Establishing prestige?
Lierre smiled. Is he trying to dangle a carrot in front of me?
Lierre didn't believe for a second that Otto would hand Schicksal over to someone else before he fulfilled his obsession of resurrecting Kallen.
However, it didn't really matter. Lierre only wanted this verbal promise from Otto so she could use the title of 'future Overseer of Schicksal' to stir up trouble in the future.
Besides, even if Otto were willing to give her Schicksal, she wouldn't be willing to take it.
It would be better to leave this mess to Theresa and let her deal with the headaches.
"Prestige isn't something that can be built in a day or two. To win people over, one needs to achieve some accomplishments, and accomplishments significant enough to command respect aren't that easy to come by."
Lierre let out a sigh, feigning difficulty, and said, "I wonder if Overseer Otto would be willing to provide me with a position where I can show what I'm capable of? My request isn't much; I only need the position of Acting Overseer."
You're practically asking to usurp the throne, and yet you say your request isn't much?
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Theresa hurriedly pulled Lierre back, warning her with a look before turning to Otto. "Grandfather, she was just joking with you. She meant no harm, so please don't take it to heart."
"It's alright, Little Theresa. I'm not some sort of villain; how could I be angry just because of Lierre's momentary slip of the tongue?" Otto said. "Rest assured, I won't go out of my way to hurt your sweetheart over some trivial matters."
"Wh... what... sweetheart?! Grandfather, don't talk nonsense!" Theresa jumped to her feet, glaring at Otto with a face flushed with shame and annoyance.
"Am I wrong?"
"This..."
Theresa was suddenly left speechless. She certainly couldn't deny it now, otherwise all their previous efforts would be for nothing.
At this moment, Rita chimed in to help. "Lord Overseer, what you said just now was too direct. It was far too embarrassing for Lady Theresa, which is why she instinctively tried to refute it."
"Ahem..." Theresa coughed twice, essentially giving her silent consent.
Otto stared at Theresa for a moment and proactively apologized, "So that's how it is. Then it was Grandfather who was in the wrong."
The probe just now had revealed that there wasn't much genuine affection between Theresa and Lierre, which left him feeling a bit disappointed.
Even though he was prepared to let Theresa suffer some grievances, he still hoped that Theresa could be like Siegfried and Cecilia—finding mutual love even in the face of a forced marriage alliance.
But the situation wasn't too bad; at least Theresa wasn't being coerced by anyone else, otherwise she wouldn't be so concerned about Lierre.
This was fine too.
Otto withdrew his thoughts and then said to Theresa and Rita, "Theresa, take Rita for a tour around St. Freya Academy. I have something I want to discuss with Lierre in private."
"But..."
"Don't worry. After our talk, I will return Lierre to you in one piece."
"Ugh..."
Such suggestive words left Theresa feeling distressed. She then turned her head to look at Lierre, feeling very uneasy.
Will it be okay?
"I know what I'm doing," Lierre gave her a confident nod.
"Lady Theresa, I'll have to trouble you to lead the way for me." Rita came to Theresa's side.
Seeing this, Theresa could only lead Rita away, looking back every three steps.
Lierre had been causing too much trouble lately, after all.
Once the door closed, only the two of them remained in the room.
"I can see that Theresa truly cares about you. Even I have never enjoyed such treatment," Otto couldn't help but remark with a sigh.
"She's just afraid I'll cause trouble."
Lierre looked at Otto and asked, "Getting back to the main topic, did Overseer Otto specifically have me stay behind because you want to get the method to resurrect Kallen Kaslana from me?"
When Otto heard that familiar name, it was like a heavy hammer smashing into the depths of his heart, instantly stirring up a thousand waves.
He didn't need to know through what channels Lierre had learned of his Obsession; he only wanted a clear answer now.
Through five hundred years of hardship, Otto had even forgotten Kallen's exact appearance, yet despite having been everywhere in the world, he had ultimately found no hope of resurrecting her.
But Lierre's sudden appearance had once again given him hope, clearer than the divine revelation he had seen during the Second Honkai.
For the first time in a long while, Otto felt the emotion known as 'nervousness.' This caused his nerves to tighten slightly as he stared into Lierre's azure eyes and pressed, "If you have a way to resurrect Kallen, please tell me. I can exchange everything I possess for it, and I will even pay any price I can afford."
His voice didn't waver in the slightest, and his demeanor was incredibly solemn and serious.
"Sometimes I really admire you—willing to give up your everything just to resurrect a woman who didn't love you in the first place."
"Heh... this is just the wishful thinking of a fool." Otto gave a self-deprecating smile.
Lierre's brow arched as she spoke, "Before I give you a definite answer, let me first introduce you to the origins of Cecilia and the others..."
"Cecilia, Joyce, and Cheng Lixue haven't exactly undergone a 'resurrection.' Rather, they never truly arrived at the point of death."
"At the moment they were about to die, I repaired their damaged bodies and then summoned them from the past to the present, preventing history from being rewritten."
"Their lives are being continued in the 'present.' The difference between them and others is that their death lies not in the future, but in the past."
Hearing this, the light in Otto's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
According to this explanation, this was even better than resurrection, because the former hadn't died even once.
"Sounds good, but what are the drawbacks?" Otto was not dazed by the sudden pleasant surprise.
"The drawbacks?" Lierre paused for a moment and said, "The summoned individuals cannot defy the will of the summoner. As long as I agree to it, they can't even commit suicide. This is the only drawback for them. After all, what kind of summoner would I be if I couldn't even control my own summons?"
Otto's brow furrowed. This wasn't the answer he wanted.
To let Kallen lose her freedom entirely and become a puppet for others to manipulate at will—this was not something he was willing to see!
Seeing Otto fall into silence, Lierre ignored him and continued, "Next is the question you care about most: how to resurrect Kallen. To answer that, I have to mention the concept of the soul, which involves the religious knowledge you are most familiar with—the Garden of Eden, 'Heaven'."
Schicksal was modeled after the Catholic Church; it had gradually developed from a religious organization into the behemoth it was today. Otto couldn't possibly be ignorant of the stories in the Bible.
Lierre stared at Otto with a touch of interest and asked in return, "Overseer Otto, do you want to drag Kallen Kaslana's soul down from Heaven to continue experiencing the suffering of this Human World?"
Otto: "..."
At this moment, there was only silence.