Faced with Lafeier’s questioning, Safitiya was momentarily at a loss for words.
Only then did she belatedly recall what Lafeier had meant by “dynamic change.”
Immediately, a deep blush spread across her face, reaching her ears.
‘I rambled on and on, only to be wrong from the start?!’
‘Ugh! Just kill me now!’
Lafeier wasn’t about to let Safitiya off so easily. He continued,
“You wanted to use information asymmetry to harvest wealth, but you yourself are someone who’s been information-monopolized.”
“Do you really think playing such petty tricks makes you look capable?”
Lafeier could see the pride deep in Safitiya’s bones.
In terms of knowledge alone, she far surpassed most people, including humans.
This had fostered an arrogance within her.
With someone like that, if you don’t first shatter their dignity and conceit, you can’t control them.
Though her sin level didn’t meet Lafeier’s requirements, a free accountant was hard to find.
With that thought, Lafeier raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curling into a hollow smile.
“Your arrogance is truly worthless.”
“——You!!!”
Steam rose from Safitiya’s forehead, her broken horn trembling, her entire body shaking violently with rage.
“Oh, just a couple of words and you’re already red-hot?”
“See, you’re getting impatient.”
With Tina right there and the Absolute Authority backing him, Lafeier naturally wasn’t afraid of Safitiya suddenly going berserk.
And Safitiya was only humiliated and angry, not yet completely out of her mind.
She wanted to retort, to tear this man down, but her vaunted knowledge wouldn’t connect into a single powerful counterattack.
‘It hurts, it hurts so much!’
Safitiya had endured insults and abuse before.
But no one had ever so thoroughly belittled her wisdom, calling it arrogance—Lafeier was the first.
She racked her brain but couldn’t figure out how to salvage her dignity in front of Tina.
Proposing a wrong plan with such confidence had already made her lose face.
Now Lafeier was pressing the attack, and she couldn’t find any room for rebuttal.
‘It’s over. My plans, my schemes—all ruined.’
And it was all because of Lafeier… no, that wasn’t right.
Safitiya did have some sense after all. She quickly realized that it was indeed her own arrogance that had landed her in this awkward situation.
She hadn’t taken Lafeier seriously from the start, and the questioning and ridicule she now faced were simply his reasonable counterattack.
Outmatched in skill, Safitiya had nothing to say.
She remembered what her teacher once said: “If you’re wrong, you admit it; if you’re hit, you stand straight.”
Indeed, even if unwilling, even if she couldn’t swallow this humiliation, she had to admit that she was at fault.
After a long silence as she mustered her words, Safitiya bit her lip.
“It… it’s my fault!”
“I lost. A loss is a loss. Do… do with me as you will!”
“Oh?” Lafeier thought, ‘She’s a tsundere.’
‘Tsunderes are great. I love tsunderes.’
‘It’s so satisfying to discipline a stubborn pretty girl like this.’
“Hehehe, admitting defeat?”
“Then you have to accept punishment!”
Safitiya took two steps back, a hint of fear in her eyes. “Pun… punishment?”
Ten minutes later.
“So… so big!”
“I can’t take it, really… really can’t!”
“Don’t make me touch something so filthy!”
Safitiya held a plunger, her face full of agony.
In the toilet, a huge strawberry tower stood imposingly in the center. Flushing several times did nothing.
Instead…
Well, those who know, know.
“Don’t make me do this!”
“I really know I’m wrong, please!”
“Mew~!!!”
At the door, Lafeier covered his ears.
“For someone with a hard mouth like that, making her unclog a toilet will knock the arrogance out of her.”
Xiugu scratched his head awkwardly and smiled sheepishly.
“Lord, maybe I should go…”
“What are you saying? This is a necessary measure for our little Safitiya to get some hands-on practice. No need for more salt.”
After bidding farewell to Xiugu, Lafeier and Tina led the eighteen hybrids to Staff Dormitory No. 1.
Earlier, Lafeier had used the Absolute Authority to send away those mercenaries.
Not just send them away, but scatter them.
He teleported them to all directions of the desert outside the prison.
After all, if those guys gathered together and formed another bandit nest, what would become of the world?
If they couldn’t make it out and died in the desert, then Lafeier could only lament their bad luck.
Giving them a chance to live was already Lafeier’s clemency.
Moreover, the prison riot had already happened and been perfectly resolved. Keeping these freeloaders would only waste food.
“You girls go upstairs and pick your rooms,” Lafeier said to the girls.
“P… pick rooms?”
“That’s right. As members of the warrior group, you’ll each have your own room from now on.”
The girls, uneasy, looked at Tina upon confirmation.
Tina glanced back at Lafeier.
It was only when Lafeier noticed Tina’s gaze and nodded that Tina said to the little ones, “It’s fine. This is all thanks to the Warden. Remember that.”
“Go ahead.”
Given permission, the hybrid girls danced with joy and rushed upstairs like crazy.
“So lively,” Lafeier remarked.
He turned and unlocked the heavy chain on the door of Lanse’s office with a key.
He pushed the door open.
“Every time I see it, it’s still impressive. That bastard must have swindled and embezzled a lot to furnish this.”
As he spoke, Lafeier walked over to a long table and picked up a silver-gilt longsword with golden patterns on the blade.
His first impression was its weight.
Then came a sense of ancient, vigorous spirit trembling within the silver blade.
“Good sword.”
Holding the sword, Lafeier turned to look at Tina.
“Tina.”
Lafeier raised the sword high with one hand. The cold gleam of the blade, dotted with the variegated light streaming through the stained glass, emanated a sacred and distant aura.
Without a word, Tina felt an immense fate gathering upon her. Unbidden, she knelt on one knee, as though she had repeated this gesture countless times, and each time filled her with surging emotion.
“In the name of the Holy Father and the Holy Son.”
Lafeier slowly recited the Sword Granting Prayer that had been passed down for a thousand years—just as 1,212 years ago, the Holy Son had knighted his twelve saints beneath the Divine Tower in the Imperial Capital.
“Accept this sword. Fear not the mighty foe before you. Walk in righteousness and be blessed by God. Even unto death, uphold the truth. Protect those who are helpless. This is your oath. Rise and become a knight!”