Double Leaf is not a fool, nor does she like to play dumb when it’s unnecessary. Therefore, the fact that she can disregard Diana’s advice to engage with things that may induce ’danger’ proves that she has enough confidence to mitigate those risks.
For instance, going to the forbidden book section to check out things that might not actually be ’taboo’, but do contain some non-mainstream ’knowledge’. After a fairly thorough investigation, Double Leaf concluded that with a bit of caution she would never find herself in a desperate situation.
Of course, this conclusion, not yet tested in practice, might not be correct. However, as long as the general direction is not problematic, she is never averse to taking a slight risk.
This level of analysis, although they ’only knew each other for a few days’, Frank, who had at least gotten a little familiar with Double Leaf, was still able to achieve.
And so—
"Alright, I understand."
Slightly dejected, Motan returned the poetry collection in his hand to its original place. With his long legs, he quickly caught up to the difficult girl in every sense and sighed helplessly: "I’ll go with you."
Having anticipated this scene, she showed no surprise and instead gave Motan, who was riddled with helplessness, a sly smile: "Good, and remember to keep it a secret from Diana; you don’t want her to worry unnecessarily, do you?"
"That depends on the situation."
Motan, well-versed in negotiation skills, did not give a direct answer, looking troubled.
Although they did not mention specific content, for two smart people, "depends on the situation" was already enough information.
Double Leaf intended for Frank to accompany her to the forbidden book section, partly to ’supervise’ her. After all, instead of disappearing all day for no reason and listening to Diana nagging her, she preferred this guy next to her to serve as a false witness.
Under such circumstances, even if she went to the forbidden book section, she would act a bit more restrained. And for Frank, who didn’t want Diana to worry too much, if Double Leaf was indeed as cautious as she claimed, letting her skate a little close to the line wouldn’t hurt.
Of course, Frank was a complete outsider in the field of mysticism and had no way of knowing if Double Leaf was genuinely avoiding those dangerous matters. But he truly had no other choice. Just as she said, Frank Hughes simply did not have the means to stop the girl in front of him.
So the options before him boiled down to two:
Either forcefully stop Double Leaf, only to be effortlessly rendered powerless and let her enter the forbidden book section.
Or, follow closely behind Double Leaf, which, though contrary to his intentions, could at least keep her somewhat in check given the possibility of reporting back to Diana at any time.
Even if only a trivial amount, it’s better than having the girl ruin herself.
The above is the core reason why Frank Hughes decided to ’go along with the misdeed’.
As for the person playing the role of ’Frank Hughes’, who actually wished for Double Leaf to mess up and explode, known as ’Tan Mo’ in The Realm of Innocence, he harbored another consideration...
Compared to Frank, who had only known Double Leaf for a few days, Motan had far deeper insights into her.
Get involved with dangerous things and end up dead?
Heh, although the possibility isn’t zero, hoping for such an outcome is less reliable than expecting Double Leaf to headbutt a pig to death in despair.
If one were to pin hopes on Double Leaf messing herself up to death, then Motan felt he wouldn’t be far from being messed up by her.
For this reason, he needed to play Frank Hughes well. Even in situations where she seemed to be in trouble, he had to extend a helping hand, not kick her when she’s down.
After all, no one knows whether when Motan threw the stone into the well, the seemingly careless girl who fell down wouldn’t hold an anti-material sniper rifle aiming at his head.
In short, with a vast disparity in power, any reckless act means irreversible catastrophe.
Moreover...
[If nothing unexpected happens, her vigilance against Frank Hughes should already be at its peak, and that vigilance is targeted precisely at ’me’.]
Even with the [Prototype Mithril Resonance Rune Board] that Diana seemed to have acquired from Double Leaf at a significant cost, which could offset considerable side effects of space teleportation, Motan still displayed a look of lingering fears when stepping onto the teleportation array.
"Coward."
Double Leaf snorted lightly, traced a ’thirty-six’ on the crystal pillar beside the teleportation array, then snapped her fingers crisply. She summoned an almost invisible shield around herself and Motan.
Of course, this [Space Distortion Membrane], which didn’t even reach the strength of primary stage magic and only vibrated at a specific frequency, didn’t possess any defensive power, its sturdiness even less than a pile of jelly, but in specific situations, it could perform exceptionally well.
For example, neutralizing the physical strain endured during short-range space teleportation.
[This level of magic control is no less than those epic tier mages specializing in space magic...]
Unlike Frank, who was utterly clueless in the domain of spellcasters, Motan almost immediately came to a conclusion in his heart the moment Double Leaf completed her spellcasting, once more marking up the theoretical threat level of this four-eyed deadpan next to him.
In fact, ever since he started interacting with Double Leaf as Frank, her theoretical threat level in Motan’s mind had been steadily rising.
There are two reasons for this:
Firstly, though he has a character ranked in the personal combat power rankings (which ’Tan Mo’ quickly fell out of after ranking), the concept between top two hundred and top twenty is vastly different, not even comparable.
Among those Motan knew and had seen in action, the top figures amounted to only two: one being Cordova, whose combat methods always involved straightforward crush and explosion of enemies, and couldn’t serve as a reference; the other being Snow Bathing Sword, who fiercely battled ’himself’ but never aimed to kill or harbored murderous intent.
So, though he holds substantial information channels and has heard Dian’s numerous evaluations of Double Leaf’s strength, ultimately, it’s challenging for Motan to form a clear and definite judgment on the adversary, who has far left him behind in ’combat power’.
Another reason is that Motan initially underestimated Double Leaf, while classifying her into the ’dung beetle’ level was overly subjective.
In conclusion, through observation and study of various details, Motan, whose mystic knowledge surged for some reason, is gradually refining his assessment of Double Leaf.
Hopeless chest.
Hopeless height.
Hopeless personality.
Hopelessly formidable.
The above is Motan’s exceedingly objective evaluation of Double Leaf.
In his hypothetical scenario, if Double Leaf were to go one-on-one with Snow Bathing Sword in the arena, their chance of winning should be approximately 30:70, given that in a restricted environment with clear objectives, mages are generally at a disadvantage.
But if the situation were set in Academy City, with both holding detailed intel on the other, purely aiming to eliminate one another, Motan believes that even three Snow Bathing Swords would be slain by Double Leaf in a short period.
After all, this highly unstable woman is never a docile lamb; beneath her hopeless exterior lies an equally hopeless soul!
With such strong conviction, in a haze of blurred light, Motan disappeared from the original spot alongside Double Leaf, arriving at the thirty-sixth section of Academy City’s integrated library, on the first floor of the forbidden book section.
[Welcome to the stage I diligently prepared for you~]
Chapter 1163: The End
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