Chapter 220: Codename "Princess"
"Bastard big brother, put me down, or… or else…"
Franklin smiled and leaned closer to Itsuka Kotori in his arms.
"Or else what? You're still in my arms right now—what, do you think you can resist?"
Their eyes met, so close they could feel each other's breath. Blushing to the extreme meant an explosion. Kotori's expression instantly turned severe.
"Or else what? Or else you'll never have a soft, easy-to-bully, sweet little sister again. I'll never switch back to the white ribbon ever again!"
This threat was extremely effective. Franklin immediately gave in.
"I was wrong, please don't. I won't dare ever again. Having two little sisters who can switch back and forth is my favorite paradise."
Watching Franklin immediately let go and bow in apology, Kotori wasn't in such a good mood. She drove a punch straight into his abdomen.
Seeing Franklin bend forward at a ninety-degree angle, her expression finally softened a little.
"Seriously, stop pretending. With your physical strength, how could you possibly be hurt? What you need to do now is properly carry out your mission.
In this world, aside from you, the only thing everyone else wants is for those girls to disappear as soon as possible."
As she spoke, Kotori stared seriously into Franklin's eyes.
"Please, big brother—can you help them become ordinary people again, like your sister? That way, it can reduce the frequency of spatial tremors and help them return to a normal human life."
Being asked like this—by his own sister—Franklin stopped fooling around.
"I will. Even if you didn't ask me, this is something I should do."
Seeing the seriousness on Franklin's face, Kotori huffed and stomped on his foot again.
"Isn't that good enough? What were you messing around for just now? Honestly, you made me lose face.
I'm the commander of the Ratatoskr organization and also the captain of the Fraxinus. After being toyed with by you like that, how am I supposed to establish authority?"
Seeing Kotori puffed up with anger, Franklin simply smiled without explaining. Before concrete results appeared, any explanation would be pointless.
"Alright, don't be angry. I'll remember this—won't do it again. Let's talk about my mission first. Which spirit are you planning to have me take down first?"
Seeing Franklin's confident look, Kotori snorted lightly and directly led him toward the Fraxinus's main control room.
"So confident, huh? You are handsome, sure, but spirits don't fall for that. Because your ability is special, what really matters is whether you can say things that touch a girl's heart."
They had just arrived at the control room when red warning lights began flashing violently.
"Spatial tremor precursor detected… spatial tremor precursor detected…"
Kotori sat down directly in the center seat of the control room. The large screen instantly displayed a map of Tengu City.
With a strange spatial tremor flashing by, within the crater formed by the tremor stood a girl with long purple hair, clad in purple armament, standing beside the pit.
"Mm… perfect timing. The spirit codenamed 'Princess.' Big brother, go try to make contact. If you can take her down on your own, I won't hold your earlier offense against you."
Seeing the provocative look in Kotori's eyes, Franklin smiled faintly.
"I accept the bet. Don't think about backing out."
Kotori responded with a light smile, picking up an earpiece from the table and tossing it to Franklin.
"Put it on. When you run out of things to say, we'll help you. Reine, take him to the spatial transfer pod and send him directly to the spatial tremor location."
After putting on the earpiece and seeing everyone looking at him, Franklin smiled calmly.
"Well, no need to go through all that trouble."
As he spoke, Franklin directly released soul materialization. His entire body passed through the deck and drifted downward.
In just an instant, Franklin felt himself being locked onto by weapons. But with just a few flickers of movement, he had already descended to the crater created by the spatial tremor.
One at the bottom of the pit, one standing above it—the two faced each other from afar.
"Are you… here to kill me?"
With little memory remaining, Princess directly drew the terrifying great sword, Sandalphon, and slashed out a sword beam from afar. The blade of energy brushed past Franklin's shoulder and shot straight into the distance. Faced with such an attack, Franklin didn't even blink.
"Are you… here to kill me?"
Seeing Princess flash to his side with a gloomy expression, Franklin smiled and placed one hand over his chest, bowing lightly.
"I'm here to help you. May I know your name? Oh, right—let me introduce myself first. My name is Franklin. You can call me Franklin."
As he spoke, Princess, realizing that Franklin had no ill intent, looked toward the distant sky. Franklin also looked toward the small black dots approaching from afar.
They were AST members, with Origami Tobiichi among them. Franklin did not knock them down in advance; his purpose was to let them come closer so he could show Princess his goodwill.
Countless shells shot straight toward the two of them. Before Princess could react, Franklin stepped forward and stood in front of her.
"First meeting—I didn't prepare a proper gift, so I'll give you a magic show instead."
Smiling at Princess, Franklin casually waved his hand. Dozens of extremely dangerous shells detonated instantly, turning into a sky full of falling petals.
The crater blasted out by the spatial tremor, along with the surrounding streets and buildings affected by it, were all filled in and repaired at this moment. Countless petals covered the ground where damage had previously been.
Seeing this, the AST members froze on the spot. Even Princess's expression changed slightly.
At this moment, aboard the Fraxinus, all the emotional experts who had been preparing to support Franklin were stunned.
"Commander, your brother is a genius. Any fancy words pale in comparison to real action.
Don't mention spirits—even any woman would be instantly drawn in by something this romantic. It really feels like your brother might take her down on his own…"
As they spoke, everyone watching Franklin's actions on the Fraxinus began wearing strange expressions again.
"Actually, that was just a joke. I did bring a gift—I just don't know if you'll like it."
As Franklin finished speaking, Illusory World Genesis activated once more. An exquisitely prepared, steaming roasted lamb shank appeared in his hand and was offered directly to Princess.
"Idiot big brother, are you insane? Such a perfect opportunity—what the hell are you doing?!"
Temporarily turning the earpiece volume down to the lowest setting, Franklin smiled as he looked at Princess. She looked at Franklin, then at the delicate roasted lamb shank.
She leaned in, gently sniffed, unconsciously rubbed her stomach with one hand, and after hesitating for a moment, she finally accepted the lamb shank.
"Th… thank you."
At this moment, the AST members finally snapped out of their daze. Their missiles all transformed into flower bombs, and everyone drew their light blades and charged toward the two of them.
Giving Origami Tobiichi a slight smile, Franklin casually waved his hand. The exposed combat suits of the AST girls instantly turned into elegant dresses. He guided them down to the ground, then smiled and bowed lightly to them.
"Thank you all for your cooperation. The performance was perfect. Allow me to offer a piece of advice—fighting and killing isn't good.
Spirits are also living beings. They have emotions as well. They are existences that need protection and care."