At the gates of a school campus.
Countless students poured out after a full day of classes, heading toward the outside.
"Across the narrow span of the starry river, we meet again—this too is fate. Allow me to praise you…"
"Praise Idrila."
Silver Wolf—no, Argenti—stood at the school gate, one hand over his chest, the other held open.
"What is that guy even saying?"
"Is he sick? Is he praising a tree?"
"He's handsome, sure… but his brain's definitely not working."
It was dismissal time. Argenti's striking appearance instantly drew attention. Quite a few people had even tried to ask for his contact info earlier.
That was, until he started praising a tree.
After that, everyone scattered, leaving behind nothing but faint looks of disdain.
"Dark Knight, what are you doing? Let's go."
At that moment, his employer came out and immediately spotted Argenti in the middle of his episode.
"Oh~ Mage, I was communing with this tree."
"What's there to commune with? Let's go home. I have a feeling my mana will reach its peak tonight. When that happens, the envoys of the Church of Light will definitely come for me. I'll be counting on you."
"Uh… Mage, how many points did you score this time?"
"Cough… we'll talk about it after we get back."
"Alright…"
Argenti shook his head helplessly. The girl was great in every way—perfectly in sync with his rhythm—except for one thing.
Her grades were… catastrophic.
Multiple-choice questions with answers A, B, or C, and she somehow managed to pick D.
"Huh?"
Just as they were about to leave, Argenti noticed another bodyguard in a black suit not far away.
"That is… Miss Yunli."
Seeing an acquaintance, of course he had to say hello.
So Argenti led the mage and walked toward Yunli.
"Don't come over… don't notice me… don't come over!"
Yunli was panicking. After everything Argenti had done earlier, he'd already drawn way too much attention. The last thing she wanted was for people to realize they were together.
Unfortunately, reality was cruel.
Argenti still walked right up to her.
"Beautiful Miss Yunli, we meet again."
"Who are you?"
Eh?
Argenti froze.
How could she not recognize him?
He immediately raised a hand.
"Pure Beauty Knight—"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Yunli cut him off in a panic. "If you keep talking, I'll die of embarrassment. We have an agreement—we can't let other people know we're connected."
"And why is that?"
"Think about it. If people know we're together, someone who wants to harm our employers might use that."
"…That makes sense."
Argenti nodded in agreement without hesitation.
"In that case, I shall escort my employer home first."
"Go, go, go."
Please go. And never greet me again in public.
[Lisa]: I'm dying—Argenti totally got rejected.
[March 7th]: Yunli did nothing wrong. Who'd want to acknowledge Argenti right now?
[Kaeya]: Doesn't Argenti feel awkward at all?
[Guinaifen]: I honestly don't think he's capable of feeling awkward.
[Yae Miko]: I suggest Argenti visit the Grand Narukami Shrine. We have a Sacred Sakura.
[Kamisato Ayato]: That's a great idea. I want to hear how he praises it.
[Raiden Ei]: Does our Sacred Sakura even need praise?
[Kujou Sara]: The Shogun is correct.
[Beidou]: So… what would Argenti say if he met a hilichurl?
[Lisa]: "Beautiful hilichurl, your visage stirs my soul"… something like that?
[Valerius]: I think Argenti would just stab it with a spear.
As if Argenti were some idiot. He only praised beautiful things—ugly ones didn't qualify.
[Yae Miko]: But what if the hilichurl admits Idrila's beauty is unrivaled?
[Valerius]: Then I'm going to work for the Hilichurl Tribe.
[Silver Wolf]: Real.
[Herta]: Impossible… Argenti isn't that stupid.
[Ruan Mei]: A Knight of Pure Beauty has his own convictions. One sentence wouldn't sway him.
[Hu Tao]: Disappointing. I was hoping I could just shout "Idrila is peerlessly beautiful" and have Argenti eliminate my competition.
[Keqing]: Worth trying.
[Trailblazer]: Same. No loss even if it fails.
[Valerius]: You people are rotten to the core.
Night fell.
The cold wind howled.
An empty parking lot looked especially desolate.
"Achoo… why aren't they coming down yet?"
After squatting there all day, Blade sneezed hard. If Ningguang didn't come down soon, he was going to catch a cold.
Meanwhile, inside the office—
"Yes, yes, you're right. Using this plan will definitely boost consumer purchasing intent."
"This suggestion is good too."
The woman was no longer looking at Ningguang like a bodyguard.
She was looking at a business tycoon.
At first, she thought she'd just hired protection. Now she finally realized what Ningguang truly meant to her.
"These are just small suggestions. As long as the employer finds them useful."
Ningguang remained calm on the surface, but inside she was thrilled.
As long as the employer was happy, the final evaluation score would definitely favor her.
Others had to protect their employers day and night.
She just had to give a few business pointers—and the goodwill shot up effortlessly.
Not to mention, the commercial knowledge of this world was extremely useful to her.
She'd already gathered information in the Astral Express universe. Now she was learning even more.
This was a massive win.
"Achoo!"
Blade sneezed again and looked up at the still-lit office windows, anger rising.
What on earth were they doing that couldn't be finished?
Get off work already!
[Asta]: Blade looks so pitiful… freezing outside while Miss Ningguang enjoys hot drinks inside.
[Keqing]: Pitiful? He's clearly up to no good.
[Xiangling]: Yeah, Blade definitely isn't here for anything decent.
[Jing Yuan]: He's planning to make a move on Ningguang's employer.
[Feixiao]: Most likely.
[Herta]: Nicely done. That's exactly what he should do.
[Lisa]: What do you mean by that?
[Raiden Ei]: What do you mean by that?
[Trailblazer]: Literally—why wait for scores when you can just kill the employer and end it?
[Jean]: I don't think that's right. Games should be fair. Isn't this underhanded?
[Jing Yuan]: This is within the rules. Nothing wrong with it.
Jing Yuan thought Blade was doing great. If the rules allowed it, how could it be considered dirty?
[Keqing]: Valerius, aren't you going to stop him? He's a bodyguard—how can he do this?
[Valerius]: Heh. Then why wasn't Blade eliminated when his employer died?
That single sentence woke many people up.
Right—Blade's employer was dead, yet he wasn't eliminated.
Which meant this was allowed from the start.
In fact, this was probably the correct way to play.
These employers all had different identities, but none were naturally in mortal danger.
So what were bodyguards really for?
To stop the other players from assassinating them.
[Ruan Mei]: I see. This round is still players versus players.
[Beidou]: Now I get it—this isn't about who protects better, but who kills first.
[Silver Wolf]: Blade's got this.
[Jean]: He's still last place.
[Lisa]: Still last place.
[Silver Wolf]: ...…
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