Clockwork Bride

Page 139

[A large portion of the high-ranking members of the Smoke Mirror Company are indeed ancient, non-human gods. Four hundred years ago, they donned human skin, learned to speak and act like humans, integrated into modern society, and enjoyed the benefits of the modern ruling class. What else could they be but monsters?]

噫

Hayden hesitated for a moment, but still didn't blurt out something as thoughtless as, "Uh, isn't your dad one of them too?" However, he did ponder the question in his mind.

Karen hadn't finished speaking.

"Do you really have to get close to her and do business with her? Can't we just have a normal business discussion? We have many other bargaining chips. I've been in New Sprout City lately; the city's development is going well, and I've used the resources here to develop some new things. If you want to use them for fishing, you can have them directly."

She's always been the type to let others take holidays while she works 365 days a year, sometimes only sleeping four hours a day (though this is partly because she's an elf). Recently, she's been forcing Hayden to go home for a break while she's overseeing things in Newbeam City, using its unique resources to develop many new things.

For example, in the past few days, Kallen has combined the magic of the demi-humans with the unique natural environment of New Sprout City to cultivate a special kind of red wine grapevine. Not only can the sap of this grapevine be drunk directly, and the red wine-like sap be used as a substitute for blood sacrifice, but it can also put group spellcasters into a special frenzied spirit-gathering state. It can even be woven from the vines into a giant wooden ape golem, which is cheap and has considerable combat power.

It must be admitted that Karen possesses considerable talent in plant magic and alchemy, far surpassing Hayden, who is a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. This talent and creativity are not even entirely due to genetic modifications by her parents. Therefore, Karen is very confident that Hayden doesn't need to curry favor with the goddess Mikite; as long as she uses her new products to conduct serious negotiations, she can hook the goddess of death and get her to cooperate.

Newbeam City has changed a lot. We've planted our first batch of mass-producible specialty life wine, inexpensive earth god gorilla wood golems, and things that non-human monsters might care about... such as some of the mysteries of life and death.

As she said this, she finally regained some confidence.

[I blasted Pazuzu to smithereens, but some of the ashes remained. I recently extracted the remaining plague poison from them using Dream Flower and altered it with Angela's aura. Since Miktikashiva is involved in a project related to Pazuzu, she can't possibly be uninterested in Pazuzu's remnants. You can use this to discuss business with her; there's no need to try and build a deeper relationship with her.]

However, after hearing Karen's words, Hayden scratched the back of his head, but remained noncommittal:

"Using Pazuzu-related items to negotiate with her is indeed a good idea. But I feel—though this is just my intuition—that if we want to get the life magic technology related to resurrection from Smoke Mirror Company, simply using Pazuzu-related items to negotiate a deal with her is not enough."

“Precisely because Miktikashiva is not a ‘human’ at all, just to be on the safe side, I need to figure out what she’s thinking and what she wants.”

Peacock King and the goddess Mikkuri are very different. Peacock King is very...human. Although He is actually an ancient god who fell from the heavens and is not human at all, He may have been playing the role of a human for a long time, so much so that He really seems like a person.

In contrast, even Hayden could tell that the goddess Mikkelsen was a monster disguised as a human.

Where does the difference between the two ultimately come from?

You can't figure this out by just thinking about it. Hayden preferred to find out for himself.

You really know how to stir up trouble.

Hearing this, Karen finally couldn't help but sigh, half-complaining.

This isn't just trouble for you—though Hayden knew there was no need to argue with Karen about this, he immediately bowed his head and apologized: "I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble."

Don't say things like that to me. Instead of worrying about me, you should take care of yourself first.

Karen rolled her eyes at him.

[I've sent you all the information you can use to trade with Mikttikahiva. You can decide how to use it yourself.]

[I've transferred the funds for the negotiations to your account. Go count how many zeros are at the end.]

No matter how stubborn she is, Karen is actually always very cute.

--------------------------

Pania has been having a pretty good time these past few days.

【Magical Girl Pazuzu】has already achieved excellent ratings despite being a newcomer – however, such excellent ratings alone wouldn't be enough to make Pania so happy.

In the modern idol industry, when it reaches the stage of large corporations managing marketing, the extent of its success largely depends on how much capital is willing to invest in promotion and hype. As long as capital is willing to spend the money, it's entirely possible to elevate an artificially handsome or beautiful person who can neither sing, dance, nor act to the pedestal of idols. With a financial behemoth like Mickey Mouse constantly pouring money into the industry, even a pig can be transformed into a superstar.

However, the cost is simply too high, to the point that even capitalists no longer operate this way. They now distribute some of the costs among the idols themselves, which is why there are performer-type enhanced individuals like Panya in the market.

Her parents paid for all the gene enhancements themselves, and her family also paid for all her singing, dancing, and acting skills from a young age. The company doesn't need to invest in training talent; it can easily select the people it wants from among these individuals, invest in them, and basically meet its needs.

Pania, despite becoming the voice of [Magical Girl Pazuzu], still has to focus on singing and dancing every day in addition to live streaming, recording, and rehearsing. She can't slack off in the slightest, otherwise the outcome is uncertain.

The idol industry is incredibly competitive, regardless of whether it's virtual or not. The novelty of "Magical Girl Pazuzu" is limited. Moreover, the Smoke Mirror company now possesses personality chip technology, meaning the person inside can be replaced like a spare part.

In addition, the employees of Qiqimiti Entertainment Company are basically undead beings, and they don't have any "warmth" feelings for Pania.

Given this environment, why has Panya been in such a good mood these past few days?

To my shame, the main reason is that two people have been coming to the company to look for her these past few days.

Previously, Panya would only log off once every seven days to emerge from her sealed control pod and recuperate. Now, however, she's being called out every day. Given her personality, she might have found this annoying and a waste of her time.

However, the food Miss Angela brought every day was just so delicious that she couldn't bring herself to say anything like "it's too much trouble!"

As for Hayden, Um, Pania didn't have much of an impression of him; she just felt that he was a very ordinary middle-aged man!

—This is basically Pania's impression after spending these past few days with Hayden and the others.

Today was a day without a live stream. Pania practiced in the StarNet space until late at night, and for once, she went offline. She proactively opened the control pod, climbed out, and walked over to her small refrigerator, taking out a half-box of cream puffs.

These are cream puffs that Angela gave her when Angela and Hayden came over during the day. Pania couldn't bear to finish them, so she saved half a box to enjoy slowly in the evening.

"Aww...so sweet~"

Yellowish, round, and adorable, topped with sugar that looked like snowflakes, Pania took a bite of the cream puff and could feel its wonderful sweetness. It wasn't overly sweet, but rather like eating a milky cloud—cool, soft, and smooth. She ate the puff in small bites like a squirrel, while simultaneously picking up her thermos and sipping the hot black tea Angela had given her, feeling utterly blissful.

Humans can easily feel happy as long as they fill their stomachs with delicious and nutritious food.

"Hmm hmm hmm hmm~ Hmm~"

Although it was late at night and she was still at the company, Pania was able to fully enjoy her blissful time alone.

"Is this the kind of dessert that you can't buy anywhere else... only rich people can afford?... I'm so envious... Keep going, work hard, I want to... be rich too!"

As he ate the cream puff, a small flame of ambition ignited in the eyes of the little white-haired idol.

Unfortunately, she didn't notice that a shadow had silently appeared behind her as she said this.

"I don't think it's just a matter of whether someone is rich or not."

No one knows when, but Goddess Mikkelsen suddenly came to the company in the middle of the night and appeared silently behind Pania, grabbing her in one go.

"???!?"

Pania was almost scared out of her wits.

The goddess Mikt didn't seem to care about her reaction. She gently hugged Pania from behind, seemingly finding her amusing, poking her cheek with her finger, and then stroking and rubbing Pania's chin as if playing with a cat.

If a cat were to be played with like this, it might fight back with its paws. However, Pania knew that the goddess Mikt was a monster far more terrifying than any beast, and she was so frightened that she dared not move, and could only obediently let herself be played with.

"These foods—this cream puff—contain a wealth that you could never buy with a lifetime of work. Even if you become a successful and famous star, you still can't afford something like this."

At the same time, the goddess Mikt picked up the last remaining cream puff with her other hand and stared intently at it in the darkness, as if trying to confirm something.

"Secret Fire. I can sense a trace of Secret Fire here, only it has changed form and merged into the food. How interesting. Karen, or her man, has actually developed a low-cost technique for synthesizing Secret Fire?"

The vampire goddess talked to herself.

"Why would he feed you this stuff every day? Is it an investment? A gesture of goodwill? To maintain your condition? To extend your lifespan? It's strange. Even if there are new synthesis technologies, Secret Flame is still a precious resource. Why would he use it on you?"

Pania had no idea what these words meant. She had never even heard of the Secret Fire.

Fortunately, the goddess Mikk was merely talking to herself and didn't expect the cat in her hand to answer her questions. After muttering these words, she brought the cream puff to her mouth and took a bite. Pania could see her pale lips and throat move slightly as she swallowed the cream puff.

Then the goddess Mikkelsen's expression changed.

"……Why?"

She released Panya and ran her finger across her lips, as if trying to confirm what it felt like. For a fleeting moment, Panya seemed to see a trace of color return to her pale cheeks.

"Hayden... he's quite an interesting person."

The crimson color vanished in the next second. The goddess Mikt, with a thoughtful expression, turned and disappeared.

Late at night, in the empty company, only Panya, stunned by the fact that her cream puff had been stolen, was left.

What exactly happened just now?

152: Bow down to my great wisdom!

The next morning, Hayden, carrying the various documents Karen had sent him, and Angela, who was also carrying a lunchbox, arrived at Qiqimiti Entertainment Company. They had originally come to see Panya first. Lately, Angela seemed to really enjoy feeding Panya, bringing her something to eat every day.

Hayden didn't seem to have any particular feelings about this. Leaving aside whether Hayden belongs to the normal virtual YouTuber consumer group, this group is inherently complex. There are virtual YouTubers who frequently interact with viewers, building popularity and creating emotional connections—and there are also those who take the idol route, not interacting directly with fans, but cultivating idol worship and building fandoms.

The latter is generally capital investment, something only companies can do, and naturally, it usually makes more money—how much can you earn by building a fandom and an IP? That's much more valuable than a virtual streamer who interacts normally with the audience!

【Magical Girl Pazuzu】is also an idol. She doesn't usually interact closely with her audience and fans. It's likely that only Hayden and Angela interact with her directly every day. Unfortunately, Hayden doesn't have any feelings for Panya—after all, she's just a little girl. Ever since he learned that 【Magical Girl Pazuzu】isn't the real Pazuzu, his feelings for Panya have been quite ordinary. Even though the white-haired legal loli's daily "ham-ham" eating is cute, like a small animal munching on tree berries, Hayden basically only views her with the mindset of "virtually raising a cat."

As a result, when Hayden and Angela came to Zizimiti Entertainment Company today, they found that Pania was not at the company. Only Ms. Eko, wearing a work skin, was waiting for them there, looking bored.

"Ah, Mr. Hayden, you've finally arrived."

Ms. Eckel nodded to Hayden in greeting, but her expression seemed somewhat confused.

"Director Miktikashiva asked me to tell you that she has already taken Pania to her villa. Please come along and have lunch with her again."

…………What?

"What's this?"

Hayden complained, but he was actually getting nervous inside.

What is Mikkelsen up to?

To be honest, Hayden didn't really like going into Michette's house. Running into her home always gave him the creeps.

Unexpectedly, Angela was the one who was particularly surprised upon hearing this. She immediately turned around and said to Hayden, "Master, Miss Panya has been captured! This is a perfect opportunity to be a hero and save the damsel in distress! Miss Panya's favorability towards you has been low until now, but this will definitely increase it significantly!"

"Don't talk nonsense. How could she really have been captured by Miktikashiva?"

Hayden immediately retorted.

“Panya was her employee, someone she could manipulate at will. What boss would need to arrest someone like this? Besides, why would she arrest Panya?”

Although Hayden knew that seven out of ten of Angela’s words often made some sense, he couldn’t just blindly believe all the strange things she said, could he?

And so, Hayden, with Angela in tow, rushed to the villa of the Goddess of Death, Mickett, in New Jersey. Just like last time, a lesser vampire maid led them to the spacious, black-and-white dining room.

In the center of the hall stood a long, heavy table covered with a pristine white tablecloth. This time, however, there was no food on it. Only two women sat around the elegantly decorated table, waiting for their guests.

“Mr. Hayden, it’s been a few days.”

The goddess of death, Mickett, sat in her usual spot and smiled slightly at Hayden as he entered.

And Panya? She sat obediently to the left of the goddess Mikt, like a borrowed cat, not daring to move an inch. When she saw Hayden and Angela come in, Panya, probably in desperation, turned to look at them, her face full of fear and pleading for help.

Hayden wasn't particularly interested in Pania, but he felt sorry for the girl, so he deliberately said, "Isn't this girl supposed to be doing a live stream tomorrow? Why isn't she practicing her singing at the company today? What is she doing here trying to freeload?"

Pania was overjoyed to hear Hayden's words! Sitting next to the goddess Mikkelsen had been incredibly uncomfortable and terrifying!

However, upon hearing this, Goddess Micket first glanced at Pania, then looked at Hayden and smiled: "Mr. Hayden, you really like this little kitten? Do you want all sorts of data about Pazuzu, or do you simply find her cute?"

Her long, golden hair shone even brighter than usual today. Her black gown accentuated her figure, making her even more alluring and captivating than Angela. The goddess Mikt looked at Hayden with her emerald eyes, a thirsty, dark fire flickering deep within her pupils.

Hayden felt like he was being stared at by a hungry beast in human skin, and his scalp tingled with dread.

This Death Goddess from the Smoke Mirror Company, a monster whose thought process is completely unlike that of a human, what exactly is she trying to do?

“You know what, Mr. Hayden? I made a rare trip to the company yesterday and found that you’ve been feeding this little girl quite a few interesting things lately.”

The goddess Mikt didn't answer directly. Instead, she reached out and stroked Panya's head and back as if petting a cat. This could have been a very interesting and cute scene, but unfortunately, Panya was so frightened by the touch that tears and snot were almost streaming down her face.

“You told me before that at this stage, your technology is not yet able to replicate Terasque’s Secret Flame. But in reality, you have provided this kitten with a lot of food containing Secret Flame—albeit only a little bit—every day.”

"How many days has this kitten been eating food laced with secret fire? A week? Ten days? I can still smell the life force in her blood. Perhaps drinking her blood dry now would be even more effective?"

As she spoke, she reached behind her and stroked Pania's chin and neck, her hands never leaving the latter's body. Both Hayden and the poor white-haired loli herself could feel the veins in her body throbbing gently under the touch of the goddess Mikt's fingers.

It was as if the vampire was considering which blood vessel near the base of her neck to choose, and when to tear it open and suck it dry. It was as if she was about to open her mouth and bite Pania's throat to suck her blood and receive the secret fire that Angela had been feeding her for days.

Pania, who was being held down by the goddess Mikt, was so frightened that she was like a bird bitten by a snake, her whole body stiffened and she couldn't even tremble.

Although Hayden wasn't as frightened as Pania, he was still taken aback by what the goddess Mikt said!

Oh no, she found out!

Hayden went to so much trouble to carefully arrange and hide the secret fire, but it was discovered by the God of Capital of Smoke Mirror Company just because Angela had been feeding Pania these past few days!

Oh no! This is really bad! I've been possessed by a ghost, and I can't get rid of it!

At this moment, Hayden was filled with immense regret. If he had known that letting Angela's food leak out might be discovered by the capitalists, he would never have agreed to it!

As for whether the goddess Mikt is going to eat Pania alive now... well, although Hayden sympathizes with her, he's currently in dire straits himself, and Angela's safety is ultimately more important.

As an ancient god disguised in human skin, Miktikashiva, who was adept at understanding human nature, certainly wouldn't miss Hayden's momentary wavering. Although Hayden barely showed his frustration on his face, what was the status of the goddess Miktikashiva? She was a beast called a vampire, capable of devouring life and soul, and she immediately sensed even the fleeting fear in Hayden's heart.

Therefore.

...That's why the goddess Mikkuri immediately noticed something strange.

She discovered that the last person present was not only completely unafraid, but also unmoved in the slightest.

That's right.