—
Staying silent for a long time, he just chuckled as he watched Ember shift the topic and hugged her more tightly. After feeling the abundant familial love, Yoriichi kissed the top of her head and let her go.
He then looked her up and down to check if anything was amiss and nodded in satisfaction, noting that her missing fingers were already restored. He even noticed that she appeared slightly chubbier now, a result of the regeneration process that restored the missing fat she had lost as a beggar in her past world.
Gazing back and forth between Margarita and Ember, who now seem to have the same features like mother and daughter, and hearing a simple question of 'what' from Rita, Yoriichi just shakes his head and says, "Nothing."
Pausing and remembering something, he then adds, "Oh yeah. You don't mind if I adjust the document about everything, do you?"
Raising her eyebrows, knowing he probably used the Thinking Technique to edit the document, Margarita shook her head and said, "No, I don't mind at all, dear. In fact, I'm thankful, as now Ember doesn't need to overwork anymore."
Facepalming himself for forgetting that two weeks had already passed, and noticing Ember gazing at them mischievously, Yoriichi pinched her silly smile like an elastic rubber band to annoy her. However, this spectacularly failed, as there was no trace of annoyance in Ember's reaction, only giddy laughter, which instead made him exasperated.
Sighing in lamentation, he then asked her, "How is everything going while we—" he coughed and continued, "—were away?"
Laughing giddily, Ember quoted, "While Sir Yoriichi and Lady Rita were 'away,' many guests came wanting to see both of you."
Chuckling and shaking his head, he stayed silent, pretending not to know what she was implying. Dragging Ember to the sofa in front of the desks to let them sit, he then continued to ask, "Oh really? Who are these guests? Are they troubling you?"
"Oh no, they are not troubling me. Instead, every one of them is a friendly individual."
Knowing that troubling her might mean something different from what he was thinking, he let out a sigh of sadness, realizing that the word selfish seemed absent from her vocabulary, replaced only by patient and considerate. Shaking his head, he continued to listen.
"For one, there is Melitele, who appears anxious. I don't know why or what is happening to her, but it seems to have something to do with Sir Yoriichi. When I asked her if my conjecture was correct, she remained silent and didn't say anything further."
Rubbing his chin with his right hand while using his left hand to mess with Ember's hair, he couldn't help but think that she might have come here immediately because she was afraid of the display of power and the inability to move during the culling. Nodding his head, he then gestured for Ember to continue.
"Then there is Lady Moiraine, who just wanted to say goodbye to Sir Yoriichi. As for her message, she said that since her job of guiding Sir to become the Pantheon of our Herald is complete, she will now find another person to guide and train. Lady Moiraine also mentioned that Sir need not worry about not meeting her again, as she still needs to teach Ciri how to become Sir's sharpest blade."
Raising his eyebrows at seeing his assistant resign from her position after only a couple of weeks, Yoriichi then asked, "Oh? Did she say anything after that? Like where she is going or who she will be guiding? And what about being an assistant—did she say anything about that too?"
"Yes, Lady Moiraine left me a message before leaving Undvik. She said that she is now following Jahar Narishma and considering becoming his guide after assessing his potential. The last message she sent me stated that she is currently working on establishing a relationship with Clan Chivay as a breakthrough to enter the inner circle of Mahakam."
Shaking his head at the stubbornness of the dwarves, who still refuse outside help even after about five weeks of the Conjunction, Yoriichi decided to let it go. Since Narishma's role is not to quell the chaos now but to address the later time, once society has returned to an orderly state, it's not a big deal if he is a little late to the party.
Also considering one of the probable futures where these dwarves, when given this duty, become the best multiversal law enforcement, it is better for them to take it slowly to avoid creating unnecessary complications down the line. Nodding in agreement with his probable conjecture, he then continued to listen to what Ember had to say.
"As for the message about the assistant, she told me to say word for word: 'Fuck off!'"
Stunned and unable to register Ember's ability to use those words, he was momentarily at a loss. Ember continued, "Who wants to work for someone without compensation?! You are the worst, whiny, childish boss I have ever encountered!' End quote."
His eyebrows twitching in anger, Yoriichi directly accessed her Soen System and sent her a message: "Greedy bitch! If you don't kowtow to this father and admit your mistake, I will revoke the System you are currently using!"
After a couple of minutes, he received a reply notification and saw her message: "Go for it, you degenerate grown-up baby! I don't fucking care about these useless things!"
His smile twisted in anger, the sound of his teeth crackling audible in the surrounding. He wanted to reply instantly but paused for a moment. After considering something, he turned his smile into a devilish grin and said, "Oh really? Do you truly not care? Okay then, I will give you a hint: Cognitive Realm, doodle-le-cuckoo."
"Tsk tsk, oh my friend, my friend… Do you think I am that naive? Do you think you can one-up me by having direct access to the system? You are too early by a thousand years to use blackmailing tricks on me."
Realizing that she probably transferred his embarrassing video into different media at some point in Toussaint, he quickly accessed her system and checked her usage activity. Seeing that it was true, he sent a furious message: "Fucking witch! I hope you burn in hell for eternity!"
Her reply was immediate: "Hohoho, starting to curse now, are we? Okay then, you lousy depraved toad! Vermin like you must be eradicated immediately!"
"Lousy?! Hahahaha! Is that all you can come up with as a jab?! Now listen here, you maggot-infested wench! You…"
"Oh yeah, fucking bastard! Only…"
"Ahh… Have my virago veins snapped? How…"
"Hehehehe, got you, prick! It's easy…"
"Fuck you, greedy bitch! I didn't…"
"Whoreson!"
"Just whore!"
"Crossbreed!"
"Fuck you!"
"Deficient!"
"Ogress!"
—