"I think you should try to understand the concept of a Mary Sue, Algol..."
Aslan did his best to speak in the most polite and careful manner possible.
It wasn't that Algol wasn't beautiful—she was indeed one of the most stunning women Aslan had ever seen.
But after realizing... he couldn't go back to how things were!
How could he judge fairly when all he could think about was "Mary Sue"?
Even a dog would shake its head.
As a Star Spirit, even while sealed, Algol could easily absorb basic common sense from Human History, just as the Holy Grail implanted it into Heroic Spirits.
The same applied in this Type-Moon world.
Algol briefly glanced at Human History.
She fell silent for three seconds.
Her multicolored hair instantly changed to pure purple in an instant.
Aslan waved his hand in front of Algol's eyes.
"Al-chan? Al-chan?"
"Wait, let me calm down."
"Okay, fine!"
Aslan stopped.
Algol took a deep breath.
Al-chan's aesthetics were perfect, but others lacked Al-chan's natural beauty, and their poor imitation could never convey the charm of sharing the same hair color as Al-chan.
Because those tacky Mary Sues misused the very hair color associated with Algol, Algol's aesthetic had become embarrassingly cliché.
Wasn't this an unforeseen disaster?
First, borrow a time machine… ah no, this is Little Garden, so she'd have to borrow Sun Authority from Shiroyasha.
Wait—wasn't this an Unobserved Domain? Meaning no one had seen this version of Algol except the two people in front of her?
Silencing them seemed entirely possible.
As long as no one knew, it never happened.
This was Al-chan's new hair color—only a few people had seen it.
Seemed doable!
But she was sealed too tightly—and one of them was Al-chan's chosen disciple.
(That damn Athena! Did you plan for even this?)
(Al-chan doesn't care. I've decided to blame Athena first.)
Once her seal was broken, she'd definitely make Athena adopt the same Mary Sue style and advertise it across all of Little Garden!
"You didn't see Al-chan like that earlier!"
Algol glared sharply at Aslan. As for Sakura, she wouldn't argue with a child.
And Aslan? He probably couldn't hold back his laughter, right? He was almost bursting into hysterics!
Turns out Algol was surprisingly easy to talk to.
Aslan was slightly surprised. He'd braced himself for her to throw a tantrum.
But all he got was a sharp glare—which, combined with her current appearance, looked utterly adorable.
"Oh yeah, don't bring Al-chan's incarnation or Sakura back to Little Garden. Don't let Little Garden's Central Core observe this world."
Algol warned Aslan. She could already imagine the chaos if Little Garden's Central Core observed this world.
Even without mentioning the chaos, the mere existence of the Root alone would cause countless ancient entities to act.
When others gathered concepts and formed Authorities, didn't it take at least thousands of years?
Even with prior experience, the time needed to rebuild them wouldn't be much shorter.
As for traded Authorities, unless compatibility was extremely high, absorbing them fully would still take decades.
With the help of the Root and this world's special rules that made gathering and intervening in concepts incredibly easy, Algol could guide Sakura to form an Authority within ten years.
Even under her guidance, that was astonishingly fast.
Ten years wasn't long for gods and buddhas—it was just a blink of an eye.
If Little Garden found out, countless Pantheons would tear each other apart fighting for ownership rights to this world.
Of course, the fiercest fighter would be that Halloween Queen.
The mere existence of the Throne of Heroes was enough to make Halloween Queen descend personally.
But Algol didn't care. Nothing mattered to her except her beauty.
So she reminded Aslan.
"I certainly understand the importance of this world."
Aslan nodded.
Then Algol took Sakura away to begin her lessons.
"Wait… so when I return to Little Garden, will I only bring Artoria back with me?"
Sakura would stay to study under Algol, and Manaka would assist Aslan in anchoring the Umbrella Corporation.
For some reason, he suddenly felt like a scoundrel who flirted everywhere and then vanished without responsibility.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The next few days were peacefully routine. Aslan spent each day deepening his bond with Manaka.
Occasionally, he and Manaka listened in on Algol's lessons for Sakura.
After all, these were teachings from a Three-Digit entity—just listening would surely be beneficial.
Algol didn't mind. To her, teaching one person or three was the same.
Yet after relaxing for several days, Aslan began to feel slightly bored.
After all, he'd accomplished a lot recently and needed to return to Little Garden to check the results.
Finally, Aslan made his decision and told Manaka he had to leave.
"Manaka, I must go."
"Yes, Prince, safe travels~"
Manaka smiled and waved her hand, then gently released Aslan's hand, letting him go.
Instantly, Aslan couldn't smile anymore.
"Manaka, is there nothing more you want to say?"
Manaka grinned mischievously, touched her lips with a finger, and said:
"Didn't I already say it? Prince, safe travels~"
The next second, Manaka lunged forward and hugged Aslan tightly, clinging to him as if she never wanted to let go.
"Prince, you're cheating. You only thought about giving something to Manaka. Manaka also wants to prepare a gift for the Prince."
"So the Prince must look forward to it."
Then Manaka kissed Aslan on the lips.
Aslan's gift to Manaka was simple—a single heart.
He extracted part of the concept of his own heart and merged it into Manaka's.
This way, as long as they were in the same world, Manaka could feel Aslan's heartbeat—and simultaneously, it greatly enhanced her physical strength and Mana reserves.
Though not strong enough to destroy planets barehanded, she could easily crush mountains.
Literally, a carefully prepared gift.
As for Manaka's idea, she realized her help for Aslan would be limited if she went to Little Garden now.
After learning about Little Garden's convergence mechanics, she decided to give Aslan something truly grand.
"Alright, I'll look forward to Manaka's gift."
Aslan said with a smile. After all, he'd already given Magic: The Gathering cards to both Manaka and Sakura to contact him.
Whenever they missed him, they could reach out anytime—and he could return to visit Manaka and Sakura whenever he wished.
Then Aslan gathered the fruits of his journey in this world.
First, what was visible: the Holy Sword of the Star obtained under the name Arthur, and one Artoria.
And hidden beneath—the true danger: Angra Mainyu.