Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

”Sorry, I’m late.”

Pushing the door open hastily, Asuna apologized somewhat embarrassedly to the girls sitting on the chairs, and upon hearing her apology, Tilia merely smiled slightly.

”No need, Miss Asuna, the timing is just right, so let’s start.”

”Okay... So, why did you call us here this time?”

It was only then that Asuna realized something seemed a bit off. She had previously only received a notification from Eiriri on her personal terminal, saying everyone wanted to have a small gathering. Initially, Asuna thought it would just be the usual tea and chat, but upon arriving here, she found the atmosphere was tense and serious, like a war vanguard.

At both ends of the oval conference table, sat Tilia and Sora Haruno. The former still carried her signature elegant young lady’s smile, while the latter hugged her black rabbit doll as usual, shrinking into the chair with a displeased look.

On the sides of the table sat Black Cat, Eiriri, Kurumi, Akemi Homura, and Little Hei... This combination indeed seemed somewhat odd to Asuna.

”Uh... What exactly is going on?”

Asuna swallowed and quietly sat next to Eiriri, asking in a low voice, while Eiriri shook her head.

”I don’t know either, Black Cat asked me to come.”

Hearing this, Asuna looked at Black Cat, who also shook her head.

”Miss Kurumi notified me to come.”

Glancing at Tokisaki Kurumi across the table, Asuna ultimately dared not ask further, and at this moment, Tilia finally unveiled the mystery.

”I called everyone here to report something. Currently, in the Third Coordinate Point world, someone has proposed to Elder Brother.”

Upon hearing this, everyone was first shocked, then...

”... Just this?”

Eiriri looked at Tilia incredulously.

”You mysteriously gathered us here, I thought something big happened. Isn’t it common for people to confess to Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”That’s right. In the past, bro received love letters every day in our world.”

Sora also chimed in, yawning, expressing strong resentment towards Tilia for not letting her sleep well at night and instead coming here for some nonsensical meeting.

”Exactly, Sister Tilia, Big Brother gets confessed to daily, and plenty of women want to marry him. If you call a meeting every time, then we’d be doing nothing else.”

Little Hei also voiced her opinion.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. Mr. Fang Zheng has many women around him, so this is not something unusual. But they trust Mr. Fang Zheng a lot, and the girls all know he is not an ordinary person, so they have never interfered in this aspect.

Now seeing Tilia bringing this up, they all felt a bit baffled.

”This time is different?”

However, Tilia evidently had prepared in advance. She giggled, then snapped her fingers, and soon, a 3D holographic image appeared in the center of the conference table.

”Is it her?”

”Yes, Reiji, 17 years old, S-grade Martial Investigator, skilled in using sniper rifles...”

”Martial Investigator?”

”A profession similar to an Armed Detective.”

”I see.”

Upon hearing this, Eiriri nodded.

”Then why did she propose to Mr. Fang Zheng? Did she meet danger in battle and was saved by Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”No.”

Tilia shook her head with a smile.

”Did she spend a lot of time with bro and then confessed to him?”

Now Sora posed her question, but Tilia still shook her head.

”No.”

”Could it be she and Mr. Fang Zheng were enemies, and after battling, this girl named Reiji became obsessed with Mr. Fang Zheng?”

Now Black Cat let her imagination run wild, but Tilia still shook her head.

”Also no.”

”Then why?”

Now Eiriri became curious.

”What’s the reason she proposed to Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”Unknown.”

”... Huh?”

”Indeed unknown. In fact, when she proposed to Mr. Fang Zheng, it was their first meeting. Although they had engaged in battle twice, they had not met. So, logically, they should have no connection at all.”

Upon hearing Tilia’s introduction, everyone was stunned.

”What is this?”

Eiriri suddenly jumped up.

”You mean to say this girl neither knows Mr. Fang Zheng nor has met him, yet she eagerly came to propose to him?”

”That’s right, and just to remind you, traveling from her city to Mr. Fang Zheng’s residence can be considered a long journey.”

”This...”

Upon hearing this, the girls were all dumbfounded, gazing at each other speechless. You’d think the person interacted with Mr. Fang Zheng, or they battled together, or was saved by him, a proposal would make sense. But they almost never met face-to-face, yet she went on a thousand-mile journey to propose?

What kind of operation is this?

”So why is she proposing to Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”According to what she said? Because the wind...”

”A bit eccentric... ”

Hearing this answer, Eiriri helplessly scratched her head and then looked at Black Cat.

”It’s your turn to step in and interpret this for us.”

”How am I supposed to interpret this? There’s no way I can do something like that!!”

Black Cat hastily shook her head in denial in response to Eiriri’s words. Even though she was deeply immersed in her own delusions, running halfway across the world to propose to a guy she’d never met was a mental explosion she couldn’t even fathom, let alone putting it into action... It was just impossible!

”Could it be a political marriage?”

This time, Asuna also chimed in with her opinion.

”Like Miss Euphemia?”

In the Mech World, back then, the Britannian Empire tried to appease Fang Zheng, who held the highest position in the Chinese Federation, by proposing to marry the Third Princess, Euphemia Li Britannia, to Fang Zheng. Of course, Fang Zheng rejected the proposal, but to Asuna and the others, it was quite a memorable event.

However, Tilia dismissed Asuna’s idea as well.

”According to Nymph’s investigation, this girl named Reiji doesn’t seem to have any significant official power, and in that world, Elder Brother is very low-profile. Even if the upper echelons wanted to curry favor, they couldn’t reach him.”

”So, Miss Tilia, why did you gather us here? What do you intend to tell us?”

At this moment, Akemi Homura also voiced her curiosity.

”The Master has his own ideas. If he wants to reject, then he will reject, right? If he agrees... although it’s unlikely, we can’t oppose it.”

”That’s true.”

Upon hearing Akemi Homura’s words, Eiriri realized, indeed, although the girl’s behavior was strange, simply gathering them for this seemed a bit excessive. After all, Fang Zheng had his considerations, and the girls trusted him to make a suitable decision.

In fact, Fang Zheng was indeed like this. As his harem expanded, he became more selective rather than accepting anyone. He often considered whether someone’s personality would mesh well with his existing harem. This is why Fang Zheng kept his distance from Yukina and the others. Fang Zheng could tell that if they gained too much, they could become arrogant, causing dissatisfaction among others and potentially leading to a vicious cycle of competition and rivalry.

Once that Pandora’s box is opened, it never ends. So for the harmony and stability of his own backyard, Fang Zheng was now cautious about adding new members.

The girls also believed Fang Zheng wasn’t someone who would lose his mind at the sight of a woman. They trusted his judgment—except, perhaps, when it involved matters of time.

Tokisaki Kurumi and Akemi Homura were prime examples of this.

”My point is, perhaps we should send someone to help Elder Brother deal with this issue.”

Tilia maintained her smile, unchanged.

”I’m not saying we should drive away every girl approaching Elder Brother; that’s impossible, right? But when someone comes straight out demanding marriage and, according to Nymph’s report, is sticking around without leaving, don’t you think someone should step in? Since Elder Brother is a man, sometimes it’s easier for us women to handle such matters, and it’s a way to express our stance to Elder Brother too, right?”

”Oh... ”

At this, Asuna had a revelation, understanding why Tilia gathered seemingly unrelated people together.

Currently, relations around Fang Zheng within Heavenly Dao Palace can be divided into three levels. On the outermost level, there are those who have a good impression of Fang Zheng but haven’t reached the boyfriend-girlfriend stage, such as Fumie Busei, Natsuse, Nobiru—they belong to this tier.

The middle tier includes those who’ve had some sort of relationship with Fang Zheng but haven’t considered marriage with him. Examples include Shiyu of Misty Hill, Kato Megumi, Tokitani Naoya, and Atalanta—these people enjoy spending time with Fang Zheng but aren’t keen on marriage.

Strictly speaking, their relationship with Fang Zheng is more of a ”bedmate” one.

As of now, they have no intention of making it official.

Present among the group were Eiriri, Black Cat, Asuna, Sora, Akemi Homura, Kurumi, and Tilia, who were recognized by Fang Zheng as ”official girlfriends,” meaning they were set to be married, though whether individually or as a group remained to be determined.

Therefore, when discussing dating Fang Zheng, they were indifferent.

But considering marriage... that was a different story.

”But Brother does not permit us to go to that world, and he said for safety’s sake, he wouldn’t bring anyone from that world back.”

Regarding Tilia’s suggestion, Sora was indifferent—since her power level was low among this group, she hardly considered going.

Going would only be a nuisance.

”I wanted to go, but Big Brother won’t allow me, so I’d better... stay here.”

Little Hei hesitated for a while but ultimately gave up. Despite having a good relationship with Fang Zheng, they understood that when it came to serious matters, Fang Zheng was uncompromising. If he said they couldn’t go, and they insisted, they’d be lucky to only get yelled at.

Perhaps they’d get pulled out directly.

”Even though Katori and Neflen are over there, why aren’t they monitoring the situation?”

Thinking about it, Eiriri couldn’t help but complain, while Black Cat sighed.

”There’s no choice, they’re not Mr. Fang Zheng’s lovers... ”

”Sigh... ”

Upon hearing Black Cat’s answer, Eiriri shook her head helplessly.

”So what do we do now?”

Unexpectedly, at this moment, someone stood up.

”In that case, let me go.”

”Miss Kurumi?”

Seeing Tokisaki Kurumi stand up, smiling and watching them, everyone was somewhat surprised.

”Are you sure? Mr. Fang Zheng said that world is polluted by Chaos and very dangerous, plus you have lots of work, right... ”

”There’s no need for worry.”

With Kurumi’s voice, the next moment, another Kurumi emerged from the shadow behind her, smiling confidently at everyone.

”’I’ am already prepared.”