Sylvester didn't press Fu Xuan for more answers. Instead, he tore open the envelope and carefully examined the letter of appointment from top to bottom.
Sure enough, those two words stood out clearly: "Honorary General."
That meant he had absolutely none of the overwhelming authority a true General possessed—and that realization made him exhale in deep relief.
Here in his little shop, he could joke around and stir things up however he liked. But if he really had to shoulder the lives of billions, could he still afford to laugh and banter like this?
Just imagining the crushing pressure that Jing Yuan endured every day was enough to kill any interest he might've had in power. That life was suffocating. It simply didn't suit him.
Relaxed as he is now, he picked out the most important passage of the document and read it aloud:
"I hereby appoint Sylvester, resident of the Exalting Sanctum, as Honorary General of the Xianzhou Luofu, a rank equal to the Seven Arbiter-Generals, with no distinction of higher or lower."
As his voice faded, Stelle, March 7th, and the others finally let their expressions soften.
"So that's what it was…" March 7th pressed a hand to her chest, trying to ease the tightness brought on by her panic.
The thought of the Luofu changing Generals had terrified her. She had even wondered if something terrible had happened to Jing Yuan.
And if that were true, Yanqing would've been devastated.
But thankfully, it had all been a false alarm.
Dan Heng also released a long, slow sigh.
As Jing Yuan's former comrade-in-arms, his bond with him was perhaps the deepest of anyone here. Now that the truth was clear, all that worry evaporated into smoke.
Only Stelle, even with the misunderstanding cleared, still looked troubled: "So it's just a fake crown. Figures… no precedent for a path like this. But I won't give up."
Dan Heng and March 7th turned their heads toward her. If eyes could project text, both of theirs would've flashed her face with the largest, boldest "SERIOUSLY?"
Sister… enough already. Still obsessed with your dumb trash cans?
Sylvester, watching the group calm down, gave Fu Xuan a faint smile. "Didn't think you'd pass over the Curios just to fixate on me. Really, I'm flattered."
Of course, he was teasing her for her little streak of competitiveness.
Fu Xuan puffed out her chest proudly and replied in a haughty tone: "In duels of rhetoric, you've always prevailed. Today, the tide has turned—such is only natural."
But deep down, she knew the truth.
Every time she thought about his obviously fabricated file in the Divination Commission archives, unease would creep over her.
Outwardly, Sylvester acted every bit of a Xianzhouan. But her intuition screamed otherwise.
She had even sought answers through the Matrix of Prescience—a method that had never once failed her. Yet that day, it had yielded nothing at all.
So, she constantly reminded herself:
Don't let him drift too far.
If he slipped beyond her sight, she couldn't accept it.
The feeSylvesterg was confusing, and she didn't understand why. Even in her drive to become a worthy General, she'd never once acted this way toward Jing Yuan.
But with Sylvester… if his eyes didn't fall on her, it left her unsettled.
And since Feixiao had stopped by this shop a few times, that feeSylvesterg had only grown stronger.
Still, it wasn't something she dared show.
Sylvester couldn't possibly guess the conflict in her heart. Yet—perhaps thanks to the [Eye of True Sight]—he picked up on something hidden in her proud façade. A trace of… bashfulness.
If only I could read minds, he thought.
Because the way she crossed her arms, lifted her delicate chin, and peeked at him secretly from the corner of her eye—it was far too cute.
Cough, cough. Not good. At this rate, I will really turn into a lolicon.
That'd ruin his image as a "respectable man," wouldn't it?
But wait—Fu Xuan was a legal loli.
…Oh. Well then, what was there to fear?
Respectable men doing legal things—where's the problem? There is none!
The reasoning felt flawless.
Rubbing his hands together, Sylvester beckoned mysteriously. "Funny coincidence. I've actually got something very important to tell you too. Serious business. Come closer."
Something important enough to rival the Honorary General title?
Though she thought his lifestyle was more crooked than even Qingque's, she never doubted his abilities.
So, without hesitation, she walked up to the counter and leaned her ear toward him.
Sylvester lowered his voice, stretching it out like a chant from beyond the horizon: "Fu~ Xuan~ can~ you~ hear~ me~?"
"Eep~!"
The strange sensation made her squeak before she hurriedly clamped her mouth shut.
The warmth of his breath brushed her ear, heating her earlobe by several degrees. And the vibration of his voice tickled unbearably.
Worse, the warmth crept upward toward her crown, while the tingSylvesterg sensation swept downward, laying siege to her pounding heart.
It wasn't unpleasant… just deeply, deeply embarrassing.
Focus. This is supposed to be classified information. Don't think too much. She forced her hammering pulse into check.
"Ahem. Of course I can hear. Speak."
"Good~ then I'll say it."
Another long breath spilled over her crystal-clear ear.
Fu Xuan's mind twisted—this didn't feel like message-passing at all. More like a wicked dragon yawning wide, ready to swallow her whole.
"J-just say it already."
Please, just end this quickly.
Her head burned hotter and hotter, her vision starting to blur.
"Alright, here it comes."
And then Sylvester dropped his voice into its deepest register, right into her tiny ear.
"I~ think~ today's~ Fu Xuan~ is~ super~ cute~!"
"Eeeek!"
The short Sylvestere shot straight into her brain like an arrow, striking her defenseless heart dead-on.
Caught completely off guard, Fu Xuan couldn't suppress her cry of shame.
Why does he always pull this nonsense?!
Her mind flashed back to their first meeting—how he'd teased her into pouncing, only for the Cloud Knights to witness everything, and Guinaifen to broadcast it across the entire Luofu.
If not for Zafkiel's Sixth Bullet, she would have never shown her face again.
And now he was doing it again!
In public, no less! What of her dignity?!
She glared at him, furious.
But to Sylvester, she looked just like a kitten pouting after her dried fish was stolen. Even cuter than before.
Watching his smug grin, Fu Xuan resolved to scold him thoroughly.
Otherwise, if he kept this up… how would she survive?
But just as she opened her mouth, another voice froze her in place.
"So that's how it is, huh, Master Diviner? You and Boss Sylvester are that close?"
Fu Xuan stiffly turned to face the speaker—Qingque. Her overheated mind surged again.
"S-sorry, Master Diviner." Qingque stuck out her tongue sheepishly. "But your voice was too loud. Even though we wanted to give you two some privacy, we really couldn't help but hear…"
Fu Xuan turned her gaze on the rest of the Astral Express crew, her expression still frozen.
Dan Heng had turned his back, silently declaring: I saw nothing. I heard nothing.
March 7th, flustered, hurriedly tucked her camera away and pressed her palms together apologetically.
"Purely for my personal collection! I'll never, ever show it to anyone else!"
Stelle just shrugged. "We all turned around to avoid suspicion. But… come on, you yelled it so loud. We couldn't help being curious."
"…Yeah."
Fu Xuan's eyes went dull. Her voice was wooden.
Her dignity… completely gone.
The Master Diviner's consciousness slowly drifted away.