Asher glanced at his phone without a change in expression.
'It is Angel, no big deal.'
Asher silently put his phone back into his pocket.
Angel: ?
Alright.
Based on human behavioral patterns, Angel analyzed Asher and confirmed that this was a refusal to be disturbed. Angel quietly closed the latest information he had looked up.
Then, he continued surfing the vast internet on his new phone.
A new phone.
The internet speed was great.
———
[Spirit City]
After seeing Asher off, Sophia realized school was about to start. She was also preparing to train and cultivate properly.
"The evolution of the Rainbow Scaled Koi is certainly surprising, but I still need to spend more time getting used to its evolved form," Sophia said seriously.
The new evolution path of the Rainbow Scaled Koi felt like a pie falling from the sky and hitting her head.
Delight.
Confusion.
But to truly embrace this unexpected joy, she couldn't afford to relax her self-discipline.
She had to work even harder.
Marina patted Sophia's shoulder with her slender, fair hand, "Good luck, I have faith in you."
"At least you're more reliable than those guys."
As she said "those guys," Marina's hazy gaze landed directly on Muller.
Muller: Sweating buckets, guys.
Looking at the sky, looking at the ground.
Resolutely avoiding eye contact with Marina.
'I don't know.'
'I know nothing!'
"Right," Muller, unable to withstand being stared at any longer, quickly spun his brain to change the subject, "Sophia, now that your Rainbow Scaled Koi has evolved, do you want to challenge the battle ranking again? This time, you might actually take the top spot!"
Sophia was momentarily stunned.
'Eh?'
If Muller hadn't mentioned it, she would've forgotten about it.
'The battle ranking, huh…'
Honestly.
Before the Rainbow Scaled Koi evolved, Sophia had been holding in a breath, determined to reach the top.
But after it evolved into the Jade Maiden Fish… Sophia suddenly felt that ranking didn't seem so important anymore.
"…No need, right?", Sophia hesitated, "Asher hasn't challenged the ranking again since contracting a new pet beast either."
Otherwise…
Sophia recalled the strength of Asher's remaining two pet beasts.
The little white snake's full power was still unknown.
But the little jellyfish… Sophia's expression gradually became strange.
Hard to say.
Really hard to say.
It was even possible that the little jellyfish could break the ranking system altogether.
"That's true," Muller accepted Sophia's reasoning.
Yeah, that made sense.
Muller also remembered Asher's ridiculously strong pet beasts, especially the jellyfish with its absurd skills. He felt like he'd once again chosen the wrong topic.
Marina shot him a look of disdain.
"Uh… this is fine too?", Muller's brain worked fast, "The battle ranking doesn't determine your true strength. When everyone thinks your power is only at that level, you can pull a surprise move and give them a big shock!"
Smack!
As soon as Muller finished speaking, Marina smacked him hard on the head.
"What are you saying to a young girl!"
"If you can't talk properly, then shut up!"
Marina shot Muller a glare.
Sophia: "…"
Pretending not to understand.
Her expression was slightly awkward.
Just then, Sophia's phone rang.
She immediately relaxed, inside and out, gesturing quickly before pulling out her phone to check.
"Mm…" Sophia's expression turned strange again.
[Christopher: It's the last day before we return to school, right? Want to have a private battle? Hmph, I guarantee you'll be impressed!]
Sophia: "…"
'Does this count as instant karma?'
Sophia didn't care about surpassing Asher on the battle ranking after growing stronger.
After all, Asher's talent, whether in pet beast evolution research or beast taming, was simply too astonishing.
She couldn't catch up.
Not a chance.
They weren't even in the same world. How could they be compared?
But when it came to Christopher, Sophia didn't mind stepping on him.
Stepping on him again and again.
Preferably so thoroughly that the difference between them was clear at a glance.
Christopher was the same.
'I see, he must have made some progress over the break and he immediately came to flaunt it.'
After three seconds of thought.
Sophia decisively accepted.
Since he was offering himself up, if she didn't completely outshine him, she'd be letting herself down.
Then…
The battle was scheduled for the morning.
Fought in the afternoon.
And he was left dumbfounded that very day.
Especially the moment Sophia summoned the Jade Maiden Fish—Christopher's face twisted in utter shock.
"No way…?", Christopher's entire face contorted.
His assumption about Sophia's vacation, slaughtering fish, slaughtering fish, and more slaughtering fish. Okay, not just fish, but mainly dealing with water-type beasts.
Although fighting these creatures was good training for Sophia's pet beasts…
Christopher had assumed he was the only one secretly working hard while convincing others to slack off.
Not just working hard, he'd also found a little stroke of luck. His strongest pet beast, Vine, had broken through to Tier 5.
Against Sophia, who still didn't have a Tier 5 beast, it should've been an easy, effortless win, right?
But in the blink of an eye.
Sophia had pulled out a Tier 5 pet beast as well.
And not just any Tier 5 beast.
An evolved Tier 5.
A never-before-seen evolution.
Christopher sensed something was very wrong.
"This isn't right, not right at all," Christopher went over his intelligence reports, trying to figure out where things had gone wrong, "Logically, your Rainbow Scaled Koi shouldn't have reached Tier 5 this fast. You only recently reached High Tier 4. Your most likely breakthrough should have been the Ice Mandarin Duck."
Christopher muttered.
He was about to lose his mind.
"And it's a completely unseen evolution… Wait, why does this feel familiar?", As he spoke, his expression turned hesitant.
"Spirit City's biggest issue recently was the ocean problem…"
The problem was obvious.
It had to be solved somehow.
Who would they turn to?
A pet beast evolution professor.
Following this logic, and analyzing President Marina's usual behavior, a light flickered in Christopher's mind.
"Asher! It was Professor Asher!", Christopher grasped the realization.
Sophia smiled, "Yes, you're absolutely right."
Christopher: "…"
*Swearing under breath*
He would've preferred Sophia calling him paranoid.
Her confirming it outright was just too painful.
Looking at the evolved Jade Maiden Fish, as graceful as a mermaid, as ethereal as a water fairy, Christopher shed genuine tears of envy.
The evolution's strength aside.
It was simply beautiful.
Christopher felt he had never seen a pet beast more beautiful than this evolved Rainbow Scaled Koi.
So beautiful that he almost didn't want to fight it.
Then…
The battle began.
The battle ended.
The entire process lasted less than two minutes.
Christopher was left utterly dumbfounded.
'What just happened?'
'Seriously, what just happened?'
Christopher looked at his fallen Vine, then at the Jade Maiden Fish, still standing as poised as ever.
His mouth opened, foul words at the tip of his tongue.
But he held back.
Absolutely had to hold back.
Taking a deep breath.
Christopher calmed himself.
'Yeah.'
'So what if my Mid Tier 5 Vine lost to Sophia's Low Tier 5 Jade Maiden Fish?'
'No big deal…'
'Big deal? It's definitely a fu*king big deal!'
"Is it still too late for me to go cling to Professor Asher's thigh?", Christopher said with a straight face, completely serious, "My demands aren't high either. Professor Asher can just randomly pick one of my pet beasts for evolution research."
"I can voluntarily sign up to be a test subject for Professor Asher!"
"You sure have a great imagination," Sophia rolled his eyes at Christopher, "Go home, take a shower, and sleep early. In your dreams, anything is possible."
Christopher sighed, letting out a long breath before finally saying,
"Forget it, this kind of thing depends on fate."
"Can I write down the details of our battle and post it online?"
The map is revealed.
Christopher laid out the already short map of Soren.
"Fine, whatever. The specifics of Jade Maiden Fish won't stay a secret for long anyway. Once school starts, the people who should know will know," Sophia wasn't too concerned.
She knew Christopher had other side gigs.
It wasn't anything else.
Just sharing pet beast daily lives online, analyzing battles of major teams, analyzing fights between students of top universities, becoming famous for his precise analyses and sharp tongue.
If Christopher weren't somewhat of an expert and a genius, he would've been ambushed and beaten up by fellow Beast Tamers of the same rank long ago.
The only reason no one had done it wasn't because they didn't want to.
It was because everyone cared about their image.
That was how Christopher managed to escape unscathed.
After going back, Christopher had a sudden burst of inspiration. He wrote a 3,000-word analysis of his battle with Sophia, then spent another 7,000 words endlessly hyping up Asher.
[…I am sure, absolutely sure, that if not for Professor Asher's contribution, Sophia would never have been able to defeat my Spring Vine in the end.]
[This wasn't just a battle between me and Sophia; it was also an invisible battle between me and a genius pet evolution professor. I lost, I lost miserably.]
[But I don't feel sad.]
[Why? Because this represents the rise of Soren's pet beast evolution. From what I've learned, the evolution process of the Rainbow Scaled Koi is neither complicated nor difficult. It mainly requires the Beast Tamer and pet beast to be in sync (share a similar aesthetic), and then you can have a beast strong enough to defeat mine, assuming the Beast Tamer's strength is decent.]
[…]
A full 10,000 words.
Directly written as a hymn to Asher!
What?
Sophia's contribution?
Pfft!
Not that important.
After reading the article and analysis, Sophia's forehead veins throbbed violently.
"I think I need to challenge this guy to another fight," Sophia clenched her fingers, gritting her teeth.
That part about the battle, Christopher had used the most exaggerated historical writing style possible.
Then, using her ordinary performance, he exaggerated Asher's greatness once again.
Making it seem like someone far inferior to Christopher somehow won the battle with just an evolved Jade Maiden Fish, how could any Beast Tamer see this and not get excited?
If she weren't one of the people involved…
Even Sophia would be tempted.
Unsurprisingly, this article went mega viral.
Once again, Asher, through yet another incident, blew up across the internet.
Newcomers who had never heard of Asher before started digging.
["Whoa!"]
["Holy crap!"]
["Didn't know before, but after checking—damn!"]
["Insane!"]
["Isn't this Professor Asher just way too incredible?"]
And from the many traces online, it was obvious, this Professor Asher wasn't just a talented young pet evolution professor. His Beast Tamer skills and talent were no weaker than his talent in research.
Newly minted Beast Tamers: "..."
Why does this world have such monstrously powerful people?
["Hahaha, at a time like this, I can finally say something cool, basic operations, no need to panic. You're already this shocked? Go dig deeper into Professor Asher's growth journey, it's literally more legendary than legends!"]
["For real! I've been following Professor Asher's journey from the start. His brilliance goes far beyond this!"]
["Laughing until I cry… Waaaah! Back then, when Professor Asher was still using just one pet beast to solo the entire NY City beginner training field, my strength was actually on par with his. I was even lucky enough to fight him to a draw at the start.]
["A year has passed."]
["I am still the same me."]
["But Professor Asher is no longer the same Professor Asher! Waaaah!"]
The internet was instantly flooded with wails.
Some were marveling at Asher's greatness.
Some were reminiscing about the past.
And some were straight-up bawling.
Especially the Beast Tamers who had personally interacted with Asher… The blow was too much, they really couldn't take it.
———
[Star City]
[Beast Tamer Alliance Headquarters]
"Asher really is something…", Every time, the commotion got bigger and bigger.
In the ninth-floor Information Processing Center, staff watched as Asher-related topics continued to climb in discussion rankings, shaking their heads in amazement.
They knew how highly Asher was valued from above.
Though they didn't know the exact reason, this level of importance was no joke.
Every day, the center monitored and collected all online mentions of Asher, keeping an eye out for slander or inappropriate remarks about him.
Luckily, they were already used to this kind of operation.
After all, one of their main jobs was managing external messages, handling the transmission of official and private information… ahem, they were very experienced.
Internally, they also monitored for negative remarks about Tier 7+ Beast Tamers, high-level cultivators, and top-ranked pet professors.
So yeah, all of this was just routine.
Security was airtight.
Their daily job was just checking the backend.
In this high-tech era, the first to benefit was the digital and software industry.
There used to be occasional discussions about pet evolution professors online, but they were niche topics, mainly among Beast Tamers.
By contrast, discussions about powerful Beast Tamers always had higher engagement.
On every social media platform, whenever a topic involved "battle strength," "strongest," or "best attribute," it would spark huge debates.
As long as the discussions were friendly, no mudslinging, no flame wars, no underhanded attacks, they let them be.
Instead, they'd even gather their colleagues to watch the drama unfold.
Unfortunately, in the past two years, discussions had dwindled.
Not because the hype had died down.
But because everything had been talked to death, no new angles, no fresh debates, so people had just mellowed out.
Work had gotten way more boring.
But then, out of nowhere, Professor Asher appeared.
Instantly becoming the hottest topic among millions of netizens.
There was so much drama online that they could barely keep up.
Information Center staff, drowning in gossip, "Slow down! Scroll slower! We can't keep up!"
'Wait!'
'Someone seems to be maliciously slandering Professor Asher?'
'Is this some foreign infiltration?'
'Investigate!'
'Oh.'
'Turns out it is just some jealous lunatic foaming at the mouth.'
'Ban that Beast Tamer ID.'
'No online posting for the next six months.'
'OK. Problem solved.'
'Next gossip, next gossip.'
The staff of the Information Department were thoroughly enjoying themselves, eagerly browsing through news related to Asher.
Just then—
The external interface, which had been inactive for about two years, suddenly lit up.
The staff at the Information Processing Center: "?"
"What happened?"
"Let me see, let me see... Damn! Looks like a message from the Imperial Spire."
"The Imperial Spire? What do they want with us? We have nothing to do with them, right?"
"No idea... Let's check, check, check... And hurry up and contact Elder Cavendish!"
"Ohhh—it's been so long since we handled external information, I almost forgot about this."
The Information Center staff quickly took their positions, categorizing and processing the work at hand.
Oliver Allister, the head of the Information Center and one of the few people qualified to review external messages, glanced at it and immediately frowned.
Oliver: "?"
'What the hell is this?'
'The Imperial Spire really sticks its nose everywhere!'
'No wonder it's one of the four global maritime law enforcers.'
But no matter what, proper procedures must be followed.
As a global Beast Tamer management organization, nominally without law enforcement authority, yet excessively nosy, particularly fond of poaching talents from other countries under the pretense of cultivating the 'crystallization of world wisdom', thus named the Imperial Spire.
The Imperial Spire housed Beast Tamers and researchers from almost every nation.
That included Soren as well.
From time to time, they meddled in other countries' affairs.
For instance, mass slaughter of beasts.
Or causing environmental destruction that drove certain beast species to the brink of extinction.
Or demanding access to new research, accusing nations of selfishness if they didn't share it.
If you won't share it with other countries, at least share it with the Imperial Spire, for the sake of preserving humanity's flame. You shouldn't be so closed-minded…
If all else fails, how about an information exchange?
In short…
Annoying.
However, when they wanted to, they could indeed offer resources tempting enough to make nations hesitate.
Which also showcased their sheer audacity as an organization.
"But… what do they mean by accusing us of secretly hiding mythical creature evolution…? Damn! What kind of joke is this!", Seeing the accusations from the Imperial Spire, Oliver took a sharp breath.
And cursed several times in a row.
Even within Star City, at the Beast Tamer Alliance headquarters, not everyone knew about the existence of mythical beings.
Even fewer knew that, if a beast awakened its bloodline, it had a faint possibility of evolving into a complete-bloodline mythical creature, which only existed in legends.
Oliver was one of the rare few who knew.
Precisely because of that, he was even more furious… and bewildered… by the Imperial Spire's accusations.
'What?'
'Is the Imperial Spire out of its mind?'
'Everyone knows...'
'For the past 1,200 years.'
'Not a single beast in this world has successfully evolved into a mythical creature.'
'Not one!'
If you had to name the most likely candidate, it would be that hairless, one-legged bird from Yawars, which might, someday, grow a second leg… but even that was just based on some dubious detection device.
Look at how many years have passed, still no movement.
Oliver figured the chances were slim. People were just clinging to a faint hope, convincing themselves that mythical evolution was still possible.
The absence of a fully evolved specimen was just an anomaly.
Humanity's history of coexisting with beasts was too short.
Human research on beasts was too shallow… and so on.
It absolutely wasn't because the mythical evolution pathway was flawed.
Seeing the message, Elder Cavendish had the same reaction as Oliver, 'What? The Imperial Spire is going crazy again?'
"Don't worry about them," On the other end of the phone, Elder Cavendish's aged voice was calm and unhurried, his tone so steady that it even helped Oliver settle down, "The Imperial Spire's obsession with mythical creatures is well-known. After all, they were the first to develop that device claiming to detect a pet beast's potential for mythical evolution at the egg stage."
Saying that, Elder Cavendish chuckled over the phone.
Oliver couldn't help but chuckle along.
It couldn't be helped.
Anyone who knew the history of that research…
Would never fail to laugh when hearing about it.
Indeed.
When that machine was first created, it shocked several major nations.
Countries were deeply impressed by the effects the Imperial Spire touted, and they eagerly sought to borrow the device.
The Imperial Spire, however, played hard to get, refusing to lend it out.
Many countries offered vast benefits and resources, all in pursuit of breeding a mythical creature.
Finally, after much effort, they managed to borrow the machine.
And were dumbfounded.
Wait, why does our country have so many beasts with mythical evolution potential?
Ahem!
Long story short, it was a massive joke.
One that nearly spiraled out of control.
For countries that had only verbally promised benefits and resources, or paid a small deposit, it wasn't too bad.
But for one particular nation, one that had already poured in immense resources, hoping to use the device to study its mechanics and surpass Soren to become the world's undisputed superpower…
Well.
Not worth mentioning.
The loss was devastating.
And nearly impossible to recover.
Because the Imperial Spire operated on one principle—
Once they swallowed something, they would never spit it out.
Want them to return it?
Declare war, then.
The dispute dragged on for years.
Soren, considering various factors, didn't get involved and instead remained a spectator.
Cheering from the sidelines, clapping, and shouting, "Fight, fight!", genuinely eager to see them clash.
As for how the issue was finally resolved…
Unclear.
But the joke remained.
One that people laughed at every time it was brought up.
"They upgraded that machine through several generations, right? I heard the later versions were extremely accurate," Alone in his office, Oliver muttered under his breath, "I don't know if the Sunset Nation bought into it, but Yawars sure did."
"They even declared that ugly bird their national guardian beast. Seriously…"
So many things to ridicule.
He didn't even know where to start.
After so many years, he had gotten used to it.
Forget it.
No need to complain.
"Now they're saying their device detected mythical evolution waves from our country? Unbelievable. How do they keep believing in that thing?", Oliver couldn't help but rant.
Elder Cavendish chuckled, "Mythical evolution waves? If that were true, I'd take the evolved mythical creature straight to their headquarters tomorrow."
What?
Peace?
Friendship?
No, no, no.
He was merely fulfilling the Imperial Spire's request, to let them see Soren's national guardian beast up close.
Elder Cavendish: (◠‿◕)
"Unfortunately, it's not true," Elder Cavendish shook his head regretfully. It seemed his beautiful idea wouldn't come to fruition.
"Don't be disappointed, sir. With your health, living another fifty or even a hundred years shouldn't be a problem. Just wait a little longer, and maybe you'll see Asher...", Oliver trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
Yes.
Unlike others at the Information Processing Center, Oliver knew exactly why the higher-ups valued Asher, because they believed he was the person most likely to discover a method for mythical creature evolution. That was why the country and the alliance were willing to be endlessly patient, offering him the utmost protection, silently and carefully nurturing his growth.
He could experience setbacks.
He could enjoy smooth sailing.
He could do anything he wanted.
As long as Asher didn't give up on this path, they would always be there to shield him.
Even if Asher asked them outright for special treatment, it wouldn't be impossible.
However...
"Asher is truly a genius."
This was true for his research on pet evolution.
And even more so as a Beast Tamer.
He didn't leave them any room to interfere.
"Heh, you're right. I'll wait a little longer. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to see it?", Elder Cavendish chuckled happily.
"Alright, just use standard rhetoric to decline the Empire Spire's request. Deny everything."
"Not like any country would believe them anyway."
Elder Cavendish wasn't worried in the slightest.
Who would believe the nonsense from the Empire Spire?
If they insisted, he'd personally escort a successfully evolved mythical creature over to check their brains.
After finishing his conversation with Elder Cavendish, Oliver prepared to respond to the Empire Spire.
Once again, he looked at the condemnation message they had sent.
"Hmm... a suspected disturbance near the sea? The sea?", Oliver muttered, "Coincidentally, Asher recently went to Spirit City, which happens to be by the sea..."
Maybe it was because Elder Cavendish had just mentioned Asher, but Oliver couldn't help but think of him.
Then, he chuckled at himself.
"Impossible. The issue in Spirit City was marine pollution. How could that be related to mythical creatures?"
Besides.
What kind of mythical creature would pollute the ocean?
Would it even be considered mythical at that point?
No rumors, no spreading falsehoods.
What reassured Oliver even more was that Asher had successfully solved the marine pollution problem in Spirit City.
If a mythical creature had really caused it, could mere humans have resolved it?
It was an even bigger joke than the Empire Spire's claims.
Even as he repeatedly told himself it was impossible, absolutely impossible, Oliver subconsciously listed out reasons "one, two, three" to refute the idea. He wasn't sure if he was preparing to argue with the Empire Spire or just trying to dispel his own fleeting, almost nonexistent suspicions.
———
After saying goodbye to June, Ivy, and Vicky, Asher finally had a moment to take out his phone.
A casual scroll...
Asher: "?"
Why were so many top headlines about him?
What happened in just the past few hours?
He refreshed the page again... Alright, he got it.
Sophia.
Christopher.
Asher rubbed his forehead.
It wasn't anything else, he just felt that maybe, just maybe, he had some sort of cosmic clash with them?
"Why didn't you tell me?", Asher grumbled, poking the large eyes of Angel on his phone screen.
Angel blinked a few times in response to Asher's touch.
[You transmitted a 'do not disturb' signal to Angel.]
Since he was outdoors, Angel automatically switched to text mode for communication.
Staring at the short message, Asher once again felt like he didn't understand his own native language.
Otherwise, why was communicating with Angel always this difficult?
Diving deeper into the issue...
Asher: *Understood*
"That's not what I meant," Asher said helplessly.
[But at the time, you did not respond to Angel. Angel assumed you did not care about such minor disturbances.]
Asher: "..."
Why did it feel like Angel's emotional module was acting a bit off?
"Are you sure...", Asher started, then stopped.
'Is Angel sulking because I ignored it, and now seeking petty revenge?'
Under Angel's silent, unwavering gaze, Asher wisely chose not to finish that sentence.
Dangerous territory.
Change the topic.
Not important.
Since it had already happened… just let it be.
Asher had long since gotten used to this kind of thing.
From the earliest Honeybug, to the later Little Fire Fox, to Professor Damien's public gratitude, to the recent Ancestral Dragon and honorary professor title... Again and again, Asher had grown accustomed to making appearances on trending headlines.
It was a subtle kind of satisfaction.
The best part? When Asher made headlines, no one else dared to compete with him.
Unless another pet professor had achieved something even more impressive, Asher could enjoy dominating the headlines for an extended period.
Celebrities in the entertainment industry: Not even thinking about it.
They could only stare tearfully at the name that belonged to a completely different world from theirs, too afraid to even complain.
After all, every one of Asher's achievements was a contribution to the nation and the people.
Not in the same league.
No comparison. Absolutely no comparison.
"Whatever," Asher shrugged nonchalantly, "People are passionate, but they're also forgetful. In a few days, when something newer and more interesting comes up, they'll forget all about me."
He spoke from experience.
He never really cared about these things.
Sometimes, he even wished his popularity would drop a little.
He was just an ordinary pet professor and Beast Tamer, he had no desire to be treated like a celebrity, covering himself up whenever he went out. It was suffocating.
[Angel has detected that online discussions are taking a strange turn.]
Asher: "What strange turn?"
'What else could the people be saying?'
Disbelievers.
Overzealous supporters.
Skeptics.
Objective analysts.
Those types were always around.
Oh.
And the chaotic meme-makers.
Whenever Asher was under pressure... no, whenever he was bored, he'd browse through their discussions.
Like that one viral joke, "Asher must be an evil researcher."
Ahem!
There were countless ridiculous statements, no need to take them seriously.
Asher shared his wisdom with Angel.
Angel looked thoughtful. Listening to Asher's examples, then reviewing the online discussions, it suddenly didn't find those statements so strange anymore.
Seeing that Angel was deep in thought, Asher didn't ask further.
Not a big deal.
He packed up his things and set off back to school, this time, as an honorary professor.
.
.
.
"This time, we're officially colleagues," Looking at the single-person office arranged right next to Iris's, Asher felt slightly uneasy.
The sudden shift in identity was something he wasn't quite used to yet.
"Mm," Facing Iris's outstretched, delicate hand, Asher smiled, gave it a brief shake, and let go like a gentleman.
"So, what do I do next?", Having been a student and a teaching assistant, but never an official teacher, Asher felt a little lost.
Luckily, he had Iris.
She twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers, gazing at Asher with a half-smiling expression.
Sensing something off, Asher gave her a questioning look, "So?"
"Normally, I'd tell you that you don't have any obligations," Iris said with a smile.
"But?", Asher prompted.
Iris shot him an amused glance, "You're quite quick to catch on."
"Yes," she nodded, "But this time, you do have something to do."
As she spoke, Iris lifted the folder she had been holding and pulled out a document, handing it to Asher.
Watching this scene, Asher couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu.
Oh.
The last time, when President Robb asked him if he wanted to go to Spirit City, he had also handed over an A4 paper like this, hadn't he?
Asher's mouth twitched slightly, but he still took the soft yet sinister piece of paper from Iris's hands.
One glance—
And a strong sense of confusion surfaced on Asher's face.
"The Fourth Legion?"
"They want to transfer me?"
Even his voice wavered in disbelief.
This was just… a bit ridiculous.
Why would the military transfer him?
With his small frame? With his level of strength? What could he even do in the military?
"The Legion Commander, Vice Commander, and Chief of Staff of the Fourth Legion are all very eager to finalize this transfer and establish a mutually beneficial cooperation between both parties," Iris said, not rushing to answer Asher's doubts.
She released the lock of hair she had been absentmindedly twirling and, with a hint of amusement in her voice, added, "Are you really unaware of what you've done?"
Asher looked completely lost.
What did he do?
"It's about the evolution of the Rainbow Scaled Koi," Iris pointed out the key issue.
"Rainbow Scaled Koi? What's wrong with its evolution?", Asher still couldn't understand, "I've researched more than just one or two evolution paths. Besides, the evolution route of the Rainbow Scaled Koi is still being verified. There shouldn't be anything particularly questionable about it, right?"
Iris: "…"
"I'm honestly speechless with you," Iris seemed a little tired. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and spoke in a tone that was both amused and exasperated, "You really don't keep up with online discussions at all, do you?"
Asher faintly sensed that something was off.
'Wait, could it be…'
"For a while, the internet was buzzing with discussions about handing Professor Asher over to the military," Iris said.
"The Rainbow Scaled Koi is one of the most commonly contracted beasts for water-type Beast Tamers. The Eighth Legion, the navy, relies heavily on them for surface combat, practically every member has one."
"And now, with your new evolution route being revealed, rumors say the evolution method and conditions are incredibly simple…", As she spoke, Iris gave Asher a meaningful look.
Asher smiled.
Got it.
This wasn't even a hint anymore, this was a blatant statement.
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