickly repaired using points—a foolproof life-saving measure in a sense.
Thus, advancing one's Class within the Divine Kingdom was akin to hacking immortality using points.
As these words were spoken, the elevator doors slid open with a ding.
Standing outside was Nia Honjo, clad in an orange casual sweater, her face brimming with smiles as she came into view.
"Yo~ Good morning, you two~"
"Good morning." La Folia greeted her with a smile and a wave before turning to Luo Shu with a curious look, her eyes silently asking who this was.
Luo Shu wasn't surprised to see Nia Honjo—after all, he had summoned her here via the system's chat group:
"Nia Honjo, currently serving as a consultant for the department. Though I wouldn't recommend consulting her for anything beyond trivial matters."
With that, Luo Shu stepped out of the elevator and addressed Nia:
"Everyone's almost here. Let's prepare to begin the Class inheritance ritual."
"No problem!" Nia snapped her fingers, summoning Raziel while grinning at Luo Shu. "But before that, we'll need to extract a primary ingredient first."
At this sudden reminder, Luo Shu immediately grew wary and shot her a guarded look.
Noticing his reaction, La Folia—though unsure why he was suddenly on edge—quietly raised her guard as well.
Only Eriri remained oblivious, asking innocently:
"Extracting a primary ingredient... is it like those little experiments in biology class?"
"How exactly do we extract it?"
"Simple."
Nia cradled Raziel, beaming as she explained:
"We just need to collect bodily fluids infused with Spiritual Power when Eriri-san reaches the peak of mental euphoria."
"Oh, so it's that easy... Wait, huh?"
A flurry of question marks practically materialised above Eriri's head.
Before she could process this, Nia turned back to Luo Shu and chirped:
"So we're counting on you, Luo Shu-kun!"
"Oh, and we'll need two portions of the ingredient—after all, two people are advancing this time!"
"Of course, we could skip it... But you wouldn't want to miss out on obtaining Nature Spirit Essence Blood, would you?"
Luo Shu gave Nia a long, deep look before finally uttering just one phrase:
"Understood."