Honkai Impact 3rd, but I have too many mods.

Page 227

Things become very difficult to handle when they escalate to the point of involving family ethics.

Hmm... I guess I'll have to check on that "orphanage" tomorrow.

Otherwise, we can't draw a conclusion.

Peruvelle's patience with herself must have run out today.

Then, it's just a matter of waiting for news from Rita. As for checking the documents, Rosalyn might be supporting her, and Kujavina might be the one being manipulated.

Liu Bai let out a breath, wrapped his cotton-padded coat tighter, and walked out of the building.

Outside, near the transport ship, Gui Naifen and Liu Ying built two low walls out of snow and had a snowball fight.

"Take this! Miss Firefly!"

Many of the more conservatively dressed office workers around them were looking at the two of them like they were idiots.

It's as if they're asking, "Where did this idiot come from, having so much fun playing in the snow?"

Of course, quite a few people also joined in voluntarily; well, these people were mainly Valkyries.

Although it hasn't been playing for very long, the battle lines have already been drawn.

Those two are having so much fun... let's not disturb them.

...Furthermore, Liu Bai didn't want to get involved in this kind of battle.

According to Liu Bai's experience, snowball fights usually turn into indiscriminate brawls in the end.

Snapped!

"Old... cough, Mr. Liu Bai! Come and have some fun!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Is timber and coal still the main exports in the trade sector...?"

“Survival is difficult, it’s a last resort,” Rosalyn explained.

"But the deficit is getting bigger every year."

Rita compared the documents with the previous ones.

"Because the environment is getting worse every year, plus the Honkai Beasts hiding in the snow and wind... expenses on survival, combat readiness, and medical care take up a large portion of the budget, and the funds approved by headquarters are simply not enough. In addition, there's also the issue of mineral mining..."

Rosalyn's tone this time was genuinely somewhat helpless.

Although this place looks like a desolate wasteland, it is actually very rich, even incredibly rich.

This place really does have mines, but it is precisely because of the mines that... in other words, if the Far North Branch were completely independent, it would be impossible for it to lose money even without funding from headquarters.

However, these mines, along with many other resources, are needed to supply headquarters and other branches; most of them are not things that can be bought or sold.

Even if we assume we break even here, other expenses are increasing year by year.

Of course, besides these objective factors, there are also...

Rosalyn glanced at Kujavina.

Kujavina's orphanage is a charity organization run by Destiny, and also a reserve Valkyrie base, operating on public funds.

Of course, this is not unusual. Destiny has established or invested in quite a few orphanages, and Valkyries often volunteer at these places.

Eating at a place like this costs a bit more... but it's acceptable, yeah, Rosalyn can accept it. She can just tighten her belt a bit.

However, what she couldn't accept was that Kujavina, as the director, was messing around with the orphanage behind her back.

...What's even more infuriating is that the orphanage is a separate system, meaning that Kujavina is not under Rosalyn's control in the orphanage.

Of course, although these are rules, implementing them is another matter entirely.

If you take advantage of others and use their resources, it's not difficult to gain real control if you're ruthless enough.

But Rosalyn knew that if she was ruthless, Kudjavina could be ruthless too.

Chapter 178 A harmless little fox~

After all, her relationship with Kujavina wasn't entirely parallel.

The director of a normal orphanage is not a high-ranking official. Even if they are not subordinate to each other, there is no need for them to go against their superiors. Isn't that just a waste of time?

But the problem is that she and Kujavina are now entangled in various ways.

If she dares to hold someone hostage, Kujavina will dare to fan the flames and escalate the situation.

In any case, for Kujavina, the children in the orphanage were just expendable resources. Deliberately starving some of them to death, even if it didn't bring Rosalyn down, would still be a "risk-free and highly profitable" way to disgust her.

We can just find a new batch later.

Rosalyn despised Kujavina's behavior of using children as shields, but she was simply not ruthless enough in this regard, leaving her helpless.

"This orphanage?"

Before Rosalind could even give her a hint, Rita herself noticed something amiss with the orphanage's accounts.

Why are the expenses so high?

"Because of the harsh environment, the children have weak immune systems. In addition, due to the timing of their birth, each of them has some degree of Honkai damage symptoms, which accounts for a large portion of the expenses."

"..."

Rita pondered; at first glance, this statement seemed reasonable.

After all, special cases can be handled specially in this place.

but……

"Is this how Miss Peruvéli is?"

Rita looked at Peruvier, who was standing straight beside her.

"Yes."

Peruvian glanced at Rita with her black eyes marked with red crosses and nodded indifferently.

“I’m sorry, this child has always been rather withdrawn,” Kujavina chimed in from the side.

"I see."

Rita smiled and turned to the next section of the file.

Rosalyn glanced at Kujavina during this brief moment, but Kujavina remained oblivious, maintaining her smile as she awaited Rita's question.

…………

"It's so cold~~"

"what!"

"You two were playing so wildly, are you little kids?"

Liu Bai wiped Liu Ying's nose.

Liu Ying's physique is only 3, making her a noob on par with herself. She rolls around in the snow with Gui Naifen and even volunteers to be a snowman...

What can one say...?

"Here, warm soup."

"Th-thank you..." Liu Ying blushed as she accepted the soup Liu Bai handed her.

[Firefly's Affection Level: 8790]

“Mingming, you played too, didn’t you?” Gui Naifen was relatively better, and her words were a bit more stubborn. “Weren’t you having a lot of fun? Especially when the snowballs hit your head.”

[Gui Naifen's Favorability: 7779]

"But I'm not going to roll around in the snow and catch a cold."

Liu Bai glanced at Gui Naifen.

The warm soup was boiled in a pot by Liu Baihui. After the two of them took a sip, the warmth spread throughout their bodies, and their mild cold was immediately cured.

"Boss, it's no use!"

While complaining, Gui Naifen stuffed her hands into Liu Bai's arms.

"I can't feel any warmth at all~ Waaaaah~"

"Huh? Could it be... could it be a more serious cold?" Liu Ying looked at Gui Naifen with a worried expression.

"Maybe, boss, don't move, let me warm up."

"Little Gui Zi, your little hands... Ah—!"

"Eh?" Liu Ying looked worriedly at Liu Bai, who had screamed.

"...Xiao Guizi?"

I initially thought it was just him groping me because he couldn't control himself, but it turned out to be...

Liu Bai shook his clothes, and two pieces of half-melted ice fell out.

Then, looking at Gui Naifen with disbelief, he exclaimed, "Little Gui! You actually took advantage of my sympathy and used such despicable means!"

"You're being too lax, boss!"

Gui Naifen had a triumphant expression on her face.

"Firefly, hold Xiao Guizi down, I'm going to shovel some snow."

"Eh?"

"Try to protect your pants, I have to fill them up today."

"Wait, wait, wait! I give up! I give up! Don't take it so seriously, boss!"

"You started this war, Xiao Guizi."

Xueyi: "..."

I'm not quite in sync with this kind of slightly neurotic joy.

However, Ling Liu Bai had only been out of the dream for a few steps when he returned, along with Qi Lita and Ka Fu Wu Ka.

Important matters should come first.

"Alright, let go of Xiao Guizi now. We'll stuff her pants back in tonight."

"They know they were wrong."

Gui Naifen, with a fawning expression, pinched Liu Bai's shoulder from behind.

Hmm... the strength is just right.

"Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun." Rita chuckled, looking at the group's damp hair and clothes from the melting snow. "I've got a basic understanding of the situation here. Mr. Liu Bai, have you made any progress on your end?"

“Some.” He gave Kafka a look.

Kafka immediately understood and told Rita what she had discovered earlier.

"In addition, I also found that most people here have a very good impression of Kujavina, while Ms. Rosalyn's evaluation is generally lower."

That's normal; after all, being able to pretend and not being able to pretend are two different things.

Kujavina was very good at pretending; even when Peruvieri showed signs of being unsociable, she could gloss over it with just words like "aloof" and "rude."

“I probed Peruvieri, and it seems that she was held back by something like…friendship, bonds, or something, which prevented her from overturning the table, but she already had the intention.”

Rita nodded knowingly.

Is it because you have someone you care about that you can't act decisively? That's a bit like her.

However, she... doesn't need to worry about her Bianca-sama in areas outside of daily life.

"That's pretty much what I was thinking. There's something fishy going on at this orphanage, and Ms. Rosalyn is also trying to target Kujavina in this regard... really."

They initially thought it was just a simple political struggle for power and profit, but after encountering this situation, most of them, who were morally upright, simply couldn't stand idly by.

"Can I speak with Rosalyn?"

“If it’s about Kujavina, it’s not difficult, but our situation is a bit more complicated,” Rita sighed.

What's really annoying is that Kujavina's affairs are their meddling, and have absolutely nothing to do with their original purpose for coming here.

"Moreover, given the current situation, it's probably not possible to find an opportunity for a private meeting. Miss Kafka mentioned earlier that listening devices were found in every guest room, right? With this level of surveillance, it's better to be cautious."