"Elise, long time no see."
"Ernest, we only saw each other a couple of days ago, didn't we?"
"What about me?"
"Uh..."
This seemed to be a first.
Elise looked at the two people who had come to find her with considerable surprise.
The student council president, Ernest, and the vice president, Laetitia, had actually come together to see her?
What kind of wind had blown them here? Had they run into some kind of trouble?
Elise had a fairly good relationship with Laetitia, but things were much more ordinary between her and Ernest. With the two of them coming together, Elise genuinely couldn't think of a reason.
But before Elise could speak, Laetitia immediately put on an unhappy expression and stared straight at her.
Seeing this, Ernest could only smile bitterly from the side. He had been hearing Laetitia complain into his ear quite often lately, so perhaps it would be better to temporarily hand the right to speak over to her...
Otherwise, she would definitely complain about him afterward too.
And so, next came Laetitia's time.
"You still haven't answered me. We haven't seen each other in such a long time. Don't you have anything you should say to me?"
Unlike the student councils at the other academies, Saint Galahadworth's student council was actually extremely busy.
Because the school rules were very strict, the student council had a wide area of jurisdiction and plenty of matters to handle.
Even so, Laetitia still worked hard to set aside time every day, hoping that Elise would come find this friend she hadn't seen in so long.
And what happened?
She waited and waited, but Elise never came!
Not only that, while browsing online a couple of days ago, she had even seen a picture on Elise's account of her cuddling up closely with Orphelia!
The smiles in that photo were absolutely radiant!
Especially Orphelia's!
For a moment, Laetitia had even suffered the illusion that she and Elise were strangers, while Orphelia was Elise's actual friend.
"You're just a latecomer! Don't even think about stealing my Elise!"
That was why, after this incident happened, Laetitia had immediately followed Ernest over to find Elise.
And that was how the current situation came about.
Laetitia directly plopped herself down beside Elise, wrapped both hands tightly around Elise's left arm, and stared fixedly at Elise's tightly closed eyes.
She looked exactly like a resentful wife.
"Hahaha..."
Realizing just how awkward his position had become, Ernest could only walk over to the window and admire the scenery outside, leaving the remaining space to Laetitia and Elise.
"Uh... sorry..."
"It really was my fault for not contacting you during this time."
At this point, the only thing Elise could really say to Laetitia was sorry. After all, she genuinely had forgotten about her.
The matters from before had indeed been important. Elise needed to formulate the rest of her plans for this world, so she could only sacrifice some of her personal time.
But...
"That's not enough!"
Clearly, a single apology wasn't enough to improve Laetitia's mood. Instead, she hugged Elise even tighter.
Elise could even feel her arm being squeezed between something soft.
"Then how about I give you all of next Sunday?"
"That's more like it!"
Time was precious. For Elise to set aside an entire day and let Laetitia decide how to spend it was already extremely rare, and Laetitia knew when to stop while she was ahead.
After obtaining the answer she wanted, Laetitia finally released Elise in satisfaction and called Ernest back from his sightseeing by the window.
"Since you two have finished sorting out your business, let's move on to the serious matter."
Noticing that the atmosphere had finally eased considerably, Ernest let out a breath of relief and began explaining why he and Laetitia had come here.
"It's about the Six Garden Council."
From Ernest's explanation, Elise quickly understood the current situation.
Normally, the six student council presidents were supposed to hold regular meetings at a super-luxurious hotel called Ernato.
Unless there were special circumstances, very few people would be absent.
Although Sylvia often skipped the Six Garden Council in the original story, that was because her academy followed a very different educational policy.
Queenvail was an idol academy. Most of what its students learned on campus involved performance arts, so it had remained at the bottom of the six academies' rankings for years.
But so what?
They made money!
Through the development of celebrities, idols, and the entertainment industry, Queenvail might even have been the wealthiest of the six academies.
So whether they participated in Asterisk's internal affairs or not didn't make much difference.
Saint Galahadworth, however, was different. As the academy that had remained ranked first for years, it was best to avoid being absent from this kind of event.
But this time, something genuinely terrible had happened.
Ernest and the others—that was, the members of the student council—were basically all children of major families. This time, every single one of their families had run into trouble and required them to return home.
That meant they wouldn't be able to attend the Six Garden Council...
To be honest, this incident was far too coincidental. How could several major families all run into trouble at the same time, and just happen to summon them back as well?
Someone was definitely manipulating things from behind the scenes!
In Elise's impression, there was only one person in the Asterisk War world capable of pulling off something like this...
Dirk, the student council president of Rewolf Black Institute!
Ernest had clearly guessed the same thing, but unfortunately, he had no evidence. The messages from his family also made the situation urgent, so he had no choice but to find someone to attend the Six Garden Council in his place.
But that created a new problem. Who should replace him?
An ordinary student was impossible, and many upperclassmen were unreliable as well, which left only one option.
Elise!
"No one knows what kind of scheme Dirk is preparing. If an ordinary student goes to the Six Garden Council, he'll definitely set a trap for them."
"That's why we came to you. We want to prevent that from happening."
Ernest's words were sincere, and his tone carried endless apology, because he really was bringing Elise additional trouble.
"We originally didn't want to bother you, but we truly have no other choice..."
Laetitia lowered her head at that moment as well. It wasn't just her. Everyone in the student council believed Elise was the most suitable person for the task.
After all, whether in terms of reputation or strength, this Lady Saintess surpassed even the student council's strongest members. She had practically exceeded the category of a student entirely.
Even the academy's teachers had said that they were no longer capable of instructing Elise.
So having Elise go truly was the most appropriate choice.
"Of course. I accept."
Naturally, Lady Saintess wouldn't refuse someone else's request, especially when it involved something this important.
Still, Elise was somewhat curious. She hadn't received any information about this. Had Dirk really done it?
What exactly was that guy planning? She would have no choice but to ask him when the time came.
"Today really is a wonderful day."
...
Inside Jie Long, in a strange pavilion, a little girl with pale purple hair was teasing a butterfly perched on her fingertip, an innocent smile on her face.
She was none other than Jie Long's student council president and Rank One, Banyuu Tenra Fan Xinglou.
At the same time, she was also a thousand-year-old immortal who had lived in the world for an extremely long time through reincarnation.
Fan Xinglou was especially happy today because she had found something entertaining enough to enrich her boring life.
At the same time, she was celebrating the complete recovery of her injuries.
Back during the previous school festival, Fan Xinglou had suffered unprecedented injuries in her battle against Elise and Sylvia. Several of her ribs had broken, and her pelvis had been shattered beyond recognition.
If someone else had suffered injuries like that, what awaited them would definitely have been something even more terrifying than death!
But in the eyes of an immortal like Fan Xinglou, things were different. She possessed special treatment methods entirely unlike modern medicine, all of which she had developed through repeated experimentation herself.
One had to understand that in the past, Fan Xinglou had suffered injuries far more severe than these childish wounds!
That was why, after being injured, Fan Xinglou had been able to leave the hospital quite easily and heal herself using her own methods.
She still remembered that while she was undergoing treatment and lying facedown on the bed, the two women who had beaten her into that state seemed to have come to visit, but she had shut them out without hesitation.
This old woman had her pelvis shattered!
How could I possibly meet you two right now?!
If I embarrass myself any further, how am I supposed to keep calling myself Banyuu Tenra?!
Seriously, if not for the all-purpose existence of Prana, this reincarnation of hers might very well have been ruined! Reincarnation secret arts were not something that could be used so easily!
"To think you were still hiding power like that..."
"But now that this old woman knows one of your trump cards, I won't let you use it again next time!"
Through that battle, Fan Xinglou had noticed a problem with Elise.
There seemed to be an immense power within her body, but she couldn't control it perfectly!
As long as Fan Xinglou could restrict that aspect and force Elise to fight alone, she was confident she could give Elise's backside a thorough beating.
That's what you get for bullying this old woman. Hahaha!
She could already imagine Elise crying and begging for mercy.
"But... if this old woman were the one to guide her, she should be able to surpass me in an extremely short period of time, shouldn't she?"
"Though it seems there isn't any need for that anymore."
Although Elise possessed enormous room for growth, which greatly tempted Fan Xinglou, she could naturally tell that Elise had no intention of relying on someone else's guidance to become stronger.
Her growth would have to rely on herself!
"I truly look forward to seeing what you'll become once you've fully matured!"
If Elise successfully grew into her potential, perhaps Fan Xinglou would gain yet another opponent!
The mere thought brought an extremely obvious, innocent smile to Fan Xinglou's face.
Along with that smile, Fan Xinglou, who had been stroking the butterfly, suddenly lifted her hand and struck it with ease.
What happened next was surprising.
Although the butterfly had been hit, it didn't fall to the ground. Instead, it transformed into countless points of light and dispersed into the air.
This was... Prana!
Fan Xinglou's Prana had actually condensed to the point where it was completely indistinguishable from the real thing. It was difficult to imagine what exactly she had experienced to achieve this.
"Come to think of it, that brat from Rewolf Black Institute seems to be planning some kind of major disturbance?"
Fan Xinglou tilted her head, recalling a minor incident from one of the reports delivered by the Dragon's Nine Sons.
"Naturally, this old woman can't miss out on something like that!"
"This time, at the Six Garden Council, I'll definitely get to enjoy a good show."
"I'm already starting to look forward to it!"
"Hahahaha!"
...
The Six Garden Council.
When Fan Xinglou arrived at the hotel, her eyes widened dramatically. She even raised both little hands and rubbed them, suspecting she had seen incorrectly.
"Hahaha..."
"What are you doing here?"
Looking at the figure before her, Fan Xinglou never could have imagined that the person who came would actually be her. Where was Ernest?
Wait. Thinking about it carefully, it did make some sense. Elise had a Foundation background, after all, so it wasn't strange for her to take over Ernest's role, but...
After so long apart, whenever Fan Xinglou saw Elise now, she couldn't help putting a hand behind herself because she kept experiencing the illusion that her butt hurt.
Yet during treatment, nothing wrong had been found there at all. Perhaps it was simply psychological?
She couldn't help suspecting that herself, but she quickly rejected the idea because she had sensed it—the inhuman power emanating from Elise's body!
Meanwhile, on Elise's side.
"Hi, Xinglou. Long time no see!"
After seeing someone familiar, Elise immediately raised a hand in greeting, the smile on her face extraordinarily radiant.
"Not long ago," she had still been able to pin Fan Xinglou to the ground and beat her, while everyone else hadn't even been capable of resisting.
But after truly seeing Elise again, Fan Xinglou realized she had been wrong. Terribly wrong.
It wasn't merely that mysterious psychological effect. The current Elise was shrouded in mystery from head to toe, completely different from how she had been before!
How could something like this possibly happen?
Disbelief showed on Fan Xinglou's face, because even she couldn't accomplish anything like this.
In only a single month, what exactly had Elise done to break through to such a terrifying realm in such a short period of time?
Wait... time?
A certain thought flashed faintly through Fan Xinglou's mind. In only an instant, she understood.
The reason Elise had been able to accomplish such an unbelievable transformation in so little time was definitely related to time itself!
"If I get the chance, this old woman absolutely must visit the Church headquarters again. There must be some unknown secret hidden there."
Many years ago, back before Fan Xinglou had been Fan Xinglou, she had already investigated the Church, but she had found nothing.
Looking at things now, had she simply failed to notice the changes of the era? Or had something else happened?
That was something she would have to investigate personally.
Beep! Beep!
As the sound rang out, the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand all arrived at the same position.
That also meant it was twelve o'clock.
The Six Garden Council was about to begin.
"Xinglou, let's go in together. I'm sure everyone inside is already getting impatient!"
Elise extended a hand toward the little girl in front of her, while Fan Xinglou gritted her teeth and stared at that fair, delicate palm before reluctantly placing her small hand into it...
"Good girl, Xinglou!"
With a smile on her face, Elise held Fan Xinglou's hand just like that, while the voices of passersby occasionally drifted over from nearby...
"Ah, look over there. Aren't those two a mother and daughter?"
"Just from their silhouettes, I can already tell they must both be beautiful!"
Fan Xinglou: "..."
Today really was a terrible day!
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