Claire, Tanis, and Kunou still couldn't believe what Kisuke was saying and they all turned towards Ophis and Lilith who were silently munching on their bananas while on Kisuke's lap, "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, is that true?"
Ophis and Lilith looked at them before they stared at each other to contemplate Claire's question, "If I'm complete, it won't be needed."
The girls became confused by her answer but Kisuke clarified it for them, "It means if she and Lilith were still one, defending from your attacks wouldn't be needed. Just so you know, Cao Cao's full strength couldn't hurt her in any meaningful way back then and that attack of his was enough to vaporize Ultimate Classes and Gods. She was technically almost invulnerable before Lilith's birth."
Of course, this didn't really answer their question so Kisuke added, "But even now, Ophis and Lilith's durability is beyond imagination for most as they could stand in front of the Evil Dragons and keep taking a beating from them for an hour or so without any problem and it should be the same for Flanna over there. As for Cao Cao's full power attack, it might actually vaporize a part of their body now so it could be said that you girls are approaching that level in terms of pure firepower. It's really good that you've been hiding what you're capable of right now because you might just accidentally blow someone's existence away."
Claire, Tanis, and Kunou were silent, trying to comprehend his words.
"If you're still not convinced, I'll join you in your next session, and let's try testing your limits for real. However, you have to keep what you're doing hidden and hide your abilities, because it'll really cause various problems, especially since someone out there is in full recruitment mode. He might actually just kidnap you three."
"K-kidnap? Who?" Kunou asked nervously.
"You don't have to worry about that. As long as you keep a low profile, it shouldn't rouse his attention..." Kisuke then looked at them seriously, "Though you'll also have to remember that you shouldn't keep a tight lid on this power. If your life is in danger or you think you have something you need to do no matter what, go wild and I'll take care of the aftermath. Understood?"
The three of them nodded vigorously because they knew Kisuke was being strict.
"Good." Kisuke nodded in satisfaction.
Claire calmed herself down and thought about it carefully and asked, "...You'd trust whatever our decision is?"
But at her serious question, Kisuke just chuckled, "Of course, not. You girls are not experienced enough to make the right decisions most of the time. Most probably, you'll mess something up and make things worse."
Claire instantly became angry and the girls beside her frowned in dissatisfaction. But before they could air their grievances Kisuke added on, "You'll take responsibility for your actions, but I also said I'll take care of the aftermath. If you do something wrong, I'll scold you. I may not be your parents, but I'm still your guardian. However, I also can't just dictate what you should do since that'd only restrict you and make you more rebellious.
Shrugging his shoulders, Kisuke continued, "It's a tricky balance that even I don't know if I'm doing it right. I only hope that you'll be able to think back to whatever steps you take and refine your understanding of things around you.
"Well, long story short, do whatever you want but if needed, I'll ban snacks to punish you girls."
Claire was stunned for a moment before a small smile emerged on her face but it also disappeared as fast as it appeared and cried out exaggeratedly, "No!!! Not the snacks!!!"
Her cringe-worthy and noisy act was replied to with another flick to her forehead that made her role around on the ground again, 'I really wonder when she learned how to be noisy like this.', thought Kisuke while looking down on her, 'Though they are surprisingly understanding... Even though I basically said that they should act like kids, they pretty much acted like Sona and the rest of the girls seven years ago. Is this the fate of those with power?'
"Moving on, let's go back to the necklace. Since you guys are determined to help this Maria-chan, instead of fixing it myself, I'll make a projection and copy its structure. Also, I'll lend you the books that you'll need since most of these can't help you. You could mess with that copy as much as you want and once you're confident enough, you could do the real thing."
Claire stopped rolling on the ground and stood up, "Can we bring these books out and copy them!?"
"Hmmm? You can. I don't mind. But what for?"
"If we're going to do it like this, I might as well bring Maria-chan into this. I recalled her telling me that she actually wanted to enter the Engineering Department because of her parents and grandparents, but due to the pressure from everyone, she was enrolled in the Combat Department. I think it'll be a good chance for her to realize what she really wanted."
"Is that so? Then go ahead.", Kisuke took out several books from his inventory, "It'll take a few hours to make a copy so take these for now and a few of the ones on the floor. I'll send you the necklace later."
Claire, Tanis, and Kunou scrambled to clean up and once they were done, they immediately left to go back to Ouroboros Academy while carrying the unconscious Flanna.
After watching them leave, Kisuke went straight into the deepest part of the house and the doors automatically opened for him the moment he reached Aika's laboratory.
Kisuke walked inside for a minute or so to reach where Aika was and saw a short-haired brunette woman wearing glasses and a lab coat facing one of the terminals.
But before Kisuke could say anything, the woman turned towards him while fixing her glasses, "You really sounded old back there."
Kisuke approached her and gave her a kiss on her forehead before replying, "I have to at least show them that I'm an adult. And it's not a good habit to eavesdrop."
"I'm not going to listen to someone who does much worse."
"I'm not telling you to stop. I'm just reminding you that it's not a good habit to have."
Aika smirked at him and said, "What a bad adult."
Kisuke chuckled and replied, "Then I'd rather be a bad adult since it's more convenient."
"Still, I can't believe that they're already at that level. If this was known, a lot of unsavory people would be coming after them."
"That's why I promised to take care of it."
"But if you start moving, things will also begin to go into unpredictable routes. It'll be a lot harder to stop the war that's brewing."
Instead of replying to that, however, Kisuke asked, "How are things on your side?"
Aika was confused by his sudden change of topic but still answered, "Almost done. I should be able to create a hole in the barrier in three days."
Upon hearing that, Kisuke smirked, "Since things are going to get messy, I should take the initiative instead."
"...What are you going to do?"
"Say, are you curious about what those in ExE think of us?"
Aika's eyes sharpened and pinched his side, "You better not do it."