But after only a brief moment of wavering, she resumed her steps toward the Government Affairs Institute.
The reason was simple—she still had official duties to hand over.
As the city-state's consul, she had to place personal matters after city-state affairs. This was also one of her principles for many years.
Walking on the street, seeing people avoid her when they saw her, Chris wasn't too surprised.
After all, not many people had dared to speak with her before either.
She had also grown accustomed to days when work filled her entire life.
Finally reaching the city-state Government Affairs Institute, she was about to enter when she heard strange voices from inside—"Chris is here!"
As a result, she witnessed a scene she would never forget.
The government officials poured out from the institute gates like they were avoiding the plague.
Seeing the government officials about to cause a stampede, Chris didn't have time to think about anything before her body acted first.
"Stop!"
With Chris's sharp rebuke, the government officials instantly trembled and stopped their actions, looking at her with fearful eyes.
Looking at the gazes her former colleagues directed at her, Chris's heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat.
In this instant, she seemed to finally understand everything.
Obviously, as consul, she read many newspapers every day.
Although she didn't participate much in assemblies and such activities because her time was too tight...
Someone had probably slandered her through word of mouth...
But because people associated with her all feared her, and she didn't even have a single friend with any personal relationship in Yage City...
So she had never been able to learn that someone was slandering her...
Although her heart was extremely shaken, her outward behavior still appeared very natural.
"You represent the city-state's dignity. What kind of spectacle is this chaos!"
"Act in order!"
The government officials tremblingly walked out of the Government Affairs Institute one by one, then followed the crowd walking in the opposite direction from Chris, afraid of being seen by her.
Watching people move farther and farther away from her, Chris suddenly felt a bit regretful about her previous approach.
Actually, she rarely rebuked her subordinates, because in this city-state, very few people would do anything improper in front of her.
Her subordinates didn't even dare to breathe loudly in her presence.
It seemed these government officials running away upon seeing her were truly very afraid of her...
Looking at the Government Affairs Institute and street that had become completely empty in an instant, Chris expressionlessly placed the materials in her hands on the desk in the Government Affairs Institute, then immediately walked out.
Her staying inside would probably prevent the government officials from daring to return...
Walking out of the Government Affairs Institute, Chris once again encountered that pink-haired girl on the deserted street.
She just stood there on the empty street, smiling as she looked at her.
She didn't know what the smile on her face meant.
Was it mockery? Or something else?
Chris didn't have the mood to care anymore.
She just wanted to hurry back and get some sleep, since the results of today's citizen assembly "pottery shard trial" would come out tomorrow morning.
And Elashia looked at Chris. The reason she was smiling was because she saw that Chris finally understood her own situation, and the plan's progress could advance another step.
Although Chris had no intention of talking with Elashia, Elashia couldn't possibly miss this opportunity to accelerate her talent-poaching plan.
Now she was going to ruthlessly gaslight the white-haired big sister in front of her!
Just as she was thinking about what to say, the system's task prompt arrived.
[System Task Issued]
[Task One: Begin gaslighting—"Do you see? Not a single person in this city cares about you. Are your sacrifices really worth it?" Task Reward: Mage level increases by one]
[Task Two: Begin gaslighting—"You've worked so hard and sacrificed so much in this city-state, but when trouble came, there wasn't even one person to warn you about being slandered. You're like the only outsider in this city-state." Task Reward: Magic Arrow (Spell)]
[Task Three: Don't rush to gaslight yet, propose to Chris—"May I examine your body?" Task Reward: Warrior level increases by one]
Looking at the three tasks, Elashia felt they all seemed pretty good.
Unlike before when there were always a few heaven-defying options.
In the game, due to Chris arranging too heavy a workload for herself, plus some hidden injuries left from combat, her body actually wasn't in great condition.
Accepting trial and subsequent imprisonment with such a body would probably be somewhat dangerous for her.
In the game, Chris had a certain probability of dying in the torture targeting her in prison.
Although this probability was small, Elashia couldn't accept it.
She couldn't bear losing a security chief, much less having a white-haired big sister whose heart was full of justice die because of her own greed.
But if she chose task three, how could she still gaslight Chris?
Moreover, the "Magic Arrow" rewarded by task two was also a spell she really wanted.
This type of spell consumed very little mana and had considerable lethality. Although its firepower was lacking, it was very suitable for novice mages and had considerable value for both the current Elasia and Elashia herself.
"System, can I choose all of them?"
[Yes, but please pay attention to risk management]
Getting an affirmative answer, Elashia was extremely happy.
She also knew that each option hid dangers, but if she encountered this kind of situation where all three options were relatively normal and the danger level wasn't high, choosing only one would be somewhat of a loss.
As long as she could reasonably combine the three options, she could get all three rewards!
After thinking, Elashia said to the system in her mind:
"System! I choose task one, task two, and task three!"
[Alright]
After getting the system's response, Elashia said to Chris, who had already turned and walked several steps away:
"Do you see? Not a single person in this city cares about you. Are your sacrifices really worth it?"
Chris's figure paused, but she didn't say anything and continued walking forward.
Seeing this, Elashia jogged a few steps to catch up with her and walked alongside her on the road.
Pointing toward the distant citizens who hid far away upon seeing Chris, Elashia asked Chris:
"You've worked so hard and sacrificed so much in this city-state, but when trouble came, there wasn't even one person to warn you about being slandered. You're like the only outsider in this city-state, aren't you?"
Elashia's words stung Chris.
Elashia's words were roughly the same as her speculation.
The slander against her had spread through word of mouth among the people, and not a single person dared to tell her.
It really was like she had been isolated by the entire city-state.
The girl before her wasn't like the other people in this city-state. She seemed unafraid of her.
Moreover, she spoke without any consideration for feelings, pointing directly at the truth of the problem.
But now Chris no longer wanted to hear these things.
If it had been before, having such a person by her side might have made her very happy.
But now, judging from the reaction of those people at the Government Affairs Institute, she would probably have to face the choice between exile and death tomorrow...