In the image, the man picked the gray-haired girl up from the floor, then slung her over his shoulder.
Like carrying a sack.
Watching her daughters being taken away by someone else, the silent woman staring at the screen showed a trace of reluctance on her face, but in the end she still didn't speak.
This was a gorgeous mature woman.
Slightly uncanny purple eyes, waist-length golden curls falling down her back, a tall figure.
She wore a regulation military uniform, the front opened wide, dazzling white exposed. Over her shoulders hung a white cape with a red lining and fur collar, and she wore purple gemstone earrings, giving off an overbearing air.
She was Cocolia — one of Anti-Entropy's Executors, the acting Sovereign in Welt's absence.
At the same time, she was also the "mother" of the children in the orphanage.
But right now, she could only watch through the monitor as her daughters were taken away one by one.
It wasn't that she couldn't save them. Cocolia had received the distress signal from the orphanage and immediately brought people to mount a rescue, but while observing the situation through a hidden camera installed in the living room, she discovered that the ones who'd come were Schicksal Valkyries.
The anger that had rushed to her head cooled in an instant, and Cocolia began thinking through why these Schicksal dogs had appeared here.
Was this meant to lure her into going to the rescue, only for them to intercept and kill her halfway there?
Cocolia began considering all sorts of possibilities. It couldn't possibly be that they wanted to capture these children to threaten her — to make her hold back for fear of what might happen to them.
Even a three-year-old child would know that wouldn't work on her.
At this moment, Cocolia was not the orphanage's mother, but an Anti-Entropy Executor holding great power.
But even if it was Schicksal's Valkyries who had come, Cocolia still intended to save them. It was what happened next that made her stop.
Bronya erupted and launched a sneak attack on the blond man in goggles. Even Cocolia couldn't help nodding at the move. This man was obviously the leader, and taking him hostage really was a way out.
And just as Cocolia had expected, Bronya really did succeed in taking him hostage.
But when that man was pressed to the floor, his face smashing into the ground and knocking his goggles half-off —
Cocolia saw the man's face.
She knew Bronya was finished.
Because that face was the face of Schicksal Overseer Otto.
Cocolia couldn't possibly have mistaken it. She knew perfectly well what Otto looked like.
Because Anti-Entropy Headquarters had a photograph of Otto.
Very large. Very detailed.
And black-and-white.
The people of Anti-Entropy couldn't wait for Otto to die.
But why had Otto come to seize her children? If he'd personally led people here, then he must have been almost completely certain of success.
Could it be because of the already-concluded X-10 experiment? Because in that experiment, Cocolia had lost the "daughter" she loved most.
And then Otto really did reverse the situation on Bronya, gripping her by the throat as if he were about to strangle her to death on the spot. Cocolia watched until she was nearly blind with fury.
But in the end, Otto still didn't kill Bronya. He only carried the unconscious girl away over his shoulder, while the other Valkyries took the rest of the children.
Cocolia didn't choose to save them, because she wanted to know what Otto was really up to.
There was a biochip in Bronya's head, and she could remotely control it from here.
Maybe she could get useful information out of this. The thought flashed through Cocolia's mind. Her children had already been taken away, and although she was burning with anxiety,
she might still be able to get something hidden out of this.
Weighing it all, she chose not to intercept the Valkyrie squad led by Otto.
And besides — what if Otto's real aim was to draw her out?
With no interception from Cocolia, Otto returned safely all the way to Schicksal Headquarters.
And the moment he got off the transport aircraft, he saw Amber already standing on the landing pad. It seemed she was constantly keeping watch over her boss's movements.
Otto stepped out of the cabin first. Bronya was still unconscious, and he had her hooked at his waist, carrying her almost like a bag.
"And this is…?"
Amber looked at the Bronya in Otto's hand with a little surprise. Could this be the reason the Lord Overseer had personally gone to bring people back?
But this child looked so young. About the same as Lady Theresa.
Amber suddenly thought of Lady Durandal, Lady Theresa, and Anna, whom he'd just started keeping by his side. She noticed a pattern.
The Lord Overseer liked little girls?
But then, on second thought, that made sense too. Someone like the Lord Overseer, after living for so long, must have had much of the fire in his heart burn out, so perhaps he had a special fondness for energetic young girls.
"Brought back a little local specialty."
Otto said it with a smile. Then the Valkyries led the orphanage children out of the cabin. To their surprise, Lady Amber seemed to be treating this Sir Alpha with a great deal of courtesy.
Then, thinking of the goggles the two of them wore — same style, different colors — the Valkyries began to suspect that Sir Alpha was some relative of Lady Amber's.
"Alright. Find a place for them to stay properly."
Otto looked at the other orphanage children. Their eyes were full of fear and unease toward this unfamiliar place.
"Don't hurt them." Otto added. He'd already realized by now that maybe these children didn't weigh that heavily in Cocolia's heart after all.
Otherwise, how could he have succeeded so easily?
And from the conditions inside the orphanage, it was obvious enough that money had been tight. A giant organization like Anti-Entropy couldn't possibly be so stingy about raising a few dozen children unless something was off.
But since they'd already been brought back, Schicksal could raise them instead. Schicksal wasn't short on the food for a few dozen more mouths.
"Are you planning to open an orphanage?" Amber said it with a smile, but in her heart she was already calculating how much it would cost to raise these children. The Lord Overseer never cared much about budget issues. It looked like the new Kallen Fantasy installment would have to be shelved for a while again.
"No." Otto shook his head. "Not an orphanage."
He had no interest in running an orphanage. "We'll just raise them until they grow up. Once they come of age, if they want to stay in Schicksal, they can stay. If they don't, give them some money and part on good terms."
This counted as a small piece of mercy on Otto's part. After all, he'd brought them here by force.
If they didn't want to stay after growing up, just give them some money and part on good terms? Amber added another number onto the sum she'd already worked out in her head. The Kallen Fantasy sequel that might originally have come out next year now looked like it would have to wait until the year after.
Squeezing the Lord Overseer dry was part of her duty as his secretary.
"Then what about this one?"
Amber looked at Bronya, whom Otto was still carrying and hadn't let go of. The other girls had already been taken away by the Valkyries, and only Anna was still following behind Otto.
It was obvious enough that this girl was more important to the Lord Overseer.
Otto thought of the answer he'd gotten from the other children. He now knew that the girl he was carrying was called Bronya.
She was his little Seele's Sister Bronya.
"I'm taking her back to my room."
And when Amber heard that, a frightening thought flashed through her mind.
The Lord Overseer couldn't possibly be a lolicon, could he?