Chapter 6 Instance: Pelican Bar, Sin Hub
Early the next morning, Inspector Haina went to Moriarty Manor with the authorization order from the Inspectorate.
This time she obviously learned from yesterday's lesson.
After a quick breakfast, Haina rushed over immediately. It wasn't even seven o'clock when she arrived.
At this hour, Aiwass had not yet gotten up, so the butler Oswald had no choice but to place her in the living room and have the maids serve her some tea and snacks.
It was not until Aiwas got up, washed and had breakfast that Oswald told him that Supervisor Haena was waiting in the reception room.
"...You came so early this time, Senior. Wasn't the appointment time half past nine?"
Aiwass was sitting in a wheelchair and was slowly pushed into the reception room by Oswald.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Haina dressed in formal attire.
Completely different from what she wore yesterday, Haina was now wearing a two-piece leather armor.
However, this leather armor is closer to a uniform than protective gear. It does not completely cover the skin, and although it can still provide some protection, its greater significance lies in its ritual nature.
"Armor" is sacred in the Kingdom of Avalon.
In the Kingdom of Avalon, the main power classes are divided into "Knights" and "Civil Servants." The former, in addition to the hereditary knight families who can serve in the Senate, also includes Overseers, Arbitrators, and the entire cavalry. Only "Knights" may wear armor, and senators must also wear full armor when entering the Senate. Entering the Senate in casual clothes is considered a provocation to the authority of the Round Table.
Anyone other than a knight wearing or even possessing armor could be sentenced to a harsh punishment up to and including death. Even children of knightly families could not wear their parents' armor without the Queen's authorization.
Because of this, anyone who saw someone wearing armor on the street could immediately identify their identity. Even the specifications of the armor could reveal their rank—the less convenient it was to move, the sturdier the material, the more imposing the appearance, and the closer the color to silver, the higher their status.
This wasn't something he'd learned from in-game experience...after all, the Kingdom of Avalon had been destroyed far too early. His knowledge of this matter came entirely from Little Aiwass's memories and common sense.
Aiwass could see that Haina's leather armor was brand new. He could even smell a hint of oil.
Because of this, Haina was hesitant to sit on the sofa in Moriarty's house. She carefully sat on the edge of the sofa, sitting upright, fearing that she would accidentally dirty it and cause dislike.
“It’s better to be early than late.”
When Haina saw Aiwas coming, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly stood up from the soft sofa. "It's okay, Mr. Aiwas. I can do it at a time that's convenient for you - this is the requirement of the institute."
Aiwass raised his eyebrows.
Last time I was two and a half hours late, this time I was three hours early...
"I feel like you're a little too extreme."
"What?" Haina was a little confused.
"Nothing," Aiwass smiled slightly, "The leather armor looks nice."
"This was approved specifically for me by the institute!"
Hearing this, Haina immediately perked up. "Although my equipment and griffins have been approved, they are still on the way. The director said it might take another two months to get them.
"However, because I reported your case, the director felt that if anything happened to you, the Supervisory Bureau would be in trouble, but if they disagreed, they would also be in trouble. And if they sent a lot of people to follow you, you might not be happy; but if I caused you to get into trouble, the problem would be even bigger. So the director made an exception and approved the armor and sword to me first!"
As she spoke, Haena patted the sword she placed on the table happily.
Aiwass followed her gaze.
It was a leaf-shaped short sword, its scabbard gleaming with silver. It was about twenty-four inches long, or sixty centimeters. The scabbard was beautifully etched with a pattern of thorns, and inlaid among the thorns were pieces of red, green, and blue sand-sized broken glass, which shone brightly in the sunlight from the window. It was obvious at first glance that it was a classic Elven style—whether it was practical or not was another matter, but it was beautiful.
Because the sword's appearance was too beautiful, it was completely different from the simple leather armor worn by Haina. Instead, it blended in naturally with the elven-style ornaments in Aiwas's home.
At first, Aiwass thought it was his own art piece.
So you brought it here. That's all right.
"I will definitely protect you well!"
Haina said with great determination.
Her calloused fingers carefully brushed the thorny patterns on the scabbard. After taking the sword in her hand, her aura of confidence suddenly emanated from her.
Unlike the timid, clumsy, and cautious person he was last night, his entire demeanor was completely different. Even his eyes had brightened.
To put it in an analogy, it's like the difference between a horror game player without a gun and a horror game player with a gun.
Aiwass looked deeply into Haina's eyes and fell into silence and thought.
He could notice that she had obviously not slept well the previous night - she was quite agitated, one could say.
Of course, this was also due to her getting to touch her sword earlier than usual, but the main reason for her excitement was that she thought she could finally show off her skills.
After yesterday's test, today's contact and investigation into her background, Aiwass is now able to roughly understand and sort out Haina's thought process.
She's clearly not very bright, and once things get complicated, she's too lazy to think logically. Furthermore, she likely comes from a poor background, but possesses a prodigious talent in her field—for example, swordsmanship—that she's proud of. Consequently, her personality tends to become stubborn, preferring to trust her intuition over hesitation, reflection, and complex analysis.
Simply put, he is a kind of "martial arts fanatic".
Because her background was indeed ordinary, and as a village girl who never dressed up, her appearance naturally couldn't compare to those exquisite young ladies in the capital. Therefore, she had a subtle inferiority complex that she was not aware of.
This inferiority complex can manifest as aggression and hostility toward those "higher in status than herself." However, she fears causing trouble for herself, given her lack of background, so it doesn't manifest itself in actual words or actions. However, it can still be revealed in her attitudes and instinctive reactions when faced with pressure.
Because of her straightforward personality, accessible background, excellent academic performance, and survival wisdom that doesn't easily offend others, she is very popular in the school environment, especially among students with relatively simple minds. However, when she first enters society, she encounters many obstacles, easily becoming confused, even being manipulated, and ultimately going astray in life.
Now is the time when she feels confused.
This kind of person is totally exploitable.
The weakness and helplessness that Aiwas saw in her yesterday was exactly the posture that he had carefully selected after checking Haina's information in advance to make her most likely to be attracted to him at the first moment.
The act of "reading poetry" subconsciously suggests that this person is inactive. The wheelchair further reinforces this "stillness" intention, thus preventing Haena, who is confident in "sports," "physical fitness," and "fencing," from directly confronting her and potentially attracting her competitive spirit or attention.
Aiwass had looked in the mirror and had a normal sense of taste. He certainly knew that his current body was quite good-looking.
Based on this, Aiwass had his personal maid apply makeup to him beforehand, creating a face that looked weak and pale from blood loss. He also adjusted the fireplace to the perfect temperature, creating a relaxing atmosphere while the flames provided Aiwass with a warm filter.
In this way, Aiwass's image would trigger Haena's protectiveness, at least preventing her from being hostile due to his background. A "weak," "injured," "handsome" superior, completely under her control, would make her "hope" that Aiwass was good. Thus, he would not become her enemy.
At this point, Haena's instinct told her to stop investigating. Her work experience was inexperienced, and her actions were easily driven by emotion. Having already come up with an answer, she was essentially just looking for evidence to support it.
However, when the impression of a person is too strong, his image will easily become abstract and one-sided in memory.
If Haina likes Aiwass too much, then when Aiwass does something that does not meet her expectations, she will be "disappointed in herself".
Because of this, Aiwass needed to do something in advance to make his first impression not so good or perfect. So he took advantage of Haena's lateness and told her some truths that she didn't want to believe, making her feel that he was attacking her.
In fact, she was in the wrong first and actually hoped that Aiwass would attack her. This way she could relax a little.
After she understood Aiwass's strange words as attacks, she would subconsciously rule out their possibility. When Aiwass proposed a possibility that she could accept, she would immediately cling to it, thereby reducing her guilt and relieving her psychological pressure.
So today and in the future, she can become her own very reliable bodyguard.
After yesterday's interaction, Haena would have thought they had become friends. And she desperately needed to show off her proud strength—her swordsmanship—to this new friend, who was both noble and innocent, gentle and artistic, delicate and handsome.
If she could truly demonstrate this, she would think she had "shown a strength she was proud of," and thus hoped to gain Aiwass's recognition.
If Aiwass affirms this and shows that he really needs her help, this request will greatly meet her social needs.
In that case, Aiwass, who was clearly a suspect and whom she was wary of before they met, could become her good friend after just one day of contact. This would naturally pull Aiwass into her social circle at school.
Although Aiwass felt a little bad about bullying a young girl who had just graduated.
This is his fault.
Aiwass never liked to owe favors to others. Once he owed a favor, he would find a way to repay it immediately.
Otherwise, it is easy to get too close to others. Having "friends" is a very dangerous thing. You often drag yourself into dangerous situations in order to help your friends, and you are also prone to being betrayed by your friends because you let your guard down.
Aiwass has never liked to get too close to others.
——That would only make him nervous and uncomfortable.
It's best for both parties to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship. Staying in a healthy, efficient, and regenerative business relationship means you won't be saddened by the other party's betrayal, or resentful of the other party abandoning you... and you won't feel hesitation or guilt when you're about to betray someone.
The present-day predecessor of Aiwass is an example.
Because I was too enthusiastic and naive, I trusted my pen pals and regarded them as my friends, and I paid a heavy price.
But it was a simple matter for him to repay the favor.
As far as Aiwass could remember, there was no such name as "Haina" in the game. If nothing unexpected happened, she must have died in the first version of the game when Avalon was invaded.
Aiwass didn't save Avalon for her, he saved it for his own stability. So saving her along the way couldn't be considered repaying a favor.
But given Haena's personality, knowledge, and abilities, there were bound to be many people at school with similar ulterior motives who would try to become her fake friends. Aiwass could easily identify those people and help her identify the true friends who were trustworthy and unlikely to betray her.
He is very good at analyzing others.
To be honest, the HR profession is somewhat similar to the East Factory.
Not only does one need to have a sharp eye and an objective attitude, but one must also be cold-blooded and able to take ruthless action.
Just a slight tick means that someone will be "eliminated", lose their job, and have their salary reduced...and this is exactly what Aiwass does.
It can be said to be a very unethical profession.
Basically, as long as you are a corporate slave, there is a high probability that you will have a lot of hatred towards HR.
Aiwass had just recently experienced three years of unemployment.
I had just found a job and had not yet officially started my job when I was thrust into this world where my future was at stake.
Even though his attitude was calm and his expression was peaceful, he had already done a psychological analysis on himself - he now felt a strong sense of insecurity.
He is very satisfied with his current life, but he is also clearly aware of the disasters that will come in the future.
He desperately wanted a stable life and didn't want to become a citizen of a fallen country, homeless and wandering around.
To fight the fear of this world's future, he must climb as high as possible and as quickly as possible to gain control of the Kingdom of Avalon. At the very least, he must not allow himself to be held back by his teammates while he fights alone against the world's greatest enemy.
That is definitely not a delusion of persecution.
Aiwass was sure of it.
His vision was far greater than that of most people in this world. Their decisions based on known intelligence were inevitably imperfect and incomplete. And Aiwass wouldn't easily publicize his predictions—he was no saint. This prophetic intelligence would become his invaluable asset.
Because of this, Aiwass needs to be given enough influence.
It wasn't his adoptive father's title of "Knight." That was merely a nominal position. Even if he entered the Senate, it would be nothing more than a battle of wits and courage with a bunch of wily old men. Any attempt would become as sticky as pulp, making it impossible to move forward.
The feeling of life drifting with the tide and destiny being out of your control... is very uncomfortable.
What Aiwass wanted was for those in power to consult him before making decisions. He couldn't become one of them, and it would be best if he didn't get close to any faction. He also couldn't become a victim of internal power struggles... He wanted to be a being higher than them.
It's not about controlling others, but about not being controlled yourself.
It is to prevent yourself from being sacrificed and to avoid having to sacrifice others.
Aiwas vaguely remembered that this incident would eventually directly implicate a certain minister.
In the original history, it was the player who gained great reputation by resolving this incident.
Since there are no player characters in this world, he must join the investigation of this incident.
Fortunately, thanks to Yulia—even though Aiwass had skipped the cutscene, he still remembered some details, like where the crucial intelligence was, what enemies were in the last dungeon, and how high their levels were.
Because after a messy investigation, the first copy of this game will be opened:
Level 10 copy, "Sin Nexus Pelican Bar".
(End of this chapter)
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