Chapter 365

"You despicable paladin!"

"This is utterly despicable!"

Luccalia glared at Herbert, teeth clenched in fury, unable to stop complaining: "How can you be so cruel? How can you be so selfish?"

"I've already made concessions—yet you still use her to pressure me!?"

Are you even a paladin?

No.

Are you even human?

The world works this way: some rejoice, others grieve; joy and sorrow never cross between people.

Smiles are conserved.

When Luccalia's smile vanished, it didn't disappear—it transferred to Herbert's face.

The white-haired boy smiled warmly at the Mirror Sprite, shrugged, and teased: "Just tell me—is it useful or not?"

"It's useful!"

Luccalia answered quickly, angry yet timid: "It's useful, so what!!?"

"Even if it's useful, it won't change how I see you! You disgraceful, lecherous shame of a paladin!"

"Despicable!"

"Lecherous!"

"Filthy!"

Herbert listened quietly to Luccalia's verbal attacks, occasionally nodding along in mock agreement.

He wasn't angry at all—quite the opposite, he almost wanted to laugh.

"Well, no matter what you say, as long as it works, that's all that matters."

When Luccalia finally grew tired of cursing, he waved his hand with a smile: "No need to get so worked up—I won't let you suffer too much."

A slap, then a sweet date.

The carrot-and-stick principle is simple, yet it remains a universal truth in many situations.

Herbert had initially demanded the impossible, rejected her terms outright, and after forcing her to compromise, he voluntarily stepped back, promising: "Don't worry—I'll still fulfill your request. You have nothing to fear on that front."

"You lecherous monster-lover… hmm?" Luccalia paused mid-insult.

She eyed Herbert suspiciously: "Are you serious?"

You'd be this generous?

Really? I don't believe you!

"Serious, serious—I swear it's true."

Herbert nodded with a grin: "I'm a paladin, not a demon. Why would I do something so despicable? Don't you agree?"

"Earlier was just a joke—I never intended to truly force you. But your request regarding the number of people you chat with still needs reconsideration."

His smile faded slightly as he said seriously:

"I hope you understand my position—I can't bring in new people to chat with you every single week."

"You know what this place is, and you know what 'chatting with an Epic-level prisoner' entails."

Not everyone can have Herbert's mindset—calmly joking with an Epic-level monster girl, even harboring blasphemous thoughts.

Most people, upon seeing Luccalia, are overwhelmed by her aura, reduced to trembling yes-men; the weaker ones faint outright.

Even if Luccalia suppresses her aura, not everyone can endure it.

"Finding suitable candidates is extremely difficult—I simply don't have that many people available."

Herbert gently explained his constraints, then offered an alternative: "But in return, I have some individuals who could become long-term conversation partners for you."

"Long-term? Who?" Luccalia pressed.

If possible, she didn't want to switch chat partners every couple of days.

When witnessing or crafting stories, she needed inspiration—seeking fresh souls.

But at other times, Luccalia longed for a stable companion.

In the past, she never felt lonely, always wandering through mirrors, witnessing countless stories unfold.

Yet in these years within the Third Oath Prison, after reflecting on her past, she deeply realized how utterly alone she was.

She had no friend—none at all—who could be called an old companion.

All that accompanied Luccalia were the stories she had witnessed over endless years, and the ones she herself had invented.

Seeing Luccalia's reaction was even better than he expected, Herbert smiled inwardly—he knew he'd chosen the right answer.

"They possess sufficient strength, ample free time, and interest—oh, and shared experiences. They'll surely become your close chat partners for a long time to come."

"Oh!"

Luccalia suddenly realized who he meant: "You mean… the other prisoners?"

"Yes."

Herbert grinned and nodded: "For example, Valentina. For example, Luciel. For example, the other prisoners in the Oath Prison."

"If you're interested, they can all become your audience."

"And you don't even need to limit it to two or three times a week—if they have time and mood, you can chat anytime."

Lower the standard on one front, but raise it on another.

One up, one down—who can truly say whether it's a loss or a gain?

Of course, it depends on the situation.

That kind of "cutting lunch breaks and salary, extending workdays and hours, forcing unpaid overtime to realize self-worth"—that's not a deal, that's divine blessing!

!!!

Liukaliya quickly ran through the wonderful proposal Herbert had put forward and nodded firmly.

This is very good.

If it really could be carried out as Herbert said, then it would indeed be a far better deal than the request she herself had made!

The picture painted was beautiful, but the problem came again.

"But, can you speak for them? What if they don't listen to you?" Liukaliya instinctively felt doubt.

She did not think the youth before her had that much clout.

A perfectly ordinary, sub-legendary little Warden.

Could he really have the qualifications to command other legendary magical beings?

"Won't listen?"

Herbert, upon hearing this, was amused.

He did not argue on his own behalf, but silently stepped aside, revealing the melancholic fallen angel he had been blocking behind him.

"There, what do you think?"

Look at this, then ask again?

"……"

The Mirror Demon Young Lady fell silent.

She carefully stole a glance at the fallen angel silently weeping, then quickly looked away, motioning for Herbert to quickly step back into place.

Eek, bad!

She had actually forgotten about that matter just now.

If even a legendary epic-tier fallen angel obediently followed his command, how could those legendary-tier monster girls possibly escape the palm of his hand?

That's true.

An ordinary Warden could not have pushed her to this point.

Herbert was neither perfectly ordinary, nor an ordinary Warden.

"Don't worry, perhaps at first contact it won't go too smoothly, but as long as you can become friends, or at the very least acquaintances, then you can chat with peace of mind."

With a grand wave of his hand, Herbert arranged the matter just like that.

In the currently explorable Precept Prison, his word was truly absolute — if he told them to go east, they absolutely would not go west.

What hungry dragons, mermaids, vampires, dark elves… every single one of them, which one doesn't listen to me?

Won't listen?

Hmph!

If they won't listen, then I'll just ignore them — until I can't hold back myself.

And after laying out the generous terms, Herbert raised the stakes once more, bringing out his final bargaining chip.

"And if even these people cannot satisfy that strong conversational desire of yours, there's still one more option here."

He raised his index finger, pointed at himself, and smiled: "Me."

"You?"

"Yes, me."

Herbert nodded with a beaming smile, raised his hand and gently touched the mirror's surface, and the reflection in the mirror made the same motion.

From an observer's perspective, he seemed to be pressing palm against palm with the person in the mirror, feeling each other's warmth.

He lowered his eyes and said softly: "Liukaliya, as long as you're willing, I'd be very happy to become your devoted listener and conversation partner."

"I'm very interested in those stories you've recorded, and besides, wasn't your original intention to share them with me?"

As he spoke, Herbert himself began to laugh as well.

Thinking about it carefully, it was quite amusing.

At the very beginning, Liukaliya had wanted Herbert to keep her company chatting, and so had deliberately broken out of prison to go to the Aurora Sanctuary.

In the end, after going around in a great big circle, she came full circle back to the original path.

Perhaps, this too is one facet of fate.

"……"

The person in the mirror quietly gazed at the person outside the mirror.

Liukaliya looked at Herbert with deep eyes, silently sensing the emotional fluctuations within him, secretly making her assessment.

Was the youth before her an honest person?

The answer was somewhat unexpected — yes, he truly was not lying.

Although there were omissions in his words, the youth before her had not concealed his greed, desire, and ambition.

Herbert was indeed using her abilities, wanting to obtain them to achieve his own purposes.

But was she herself not also using him?

In struggle there is no winner, in cooperation there is no loser.

The cooperation between the two was inherently a mutually beneficial, win-win good thing.

Herbert, is he worth looking forward to?

Yes.

In Herbert, Liukaliya saw an extremely rare trait — he was drawn to fate, and also drew fate to himself.

The storm of fate was converging upon him.

And in her past memories, every existence bearing such a characteristic had become a trend-rider in the great currents of history.

Heroes, overlords.

The saviors everyone hoped for, the villains despised and feared by all.

No matter what their ultimate fate, they would surely leave their own mark upon history.

Like a brilliant meteor streaking across the night sky, illuminating a stretch of darkness.

Lucalia had an intuition for spotting "interesting stories."

In that case, her own final answer no longer needed further thought.

"Hehe."

The person in the mirror laughed softly, reached a hand out from within the mirror, and seized the palm of the person outside—fingers interlaced.

Lucalia gripped Herbert's palm and smiled. "I accept your terms. I hope you won't break our agreement."

Hm?

Herbert was momentarily stunned after being caught off-guard by the Young Lady mirror demon's sudden "heart-fluttering challenge."

Miss, how can you just grab someone's hand out of nowhere? That's not quite proper, is it?

I'm actually quite conservative, you know!

But he quickly adjusted, gently returning the grip, nodding with a slight smile. "Don't worry, I never break my promises."

Herbert was very happy.

Lucalia might not be easy to fool, but her not being easy to fool was itself not very likely.

As a mirror demon who had seen countless people, Lucalia was probably the hardest of all monster girls to deceive.

For this round of cooperative negotiation, he had already prepared himself to pay a steep price.

But in the end, Herbert had exchanged almost zero cost for an extraordinarily powerful special ability.

Was it Lucalia's compassion? Or did she have her own schemes in mind?

Herbert cared, but not that much.

Whatever plans the Young Lady mirror demon might have, at present the benefits clearly outweighed the drawbacks.

With this ability to teleport between two locations, all his future plans could now proceed smoothly.

After reaching a friendly negotiation result with the Young Lady mirror demon, Herbert finally shifted his attention to Lucille, who stood nearby with clearly unsettled emotions.

The Young Lady fallen angel now looked utterly dejected; the wings behind her drooped down, making her whole figure seem shorter.

"Lucille, what did you see in the mirror?" Herbert asked softly.

Lucille stirred slightly at his words, slowly raising her head to look at Herbert.

"I..."

She opened her mouth to answer, but seemed unsure of what to say.

After a moment of silence, she shook her head and closed her mouth.

Herbert took in every bit of her reaction, nodding thoughtfully.

"Hmph."

The boy squinted at her, waited a while, and seeing her mood still hadn't improved, said slowly: "Lucille, hug me."

Hm?

"... What?" The Young Lady fallen angel, hearing those words, froze for a moment, thinking she had misheard, and instinctively raised her head.

She saw the boy opening his arms wide toward her.

She hadn't misheard.

But if she hadn't misheard... why?

She couldn't understand why Herbert would choose this exact moment to make such a gesture.

"Not going to hug?"

Seeing Lucille standing frozen in place without reaction, Herbert pursed his lips and lowered his arms.

Then...

"Fine, then."

"Then I'll hug you."

Herbert stepped forward and, without further ado, took the initiative to give Lucille a big hug, drawing her into his arms.

A pair of enormous crimson wings unfurled from his back, encircling the two of them like a second pair of arms.

Throughout this, Herbert said nothing.

Just as Lucille hadn't offered an explanation on her own, he didn't ask either.

Everyone has their own reasons for sorrow; people can never truly empathize in the fullest sense.

Sometimes, too many words bring no comfort, and instead backfire.

A wordless gesture, on the other hand, brings far more solace.

Lucille didn't speak, so Herbert didn't ask.

All Herbert could do was offer her a warm embrace at her most vulnerable moment.

That was enough.

"..."

And after her initial confusion and bewilderment, Lucille pressed her lips together, raised all four arms, and hugged Herbert's body tightly.

She looked just like a drowning person desperate to clutch onto something.

A moment later, just as Herbert was about to release Lucille, he heard a murmur as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

She said:

"... The sun has set."

(End of Chapter)