Chapter 358. The Aggrieved Crusch, Progress at the Sage's Tower
「Anastasia's offensive was a brief, experimental probe. She had already personally witnessed the fate of Crusch, whose goals had been fully exposed.」
「One must move slowly, and move in secret.」
「Although she could simply ascend to her position once the Prime Minister regained his memories, she felt that if she could make this "reserved Prime Minister" fall in love with her again during his amnesia, the two versions of love would merge into one when his memories returned, making their bond far more stable.」
「Only then did Anastasia feel she could be with him without any lingering worries, never needing to fear the likes of Emilia competing for him.」
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"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you leave being a vixen to the professionals."
At the Nakano residence, Ichika and Nino had their arms around each other's shoulders on the surface, smiling as they critiqued the scene, but in reality, they were both secretly exerting pressure on one another.
"We need to learn Ram's methods for guarding against foxes, but we especially need to learn Anastasia's methods for being a fox. Only then can you call yourself a complete person!"
As for Crusch?
Forget it. Rather than learning from her, they might as well look at Emilia in the distance.
At least Emilia knows how to act cute and throw straight balls, and her status is unshakable.
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「Once the two smartest and most observant people confirmed the existence of a spatial distortion, Hikigaya Hachiman and Anastasia ordered everyone to stop so they could devise a solution.」
「Ram looked at the two of them speaking in unison, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. Between Hikigaya Hachiman and Anastasia—whose wisdom and temperaments were so similar—Ram occasionally caught a sense of them being a very well-matched pair.」
「If not for the fact that Anastasia's expression remained unremarkable, and that she hadn't spent the last twenty days intentionally or unintentionally approaching Hachiman like Crusch had, Ram would have almost started fantasizing.」
「"...In summary, to dispel the spatial distortion, we must use Miss Ram's Clairvoyance to link with the vision of other mabeasts during the 'Sand Time'—when the high winds whip up the sand, occurring only three times a day—to find a true path that isn't warped by space."」
「Anastasia turned a blind eye to Ram's scrutinizing gaze and said with a smile: "Can you do it, Miss Ram?"」
「Ram nodded. She felt perhaps she was being too paranoid, seeing shadows where there were none.」
「With about three hours until "Sand Time" arrived, Ram began receiving mana transfers from Beatrice and Emilia to nurture her condition and prepare for the upcoming task. Julius stood nearby, guarding their safety.」
「Hikigaya Hachiman and Meili, meanwhile, were searching to see which species of mabeast possessed eyesight that could be used for the Clairvoyance link. However, after searching many, they found most were sightless or didn't even have eyes.」
「"It's no use. There's too much yellow sand here and visibility is too low for it to be useful, so they basically don't have eyes at all."」
「An exhausted Meili sat down on her butt and went on strike. Hachiman thought for a moment. "Since the mabeasts have no sight, let's give up on the mabeasts."」
「Meili said in surprise, "Giving up so soon? Mhmm, that's fine too. Sleeping and taking baths back at the mansion is way more comfortable than this."」
「"It's not giving up; it's changing species." Hikigaya Hachiman looked up and pointed at the flocks of birds flying in the sky.」
「"Just by looking up—"」
「Meili's eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost. "I knew Big Brother was amazing before he lost his memory, but I didn't expect him to be this amazing even now!?"」
「Switching the link target to the birds in the sky was a very simple line of thought. But it was exactly this kind of simple thought that commoners like Meili and Julius would never have considered, even if they had seen those birds.」
「"The likes of Joshua and the Mimi kids really can't compare to you," Anastasia clapped lightly. "How about honoring the Prime Minister's agreement early and coming to help me? With such a brilliant Prime Minister handling government affairs, I'd certainly have a much easier time."」
「Crusch, who had been immersed in admiration for Hachiman's sharp wit and was full of irrepressible praise, heard Anastasia's recruitment and immediately followed suit: "If Sir Hachiman is willing to be my Prime Minister, I can handle all government affairs myself."」
「Anastasia seemed to freeze in daze. She looked as if she hadn't expected Crusch to be so "involutionary" just to pull him in. She could only stammer: "Miss Crusch is really too much. With conditions that good, are you looking for a Prime Minister or a husband?"」
「Crusch smiled demurely. To ensure Sir Hachiman wouldn't be overworked and could have time to do what he wanted, her handling all the government affairs was a small price to pay.」
「In an instant, Crusch's opinion of Anastasia—who seemed to have backed down and stopped trying to snatch the Prime Minister—soared.」
「Watching Crusch, who didn't offer a rebuttal, Hikigaya Hachiman shook his head slightly. He didn't fully buy into that far-fetched guess... However, because of Ram's warning, the seed that had been planted finally began to sprout a tiny bud of suspicion.」
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"CLANG!"
A sound of furious impact reduced the entire Karsten mansion to a dead silence.
Crusch was enraged, incensed, furious!
Excluding the times she saw her Sir Hachiman die in the future, Crusch had never felt such a cerebral hemorrhage. She gripped her rapier with trembling hands, wishing she could rush into the future and kill that "stupid future Crusch" with a single strike.
In just a one-minute conversation, that stupid Crusch had committed far too many blunders.
"Anastasia said having Sir Hachiman would make things easier for her on purpose, just to instill a concept in his mind—that she doesn't crave his body or soul, but only values his talent."
"With that misleading foundation laid, no matter how much Anastasia reveals her true intentions later, Sir Hachiman will only think in that direction. No matter how close or out of line she gets, it won't be seen as a problem."
"And then she used that verbal trap to make me fall in, secretly reminding Sir Hachiman that I have those kinds of thoughts about him! She's stifling my progress and making Sir Hachiman consciously distance himself from me."
Trembling, Crusch's eyes turned almost bloodshot.
While it was true that if she hadn't watched the future for so long—absorbing the "essence" of Rem, Ram, and Anastasia to make significant progress—the pre-amnesia Crusch would have done even worse than the post-amnesia one.
But that didn't stop her from getting a cerebral hemorrhage from her future self's actions. She wanted to kill.
"One sentence to lay her own foundation and provide an alibi for her future actions; one sentence to dig up my foundation and make my future actions feel like walking on thin ice, where Sir Hachiman could discover my love at any moment."
"I... I... I—"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, AAAAAAAAH, ANASTASIA!!"
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