If Levi were the one to explain, even though he had just saved her, Herta would still have doubts.
At that point, Asta would still need to testify.
In that case, it was better for her to say it directly.
It would save time and avoid wasting words.
Meeting Herta's gaze, Asta took a deep breath and said, "Ms. Herta, her name is Lumine. She's my friend. Because of an accident, she came to our space station to borrow a spaceship to go to the Xianzhou Luofu."
'The Xianzhou Luofu?'
Hearing the place she was headed to, Herta gave Levi a long look. "What are you going to the Xianzhou Luofu for?"
'Don't tell me she's another victim of Mr. Cold Feet?'
'If that's the case…'
'Then that guy really is deeply sinful!'
'He's managed to provoke so many girls, making them search for him across the entire universe by any means necessary.'
'While he himself hides somewhere, laughing as he watches them run all over the universe.'
'If you're a man, then take responsibility properly, damn it!'
Herta clenched her silver teeth, fuming inwardly.
She didn't notice that the blonde girl in front of her gave a strange shudder.
'This feels a bit unsettling… better find Stelle quickly.'
Steadying herself, she said, "I'm going to cause trouble for someone."
Hearing that, Herta showed an "as expected" expression and waved her hand at Asta.
"Arrange the best spaceship for her."
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
In Herta's view, the two of them shared the same target. While not just anyone could be her friend, judging by the strength the other party had just shown, being temporary friends was barely acceptable.
After arranging all this, the light in Herta's eyes faded, and the puppet walked back to its original position mechanically and entered standby mode.
Pulling her gaze away from the puppet, Asta turned around, hands behind her back.
"Since Ms. Herta has agreed, please follow me…"
Then, like a little girl, she turned her head, a sly look in her eyes, and smiled, "Mr. Cold Feet."
"…"
When Levi applied to enter and arrived at the space station, she had already had some guesses.
With their subsequent interactions, she had basically figured out his true identity.
She was certain, absolutely certain, that he wasn't some Rakshasa or Otto.
He was that Mr. Cold Feet who had helped her before and was now being hunted across the world by Ms. Herta.
To be honest, she still didn't know the exact reason he was being hunted. It seemed like he had done something to the space station that no one wanted to talk about.
Which caused Ms. Herta to fly into a rage.
Even Ms. Ruan Mei and Mr. Screwllum had looked troubled.
"Ah, well, it's nothing much."
Levi looked up at the ceiling of the corridor and scratched his cheek. "I just… had them listen to a very catchy song."
"Really?"
Asta's eyes were full of suspicion. Just a song could make everyone in the space station hate the name "Mr. Cold Feet" so deeply?
Obviously impossible.
He must have done something pretty excessive.
"I swear, it's more real than real gold."
"Woof woof!"
A bark sounded from the corner. Asta stopped, picked up Peppy from the corner.
Seeing Peppy in her arms, Levi reached out his hand. Peppy's gentle expression instantly turned fierce, like it was about to bite him the next second.
Seeing that, Levi awkwardly pulled his hand back. "Why does it feel like Peppy has such a big grudge against me?"
'Heh, why such a big grudge, don't you know yourself?'
The moment they met, you grabbed it and checked its development. Good thing it's a dog and not a person, can't talk.
Otherwise it would've definitely asked about whether your parents are still alive.
If Asta hadn't stopped it, it probably would've bitten you.
After hearing Lumine's words, Levi looked confused.
"What Levi? My name is Lumine. Don't get it wrong."
"…"
———
[Xianzhou Luofu, Divination Commission]
As her consciousness returned to this puppet body, Herta found herself placed on a small stool.
She stood up and looked around, seeing Ruan Mei and the diviner named Qingque leisurely brewing tea.
More precisely, Ruan Mei brewed it, and Qingque drank it.
"Miss Ruan Mei's skills are amazing! It's even better than the young lady boss of Buyehou!"
After downing the tea in one gulp, Qingque gave heartfelt praise.
"You flatter me. It's just a small hobby of mine. How could it compare to professionals?"
Ruan Mei was gentle and refined.
She took Qingque's empty teacup, refilled it, and gently pushed it back in front of her.
"A gram of this tea can buy a spaceship, and you're just brewing it for others like this?"
Qingque, who had just lifted her cup for another sip, suddenly heard Herta's voice.
Her eyes snapped wide open.
Looking at the teacup right in front of her, the fragrance filling her nose made her feel extremely relaxed.
But right now, she couldn't relax at all.
Her pupils trembled as Herta's words echoed in her ears.
'One gram can buy a spaceship?!!'
Out of shock, she instinctively wanted to spit out the tea in her mouth. But thinking of its value, she forcefully suppressed the urge.
She swallowed every last drop.
Ruan Mei, who had already known Herta was back, wasn't surprised by her voice.
She took Qingque's cup again, refilled it, and handed it back.
"No matter how precious something is, it needs someone to taste it to show its value. If it's just kept as a collection, then it's no better than ordinary tea."
Qingque looked at the steaming tea in front of her. Because of what Herta had just said, she couldn't drink it as casually as before.
She didn't even quite dare to, afraid the other party might ask her to pay for it.
Seeing her like this, Ruan Mei smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Miss Qingque. This is just afternoon tea among friends. I won't charge you any credits."
Hearing that, Qingque finally relaxed.
"So…" Herta withdrew her gaze from Ruan Mei's tea set and looked at her calmly.
"Why have you never taken this out when we had gatherings?"
"You and Mr. Screwllum both have mechanical bodies. I was worried it might cause malfunctions if you drank it."
Seeing the smile on Ruan Mei's face, Herta curled her lips. That was clearly just brushing her off.
Screwllum aside, she didn't know much about mechanical lifeforms.
But as for herself, it was the same as always.
This puppet body of hers could do anything a human could.
If something as simple as water could cause a malfunction, then she might as well quit the Genius Society.
Ruan Mei treating this diviner like this, even calling her a friend, likely meant she had found something interesting.
In simple terms, she had ulterior motives.
If she herself had a goal and someone could fulfill it, forget tea worth one spaceship per gram, even if it was worth a hundred spaceships per gram, Herta would take it out without blinking.
After drinking her fill, Qingque planned to take some tea back for Levi to try something high-end.
Ruan Mei smiled and took out a jar, handing it to her. "This is what's left. Since you like it, you can have it all."
This made Herta even more certain that Ruan Mei was definitely plotting something.
Qingque froze, looking at the jar being handed to her by those slender hands, but didn't reach out to take it.
Even a fool would sense something off by now.
Let alone Qingque, who was perfectly intelligent.
"You… what are you planning?"
'Could it be…'
[🎉 Shoutout to Jesus, Gavin, Jage and Pierre for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]