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Unaware of her partner's 'rebellious' thoughts, the crimson-haired girl remained focused on the current task at hand, and it didn't take her long to come up with a good solution.
Her plan with the gangsters was actually quite simple.
With the little credibility her new persona currently had, it was naturally impossible to 'convince' anyone to let her do whatever she wanted in a situation they considered 'unsafe'.
In that case, wasn't it a simple matter of making them believe that the situation had already been 'resolved'?
The crimson-haired girl hummed. 'With big sister and Noelle's current level of influence… it shouldn't be hard to pull this off.'
Of course, the biggest obstacles weren't her 'allies', who could be easily convinced with a strong enough statement from her big sister, but the gangsters themselves.
If they continued to show hostility to White Deer's staff before her arrival, there was no telling how things might deviate from her plan.
After all, so long as they believed they were doing the right thing, there were more than a few members in the White Deer's staff who would 'take matters into their own hands'.
This was partially Emilia's own fault, having propagated the idea that blindly following orders wasn't always the best move, and people would be rewarded for making better decisions themselves, to a certain extent.
Of course, most of Noelle's subordinates weren't included in this policy, and still had to strictly obey all commands without question, but the gray-haired girl also understood the reasoning behind Emilia's decisions.
It was true that the people at the top could never be completely caught up with the situation at the ground level, and it was only when they allowed their subordinates some level of decision-making power that they would be able to produce the best results.
Not to mention, the feeling of having made their own contributions made the staff of White Deer quite happy, and they also felt that their work was being appreciated by the 'ruling family' more.
Naturally, the staff involved with shooting the commercial this time hardly had a few of Noelle's disciplined subordinates, and most of them were just general employees who couldn't be 'relied upon' so easily.
But Emilia had a plan.
"Pay those little bastards to back off??? But baby… didn't you say you were going to beat their butts off later? You can't do that if they just leave you alone, could you? I don't get it."
The crimson-haired girl couldn't help but giggle at her big sister's confused reaction. "I didn't mean you really have to pay them. Just make them believe they'll be paid so they can back off and make everyone think we've reached a deal."
"But if we don't pay them, there's no way they'll let—"
Emilia nodded. "Exactly. Confident as they are, they probably won't doubt us at first, but will definitely explode the moment they realize we're about to start shooting without ever having fulfilled the promised payment."
She grinned. "Of course, just to make sure nothing goes wrong, make sure you communicate that the 'deal is off' the moment everything is set. Okay?"
After all, if the gangsters decided to wait until they 'finished' shooting before making trouble, wouldn't she be the one looking more 'unreasonable'?
Sam and Noelle had a few more concerns in regards to her 'safety', but it didn't take Emilia long to convince them that she would be fine. Part of it might have been that her strength and speed had already grown to a level where Noelle was certain she would never be able to take the crimson-haired beauty down, and part of it was because Sam couldn't think very well to begin with.
After all, her 'little sister' was not only snuggled into her lap, but also in such a small and adorable form!
She could carry the girl around with ease, and even toss her in the air! How cool was that?
Of course, like every 'bad' idea Sam usually had, it didn't take her long to give in to her urges and really do it, leaving both Noelle and Emilia dumbfounded.
The crimson-haired girl burst into amused giggles soon after as she enjoyed her 'flight' under Sam's shining eyes, but Noelle wasn't nearly as amused.
"Ow ow ow! My ear is about to be torn off!"
The taller girl immediately put Emilia down and started whining, her voice full of grievances. "Why did you do that? I didn't even break my promise! You can't possibly think that tossing her into the air was pervy, right?!"
Emilia tilted her head in confusion, but Noelle's dark expression quickly made Sam shut her mouth in terror.
Of course, now that the cat was out of the bag, the gray-haired girl knew that it was better to clarify things. Otherwise, with Sam's personality, she would definitely continue acting 'pitiful' for as long as she could take advantage of the situation.
"I told you not to do anything like that while she was in a smaller form, not because it would be wrong, but because I was worried that you will make a new breakthrough in your level of perversion. Which would be… quite an achievement."
Looking at her big sister pointing at Noelle in disbelief, Emilia couldn't help but burst into another bout of giggles. "Although I hate to bully big sister together with you, I can't deny that it's true."
Of course, she didn't allow the taller girl to pout for long, and pulled her down with a tug to her sleeve before printing a soft kiss against Sam's cheek. "But I like it."
The taller girl's depressed expression immediately dissolved as she grinned victoriously. "Do you? I knew it! Look, Noelle, my baby likes it, and it doesn't matter what you— Ow ow ow! I-I'm your boss, you know! Y-Your boss! OW!"
Noelle rolled her eyes with a sneer while twisting the girl's ear further. "Not to mention that you aren't, even if you were, aren't I just doing my job?"
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