Endless Silver Machine

On the fourth underground floor of the Imperial City Defense Bureau, Professor Cocona is still sitting under the huge suspended crystal column today, with her personal terminal connected to the console.

Her work was actually completed two days ago. The code written by the predecessors who had gone to another world was cracked by Professor Cocona in three times and five times, and he also rewrote it all with his own code.

However, during the coding process, she learned a secret that perhaps even the top brass of the Imperial City Defense Bureau didn't know, so she had to stay here.

On the fourth underground floor, even Ruth, the director of the Imperial City Defense Bureau, has no authority to enter and exit at will, and must obtain approval from August's senior management.

"It turns out the legend is true..."

A passage was displayed on the screen of the personal terminal, and Professor Cocona fell into obsession after reading it.

"Actually, it doesn't matter to me. I don't care much about the secrets of the Bis Empire."

The sentences on the screen immediately jumped out many lines one after another, so fast that Professor Cocona couldn't finish them all at once.

Her fingertips were already pressed on the keyboard of her personal terminal.

"This kind of request is not too much...but as for the carrier, just use him..."

She deftly entered the new code on the keyboard and unplugged the cable from the console.

After bypassing the maze of server boxes, she came to the black box numbered one.

One feature of these groups of server chassis is that they split a complete piece of data into multiple ordered pieces and then store them separately.

As long as one of these server boxes fails, the data of all server boxes will be unreadable.

Professor Cocona connected his personal terminal to the excuse in front of him. The recoded database was completely within Professor Cocona's control, and he could access it directly without even needing a password.

"Now I think about it, maybe I have also become the object of August's attention."

Having control over the fourth underground floor of the Imperial City Defense Bureau is equivalent to fully knowing all the data of the Bis Empire. Professor Cocona had not thought of this before.

She smiled bitterly, and her fingers began to dance on the keyboard.

"Forget it, just do a little bit of manipulation and take it as payment for this job."

The monetary reward prepared by the Imperial City Defense Bureau for inviting Professor Cocona will certainly not be small, but Professor Cocona does not particularly need that kind of thing.

The reminder lights on the black server chassis lighted up one after another, and the black chassis arranged around the crystal columns lit up the entire space.

"What a prank... I'm really looking forward to what kind of expression he will show when he finds out..."

In the flashing red light, Professor Cocona, with her head buried, made a mischievous "goo goo goo" smile.

…………

Central Street in the East District of the Imperial Capital is a busy place. Mixed in the flow of people, Aika and Liuyin quickly arrived at the designated cake shop.

This is not the store they visited on God's birthday, but the sweet and fragrant smell of freshly baked food is exactly the same.

"This is it."

Aika looked up at the second floor. Sure enough, it was not so easy to see the environment on the second floor from below.

"I miss you so much. I brought Xiao Xi here before."

Liuyin sighed with a tone that sounded like he was getting older.

Aika looked up at the signboard like Liuyin, and the figures of Liuyin and Weixi from a few years ago seemed to appear in front of them.

If you just imagine, this kind of picture can appear in front of you at any time, even if you are not the person, you can easily do it.

But in reality, the days when they can be together like this are numbered.

Reality can never be as good as dreams. This is probably what the two of them are thinking now.

"Let's go, standing in front of the store will cause trouble for the boss."

After satisfying his imagination, Liuyin walked into the store first.

Cake shops are usually overcrowded and the clerks are also very busy.

Aika and Liuyin climbed up the stairs to the second floor and found two people in casual clothes in the inner corner.

It was indeed very difficult for Lan Ming and Xia Luo to sneak out. Lan Ming wore a brown hat and small glasses, and his heterochromatic eyes were perfectly hidden with contact lenses.

"Here here!"

Lan Ming greeted Aika in a low voice, but the surroundings were so noisy that he had no idea what she was talking about. Aika only judged it based on the shape of her mouth.

The seats for four people seemed to have been reserved long ago, so no one was competing with the two people who just came in.

Lan Ming and Xia Luo both showed somewhat surprised expressions when they saw Liu Yin following Aika.

"You are...Miss Liuyin from the Holy See, right? Long time no see."

Lan Ming greeted Liuyin who was sitting next to Aika with hesitation, and Liuyin also bowed his head slightly and saluted.

"Greetings from a long time ago, Her Royal Highness Princess Lan Ming Yiela, Her Excellency Charlotte Aizein."

It turns out that she also knows Charlotte, and Aika had been wondering if they knew each other before.

"G-Jiu Shu greetings! Wow...it's Mr. Liuyin himself..."

"Eh?"

Aika and Liuyin were both taken aback by Charlotte's sudden change of attitude. Her face was flushed and she looked at Liuyin with longing eyes.

"Ah, that's what happened..."

Aika suddenly remembered that Charlotte seemed to have this mysterious attitude when she saw Wei Xi on the airship.

"Ah... Charlotte has always admired Miss Liuyin and Miss Weixi."

Lan Ming was used to Xia Luo's attitude, and she explained to Aika with a wry smile.

"Is that so..." Knowing that he had become the object of Charlotte's admiration, Liuyin shyly looked away slightly, "I am very ordinary..."

"Not ordinary at all!"

Liuyin is a girl who can already become a professor at Shigezuki Academy. If this is "ordinary", then it would be rude to so many people in the world who cannot even be called "ordinary".

Liuyin, who was firmly denied by Charlotte, lowered her head in embarrassment.

Although he always looked great in front of everyone, he still showed such an attitude after being praised so frankly. Aika snickered in his heart.

"Lan Ming, did you contact me because of something today?"

"Do I have to contact you only when something important happens?"

It looked like he was bullying Lan Ming, and Xia Luo actually glared at him.

But if Lan Ming said this, Aika could rest assured. It seems that the "important thing" did not happen. Sure enough, today's meeting was just her whim.

"A lot of things seem to have happened in the Imperial Capital recently. I thought Her Highness the Princess must be running around now."

"Don't use that kind of title here..."

Lan Ming looked around in panic with his peripheral vision. Fortunately, the voices and music in the store were relatively loud, and no one seemed to notice Aika's name for Lan Ming.

"Really...I tried my best to pretend..."

"Haha...Sorry, sorry..."

If Lan Ming reveals his identity here, it will probably cause several waves of people. After all, she is a girl known as a national idol.

Maybe without disguise, it would be more difficult to attack those with evil intentions.

"that……"

Liuyin seemed to want to talk to Lan Ming, but he couldn't call her "Her Royal Highness" directly. Liuyin didn't know how to address her.

Lan Ming noticed Liuyin's hesitant attitude.

"Miss Liuyin, you can just call me sister. Miss Weixi does the same thing."

——Wei Xi didn't do this... Aika looked at Lan Ming with shame as he continued to induce Liu Yin without changing his expression.

"Xiao Xi wouldn't do that..." Wei Xi said what she believed, but her voice seemed to lack confidence, "... now it's just the situation, so I can only be rude for the time being..."

Liuyin now had his shoulders hunched, looking uneasy. He usually pretends to be mature, but at times like this he is surprisingly childish.

"...Lan, Lan Ming...sister..."

"Okay, good boy."

Lan Ming looked very happy and stretched out his hand across the table to touch Liu Yin. I don't know if it was because of the other party's identity or other reasons, Liuyin did not hide away like when he was touched by Aika, but obediently lowered his head and let Lan Ming play with it.

After rubbing Liuyin's soft silver hair for a while, Lan Ming retracted his body with satisfaction.

Charlotte on the side seemed to be a little jealous of Liuyin's treatment. When Lan Ming stretched out his hand to Liuyin, she showed an expression of unwillingness. She didn't relax until Lan Ming let go of Liuyin.

For Xia Luo, both Liu Yin and Lan Ming were the objects of his admiration. No matter how much he thought about it, he wouldn't be excited if the two of them left him alone to make out. Aika thought for a moment, and it seemed like this was the case.

"Actually, I just want to talk to you today. After all, in August, there is no one except Charlotte who I can face with this attitude."

As a member of the royal family, Lan Ming lived a life of pretentiousness in front of the powerful every day. It was understandable that he would occasionally want to relax like this.

Aika didn't mind being the one to relax her. Lan Ming's life was not an area that he could interfere with, so he was very satisfied to be able to do something for her like this.

"Miss Liuyin probably won't care about my way of speaking."

"It's okay...I think it's okay..."

Liuyin and Lan Ming are the same type of people in this aspect. It is precisely because they can empathize with each other that they cannot feel the identity gap between them.

Lan Ming and Xia Luo deliberately avoided talking about official matters, and instead talked about topics that "ordinary girls" would talk about.

Unknowingly, Liuyin, who was a little unable to let go at first, replaced Aika as the chat partner between the two.

It's not that Aika isn't good at talking, it's just that it's always difficult for him to get in on the topic among girls.

The same is true at home. Because of the care taken by Luoluo and the others, it has not been so obvious yet.

Clothes, desserts... they learned most of these things from the Internet, but they could still talk about them. Aika couldn't help feeling that girls are incredible creatures.

The cakes in this store are indeed delicious, Aika thought as she put the fork into her mouth.

…………

Lan Ming and Xia Luo couldn't leave August for a long time. Their meeting lasted only for an hour, but this hour was full of meaning that didn't exist in August.

When the two of them said goodbye to Aika and Liuyin, Augustus had already sent a special car to pick them up.

"Your Highness, is this all right?"

"Well, I feel much better. I didn't expect Miss Liuyin to be such a cute child in private. Did it break your fantasy?"

Lan Ming looked at the suddenly embarrassed Charlotte with a smile.

"That won't happen! Lady Liuyin will always be a role model for knights, and I learned a lot from her today. Knights not only need to have virtues, but also have the elegant interests of ordinary girls."

Charlotte expressed all her admiration for Liuyin in one breath.

"Haha, is it a woman's elegant interest..."

"Eh? Is there anything wrong with what I said?"

Seeing Lan Ming turn his head and trying to hold back his laughter, Xia Luo tilted his head in confusion and asked.

Just talking about daily topics was regarded as "an elegant interest of ordinary girls", and Lan Ming also liked Xia Luo's serious look.

"But, there is something that needs to be told to them..."

Going back to his original question, Charlotte didn't know why Lan Ming never mentioned the topic of "that".

"Hmm... I think it's better not to say anything now. Besides, he is not my knight now. Is it really the right choice to impose this burden on him?"

Lan Ming had already exposed Aika and the others to the public eye because of her willful invitation, and her pride could not allow her to continue to rely on him.

"your Highness……"

Charlotte could no longer say words to comfort Lan Ming, because such words had lost their original effect in the constant telling.

His words may have lost their power, but as an outsider, he might still be able to be useful to those he serves.

At first, Charlotte really didn't want Aika to become Lan Ming's knight, which did contain his own selfishness.

But during this period of time, she had been working hard with Lan Ming, and she completely felt her own powerlessness.

Would Aika have done better if she had been in her position? Charlotte couldn't help but start to think like this.