Chapter 122: This Trainee Fatui Harbinger is Too Unreliable [122]
Luo Qing awoke, feeling a weight on his chest. Blinking the sleep away, he found his view entirely blocked by dark purple hair.
Theresa lay sprawled across him, drooling on his chest while one of her legs rested suggestively on his thigh, rubbing against him even in her sleep. A satisfied, almost lewd expression adorned her face.
"..."
Luo Qing sighed. He distinctly remembered her being passed out from drinking too much last night. How had she managed to crawl onto him in her sleep?
Carefully, Luo Qing pushed her off, his hand slipping into his pants for a moment to check.
Nope. Doesn't seem like I've been tampered with.
It wasn't the first time Theresa had made advances on him, clearly enamored with his physicality. But Luo Qing had to admit, her persistence was getting ridiculous. Scanning the room, he found the others sprawled out in various positions on his floor. It seemed everyone had simply passed out where they'd been drinking, with no one making it back to their own rooms.
Not wanting to wake them, Luo Qing stood up and quietly slipped out of the room.
As he passed by Rosalyne's room, he noticed something strange—her door was wide open.
"Where did she go?"
Luo Qing frowned. It wasn't like Rosalyne to leave her room, especially if she didn't have a mission. Had something come up while he was distracted last night?
And then it hit him—yesterday marked the last day of their agreement. His absence at Tenshukaku had probably caused Rosalyne to move forward on her own.
"This woman... Does she always have to be so damn punctual?" Luo Qing muttered to himself, rushing toward Tenshukaku.
He couldn't afford to let Rosalyne meet with the Raiden Shogun just yet. If she went ahead with the meeting and struck some sort of deal, it'd ruin his plans entirely. Rosalyne was prideful and independent, making it hard enough to sway her loyalty away from the Tsaritsa. If she struck an accord with the Shogun and retrieved the Gnosis, convincing her to switch sides would be nearly impossible.
To bring her fully under his control, Rosalyne had to experience defeat firsthand and sever her ties with the Fatui. Only then could he offer her salvation and have her indebted to him completely.
He needed to act fast.
At Tenshukaku, Rosalyne strode confidently, led by attendants through the hallways. Today was the day she would complete her mission and return to Snezhnaya with the Raiden Shogun's Gnosis. The ship back was already prepared, and by tonight, she would be on her way home.
The doors to the throne room swung open, revealing the Shogun seated regally on her platform, her eyes closed in meditation.
Rosalyne took a deep breath, steeling herself. The moment their eyes met, an icy chill ran down her spine, a brief tremor of fear. But it passed quickly. She wasn't here as a supplicant; she was here representing the Tsaritsa. She had no reason to be cowed.
As she stepped forward to announce herself, her vision suddenly blurred.
In the blink of an eye, Rosalyne found herself no longer standing in Tenshukaku. She was on an island surrounded by ocean.
"What the...?"
Rosalyne's confusion lasted only a moment as she felt a hand on her waist. She immediately recognized the sensation—she was being carried over someone's shoulder.
"Luo Qing, you bastard!"
Rosalyne shouted angrily, slamming her knee into his back. She pushed herself off him, landing gracefully a few steps away. Her face was a mixture of fury and confusion.
"The two months are up! What do you think you're doing?!"
She snapped, crossing her arms as icy mist began to gather around her.
Luo Qing smiled casually, unfazed by her anger.
"Sorry, Rosalyne. I've still got some unfinished business. You can't meet the Shogun just yet."
"Who are you to decide that?" Rosalyne's voice dripped with venom, her regal posture exuding power. Ice began to spread across the ground beneath her feet. "Our agreement is complete. You have no right to interfere now."
Power crackled around her, a visible frost emanating from her body. She had tolerated Luo Qing long enough; now it was time to show him that her patience had run out.
Luo Qing, however, remained calm, folding his arms across his chest.
"Relax. I just need you to wait a little longer. Trust me, it's not the right time yet."
"Wait?" Rosalyne's glare intensified, the cold around her sharpening like a blade. "I'm not in the mood for your games, Luo Qing. Either move, or I'll make you move."
The ground beneath them crystallized with ice as Rosalyne's fury reached its peak.
"Sorry, but no can do," Luo Qing replied nonchalantly, his hands still crossed.
"This is your last chance," Rosalyne warned, her patience clearly at an end. "Either get out of my way, or you'll regret it."
She raised her hand, the air growing even colder.
"Bring it on then," Luo Qing teased. He wasn't intimidated—if anything, her temper only amused him.
"Hmph! You asked for this!"
Rosalyne's hand slashed through the air, and a towering pillar of ice shot toward Luo Qing.
---
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Chapter 123: This Trainee Fatui Harbinger is Too Unreliable [123]
But in the next instant, just as the spike was about to strike, a rocky ridge abruptly appeared in front of Luo Qing, shattering the ice.
Luo Qing glanced at the shards of ice on the ground and casually remarked, "Oh my, Lady Rosalyne, getting impatient already?"
"Hmph! I've been wanting to beat you up for a long time!"
Rosalyne shouted angrily. She raised her hands, summoning more ice spikes from the sky that hurtled towards Luo Qing.
But, without exception, every spike was crushed by the stone ridges Luo Qing summoned.
"You've certainly been hiding your strength," Rosalyne muttered, frowning. During the previous officer selection, Luo Qing barely won using that emotion-manipulating ability. Yet now, he was wielding Geo powers with ease.
Adding in his time-stopping ability, she couldn't even fathom how many secrets he was still hiding.
"Indeed I have. What's the matter? Is Lady Rosalyne getting scared?"
"Afraid of you?!"
With that, Rosalyne's aura flared even stronger. She floated in mid-air, the ice element condensing around her to form an icy robe.
The freezing element covered the entire island, as if intending to freeze everything in its grasp.
A bone-chilling ice storm swirled around Luo Qing, yet it failed to faze him in the slightest.
With his own Cryo Vision, coupled with his natural resistance, the cold barely bothered him.
In the next moment, countless ice spears formed around Luo Qing, then, with a mere thought from Rosalyne, accelerated towards him.
"Tch, tell me, Lady Rosalyne, why must you do this?"
Luo Qing looked up at Rosalyne floating in the sky and let out a light chuckle.
The entire island's time abruptly froze, and the ice spears halted mid-air, suspended as if paused by an unseen force.
Luo Qing gazed at Rosalyne, shaking his head slightly, and walked out from the encirclement of ice.
He then retrieved a rope he had prepared earlier from his inventory and approached Rosalyne, who remained helpless in mid-air. Grabbing her by the ankle, he pulled her gently back to the ground.
With Rosalyne's eyes widening in shock, Luo Qing methodically tied the rope around her body, loop by loop.
Too bad her outfit made it a bit inconvenient; otherwise, Luo Qing would have tried something like a tortoise-shell bind...
Meanwhile, Rosalyne could vaguely sense Luo Qing's actions. Yet, within the frozen world of his time-stop, she could do nothing but feel the rope's pressure as it wrapped around her, leaving her utterly defenseless.
Once Rosalyne was securely bound, much like he had with Yelan before, Luo Qing slipped a pair of cuffs onto her fingers that suppressed elemental energy. Then he removed her high heels, applying another pair of cuffs to her toes.
He paused, as if something was still missing.
After a brief thought, he pulled a rag from his inventory, pried open Rosalyne's mouth, and stuffed the cloth inside.
"Perfect!" Luo Qing nodded with satisfaction, then released the time-stop domain.
"MMMMMM!! MMM!! MMMM!!!"
Rosalyne, now tied up like a bundle, writhed furiously on the ground, her eyes burning with fury as she glared at Luo Qing. Realizing that even her shoes had been removed, her glare only grew more intense.
Though Luo Qing couldn't decipher what exactly Rosalyne was trying to say through her muffled sounds, judging by her expression, it was probably... not very polite.
"Come now, Lady Rosalyne, why make things so difficult for yourself? If you had cooperated, we wouldn't be in this situation, would we?" Luo Qing feigned a sigh.
"MMMMM! MMM!" Rosalyne continued to struggle.
[Frustration Value from Rosalyne +10]
"I had no choice, Lady Rosalyne. You can't curse my entire family now—the deed is done. Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for this~" Luo Qing grinned mischievously.
"MMMM!"
[Frustration Value from Rosalyne +10]
"So, for now, you'll just have to bear with it. Don't worry, I'll provide plenty of light novels to keep you entertained."
With that, Luo Qing wrapped an arm around Rosalyne's slender waist, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and was about to leave. But then he remembered something, turned back, and grabbed her discarded high heels before heading toward Inazuma City.
In the early morning sunlight, Luo Qing's silhouette resembled that of a bandit chief who had just abducted a bride.
...
Hanamizaka
After some time, Teresa and her companions finally awoke.
Noticing Luo Qing's absence, they didn't think much of it and began tidying his home.
After a night of heavy drinking, the room was in utter disarray.
They had just finished cleaning up when heavy footsteps echoed from downstairs, accompanied by a faint, muffled female groan.
Curious, they moved to check, only to see Luo Qing entering with Rosalyne slung over his shoulder.
What shocked them even more was that the esteemed Lady Rosalyne was bound from head to toe, with her hands and feet in cuffs, barefoot, and a gag firmly in her mouth.
Considering how much they'd all drunk last night, they had to wonder—did their master, Luo Qing, get carried away while drunk and do something... inappropriate to the lady next door?
Her clothing was in such disarray...
They must have had a fierce fight, right?
"Master, this is..."
Natalia hesitated, speaking softly.
After all, Rosalyne held the highest position among the Fatui forces in Inazuma, and their master had tied her up like a bundle. If this got back to Snezhnaya, it could lead to significant trouble.
"It's fine."
Luo Qing set Rosalyne down on the tatami mat and continued,
"Lady Rosalyne specifically requested this treatment. Right, Lady Rosalyne?"
"MMMM!!!"
[Frustration Value from Rosalyne +10]
If looks could kill, Luo Qing would have been torn to pieces by Rosalyne's furious gaze.
"Luo Qing, Lady Rosalyne seems... to want to say something," Natalia timidly suggested.
"Oh, does she now?"
Feigning ignorance, Luo Qing turned to Rosalyne with a look of feigned surprise.
"You're all mistaken. Lady Rosalyne herself asked for this—she said she wanted to play some sort of... game. Isn't that right, Lady Rosalyne?"
"MMMM!!!"
[Frustration Value from Rosalyne +10]
"You see? She's nodding. Alright, you all can leave now," Luo Qing waved dismissively. "You four did well last night. When this is over, I'll reward you accordingly. But for now, Natalia, you and the others keep an eye on those samurai. Understood?"
"Yes... Master Luo Qing,"
Knowing better than to disobey, Natalia and the others nodded, even if they clearly saw their master had forcibly restrained Lady Rosalyne. But since Luo Qing said nothing, they kept their silence.
Natalia cast a worried glance at the bound Rosalyne and hesitated before asking again,
"What about Lady Rosalyne...?"
Luo Qing smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of Lady Rosalyne myself~"
For some reason, Natalia found those words rather unsettling...
...
---
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you spot any mistakes or inconsistencies!
Posture and water check! Review or your frigging dead to me
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