Southern District, Outer Gate 90000, Biological City, Umbrella Headquarters.
The Umbrella Corporation, founded by Angra Mainyu himself, had survived the chaos of Absolute Evil's seal breaking.
Angra Mainyu's identity was exposed, but what shocked everyone was that the Umbrella Corporation unexpectedly endured and was still managed by Aishelia.
In the luxurious office on the top floor, Aishelia signed documents with glee.
She didn't know why she continued managing the Umbrella Corporation now. Neither Athena nor Ouroboros had given her any new tasks.
So, what else could Aishelia do but keep running Umbrella?
KNOCK KNOCK!
A knock sounded at the door.
Aishelia set down the pen fluttering like a butterfly between her fingers and looked up toward the door.
Through the one-way glass door, she saw a black-haired girl in a sleeveless black dress, with a jacket tied around her waist.
It was Rin, the girl she saved during the battle to defend Arcadia's flag.
It seemed she had an unusual connection with that savior.
"Come in."
Seeing Rin, Aishelia couldn't suppress a grudge against Ouroboros.
Why didn't your people come get her?
This made her look foolish for saving this little girl.
"This is an order from Floor Master Salamandra in Blazing Fire City. A total of five thousand doses of bloodline purification medicine."
Rin placed the contract in front of Aishelia like a secretary, awaiting her decision.
Aishelia was now the true leader of the Umbrella Corporation.
"Oh? Interesting? Worthy of a Floor Master. I didn't expect Salamandra to still have this foundation."
Aishelia looked at the contract, the corner of her lips curling into a smile.
"The price of this Gift isn't cheap, and they ordered five thousand at once?"
"I guess they're planning to live frugally for a while."
After assessing Salamandra's current foundation, Aishelia formed an impression of them in her mind.
"Forget it, give them a discount. After all, they're that Dragon family."
Though she was a bit annoyed at having lost to Dragons before, Aishelia wasn't the type to take advantage of others' difficulties.
Moreover, she was just a manager. It wasn't her money being spent.
Upset? Not at all.
But honestly, the pharmaceutical business was something else. The profits were enormous. This money-making speed was far faster than Perseus' weapon-forging business.
That one big order alone could generate tens of millions of Halloween Coins or Gold Coins.
But what was the point of having so much cash flow? This was Little Garden, not Wall Street in the outside world.
Cash was useful, but its utility was limited. Little Garden's hard currency was Gifts.
Currency was merely a means to expand influence.
Money that couldn't be converted into foundation was just a pile of scrap metal.
However, one rather embarrassing fact was that the entire Umbrella Corporation had only two living people: herself and Rin.
Even if she wanted to convert it into foundation, it was useless.
But after signing the contract, Aishelia suddenly looked up and stared at Rin.
Or rather, "Rin."
BOOM!
A loud crash rang out!
Aishelia's office desk had somehow turned into a pile of rubble. The entire office was in disarray.
A golden spear appeared in Aishelia's hand, aimed at "Rin" under her control.
The smoke cleared. "Rin" extended a single finger to block Aishelia's spear.
"Rin" tilted her head curiously, looking at Aishelia and asking,
"When did you realize something was wrong? I should've imitated this little girl perfectly, right?"
"Little Garden generally signs Contracts, not Business Contracts." Aishelia said coldly. The spear in her hand inched forward, but there was no reaction.
"Salamandra wouldn't be advanced enough to sign a Business Contract with the Umbrella Corporation."
"Oops…"
"Rin" was surprised. That was indeed her oversight. But in truth, this mistake should be blamed on her master.
Since she received it, the contract was already in the form of a Business Contract printed on A4 paper, not the Parchment Contract more in line with Little Garden's mainstream.
Fiction Canaria didn't expect the reason her first mission was exposed was her own master.
(Aslan… No, Lord Angra Mainyu, you're too unreliable.)
(Messing up even a trivial thing like this?)
(Wait, I'm supposed to be Kali Yuga's advisor, aren't I?)
(Damn it! This makes it my failure to execute the mission.)
As the first Fictional Historian created by Aslan, he highly valued Canaria. Though he didn't give her the original Canaria's intelligence, he still made her Kali Yuga's advisor.
As for Kali Yuga, it was the Community Aslan founded in Angra Mainyu's name. Its goal was to plunge Little Garden into the Iron Age and revive Kali Yuga's reputation.
"Alright."
Canaria shook her head helplessly, canceling Rin's appearance and transforming into another form.
Familiar short golden hair, a mischievous smile always in her eyes, and a fitted long white dress.
Aishelia was instinctively shocked.
"Canaria?"
Wasn't Canaria dead? So why didn't she spread the news? And why come to her?
What else was Canaria planning? What schemes did she have?
A flood of questions surged in Aishelia's heart as she looked at Canaria.
Wait, could Canaria be here for revenge? Thanks to Ouroboros' self-destruction, the culprit behind Arcadia's destruction had been revealed.
However, the Demon Lord responsible for the attack was still unidentified.
"It's me, Aishelia." Canaria nodded, showing a bitter smile, and spoke with regret.
"I realize I've made many mistakes and screwed over many people. But now I want to make amends."
"Calm down. As long as you come with me to meet Goddess Athena, I'll fulfill your wishes." Aishelia said with a wicked smile.
(Canaria, you've finally fallen into my hands. Whether you're the real Canaria or a fake Canaria, you're Canaria now.)
She hadn't forgotten how Canaria nearly screwed her into falling into a filthy Goblin nest, only to be photographed by Shiroyasha in an embarrassing picture titled Golden-Haired Female Knight and Goblins.
In the end, she even had to thank Canaria for "saving" her.
As for other things, a single volume of the Golden-Haired Female Knight's Fall photo collection wasn't enough to describe her sorrow.
Though she had destroyed that photo collection, she clearly remembered everything Canaria had done.
The corner of Canaria's mouth twitched.
(My real self really has no conscience, huh.)
"Forget it, I'm not too keen on meeting Teacher Athena yet."
If she actually appeared before Athena, she'd likely be exposed in seconds.
As a fake, it was better not to offend the Goddess of Wisdom.
As a fictional entity, once exposed, she was truly done for. She was only born less than two days ago; she wasn't ready to die.
"By the way, Aishelia-chan." Canaria nudged Aishelia with her elbow and asked curiously,
"Do you have any channels to join Ouroboros?"
"Actually, after Ouroboros destroyed Arcadia, I've really admired them and want to join."
(I see you want to stir up trouble within them?)
Aishelia shook her head but quickly recalled something, smiling as she looked at Canaria.
"Channels? I actually have one."
"As long as you loudly declare you belong to Ouroboros, their people will contact you right away."
"Ouroboros contacting me? I think it's the Heavenly Army that'll contact me." Canaria complained wordlessly.
Aishelia was clearly up to no good.
Aishelia shrugged helplessly.
"Anyway, besides that, I have no other way. I was invited to join too."
"Don't expect me to give you any secret info. You'd need to join the Third Alliance for that."
"Is that so?"
Canaria held her chin, pondering for a moment.
"So I need to plant a spy in the Third Alliance?"
"Then that little girl should be able to join the Third Alliance, right?"
Canaria meant Rin, Kalki's older sister.
This was the first task Aslan gave her: find a way to infiltrate Ouroboros, ideally by Kalki's side.
If possible, Aslan didn't want to activate the backup plan he left in Kalki's body.
If Fiction Canaria couldn't even complete this task, then Aslan's creation was a complete failure.
So, it was happily decided.
Canaria quickly made her decision.
Take Rin as a disciple, make her a Fictional Historian too. Relying on the Fictional Historian's abilities.
With Rin's skills, she could surely deliver messages right under Ouroboros' nose.
At the same time, she could establish the Fictional Historian's legacy.
"How would I know?" Aishelia couldn't help but roll her eyes at Canaria. In her current half-exiled state, what could she do?
She didn't know anything and wouldn't meddle in anything.
As long as Canaria didn't screw her over, Canaria could do whatever she wanted.
Instead of thinking about these things, she'd rather figure out how to repay her savior, Aslan.
At least Aslan genuinely saved her from Azi Dahaka's jaws. Otherwise, she'd have died alongside Kalki and the others under the Halo of the Supreme Ruler.
Though Aslan didn't realize he had saved her.
After all, once the Halo of the Supreme Ruler landed, not just her—everyone on that battlefield would've been unlikely to survive.
Who knows how many people Aslan saved that day, all Four-Digits with significant statuses.