62 – Clear Skies, Then Clouds
Angsho, who was greatly shocked by Lian, returned to his room and immediately reflected on himself.
From Noble mtl dot com
“I lost my initial motivation.”
Was it because I had never failed before? Compared to when I first started this game, I have become quite lazy.
“I need to do it properly.”
Ansho resolved to move more seriously, just like when he first started this game.
The first thing he did was gather information.
To become close to someone, you need to know what they like and dislike. If possible, even their weaknesses. Ansho wanted more detailed information than the basic information he received from Otogi.
Obtaining information was not difficult. There were many slaves working in the arena, and there were many who were willing to talk for a few coins. He was able to gather more detailed information that way.
Ansho read through the documents.
Rian spends most of the day playing with Iris in their room, but she is not always in the room. Sometimes she goes for walks or goes to the training grounds.
“She’s more capable than I thought.”
Whenever she left the room, the slaves on the same floor would cower and avoid her, Ansho read.
“Did her confident attitude come from her skills?”
There was a lot of miscellaneous information as well. Information that he wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t investigated. The more information he gathered, the clearer his plan became.
“The most important thing is the information about Bansuk and Totogen…”
Perhaps due to their pride, neither of them spoke easily. Especially Bansuk, who couldn’t even speak properly, his face turning pale when asked about what happened.
“Judging by their appearance, they could easily die.”
Ansho sank deep into his chair, thinking about Bansuk, who stuttered like a fool.
“Well, I don’t really need to hear from those two anyway.”
With that in mind, he summarized the contents written in the documents.
That the slave named Rian is very protective of her younger sister, and that she is stronger than expected.
It seemed possible that the slave, who had secretly picked up a knife and started a dispute, may have been putting on a show of helplessness by staging a protest.
“It would be easier to target my younger brother.”
Lian was strong and quick to assess the situation. No matter how much of a slave he was, how could someone like him be easily subdued?
It was simple. All he needed was a knife that could penetrate the person’s chest. For example, someone like a beloved lover or family member -…
Fortunately, Lian had someone by his side who could become a sharp knife.
“Hmm, this is difficult to decide. Whichever side I choose, it will be interesting.”
The fearless strong one had only one precious younger brother, and it would be interesting to see him personally crushed. It would also be interesting to see the slave who had constantly struggled for his own sake stab and despair over his older brother.
“Targeting my younger brother seems interesting, but it looks too easy and boring.”
Compared to Lian, who seemed mentally shattered and unable to speak properly, Iris, who only followed her older brother, would be able to stab her own brother with a knife if she set her mind to it.
In contrast, Lian seemed more difficult to manipulate than any slave he had encountered before.
It was a common way for a nerd to suffer and do something about their already crushed pride.
Above all, the only way to resolve his already crushed self-esteem was to target Lian. Ansho gave up on strategizing against Iris and decided to focus on Lian.
“A stage, yes… I need a stage.”
With his eyes closed, he began to visualize a grand plan in his mind.
“Good.”
Now that he had made a decision, it was time to act. He immediately approached the people who were frequenting the gambling dens, Toto-gen and Bansuk, and demanded information about Lian.
Since neither Bansuk nor Toto-gen had ever been close to Lian or had anyone by his side when he was with them, the information was significantly scarce. The only information they could gather was that the two of them were frightened or that there was blood left on the floor.
Ansho naturally assumed that the blood on the floor belonged to Toto-gen or Bansuk. The strong Lian had attacked the two of them, and they were embarrassed, so they used potions to heal their wounds and hid all the facts.
That was the only conclusion he could draw.
It was unthinkable that Bansuk and Toto-gen had attacked Lian and that Lian had lost too much blood, causing the two of them to be shocked.
…It didn’t make sense, but there was no way Ancho could know that.
“How should I cook it?”
Numerous ideas came to his mind and then began to be deleted. Among the plans that remained in his mind, he found one that was somewhat usable.
“First… I need to find a female slave.”
***
“Hello?”
“…?”
A slave that Iris had never seen before approached her and greeted her as she went for a walk with Lian. The slave looked at Lian with trembling eyes and smiled as she spoke.
“Oh, hello.”
Her voice trembled softly, but it didn’t seem strange.
“Hello.”
Lian kindly responded to her greeting. There was no reason to be hostile. The female slave turned her gaze to Iris and said with a bright smile.
“I’ve seen you pass by a few times, and every time, I thought you were so cute and wanted to get to know you. If it’s okay, would you like to exchange greetings from now on?”
“Ahahahaha, our child is cute, right?”
Lian nodded his head vigorously, laughing like a father who had heard that his daughter was pretty. It seemed like he was shyly smiling because of his handsome face.
The female slave, who had been stiff with fear from Lian, blushed and looked at Lian’s smile intently. Iris’s brows furrowed.
“Oppa… I want to go.”
“Huh?”
“I… need to use the restroom.”
“Oh? Is that so? Alright, let’s quickly go back to the room.”
At Iris’s words, Lian was startled and turned his body. The female slave spoke in a flustered voice.
“Oh, um…! What about the answer…?”
“Oppa, I’m in a hurry.”
“Ah! S-Sorry. Um, the answer…next time!”
Lian hugged Iris tightly and rushed into the room.
The small incident…was just the beginning.
“Hello, Iris? I bought too much this time, would you like to eat this? It’s a bit tricky.”
“Iris, good morning.”
“You’re cute today too!”
People who usually didn’t pretend to know Iris approached her warmly and greeted her. Honestly, Iris didn’t care whether the other slaves insulted or praised her.
“Oh, what’s all this? Thank you, I’ll eat it gratefully.”
“Good morning, hahahaha.”
“Thank you for the compliment. Our child is adorable, isn’t he?”
The problem was that insignificant people blushed when they saw my oppa. My kind oppa couldn’t easily push away those who approached him.
Because of that, there were many people who approached without knowing their place. As the number of times their eyes turned to Lian instead of Iris increased, Iris’s emotions became very complicated.
In the room where only the two of them were left after the women left, Iris spoke out abruptly.
“Oppa, I don’t like it.”
“….?!?!”
With Iris’s words, Lian collapsed to the floor like a tragic heroine. Immediately, Lian stammered with both hands in the air like a malfunctioning robot.
“W-Why? Hohoho, is there something wrong that oppa did, huh?”
At Iris’s words, her lips twitched. And her plump cheeks also twitched. In an unexpected cute manner, Lian almost laughed without realizing the mood.
“Don’t like women.”
“Huh?”
“The woman who comes every day…”
Only then did Lian realize what Iris was talking about.
“Ah, the… different people who come every day?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you dislike them?”
“…I just do.”
Iris couldn’t explain the reason in words, so she simply said she disliked them. At the same time, she glanced at Lian, her eyes filled with worry.
“What if I start hating her…?”
If Lian liked those female slaves more than Iris, she might end up hating her. It was an absurd thought, but Iris was genuinely concerned.
As the small uneasiness grew uncontrollably, Lian spoke as if it were obvious.
“Okay. If it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t visit her.”
“…!”
Iris widened her eyes and then immediately nestled into his arms. She liked him so, so, so much that it overwhelmed her.
…And so, the first part of Ancho’s plan failed too easily.
“Ugh, then I guess we have to execute the next plan.”
Ancho’s pride was greatly wounded by the fact that he couldn’t even move on from the first stage of his carefully crafted plan. He brought out a bolder plan that he had set aside.
The next day, Lian ended up taking the elevator due to Jisuin. Naturally, he thought he would meet either the guest he had met before or a new guest. But where Lian arrived was…
“Here, from today on, this is where you will stay.”
“…Excuse me?”
It was a new floor, several floors higher than the one Iris and Ryan had been living on. Iris and Ryan were torn apart.
