Shut Up

In truth, 'Lisi' could faintly guess Igola's thoughts. Just like in the picture book *The Orc and the Elven Empress* they had read, where an orc slave discovered the elven empress's secret, but instead of reporting her to the emperor, he used it to blackmail her. The insufferably arrogant, proud, and beautiful empress, as inviolable as a deity, was forced to yield to the wretched orc slave, shedding her sumptuous royal robes to accept the orc slave's dominion, transforming into— —an iron-blooded empress who executed treacherous ministers, purged princes, overhauled official discipline, and liberated the slaves. Evidently, having leverage over someone really could make them do the most outrageous things. If 'Lisi' had caught Igola's secret instead, she certainly wouldn't have reported this male Veela either. Right now, they were in the startup phase of their venture; aside from Lisi, the head in charge, and Yaxiu, the nanny, the team had no other subordinates. They desperately needed talent like Igola to fill the vacancies in diplomacy, finance, and the military. In Igola's eyes, Lisi might not have any real talent, but one shouldn't forget that Lisi was currently bound to Yaxiu. And while Yaxiu didn't have much talent either, the two of them combined represented half the realm of the "God-Profaning Squad." As long as Igola could control Lisi, Yaxiu would naturally fall into the palm of his hand. Then, if the Swindler found a way to persuade Harvey, their squad would be completely united: on the offensive, they could hang Annan from a lamppost; on the defensive, they could pack their bags and flee. However, Igola's line of thinking happened to suit 'Lisi' just fine. After that final question, 'Lisi' already knew she couldn't monopolize Yaxiu. A Taunt minion this naive, even if not particularly handy, was still worth keeping as a backup. Since she couldn't form a solidly unreliable father-daughter alliance with Yaxiu, she could only settle for a second-tier alliance of mutual interest. 'Lisi' even thought it was quite nice that Igola had discovered her secret; that way, she wouldn't have to waste her breath trying to persuade him. If the Little Witch had called Igola "Mom" back then, perhaps this day would have arrived even sooner. Of course, 'Lisi' wasn't going to give in easily either. "Name your price, Mr. Bogin. As a side note, don't make it too ridiculous. While this secret is important to me, its actual value isn't that high—Annan can't afford to give up Yaxiu, and Yaxiu can't give me up. She won't kick father and daughter out on the street just because my moods change faster than a kitten's." "You were calling him Yaxiu just a moment ago, and now you refer to him as your father?" Igola suddenly said. "Do you... or rather, does your collective think family affection is the easiest collar with which to enslave Yaxiu?" 'Lisi' was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "No." "You misunderstand, Mr. Bogin. We rarely interfere with Lisi's choices, nor do we force her to do anything in the name of being her elder sisters... At the very least, when Lisi chose to act spoiled with Yaxiu, we gave her no instructions whatsoever. "The Lisi you interact with daily is just an innocent, sheltered six- or seven-year-old girl. She might be as naughty as you imagine, but she is definitely not bad in the way we are. "Mr. Bogin, you don't have to like her, but please don't hate her because of us," 'Lisi' said earnestly. "This is a request from an older sister." Igola was silent for a moment. "It's pointless to say things like that to me. You should know that we come from a wonderful country where everyone is an orphan, without parents or siblings. Things like familial love were excised along with the umbilical cord the moment we were born. I can't empathize with a request rooted in family affection." 'Lisi' asked tentatively, "But?" "No 'buts.'" Igola's face darkened. "I want dominion over both you and Yaxiu." "Impossible!" "Then you have no other bargaining chips besides yourself and Yaxiu. If you won't give this and won't give that, I'll just have to share ghost stories with the others about how Lisi loves looking into mirrors in the middle of the night." "I can't possibly give you dominion over myself," 'Lisi' said seriously. "I finally managed to escape Annan's direct control, established deterrence with Yaxiu, and barely maintained my autonomy. I will not budge on that point... At most, I can share a piece of Yaxiu with you." Igola looked troubled. "Even without you, I could win him over myself... *Sigh*, fine then. Give me complete dominion over Yaxiu." "Impossible!" 'Lisi' shook her head. "Though I hold dominion over Yaxiu, Yaxiu also holds dominion over me. During these one hundred and one days, I must maintain my control to offset his, or else I'll truly turn into his obedient little daughter... I can hand over dominion of Yaxiu to you after the one hundred and one days are up." "After one hundred and one days, the Weaving Ceremony will be over! What good will Yaxiu be then? Keeping him fed would be a waste of food." Igola wore a look of utter disdain. "Yaxiu's only value lies within these one hundred and one days... How about this: you and I split Yaxiu down the middle and share dominion over him together. What do you think?" 'Lisi' was very sharp. "Then if your orders and mine conflict, who does Yaxiu listen to?" "Mine, of course!" "That's out of the question!" After an intense and thrilling round of bargaining, the distribution of Yaxiu was finally fresh out of the oven: dominion over Yaxiu after the one hundred and one days would belong entirely to Igola, while during these one hundred and one days, Igola would hold a single "Absolute Command Right" over Yaxiu. Even if Lisi's order conflicted with his, Yaxiu would be obligated to prioritize the Swindler's demands. 'Lisi' really didn't want to yield an "Absolute Command Right," even if only once; she would rather have shared Yaxiu with Igola at all other times. But Igola clung stubbornly to this point; it seemed to be his bottom line. 'Lisi' sensed that refusing would likely cause the negotiations to fall through completely. Coupled with the fact that Igola held the upper hand, 'Lisi' finally gave in. "But do you know how to 'Transfer Contract Rights'? I don't know the ritual faction." 'Lisi' had deliberately waited until negotiations concluded before bringing up this question. Had she mentioned it at the very start, Igola might have walked away immediately upon realizing he couldn't extract any benefits from her. Now, however, their negotiations had shown both of them that the other was genuinely capable of cooperation. With the terms already settled, it raised the sunk cost for Igola should he decide to flip the table. Yet Igola smiled faintly and produced two sheets of paper from who knew where. "Manipulating Contracts is to a Swindler what playing in the mud is to children—an essential skill mastered without ever needing to be taught." Of course, it was hardly that simple. If "signing a Contract" was like basic arithmetic, then "Transfer of Contract Rights" was at least on par with calculus. The Contract was straightforward: Igola agreed not to disclose Lisi's secret to anyone by any means, and promised to help conceal her 'sisters,' providing cover should Annan or anyone else grow suspicious. In return, Lisi handed over the rest of Yaxiu's life to Igola, along with a single "Absolute Command Right" over the next three months. Once the Contract took effect and dissipated into motes of light, 'Lisi' suddenly said, "From the very beginning, the person you wanted wasn't me, but Yaxiu." "That's right," Igola nodded frankly. "I anticipated from the start that you wouldn't surrender dominion over yourself, so I could only hope to scrape away as much of Yaxiu from your hands as possible. Trading your secret for this little bit of Yaxiu... I feel like this might be the worst deal I've ever made." "Is that the excuse you've prepared for yourself, Mr. Bogin?" 'Lisi' glanced at him. "Do you know? Little Lisi was being very noisy just now. She was utterly unwilling to let me sell the future Yaxiu to a bad person like you; she didn't want Yaxiu to suffer misfortune later on. Alas, I was the one presiding over the negotiations, so I ended up overruling her wishes." Igola gave a cold snort. "Oho, is there a rift forming in your sisterly affection? As a mind sorcerer, I would be more than happy to be of service." "Not at all, because I explained it clearly to her: selling Yaxiu to you carries zero risk—in every sense." Igola didn't quite understand what she meant, but 'Lisi' suddenly changed the subject: "I recently acquired an ability called 'Love Hunting,' which allows me to keenly perceive romantic feelings revealed in the subtlest details. "One look at Annan and Banjie, and I knew Annan's feelings toward Banjie aren't purely familial." "How can you tell?" "Even though Annan orders Banjie around very naturally, whenever Banjie is about to make physical contact with her, Annan either avoids it or stiffens slightly. It shows the turmoil in her heart; ethics and genuine affection have twisted her heart into a pretzel." Igola recalled the interactions between Annan and Banjie and couldn't help but nod. "There really does seem to be something there." 'Lisi' continued, "One look at Mr. Harvey, and I knew he once had a beloved, and that beloved is already dead." "How can you tell?" "He frequently lapses into deep thought. While that could be a side effect of cat grass cigarettes, his gaze is filled with gentleness, yet his fingers constantly tremble. Furthermore, he has been opening the *Book of Gospel* constantly lately to look at memory photos inside. Grief is like a stone strapped to his body, drowning him in an ocean of memories." Igola nodded in conviction. "He did indeed end up running with us because he learned the news of his lover's death." 'Lisi' said, "Then, one look at you..." Igola turned the gramophone's volume all the way to maximum. "Shut up!"