Austin attempted to put on a strict but calm expression as he entered the room. However, in the next moment, it was as if his entire being received a jolt of lightning, freezing him in place. His eyes widened suddenly, unable to tear away from the sight before him.
Seated behind a large, opulent desk, a young woman around his age gazed at him with calm composure.
Her long, distinctive, and beautiful pink hair framed an exquisite face—natural pink lips, pale cheeks with a subtle hint of redness, and a pair of blue eyes that possessed a sacred and breathtaking quality, reminiscent of an ocean.
Even though her outstanding figure was modestly covered in a comfortable dress adorned with pear blossoms, Austin couldn't help but feel a sudden burning in a particular region. His eyes involuntarily wandered to her chest, appreciating its undeniable fullness, even though the dress wasn't designed to emphasize her assets.
He had assumed that the voice he heard from the outside was somewhat familiar. Little did he know, it belonged to someone he knew all too well.
The renowned goddess of Alves College.
And, coincidentally, the same woman who had stabbed him in his nightmare.
Alysia!
In her presence, the intense pain from when he got stabbed resurfaced once again. However, alongside the pain, he sensed a subtle resonance with her presence.
"I knew he would recognize you, but the way his gaze lingers on you makes my skin crawl. May I be allowed to gouge his eyes out, young miss?" The owner of the cold voice declared again.
Austin's attention immediately shifted to the woman, and he was stunned once again.
Earlier, due to his intense focus on Alysia, he had naturally overlooked the petite woman in a maid dress standing beside her.
Standing at approximately one meter fifty, with black short hair, the woman gave him a cold stare as if looking at a 'trash'.
Her facial features were striking, comparable to those of celebrities and TV presenters. However, her expression was impassive, and her eyes exuded a frosty demeanor.
Coincidentally, once again, this petite woman was familiar to him.
Another goddess of Alves College.
Eris.
Other guys could only dream of approaching these two goddesses, but now, he, a complete nerd, unexpectedly found himself sharing the same roof as these two beauties!
If this news got out, wouldn't he be instantly besieged by their crazy admirer or worse, get killed?!
...
"Are you done staring at us, friend?" Amelia smiled, her eyes narrowed in a fox-like manner.
"Cough, I'm not...I mean, I'm done, yes. And may I know where am I right now?" Austin said with a mix of nervousness and curiosity.
"Don't be so tense, I'm not going to eat you." Amelia teased, avoiding a direct answer. She motioned towards the nearest sofa. "Take a seat for a moment. I'll address your questions shortly."
Austin obligingly sat on the sofa. This time, he refrained from staring too openly at Amelia and Eris, given Amelia's teasing and Eris's earlier warning. He kept his eyes on some random point in the room as they resumed their conversation.
"Eris, did you forget that the Holy Judgment Army consists of a bunch of fanatics and lunatics who don't know the meaning of surrender? If you take down one, two more will take their place. If two aren't enough, they will send four. The numbers will keep growing until they reach an amount we couldn't possibly fend off anymore. It's like in that web novel I read, where the protagonist offended a member of a certain sect. First, its member's brothers joined in, followed by its father, then its grandfather, and great-grandfather, and so on. Do you think it's worth engaging in a war of attrition with them? Alysia pointed out
Eris, visibly flustered, bowed her head. "I completely overlooked that aspect... forgive me, young miss. I was too reckless!"
"It's fine. But you should abandon that 'everything can be solved with fists' mindset of yours as soon as possible. Not everything can be resolved through violence. In fact, sometimes, resorting to killing might lead to even worse problems."
"You may have faced everything alone in the past, but now, you have me and the other. You need to take us into account in your plans. You're not a lone wolf anymore, and every course of action will inevitably involve all of us." Alysia went on.
"I understand, young miss. I'll make sure to factor in everyone in our future plans." Eris nodded solemnly.
"Good. So, do you have any other plans?" Alysia asked.
"Let me think about it for a minute, young miss," Eris said as she fell into contemplation.
Suddenly, Alysia turned her gaze toward him. "How about you, friend? Do you have some suggestions for our problem?"
Austin, after blanking away for a few seconds, pointed at himself. "You asked me?"
"Is there anyone else besides you sitting on the sofa? Of course, I'm asking you, duh," Alysia rolled her eyes charmingly.
Austin rubbed his eyebrow. We're practically just strangers. How am I supposed to know you would ask me for my opinion? And, what kind of answer would you like to hear? I don't even have a clear understanding of your problem!
Hold on...
Is she discreetly hinted at me to join their roleplay?
So that's the case...
"Cough," Austin immediately assumed a serious face. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard from the outside that you seem troubled by the fact that there were a few people of the Holy Judgment Army seen on the outskirts of Alves Mountain."
"You want to get rid of them but don't want to kill them. Isn't the best choice just to ignore them?"
"Ignore them?" Alysia stared curiously at Austin.
"Based on my understanding of Alves Mountain, isn't the place like a maze? Many travelers often lose themselves on the way there. Not infrequently, travelers go missing or are found dead. Not to mention, a constant snowslide happens every now and then, even in summer. The place is magical but treacherous. I believe if there's a ranking of deadly but beautiful places in United States, Alves Mountain would easily make the top ten."
"Considering those points, I think there's no need to overanalyze the situation. People would likely avoid visiting a place with such a high mortality rate."
He glanced at Alysia and noticed her hesitant expression before continuing. "If you're still unsure about my suggestion, how about a plan to distract them?"
"Distract them?" This time, Alysia's eyes looked interested.
"Hmm," Austin nodded. "From your conversation, this organization called the Holy Judgment Army seems to be a fanatic cult or believers in a god? If so, then they must have places where they conduct their prayers, right? Like a church, for example. If you can locate it, you can do something like 'swatting' to their location."
"What's swatting?" Alysia asked with a blank face.
"Eh, you don't know? Swatting is basically a prank where someone makes a false report to the police, often claiming a serious incident like a bomb threat or violent crime, with the intention of prompting a SWAT team response to the victim's location."
"So, you're suggesting I file a false report to the police, claiming the church is involved in illegal activities, just to get the police to show up and create a scene?"
"More or less."
"That sounds awesome and fun!" Alysia exclaimed with sparkling eyes, seemingly eager to put the plan into action right away.
"I won't call it fun, especially since some of my favorite streamers have been victims of it too," Austin sighed. "But 'swatting' would definitely solve your problem because it's likely that the people of the Holy Judgment Army, the ones you were troubled by, would be called off to return."
"Is it really going to work?" Alysia said.
"Well, I don't know if it's going to work, since the key lies in your ability to make up convincing lies. If you can convince the authorities, they will definitely come to check. In any case, you can also try burning some dry leaves near the church so that when the smoke rises, it will be visible to everyone. It would serve as additional proof when you report to the police, making it look like the perpetrators were trying to destroy evidence."
"I see... but instead of burning the leaves, it might be better to just burn down their church right away," Austin overheard Alysia murmuring to herself.
"Uh…sure,"
The two continued to discuss for a while.
At some point, Eris left the room and returned with two cups of tea.
Austin couldn't help but express his surprise upon inhaling the tea's enchanting aroma. "What kind of tea is this? It's so fragrant!"
"It's Spirit Honeyblossom Blue Tea," Eris replied concisely.
"Spirit Honeyblossom Blue Tea?" Austin repeated in a startled manner.
He had never heard a tea with such an elaborate name before. Judging by the name, does it also contain honey?
As he took a sip, he found himself pleasantly surprised once again. "This tea is fantastic! The flavor is not only delightful, but I also feel rejuvenated, as if I've been immersed in a refreshing spring during summer. Where did you come across this remarkable tea, Miss Eris?"
"Nazarick City," Eris replied.
Austin felt like Eris lived in a different world. First, it was the Spirit Honeyblossom Blue Tea, and now, Nazarick City.
How was it that everything Eris mentioned seemed utterly unfamiliar to him? Was he that illiterate?
Hold on… are the names also part of the play too? No wonder, no wonder.
"I must admit, the cunning and ruthlessness of humans seem boundless. They can conspire even amongst their own kind without breaking a sweat, as if discussing something as mundane as breakfast. It's no wonder that, despite being seemingly fragile creatures, they have risen to become the overlords of Earth." Eris said out of nowhere.
"You're absolutely correct. Take a look at politicians nowadays. Despite the suffering of the thousands or even millions of people they're meant to serve, they still find it necessary to conspire against each other just to chase after their own selfish gains," Austin remarked with clear disdain.
"I'm talking about you," Eris gave him a side-eye glance.
"Me?" Austin responded, puzzled. "But why haven't I ever been praised for my cunningness before? Hold on, are you referring to my handling of Miss Alysia's question?"
"Hmm," Eris hummed in agreement.
"Haha, wasn't that just roleplaying? Seeing you all adopt such serious tones, I couldn't resist showcasing my acting skills as well. Though I must admit, you guys are really masters in the art of controlling expressions. I was constantly on the brink of bursting into laughter, yet you all remained composed and serious," Austin remarked casually.
Eris immediately fixed her gaze on Austin, as if it was her first time witnessing someone being incredibly idiot but confident.
She rifled through her pocket for a moment before retrieving her phone. After a quick scroll, she handed it to Austin.
"What did you want to show me? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, do you know where my phone is?" Austin took her phone and naturally glanced at the screen.
On the screen, a chat window was visible.
[Nighthawk]: "Boss, I'm looking to purchase some items from you. Molotovs, 50x; Incendiary Grenades, 20x; Flamethrowers, 5x. Do you have them in stock?"
[Shady Merchant]: "That many? Are you planning to start a riot or something?"
[Nighthawk]: "Something like that. Do you think those quantities are sufficient?"
[Shady Dealer]: "It might be enough, or even a little excessive for a minor riot."
[Nighthawk]: "I see. Can you have them ready within a week?"
[Shady Dealer]: "Of course, I can handle it."
[Nighthawk]: "Thanks, the payment will be sent to you tomorrow."
[Shady Dealer]: "Alright, here are the photos of the items you ordered. I'll deliver them to you in a few days. Same location?"
Below the messages, several images were attached. Austin had a bad foreboding but still opened the images.
They were pictures of various items that seemed oddly familiar. How could they not be? These items were exactly the weapons he and Eris had discussed for burning down the church.
Among them were molotov cocktails, incendiary bombs, and a flamethrower!