Is it coming?
She didn't look behind her, but she could feel a hand resting against her butt.
But Bronya was a little puzzled. She was tied up with her clothes still on. If he was really going to get down to business, then he'd definitely have to take off what she was wearing, which meant he'd have to undo the ropes.
But Otto didn't seem to mean to do that.
"Don't move around, alright? Otherwise it might hurt a little in a moment."
Otto said this leisurely. Bronya closed her eyes. She'd never experienced that sort of thing before.
But when she thought that Seele might once have been lying before this man the same way, and that she might now feel the same pain Seele had felt, Bronya suddenly felt a little lighter.
She could feel Otto's right hand against her butt, and from somewhere nearby came a thin, intermittent sound.
Was he going to cut a hole straight through the pants? Her hot pants were a little thick. If he tried to cut a hole the right size, one mistake might nick the skin of her butt.
So Bronya tensed her butt a little, steadied herself, and didn't move.
"Good girl."
Seeing Bronya stay perfectly still and obedient, Otto was rather pleased. In his hand he was holding a dagger formed from Void Archives, but the dagger was quivering slightly.
Void Archives was obviously unhappy that Otto was using her as a knife.
Being turned into a group chat was bad enough — now a knife too? Does Void Archives have no pride!?
Otto could only pin the dagger down, then brought it down in one swift stroke.
He cut through the ropes binding Bronya.
But halfway through, Void Archives shook too much, and the edge nicked one of Otto's fingers.
A few drops of blood fell from his finger onto the bed. His body was made of Soulium, but the outermost layer had a thin membrane over it. If that broke, a little blood would come out.
But the wound healed very quickly. It was only a minor interruption, just an accident caused by Void Archives being too mischievous.
"There."
The restraints fell away from Bronya's body, and she was free.
But Otto had already added a new invisible chain to her.
Free? Hearing what Otto said, Bronya was full of confusion. She'd felt nothing at all, and her clothes hadn't even been taken off.
That's it? You're done?
But Bronya could feel her body, which had been tightly bound before, loosen. The ropes binding her had been cut.
Then she even realized that Otto's hand, which had been against her butt before, had also pulled away. Puzzled, she turned herself over and sat up on the bed.
Otto sat a little way off from her, looking at Bronya with a smiling expression.
This was a man who looked very good when he smiled. If it were Seele, she'd probably be very easily fooled by that smile.
Bronya revised her assessment of Otto again, but she looked with some confusion at the cut ropes lying across her body.
Why wasn't he continuing?
It wasn't that she was hoping Otto would continue. It was just that she'd clearly already braced herself, yet as the man, he'd stepped on the brakes halfway through.
She felt like she'd been played.
"Bronya Zaychik. That's your name, right?" Otto said. Bronya, with the severed ropes scattered over her body, looked pitiful and delicate, but somehow he felt that the way she was looking at him was a little strange.
"From now on, I'll call you little Bronya." Otto smiled a little. Bronya wasn't tall. Even compared with himself, a man on the slimmer side, she was like a little rabbit.
But this was a rabbit that could kill a lion.
If he held her in his arms, her head would probably only reach his chin. Otto made the comparison quietly to himself.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Otto Apocalypse, Overseer of Schicksal. As for how you address me — 'Lord Overseer,' 'Overseer Otto,' whatever you like."
Overseer of Schicksal. Otto.
Bronya's eyes tightened slightly. Before she'd entered the orphanage, she'd been an assassin from the underworld. She wasn't unfamiliar with the name Schicksal.
It was an unimaginably vast giant.
And yet this man in front of her — the one who'd held her feet before like a total creep — was actually the Overseer of Schicksal.
Bronya's heart drew tight. Did she really have any way to take Seele back from something this immense?
But she didn't waver for even an instant, because some things were always above everything else.
So what if he was the Overseer of Schicksal.
Even so, sitting there on the bed, she lowered her head toward Otto.
"Lord Overseer."
Very respectful, as if Otto really were her superior.
Once she learned that Otto was the Overseer of Schicksal, Bronya discarded the idea of taking Seele back by force. If she made one rash move, everyone in the orphanage and Seele would all be at this man's mercy.
Hearing what Bronya called him, Otto felt a little regret that it wasn't like Seele calling him "Overseer-brother," but his mood was still extremely good.
"Mm." Otto nodded in satisfaction. Whether in appearance or in ability, Bronya pleased him quite a bit.
After spending a little more than a day at Schicksal Headquarters, Otto discovered that he was turning into a bit of a looks-junkie. Every woman he'd met over the past two days had been gorgeous.
But after answering, Otto realized that he didn't seem to have anything else to say to Bronya right now. Still, he noticed that Bronya's gaze was drifting a little.
Why did Bronya keep looking at that little bag by the head of the bed?
Otto was a little puzzled, and Bronya didn't speak either, because she too was wondering why he wasn't continuing. Even if Otto was the Overseer of Schicksal, he should still have ordinary physical needs, shouldn't he?
The things that served to protect the healthy nightlife between men and women were already prepared here, so how could he possibly not do it?
Bronya was confused. If Otto pounced on her like a husky, it would actually let her breathe easier.
That way, she'd smoothly become Otto's woman, and her position would rise. After all, even a maid, once she'd received that sort of favor from someone above her, would rank higher than other women.
"Do you want one?"
Otto suddenly asked this.
Was he making her personally ask for it? Making an innocent girl say something shameful like that — what twisted tastes the Overseer had.
But Bronya sat sideways on the bed, one hand pressed to the sheet, both arms supporting her upper body, her gray curls hanging in the air, like a silver wolf about to catch its prey.
"Bronya wants one."
The words went against everything she felt, but this was the optimal solution.
Yet under Bronya's astonished gaze, Otto stood up, came to the bedside, and stopped right in front of her.
She'd thought he would pounce on her at once. Bronya had already prepared herself and let her body relax so she wouldn't get hurt.
But Otto reached out and merely picked up one small box from the bag beside Bronya, then handed it to her.
"Then here, have one box. I still have fourteen."
Otto smiled as he handed it over. Amber had given these to him. Though he didn't know what they were, they were probably something valuable.
Otherwise, Bronya wouldn't have wanted one.
Then he'd just give Bronya one as a gift for becoming his subordinate.
Otto's thinking was very simple. He held out the little box to Bronya. Her face was full of question marks — but because Bronya was someone who hardly showed any expression to begin with, Otto failed to notice.
What was this supposed to mean?
Taking Otto's gift, Bronya realized that she didn't understand men.
Especially not the man in front of her.