Chapter 116: A Misunderstanding, a Misunderstanding
Franklin wasn't the kind of man who lost his head just because a pretty girl asked him for something. When Asuna made her request, he stated plainly, "You can't log out of the game. Transferring your consciousness to another world to escape—sure, it's a clever idea. But the price for that isn't cheap. It's not something that can be measured in money. What do you think you can offer that would match its value?"
Mith immediately stepped forward, shielding Asuna behind her. "What do you mean by that?"
Seeing the wary look in her eyes, Franklin felt confused at first. After a moment of thought, he realized his words might have sounded a bit off.
"Ahem… My wording just now was a bit strange. I didn't mean what you're thinking, but I'm not going to spell it out either. Think about it yourselves. I'll log off for now—no need to make the others think I'm plotting something indecent toward you two."
As the particles of light faded, leaving only Mith and Asuna in the empty room, Asuna looked curiously at Mith.
"Was there something wrong with what Franklin said? If something like that really exists, it would definitely be valuable. We don't have anything equivalent in worth."
Mith rubbed her aching head. "Oh, my lady, how can you be this naïve? Everything he said was full of sexual innuendo—didn't you hear it?"
Asuna's cheeks flushed red in an instant. "S–s–sexual innuendo!?"
Seeing her flustered expression, Mith sighed and ruffled her hair. "You don't have much confidence in your looks, do you? You're really beautiful, you know. It's not surprising someone might take advantage of that."
Asuna's face turned so red it looked like it could drip blood.
"I thought he meant we should get along better with Lala, to become good friends with her… I didn't expect him to be that kind of person."
That made Mith freeze for a moment. "Why would you think that?"
Still blushing furiously, Asuna explained, "Lala has such an open, friendly personality. She's easy to talk to, and after chatting with her so much, I can tell she really likes making friends and having fun.
And when I asked her those questions earlier—if what she said is true—then approaching the matter through Lala really would make the most sense. That's why Franklin said he couldn't say it outright. If he did, then no matter how close we got to Lala afterward, it would still feel like a transaction to him."
Mith stared at Asuna for a good half-minute, lost in thought. She thought back over their time with Lala and Franklin's behavior toward the two girls. Slowly, her own cheeks began to redden. Maybe she was the one with the dirty mind after all.
When Franklin's consciousness returned to his body, the phantom faded back into his shadow. The two girls had already logged off. Lala, who had gone offline earlier, was chatting with her sisters Momo and Nana.
Bulma was sitting beside him. Having pretended to be unconscious earlier, she perked up the moment Franklin opened his eyes.
"They should've accepted the reality that only we can log out of the game, right?" she asked curiously.
Franklin hesitated, unsure whether to nod or shake his head.
"I'm not sure. They've got bigger ideas—they asked me to help transfer their consciousness into our world. I don't even know if that's possible, but I turned them down for now. Still, I think they misunderstood me. I'm not sure I'll be able to explain it next time I log in."
"Hiding in our world to escape a death game, huh? Not a bad idea," Bulma said thoughtfully. Then she looked at him curiously. "So what exactly did you say that got you misunderstood?"
"Well… I might've phrased things a little weirdly, so they thought I was lusting after them. Me! As if I'd be that kind of guy, right?"
Bulma ignored his innocent expression, stood up, and stretched languidly.
"You can just explain it next time. I don't know what your real intentions were, but as for that misunderstanding—they've been waiting for something like that for five years now. My cultivation's been stalled for just as long."
Franklin scratched his head helplessly. "That's something we'll have to take our time with. We can't do anything until after I've seen off my father-in-law, at least."
Seeing Lala walking over with Momo and Nana, Bulma decided to drop the topic.
"Bulma-sis, I'm really sorry for knocking you out earlier," Lala said apologetically, bowing alongside Momo.
Bulma blinked in surprise, then quickly helped the two up.
"It's fine. You didn't mean any harm—you just wanted to test Franklin's feelings for Lala. Your intentions were good.
If anything, I should be the one apologizing. Given the time Franklin's lived through, I'm technically the third wheel. But I really do love him, and I could never part from him. I also get along great with Lala, so I believe we can all live happily together in the future."
Momo smiled and nodded. "Franklin's going to take over Dad's position one day. Having several girlfriends is perfectly normal. As long as you're all sincere, I'll give you my blessings."
Off to the side, Nana scowled and turned away sharply. Seeing that, Franklin thought for a moment. Winning over this little sister-in-law would be essential.
When he saw that Lala, Momo, and Bulma were chatting happily, he quickly followed after Nana, who was walking deeper into the forest.
"Feeling upset? Like your sisters betrayed you?" Franklin's voice came from behind her.
Nana flinched, then turned and glared at him furiously.
"You beast! It's your fault! Why does my big sister like someone like you? And why does Momo seem to like you too? No matter how I look at you, you're just a pervert!"
Franklin spread his hands helplessly. "What's done is done. Thinking about it won't change anything."
Seeing her seething with anger, he paused for a moment, then came up with an idea.
"How about this—you change your perspective a bit. From today on, start collecting evidence that proves I'm a beast. Bit by bit, day after day, gather thousands or even tens of thousands of examples. Then show them all to Lala and Momo so they'll see what kind of guy I really am. Wouldn't that be perfect?"
Nana's eyes lit up for a second, then she glared again.
"I don't need you to tell me what to do! I already planned on that! I'll record every one of your perverted acts and let you taste what it's like to be abandoned by my sister!"
At least now she had a goal—something to focus on instead of stewing in her emotions every day.
"Good. Let's go with that. Collect all the evidence you want. I'm actually curious how many flaws you'll find in me."
As Franklin walked away casually, Nana's eyes blazed.
"Hmph! Three days—no, a week… no, a month! Within a month I'll gather at least a thousand pieces of evidence and save my sister from that beast's claws!"
Waving his hand dismissively, Franklin kept walking back toward the three women waiting at the edge of the forest.
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