Third Round: Two Years In
Today is the Pope's birthday.
As usual, Luo Po opened the windows and doors of his dormitory, venting out the accumulated mithril oil and steam from the previous night.
On this day of national celebration, if nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected will likely happen to him.
Luo Po, as a minor villain, was destined to become the protagonist's first stepping stone today.
The villain role assigned to him came from a humble background. He had entered the prestigious Mobia Academy of Nobles with near-perfect grades. A week before the Pope's birthday, he developed a high-performance suit of armor and applied for a patent with the Arcane Agency. However, his invention was stolen by a more experienced mechanic.
Thus, the once-innocent young man fell into complete darkness. On the Pope's birthday, he piloted the armor in an attempt to assassinate the Pope, but midway through, the humanoid armor malfunctioned, and the protagonist disabled the engine with a single shot from a short gun.
The final outcome, of course, was that Luo Po was captured by the Church and sent to the guillotine.
The protagonist, using this crisis as an opportunity, successfully charmed the Church's Saintess and used her as a stepping stone to rise to power.
According to the journal he left from the previous round, Luo Po was supposed to follow the original storyline's general trajectory.
So this time, using his villainous character's top-tier mechanical and arcane learning abilities, he finished building the armor a year ahead of schedule.
The remaining modifications were based on the secrets of the armor recorded in his journal.
Then, he spent another six months transforming the armor into a humanoid suit controlled remotely through arcane inscriptions and neural connections.
Finally, after scrimping and saving for six more months, he spent all of his scholarship money to enhance the performance of the armor tenfold.
Naturally, he skipped the part where he applied for a patent with the Arcane Agency and simply waited for the Pope's birthday.
Under the cobalt blue sky, a few clouds floated by. From the dormitory corridor, he could clearly see steam rising in the distance, slowly dispersing into the air with the wind.
"Today's a sunny day."
A faint smile appeared on Luo Po's face as he looked at the clear sky and white clouds, his mood light.
This meant that there wouldn't be any bad weather to affect the performance of his armor.
...
...
Today is the Pope's birthday.
The entire nation cheered in celebration, and most industries took a day off.
However, at least one person in the Pope's nation was exempt from this rest.
"Your Holiness, today is the Pope's birthday."
At 6:30 in the morning, Aphilie was awakened by her attendant, who seemed to treat it like his own birthday.
"I know."
After freshening up, Aphilie sat at her dressing table, allowing the attendant to tend to her hair with a smile. Her nimble hands expertly tied a ribbon with small bells into Aphilie's hair.
"Your Holiness, you are as beautiful as ever," the attendant admired her stunning beauty in the mirror.
The first ray of sunlight poured through the window, illuminating the dressing table. In the morning glow, she gently shook her silver-gray hair, blending into the light itself.
Her well-developed figure was wrapped in a white gauze dress engraved with the symbol of the Holy Crown, and the bell-tied ribbon chimed softly as her long hair swayed. Yet, despite her sacred appearance, her pale eyes showed no focus, and her cold expression never seemed to smile.
"Your Holiness, you haven't smiled in a long time. You should be happy."
"Okay." Aphilie responded, but her expression remained unchanged.
The attendant's daily task was to care for the Saintess's routine and do everything in his power to make her at least marginally happy.
"The Pope has many matters to attend to today, so he has entrusted you with the responsibility of leading the parade and giving the blessing." The attendant, watching her carefully, spoke cautiously.
"I know." Aphilie maintained the same expression and, without turning her head, dismissed the attendant. "Go, and wait outside."
The attendant bowed slightly, left the room, and gently closed the door.
After listening to the sound of the attendant's footsteps fade away, Aphilie drew all the curtains, plunging the room into darkness.
From under her bed, she retrieved a crystal ball, securing it with four small stones. Three stars were scattered within the ball, and its surface was covered in dense arcane inscriptions.
Then, she softly chanted an obscure incantation, and as arcane energy was infused, the first star inside the crystal ball lit up.
In the Church, this crystal ball was considered a holy artifact used to glimpse the future. By channeling a large amount of arcane energy into it, the first star would illuminate, allowing for simple questions to be asked.
If the star suddenly extinguished, it meant the answer to the question was negative. If two stars lit up, it meant "possible." If all three stars illuminated, it meant the answer to the question was "certain."
Aphilie paused for a moment, sitting solemnly, before asking the question she had been seeking for months: "Today, will I encounter... destiny?"
The flickering star gradually dimmed, accompanied by Aphilie's silent sigh, as the only illuminated star faded even more.
But then, the star trembled, and in almost an instant, all three stars lit up. The once dark room became as bright as daylight, and the piercing white light flooded her pale eyes.
For the first time in ages, Aphilie smiled.
"Today, I will encounter destiny."
...
...
In an office of the Arcane Agency, a young woman turned on a mithril lamp, staring at the latest violation record on her desk in a daze.
The oak floorboards, a large vase of evergreens by the floor-to-ceiling window, a world map hung on the wallpapered stone wall, and a whiteboard cluttered with files marked with notes filled the space.
"Fifty-four records of purchasing armor parts?" the young woman muttered as she gazed at the record.
"Miss Trissy, how should we handle this person?"
The civil servant standing before her lowered his head, humbly asking. His eyes briefly flickered towards her long legs encased in black stockings but quickly darted back to the floor, afraid to be caught.
The woman sitting behind the desk was Trissy Bell, the newly appointed Deputy Chairwoman of the Arcane Agency, and no one dared show her any disrespect despite her being a woman.
Although she was a senior civil servant, she wore a jet-black military uniform, her golden hair flowing like champagne. A pair of silver-framed monocles perched on her upturned nose, and a sword pendant hung around her neck, accentuating her graceful collarbone.
Even with her military uniform on, her figure was unmistakably alluring.
Even in the office, Trissy sat with her back perfectly straight.
Before joining the Arcane Agency, she had been a knight with an impressive record on the battlefield.
"This is the first time in two years that I've encountered such a violation record." Trissy lightly furrowed her brows, her fingertips gliding over the document.
In the steam market, every buyer's purchases were logged with the Arcane Agency. To prevent citizens from assembling arcane armor openly, the agency had imposed a rule: no one could purchase more than 30 armor parts from the steam market.
Of course, there were loopholes. In the underground arenas of the lower district, arcane armors were assembled by several people buying parts in batches, so the total never exceeded 30.
So, if such an absurd violation appeared, it either meant the violator was incredibly foolish, or they had done it deliberately.
"This violator had previous records of purchasing armor parts, but they never violated the rules until recently when they suddenly bought all the parts at once."
"A student from Mobia Academy?" Trissy raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Have the city guards keep an eye on him. If he's spotted, arrest him immediately."
As she read the name at the bottom of the file, she massaged her temples.
...
...
The Papal Nation, Central District.
Luo Po, hands in the pockets of his trench coat, tossed a few Keri copper coins into the steam train's fare box.
According to the timeline, the Pope's armored carriage would descend to bless the central district. When he publicly attempted to assassinate the Pope, he needed a highly authoritative witness.
He sat by the window, watching as the slowly moving train approached the platform, and in the distance, he saw a slender figure in white board the train.
Luo Po immediately put on a gentle smile, "Miss Executor, over here."
For this witness, Luo Po had unhesitatingly chosen Miss Angelina, the Executor, who was responsible for beheading him on the Church's guillotine in the original storyline.