Lady Rothschild, despite her years of experience, quickly saw through her niece Anna’s intentions once she stripped away the familial lens clouding her judgment.

“Only when someone lacks strength do they flaunt their fists during a first meeting,” she muttered, pressing her fingers to her temples in exasperation. She was both amused and annoyed, eventually instructing the maid, “Invite our esteemed Mayor in.”

Wasn’t it obvious? This over-eager niece was simply flaunting the magical powers of her mysterious associate in front of her outdated aunt.

Ironically, this was the first real face-to-face conversation they’d ever had. Her niece, Anna, had always been something of a distant figure.

Lady Rothschild reflected on her sister Martha, a beautiful woman whose looks allowed her to gain everything others worked hard for. Martha only had to stand still and let admirers flock to her. Yet, her beauty made her foolish—she pursued love and romance but abandoned her lovers cruelly once the fire of passion died. Others saw her love as reckless and indulgent.

What made Martha’s life tragically laughable was her devout Catholicism. She refused to terminate a pregnancy, adhering to religious teachings, and tragically died on the operating table during childbirth.

Lady Rothschild felt no sympathy.

In a family with two daughters—a plain older sister and a beautiful, doted-on younger one—the relationship was never smooth. Martha’s downfall seemed like a self-inflicted consequence. During that time, Lady Rothschild was too preoccupied orchestrating the legal disappearance of her husband to concern herself with her niece’s upbringing.

At least, Martha’s child didn’t end up in an orphanage.

Ten years passed. Resentment toward her sister faded, replaced by memories of better times. Lady Rothschild attempted to send reliable tutors to her niece but discovered Anna had been raised into mediocrity by her father. Disappointed, she wrote the girl off entirely as a “lost cause.”

Another decade passed.

As Lady Rothschild aged, her perspective shifted. Though she maintained her youthful beauty, she began to worry about her legacy. At the same time, Anna Alek, battered by political failures, ended up in Gotham—ushered in by her aunt as her sole remaining heir.

Two unexpected events followed.

First, Anna refused to follow her aunt’s carefully planned path, instead allying with a figure from the magical world to lead Gotham into a transformative era.

Second, which Lady Rothschild recalled as she saw Anna approaching, full of youthful energy and vigor—the stark reminder that her niece was thriving at her peak.

“Madam,” the maid whispered, breaking her train of thought. “Miss Anna has arrived… Madam?”

Lady Rothschild snapped out of her reverie, rubbing her temples. At her age, sleepless nights were taxing. Yet here was her niece, striding confidently into the room, radiating vitality.

Anna carried an oversized bouquet of roses, her gaze sweeping the room. Without hesitation, she thrust the bouquet into the arms of an unassuming maid standing in the corner—a plain girl with glasses. The gesture immediately made the maid the center of attention.

Gotham’s Mayor then casually plopped herself down beside Lady Rothschild, rather than taking a seat across from her, and greeted her warmly: “Auntie.”

What a rude little brat. Lady Rothschild scooted away from her niece’s outstretched hand, thinking exactly that.

Meanwhile, Vivi didn’t care what her aunt thought. She’d already distracted Robin, disguised as the plain maid, with the roses. While she half-heartedly exchanged pleasantries with her “aunt,” her main body was busy investigating the study.

[Side Mission: The Truth About “Rothschild”]

After learning from Tim that Lady Rothschild was the mayor’s aunt—and potentially her only heir—Vivi realized the mission hadn’t completed. The system clearly determined that uncovering familial ties wasn’t the whole truth.

She began searching the study and quickly noticed surveillance equipment Tim had left behind. Knowing Robin’s meticulous nature, Vivi was certain his disguise as a maid wasn’t just for fun. There must’ve been clues in the study requiring close proximity to uncover.

She recalled seeing Robin at the study door earlier.

Before Vivi’s small mayor persona had arrived, Tim had excused himself from the study, claiming it was to avoid arousing Lady Rothschild’s suspicion. But upon reflection, Vivi realized:

“Not to avoid her suspicion—he didn’t want me to suspect anything.”

Touching a now-cold glass of milk on the desk, Vivi checked its details with her system interface.

[Milk with added sedatives, ensuring a restful sleep for the drinker.]
[A listening device hidden at the base of the glass. Who placed it there?]

Silently, Vivi removed the listening device, dismantled it, and added the milk to her inventory.

“This milk wasn’t meant for me,” Vivi mused. “It was prepared for the lady of the house. No matter how capable Robin is, he couldn’t have known I’d suddenly show up with Red Hood in tow—my discovery was purely coincidental.”

The familial connection between Lady Rothschild and the mayor was easy to uncover. However, to the Bat-family, even after their nights spent patrolling together, Vivi was inherently part of the mayor’s camp. From Tim’s perspective, she might’ve hindered his investigation. Hiding his work was logical.

“So, he must’ve believed the study contained something vital—evidence about the deaths of the other male members of the Rothschild family?”

“That’s not right. According to the mission hint, I’m supposed to investigate—” Vivi paused, piecing it together. “The real reason Lady Rothschild is helping the mayor.”

She had already combed through the study once, but nothing triggered the task completion. Typically, that meant there was a hidden room or passage. Opening her map, she compared the distances between rooms, then pulled out her hammer.

Her “Wall-Buster Hammer” could silently pulverize any wall into dust, leaving behind a clean hole. She could also control the size of the hole with her swing. Downstairs, Lady Rothschild, the mayor, and cross-dressing Robin were all in one room. Using her secondary account to keep them distracted and monitor Robin, Vivi found a suspicious section of wall behind the bookshelf. After moving aside a decorative jar, she smashed through the wall.

Reaching into the hole, she felt a cool breeze. The space behind the wall was dark, leading somewhere unknown—it wasn’t the adjacent bedroom.

This had to be the place. Though it seemed there was a mechanism needed to fully access it.

Replacing the jar to conceal the hole, Vivi heard movement from above. Her teammate’s blue dot on the map, Red Hood, was now approaching her location. The study door creaked open, and a red-helmeted figure slipped inside, dragging a strong scent of roses with him.

“Wow—” Vivi exclaimed.

Jason froze. “…What are you ‘wow’-ing about?”

He had been left behind earlier and had climbed to the rooftop, where he realized his partner had no intention of coming to find him. She was the kind of teammate who shamelessly used you when convenient, monitored you openly, and discarded you when you were deemed unnecessary—all without remorse. It was infuriatingly blatant, as if indifference was her default setting.

On the bright side, Jason thought, there were no emotional expectations in their arrangement. He wouldn’t feel disappointed because he had none to begin with. So he decided to let it slide.

That was, until he was nearly buried under a mountain of roses.

And now, the shameless teammate’s eyes lit up at the sight of him. “Red Hood! Help me figure out how to open this secret chamber. Two people searching for the mechanism is faster.”

Jason: “…”

“Come on,” she urged. “Otherwise, I’ll just smash through the wall.”

“You sure this is a stealth mission?” he deadpanned.

“What happens if we’re discovered?” he asked.

“I’ll turn invisible,” Vivi replied, as if it were obvious.

“And me?” Jason pressed.

She grinned. “You seem pretty good at fighting.”

They stared at each other for a long moment before Jason stepped forward, exasperated, and turned a red glass lamp. The bookshelf slid apart to reveal a narrow, pitch-black passage. Jason’s gaze shifted to a suspicious fist-sized hole in the wall nearby. A question mark practically floated above his head.

Vivi had already skipped down into the passage.

Trailing after her, Jason reached out and pressed a hand to her head, gently pushing her aside before throwing two precisely aimed shuriken. They struck and disabled hidden security cameras embedded in the walls.

“Looks like you’ve infiltrated secret rooms before,” Vivi remarked with mock admiration.

Jason ignored her.

Truthfully, he was now curious about what treasures this family might be hiding in their hidden chamber.

The secret room lit up with motion-activated lights, revealing shelves packed with books and a desk with a computer. Jason, wearing gloves, sat at the desk and powered up the computer. Unsurprisingly, it was password-protected. Thanks to his training, bypassing the security took little effort. The desktop appeared empty, but a deleted file in the trash caught his attention.

Jason retrieved the file and glanced over his shoulder, his expression twitching.

The bookshelves behind him—and all the books—were gone.

The culprit was now leaning over his shoulder, squinting at the restored file.

“This is in Arabic,” Jason said, scanning the title. “It means ‘League of Assassins.’”

“Oh…” Vivi blinked. “Got it.”

[Plugin: Arabic] successfully loaded.

She began reading. “The dead… reborn… Lazarus Pit…”

Jason moved the mouse to close the document.

“Hey!” Vivi grabbed his wrist, forcing the file back open. “I wasn’t done reading!”

“No one can resist aging, but one can cheat death,” she read aloud. “There is another way to regain youth… but it requires the body of someone closely related by blood…”

[Side Mission: The Truth About “Rothschild”] Completed.
In this world, there are many ways to defy death, but all come with a price. To reject both death and aging requires an even steeper cost. She loves you—like she loves the future version of herself.

Reward: 100 Diamonds
Remaining Gold Reward: Please request directly.

Jason’s hand trembled under hers as he clenched the mouse, his suppressed anger evident.

“So it seems they’ve developed some new tech based on the Lazarus Pit?” he growled.

“Looks like it…” Vivi mused, recalling the Talons. “Maybe they’ll host a conference?”

The Talons could resurrect themselves, and so could the Lazarus Pit. She idly wondered: What would happen if a Talon soaked in the Lazarus Pit?

Downstairs, the mayor, with a practiced smile, was chatting amicably with Lady Rothschild. Without warning, she suddenly grabbed the older woman’s wrist and pulled her into a tight embrace. Leaning close to her ear, she whispered in a low, breathy voice, “Give me two billion dollars and help me pay off the bank loan.”

Lady Rothschild: “!?”

Vivi chuckled softly, her tone carrying a mix of playfulness and menace. “Otherwise, I might have to declare the city government bankrupt, dear Aunt.”

There’s no such thing as love or hatred without a reason, and certainly no selfless, unconditional help. Lady Rothschild’s unwavering support for Anna Alek wasn’t born of affection—it was purely transactional. What she desired was Anna herself. More specifically, she planned to use the League of Assassins’ techniques, leveraging the Lazarus Pit to transfer her own soul into her niece’s body after her death.

That’s why she had been so generous—supporting Anna without reservation, defending her in council meetings, and standing firmly by her side.

Because no matter what achievements the mayor might gain in her tenure, they would all ultimately belong to Lady Rothschild.

If the good Lady wasn’t going to play coy, well, neither was Vivi.