Chapter 18: Private Meeting

                                    

                                          
[Y/n's PoV]
My footsteps were steady and I had that confident look as I walked towards the main building of Schicksal, making my way towards the location where I would have my meeting with Otto. 
The walk there was relatively quiet and calm, with no notable disturbances occurring. Eventually, I arrived at the location of the Overseer's office, which appeared to be quite vacant at the moment.
I then decided to take a quick breath before I knocked on the door of the office that belonged to him.
"Come in."
I stepped forward and opened the door to the office, which was a very calm and clean work environment when I entered. The office had a few bookshelves that contained several books related to different topics such as technology, history, and philosophy.
Otto was sitting behind a large wooden desk in the center of the office, where he sat comfortably with a notebook in his hands as he looked over at me coming in with a small smile.
He placed the notebook down on the desk as he began to gesture for me to sit on one of the chairs opposite to the large desk, which was the location where he was sitting in. The man then spoke to me again with a light smile on his face.
"Please sit down, Y/n. We have some important stuff to discuss."
I do as he says as I went towards one of the wooden chairs opposite from the Overseer's desk. The location of the chair I sat in allowed for me to still be able to face Otto directly, although it was a bit farther away than I would have liked. 
Otto continued to maintain that gentle smile on his face as he began to speak to me again after I had made myself comfortable.
"So, as we all know, you are the Captain of the St. Freya branch of Schicksal. You have done plenty to help the Schicksal cause since you joined our ranks four years ago. You have proven yourself a responsible and capable leader to us."
"However, there's one small problem..."
"That is...?" I asked him as he got up and took his time to grab the brewed tea before pouring them into our cups.
The man in front then took a breath before he spoke again with a serious expression on his face.
"Your relationship with the Herrscher of Thunder. Your feelings for her have gotten to the point where you've began keeping secrets even from us, all just so that you could protect her and spare her from any danger as much as you could. Is this accurate?"
"...."
Otto also remained silent for a few moments as he saw how I didn't deny some but not all of the accusations he had made regarding my relationship with Mei. 
My silence was an answer enough for him to conclude that his initial assessment had some level of truth that I haven't fully confirmed yet. The man then cleared his throat slightly before starting to speak again.
"I understand that you still have a duty to protect her as the Captain of St. Freya, and as a comrade-in-arms within Schicksal. But the problem is that your loyalty seems to be wavering."
Otto remained standing for a moment as he served the tea in one of the cups and offered it towards me before he continued to give his response once I had accepted it.
"You may be devoted to me and Schicksal at the moment, but what if Mei were to do something horrible that made you lose trust in her..?"
"You would lose the will to continue your commitment to what our organization stands for. Your duty would then be to restrain her for the greater good before it's too late. Are you really able to do that if such a scenario does happen?"
"She won't," I replied as I sip my tea before continuing. "Whatever she does, I trust her." 
Otto just raised an eyebrow slightly to the answer I gave him concerning what I think about the Herrscher of Thunder. It seems he clearly didn't fully believe in my answer, and perhaps saw that my actions and my feelings for her was a potential danger to Schicksal. 
But he couldn't deny that my loyalty to my duty was still there as it had been evident to him for a long time now. He then continued to speak with a more cautious tone as he wanted to test me further.
"What if Mei did something terrible as the Herrscher, are you still willing to trust her?"
"Yes. She might have her own reason." I spoke nonchalantly as I continued sipping my tea.
My answer didn't really surprise him as he saw my faith in Mei's actions as an inevitability rather than a possibility. The Overseer then remained silent for a while, as he thought to himself for quite some time before he finally came to a decision.
"Very well, if you are willing to take the risks in believing Mei's intentions, then I can't really stop you. Let's move on to another question for now then... Do you know about the new existence of the Herrscher of Dominance?"
"...." 
I was surprised when he suddenly brought that up which caused me to almost choke from the tea I was sipping.
"Hmm, what about it?" I asked.
He simply raised an eyebrow slightly upon noticing my initial reaction on the sudden topic change, but he remained quite calm as he spoke again with a more neutral tone.
"A few weeks ago, there was a sudden emergence of a new Herrscher of Dominance in the world after it had been dealt with by Kiana from the past."
Otto remained silent again as if letting the information he gave to me sink in for a moment before he spoke again.
"The current whereabouts of the newly-emerged Herrscher was unclear. We believe that it may be currently hibernating in the open space since we haven't detected any further traces of it after its last known appearance."
"But the main concern about this issue is its future plans and what it could potentially do if it decides to strike in the future. What are your thoughts on this situation?"
I finished drinking my tea before putting it aside and answering his question.
"If the Herrscher core is neutralized, then I don't think it can post a threat to humanity."
Otto nodded slightly at my answer since it was clearly a sensible response given that if the Herrscher core was completely removed, then it would basically mean that the Herrscher of Dominance is officially neutralized. But he still raised another eyebrow as he decided to inquire me further about the issue.
"It could still emerge from its hibernation at any time. Would you still insist that it's no threat to humanity if that were the case?"
I pondered for a moment before nodding slightly.
"Yes, as long as it has someone to serve as the core's vessel, they'll be likely subdued."
Otto remained silent once again, as he did think about whether what I just said was a correct assessment or not. The existence of a potential carrier was indeed highly important to determine whether the Herrscher of Dominance actually poses any threat to humanity as a whole. 
Although, the Overseer then spoke again after a few moments of silence.
"Speaking of a potential new carrier... do you care to elaborate further, Y/n? Or should I say... the human vessel of the Herrscher of Dominance?"