“Damn it, I was having too much fun and forgot to ask about Fulilian,”
Rod muttered under his breath, carefully poking his head out of the window and silently climbing in.
“Whatever, I’ll find a way to confirm later.”
“This time of night, everyone should be asleep.”
The assassination techniques his teacher taught him were indeed convenient.
However, Rod didn't plan on using them for stealing kisses or any such thing, but rather to escape the consequences of facing his maid’s wrath.
“Your Majesty, it’s so late, where have you been?”
A dim yellow light suddenly flickered from the corner of the shadows.
The cool maid, wearing her Moon Spirit armor, arms crossed, stared expressionlessly at Rod, like a wife questioning her husband’s late return.
Rod immediately jolted, stopping in his tracks and turning back with a sheepish smile.
“Oh, Rita, you’re still awake.”
Rod winked at Rita, trying to fool her, but Rita only gave him a cold stare.
“.......”
Black eyes met red, and both silently read each other’s minds.
After a while, Rita sighed in compromise, got up, walked up to Rod, lowered her head, and took his hand, carefully examining his body.
“My little master, you knew I was here all along, yet you pretended not to notice, you really are like a fool.”
“Uh, well, I had to play along with you, couldn't just act blind, right?”
“Only you, a monarch, would play along with your own maid. You have no majesty at all, if others knew, they would underestimate you. Don’t do this next time.”
Rita patiently admonished Rod, trying to persuade him to act more imperious.
Rod, however, let it go in one ear and out the other, saying matter-of-factly.
“Only a complete fool would put on airs in front of those who truly care about them.”
“You are family to me, even the people, the country, even the world, are not as precious as you.”
Rita reached out with her slender index finger and gently tapped Rod's forehead, advising him helplessly.
“You really are a ridiculous monarch, you can’t say that.”
“Your people expect a benevolent you, and your soldiers trust a wise you.”
Despite her words, Rita couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
Rod noticed the [Eternal Frost of Skadi] sitting in the corner, understanding that Rita must have been worried about him the whole time, ready to strike at any moment, which touched him even more.
Clang—
He pulled the scythe over to his right hand in front of Rita's confused eyes, then drew his Zanpakuto, releasing the absorbed ether from within.
A blue light flashed across the scythe.
After doing all this, Rod proudly handed the scythe to Rita.
“Try it.”
Rita looked at the scythe, which appeared unchanged on the outside, but didn't ask any questions, instead obediently took hold of the scythe's handle.
“！！！”
At that moment, Rita felt a power that [Eternal Frost of Skadi] should never possess!
As if she could tear apart space with a simple flick of her wrist!
This scythe was as if it had already become connected to her blood, and she could even faintly hear the voice of the soul dwelling within the scythe.
Rita played with the scythe fondly, then suddenly looked up at Rod.
“Your Majesty, did your ability evolve again too?”
Rod snapped his fingers.
“As expected of Rita, you guessed right.”
“It’s not really an evolution, though. It’s just that my magical power has increased, allowing me to do things I couldn’t before.”
“I copied the abilities and characteristics of this Zanpakuto to your scythe.”
“Not only that, if you become one with it, you might even be able to develop new Shikai and Bankai.”
Summoning Blade - True can analyze objects, then consume ether to replicate them out of thin air.
But what if, after analyzing, instead of replicating it completely, you simply add the original’s characteristics to another object?
Object characteristics ultimately come from the arrangement of ether and the basic attributes of the constituent elements.
Using the game's attribute list to quantify it would be something like [keywords].
The old Rod could only replicate identical things.
But now he could imprint countless analyzed keywords onto the desired object!
In other words, as long as he has enough keywords, he could completely arrange and combine them to create a godly weapon that would put all others to shame!
Ink Moon Halo is indeed precious, but Rod didn't think it was wrong to give its characteristics to Rita.
He even felt that this was far from enough to reciprocate Rita’s feelings.
Rod put on a smug look.
“How is it? I’m amazing, right?”
Rita put down the scythe with a sense of wonder, touching Rod's cheek, with genuine admiration.
“As expected of Your Majesty, if it were you now, perhaps you would already be stronger than the Law of Reason I’ve seen.”
Rod raised an eyebrow.
Yang's sit-ups? Or the twin-turbo duck?
But the incomplete Law of Reason requires knowledge of the principles when constructing creations.
While the complete Law of Reason doesn’t require that, it's equivalent to [I don’t need to understand why, but I can do it].
Summoning Blade - True is even above the complete Law of Reason, with an added deconstruction ability, equivalent to [I can do it, and I understand it].
So, really, I am indeed stronger.
“Whatever, now’s not the time to be discussing this.”
The young monarch, rare as it was, exercised the arbitrary power of being king.
“Rita, I’m a little tired, come to bed with me.”
Rod’s original intention was to sleep with Rita in his arms.
After getting used to having someone around, he really didn’t want to sleep alone on the big bed.
But in Rita's ears, this was automatically translated into a very racy statement.
Rita blinked, her delicate face blushing with a beautiful shade of crimson, her eyes filled with unspeakable emotions.
“I-I understand...”
Rita felt that her little master was a little different tonight.
As if he was more manly?
Anyway, she couldn't explain this strange feeling.
Rod did see Rita's strange expression, but he just assumed her little quirk was acting up again, and didn't pay it much attention.
Rod, with Rita’s hands-on service, changed into his pajamas, climbed into bed, tucked himself under the covers, and closed his eyes with satisfaction.
The hot temperature from beside him, the faint fragrance in the room.
Rita naturally put her arms around Rod, closed her beautiful eyes, and let out a contented sound.
One minute later.
Rita suddenly opened her eyes wide, with an unbelievable expression, her voice both nervous and inexplicably excited.
“Your Majesty, you...”
Rod desperately wanted to find a hole to crawl into, desperately forcing his expression to remain calm.
“Ah, well, you see, I recently gained the power of a dragon. My physical features have therefore developed further. Even though I look young, in terms of maturity, I’m basically an adult.”
“Is-is that so? Should I congratulate Your Majesty?”
“Uh, not really. But the characteristics of dragons, you know Rita, so it’s not like I’m doing it on purpose.”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
The two remained silent for another three minutes.
Rod’s voice was now a bit strained.
“Rita, why don’t you go back to sleep?”
Rita hesitated for a moment, but didn't respond.
After a while, she silently covered her blushing cheeks with the blanket and burrowed under it.
“......！！！”