The elf girls looked at Esdeath warily.
Although they didn't feel any malice from Esdeath.
But they could feel the burning gaze with which she looked at Takumi.
This alone was enough for them to be wary of Esdeath.
Damn it!
Do you want to steal our man?!
Takumi is ours!
Where did this coquettish woman come from? How dare she try to take our man!
While they didn't mind if Takumi found more women.
But this didn't mean that they would allow any random woman to appear and pursue him without knowing her motives.
If any woman could just jump in, what if she had ulterior motives? How could the family live peacefully in the future?
It was precisely because of this that the elf girls never gave other girls in the Dimensional City a chance.
Because it was hard to tell whether their purpose of getting close to Takumi was purely innocent.
Even they themselves didn't follow Takumi because they were distracted at first.
But at any rate, they would remain loyal in the future.
If Takumi found someone himself, they wouldn't and couldn't control it.
But for those who took the initiative to come up, they needed to screen them.
Esdeath, for her part, had no idea what the elf girls were thinking.
Seeing them blocking the way, she couldn't help but frown.
After hesitating for a moment, she didn't take action.
Instead, she looked at Takumi through the gap between the elf girls.
"Hello, my name is Esdeath, what is your name?"
Because she didn't know Takumi's personality yet, she spoke as politely as possible to avoid leaving a bad impression.
Just as the elf girls had feared,
Esdeath was attracted to Takumi.
In fact, at this point in the timeline, she hadn't yet looked for a relationship.
But she couldn't help it. He was too charming and his appearance perfectly fit her criteria, so she immediately spoke to him.
"...My name is Takumi."
Takumi looked at the polite Esdeath, was stunned for a moment, and then replied with a smile.
Seeing her behavior, Takumi was almost sure.
It seemed this sadistic queen had taken a liking to him.
This caught Takumi off guard. He really didn't expect things to develop in this direction.
Originally, he had planned to find an opportunity to defeat Esdeath and then subdue her.
After all, although Esdeath has many character flaws, she is one of the few female generals capable of leading an entire army.
This is a rare talent, and there is no harm in conquering it.
She could be used to prepare the future military strength of the Dimensional City.
But he didn't expect that the current development of the situation would actually go in a direction he had never imagined.
As for why Esdeath fell in love with him?
Takumi didn't find it strange.
After all, while he possessed a warm temperament and a mature mentality, he still looked like a teenager.
With the adjustments made by his Perfect Body, he had become increasingly handsome, enough to rival anyone.
Therefore, it wasn't strange that Esdeath was tempted.
Immediately, Takumi waved his hand again and said to Lia and the others: "Let her come over."
When Lia and the others saw that Takumi had spoken, they slowly lowered their guard, retreated, and flew back to the floating island, standing behind Takumi.
Upon seeing this, Esdeath felt a surge of joy in her heart.
She immediately manifested ice and laid a passage from her feet to the floating island, walking toward Takumi.
With a thought, Takumi controlled the guardrail on the edge to open a gap and let Esdeath in.
Esdeath came to Takumi, looked at him with a smile and said:
"Your name is Takumi, right? It's a good name."
"Can you tell me who you are? Why are you here?"
She only noticed now that the elf girls like Lia and the others were different from ordinary people.
Moreover, she could feel that their auras were not weak. None of them were simple, and some were even stronger than her.
So Esdeath didn't force the issue. She didn't dominantly announce her claim and snatch him away.
Instead, she patiently began to assess the situation.
Seeing that Esdeath planned to have a friendly exchange, Takumi did not refuse and invited her to sit on the floating island.
"We come from outside the world and come here to hunt Dangerous Species."
"Out of the world?"
"Literally, we are not from this world. I believe you can see this from them."
Esdeath heard this, glanced at Lia and the others, and nodded understandingly.
Indeed, this appearance was obviously not a human race that existed in this world.
And they were all so strong. If this was the talent of their race, it was impossible that she hadn't known of their existence before.
"So that's it. Is there actually a world outside this world? It's interesting."
After Esdeath accepted this setting, she couldn't help but feel an urge.
The urge to see the outside world.
She had long been invincible in this world, except for those ancient super Dangerous Species that were hard to find. There was no one stronger than her.
She couldn't find a match, and she had long been a little tired of this world.
Otherwise, in the original work, she would not suddenly want to fall in love; it was because she was too bored.
If possible, she was the type of person who would rather spend her life in battle.
Become stronger, challenge the strong, and conquer.
This was what she liked to do most.
Therefore, she no longer suppressed the impulse and asked Takumi:
"So, can you take me to see the outside world? If you have any conditions, just tell me. If it's you, I can accept it."
She was quite direct.
As she spoke, she stared at Takumi with a blazing look. She was full of hints, as if she was afraid Takumi wouldn't know what she meant.
She was never an indecisive person. Since she was interested in Takumi, she said it directly.
"..."
Facing Esdeath's directness, Takumi could not recover for a moment.
Kanae and Lia on the side were also shocked.
Then they cast contemptuous looks at Esdeath.
Pah! Shameless!
Are you asking Takumi to put forward conditions?!
That's obviously what you want!
Takumi came back to his senses and realized that he had been provoked.
Looking at Esdeath, who was blatantly flirting with him, he couldn't help but feel a little funny.
"Do you want to join us? Yes, but you have to sign a contract with me and accept me as your master."
Takumi's original intention was to provoke Esdeath.
But he didn't expect that Esdeath would nod without hesitation.
"Okay, no problem, I agree."
"You..."
Takumi was really stunned this time. He didn't expect Esdeath to agree so readily.
Normally, according to the plot,
Shouldn't she have turned her back on the spot and said: "If you want me to surrender, then you have to see if you have the strength."
And then they would compete and he would defeat her?
Why didn't she play according to the routine?
Seeing Takumi's reaction, Esdeath said proudly:
"If you can make them surrender to you, you must be stronger than them."
"Even if you aren't, it doesn't matter; I can still grow in the future."
Furthermore, she didn't have to dominate her partner.
She had no strict requirements on her partner's strength.
It didn't matter whether he was strong or not, as long as he suited her.
Even if her other half wasn't strong and put her on the passive side, making her unhappy...
But if it was a relationship between a man and a woman, it was not impossible.
Anyway, she would only identify with one person, so she would not have too much resistance to being loyal to her other half.
In addition, Takumi could provide her with a bigger stage, which was more to her liking.
In this way, there was even less resistance.
Moreover, was Takumi weak? Esdeath didn't think so.
Let's not talk about how Takumi could make the elf girls surrender, let's look at the methods Takumi has shown so far.
Controlling the floating islands and the plants all proved that Takumi was not simple.
Not weak, agreeable, non-contradictory, and beneficial. All these factors combined made Esdeath agree to recognize him as her master without hesitation.
"..."
Takumi couldn't help but feel a little dumbfounded.
But he didn't refuse; he signed a contract with Esdeath on the spot and gave her his Falna and a magic package.
"It seems that I made the right bet."
Esdeath immediately smiled when she felt the constraints of the contract and what Takumi had given her.
Obviously, she made the right bet.
Not only was Takumi not weak, he was ridiculously strong.
His Falna made people stronger, and he provided cultivation methods and magic in a systematic way.
Adding these things together, they could definitely cultivate a strong person hard to match in their world.
But Takumi had all of this and gave it to his subordinates freely.
It can be seen that Takumi was not worried at all that these people would resist him when they became stronger.
If it wasn't just a lack of care, it meant he was incredibly powerful and confident.
Takumi offered no explanation for this.
"Now that you are one of our own, let me tell you some news."
"The Empire has gone cold. The ministers, the young emperor, and General Budo have died. It is only a matter of time before the Empire is overthrown. It was I who did it."
Esdeath shrugged: "It doesn't matter; they and I are not the same. We were just cooperating originally."
She didn't care about what happened to the Empire.
And now that she had joined Takumi, she didn't care whether the Empire was dead or alive.
She didn't ask why Takumi did this.
In her opinion, the strong didn't need a reason to deal with the weak.
Weakness is a fault and leads to defeat.
"You might not care, but those subordinates below you might."
Esdeath frowned when she heard this.
Indeed, she didn't care anymore, but the same couldn't be said for her subordinates.
Although she had no deep feelings for them, they had fought for her after all, so she felt obligated to look after them to some extent.
Takumi thought for a moment and suggested, "Let's do this. I'll give them a task. If they're willing to do it, they can avoid being liquidated. If they're not willing, let them go home and farm."
For these soldiers, it was impossible for Takumi to take them in.
While Esdeath's outlook could be adjusted...
But her subordinates really couldn't be reformed.
No matter how they were initially, they had become such degenerates that it wasn't worth the effort to reform them.
Takumi didn't want such psychopathic soldiers; even if they served as cannon fodder, he would find it disgusting.
But for Esdeath's sake, he was willing to show them a way to survive.
But it depends on whether they are willing to seize this opportunity.
If not, it doesn't matter whether they live or die! Let them fend for themselves!
Then Takumi told Esdeath the content of the mission.
Esdeath couldn't help but be a little surprised after hearing this, but she didn't ask anything. She went down to make arrangements.
After Esdeath left, Kanae came up.
"Are you just going to accept her?"
Takumi's operation made them a little confused.
The details were not clear yet, so why did they just accept her?
Moreover, Kanae felt that Esdeath didn't seem like she wanted to be a good person.
Not to mention her bloodlust and the murderous aura she exuded.
In addition, the screams in the camp earlier also made it clear that this Esdeath was definitely not a good person.
"I know her details, don't ask me how I know them."
Takumi shrugged and replied: "Although she is not a 'good' person, she is not a bad person either. At least she can be trusted as one of our own. She just has some special hobbies. Just discipline her well from now on."
"Fine."
Seeing that Takumi had said this, Kanae didn't ask any more questions.
She was just afraid that Takumi had been deceived. Since Takumi could see it so clearly, there was nothing more to say.
The camp below broke into an uproar; the team began to descend into commotion.
After a while, Esdeath came up again. She reported to Takumi: "The mission has been arranged, but most people were unwilling, and only a small number agreed."
Takumi waved his hand: "It doesn't matter; my plan is not indispensable to them anyway. If they fail to seize the opportunity, it is none of our business. You have done your best."
Yes, the task assigned to them by Takumi was actually a faith plan.
Let them choose whether to be good and help him spread his faith.
If they established the sect early and hid under the protection of faith, they could avoid being liquidated by the Revolutionary Army.
The only difficulty for them was being "good."
After all, if you want to be a missionary, you must first set a good example.
Takumi also did not hope his own sect would become a gathering place for scum; it would be bad for spreading the word.
It's actually not that difficult. It's just saying goodbye to the past and forgetting previous habits.
But even so, most of them were still unwilling.
Even if they knew that the Empire would be gone soon, they still didn't want to give up everything they had now.
Takumi was too lazy to continue caring about this.
As he said, he gave them a chance; if they failed to take it, they only had themselves to blame.
The same was true for Esdeath. She had done her best. How to choose was their own business.
Then Takumi said to Lia and the others: "I will take Esdeath back first. You just keep going. Come back and rest when the time is up."
"OK."
After handing over the control of the floating island to Lia, Takumi took Esdeath and returned to the Dimensional City.
"This is our base camp, the Dimensional City. Although it is still small in scale now, in the future this place will connect countless worlds and become a gathering place for all heavens and worlds."
"It seems that your ambition is not small."
Hearing this, Esdeath looked at Takumi deeply, then smiled and said, "I'm looking forward to that day."
Takumi didn't say anything more and took her to visit the Dimensional City. He also introduced her to Hestia and the others.
When Lia and the others came back from work, they had dinner together, and then he took her up to the sixth floor.
"Are you so impatient? But I don't hate it either."
Esdeath's pretty face was slightly red, and she looked at Takumi with a smile, even looking forward to it.
Takumi didn't explain and asked Lia to take her to wash up.
Then came the much-anticipated intense session.
In order to complete the process of subduing her, and also to let Esdeath understand who would be the boss in the family from now on.
Takumi did not show mercy just because she was a newcomer; he was thorough. She was eventually completely defeated and submitted to him both physically and mentally.
But to Takumi's surprise, Esdeath wasn't frightened; she actually enjoyed his cold dominance.
Only then did Takumi realize that her belief in the law of the jungle was deep-seated; she could enjoy submitting to a stronger force just as much as she enjoyed exerting it.
Takumi couldn't help but think: "Good grief!"
Esdeath's unique personality opened his eyes, and he found himself quite liking her.
Because Esdeath's ability to withstand pressure was as good as that of Hephaestus!