The public story was that Kiana's mother, Cecilia, had died in the Second Eruption.
But there was a file in Otto's computer that gave a complete account of the Second Eruption, from how it began to how it ended.
Calling it a file, though, it could just as well be called a diary.
It was a record Otto had made during the Second Eruption from his own point of view, with notes added throughout to mark where he'd done things badly.
That let Otto understand what kind of person he had been back then.
Otto had ruined Cecilia.
Even though there had been countless chances to deal with the Second Herrscher, every one of them had been let pass, and in the end Cecilia had been driven onto a dead road.
Then, at the very end of the file, there was one more note.
*Too bad Siegfried didn't die.*
Siegfried—meaning Kiana's father.
As Kiana's adopted father, he had actually killed Kiana's mother, and had even wanted to finish off Kiana's father too.
So Otto felt that taking that stab from Kiana had not really been undeserved.
But now the situation was that Cecilia had apparently not died after all, and Otto suddenly felt that the stab he'd taken was a bit too much of a loss.
Still, judging from the situation, her condition didn't sound optimistic. Hopefully she could recover.
But if Cecilia really did wake up and found out how she'd been treated, would she come stab him too?
Siegfried was now a traitor to Schicksal, and probably wanted to kill him. If Cecilia woke up, Otto didn't know which side she would stand on.
If only she remembered nothing, and listened only to him.
That thought rose suddenly in Otto's heart, but he shook his head. How could something that good possibly happen?
"Mm." Otto answered. "Cecilia is important. She absolutely has to recover properly."
He gave the order, because Cecilia was, after all, the mother of his adopted daughter. If she came back, then presumably Kiana would stop stabbing him.
"Yes, Lord Overseer." Amber answered. "Then have you chosen your person?"
"Then…" Otto recalled the names Amber had listed. He'd pick one from the Schariac family.
If he built a good relationship there, then even if Cecilia really wanted to stab him, she would still have to take the feelings of her own family into account, right?
Without hesitating, Otto settled on his choice.
"Anna Schariac." Otto gave his selection. The lucky one assigned to protect him would be Anna.
Because Anna lacked the necessary seniority, that meant she lacked experience too. And since she wasn't familiar with him, it would be harder for her to notice anything off.
And precisely because she'd gone through less so far, she would be easier for him to get a grip on.
Otto choosing a Valkyrie to bring over wasn't only for the sake of protecting himself. He wanted to build a set of people who belonged to him.
Amber and Rita's duties would stay the same, but in the end, he wasn't the Otto they knew. Otto needed to cultivate his own little circle.
Once Rita and the others got used to this version of him, he'd fold them into that circle too.
This was what Otto wanted to do. Even though he was only a boy who liked tinkering with inventions, he'd still been born into an Overseer's family, so there were things he'd naturally picked up over time.
He'd inherited his mother Sabres's cleverness, learned power games from his father Nicolaus, and the gloomier part of him took strongly after his grandfather Frank.
"Prepare a copy of her file for me."
Otto gave the order, and Amber understood. The Lord Overseer was going to personally cultivate Anna. Presumably, before long, Schicksal would gain another S-rank Valkyrie.
She'd been about to excuse herself and go prepare the materials, but Otto raised a hand and pointed at Amber's goggles.
"Prepare me a pair of goggles exactly like yours. I won't be going out under my own identity this time."
Otto said this because over the last five hundred years, he'd made enemies beyond counting. If traces of his movements were discovered, some people might very well throw their lives away just to kill him.
"Then, Lord Overseer, do you need to use another body? That female body you previously ordered has already been adjusted and can be used at any time."
A female body!!??
Otto shrank a little. Why did he even have a female body? Did he have a crossdressing hobby? Or was it for hiding his identity while doing things that couldn't be spoken of?
An even more terrifying thought appeared in his head: it was possible that some of Schicksal's female Valkyries were actually Otto in disguise!
Who was Schicksal's number one Valkyrie? Of course it was I, Otto!
He wanted to press a hand to his forehead, but held back. Without showing anything on his face, he said, "I'll use this body as it is."
How could you make a boy still in puberty use a blonde, big-breasted body!
Everything would break!
"However—" Otto's eyes narrowed. "Back up my memories again. Make preparations for revival."
This was Otto's real aim. He wanted to overwrite the stored memories of future Otto.
That way, even if he died, he could revive again, at worst losing only a small part of his memories.
Amber didn't notice anything strange, because Otto really was Otto. He was just more than five hundred years younger, and with how little he spoke and how little expression he showed, the difference couldn't be judged.
"Yes, Lord Overseer." Amber answered. She only felt that the Lord Overseer really was cautious. Even for a small mission like this, he was still being this careful.
Otto stood up. He was going to upload his memories right now, because he had finally managed to seize the chance.
Amber respectfully led the way, and Otto silently followed behind her.
And after a while—
Otto died.
What remained was only this Otto from more than five hundred years in the past.
Otto stood among several hundred bodies. Looking at them, a smile appeared on his face.
He had succeeded. Under Amber's guidance, he'd successfully uploaded his memories and overwritten the previous ones.
The hidden danger was gone. He had put down roots in this world.
Even if he were killed, the Otto who revived would still be himself.
He no longer worried. He had no more shackles. In this era, only he stood above all.
That feeling of joy made the boy intensely happy. If Amber hadn't still been there, he almost would have jumped up on the spot.
He wanted to throw his arms around the sky and kiss the earth. He wanted to grab someone and hug them tight.
But the bodies around him were all his spare bodies. Hugging himself was still a bit much, and on top of that, roughly a third of them were female bodies—and they weren't wearing clothes, either—leaving Otto unsure where he was even supposed to look.
Even though they were his own bodies, he still felt too embarrassed to look at them.
"Lord Overseer, what is it?" Amber was a little puzzled. After uploading his memories, the Lord Overseer had just been standing there staring at his spare bodies.
Was he thinking about making more? Every single body cost a glaring amount of funding. Lord Overseer, you really already had enough bodies! Stop wasting money!
Hearing Amber speak, Otto stopped looking at the bodies. He turned and left ahead of her.
"Nothing."
"I just think I look very good."