Chapter 28: Farewell to the Past

"Archbishop, it's been a week since you last worked, and the documents from various branches need your review," Amber dragged her weary body into Otto's office.

For some reason, ever since Otto paid a bit of attention to Theresa, he had turned into a complete basement dweller. The files on his desk kept piling up, and every time she came in, she saw Otto lying on the sofa in the rest area fast asleep. He still held the game controller in his hand, but the TV had long been turned off, with no sound or movement.

Otto's routine seemed to be completely disrupted. But the workload had piled up to a certain extent that even Amber couldn't afford to ignore it any longer. So she gave up her illusions and decided to wake Otto up directly.

Otto cooperatively opened his eyes from the sofa.

"A week? How did a week pass by!?"

It was obvious that Otto hadn't realized the passage of time.

"Archbishop, even if you vehemently deny the exiistence of these files, these tasks still objectively exist, so please focus on your work. You can always set aside gaming and play later."

"Sorry, Amber, I was just curious about what kind of game could break the technological monopoly of Kallen's Fantasy. But unexpectedly, instead of attempting to break the monopoly, the other party took a different approach and developed their own unique style."

Nowadays, the external games were all rubbish. The IPs of "Homu's Great Adventure" and "Arahato" were repeatedly exploited, and the gaming industry felt like it was in a state of equilibrium.

But unexpectedly, this game producer who suddenly appeared had such a genius idea.

Work?

There hadn't been any important work recently. The only somewhat troublesome task was the global project to build a space elevator. However, that project had already been scheduled to be completed by 2025.

So, after looking around, besides research work, nothing else seemed that important. At most, Siegfried himself might want to cause some trouble.

But was that important?

Not really, after all, his every move was under his watchful eye. Kiana's clones was still growing, and a proper vessel to the Herrscher Core had yet to be found, so there was no need to mention experiments to resurrect Kallen.

In five hundred years, Otto felt it was definitely right to take a good rest every now and then. So, there were always a few weeks, or maybe a few months, when Otto would completely enter a vacation mode. Whether it was traveling outside or just enjoying other activities at home. With the development of the internet, games were a very good pastime. But now, there was a loyal Amber by his side, which was indeed Otto's own miscalculation.

"You can tell from this little game Undertale, Its importance the other party places is on the plot. On one hand, there's a gentle storyline, and on the other hand, there's a devil-like genocide storyline, vividly portraying the characters of the entire Underground world from different perspectives. Then comes Spritfarer, a game which didn't pursue high-quality graphics, but chose a style leaning towards hand-drawn artstyle.

Exploring death from the perspective of a care nurse. This author no longer sees games as tools for entertainment, but rather attempts to turn these things into works of art, integrating visuals, music, and stories into one."

"It's rare to hear the Archbishop give such high praise to an artform."

"Even as an old person, one must follow the trend, maintain a youthful mindset, and have more inspiration in research. But Amber, you reminded me well; I have indeed been neglectful in my work recently."

"Finally..." Amber was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I have a task for you. Bring that game maker over. With the cooperation of Schicksal's technology, I'm really curious to see what kind of artwork they can produce."

Amber looked even more tired. But then Otto's next words finally eased her a bit.

"Set aside the usual work for now, and there's no rush for the recruitment. I'll give you three days off, and after that, we can consider recruiting for Schicksal Entertainment."

"Yes!"

...

"The busy lass is finally back? It seems like your achievements in the Elysian Realm were very impressive, huh?" Back at the familiar bar, Bronie also appeared in front of Cioara in the bar's service uniform.

"I've persuaded Elysia, persuaded Aponia, made some plans for interesting games again, and maybe it can even persuade Eden next. Apart from these three, there's only one left, right?" Bronie felt that it wouldn't be too difficult to handle Vill-V either.

As long as the technology was in place and the other party felt satisfied, getting her to leave the Elysian Realm shouldn't be difficult.

"Who is Aponia? Have you... could it be you've met all Thirteen Flame Chasers?"

"How about it? I'm a genius, right? I'm amazing! I've collected quite a few Signets: Deliverance Signet, Reverie Signet, Setsuna Signet, Viviscitude Signet, and even Gold Signet. But when you collect too many Signets at once, it feels like your head is itching."

"Are you sure your body is okay?"

"Yeah... of course, it's fine."

Bronie nodded, and Cioara was also helpless.

After undergoing modifications as a MANTIS and finally entering the Elysian Realm to receive the Signets, Cioara had never expected that even with a modified body, there would be strong side effects after receiving the Signets.

But with Bronie, these Signets just made her head itch!?

Was that reasonable?

"Are you really not some kind of Herrscher or something else?"

"Come on, I'm a traveler from another world, it's reasonable to have a stronger body! Besides, the city where I used to live was a super advanced city covered by a light curtain. Do you think the rich people there wouldn't try to extend their lifespans after class divisions solidified?"

After Bronie said this, Cioara actually accepted this reason.

Yeah, Cioara hadn't really delved deeply into what kind of environment Bronie had lived in before.

But from her words, it was clear that it was a society with very advanced technology but severe class differentiation.

And Bronie's birth...

Naturally, it wasn't much better.

"Okay, okay, but your games are really fun. What's the plan next?"

"Is it only a fun evaluation? Write a ten-thousand-word review on Sbeam right away! ...But as for the next plan, the name has been decided, it's called Civilization."

"Is this for Eden? An artist like her indeed prefers that kind of thing. I'm starting to wonder what kind of game you're planning to make. Could it be something like the Spiritfarer? But isn't that fundamentally a visual novel game?"

Cioara's evaluation wasn't wrong. In Spiritfarer, if you couldn't enjoy the plot and dialogue, it really felt boring.

Farming, building, adventuring, platform jumping.

These elements were still a bit interesting, so even now, there were still rave reviews on Sbeam, and sales were gradually increasing.

And Cioara, of course, also received a good bonus.

Although Cioara felt that she had only invested a little money and couldn't provide any useful help, and basically the games were made entirely by Bronie alone.

But who doesn't like money?

If Bronie needed it, she could use the money for the game company; if not, he could use it to buy an island.

Anyway, Cioara never thought she had too little money.

And it seemed quite easy to earn this money as well.

"What kind of game I'm planning to make? I've told you, the game is called Civilization, so it starts developing from ancient times. It's actually more like a strategic chessboard game, right?"

"It sounds kind of boring."

Chessboard?

Strategy?

Forgive Cioara for being just an ordinary mercenary with limited knowledge who might not understand what's fun about that kind of game.

But Bronie also understood.

"You'll see then. Trust me, when have I ever flipped my motorcycle?"

Seeing Bronie pat her chest to guarantee this, Cioara also started to believe Bronie's words a bit.

"I'll look forward to it then? But if that's the case, my bar will lose another employee."

"You're talking like there are other employees in this bar besides me. Do you even realize you're an employee yourself? Let's count now, how many days a month are you actually in work here?"

"Is that really important?"

"Well, not really."

"That's right, your bar isn't just a bar anyway. So many mercenaries just want a safe place to exchange information, and making delicious food for you is what makes me happy."

"You little smooth talker!"

Hearing Bronie say this, Cioara was quite happy. She rubbed Bronie's head vigorously with her hand.

"But for the next while, you don't have to come to work. I'll be leaving here for a while, so focus on your games."

Cioara seemed prepared to bring up this matter, which puzzled Bronie.

Although she usually didn't monitor Cioara's chat software, she could obtain information about the World Serpent from Gray Serpent.

Gray Serpent had mentioned that during this time, the World Serpent's main focus was on infiltration and silent development, without any involvement in mercenary affairs.

So why did Cioara want to leave Arc City?

"Where are you going?"

"It's because of your game."

When Bronie pressed for further questioning, Cioara's face showed a very helpless expression.

"Huh?"

"To make a decision about the past, to return to my hometown, and then to erect a tombstone. The past me never believed that my brother had died, so I would often go to the cold snowy plains of Siberia to search for his traces. I never believed."

"Have you reconciled with your past? Facing the future is always a good thing. Do you want me to accompany you? I'm good at reading Feng Shui."

"If you insist on coming along, but why aren't you curious at all? Could it be that in the other world, I also had similar experiences?"

"Forget it, there aren't that many similarities. If you two were really exactly the same, would I still have this attitude toward you? I'd definitely want to destroy your crappy bar instead. I just know you're stubborn, so I'm not surprised by your behavior."

"Can't you hold back with your words a bit? Honestly..." Cioara was quite helpless; she really admired Bronie's intelligence and deduction skills. She really was a genius. Could she really do anything? What couldn't Bronie do?

"Even if you don't book a plane ticket for me, I can pay for it myself. So don't think about shaking me off, and I'm a bit afraid you might do something reckless on your own."

Reckless wasn't quite the word, but Cioara did feel Bronie's concern.

"Really, why are you always so kind to me? Honestly, I've started to suspect your motives, but no matter how I think about it, I can't figure out what you could possibly covet from me."

"Maybe it's your body?"

"Hahaha! Crave my body? That's the funniest joke in the world. But you could come up with some even cooler jokes. Maybe that would be very cool."

Not long after, Cioara closed her bar. Next, she booked two tickets to Siberia.

However, due to Honkai, the environment in Siberia couldn't really be called habitable. The Honkai hovered over the land like nuclear radiation. Honkai Beasts lurked in the snow and forests, ready to attack ordinary people passing by. The inevitable fate for ordinary people encountering Honkai Beasts was likely to become fertilizer in the soil.

But even so, there were still many ordinary people stubbornly living in this area.

Just like after the Third Eruption, when Nagazora was completely abandoned, there were still people building their homes in such environments.

In the cold land of Siberia, there were also many people who had built villages and lived peacefully there.

Because the areas covered by the Honkai were still being sealed by the Valkyries of Fate, Cioara needed her own means to enter that area.

Passing through dense forests, traversing snowy plains, the surrounding scenery became more and more primitive, and traces of human civilization seemed to disappear completely.

But for Cioara, this primitive forest felt like returning home. She strode forward with determination, never feeling lost or stopping to look at the map.

It was evident that she was very familiar with the surrounding environment.

After crossing a cold stream, a dilapidated path appeared in front of Bronie, and at the end of the path was a dilapidated village.

Time had left many marks on this village. Amidst the ruins, some resilient grass peeked out, swaying in the wind.

"We're here, Bronie. This is my hometown, Natasha Cioara's former home, destroyed by the Honkai, where I parted with my brother. At that time, my brother and I encountered Gray Serpent, but only I had resistance to the Honkai. In that environment, he had no chance of survival at all. I've always known this, and the more I understand the Honkai, the more I realize this."

"Now the only thing we need to do is to properly tell your brother that you're doing well now, and that there's also a very reliable hacker named Bronie whose future is also thriving. Your loan for the little island is almost paid off."

"Yes, we need to tell him these things and then build him a home, a place in this snowy wilderness that isn't so lonely."