After blinking his half-awake eyes, Director Pisces earnestly said to Leon:

"If you could take her out for a walk and let her see those scenes full of hope, it would definitely help her condition; the effect might even be better than staying here with me for treatment."

"Right, right, right!"

Upon hearing Director Pisces's words, the young woman's eyes lit up slightly, and she nodded repeatedly, saying:

"I think so, too! If I look at the current world a bit more, maybe I can recover!

Besides, back when we were at Old Soil, Director Amendo told us several times that Mr. Leon is the hope of the Bureau and even the entire present world, so if possible, I hope to have more contact with Mr. Leon! Get along well!"

"..."

...

"So you just brought her to me?"

Looking at the beautiful woman sitting on the old sofa in his office, who couldn't help but reach out to poke the pile of liquor bottles next to her, the director who had gone back to his red-haired self couldn't help but take a swig, then criticized disdainfully:

"I've got plenty of booze here, but as for hope…does a bottle of Lady Hope rum count?"

"That definitely doesn't count…but I'm not here to find hope from you."

Glancing back at Fredri sitting upright on the sofa, Leon, sitting opposite the red-haired director, privately chatted with a bit of a headache:

"I came here to ask if you could help me find someone in the bureau skilled at this—someone who could take her around to see things or create something suitable for her to see…I really don't know what a scene full of hope looks like, and I truly don't know how to serve her."

Scenes full of hope…isn't it simple?

Upon hearing this, the red-haired director thought for a moment and immediately listed a few examples.

"The sprout breaking through the soil in the dead of winter, the first ray of dawn, the first cry of a newborn, dandelions seeding with the wind…aren't these all fine?"

"Decay, Fall, Aging, Youth."

In the briefest language, Leon conveyed Fredri's evaluation of similar scenes with a weary expression explaining:

"Grass sprouts will wilt, the sun rises only to set, people are born only to die eventually, and only a few weak dandelions survive while most will perish…

In short, I've tried taking her to see almost everything I thought might have hope over the past two days, but the more she sees, the more despair she feels. Now it's not even a matter of alleviation; it's already fortunate we haven't added more psychological issues!"

What a hassle...

After glancing at the young woman twirling around Leon, the red-haired director thought for a moment, then blinked and suggested:

"Why not just take her around the old town? See the places where you once lived?"

"?"

"I think what she wants to see isn't scenes full of hope, but people whose eyes are full of hope."

Trying to ponder Fredri's "thought process," the red-haired director took a swig from the bottle and said with a cheerful grin:

"Ever since you hooked up with Queen Veronica, the capital has slowly started to change, shedding that previous lifeless look, and the areas you've lived in, like Veteran Alley and the old town, have changed the most.

So I think, rather than looking for hopeful scenes, it's better to tour the old town with her, to see people whose eyes have started to fill with hope; maybe that's what she really needs."

Hmm…doesn't sound very reliable.

After hearing the red-haired director's advice, Leon frowned and thought it probably wouldn't work, but since there were no other ideas, he simply got up and went back to Lady Despair, planning to take her for one last try. However…

"She can't show me any hope either, can she?"

"Huh?"

Faced with Fredri's sudden question, Leon couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, then asked somewhat puzzledly:

"Why do you ask that?"

"Because I also sense the smell of despair from her…or maybe not despair, but something less painful, yet utterly hopeless that's quite frustrating…"

After briefly organizing her thoughts, Fredri explained:

"For example, it's like she craved a very sweet candy, but this candy has already been unwrapped by someone else and put in their mouth.

If she still wants this candy, she'd have to snatch it from someone else's mouth, but she doesn't want to or can't do that. So, the candy she wants is still there, but between her and the candy, there's already no hope…"

"Go, go, go!"

Seemingly annoyed by these two visitors who barged in, the red-haired director suddenly interrupted Fredri and impatiently shooed them away:

"What candy nonsense, hurry up and leave, I'm busy!"

As strands of red hair spread out, sweeping Leon and Fredri out of the office, they watched the pair leaving dismayed, and the red-haired director couldn't help but grunt, tipping the spicy liquor in the bottle down his throat.

All that hope talk is rubbish… I can't snatch candy from others' mouths, but if I get a craving one day, wouldn't I sneak a lick?

...

"What on earth are you talking about…"

Shoved to the entrance of the Maiden Branch escorted by a mass of red hair, Leon looked at the young woman beside him and couldn't help but speak with a pained expression: