Vol 4. Chapter 92: Boy or Girl?

“Um... may I ask... is... is something wrong?”

Shang Mo asked somewhat nervously.

At this moment,

inside an office in the main building of the Black Rose Duke's estate, Shang Mo, the new-generation Child of Destiny, was being held in one hand like a little chick by an extremely muscular Black Rose Knight who stood around two and a half meters tall and had a fierce, broad face.

Originally, Shang Mo had been sulking because he had been called away during lunchtime. He had even felt the urge to make a scene.

Who the fuck dared interrupt him while he was eating?! He would fight them to the death!!

This was the principle Shang Mo had established for himself just the day before yesterday.

However, after being forcibly brought into this office filled with an oppressive, murderous atmosphere, Shang Mo instantly lowered his head like a coward...

Fighting to the death was one thing,

but the prerequisite was that he actually had to be able to beat them...

And just like that,

before his newly established principle had even survived three days, Shang Mo tossed it straight to the back of his mind.

Then,

left with no other choice, Shang Mo put on a flattering little expression and looked in confusion toward the mature woman with short pale-blue hair sitting behind the desk not far away.

“Um... Lady Luowei? You... why did you call me here?”

Seeing that the other party was still silently reading the documents in her hands, Shang Mo couldn't help speaking again.

Seriously,

he couldn't stand this quiet, oppressive atmosphere inside the room.

He still preferred lively, noisy places.

At the same time as he felt uncomfortable, countless doubts also began flooding Shang Mo's mind.

‘This Miss Luowei... isn't... isn't she the Black Rose Duke's secretary? Why... why would someone this important suddenly want to meet a newcomer like me? D-don't tell me she discovered my hidden identity?’

At this thought,

Shang Mo became extremely frightened.

Before he had grown strong enough, he absolutely could not expose his identity as the Child of Destiny!

Otherwise, forget slacking off—his life itself might even be put in danger.

After all, strictly speaking, he still hadn't even decided whether he actually wanted to save the world...

And,

for some reason,

although the Black Rose Family was very friendly and full of justice, Shang Mo always had a feeling that if they learned he was the Child of Destiny, something bad would happen.

Large beads of sweat slowly rolled down Shang Mo's forehead.

Meanwhile,

while Shang Mo was anxiously worrying, Luowei, who sat behind the desk, slowly narrowed her eyes. Temporarily ignoring Shang Mo's question, she silently examined the delicate girl before her who was being held in the knight's hand like a little chick.

After remaining silent for a while, Luowei finally spoke slowly.

“You said that after waking up in the north, you had no memories from before that?”

?!

“Hm?!”

Hearing Luowei suddenly question him, Shang Mo froze for a moment. After coming back to his senses, the Child of Destiny hurriedly nodded.

“Y-yes. I don't have any memories from before. I... I don't remember anything that happened before then... uh... except that I know my name is ‘Shang Mo’...”

“Hm? Shang Mo? What a strange name.”

“Uh...”

“Then why did you want to join the Black Rose Family? You even traveled such a long distance and nearly lost your life.”

“That... because I heard that you take in homeless children like me and won't... won't discriminate against me just because of my low status... And... and I just wanted to live a little more comfortably and have enough food to eat. Also, I heard the food down here in the south is better...”

Facing Luowei's blade-like gaze, Shang Mo swallowed nervously before answering uneasily.

Although his true objective was to secretly grow stronger under the Black Rose Family's protection, the things Shang Mo currently thought about the most really were living a peaceful life and whether or not he could fill his stomach.

So what he said was also the truth, and both his eyes and his words were filled with sincerity.

He even developed a faint sobbing tone after remembering the miserable days he had recently endured.

Naturally, Luowei noticed that sincerity.

Because her facial expressions were relatively stiff and her talent in that area wasn't particularly good, Luowei hadn't participated much in Saiboke's acting training.

Even so, as the Duke's secretary, she was still capable of making a certain judgment about whether someone was lying.

After carefully observing the subtle changes in Shang Mo's expression, Luowei helplessly shook her head.

“What a simple reason... though it is quite practical.”

As she spoke,

Luowei frowned slightly and said nothing more. Instead, she thoughtfully stared at the rather adorable blue-haired girl before her while the corner of her eye glanced toward the investigation report on Shang Mo in her hand.

Within this investigation report,

what concerned Luowei most was Shang Mo's talent.

Judging from the previous test results, this girl named Shang Mo possessed extraordinary talent, and the amount of magic within her body was astonishing.

Her potential was the greatest the Black Rose Family had seen in several hundred years!

It was even higher than the Duke's had been back then!

Normally, Luowei should have been delighted to encounter such a gifted child.

After all, if someone like this were properly trained, she would undoubtedly become an important pillar of the family in the future, a capable little helper who could ease Lady Yumo's burdens.

However, Luowei's first reaction was instead solemn concern.

Because this girl named Shang Mo was simply too talented.

In terms of the concentration of magic inside her body, she was almost equal to the Daughter of Destiny?!

The Chosen Ones possessed such talent because they had received the blessing of the world's will.

But how could an impoverished little beggar like this possess the same thing?

That inevitably caused doubts to arise in Luowei's heart.

An existence capable of reaching this level might only be...

a Chosen One.

The Daughter of Destiny was currently on her way back to the Asumos Church's headquarters.

Meanwhile, the Child of Destiny had already kicked the bucket.

But,

in the Duke's opinion, even though Xue Tianao was gone, they still couldn't afford to lower their guard.

Because at this stage, they had no way of ruling out whether Xue Tianao might revive again, or whether the world might give birth to a new Child of Destiny.

“If Xue Tianao really did revive, there's no way he'd willingly walk straight into our Black Rose Family's territory. But... what if it's a new Child of Destiny?”

This person before her

not only possessed extraordinary talent, but according to the intelligence investigated by Nightingale,

this girl had even died and come back to life?

...

Could this person... really be the Child of Destiny?

In an instant, a bold thought surged into Luowei's mind, causing the secretary to narrow her eyes unconsciously and reveal a faintly dangerous expression.

The Seventh-Tier magic within her body began violently surging, and the atmosphere in the office instantly plunged to freezing point.

Bone-piercing cold continuously assaulted Shang Mo's delicate body, causing him to involuntarily begin trembling.

“L-Lady Luowei?”

Cold and hungry, Shang Mo asked pitifully.

?!

‘W-what the hell is going on?!’

Shang Mo roared inwardly, practically on the verge of tears.

He couldn't understand why the secretary who was rumored to be gentle and considerate had suddenly become so cold and sinister?!

Had he done something wrong?

N-no, that shouldn't be possible, right?

Over the past few days, all he'd done was eat a few dozen extra barrels of rice?!

That shouldn't warrant this, right?!

Is eating a lot also a crime? Wuwuwu...

Don't tell me they're going to make me fast afterward?

At that thought, Shang Mo felt even more aggrieved, and layers of ripples gradually appeared within his pale-red eyes.

Maybe it was because of the changes to his body, but Shang Mo always felt that his tear ducts had become unusually active lately...

Meanwhile, after seeing this, Luowei's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she clicked her tongue.

“Tsk...”

Is this really necessary?

I haven't even done anything yet, and she's already this scared?

A Chosen One, at this level?

Maybe I'm overthinking it?

Looking at the somewhat timid blue-haired girl before her, Luowei couldn't help beginning to doubt her earlier theory.

Besides,

there would only ever be two Chosen Ones in the world, one male and one female.

Now that Xue Tianao was gone, even if a new Chosen One had been born, it would definitely be the Child of Destiny.

But this little girl in front of her was the wrong sex.

On top of that, after testing her for so long, they hadn't detected even the slightest trace of divine power from her body.

At this thought, Luowei's suspicions gradually faded.

However,

as one of Xiao's subordinates, Luowei habitually modeled her way of doing things after their Duke.

“Since she's already here, we might as well check.”

The corner of her eye shifted toward the muscular knight holding Shang Mo, and Luowei smiled faintly.

“This newcomer is wearing clothes that are far too torn and dirty. Keke, help her change into something else.”

“Understood, Lady Luowei.”

The huge, muscular Black Rose Knight named ‘Keke’ revealed a rough smile.

Then, under Shang Mo's completely unprepared gaze, this muscular beauty reached out and began removing his clothes.

?!!

Eh?!

“Lady Luowei... th-this is?!!”

Suddenly having someone strip his clothes off, Shang Mo immediately panicked and hurriedly raised his hands to resist.

However,

Keke's arm was thicker than Shang Mo's waist.

This kind of overwhelming strength was simply not something the current Shang Mo could resist.

“Don't worry, little girl. Lady Luowei just thinks your clothes are too worn-out and wants you to change into a new set. After all, you're a member of the Black Rose Family now. Looking too sloppy would embarrass the family.”

As she spoke,

the amiable Keke removed Shang Mo's rather filthy outer garments one after another amid bursts of ‘friendly’ laughter.

“Hahaha, the new clothes are very cute. I'll help you put them on in a moment.”

Her rough voice continuously echoed beside Shang Mo's ears.

Keke and Luowei's thinking was very simple.

They wanted to determine whether the person in front of them was the Child of Destiny by checking whether there was a golden rune on his back.

Although this little girl looked like a girl no matter how they examined her, it wasn't impossible that she was actually a boy disguised as a girl.

Directly stripping her completely naked to inspect her obviously wouldn't be appropriate.

After all, if such a gifted person turned out not to be the Child of Destiny, they would naturally want to cultivate her properly.

Stripping her naked without saying a word might make their relationship too tense.

All they needed to do was use changing clothes as an excuse, remove those obstructive outer garments, and inspect her back.

...

However,

after removing Shang Mo's coat and lifting up his beautiful blue hair under the pretext of tidying it, the Black Rose Knight named ‘Keke’ suddenly froze in place.

A trace of confusion appeared in her eyes.

“This...”

?!

Hm?

Noticing something strange in Keke's gaze, Luowei abruptly frowned.

She suddenly rose from behind the desk and transformed into a streak of blue light, instantly rushing to Shang Mo's side.

“What is it, Keke? Why are you making that expression?”

“Lady Luowei, his... his back...”

“His back? What about it?”

As she spoke in confusion, Luowei shifted her gaze toward the patch of skin beneath Shang Mo's hair...

Then,

Luowei's pupils abruptly contracted.

There were no ancient golden runes on Shang Mo's back symbolizing the identity of a Chosen One.

Instead, there were large patches of hideous scars.

For such extensive scars to appear across the back of a young and beautiful girl would undoubtedly make people feel pity and heartache.

However, Luowei felt nothing of the sort.

Instead, her expression became increasingly cold, and her right hand even moved toward the dagger concealed beneath her long dress.

This...

was too much of a coincidence.

After remaining silent for a moment,

Luowei slowly spoke.

“Shang Mo, I have a question for you. Please answer me honestly...”

“Hm? Wh-what is it, Lady Luowei?”

“Are you actually a boy... or a girl?”