Chapter 248: The Wolf and the Hunter
Corruption nodded, and then went on standing beside Irene. After all, just like Little Senti, this form of hers was merely a humanoid interface interaction stacked together out of viruses.
The attribute of hunger simply didn't exist for her at all. The only reason she'd accepted Irene's invitation was because it was Irene who had invited her—she wasn't all that interested in food for the time being.
Still, she did want to know what exactly Lady Irene liked, as well as the fact that just now, from the moment Irene had walked in up until the present, there were still several gazes lingering on Lady Irene.
Sure enough, Lady Irene was simply that radiant—wherever she went, she drew everyone's attention.
Irene glanced sidelong at the seemingly composed Corruption behind her and gave a slight nod. Look at that—this child was actually quite restrained in public settings, at least not as... hopeless as when she was in her own room.
Ah, come to think of it, that Sirin had already become a full-blown shut-in too. Spending twenty-four hours a day inside Kiana's head, that child was probably part of the hopeless bunch as well.
No good. She had to find a chance to drag Sirin out. Sirin was different from [Irene]—[Irene] was purely another personality born out of Irene herself.
But Kiana and Sirin were a different matter. The two of them, perhaps because they had been separated from the very beginning, had truly become two independent individuals over this long stretch of time.
It could no longer be explained as simple split personalities—after all, where had you ever seen a split personality where one person could control half of a body?
Even Vill-V, who had considerable experience with dissociative personality conditions, couldn't pull that off.
So while these two hadn't quite developed into two completely separate souls, separating them was by no means impossible.
The two could be split apart from each other, and they could also be merged into one. So, in order to keep Sirin from truly turning into a complete shut-in inside Kiana's consciousness, Irene decided to go to a bit of trouble in the near future and drag this child out.
Best to keep her busy.
After this little episode of meeting Corruption, the banquet soon settled back into a scene of harmony. Irene held a glass of juice—she didn't much like drinking, because she couldn't hold her liquor very well; the most you could say was that she was average.
As for getting drunk, that wouldn't really happen. As the Herrscher of Death, directly using Honkai energy to break down the alcohol was an extremely simple matter for her—and the same went for the other Valkyries.
It was just that for the vast majority of Valkyries, doing so was an extremely extravagant thing—not because Honkai energy was scarce, but because it was a drain on their bodies.
On top of that, much like Himeko in the past, they mostly drank in order to suppress the pain in their bodies, and to give themselves a reason to let loose however they pleased.
So naturally they wouldn't use Honkai energy to break down the alcohol. But the current Himeko no longer needed to use this method to add to her pain—Irene had long since used her Authority to repair her body.
And with her current Honkai Resistance, there was no longer any need to worry about whether the artificial stigmata on her would place any burden on her.
"This really is a rare moment of joy," Irene remarked with feeling, and the instant she set down her water glass, the Corruption who had been following along at her side proactively refilled it for her.
Irene reached out and patted Corruption's head. "All right now, it's a perfectly good banquet—you don't need to stay by my side watching over me. Go play with the others."
Corruption nodded obediently, and after thinking it over, headed off in the direction of Kiana and the others. From the records, she'd learned that in the earliest days, Irene had been their teacher.
So she wanted to gather a bit of what she couldn't see from the records—what Lady Irene's private life was actually like.
It was purely out of a desire to understand, absolutely not for any sort of strange reason. And there was one more thing: among them, Bronya was the very person who, ever since Irene had walked in, had been watching Irene faintly and continuously.
Just like Overseer Theresa. So Corruption was very curious—she wondered what the reason was that she and Theresa kept watching Irene so faintly?
"That child seems quite attached to you?" Theresa, drinking her Bitter Melon Juice, suddenly asked. "Is it because you brought her out, or because you gave her your data?"
"As for that, you'd have to go ask a certain pair of someones just what kind of state they've raised the child into." Irene shrugged, but this matter really was a bit too awkward, so it was better not to bring it up.
"All right, don't worry so much about all that—just enjoy this rare moment of joy."
"I'm telling you, Irene, why are you acting like some little old man, starting to sigh over how lovely the times are?" Hearing Irene's words, Theresa reached out and lightly rapped Irene on the head.
Mind you, she hadn't even started in on Irene's age, and here Irene was getting all sentimental—though she herself had no idea exactly how old Irene was.
"Mm... perhaps it's because..." Irene turned her head slightly to look at Theresa, a mischievous smile on her face, and spoke with pointed meaning, "those who keep close to vermilion turn red?"
"Hm? Hm!" Theresa was first stunned for a moment, but then immediately picked up on the ill-intentioned smile on Irene's face and instantly realized what Irene was hinting at.
"If you keep bringing up the age thing so obliquely, I'm going to have to beat you up, you know~"
Theresa's smile instantly turned dangerous. Irene, this fellow—a day without a beating and she's up on the roof prying off the tiles, daring to needle at anything. Same as before.
But looking at Irene's languid manner, before she knew it, Theresa was once again reminded of the things Siegfried had said to her before—especially thinking of being curled up in someone's arms...
Theresa's gaze gradually grew vacant, as though at this very moment she could already see herself lying in Irene's arms. As she went on thinking about it, her face suddenly flushed a shade of red.
"Hm?" Irene noticed Theresa's sudden silence beside her and turned to look. Seeing the blush on Theresa's face, she said, "What's wrong? Did Theresa think of something happy?"
"It-it's nothing." Theresa immediately flat-out denied it, but then, looking at Irene, she once again recalled what Siegfried had said. Should she really still be this indecisive?
Mind you, she was nearly pushing sixty now. Was she really... right? Theresa, just what on earth are you thinking about? Does what Siegfried said to you really have this big an influence on you?
I... I... fine. There was no way she could say she didn't like Irene. So, in that case, then...
Just as Theresa was about to open her mouth to say something, a somewhat tipsy Himeko leaned over. "Mm, Irene, Theresa, why are you two still drinking juice?"
"Don't tell me we're supposed to keep Aunt Himeko company drinking?" Irene looked at the tipsy Himeko before her and smiled. "Well, it's not that we can't—a banquet really doesn't seem quite right without a bit of drinking."
Theresa swallowed back the words in her mouth, and in the end, on second thought: "Irene, let's have a little drink."
"That's no problem." Irene nodded. After all, she could break down the alcohol with Honkai energy, so she had no fear of getting drunk. With the current atmosphere, not drinking a bit really did seem inappropriate.
Himeko, however, sensed something. "No using Honkai energy to break down the alcohol, now. If you're going to drink, drink till you're drunk—it's no fun if you don't get drunk."
"Fine, fine." Irene nodded, then nodded again somewhat helplessly. "Come on then, let's drink."
A little while later...
"Hic~"
After one cute little hiccup, a flush of red flashed across Irene's face. Her tolerance really wasn't all that great—without relying on Honkai energy to break down the alcohol, a few glasses in and she was getting a bit tipsy too.
What's more, the liquor on the table wasn't ordinary stuff either; it was all fairly high in proof. After all, the Valkyries' physical constitution destined them to be quite able drinkers.
So the liquor they drank was fairly high-proof as well.
"Looks like Irene's the type whose alcohol tolerance is just average..." Himeko gazed blearily at the red-faced Irene.
"At least she's better than Dr. Tesla... at least Sister Irene still looks like she can walk on her own." Einstein, beside them, looked at Irene with her own bleary expression and shrugged.
She then pointed at Tesla, who had long since gotten drunk and—if not for Welt holding her back at her side—would probably already be throwing a drunken fit; and of course, on the other side, at Mobius, who, after being plied with drink by the joint efforts of Eden and Elysia, had also started throwing a bit of a drunken fit.
So as for Irene's state, Einstein's verdict was: this was nothing at all—she hadn't gone berserk, which meant she held her liquor well.
"If Irene really does throw a drunken fit, I'll just take care of her." Theresa said with pointed meaning, and then, watching the swaying Irene, Theresa couldn't help leaning in and poking her on the cheek.
Her fingertip pressed against the flushed cheek, poking out a cute little dimple, which then sprang back rapidly the instant her finger left—making one unable to resist poking it a few more times.
The usual Irene was generally the picture of steadiness and calm, or in the state of an intellectual big-sister type. Even her occasional ditzy moments only came across as a bit unreliable.
But this hadn't brought about any negative effect; on the contrary, it lent Irene an added touch of cuteness. Yet a silly, goofy-cute look like today's—this really was the first time Theresa had ever seen it.
For a moment, Theresa suddenly felt she couldn't get enough of it. However, Theresa soon came to regret it, because her hand was suddenly seized by Irene's hand.
Then Irene pulled Theresa toward herself and gathered her into her arms. Theresa tried to struggle, but Irene quickly flipped Theresa over and cradled her in her arms like one would a child.
"There, there~" There was still a touch of muddledness in Irene's tone. "Stop struggling~ our super-invincible ultimate-cute magical girl Teriri~"
"Let me give you a hug~"
"Wait, what did you just call me?" Hearing what Irene called her, Theresa momentarily forgot to resist and, somewhat exasperated, thumped Irene on the thigh.
"Magical girl~"
"Shut up." Trapped in Irene's arms, Theresa struggled like mad, but the moment Irene's hand brushed against her waist she instantly went soft. "Don't, don't touch there!"
Cecilia and Siegfried, hiding off in the distance, watched the scene before them, and Siegfried said to Cecilia, "It's a little different from what I imagined—Theresa actually got bashful?"
"It is her first time, after all." Cecilia didn't find it the least bit strange; there was always going to be a first time. "And it looks like it's going pretty well, too."
Although it was Irene who'd made the move, this also showed that in Miss Irene's heart she did like Theresa.
Meanwhile, the situation on the other side had gotten a bit out of hand, because Irene was stirring up trouble again. Through the Bodhi imprint she sent the transformation lines of the magical girl Teriri to the people beside her.
And mixing in with everyone egging it on, the most rowdy of them all, Kiana, instantly grasped Irene's meaning and chimed in: "Auntie, can you perform that for us?"
"Hm?"
After clearing her throat, Bronya joined in egging her on too.
"O Trans-Dimensional Staff that seals the power of darkness."
Mei, her own face slightly red, joined in the egging-on as well. She just thought it was funny, after all—this really was her first time getting any dirt on her own Principal.
"Manifest your true power here and now!"
Himeko gave a thumbs-up toward the already crimson-faced Theresa and, pinching her voice high, called out.
"Power of miracles, become the stars!"
Kiana, putting on a cutesy act, placed both hands over her chest and struck a praying pose.
"Magic of light, gather in my heart."
Elysia, who had darted over from who-knows-where, after learning the remaining lines from Irene, also spoke up with a face full of excitement.
"Dimension Sonata~"
The final line, of course, was delivered by Irene, who put one hand up in a peace sign beside her face and acted adorable.
"And TeRiTeRi you away~"
At this point Theresa's face was flushed—whether from embarrassment or from being driven to fury, even she couldn't tell. She reflexively reached behind her, but all she grabbed was Irene.
Seeing Theresa in this state, everyone immediately scooted their chairs off to the side. They were only in charge of egging things on—they had no wish to share in Irene's punishment.
Sure enough, just as Irene was getting ready to keep egging things on, Theresa sprang up and slammed into her chin, leaving Irene momentarily unable to speak. Then Theresa broke free from Irene's arms and, dragging Irene along, headed for the exit of the banquet hall.
"Irene's drunk—I'll take her to sober up!"
"Help!" Irene immediately sensed something was wrong and tried to struggle, but Theresa had now gone into her dark mode, her combat power boosted at least threefold or more—and Irene, astonishingly, couldn't break free of Theresa's grip.
And naturally, no one offered Irene a helping hand either—eyes on their noses, noses on their hearts, not one of them daring to glance over that way.
Irene, meanwhile, was dragged by Theresa into her room in Haiyuan City. By this point Irene had half sobered up, and she wasn't the type to forget things after getting drunk anyway.
So Irene raised both hands high in a gesture of surrender. "Um, can we make peace?"
"At a moment like this, surely you must be joking." The blush was still there on Theresa's face, but her next move made Irene's eyes go wide.
"Dig up my dirt and you'll have to pay the price."
Within a dark cavern, a pink wolf pounced on the hunter who had just sobered up, trying to bite at his clothes. The hunter wanted to resist, but the wolf's momentum was ferociously fierce, leaving the hunter no way to fend it off.
"Hold on, hold on, hold on—are you really going to do this?"
"At a moment like this, don't tell me you think you can run? I'm already on you."
"Well, in that case, I won't go playing the proper gentleman either." By now the hunter, too, had sobered up from his drunkenness. Since the wolf had delivered itself right to his door, he dropped the act as well.
He began a fierce counterattack, and the dainty little wolf was pounced flat in an instant. But the wolf had no intention of being captured without a fight; just as it was about to retaliate, the seasoned hunter immediately placed his hand on the wolf's waist and belly.
As everyone knows, a wolf's waist is its most vulnerable spot. The wolf instantly let out a cute little whimper, and after that, within the pitch-black cavern, the whimpering went on without end.
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