She had to say, Amber found herself rather impressed by Origami at the moment.
It wasn't just because of Origami's exceptional self-discipline—though that alone was admirable.
After all, if not for maintaining the image of her beloved 'wife' Durandal, Amber could never have persisted with such relentless training for so long.
But what impressed Amber even more was Origami's sharp intuition. Having only just arrived in Tengu City a few days ago, she had already managed to guess that Miku was a Spirit—a level of perceptiveness even Rita lacked.
Though, to be fair, Rita had been constantly tied up with official duties.
Izayoi Miku was something of a local celebrity—a well-known school idol in Tengu City.
The venues for her live concerts were never small-scale affairs; they were held in a massive stadium not far from Rindouji All-Girls Private School.
Even though the concert wasn't scheduled to start until the afternoon, the area around the stadium was already bustling with activity since morning.
There were fan clubs that had arrived early, numerous brand booths representing products Miku endorsed—mostly cosmetics and snacks—and all sorts of little stalls set up by Rindouji students.
Though it wasn't a school festival, the atmosphere was just as lively.
After all, it was a day off, and practically every student at Rindouji adored Miku, so they had all turned up to show their support.
Amid the bustling crowd, two figures—one golden-haired, one silver-white—stood out noticeably, drawing quite a few glances even in such a lively setting.
Since they weren't heading out for combat today, just a casual outing, Amber wasn't wearing her battle attire. Instead, she had opted for comfortable, everyday clothes.
She wore a white, sleeveless, low-cut top with frilled edges, paired with a two-layered pleated skirt with alternating stripes of light and dark pink. Her arms were covered by gray sleeves, each tied off at the ends with a pink bow. The whole look gave off a youthful, girlish charm.
A girl dressed so unusually, with such a cute face and clearly not Japanese, naturally made people around her look twice. But it wasn't just her appearance and outfit—it was also the white-haired girl constantly following half a step behind her.
This silver-haired girl wore a blue-and-white maid uniform, her features just as exquisite and refined. At a glance, one might even think she could rival Izayoi Miku herself, who was performing today.
What was more striking was her capable, steady demeanor—a poise that seemed beyond her years.
Combined with the golden-haired girl's foreign appearance, it was easy for onlookers to assume they were a young lady from a wealthy family and her personal maid.
Their presence seemed to elevate the very air around them, lending it an air of elegance.
But what no one knew was that Amber was actually feeling a little awkward.
Not only were the constant stares still somewhat uncomfortable for her, but more importantly… Origami was just too good at creating awkward situations.
The two had already been there for a while, and in that time, Origami had carried out the following actions:
Bought drinks—the kind with double straws.
Bought crepes and earnestly suggested they swap flavors to try each other's.
Under the pretext of "infiltrating closer to the Spirit," tried to persuade Amber to change into a support T-shirt—and then offered to "take care of" the clothes Amber had taken off. The attempt was thwarted when Amber saw through it.
In such a short time, she had managed to pull so many stunts in quick succession.
Amber found herself wondering how Shido from the original story had managed to protect his virtue under her relentless advances.
Back at the hotel, if not for Rita handling her schedule and daily needs, Amber suspected her own clothes might have suffered the same perverted fate as Shido's.
It wasn't that Amber disliked Origami.
In fact, while watching the anime, though her favorite was Mukuro, she had also held a very good impression of Origami.
Wait… now that she thought about it, the reason she liked Origami was precisely because of her abnormal tendencies—the sheer amusement she found in her interactions with the main character.
But when she became the target, it was a different story…
Amber didn't consider herself straight. She was self-aware about her attraction to girls—why else would she have so many 'wives'? But that didn't mean she was the type to accept any advance.
Even though Origami was very beautiful and had plenty of good qualities, her abnormal nature alone was enough to make Amber wary.
"Lady Durandal, let's go take some purikura next," Origami suggested, walking just a step behind Amber.
"...While relaxing is important too, Origami, do you remember why we came here so early?" Amber had to fall back on business to deflect the suggestion.
"Of course. We arrived early to get close to Izayoi Miku before her concert," Origami nodded. "But the plan to blend in with the school fan clubs and approach her was vetoed by you, my Lady."
As she said this, a faint light seemed to gleam in her eyes, as if hoping Amber might reconsider the idea.
"As Valkyries, we should have other methods, right?" Amber instead proposed another approach. "We just need to find her manager's number and request a meeting under the guise of discussing a business collaboration. It should be easy enough to arrange."
Origami's eyes widened. "There's… such a method…"
Amber patted her shoulder, adopting a mentoring tone. "Schicksal's support for Valkyries isn't limited to just combat power. You graduated directly from the Valkyrie training base and joined the Immortal Blades right away. That speaks to your great talent, but it also means you lack field mission experience."
"I see," Origami nodded. "However, if Izayoi Miku turns out not to be a Spirit, our actions would waste Schicksal's resources. I believe my proposal has its own merits."
Seeing that Origami had finally dropped the exaggerated behavior and returned to a normal, serious expression, Amber breathed a sigh of relief.
"Of course, from a cost perspective, your plan is quite feasible too. But there's no guarantee it would definitely succeed."
"As for wasting resources—that's not really a concern. Izayoi Miku has plenty of commercial value. Right now, it's just that her debut is still recent and she's only active in Tengu City, so it hasn't been fully realized. Schicksal won't suffer losses by collaborating with her. You can rest assured on that point."
Amber had plenty of faith in Miku's abilities, even without relying on her powers as a Spirit.
"I understand," Origami replied. She really wasn't too concerned with this aspect—as a pure combat specialist, her role was to carry out missions. Matters like these had never been her responsibility.
Amber knew that Rita was likely still busy with the tasks the other Amber had assigned, so she didn't disturb her. Instead, she sent a message to the Immortal Blades' logistics staff.
Within minutes, the logistics team sent back a string of digits—the phone number for Izayoi Miku's manager.
They also attached several endorsement contract drafts from a jewelry and luxury brand under Schicksal's umbrella. Each was for the same brand but split into different tiers based on endorsement conditions, allowing them to switch between contracts depending on how the discussion went.
Still, given the difference in scale between the two parties, an artist of Miku's caliber would likely only qualify for the lowest tier of endorsement—equivalent to a shop NPC glimpsed briefly in a promotional PV. Not exactly crucial, but still a defined role, not just a random passerby.
Even so, the fact that Schicksal had sent multiple contract versions indicated they didn't have much faith in Durandal's negotiation skills.
After all… admiration was one thing. They knew Durandal was invincibly strong, but that didn't mean they were unaware that her personality wasn't cut out for negotiations.
They weren't mindless fanatics who'd agree with everything unconditionally.
Amber was also aware that she wasn't particularly skilled in this area. After reviewing the contracts and the accompanying talking points a few more times—fully preparing herself—she dialed the manager's number.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.