Chapter 92: Who Am I (Thanks to the Big Shot's Alliance Master! Extra Chapters +3!)

【"My dear ally, did you really believe that fellow's words?"】

【"Haha! Hahaha~"】

In the quiet chamber, Miss Xie Shen giggled wantonly behind the mortal.

That delightful laughter brimmed with joy, carried a hint of playfulness, and faintly held a trace of mockery.

Only, no one knew exactly whom She was mocking at this moment……

【"So, are you suspecting me now? Thinking I have some other scheme against you? Thinking I would harm you?"】

【"That truly wounds me! Boohoo~"】

Miss Xie Shen whispered her questioning into the youth's ear, carrying a measure of curiosity and a faint, plaintive sorrow — the kind of fake crying you could tell at once was put on.

Yet the youth was not swayed in his thinking; his emotions were utterly steady, and he answered calmly:

"No, I've long known you were scheming in the shadows, and I've never minded it."

When the two sides first joined hands, it was plain to see that each harbored ulterior motives; concealing a hidden agenda was the most normal operation imaginable.

Nie Nasha hid hers, and Herbert certainly did the same.

In this world, who doesn't carry a few secrets on them?

But the crux of the matter lay elsewhere.

Herbert shook his head calmly and said lightly: "You needn't tell me those things now. What I'm concerned with is something else…… exactly who am I working with?"

"Even if you mean to deceive me in the future, you ought to tell me just who it is that's deceiving me, shouldn't you?"

【"Listen to the way you talk~ How could I possibly deceive you? Haha~"】

Nie Nasha sighed with feeling and said sorrowfully: 【"Compared to me, an ally who is wholeheartedly devoted to your well-being, you'd actually rather trust an outsider who's calculating against you."】

【"That truly makes one feel…… sad~"】

Listening to that hypocritical weeping, Herbert couldn't help wanting to retort: "Ahem, why don't you calm down a moment — why does an old crone put on such a show……"

【"Mm?"】

Miss Xie Shen keenly caught the shift in his mood and asked coldly: 【"What were you about to say just now?"】

"Ahem, nothing, really nothing."

Herbert coughed forcefully, acting as though nothing had happened, and said composedly:

"Stop spouting that nonsense about me trusting him over you…… Of course I'd rather trust you than him."

"Precisely because of that, I came straight to ask you, instead of secretly investigating in the daylight, isn't that right?"

【"……"】

Indeed, just as Herbert said, he could have chosen not to ask.

Herbert could well have pretended he knew nothing; after all, judging from the prior situation, Nie Nasha had no way of knowing about his conversation with the Archbishop.

He could have completely avoided the subject, then quietly investigated during the day, even joining forces with the Archbishop to plot against Her in secret.

Yet Herbert did none of that; instead, he chose to be open and candid with Nie Nasha, laying the issue bare directly.

"Besides, I have no intention of digging deep either — I simply want to know who you are, that's all."

【"……Who am I? That's all you wanted to ask?"】

"Yes, that's all. I won't ask anything else. Tell me if you want to, don't if you don't."

Herbert curled his lip and snorted: "I just don't want to have called you by that name for so long, only to be told at the end it was a fake one — that would really piss me off."

【"……That's all?"】

"That's all."

【"Haha! Hahaha~"】

Nie Nasha laughed again, but compared to before, the atmosphere in the room was clearly far more relaxed.

【"Oh my! I never noticed before — you're actually so cuuute~"】

"Heh."

Herbert rolled his eyes, somewhat regretting having told Her the truth.

He should have pressed Her hard instead.

This Miss Xie Shen really was the type to bloom the moment you gave her an inch of sunshine.

"Hmph, enough nonsense — just tell me whether you're willing to tell me or not."

Miss Xie Shen's laughter vanished, and the atmosphere in the room once again grew still.

After a long while, the candle flame on the table flickered gently, and Herbert felt an icy finger, without any warning, tap the back of his heart, rubbing lightly up and down.

She was right behind him.

【"Herbert, you really are greedy…… hehe."】

Nie Nasha's laughter brimmed with playfulness as She teased: 【"So eager to know a lady's secret — you can't be unaware what that implies for a man, can you?"】

As Nie Nasha's attitude shifted, Herbert's emotions settled as well, and he said softly:

"It means I want to understand you — to understand you deeply, more deeply than anyone else."

"So, will you tell me?"

The mortal asked earnestly, and the deity answered softly.

【"I've always been me~"】

Nie Nasha's voice was gentler than ever before, drifting softly by Herbert's ear, slipping into the ear canal, flowing into his soul like honey.

【"Herbert, you needn't worry about me."】

【"The saint in the story has already vanished within the burning of the divine flame, and the ancient god has faded into the river of time; in the end, all that remains is the me standing before you, alone."】

【"Put in terms you can understand now — I am the saint, and I am the ancient god; both of them are me."】

Herbert fell silent.

Sure enough, it was the third scenario he had anticipated.

The Holy Maiden and the ancient god were both dead, yet neither had died completely; the two fragmented beings had woven together into an entirely new individual.

"How did the Holy Maiden manage it?"

Nie Nasha did not explain the specifics, merely stating lightly: 【"The will of mortals is no more fragile than that of the gods."】

Whose will ultimately held the upper hand, Herbert could not know.

But judging from the attitude Nie Nasha had always displayed, the two probably each occupied roughly half.

Hence, a self-styled "Miss Xie Shen" had emerged — yet one who behaved neither wicked enough nor virtuous enough, a goofy comic deity.

"But honestly, I really can't see any trace of the Holy Maiden in you."

Mm, not really.

【"Why is that? You never saw me when I was the Holy Maiden anyway. The image of the Holy Maiden in your eyes is nothing but imagination, you know."】

【"Does the Holy Maiden have to be stern-faced? Always spouting compassion endlessly? Forever wearing a gentle expression?"】

【"My dear ally, that is a naked prejudice of yours!"】

Prejudice, is it?

Herbert wanted to retort, but had to admit he simply could not refute it.

It was indeed he who had been led by preconception.

But even so…

【"Alright~ what's there to be hung up about? For you, whether I'm Him or her, doesn't it make no difference at all?"】

Nie Nasha retorted with some amusement, drawling:

【"You don't know the Holy Maiden, and you don't know the ancient god either — they have nothing to do with you."】

【"But I — I do have something to do with you! And a deep one~ a very deep one~"】

Thanks to reader 20210421132113142591416 for the Alliance Chief!

Thanks to my "My Hands Hold Nothing" and reader 20240907180035374 for the tips

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(End of this chapter)