[Evangeline: Help!!]
[Evangeline: A strange pair of scales has appeared in my head!!]
[Evangeline: What the hell is this thing? Can a Familia awakening actually awaken an item?]
[Luo Shu: ...]
...
Inside the Hidden Management Zone, on the sea-view observation deck at the edge of the simulated beach.
Lacus, who was brewing black tea, glanced up at Luo Shu's strange expression and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is the tea not to your liking?"
Luo Shu shook his head, denying it. "No, it's not that. There's a problem on Evangeline's end."
Hearing this, Kirika Tachibana, who was waiting for her tea nearby, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and sneer, "Evangeline? The new Familia member who caused such a huge stir right after joining?"
"Controlling a country's prime minister like a puppet... She's really got some nerve to do something like that. Isn't she afraid the Scales will come crashing down on her?"
Luo Shu glanced at Kirika Tachibana's mouth, and seeing her frown, he said directly, "You guessed it. Evangeline just reported that a pair of golden scales has appeared in her head."
"Huh?"
Kirika Tachibana was stunned. She was just complaining about the newcomer's recklessness, not actually wishing for her death.
Meanwhile, Meer, sitting opposite Luo Shu with her face in her hands, widened her eyes and said, full of curiosity, "Has the judgement of the Scales of Order already appeared?"
"A phantom of the scales in her mind? Is this a phenomenon that occurs after the Scales of Order take effect? Is there anything else? Does her body feel unwell? Has her mind been altered?"
Seeing Meer transform into a walking encyclopaedia of questions, Lacus raised a hand and gently tapped her on the head. "One question at a time. Asking so many at once will just overwhelm everyone."
"I was just curious..."
After the tap on her head, Meer pouted, feigning pitifulness, and mumbled, "After all, there's so little data on what happens when the Scales of Order take effect."
"It's either sudden death, or the Five Great Powers publicly announce to the mystic side that those people died under the judgment of the Scales of Order. There's absolutely no usable data."
At this, Meer's eyes flickered, but before she could do anything, she heard Lacus's playful warning, "Don't go harassing the newcomer with private messages on the Divine Pantheon system. I will be checking with her personally."
At these words, Meer's mischievous expression immediately fizzled out. She said, exasperated, "Lacus, whose side are you on?!"
"I'm on the side of not causing trouble," Lacus said calmly, placing cups of black tea in front of Kirika Tachibana and Meer. As for Luo Shu, she had given it to him first.
After brewing the tea, Lacus also sat down beside Luo Shu and asked, "Before we ask the child about her situation, we should have her enter the Hidden Management Zone first."
"After all, we can't be sure under what circumstances the judgement of the Scales of Order will descend."
"I've already told her to come over." Luo Shu sighed and scratched his hair. "Although I knew she'd be targeted by the Scales of Order, this is just too fast."
Just then, Kirika Tachibana, who was beside him, reminded him, "Perhaps it's not that the Scales of Order acted quickly, but that we were too late."
Hearing this, Luo Shu couldn't help but look at Kirika Tachibana, curious about her reasoning.
Kirika Tachibana, however, simply picked up her tea, looked at the slightly rippling surface, and sighed softly. "That reckless little vampire girl only discovered the anomaly after her Familia awakening ceremony. Doesn't that already tell us something?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu immediately understood Kirika Tachibana's meaning. "You mean, the Scales of Order had already targeted her when she took control of Japan's prime minister?"
Meer let out a small "ah", then said with a pained expression, "Hey, hey, hey, that's a bit of a cheat, isn't it? Does this mean we can't make a move on those high-ranking officials in the future?"
To this, Kirika Tachibana just gave a cold laugh. "If the Scales of Order weren't advantageous to them, do you think they'd still be sitting so pretty right now?"
Meanwhile, Luo Shu followed Meer's line of thought, pondered for a moment, and said with a frown, "If I were to launch an attack with my Thunder Authority from within the Divine Kingdom, could the Scales of Order target me?"
The Divine Kingdom, which Luo Shu publicly referred to as the Hidden Management Zone, could block external observation and automatically shield the presence of those who entered. It was because he knew of this function that Luo Shu considered trying to see whether the Divine Kingdom could block the observation of the Scales of Order.
Hearing Luo Shu say this, Lacus reminded him, "Won't we find out once that child gets here?"
Luo Shu thought that made sense. As soon as Evangeline arrived in the Hidden Management Zone, they could confirm whether the Scales of Order in her mind could still target someone within the Divine Kingdom.
However, to confirm the situation, they needed one more person's help.
In an instant.
Nia Honjo, who was on the sixth floor of the Hidden Management Department drawing a doujinshi of Miku Izayoi and Luo Shu, suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo~~"
"Who's thinking about me?"
Nia Honjo rubbed her nose. Just as she was about to bend down and continue her work, she suddenly received a notification.
"What? You want me to go to the Hidden Management Zone to help?"
After receiving the message, Nia Honjo looked at the unfinished original drawing on her desk, considered the consequences of not going, and couldn't help but scratch her head. With a sigh, she got up and walked towards the door.
But as she was leaving, Nia Honjo glanced at the drawing on her desk, then at the guest room, before walking out of her own room without a backward glance.
...
Ten minutes later.
Evangeline sat on a small stool on the right side of the observation deck.
Opposite her, Luo Shu, Lacus, Meer, Kirika Tachibana, and Nia Honjo sat in a circle, scrutinising her with various appraising gazes, like a panel of HR interviewers.
Suddenly facing the scrutiny of so many people, Evangeline, who had finally realised what a foolish thing she had done after receiving the common knowledge from the Divine Pantheon, guiltily lowered her head.
However, after she lowered her head, Luo Shu's scrutinising gaze only intensified.
'No, if this goes on, I'm afraid I'll be stared to death by these people.'
Realising she couldn't let this continue, Evangeline forced herself to raise her head and look directly into the eyes of Luo Shu and the others. As if glaring back at them, she spoke in a tone full of Japanese flavour, "Hey, you wouldn't want your newly recruited Familia member to just kick the bucket like this, would you?"
Hearing this very Japanese-sounding remark, Luo Shu's immediate reaction was:
"???"