Chapter 348: A Man of Principle

In the bathroom, Shien chatted with Lucy for over an hour, until his skin was almost pruned, before finally stopping.

Although Lucy still seemed a bit reluctant, there was nothing they could do. Being in different places meant they couldn’t continue chatting forever, and both of them had things to do.

Mainly, Shien didn’t want someone barging in and yelling, “How long are you going to hog the bathroom?”

Therefore, Shien cut off the magic power, causing the screen, which had lost its magical support, to dim. The ripples in space gradually disappeared, eventually turning back into a bead that fell into Shien’s palm.

“Is this the legendary phone marathon?”

Looking at the magic tool in his hand, Shien chuckled.

“Well, I did something very couple-like. Hopefully, I won’t be burned at the stake for it.”

Shien contentedly put the bead away, got out of the water, dried himself, got dressed, and then draped a towel over his shoulders. Wiping his hair, he walked out of the bathroom.

However, when Shien walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, he encountered someone.

“Beatrice?”

Shien called out her name in confusion.

Beatrice was standing on the open-air balcony of the living room, gazing at the scenery outside. The profile that entered Shien’s view seemed listless.

It wasn’t her usual sleepy expression, but one that seemed to be filled with dislike and forbearance.

Shien looked outside suspiciously, but all he could see was an unsightly wall.

After all, the buildings in Cosmos were currently very disordered. What appeared outside wasn’t a beautiful landscape, but a jumbled mess of crooked building towers and walls that obscured the surrounding area.

That sight was indeed quite unpleasant. It certainly wouldn’t make anyone feel good, but Shien felt that Beatrice’s expression wasn’t simply due to the unattractive scenery.

Just as Shien was puzzled by this, a voice quietly came from beside him.

“She’s been standing there for half an hour.”

The elusive maid had appeared behind Shien at some point, uttering these words.

Shien wasn’t startled.

But precisely because he wasn’t startled, he felt a bit sad.

Because he hadn’t detected Lasha’s presence beforehand. He simply wasn’t startled because he was used to it.

Shouldn’t Shien feel sad that he was already accustomed to such a situation?

Shien collected his thoughts and looked at Lasha.

“What’s wrong with her?”

Shien asked tentatively.

“I don’t know.” Lasha shook her head, calmly saying, “But ever since we arrived in Cosmos, that child has been showing that expression from time to time. Sometimes it’s only for a moment, sometimes it lasts for a long time. I don’t understand what’s going on.” ꭆΑɴꝋᛒЁŝ

“Is that so?” Shien frowned. “Didn’t you ask her directly?”

“Not directly, but I’ve probed a bit.” Lasha said lightly, “Unfortunately, she won’t say anything, or rather, she’s unwilling to say anything. Sometimes, when I ask her, she even tilts her head, indicating she doesn’t understand what I mean.”

That was indeed tricky.

“Of course, one of the reasons I haven’t taken forceful measures is because I haven’t figured it out.” Lasha began to say some rather frightening words. “If I judged it to be harmful to Master, I would do everything in my power to find out the reason. But based on my judgment, it doesn’t seem to pose a threat to Mr. Shien, so I haven’t acted rashly.”

Hearing these words, Shien subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

This maid was too formidable. Shien already regarded her as an omnipotent god. If this god acted recklessly for her own purposes, he couldn’t imagine what terrifying things might happen.

Therefore, hearing Lasha’s words, Shien first breathed a sigh of relief, thanking heaven, thanking earth, and thanking her for being able to stop in time.

Lasha’s purpose in appearing here seemed to be to report this matter to Shien.

“I believe Mr. Shien should be able to handle this matter.” Lasha lifted the sides of her skirt, curtsied to Shien, and said, “That’s all I have to say. I’m going to help Lady Airi with her bath.”

Hearing this, Shien nodded and spoke.

“Be careful. That girl is sleeping, and she usually doesn’t like going into the bathroom with others. If she’s woken up, she might get angry.”

Shien casually reminded her.

However, this reminder elicited the following response:

“Please rest assured, it’s just bathing. As a qualified maid, I can handle it without the person I’m serving noticing, and without disturbing their rest.”

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Leaving behind these chilling words, Lasha retreated.

Watching her confident back, Shien muttered,

“Sooner or later, I’ll learn this trick too…”

This was an unknown ambition in Shien’s heart.

After all, after learning Lasha’s stealthy undressing technique last time, Shien had successfully gotten rid of his virginity and taken the world’s number one princess. If he could learn another stealthy bathing technique, wouldn’t he be close to reaching the peak of his life as a walking humanoid weapon?

Although in his past life, as a high-quality veteran novel reader, Shien had deeply loathed the “walking humanoid weapon” trope, it was a different matter when he himself became the protagonist and could live such a life.

What normal man wouldn’t want to live such a formidable life?

Shien considered himself a normal man.

Therefore, no one had the right to criticize him.

Of course, Shien was a man of principle and wouldn’t casually make a move on someone he wasn’t interested in, unlike those despicable men who cursed “LSP” (lewd, sexually suggestive person) on screen all day while thinking “GKD” (get kids downstairs, implying sharing NSFW content) in their hearts. One thing on their lips, another in their minds, truly more nested than a Russian nesting doll.

As a man of principle, Shien’s requirements weren’t high. He just hoped to make a move on Diere, Melika, Lasha, and the like, and successfully corrupt them.

Besides that, if any other beautiful girls were willing to offer themselves, Shien wouldn’t be unwilling to reluctantly accept them.

Like Nien… Nien… Nien…

Hmm… not too demanding, right? (sly grin)

Alright, getting off track…

Shien immediately stopped his brainstorming and walked towards Beatrice.

Beatrice seemed to notice the footsteps behind her. As if snapping back to reality, she turned her head and looked over.

“What are you doing?”

Shien came to Beatrice, crouched down, maintaining eye contact with the girl, and smiled at her.

Beatrice didn’t speak, remaining silent as always, just quietly looking at Shien without saying a word.

Shien didn’t expect Beatrice to speak.

Two days of interaction had let Shien know that this girl either completely didn’t want to speak or completely couldn’t speak.

And intuition told Shien that Beatrice’s situation was the latter.

This girl seemed to genuinely be unable to speak.

Not only could she not speak, but sometimes, Beatrice seemed to not understand what others were saying, giving off the impression of a newborn baby.

Shien suddenly recalled a piece of history.

It was a piece of history described in the ancient book Treece*(previously Terrance)* had given him.

Recalling that history, Shien looked at Beatrice and slowly spoke,

“Hey, little Beatrice, who are you really?”

Shien asked aloud.

“…”

Beatrice didn’t answer, remaining silent and calm, yet giving off a feeling of lowering her head in dejection.

Looking at Beatrice like this, Shien felt a sense of suffocation.

He felt as if he could sense Beatrice’s inner thoughts, as if their perceptions were synchronized, as if a connection had been formed, making him extremely uncomfortable.

At this moment, Shien could perceive the anguish, loneliness, and… sadness in Beatrice’s heart.

Bearing this sadness, Shien hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“If you have something on your mind, you can tell me.” Shien looked directly at Beatrice. “Don’t judge a book by its cover. I consider myself somewhat capable. Maybe I can help you.”

Hearing this, ripples appeared in Beatrice’s eyes as she looked at Shien.

But more than ripples, Beatrice’s eyes seemed to be filled with hesitation and timidity.

She seemed to want to tell Shien something, but was worried that telling him would scare him away, or cause him harm, or bring him misfortune.

Shien, incredibly, perceived these inner emotions of Beatrice.

Therefore…

“Although I don’t know if you can understand me, I want to tell you something.”

Shien looked at Beatrice and spoke word by word.

“Actually, I’m a Hero summoned from another world.”

This was the first time Shien had openly admitted his identity to someone.

And Beatrice seemed to know about the existence of “Heroes,” causing her to abruptly raise her head and look at Shien, her eyes revealing a surprise and astonishment she hadn’t shown before.

Seeing this, Shien proved himself with actions.

Specifically, he took out his Holy Sword.

“Heresu!”

With a short incantation, the originally ordinary-looking Holy Sword immediately released a layer of its seal, revealing its basic form.

Holy light immediately illuminated the surroundings, causing Beatrice to stare intently.

“How about it? I didn’t lie to you, right?” Shien smiled. “So, tell me what’s on your mind.”

Beatrice fell silent again.

However, after a while, Beatrice reached out, tugged at Shien’s sleeve, and pointed outside.

“Are you asking me to go with you?”

Shien asked thoughtfully.

Beatrice nodded.

“Alright, I’ll go with you.”

Without much hesitation, Shien agreed.

Immediately, the two left the room and headed outside the inn.