---o---
London, the City of Fog, England.
Early in the morning, Fu Li awoke from his soft bed. After reaching out to turn off the alarm clock Vill-V had given him, he faintly heard the sounds of cheerful play coming from outside his window.
"Hah... what a happy bunch of kids..."
Fu Li was already used to the laughter that occasionally echoed through the magic troupe's camp.
Having stayed here for so long, even with Cocolia's attempts at concealment, he had long since figured out what business this era's Cocolia was running.
It was nothing more than selling intelligence and smuggling firearms and other weapons.
Although both trades carried a certain degree of risk, without them, the income from the magic shows alone would be nowhere near enough to support so many children.
"Today... should be another ordinary day. I wonder what research results the underlings at the Alan Institute have produced recently."
As was his routine, Fu Li washed up and then slipped into a very plain set of everyday clothes before stepping out of his room.
He had intended to just take a casual stroll, but the moment he stepped outside, he saw something that nearly made his jaw drop to the floor.
There was Vill-V, holding a conductor's baton and directing the group of little kids as if she were a maestro. Fu Li rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Was he seeing things? Vill-V, who on any other day barely interacted with anyone but him, was actually playing with a group of children.
"Vill-V, what are you...?"
"Yo! My dear assistant, you're awake?"
Seeing him, Vill-V's face broke into an exaggerated smile, completely different from her usual self. With a flick of the baton in her hand, the surrounding children instantly fell silent.
The effect was like that of a highly skilled conductor who could make anyone obey their command. It was just that the scene itself looked somewhat eerie.
It felt less like she was conducting them and more like she was training a group of puppets—puppets that had their own feelings but were still impeccably obedient.
Even the perfectly timed laughter he had heard upon waking now seemed as uniform as if it had been rehearsed.
"Alright, my lovely children, playtime is over for today. Your big sister Vill-V has some private matters to attend to. We'll play again tonight."
She released them, and the children, as if waking from a dream, smiled and waved their goodbyes.
"Okay! We'll go now, Big Sister Vill-V."
"Yeah, yeah, let's play together again tonight."
That tone and posture... he was all too familiar with it. Wasn't this the prototype of the [Conductor]?
However, Vill-V hadn't become a MANTIS yet. Without the ability to split her mind, what she was doing now was merely a deception achieved through imitation.
Watching the obedient children, Fu Li's mouth twitched. He reached out and pinched Vill-V's pale, tender cheek. "What's gotten into you? Fess up."
"Mmmph! You smelly Li, stop it!" Vill-V stomped her foot and mumbled in annoyance. "I just wanted to get a little closer to everyone in the troupe, that's all! Mmmph!!"
"Hah, it can't be that simple." Fu Li released her. "From the way you were just interacting, you were just treating them as lifeless puppets that only need to obey commands, right?"
"Mmph. As expected of Li, you saw right through me. But, I really do want to get closer to them."
Having been exposed, Vill-V stopped her fussing. She simply rubbed her slightly aching cheek, seemingly reverting to the girl Fu Li was familiar with.
For the current Vill-V, when she became the Conductor and hid her insecurities, her genius-level pride made her see everyone except Fu Li as a puppet.
And her goal of "getting closer" was genuine, but her methods were somewhat unacceptable to ordinary people.
Extreme pride is a form of malice.
It was precisely for this reason that the 'Original' Vill-V, not wanting to become one of the destroyers of human civilization, would later choose to seal away her own pride after realizing this.
"You... Tell me, what's wrong with you today?"
Thinking of the 'Arch-Villain' who was locked away for fifty thousand years and immediately caused a huge incident upon her release, Fu Li couldn't help but want to clutch his head.
Compared to the little kids in the magic troupe, Vill-V was the real problem child.
Like a child who had done something wrong, Vill-V averted her face. "Mmph... I was just thinking, if I weren't just [myself], maybe things wouldn't be so bad."
"Ahem. And so?"
"So I thought I'd become a conductor and direct them. That way, I should be able to get a little closer to them."
Perhaps having hit upon the main point, the expression on Vill-V's face grew serious, and her lips curved into a slight smile.
The smile was beautiful, but a little too smug.
"So, why do you want to get close to them? You usually can't even be bothered with them."
"Mmph! That's..."
As if he had struck a nerve, Vill-V turned her head away, her gaze once again becoming shifty.
Fu Li didn't speak, just watched her with a smile.
After a long time, seemingly worn down by his stare, Vill-V reluctantly said, "Before I tell you, I have a question for you first. The kind you can't lie about."
"I promise. Go ahead."
"You're promising without even asking what the question is?"
"Of course. You can tell if I'm lying anyway, can't you?"
"Mmph... I suppose that's true."
Vill-V spoke with some embarrassment. "Well, if one day I wanted to leave, would you come with me?"
"Of course. I told you, I'm your assistant. Have you ever seen an assistant abandon their boss and run away?"
"But have you ever seen an assistant who scolds their boss all the time?"
"Mmph, I have. After all, the job of an assistant, besides helping, also includes the responsibility of reminding the boss at appropriate times, doesn't it?"
Is that so? Was my behavior just now really that out of line?
Vill-V fell silent, lowering her head to fiddle with the baton in her hands, a hint of annoyance at being managed welling up inside her.
But undeniably, no matter how annoyed she was, she didn't want to leave Fu Li.
After a long pause, she said, a bit hurt, "Li, I want to leave this place and see the world outside."
"Ahem. And that's why you suddenly thought of getting close to them?"
"That's right."
I see.
Fu Li rubbed his chin. "When are you planning to leave?"
Vill-V replied, "After the tour in London is over."
"Oh, so that's in ten days."
Hearing Vill-V's firm answer, Fu Li took her hand and started leading her forward.
"Mmph, what are you doing?"
"Ahem. Since we only have ten days, we have to say a proper goodbye. Only by doing that can you achieve true closeness."
"But!"
"You weren't planning on just leaving a letter and disappearing when the time comes, were you?"
Vill-V fell silent. He had guessed her thoughts once again.
She wanted to argue, but the voice beside her continued.
"You have to say a proper goodbye to the people you want to get close to. If you don't, you'll have regrets."
The Arch-Villain wasn't 'evil,' but rather 'pride.'
And in Fu Li's view, both the Arch-Villain and pride were things that could be guided.
_______
Author's Note: The character of Vill-V is just so full of contradictions, especially now before her mind has been split.
And in the author's personal opinion, the Conductor, before splitting off her pride, should be like this—treating all those she directs as tools that must obey absolutely.
And Vill-V loves machines and tools, so this is her immature way of expressing goodwill.
What Fu Li wants is to slightly guide Vill-V's pride, to let her become the smartest Vill-V (since she possesses half of the total processing power.)
Your stupid author can only say, I will do my best to write this contradictory character well, wuwuwu.