Chapter 66: The Price of Credit and a Special Gift

“Damn it…”

Quidar’s face was ashen as he sat at his desk, flipping through the newly arrived directives from headquarters concerning his recent work.

“These damn bastards!”

He slammed the documents onto the adjacent desk, gnashing his teeth. “This Yuli, truly… What kind of report did she send to headquarters? How did it turn out like this?”

“What’s wrong, Boss?”

Seeing Quidar’s outburst, his subordinate quickly inquired.

Quidar glared at his subordinate, fuming. “What else could be wrong? I don’t know how that Yuli wrote her report, but the directive from Purburg actually gave all the credit to Lyon and Fran. My contributions were barely mentioned. What a joke…”

“Boss, please don’t get angry. Calm down!”

“Calm down? How can I possibly calm down?” Quidar roared furiously.

“Boss, please take a deep breath. Let’s have some water to cool off. I’ll pour you some tea!”

Upon hearing Quidar’s words, the subordinate hastily picked up the freshly brewed tea from the table, rushed to Quidar, and placed it on his desk, smiling obsequiously.

Seeing his subordinate’s demeanor, Quidar’s mood eased slightly. He picked up the teacup and gulped down several large mouthfuls, finally alleviating some of his anger.

“This time, I’ve truly seen it all. She can actually pull something like this. This little girl, I truly… No, I can’t swallow this insult.”

Quidar muttered through gritted teeth, shaking his head and sneering with disdain.

Observing Quidar, his subordinate knew he was greatly agitated. He cautiously spoke, “Boss, how… how did she write it? How could she omit your contributions? You could definitely report her to Purburg, couldn’t you?”

Quidar shook his head at the suggestion, pondering. “Her main justification seems to be that we acted without consulting her, which led to a botched clean-up. So, our merits and demerits cancel each other out. Reporting her… it might actually be a bit troublesome.”

He considered it internally, then complained helplessly, “Honestly… can you blame me? I went to raid that organization’s headquarters, wasn’t it to search for clues about Fran? And I found nothing…”

The subordinate was momentarily stunned by Quidar’s words, but quickly recovered, nodding. They tentatively asked, “Boss, do you mean… we should just let this go?”

“Let it go?”

Quidar scoffed coldly. “This matter absolutely cannot be left alone. This woman is truly too arrogant. Who does she think she is? Just a general’s pampered daughter, huh? No matter what, I won’t let her off easy. I’ll make her pay a price.”

“That… might be a bit difficult,” the subordinate interjected honestly. Quidar shot them a glare, then cursed, “Hmph, it doesn’t matter. As long as she wants to keep protecting that Fran, I refuse to believe I can’t find a weakness to exploit.”

The subordinate flinched under Quidar’s stare, quickly shrinking their head back and daring not to speak further.

Quidar watched his subordinate lower their head, then nodded with satisfaction. He stretched languidly, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

****

Fran sat at his desk, staring gloomily at the Teutonic language textbook in his hands. After a long while, his eyelids grew heavy. He relaxed his body, leaning back in his chair, his eyes slowly closing as he drifted towards sleep.

Just then, a knock echoed from outside his door.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Startled by the knocking, Fran immediately woke up. “Who is it?”

“Fran, it’s Yuli.”

A familiar voice came from outside. Fran quickly stood up and hurried towards the door.

“Creak!”

Fran opened the door to see the girl in a black dress smiling playfully at him. “Hehe, Fran, what are you doing?”

Upon hearing the girl’s voice, Fran quickly turned, allowing her to enter the room, then closed the door. “Nothing,” Fran answered casually, walking back to his desk to continue flipping through his book.

“Really? I don’t believe you, you know.” The girl said, then directly sat on the stool in front of the desk. She reached out her right hand and gently pushed aside the book in Fran’s hands, asking in confusion, “Hmm? A Teutonic language textbook?”

“Uh, yeah… I’m looking at this, but I almost fell asleep just now.” Fran quickly shifted his gaze to the side, pretending to study the textbook diligently.

“Hahaha…”

The girl couldn’t help but let out a bell-like laugh at Fran’s expression. “Is that so? Well, Fran is very diligent. Is it so you can communicate with me in Teutonic in the future? Hehe, I really want to test you~”

Fran’s heart tightened at the girl’s words. He quickly explained:

“Uh, can’t we just communicate in Francian? Teutonic… I’m still not very good at speaking it. The accent always feels a bit strange. And I’ve already learned quite a bit. Can we… not have a test?”

“Pfft!” The girl couldn’t help but nod, amused by Fran’s words. “Alright then, Fran passes for now. Hmm… To reward Fran for diligently studying my mother tongue, ta-da-da-da! I’m giving you a special gift.”

The girl smiled, handing something she had been holding to Fran. Fran was momentarily bewildered. What could it be?

He opened his palm to find a red passport resting there. Fran was startled. He opened the passport, only to see his name and photo inside…

Fran froze. What was this? He looked up in confusion, asking the girl, “This is…?”

The girl looked at Fran with a mischievous smile. “Hehe, this is HQ’s reward for your actions, Fran. Starting today, you have successfully acquired Teutonic nationality and become a glorious citizen of the Empire!”

“Wh-what?!” Fran stared at the girl in shock, his mouth twitching. “This… Yuli… you got me Teutonic… nationality?”

“Hehe, of course! *Cough*, this makes our future lives much more convenient, you know. It’s a rare opportunity. This is considered naturalization by special exception, Fran. Aren’t I good to you?”

Looking at the girl’s innocent smile, Fran was momentarily caught between laughter and tears.

This…

What was she doing…

How was this useful to him…

“Yuli…”

He picked up the passport, his heart a mix of emotions, and looked at it. Then, he tilted his head, forcing a helpless smile, and said, “Can… can you please not be so good to me?”

“Eh?” Yuli blinked in confusion. She had never heard such a request before.

“Could it be that Fran wants me to be a little mean to you?”

“Yes!” Fran immediately nodded, a wry smile on his face. “Please, from now on… be a little mean to me. Make me… dislike you more…”

“Is that so…” Yuli couldn’t help but nod, surprised that Fran had such a preference. Well… what about spanking him every night?

Thinking this, Yuli extended her mischievous right hand, and then.

“Smack—!”