The story got really confusing from there. In order to allow Ves to take Gloriana's place as the lead designer of the cla.s.sified design project, something needed to happen to Gloriana.

Not only that, but the transition had to be done with such haste and priority that his status as a male foreigner should never have an opportunity to hinder his promotion!

Calabast laid out an elaborate scheme that involved miscla.s.sifying the cla.s.sified design project, taking advantage that the mech designers were 'stationed' in the distant Ylvaine Protectorate instead of somewhere in the Hegemony.

After all of this preparation and more, a critical step had to be made.

"Gloriana must die."

"What?!"

Ves almost jumped out of his office chair! What was Calabast talking about?! He would never allow his girlfriend to come to any harm!

"Calm down, kid!" Calabast sternly admonished him. "We're not really killing her. We just need her to be clinically dead for less than a minute to transfer her deceased status to some headquarters in the Hegemony. Ranya Wodin has agreed to induce Gloriana in a state of death and will revive her right away regardless of the results. The goal is to make her dead long enough for you to automatically be promoted from contributing designer to lead designer under emergency rules that happen to neglect some checks, including inspecting your gender and your origin!"

"Unacceptable!"

This sounded like an excessively risky step in the plan! Was this commission truly worth the risks? All kinds of complications could take place! Even if her body survived unscathed, what about her spirituality? The mind, body and spirit were intimately connected to each other! Damaging one would definitely damage the other two!

Yet Calabast didn't know all that. She didn't see the potential risks like he did. "Ves, you're blowing this matter up. With someone as capable as Dr. Ranya and some other doctors by her side, the life of your girlfriend is guaranteed! We would never gamble with Gloriana's life if we weren't confident we could revive her under our care!"

"I don't agree!" Ves shouted. This time, he was determined to put his foot down. "I'll refuse this commission if you need to perform this harebrained scheme for me to take over the design project!"

The two argued back and forth about this topic until Calabast finally accepted that Ves would remain unreasonably stubborn!

"Fine." She spat out. "We'll just have to resort to the backup option, then. You're lucky I antic.i.p.ated your stupid objection to this step in the plan."

"What is the backup plan?"

Calabast regained her poise all of a sudden. "If we want to make things easier, we need to do something about your status as a boy or a foreigner. As long as we amend one of these two traits, it will be a lot easier for us to pave the way for you to take over the project."

He had a bad feeling about this. "What are you proposing?"

"Why, turning you into a Hexer, of course!" She grinned and waved her arm. "Aren't you rather divorced from your home state recently? There's little point in sticking to your ident.i.ty as a Brighter. As long as you are willing, we can arrange Hexer citizens.h.i.+p for you. Normally, this is extremely difficult to arrange as they're only granted rarely to exceptional females and very handsome males. However, with the Temple of Hexism's backing, we can turn you into a full Hexer citizen within a week!"

"NO!"

Ves did not even have to think before uttering his refusal! He was horrified by the very idea of becoming a Hexer! There was no way he would join their ilk and subject himself to the deplorable treatment that boys like him deserved!

"Hear me out, Ves. It's not as bad as you think. Once you become a Hexer, you will enjoy the backing of our entire state. This is useful as the backing of a second-rate state is very useful and affords you a lot of protection whenever you are in a third-rate state. In addition, once you become a citizen, you will enjoy all of the other rights a Hexer is ent.i.tled to, such as access to inst.i.tutions, permission to buy and sell property and so on. You can't imagine how good it is to be a second-cla.s.s citizen!"

He sneered at Calabast. Did she think he was stupid? Well, she probably did, but right now she was outright insulting his astuteness!

"I'm already a galactic citizen, which already affords me enough of a status to protect me against certain abuses. Even if it's not as good as the support of a second-rate state, at least my galactic citizens.h.i.+p doesn't come with many strings attached! Once I become a Hexer, I'm not only gaining a lot of rights, but also a lot of obligations. I bet wors.h.i.+pping the ground that women walk is definitely one of them. If you think you can hoodwink me with this offer, then think again!"

"Wait! There is one more benefit. Becoming a Hexer will also knock down the biggest hurdle that is preventing you from advancing your relations.h.i.+p with Gloriana. Just think about it! You don't have to go through an insane amount of effort to earn their approval. The Wodins are very devout, and they respect the Temple of Hexism greatly!"

"I don't need this handicap." Ves scoffed, growing more and more impatient at Calabast's dangerous proposals. "I doubt that becoming a citizen is enough to make me qualified in the eyes of Madame Constance Wodin. If I want to gain her respect, I need to prove my worth by showcasing my own abilities!"

The former spy looked more and more frustrated. Ves guessed she was truly annoyed this time. She started tapping her heel against the floor. The cadence of those taps distracted him somewhat.

"It's a shame." She eventually sighed. "Letting you become a citizen of the Hegemony would solve so many problems and advance our cooperation. You're pa.s.sing such a great opportunity. Many third-raters would kill to become a citizen of a stronger state!"

To someone who already set his mind on the largely-untamed Red Ocean, citizens.h.i.+p became increasingly meaningless to Ves. Whether he called himself a Brighter, Ylvainan or Hexer, soon he would only consider himself a galactic pioneer!

"Just drop this stupid suggestion. Is there any other way to accomplish what we need?"

"Well.. if you don't want to change citizens.h.i.+ps, then the other alternative is to change your gender. While gender-change operations won't change your status within the Hegemony, we can make use of certain exceptions that—"

"—STOP!" Ves interrupted her explanation. "No further nonsense from you! My name is Ves Larkinson, not Veronica Larkinson! I'll never turn into a woman, even if it's just a trick!"

Calabast looked incredibly sour now. Being stifled over and over by a boy was not something she was used to. It wasn't as if she was kidding!

Sadly, Ves was too proud and touchy to accept her suggestions. With her last backup plan shot down, Calabast found herself without any alternatives.

She directed a glower at Ves. "It seems we've hit a snag. You've rejected all of my proposals. We won't be able to proceed if we don't overcome this hurdle."

"Don't look at me like that. You're asking way too much. In fact, I'm half-suspecting that this is some sort of scheme for you to turn me into a Hexer! Feh. Keep dreaming! I'm happy with the way I am right now. I highly suggest you stop thinking about imposing all kinds of unreasonable conditions on me and find another solution!"

Without his cooperation, this plan couldn't proceed, and the calculations of Calabast would certainly fall through. Ves smelled that there were a lot of interests involved in this commission for some reason, so his partner should certainly work hard to salvage this situation.

Ves believed that Calabast was more than capable enough of solving this problem! She wouldn't be so formidable if she was easily stumped by setbacks.

"Fine. Have it your way." She spoke acidly at Ves. She was truly annoyed, and she had no desire to hide that from him this time! "You're being a big goof, Ves, but I guess that's why you need someone like me. I'll be around for the being. Not only do I have to fix this mess, I'll also be busy with keeping tabs on nearby Fridaymen movements. Right now, the biggest risk to your safety is the threat of meddling or more direct action from the Coalition."

Now that they moved away from the previous topic, Ves subsided a bit. There was no need to show any further att.i.tude towards someone he was likely going to be stuck with for the rest of his life.

"Will the Fridaymen a.s.sa.s.sinate me or something?"

"Unlikely." Calabast shook her head. "The Friday Coalition sends a.s.sa.s.sins against targets that are worth their notice such as matriarchs or valuable researchers. A kid like you is not worth risking its a.s.sets, especially since you are partially enjoying the protection of the Glory Battalion."

"Then what will you be guarding against?"

"I think you are already aware that the Friday Coalition might grow desperate and induce the surrounding states to invade the Ylvaine Protectorate. I believe the possibility that this will happen isn't great, but we can't rule it out. This is why it's important to keep an eye on the movers and shakers of the Bright Republic, the Star Faith Collective, the Independent State of Pillis and so on. Since these states directly border the Protectorate, one of them will definitely be involved in a possible invasion attempt!"

Ves agreed with her caution. He had been worrying about this possibility many times.

"You won't get blindsided this time, right?"

"Relax. I've learned from my lessons and I've expanded my intelligence organization to a point where it's possible to infiltrate the government inst.i.tutions that govern a state. While it's difficult to touch the top level of any state, it's no problem to keep tabs on the middle layers of an administration."

It sounded as if Calabast had everything well in hand. Ves wasn't really interested in hearing the finer details.

"You're not going to disappear soon, right?" Ves tentatively asked.

"Not this time. I'll be residing elsewhere in the city for a couple months until I'm urgently needed elsewhere. At least someone has to babysit you. Who knows what you will get up to when you act without restraint on this planet. Last time, you almost got executed by the Ylvainan Inquisition!"

Ves shrugged. "I managed to come out better in the end. Without going through that ordeal, I would have never become their Bright Martyr!"

"Be careful with that, Ves. Don't abuse your status as a Martyred Follower and don't accept any invitations from the Ylvainans. You'll be safe if you stay at home or work quietly in one of your new facilities."

"Why."

Though Ves agreed with her advice, he was surprised she wanted him to avoid taking advantage of his fame and status in the Protectorate!

"You don't want to become too attached to the Ylvainan people." She pointed her finger. "You also don't want to make the Ylvainans become attached to your personal ident.i.ty. If something bad happens to one of you, the other will certainly suffer! Therefore, to avoid as many unnecessary entanglements as possible, I highly recommend you deny any offer from the Ylvainans to attend a public gathering or do something else that will close the gap between you and the state."

He understood her argument and had no objections. He agreed without another word.

After discussing a few security-related matters, Calabast finally adopted the persona of Madame Cecily Curin and calmly stepped out of his office as if they had just concluded an important business negotiation.

Ves watched her go, his gaze inadvertently glancing towards her pencil skirt, before turning back to his own priorities.

He briefly studied his agenda. "I guess enough time has pa.s.sed for me to settle the Larkinsons. We can't keep calling ourselves the new family!"