After stretching languidly, Muse scanned the hall once more to make sure truly no one was slacking off, then withdrew her gaze. She then tapped the desktop lightly with her unpainted middle finger and simply called out, "Water!"
"Water is here." As soon as Muse had spoken, someone brought over a cup of petal honey water at just the right temperature, presenting it to her with great respect.
Muse took the cup, sipped gently, savored for a moment, nodded contentedly, and then looked toward the person who had brought the water.
The individual was a tall, thin man, about thirty years old, around six feet tall, but his weight appeared to be, at most, only about 130 to 140 pounds, giving off an impression of being gaunt, with long shadows under his eyes that clearly resulted from prolonged sleep deprivation.
"Tsk." Muse let out a noise upon a glance at the man and said, "Franklin, the honey water you prepared this time isn’t bad, it seems you’ve made progress."
The tall and thin man named Franklin, upon hearing Muse’s words, showed not an ounce of pride, but rather a sincere trepidation, "It’s all thanks to the good guidance from Muse Housekeeper."
"Hmmph, as long as you’re aware," Muse spoke, taking another sip of water, pushed the wooden cup to the side, and looked at Franklin, "I’m in a good mood now, so you give me a report on the recent progress of work."
"Yes." Franklin dared not hesitate and began to speak swiftly after hearing Muse’s words, "Supervisor Muse, our work has been proceeding according to plan recently.
Because no one has handed over to us, we have been unable to fully grasp some details, but for the most part, things are moving in a positive direction. Personnel from various Wizard Organizations have been dispatched, and the Zero Wizard Organization has completed up to the end of the first phase and is preparing to enter the second.
Additionally, some routine cleanup work has also been continuously dealt with. So far, targets numbered 27, 37, 54, 72, 88, 92, 123... among others, have been handled.
After Franklin had reported at length, he finally finished, noticing little change in Muse’s expression—a sign he took to be positive—allowed himself a slight sigh of relief, letting go of the anxiety he had held.
Just then, Muse suddenly asked, "Target number 378, hmm, the old man who sold forbidden items on the market, what’s his situation now?"
"Uh, that..." Franklin was taken aback, the ease in his heart lifting again, almost reflexively he began to report swiftly, "Target number 378 has been staying in Florence City, posing a threat level that’s quite weak, close to an ignorant commoner.
Actually, according to our investigations, it’s because one of his ancestors was a craftsman in the Black Spirit Empire, leaving behind some blueprints and books, which is why he was able to create various forbidden items.
He doesn’t understand the dangers of the forbidden items; in most cases, he treats them as a hobby, so sometimes he sells the items for a cheap price, and other times he won’t sell no matter what.
Since we suddenly took over the East Coast affairs, we couldn’t make sense of many aspects in the beginning, so we didn’t immediately delve too deeply into this target. Only recently, when things started to fall into place, did we begin to formally deal with it.
Honestly, Supervisor Muse, we are not very familiar with the East Coast affairs here; I think we could..."
As he was speaking, Franklin suddenly stopped because he realized Muse was looking at him with a sideways glance.
"Supervisor Muse, you..."
Muse looked at Franklin without speaking but waved him closer with a beckoning gesture.
Franklin gulped nervously and swallowed his saliva, not daring to resist as he slowly bent over and stretched his neck closer to Muse’s face. Then in the next moment, Muse grabbed his head and with a "smack," forcefully pressed it down onto the desk.
Muse’s nails harshly dug into Franklin’s skin, and Franklin didn’t dare to move; he just stared at Muse with wide, fearful eyes: "Muse Housekeeper, I... I..."
Muse spoke up, her voice cold, "Franklin, are you smart, or are you stupid? You’re called stupid, yet you just brought me a cup of honey water that satisfied me; you’re called smart, but you always like to talk nonsense!
Franklin, let me tell you, I know we both were suddenly dispatched to this East Coast. There’s no need for you to remind me once, twice, three times, countless times!
Why were we dispatched here? Did we do something wrong? Not at all, it’s just because the people from the East Coast under Ji Burlen, they’re all dead!
This shows that the East Coast is a complete mess! A mess that nobody wants to take over—I certainly didn’t want to either. However, Supervisor Long Mei’er threw it to me, and even if I didn’t want to, I had to take it! Understand?!
I have to not only take it but also do a beautiful job, a hundred times, a thousand times more beautiful than that sloppy man Ji Burlen, so that I might have a chance to be reassigned back, instead of staying here forever.
Therefore, I cannot allow any of these damn issues on the East Coast to have any problems; every issue must be properly dealt with by me!
Additionally, I’m not that sloppy man Ji Burlen; I won’t take all sorts of jobs upon myself, doing everything so that I don’t even have time to tidy myself up.
I will always assign my work to you all, you can say I’m irresponsible, but as my subordinates, isn’t it supposed to be this way—if I do everything myself, then what do I need you for?
And if you’re going to work for me, you must do it with care, because I don’t like people who are half-hearted, especially men..."
Hearing this, Franklin, whose head was pressed against the desk, couldn’t help but speak up: "Muse Housekeeper, I wasn’t being half-hearted, I really wasn’t."
"Of course, I know you weren’t," Muse said coldly, "if you dared, you wouldn’t be alive to speak right now—I would crush your body and then erase all your memories, so that you wouldn’t even have the chance of resurrection!
The reason I’m angry is that although you aren’t half-hearted, you fail to understand what I’m saying! I’m telling you explicitly right now: I do not like trivialities, I do not like doing things myself, so when I ask you about a situation, I want to hear ’it’s been resolved,’ or ’will be resolved immediately,’ not for you to recite a long list of information to me. What for? To make decisions for you, to handle it personally?"
"I..." Franklin’s lips moved slightly as he spoke, "Muse Housekeeper, I was wrong, I know I was wrong, and I will never do it again."
"Very well, regarding target number 378, I do not want to hear anything related to him anymore. The numerous pieces of information about the Black Spirit Empire in Florence City also need to be thoroughly dealt with, after all, if not handled well, we may be exposed—which, even though we do not intend to stay hidden forever, exposure should only happen at the very end of our plan. So, make target number 378 disappear tonight, understand?"
"Understood... understood."
"Good, take someone and get it done," Muse said, releasing her grip.
Franklin rose quickly, respectfully nodded at Muse, and walked briskly to the side. He called out a few names, then left the hall in a hurry with those he had summoned.