’Good. Almost boringly mundane...’
’Hmm... also a good seedling.’
’Wow! This one’s bedroom preferences are quite... exotic~’
’This one’s almost stupidly naïve. You caught your girlfriend cheating on you fifteen different tis with different n and you still believe your "son" is yours? You really never noticed he looks like a miniature version of your forr boss at the factory? Are you blind or stupid?’
’Wow, this woman would be a perfect match for the idiot raising his ex-boss’s son. Her boyfriend stole her savings, her heirlooms, and even slept with her sister. She should be thanking the Abyss for invading and killing him—otherwise, she’d still be in that horrible relationship. However, is she overly kind or just stupid? Why are so many of her thoughts heartbroken over that man’s death? Good riddance to him!’
’Well... this one looks okay too, although... tsk tsk... who’d have thought such a big and burly man would have a secret obsession with wearing won’s clothes? Even if the Rising Sun Kingdom is restored, I doubt he’d want to go back after tasting the freedom of the Azure Serpent Kingdom.’
At Bea’s amused comntary, Kain’s brow twitched. His gaze drifted toward the largest man among the ten recruits bowing to Takeru before him. The man was enormous—broad enough to make Kain look almost delicate by comparison. Kain barely reached his chest, and each of his arms looked like they could crush boulders. But now that Kain looked closely, he noticed the man’s unnaturally smooth face, ticulously grood brows, and faintly glistening skin from an excellent skincare regin. A single speck of blue glitter clung stubbornly to his right eyelid was the only thing to hint at what he may have been up to last night.
"...Right," Kain muttered under his breath. "Good to know we have... diversity."
While Kain tried to refocus, Bea continued her ntal scrutiny. She was combing through the mories of each person before them with microscopic precision, her presence slipping through their subconscious like water boring into the smallest cracks.
Since Abe’s betrayal, she no longer took any chances! How could she have missed such malicious intent toward Kain before?! The sha of it still burned.
Never again.
Where once she had respected the privacy of allies, she now viewed restraint as a liability. Every person around Kain—Takeru, Kaito, even the Crown Prince—had already been implanted with a split of her consciousness.
The Queen, unfortunately, was off limits; her seven-star level would instantly detect such an intrusion. But Bea was patient. She’d settle for knowing everything about everyone below that level.
And it wasn’t just the people in this room. She’d infected the courtyard they’d t Kaito in and was now quietly spreading throughout the entire refugee city, embedding herself in thousands of minds like an invisible infection.
Each connection gave her new data, new sensations, new information to study...and also so entertaining secrets.
Her Pale Thought Field, usually restrained by the morals of Kain and herself unless in a full-scale battle, now spanned thousands of human minds—and growing faster by the minute.
It was both exhilarating and eerie.
Through countless eyes and thoughts, Bea saw flickers of despair, the warmth of families trying to rebuild, petty jealousies, and quiet acts of kindness. She read every secret, judged every motive, and noted down anyone she thought may be an issue later on.
Thankfully there were no more ’Abe’s’. At least not among those 6-stars and below. It didn’t seem that the issue of ’sentient abyssals’ was as widespread as Kain had worried.
Kain, knowing her intentions, didn’t stop her. Knowing that they were on a strict tiline before the invasion in the east reached his own ho, he knew Bea’s actions could help expedite a lot of processes. "How many now?" he asked quietly.
’Seven thousand, three hundred and forty-two,’ she answered proudly. ’And rising.’
Her happiness dimd into confusion for a mont as she brushed against sothing strange—a thin veil that seed to stretch across her vast ntal network. It wasn’t physical, more like the edge of a concept, slippery and intangible. Every ti she reached for it, it receded just out of reach.
She had a feeling that she’d make a breakthrough soon. Not to the next level of spiritual power, but in her understanding of a domain. She just needed to push a little more and she’s step into the realm of having a fledgling domain that she’d once envied Cassian’s contracts for having.
’If I wanted,’ Bea murmured, as she realized that her control over the minds around her was growing by the second, ’I could make this entire city mine. Drag them into a dream, turn them into my puppets, wipe out their personal consciousness and replace it with my will... The energy cost to control minds seems to have reduced to a level that I would barely register.’
Kain shivered involuntarily. He trusted Bea, but the scale of that possibility still made his chest tighten. The idea of an entire city filled with thoughtless puppets controlled by her was terrifying...and she sounded far too calm about it.
’Don’t worry,’ she said lightly, sensing his discomfort. ’I’d only ever do that for you.’
"...That doesn’t make feel better."
Fortunately, Kain didn’t dwell long on that chilling thought. Takeru had stepped forward, puffing his chest slightly and attempting to project the dignity of a true royal.
With a steady tone, he told the gathered recruits that he, an unawakened prince who’d been hidden from the public for his own safety, had finally discovered a thod to awaken ordinary people. The group looked at him with wide-eyed admiration and newfound respect.
Kain stood to the side, arms crossed, content to let Takeru take the spotlight. He didn’t care about credit. Soone needed to serve as the face of this effort—the one to rally the people against the Abyss and rebuild the Rising Sun Kingdom’s spirit.
Kain had no intention of remaining here indefinitely; he never forgot the ticking countdown of the abyss’ invasion into his ho continent, so he couldn’t devote much of his ti and focus to remaining here. What he needed was soone loyal to carry out his will and maintain stability in his absence.
Takeru being a figurehead leader suited Kain perfectly. He preferred to move unseen, pulling the strings from the shadows where real control resided.
As long as Takeru understood who was truly in charge—and continued to govern according to Kain’s broader plan—he was more than willing to help the prince rebuild his kingdom and even expand it beyond its forr glory.
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