At this point, one of the stewards suddenly seemed to remember something.
"By the way, Steward Andrew, there’s something we’ve been too afraid to tell you..."
"What is it?" Andrew raised an eyebrow slightly.
The stewards exchanged glances, and then one of them whispered:
"Your senior brother, Andre the Archmage, has returned from the Endless Sea. He’s expected to arrive at our Winter Spring Valley in a few days."
In an instant, they noticed a subtle change in Andrew’s expression. His eyes narrowed, glinting with a chilling light.
"Oh?" he said, squinting. "Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?"
The steward wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stammered, "Well... uh..."
It was precisely because they knew the relationship between the two that they had hesitated to speak up.
These stewards were well aware of the deep-seated animosity between Andrew and his senior brother. Back in the day, they had nearly come to blows over the position of the First Steward.
During their time in Winter Spring Valley, the stewards had witnessed firsthand what it meant for two titans to clash. It was a rivalry that had lasted since childhood.
If your mage tower was an inch taller than mine, I’d make sure mine was a foot taller by tomorrow!
If you mastered one forbidden spell, I’d master two!
If you had one son, I’d have two just to outdo you!
There was even that one time in the bathhouse when they accidentally caught a glimpse of each other and noticed a difference of a few micrometers... and that was enough to spark another round of competition.
In the end, they overused magic potions, which led to... well, let’s just say they both suffered a backlash.
Everything shrank!
They thought that would be the end of it.
But then, just because one of them accidentally noticed that the other was a few micrometers smaller...
They started competing over who could be smaller!
O(╥﹏╥)o.
Just recalling those days made all the stewards feel a wave of phantom pain.
"Steward Andrew, we all know there’s some tension between you and your senior brother, but..."
The surrounding stewards wiped their sweat and continued:
"Now your senior brother holds a different status. He’s the First Bishop of the Sea God’s Temple. This time, he’s surely returning for important discussions with Winter Spring Valley. You really need to tread carefully!"
[The Sea God’s Temple?]
Andrew snorted coldly and said indifferently, "What? Do you think a First Bishop is more prestigious than a First Steward? Do you expect me to kneel and call him ‘Father’?"
"Not at all! Not at all!" The stewards widened their eyes in panic. "Please don’t misinterpret our words! We’re just trying to give you a friendly reminder!"
Andrew flicked his sleeve and turned away, saying calmly, "Enough. I understand what you’re trying to say. Although we’ve never gotten along, that was a hundred years ago. Do you really think I, Andrew the Archmage, am that petty?"
The others trembled.
No!
We definitely don’t think you’re that petty...
But do you really have no self-awareness about your own pettiness?
Their eyes instinctively drifted to the floor in front of his chair, where the marble had slightly sunk from years of being stepped on.
And faintly visible in the depression was what appeared to be a name carved into the stone.
Then, their gazes wandered through the crack in the door to the training dummies outside in the square.
The face of one of the dummies looked eerily familiar.
Whoosh—
A magic arrow struck the dummy right in the forehead.
The stewards shuddered, snapping back to reality, their eyes wide and their throats dry.
Is this what you call being petty, Steward Andrew?
"Enough!" Andrew waved his hand grandly, his beard fluttering as he declared, "This meeting is adjourned. Dismissed!"
...
Several hours later.
In Nanako’s mage tower.
"It’s over, it’s over, it’s over!"
Nanako, dressed in a blue mage robe with her hair tied into two ponytails, paced back and forth, her small hands cupping her chin as she thought deeply. With each step, her long ponytails swished like ribbons.
On a nearby recliner, Lynn’s eyes followed the swaying ponytails, left and right, until his eyelids drooped with boredom.
"Master..." Lynn yawned, his voice drowsy.
"You’ve been pacing for two hours now. I’ve calculated that you’ve walked back and forth twelve thousand one hundred times, covering hundreds of kilometers. Aren’t you bored? In this time, you could’ve run several marathons."
Indeed.
Ever since the stewards’ meeting ended, Nanako had returned home and seemed to be stuck in an endless loop of pacing.
[Is she having a hyperactivity episode→_→? Otherwise, why has she been so restless lately?]
[Master, we’re almost out of gold coins. If your salary doesn’t come in this month, I’ll have to sell your jewelry and clothes!]
[Nanako’s Mage Brand Cloth Armor, petite size, two gold coins each, fair price, no scams~]
[Hahahaha—]
Nanako suddenly turned her head, her gaze locking onto Lynn.
In the reflection of Lynn’s eyes, the petite mage floated over like a ghost and slammed her hands on his shoulders.
Her blue eyes (￣^￣) glared down at him.
Lynn gulped, his eyes wide.
Since he was lying on the recliner, Nanako’s position created a somewhat domineering posture.
Lynn coughed awkwardly and said, "Uh... Master, it’s still noon. There are several hours until nightfall. Maybe..."
"Stupid disciple, stupid disciple, stupid disciple!!!!"
Nanako (〃＞皿＜) shook her head vigorously, her long ponytails whipping Lynn’s face at an unimaginable speed.
Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap—
The rhythmic slapping sounds echoed through the room.
Lynn: "!!!!"
"Stop! Stop! Master, please stop! This really hurts!"
Suddenly, Nanako grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close, her face o(≧口≦)o as she cried:
"Disciple, help me think of something! Andre the Archmage is coming back, and he’s definitely bringing Juejuezi with him. She’s going to come after me, she’s going to bully me!"
Lynn stared in horror at her ponytails.
[No, I have to find a way to cut these ponytails off. They’re too dangerous.]
[This crazy loli has clearly found a new weapon to torment me. I need to nip this habit in the bud!]
[Otherwise, my life will be miserable!]
"Juejuezi?" Lynn asked, startled. "Who’s that?"
Nanako glared, pulling Lynn closer and gritting her teeth. "Someone who’s always picking fights with me!!"
Lynn: "Huh?"
...
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
with Taming My Adopted Niece) (Multiple Heroines + Power Fantasy) Before transmigrating, Wang Jianqiang suffered greatly from novels with no female leads. Holding firm to the belief that "women only slow down my blade," he stubbornly maintained his virginity even after decades in the Sect of Dual Cultivation. In his twilight years, with his cultivation stagnant at the third level of Qi Refining, he finally succumbed and "rewarded" himself once—triggering the awakening of the Godly Cultivation System. From then on, he realized women might actually be his lucky stars on the path to immortality. Deciding to indulge freely and savor life, he found his ungrateful adopted niece knocking at his door...
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
