Chapter 203: [Cardinal]

"I heard you made a mess yet again."

"Ehe~!"

Hearing this, Cardinal sighed. She then said, "Seeing you act like this, you found another reliable employee, I guess."

"Hm! I don't know if he's that reliable, but he deserves to have this chance."

Suddenly, her UR-rated ability finished its work and alerted her through the familiar orange-white panels in her sight.

<<15 errors have been found.>>

<<28 errors have been found.>>

<<4 errors have been found.>>

...

Complex data appeared inside her mind. It detailed the flaws of an originum rifle that they are creating. The entire design came from the [Quantum Computer] that she got from the Chat Group, which serves as the mainframe of their company.

Aside from design creation, it is responsible for the daily function of its main office as well as its branches. Without a satellite, it allowed Cardinal to create a network that spanned countries.

If others know of this, they would be shocked as there are no satellites present in Terra. This made it impossible for them to have something similar to the "Internet".

"Are you still working?" Strea on the other side asked. "Shiro would scold you if she sees this."

After being 'scolded' by her, Cardinal fell silent. Then, she recalled her previous conversation with Shiro. He said that he'll go back here after dealing with [Angra Mainyu] in that world, so she's expecting his arrival anytime soon.

'If he sees me like this...'

Recalling how she didn't rest for more than five hours a day and focused on their company, she was sure that he would scold her, too.

"At least, he would make up for it more..." She mumbled inaudibly.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'll be hanging up. Don't bring more trouble to Kumo."

"Alright~!"

Beep-!

Cardinal took the tablet placed on the desk. After some security checks, she was able to access their network. She clicked some folders for a while before the familiar blueprint came to her eyes.

'The 15 errors on its outer design first.'

Swiftly, she fixed all the errors by modifying them according to the solutions that appeared in her mind. After all, her UR-rated ability does not only point out flaws—it has many other functions such as generating the solutions to the flaws.

Coincidentally, this ability of hers is none other than her authorities back in Aincrad. That is, the <Cardinal System>.

[Cardinal (UR)]

Details: The most powerful 'authority' in a certain world is held by a restricted being. Its authority is separated into two parts: Management of order and Error-checking. The former grants its user the ability to manipulate, change, and maintain "order" while the latter detects every single <Error> that could be found in the target.

Note: The first ability is limited by the user's current level.

Simply put, it's as if she had brought out her administrator privileges in real life. The power to dictate order, change the rules of something, and detect the anomalies of the world is back in her hands once more.

Cardinal was surprised when she got this as her first reward. Although, she adapted quickly and got used to this ability of hers.

"Hm?"

She froze as she sensed the change in her surroundings. At this moment, someone is standing behind her. That 'someone' pinched both of her cheeks, though she still didn't react.

"Guess who's back~?"

Cardinal's frozen face began to change, and all the while her cheeks are being pinched.

"Shi...wo?!" She shouted before she saw a familiar face in her sight. That black blindfold... That perfect face... That smooth and ethereal voice...

"I'm back."

*****

Sitting on the bed, Shiro looked at the girl on top of his lap while digging her face into his chest. The black overcoat that he's wearing was crumpled as a result, but it's none of his business right now.

"How are you while I was gone?" He asked.

"I'm fine... objectively. If I'm still an AI, my fluctlight would be in disarray..."

Unlike humans, Fluctlights have limited memory storage. Once it exceeds a certain limit, they would need to discard a part of it through some means to keep living.

"Sorry."

"No, it's not your fault." Cardinal replied. "No one expected that... At least, you met your wife thanks to it."

Since her face was hidden in Shiro's chest, she perfectly hid her jealousy. Remembering the sight of a blonde-haired girl with nearly the same stature as hers, she could already foresee the "great enemy" that she might face in the future.

Unfortunately, she wasn't lucky enough to become Shiro's wife in the past. Although, it does not mean that she couldn't become one in the present.

"Your hair is longer. I thought you don't want this since it hinders you from reading?" He asked.

"Ah." Cardinal was caught off-guard by this question. "I... didn't pay attention much to it."

Suddenly, Shiro tapped her shoulders, making her jump as she was startled. Her weight didn't do anything to Shiro's lap, albeit her slightly panicked expression was revealed.

Seeing this, Shiro was stunned. He was used to the childish aura that her looks had before, so he was not used when he saw Cardinal's face for the first time. While the air of childishness is still there, something had changed. She looks more adorable than before as she matured from her child-like stature, something unexpected by him.

(A/N: I envisioned her like this, but with glasses and lighter hair color.)

When she first took her appearance, it was similar to that of a child's. Inevitably, this caused her appearance to be set when her soul was materialized.

In fact, she regretted her choice in the past, but she thought that there was nothing that could fix it unless she was willing to fully change her appearance—something that Shiro "likes". In the end, she decided to only change her hairstyle as she grew "older", not expecting that it is enough to fix her dilemma.

After all, she knew that there are other women out there who are interested in him too. This made her feel a sense of crisis, which was something that got stronger when she saw Castoria.

"Don't tell me... how long are you resting every day?" Shiro asked.

"E-eight... No, seven hours." She said with a straight face, though Shiro has a skeptical look on her face. "Six hours... This is the truth."

"Sigh..."

Thinking about Cardinal working that hard every day, he felt guilty once again. He thought of the possibility that Cardinal would temporarily take over their company while he was gone, but he didn't expect her to work this hard.

Furthermore, he already deduced that Nexus might've grown into such a big company that can affect the entire Terra to a certain extent. It was painfully obvious when nearly half of the people in this city had mentioned "Nexus" at least once in their conversation.

"How do you want to make this up?"

"...Let's hang out."

"Hang out?"

"That's right. Just us two."

'Isn't this a date?' Shiro questioned internally. 'Her feelings... What should I do?'

Millions of thoughts flashed quickly. In an instant, he made his decision.

"Sure. Let's hang out, then."