Chapter 402 365 – Getting Promoted Through the Back Door

Seeing Takumi fooling around like this, Shizue could not help laughing.

She opened her mouth to refuse, but in the end, she shyly nodded and agreed.

Shizue kept reassuring herself that Takumi was the benefactor who had saved her life, so helping him out was only natural.

With that mindset, she found herself completely unable to reject his proposal.

When Chloe saw this, she immediately tugged on Takumi's clothes and declared that she wanted to take the field too.

"All right, all right. You'll get your chance, Chloe. Right now, you're the SSR I just pulled, so I need to raise you for a while first, don't I?"

Takumi smiled as he pinched Chloe's cheeks, then reached out and lifted her into his arms.

Sitting on the crook of his arm, Chloe happily rubbed her cheek against his palm.

She did not know whether she really was an SSR, but she was more than willing to let Takumi train her so she could grow stronger as quickly as possible!

"Teach me, Big Brother Takumi!!"

After enjoying Takumi's touch, Chloe's gaze became resolute.

Looking into the determined eyes of the little girl, Takumi took out a divine envoy chess piece.

There was no need to question Chloe's potential as the strongest Hero.

She merely lacked the opportunity to awaken it, which was why her current attributes remained incomplete.

With that thought, Takumi silently examined Chloe's status panel.

[Name: Chloe Aubert]

[Level: None]

[Attributes: King of Time (Gold), Favored by Fortune (Gold), Magical Genius (Blue), Swordsmanship Genius (Blue)]

[King of Time (Gold): Possesses the power to manipulate time at will. Currently unawakened.]

Just look at that absurd King of Time attribute and its incredibly plain description.

Anyone who did not know better might think it was describing the power of Ohma Zi-O.

Takumi truly did not possess any ability that allowed him to manipulate time freely.

At most, he could currently observe the flow of time through Future Sight.

Using that as a singularity to develop other temporal abilities would be an extremely long process for him.

But now, he had an opportunity to reach the summit in a single step.

All he had to do was help Chloe awaken that power and then defeat her.

The process might be outrageously cruel and wicked, but there was only one thing to say: Chloe would have to endure the hardship, while he would bear the infamy!!

Completely unaware of Takumi's evil thoughts, Chloe was still thinking about studying hard so she could help him as soon as possible.

Little did she know that simply growing up and awakening her natural talent would already be the greatest help she could offer him.

Even after fusing with the divine envoy chess piece, however, Chloe's King of Time still failed to awaken.

That was not a problem. Takumi stayed and began teaching her.

Though rather than teaching her in the traditional sense, it was more like showing her how to allocate skill points.

The skill library contained within his divine envoy chess pieces now held more than ten thousand abilities. Without guidance, choosing among them alone would take forever.

"Chloe, you have talent in both magic and swordsmanship, so start with skills related to those."

That single piece of advice spared Chloe a long and tedious selection process.

Takumi also specifically warned her not to choose any Authority branches.

After all, her innate King of Time was already the best possible branch for her.

Learning other ones beforehand would have little meaning.

Once Chloe happily immersed herself in learning skills, Takumi returned to the bedchamber to rest.

A day passed quietly.

Kagali, who should have been busy, secretly slipped into the bedchamber.

"Master, I've come to report in. I want to make progress so badly~~"

Kagali gazed at Takumi with watery eyes, her reverent tone making it almost impossible to refuse her.

Since he had already made her a promise before, Takumi naturally nodded.

"Your promotion is right in front of you. It depends on how much progress you want to make."

Kagali lightly bit her lower lip, her eyes shimmering as her resolve became exceptionally firm.

As long as it meant advancing, she was even willing to use connections and offer gifts through the back door!

Meanwhile, Shuna and Shion, who were handling some government affairs, instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

Kagali had dumped a pile of work on them and disappeared—and she had been gone for quite a while.

Shuna and Shion exchanged a glance, then immediately tracked her down to Takumi's bedchamber.

There, they discovered Kagali's filthy transaction.

"So this is the real method of advancement Kagali never taught me!"

"She really was keeping the best part to herself, Your Highness!"

"Damn it! I want to make progress with Takumi-sama too!"

"So do I."

As Shuna and Shion whispered to each other, they suddenly noticed Takumi's gaze sweep toward them.

"Well, look what I found. If you don't take and I don't take, how is anyone supposed to make progress?"

"Kagali was hiding one last trick, but unfortunately, Shuna and Shion found her out."

Sitting inside the room, Takumi beckoned to them.

"Come in. I'll teach you how to take another step forward."

"Mm~ Yes, Takumi-sama."

"Yes, Takumi-sama."

Shuna and Shion let out soft, breathy responses before walking inside with reverence and respect.

In the room next door, Shizue was supposedly playing a game with Chloe, yet she stared absentmindedly at the ceiling.

Chloe, seated in her arms, was also staring blankly upward.

Without realizing it, both their faces turned bright red, their cheeks so hot they practically seemed to be smoking.

Shizue had no idea how many times she had cursed Takumi in her heart.

He was not even trying to hide it from anyone. He was absolutely shameless.

Then again, there were only a few of them in this enormous palace.

As for the Demon Shadow Maidens who served here, Shizue had learned that they were essentially summoned beings.

Still, could anyone really endure making this much progress?

The more Shizue thought about it, the farther her imagination wandered. As time passed, she finally reached a conclusion.

He could.

He could endure it extremely well!

After staying awake the entire night, Shizue and Chloe emerged with dark circles under their eyes.

"Yo~ Good morning, Shizue, Chloe. You're up early. Perfect timing for breakfast."

"…" ×2

Looking at the radiant Takumi, neither Shizue nor Chloe had any appetite.

Even though Chloe was still too young to understand such things, she had developed one profound question.

And being innocent and straightforward, she asked it immediately.

"Big Brother, why didn't you ever stop?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Haven't I come out to eat breakfast now?"

"…"

Was that something a human being should say?!

Shizue no longer had the strength to argue. More than anything, she felt both curious and embarrassed.

What would happen if she went to make progress too?

Shizue cautiously peeked into Takumi's room.

Unfortunately, a hazy mist obscured most of her view.

She could only vaguely make out several pale, delicate hands overlapping as they formed V-signs.

Were they… taking pictures?

The moment that thought appeared, Shizue felt almost terrified by her own stupidity.

How could they possibly be taking pictures?!

And for this long, too!