All the effort I've put in over the past few System-hours has been for nothing! I've made myself look like a complete fool!
Others might swallow their pride, bury their resentment, and dare not retaliate openly against someone of your status, power, and position. But Miss Sparkle isn't like that.
Miss Sparkle repays every slight. If you dare treat her like this today, she'll return the favor tenfold tomorrow. No matter your rank, status, or power, Miss Sparkle fears no one!
After all, you're just an annoying Saintess. A little feigned vulnerability will easily lower her guard.
And when that happens... humph!
Miss Sparkle watched as green streaks of light, like shooting stars, plummeted from the sky and struck the ground, revealing a mass of buttons beneath. This is how it'll be, she thought.
Meanwhile, her mind conjured a vivid fantasy: the annoying Saintess, defeated by the great Miss Sparkle, kneeling on the ground, her face a picture of pathetic desperation as she begged for forgiveness.
This scene might come to pass, or perhaps play out in some forgotten corner of the Future. But who will be the master and who the supplicant in that scenario remains to be seen...
Unaware of Miss Sparkle's inner thoughts, Lumina gently curved her fingers over the hundreds of pink buttons Miss Sparkle had scattered across the floor. The buttons rose from the ground and hovered in the air.
Having completed this task, Lumina once again flashed her warm, benevolent smile. With a graceful gesture, she arranged the floating buttons before Miss Sparkle.
"Beautiful lady," she said, "this is my token of gratitude. Every button of this design from all of Penacony is right here."
"Thank you," the Robin avatar conjured by Sparkle managed a strained smile, even uglier than a sob, as she gathered the hundreds of buttons.
Seeing that none of the buttons in her bag were missing—the exact number she'd had before coming to Penacony—Sparkle briefly considered storming off, abandoning Penacony altogether.
But then she remembered that the grand stage she was building was nearly complete, and the buttons weren't particularly crucial anyway. The urge to storm off gradually faded from her mind.
The main reason, however, was that Miss Sparkle had already set her sights on the Annoying Saint before her, planning a grand spectacle on the colossal stage of Penacony—a performance that would teach her that provoking Miss Sparkle was no wise choice at all!
"No need for formalities," Lumina said magnanimously, waving her hand to dismiss Sparkle's thanks. "It's all part of my duty."
"Quite resilient, aren't you?"
Observing Sparkle's composure, Lumina murmured to herself, inwardly revising her opinion of the woman.
Lumina had initially expected Sparkle to at least crack a little after such an ordeal. But to her surprise, Sparkle remained remarkably composed, even finding the composure to thank her. It was utterly unexpected.
This woman... isn't she plotting something? Some elaborate scheme to beat me senseless and derive amusement from my suffering? Lumina thought suspiciously.
It was fortunate that Lumina lacked mind-reading abilities. If she had known what Miss Sparkle was thinking just moments ago, she would have burst into uproarious laughter, clutching her sides.
A mere mesugaki Fool, after all, Miss Sparkle thought. No matter how flawless or earth-shattering her plans might seem, the final result will always be the same: delivering herself to me as an after-dinner dessert.
Thus, if Lumina had known Miss Sparkle's thoughts, she would have said:
"Why even bother wasting your brainpower on planning? Just come here obediently and let me 'eat' you a few bites. The end result will be about the same anyway."
"Instead of meticulously planning and strategizing only to have it all crushed by me, your Heart shattered, and then be 'eaten' by me, why not cut straight to the chase and let me 'eat' you directly?"
"At least you'd get some actual experience out of it, wouldn't you?"
The word "eat" here wasn't meant literally, of course. It referred to a thorough thrashing, the kind a mother might give a misbehaving child—a brutal lesson in consequences.
-
"Miss Lumina, Madam Herta, and... me?"
Just as Sparkle finished thanking Lumina, a familiar voice rang out from behind the robin she had conjured.
The voice was laced with confusion and a hint of shock, as if witnessing something unbelievable.
"Enough, Fool. Don't defile my sister's body with your grotesque form." A majestic, angry voice boomed from behind the first, its tone dripping with fury.
Hearing this, the robin Sparkle had transformed into turned around. She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, feigning surprise. "Oh? Another me?"
"Robin, Mr. Sunday, we meet again." The newcomers were none other than Robin and Sunday, who had just emerged from Dreamscape Reef and temporarily parted ways with Welt.
"Ah, Sister Lumina, I didn't expect to see you again so soon." Robin smiled, nodding politely at Herta, who stood beside Lumina looking slightly exasperated.
"Yes, we meet again, little birds," Herta replied with a helpless glance at Lumina.
This Lumina... is simply unbearable. Maybe I should just research some kind of confinement device and lock her up in it...
Herta thought this, but the idea had barely formed in her mind before she ruthlessly crushed it.
Madam Herta would never imprison someone's freedom.
Especially not Lumina...
"Brother, why are you calling me 'Fool'? I'm your sister, Robin!" Sparkle said with a mischievous grin, her playful spirit ignited by the sight of Sunday and Robin.
Sunday remained silent, but the icy glint in his eyes seemed to pierce through Sparkle.
"I heard a master of deception, a Masked Fool, also received an invitation... It seems that's you."
"Enjoying the game?" Robin asked calmly, her initial shock at Sparkle's true identity now replaced by composure.
"Aiya, how boring! I didn't expect to be exposed so quickly. I wasn't finished playing yet~" Sparkle complained, slightly bored after being unmasked by Lumina, Sunday, and now Robin in quick succession.
Is my disguise technique really this poor? Can anyone see through it at a glance?
Oh, except for that little grey-haired one...
With a shake of her head, Sparkle dropped her disguise, revealing a petite child barely four feet tall.
The little brat stood with hands on hips, looking up at Sunday and Robin.
"Good morning~ Chicken Wing Boy, Chicken Wing Girl."