As for the compensation mentioned by Madam Herta, Sylvia naturally had no hesitation.
After all, she already had something in mind.
"So, could I ask for... one of your puppets, Madam Herta?"
"...?!"
March 7th, standing nearby, widened her eyes on the spot.
Holy moly, today was full of surprises.
Can you just ask for something like that?
This girl really has some nerve. March was only wondering whether Sylvia would ask for money, or maybe some information, a favor, something along those lines.
But Sylvia went straight for the heavyweight request right off the bat.
Aren't you afraid of making Herta angry?
But clearly, March 7th didn't understand Herta well enough.
She was definitely not someone who'd get upset over such a direct request.
"Oh? You're quite an interesting kid, actually taking a liking to my puppet. Don't tell me you're a fan of mine."
"Something like that."
Sylvia didn't confirm or deny it. She certainly couldn't lose her marbles here and say 'I'm Herta's dog,' could she?
Herta wouldn't care about that sort of thing anyway.
Losing your marbles is only fun with people who actually have a sense of shame.
Like March 7th, for instance.
Beside them, March shuddered for no apparent reason. She glanced suspiciously at Sylvia, feeling like this girl had just thought of something not quite right.
Herta didn't bother about whether it was true or not.
"Fine, then this puppet is yours."
With that, the 'Herta' in front of them immediately went quiet, ceasing all movement.
Then, Sylvia's phone rang with a notification—a message from Herta:
[Herta: Hey, Sylvia. It's Herta.]
[Herta: Bring the Stellaron kid with you later and come to my office ASAP. Waiting.]
March 7th, peeking at the message, looked puzzledly at the Herta puppet still standing there, then back at Sylvia.
"...Isn't Madam Herta right here?"
"Obviously, Herta logged off here. Probably already headed to her office."
Hearing Sylvia's explanation, March 7th nodded, then suddenly realized something and pointed at the Herta puppet.
"Wait, then what about this puppet? Are you really taking it?"
"Why wouldn't I? Didn't Herta just give it to me? From what I can tell, this puppet's specs are pretty impressive."
"But do you know how to operate it?"
"Don't worry, I have my ways."
Sylvia gave a suggestive smile.
It gave March 7th a bad feeling.
This person... she wouldn't try to operate it like that Doomsday Beast, would she?
Aren't you afraid Herta will come after you?
--+--
March 7th wasn't the type to sit still for long.
After resting a bit more and getting dinner from the little robot, March couldn't resist running off to have some fun.
As for Sylvia, with Stelle still lying here, she didn't leave with March.
The leftover Herta puppet had already been stored away in Sylvia's spatial inventory. She'd deal with it later when she found a private spot.
At the very least, she'd wait until they returned to The Blue.
And with some free time now, Sylvia could finally do a card pull.
While chatting with March 7th earlier, she had already confirmed a relationship.
--+--
[Target: March 7th]
[Affection: 72 (Admiration and Empathy)]
[Relationship: Good Buddies]
['Well, well, well, already learned to use a tragic backstory to win favor, huh? You're a natural-born heartbreaker!']
[Reward: Green Card Pull]
--+--
If the affection were a bit higher or the relationship a little closer, she could have gotten a purple card pull.
But there was no rush.
And maybe it was like entering a combat resolution screen—
Just as March 7th's info updated, messages from Himeko and Stelle popped up one after another:
--+--
[Target: Himeko]
[Affection: 67 (Trust and Curiosity)]
[Relationship: None]
['It's Auntie Himeko! The real one! How can you resist? Shouldn't you try to win her over ASAP?']
['Though she seems really curious about why Welt reacted so strongly when he saw you.']
--+--
Looks like Himeko's impression of her was pretty good too.
Straight past 65 points, with basic trust established.
As for the comment afterward, Sylvia silently apologized to Uncle Welt in her heart.
Hopefully, he wouldn't get so worked up seeing Luocha on the Luofu that he'd start a fight right away.
Then there was Stelle's:
--+--
[Target: Stelle]
[Affection: 75 (Caring and Trust)]
[Relationship: None]
['This silly kid is just too gullible. Just because she remembers you standing with Kafka, she trusts you this much.']
['How could you bear to break the heart of such a good kid? You monster! Absolute monster!']
--+--
Yeah, Stelle's affection was surprisingly high, even higher than March 7th's.
Sylvia was quite shocked when she saw the number.
Because honestly, Sylvia felt Stelle should trust March 7th more.
It was bizarre. According to the comment, just because her last memory was of Sylvia standing with Kafka and Silver Wolf, she chose to trust her so easily.
Really didn't know what to say about that.
This girl looks like such a cool older sister, how can she be this much of a dork?
No wonder Sparkle calls her 'Gray Hair.'
Thinking of this, Sylvia couldn't help but reach out and pinch Stelle's cheek.
Maybe it was because Silver Wolf had just done the same, but the skin on Stelle's face felt tender, almost like you could squeeze water out of it.
The defenseless look of a cool girl while asleep really made you want to tease her a little sometimes.
Sylvia kneaded and squeezed Stelle's cheek, playing with it until a faint blush appeared before finally letting go.
"Heh, the little gray-haired one is kinda cute."
Withdrawing her mischievous hand, Sylvia looked back at the card pull interface.
She was actually quite curious about what she'd get from March 7th.
Archery?
Or Six-Phase Ice?
Card pull!
Sylvia's gaze swept over the interface.
After the usual green light flashed before her eyes, a new skill appeared:
--+--
[Memory of Photographs]
['Through a photograph, you may unlock memories. You can witness, and only witness.']
['A photograph cannot carry the past, but it can become the key to memory.']
['That which is intangible never fades. It remains there, whether you remember or forget.']
--+--
A bit of an abstract description, but as the skill's owner, Sylvia roughly understood what it meant.
Sylvia could use photographs—or similar recorded images—to read the events that had occurred within them.
Logically, such an ability should be incredibly overpowered and shouldn't be just green rarity.
But—
This ability could only randomly access fragments.
It couldn't guarantee completeness or clarity.
And if you used it repeatedly on the same image, it would eventually become completely ineffective.
All you could say was, it might be pretty interesting for gossip.
But if you were hoping to use this skill to gather intelligence or uncover historical truths from the past, that might be hoping for a bit too much.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.