"Seran has a media outlet under his banner, and he's been loudly promoting that he provided crucial intelligence that helped us uncover this conspiracy."
Cagalli was visibly furious, her delicate face flushed with anger.
"What about Uzumi-sama?"
He Kui asked.
"He told me to handle it myself."
Cagalli replied with a dejected expression.
No wonder.
He Kui thought to himself.
Did Uzumi really let Seran get away with this?
That seemed impossible.
If this was part of a test, then things made much more sense.
"Which media outlet does Seran own? What about the others?"
"His media is called Orb Daily News. There are two smaller newspapers and one major one involved, all owned by families that don't get along with us."
"So, it's the Sahaku family, right?"
"Yes, and one smaller family."
"I see."
The Sahaku family likely wanted to step into the spotlight, so they naturally wouldn't want Cagalli's reputation to grow further.
If the reputation boost went to that incompetent Seran, it would benefit the Sahaku family.
As long as they were alive, Seran's ambitions to rise would be futile.
As for that smaller family, they were probably just following the Sahaku family's lead.
But was the Sahaku family's patriarch already dead? Did those two siblings already have so much authority?
Or was the patriarch himself in on this?
He Kui wasn't familiar with Orb's political landscape.
It was completely different from PLANT.
If anything, it was more like Japan.
Political power was family-based, with hereditary politics, leaving no room for ordinary people.
While theoretically, positions were elected, in practice, they inherited their parents' roles, reputations, and assets, resembling a feudal system.
It was quite unique, even the practice of adopting heirs was surprisingly similar.
But this wasn't his country, and Cagalli was destined to become the leader, so he didn't need to say much.
"We can cut the ground from under them."
After some thought, He Kui decided to abandon political methods.
"What do you mean?"
Cagalli asked, puzzled.
"That Seran guy definitely has skeletons in his closet. We should gather as much evidence as possible and expose it all at once, including this fake credit he's taking."
"But Seran is still a member of a major family. It's hard for us to track him…"
"I have Little Bird. Even without it, you have people who can investigate him. He'll slip up eventually."
Uzumi wouldn't just let Cagalli die, so there must be a solution.
Their team was part of the anti-terrorism unit, and Seran had been involved in shady dealings during the Atlantic Federation's attack.
If they publicly harassed him a few times and presented some evidence, they could break this situation. As for the Seran family, they'd face public backlash.
After all, most people could tell the difference between Cagalli and that incompetent Seran.
"Isn't this a bit underhanded?"
Cagalli was still hesitant. She was used to straightforward methods, and this seemed a bit sneaky to her.
That's why she hadn't thought of such a simple solution—it just wasn't her style.
"An eye for an eye."
He Kui said with a smile.
"He took what's yours, so take it back. It's fair."
"Besides, if he doesn't learn his lesson, he'll keep using this method against you."
"Even when you become the leader, it'll be the same. Think of it as doing this for the people."
"…I understand."
After some persuasion from He Kui, Cagalli finally agreed to the plan.
With that settled, the next steps were simple. After finalizing the plan, He Kui sent out his Little Bird.
Although its control range was only one kilometer, it could still operate independently.
With two of them alternating, they could monitor around the clock.
It wasn't real-time monitoring, though. It would only activate when within one kilometer of Aegis.
"Little Bird is in place. Now it's your turn to take people and stir up trouble in Seran's territory."
"Oh."
"That's too soft. You need to be more serious."
He Kui's fingers gently pinched Cagalli's cheeks.
"Raise your eyebrows a bit, lower the corners of your mouth, and furrow your brow."
"Yes, just like that."
Seeing Cagalli's expression, He Kui nodded in satisfaction.
"Aren't you coming with me?"
Cagalli dropped her cold, solemn expression and shot He Kui a reproachful look.
"I am."
He Kui said, casually ruffling the girl's golden hair.
"What are you doing!"
Cagalli smoothed her disheveled hair and pouted, her earlier lioness-like demeanor completely gone.
"After helping you so much, I deserve some interest, don't I?"
He Kui said with a smile.
"What do you want?"
Hearing this, Cagalli felt a slight pang of disappointment, though she didn't know why.
"What I want is…"
He Kui said, gently pinching Cagalli's cheek.
"If I help you deal with Seran this time, let me get into bed with you. How about that?"
He Kui's voice was soft, but coming from a little girl's mouth, it felt incredibly out of place.
"You're a robot. What would you do in bed?"
Cagalli didn't understand and looked at him with clear confusion.
"Of course, to make you happy~"
Bed, happiness—as Orb's future leader, if Cagalli didn't understand what that meant, she'd have wasted all those years of elite education.
"You have that function?"
Cagalli asked, her face red with embarrassment.
"I do. Look."
In Cagalli's shocked and incredulous gaze, Aegis's hand rose and began vibrating at a high frequency.
The sound of the vibration grew louder, then softer, then louder again, sounding utterly inappropriate.
"He Kui… why would you put that function in a robot?"
Cagalli's lips parted in disbelief.
The famous youngest council member and head of the Integrated Design Bureau, the genius Director Erica so admired, had actually created such an indecent robot.
It was enough to shatter anyone's worldview.
"Because I want to make you happy~"
He Kui said with a straight face, causing Cagalli's cheeks to flush even more.
"It won't hurt, I promise!"
After all, He Kui would definitely keep an eye on things. He couldn't let Aegis replace him. If it weren't for the distance, he wouldn't have resorted to this.
"I… I'll think about it."
"I'm going back!"
With that, Cagalli bolted out the door.
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