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The game room of the 'Crimson Witches' recently had a surveillance camera installed, just in case someone decided to do some 'sabotage' while no one was present. But unknown to the team inside the game, it was coincidentally 'malfunctioning' while an intruder stood in front of Emilia's pod.
Except for the tiny tuft of orangish-red hair, dull green eyes, and the dark skin of his temple peeking out from under his hooded jacket, it was almost impossible to guess what the man looked like, with even his height being uncertain thanks to his hunched figure.
'So here lies the girl that boss is oh-so-curious about, huh…' The masked man's fingers hovered over the 'full-dive pod', as if caressing it through the air, then he smiled. 'Could it be that he likes her?'
Although Darryl had sent him on quite a lot of errands before, this was the first time that Colman simply couldn't make sense of his 'task'.
With the most brilliant and talented people already by his side, and himself being the best of the best, would someone like Darryl need to recruit a companion like Emilia, let alone go through so much to pull her to his side?
Aside from being a little lucky, the girl's only 'exceptional' quality was her face, though her figure was quite lacking, but maybe that was just how his boss liked it. Colman was quite certain that Darryl must have taken a fancy to the girl.
Of course, although it was his best guess, Colman would never go against Darryl's orders.
What if he ended up disrupting the plans of the genius?
'He must have his own ideas in mind, and I can't even begin to guess them…' Colman sighed. 'All I can do is observe her more, take a few more pictures, and let things play out according to his plan.'
His thoughts were incredibly humble, and full of respect for his genius boss, but this hadn't always been the case.
In fact, when Colman first met the so-called genius 'Darryl', his impression hadn't been particularly good.
After all, not only had the boy rashly requested for the 'best' agent of their 'company' when his 'request' simply didn't require someone of his skill level, but he had also been stupid enough to approach them without ever bothering to hide his identity.
Was that not an open demonstration of stupidity?
Even the so-called 'genius' wasn't free of stains, and hired spies to keep an eye on his 'friends'… an organization that thrived on selling information to whoever was willing to pay the right price would definitely never keep such juicy gossip a secret.
If Darryl couldn't even see through something like that, he simply didn't deserve the reputation he had.
But Colman was soon forced to revise his opinion on the genius when he realized that the 'request' he'd made to the information agency was just an excuse to dig him out, and the boy knew a lot more than he could ever have expected.
If not for Darryl, maybe Colman would never have discovered that he wasn't an orphan adopted and raised by them at all, and his real parents had actually been their sworn enemies before they were ruthlessly tricked and slaughtered.
After Darryl helped him deal with the blood feud, Colman had given his full loyalty to him, but the genius never took undue advantage of it. And aside from running a few 'errands' for his boss, Colman was even able to enjoy a relatively luxurious lifestyle.
Naturally, Colman didn't think the 'job' this time would pose much of a challenge either, though he still cautiously retreated and hid himself a few minutes before his target started to regain consciousness.
Checking the situation from their own surveillance camera, it was as he expected. None of the girls seemed particularly vigilant, and Emilia chatted with them for a while before making her way out of the building.
In fact, the poor 'spy' could never have expected that his target would have a bug like Cynthia by her side, and he'd long since exposed himself by getting close to the girl while she was still unconscious.
Otherwise, with Emilia's sensing abilities heavily restricted by the world's dense energy, maybe he really could have followed her undetected.
Unfortunately, Cynthia's own senses couldn't spread too far, and she also couldn't tell the man's exact position on their way to Emilia's 'home'.
When Emilia took a brief break at a food stall on her way, Cynthia briefly found him staring at them covertly from a dark alley, but he didn't follow the crimson-haired girl after that.
Emilia sighed. 'I'm guessing he must be using some other means to keep track of my location, and doesn't really need to keep up with me physically, so don't worry about it too much. We'll know what we need to soon, anyway.'
Obviously, with his 'unique' style of dressing, the man could only keep to dark alleys and shadowy areas without being noticed, so the fact that he wasn't following her openly was actually quite expected.
When she finally reached her apartment and closed the door, however, he finally exposed himself.
Surprisingly enough, the man even removed his mask and hood, and even smiled at Emilia when she walked into her own living room.
In fact, he was just curious to see how the beautiful girl would react.
Would she scream and go 'kyaa!' upon spotting a strange man just chilling on her sofa, or just faint directly?
He was quite looking forward to it.
She looked quite a bit prettier than the pictures he'd seen before, with her wavy crimson hair especially seeming so vivid and beautiful that he almost couldn't contain the urge to run his fingers through it, and her light pink lips looking so soft that they were just begging to be nibbled.
It was a pity that her charming face still had an element of childishness, and her figure wasn't quite as curvy and bumpy as expected, making it hard for most men to justifiably move their hearts. But that would probably change in just a few years, even if the girl was a late bloomer.
The vision of his boss was impeccable, as expected.
Unfortunately, Colman was sorely disappointed to see that the gorgeous girl remained irrationally calm despite the strange circumstances, and even gave him an amicable smile. "Being able to break into my home without causing a fuss… do you want a reward?"
For a moment, Colman wondered if she was serious, but then he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. 'E-Even if she's just joking, I can't let the boss know about this!'
After all, no matter how generous Darryl usually might be, few men could tolerate their prospective wives flirting with others.
No longer daring to treat the 'lady' casually, Colman immediately shot off his seat with a cough. "P-Please, excuse my rudeness and allow me to introduce myself, young miss. My name is Colman Federrin, one of the trusted subordinates of Mr. Darryl Burns. And I'm here today to convey a message from him to you."
The crimson-haired girl didn't seem surprised by his words at all, and even smiled gently in response. "Go on, then."
'As expected of the girl picked by the boss, she's not just all looks!' Colman's impression of her rose even higher, and he happily handed over the letter from Darryl instead of reading it out as usual. "Please, have a look."
Emilia went through the letter calmly, as if she was just confirming that it indeed contained what she thought it did, then stuffed it into her bosom with a smile. "Well, tell him I agreed."
"…" Colman stared at her 'still budding' chest hesitantly for a while, then came back to his senses in shock.
No way, even if he couldn't return with the letter as normal, wouldn't it be much worse if the future wife of his boss thought he was a pervert staring at things he shouldn't?!
"I-I'll let him know, then, miss. It's great to have you on board!"
The man jumped out of the third-story window, leaving as abruptly as he'd arrived, and Emilia couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. 'What a weirdo…'
Cynthia also giggled. "Poor guy's intestines are gonna turn green in regret in the future. But… acting so mysterious and confident, um, aren't you afraid that the hero will become more wary of you?"
Emilia took out the 'letter' from her dress, then smiled. 'Don't worry, I have my own plan…'
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Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om