Chapter 91: Downgrades All Around

"You mean he's supposed to be the 'Second Male Lead' in the original plot?"

Cynthia nodded. "Mhm, he followed Cecilia around while she was overseas. I didn't recall his name, but seeing his face reminded me."

She always tried to take all the timeline based information from Cynthia with a healthy dose of skepticism, since it had changed after her arrival, after all. But it was still far from being useless, and could prove invaluable if used right.

Emilia really didn't think Randy was important enough to be noticed by Cynthia when she first heard of him. "Hoh, I thought he was just a useless guy that Danielle's father picked up from somewhere, but to think he actually had relevance…"

Cynthia shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really matter, he didn't do anything much, after all. You can think of him as the heroine's back-up guy if she never got the hero, ahahaha…"

Emilia never liked how her partner always downplayed Crystal like that, especially after knowing the girl. She was sure that even her 'final acceptance' of the hero that Cynthia saw must have a deeper reason.

After all, Cynthia only watched the timeline to a certain point, who knew what happened after that?

Even in the case of judging the importance of this 'Randy' character, Cynthia was most likely wrong. "How can it not matter? Don't you realize it?"

Her partner couldn't help but blink in confusion. "Realize what?"

Emilia sighed. Cynthia really was too 'objective' in judging situations. Sometimes, she took things too much at face value, and rarely tried to delve into the reasoning behind people's actions. "Well, don't you remember what Sam told me earlier? That 'dad' of mine apparently freed him from the Black Tiger's clutches, do you not know what that means?"

Cynthia didn't understand how that mattered at all. "Eh? Am I missing something?"

Emilia rolled her eyes. If not for Cynthia sometimes showing startlingly sharp intuition in certain situations, when even she remained oblivious, Emilia wouldn't try so hard at 'educating' her at all. "Gosh, Cynthia… Isn't it obvious? He was definitely a pawn that the hero placed by Crystal's side in the original timeline!"

Her partner thought about it for a while before smacking her forehead in realization. "That's actually quite possible!"

Emilia nodded. The more capable her partner became, the better. She couldn't let her keep 'waving off' most things she saw, and had to teach her how to look closer at things that didn't seem quite right. "Not just possible, that's exactly how it must be. I'm sure of it! What I wonder now is if his loyalty has truly 'switched', or if he's still… a mole!"

Although it was possible that it wasn't the case, since Mr. White did 'rescue' him, if they fell for it even while knowing the timeline, it would simply be too shameful.

Cynthia shuddered as she realized she hadn't even considered that possibility. "Dang… if that's really the case, isn't Danielle's father too much of a moron?"

Emilia rolled her eyes as she thought about the villainess's stupid father. "Is that even a question? Anyway, I can't tell with just a simple meeting. Thankfully, he'll probably try to pester me on his own, and I can probe some things out without much effort. And it plays into my master plan as well."

And as Emilia expected, her partner groaned as soon as her 'plan' was mentioned. "Uh, that disgustingly dramatic plan of yours is really unnecessary, you know? If you just straight up give your 'dad' the middle finger, I'm pretty sure he'll give up just the same."

Emilia won't deny that her partner was somewhat correct in saying it was overdramatic, but she still thought it was better to be thorough. "Nah, I want to drive even the remotest thought of ever interfering with me out of his mind. I need to grow uninhibited over the next few years to be able to complete those dumbass missions of yours."

She would rather be overdramatic than slip up and regret later.

Cynthia couldn't help but quiet down in embarrassment. After all, the missions really were a bit over the top.

If it really was in her hands, she would have been satisfied with just 'defeat the hero', and that's it. But the deviation from the original timeline was key to damaging the 'world will' to a point where they could absorb its energy, and if they couldn't do that, there was no point in coming to this world at all.

While her partner was still lost in thought, Emilia sighed as she finished sending a message to Crystal, and put aside her phone to wait for a response.

==========

Meanwhile, Randy, who had just unknowingly had his status downgraded from 'useless guy' to 'potential rat', was staring at the doctor in disbelief. "I-Is it really broken?!"

Since the pain in his hand kept persisting, he decided to ask for a doctor from Mr. White's secretary, just in case, but he never expected that Emilia's friend really broke his bones with just a flick.

The doctor gave him a curt nod. "Just a hairline fracture, but yeah, I'll have to put it in a cast to let it heal for around four to five weeks."

Randy still couldn't believe it. "How can a girl break my fingers with just a slap?!"

The doctor rolled his eyes. 'Maybe you shouldn't be a scumbag, then?'

Because what other reason would a girl have to hit his hand so hard, probably with a hard object, as well?

The older man cleared his throat, he still had to remain 'professional' after all. "I clearly told you it's not a phalangeal fracture, but a metacarpal one. Do you not understand? It's your wrist that needs to heal, not your fingers!"

Randy couldn't help but look at his slightly swollen palm gloomily. "Uh… I still won't be able to use my hand, right?"

The doctor nodded. "Obviously."

The boy almost rolled his eyes. Finger or palm, isn't it just the same, then?

Still, since there was no other choice, he could only get his hand put in a cast and wait for it to heal.

When the doctor finally finished putting on, however, Randy started at the heavy, cumbersome thing in disbelief. "Why is it so big?! Didn't you say it was just a hairline fracture on my metacorporal bone or something?"

The doctor sneered. "Metacarpal! And do you not know how many bones there are in a person's hand? You need this cast to make sure the bones stay properly aligned and heal quickly! Geez, children these days…"

Once upon a time, he was also in the Imperial Academy's class A, and was now one of the best doctors in the most expensive city in the country.

Needless to say, he wasn't lacking in pride, and thought that the standards had really fallen since his graduation, for someone like this kid to be able to stay in the then-coveted 'Class A'.

In those years, he would have been lucky to barely scrape into Class C, if that.

Randy didn't know he was once again downgraded from just being a 'scumbag who harassed girls' to 'a scumbag AND a dumbass' in the doctor's mind. The boy just gloomily wondered how he was going to keep up with his notes and studies with his right hand broken.