“Would you happen to be Chief Secretary Miranda?” asked a man in a suit, who acted as if he had simply been walking by. He looked to be the same age as Miranda—too old to be a young man, but exuding intelligence and vigor. “Oh, well if it isn’t Secretarial Assistant Alain!” Miranda got up from the bench and waved to him. Got ’em, she mouthed, but only Fay saw her. “What brings you here, Chief Secretary? Look at this commotion… Ah, look who it is!” said the man as he noticed Fay and the others. The man was Alain Villa, secretarial assistant at Arcane Court headquarters. He’d almost certainly been drawn by the sight of the crowd on the grand thoroughfare. Precisely as Miranda had expected. “Fay Theo Philus and the Dragon God Lady Leoleshea. That reminds me, I heard a report that their team finally got a name a few days ago. ‘May Your Gods,’ as I recall,” the man said. “You always were excellent at your job, Alain. You think there’s a Chief Secretaryship at some branch office for you next year?” “Don’t tease me,” Alain said, peering around. “If Chief Secretary Nos heard you say that, he’d give me a piece of his mind about not getting a big head.” “Oops, sorry! And is Chief Secretary Nos here right now? I worry that all this commotion might be a bit of a nuisance to him.” Miranda narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. She pointed at Fay and the others as they shook hands and signed autographs. “When Fay and his friends told me they’d never been to Heckt-Scheherezade, I scrounged some time off so I could take them sightseeing. And, well, look what happened.” “Ha-ha. That’s a celebrity for you. Even headquarters keeps an eye on them. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear some talk of them. Hmm…” Alain glanced at his watch. “It’s one PM now. There’s just a bit of time before the meeting.” Naturally. After all, Miranda had made it her business to arrive when she knew headquarters’ staff would have a few minutes to spare. “Do you have any plans today, Chief Secretary Miranda?” “Hmm… Let’s see. We’ve already had lunch, so I thought we could wander around and see the sights. We don’t have a strict schedule.” “Perhaps you’d favor us with a visit to headquarters?” “………” Miranda didn’t say anything. “After that business in Lucemia, even headquarters is aware of their efforts,” Alain added. “It’s not just the apostles—even the ordinary staff members are grateful to them.” “Ah. Wow, yes, I see.” Miranda crossed her arms and made it look like she was considering a very difficult conundrum. To Fay, who saw her every day, it was an obvious act. “We’re really just here to be tourists…but hmm… An invitation from the secretarial assistant of headquarters himself. I don’t know, what do you think, Fay?” “Let’s go!” shouted Fay, who had finally reached the end of a snaking queue of handshakers. “Maybe I should have anticipated this welcome from the home of headquarters. Mal-ra gave us a warm welcome, but it was nothing like this…” “I’m finally done, too…,” said Leshea, for once uncharacteristically tired-looking. Most of her fans were guys, and most of them wanted photos, so she’d had to keep up her best smile for a long time. She wasn’t used to it, and it had taken a toll. “Smiling…is hard, huh…” “Fine work, both of you,” said Miranda. “We finished early, and we’ve been resting,” said Nel, who had signed the last of her autographs not long ago. Pearl, meanwhile, had wandered over to a nearby crepe stand and was enjoying a sweet treat. “Yes, fine work, everybody!” Miranda clapped her hands. “Now, I know you’re fresh off a very warm welcome from your fans, but guess what? Arcane Court headquarters itself wants to say hello, too. Meet Mr. Alain.” “Thank you! Let’s not waste any time!” said Alain as he strode away at a brisk pace. They went straight down the thoroughfare, and not five minutes later they saw an iridescent gray building towering against the bright blue sky. It was huge. Maybe it just seemed so large because it was surrounded by single-story buildings, but it certainly felt bigger than the Ruin branch office. “Welcome to headquarters!” Alain said with a sweeping gesture. Headquarters boasted a round domed roof and several steeples that speared into the sky—to say nothing of the windmills. It looked less like an administrative building and more like an ancient temple. This was the headquarters of the Arcane Court—and insofar as it was reminiscent of a place of worship, its stern architecture made sense. “It’s certainly imposing, but for a headquarters…there doesn’t seem to be many people here,” said Pearl. “We get that a lot. But actually, there’s at least twice as many staff members here than in most cities,” the secretarial assistant said with a laugh. “The large interior means occupant density is low, so it looks quiet—but I think you’ll be surprised by how lively it is inside.” “Alain, that reminds me,” Miranda said, looking slowly around the vast space. “Since we’ll be touring headquarters, I would love to pay my respects to the chairman. Maybe this isn’t polite to ask, but how is his health?” Alain paused. “Not good.” He heaved a sigh, furrowed his brow, and gave them a look. “The chairman of headquarters is currently suffering from a serious disease. I can tell you that much because it’s already been made public. It’s been announced that he’s chosen to retire at the end of this season.” “It’s such a shame, when he’s been so dedicated,” Miranda said. “He was an apostle himself in his teens. It gave him a special concern for the young apostles; he’d always find time to watch the streams and cheer them on, even with his busy schedule. He would rather watch than sleep!” “Exactly. He would be overjoyed if he knew you were all here—but most unfortunately, I think meeting you would be too much of a strain. Please don’t hold it against him. Now, if you’ll come this way…” Alain began walking down a path by some bushes. The first thing that greeted Fay when they stepped into the massive, temple-like edifice was a gigantic monitor dangling from the blindingly bright ceiling. The screen was divided into eighteen parts, and each one showed humans contesting against a massive god. “Oh! These are the gods’ games going on around the world, aren’t they?” “That’s right, Lady Leoleshea. This monitor displays the streams from every branch office. You’ll find many such screens around headquarters,” Alain said. “I want one of these in my room! Buy me one, Miranda!” “I’ll, uh, look into it. But I think they’re exorbitantly expensive.” As Leshea’s eyes shined with excitement, Miranda smiled wryly—as if she’d known this would happen. “So! I hope you’ll help us out, Lady Leshea,” Miranda said. “Huh?” “Look, here they come.” She indicated somewhere ahead of them with a sweep of her eyes. Leshea followed suit, only to make a choked sound and start trembling a moment later. From behind the monitor they came, young men and women, one after another. Every one of them wore ceremonial garments worked with gold embroidery—the sign that they were apostles of headquarters. “You’ve got another handshake-and-autograph event,” said Miranda. “Nooo! No mooore!” Leshea tried to hide behind the chief secretary, but her shout backfired, drawing the attention of every apostle in the area. They started to wonder about the identities of the young men and young ladies who were visiting headquarters in civilian clothes. There was much muttering and mumbling. A tall man walked past them, then whipped around and did a double take. “Hmm? Wait…are you Fay? Fay Theo Philus?!” The man looked to be in his early twenties, with close-cut hair and a sharp, intelligent gaze. He was built like a champion athlete—and he looked familiar. “I’m Kilhiedge. Headquarters has asked me to chair this meeting and give you all the rundown on what’s going on.” Back when everyone had been trapped in the labyrinth of Lucemia, he’d been selected by headquarters to form a rescue team. He was effectively their second-highest ranking apostle. “Oh, hey. Thanks for your help in the labyrinth,” Fay said. “Thank you! Hey, I hardly recognized you dressed like that…” Kilhiedge’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. His gaze took in Leshea, Pearl, and Nel, who were also dressed in street clothes. Finally, he settled on Miranda, who was still holding a can of beer. “It doesn’t exactly look like you’re here on official business. Or are these disguises of some kind?” “Nah, we’re just tourists today.” “Tourists? Well, that would explain it.” Kilhiedge crossed his arms. At that moment, several apostles rushed over, shouting. “Captain! Is that…you know?!” “Wow! Fay, in the flesh! And the former god Lady Leoleshea! Captain Kilhiedge…do you know them?!” “Yeah, sort of. We met during the thing in Lucemia,” Kilhiedge said with an awkward smile. “Fay, sorry for all the curiosity. Given everything that happened with Lucemia, even headquarters has been buzzing about your achievements on a daily basis. Think you could humor them?” Before Fay could answer, the rumbling sound of many footsteps shook the air. The door at the end of the hallway burst open beneath a flood of apostles who rushed in, running so fast they were panting. “Is the Fay really here?!” “He made the trip all the way out here?! Nobody mentioned he’d be visiting! Wait…is this a secret inspection?!” “It’s gotta be, y’know! Remember that rumor that there was going to be a contest to see who was better, them or our team Mind Over Matter?” “Huh? I heard we poached them!” “Yeah, didn’t the chairman himself say that they should be offered more than anyone in history to switch over to headquarters?” Fay and the others were apparently the subjects of every imaginable kind of rumor. Worse, nobody was bothering to whisper; they all surrounded Fay and shouted to each other at the top of their lungs. “Hey, who’s the girl with the black hair?” “That’s Nel Reckless, dummy! She moved to Ruin from Mal-ra.” “I know that other girl, too! What was her name? Onyx Crystal, I think?” “It’s Pearl Diamond, for crying out loud!” Pearl yelped. This was their welcome to headquarters. It wasn’t just the apostles who were excited; even the staff started to congregate with undisguised interest. “Now we’ve got a good crowd forming,” Fay said, looking around at the people packing the first-floor hall and threatening to crush him. “Well, Leshea?” “………” She was silent, looking at each of the nearly hundred people around them in turn. The crowd didn’t just consist of apostles and staff. Tourists who were simply paying a visit to headquarters had closed in and were talking excitedly. Fay had a strong feeling that none of them suspected that as they pressed to get a glimpse of him and his friends, they were the ones being observed by the visitors from Ruin. “………………” After another few moments of silence, Leshea shook her head, her vermilion hair flicking back and forth. “They’re not here. Or at least I don’t think so.” There were no gods among the crowd. They knew there were four gods at headquarters. But despite all the people gathered at that moment, none of them had the right smell to Leshea. Four of them, huh? Well, it’s not like I don’t have a guess. That number—four. It made one thing seem more suspicious than any other…………… That was where Fay’s mind went. It happened by sheer coincidence. He’d looked at the ground, lost in thought, then just as he happened to raise his head—he caught sight of someone several layers deep into the crowd. It was Chaos, the leader of his old team, Awaken. He stood about half a head taller than Fay. He had heavy-lidded eyes, as if perpetually sleepy, and he kept his dark blue hair long enough on one side to hide one eye. His strong jawline and prominent features made his careless approach to his appearance all the more egregious. The moment Chaos spotted Fay, he vanished into the still-growing mob. “Chaos?!” Fay reached out, but his old team leader was already gone. It seemed ridiculous. There was the man who had vanished from the Relic City of Ange, whom Fay and his team had been trying to track down without a single clue as to his current whereabouts. Fay could only wonder what the other man was doing at headquarters. “Chaos, I need to talk to you!” Fay called out, but he couldn’t shout loud enough. There were too many people asking for autographs and begging to shake his hand; his voice hardly carried at all. But by that point, there was no sign of anyone who looked like Chaos anywhere in the hall. Was it just someone who looked like him? No, I saw the way he turned around the moment our eyes met. He knew who I was, too. It was unquestionably Chaos himself. “………” Fay was quiet for a long time. Then someone clapped him on the shoulder. “Fay?” It was Miranda, who had been conferring with Secretarial Assistant Alain. She pointed—maybe by chance—in the same direction Chaos had disappeared. “Alain was kind enough to get in touch with the chairman for us. It sounds like he’s feeling relatively well today, and he would love to meet you all. Shall we go say hello?” “Yeah. All right.” Fay was talking as much to himself as to her. Right. They were standing in the entrance to headquarters. Their job here was to find the four gods who had caused all the trouble in the Lucemia Labyrinth. “All right, everybody,” Secretarial Assistant Alain said, clapping his hands to get their attention. “I’m sorry to break this up, but our friends have a meeting with the chairman. You can all come back again later. Now, this way, please.” Fay bowed to the dejected-looking apostles of headquarters, then followed the secretarial assistant. They took an elevator to the third floor, where they found themselves in a hallway made of white marble. It was lined with dozens of shimmering stained-glass windows whose light painted the walls in every color of the rainbow. It was a mythical display, truly worthy of the city’s name. “This hallway is always breathtakingly beautiful, no matter how many times I see it. When we renovate our branch office, I hope we can do something this pretty…if we have the budget,” Miranda said, looking up at the panoply of colors. “By the way, Alain. Just checking, but your little story about the chairman being well enough to say hello to us was just that, wasn’t it? A story to get the fans in the grand hall to leave us alone?” “That would be a most improper pretext.” Alain, walking slightly ahead of them, smiled awkwardly. “It’s absolutely true that chairman Augusto issued a personal invitation. He said he’s at work in his office, and to please feel free to drop by.” “I thought he wasn’t feeling well.” “In his own words, the weather today is fine, and so is he. Then again, there have been times when he’s said just that and then collapsed, so we on staff are beside ourselves…” They came to an intersection. They were about to follow the stained-glass hallway to the right—indeed, they had started to make the turn—when Alain came to an abrupt halt. “………” “Alain? What’s the matter?” Miranda called, but he didn’t so much as turn around. Sensing that something was wrong, the chief secretary peeked around the corner. Fay followed her… …and saw a small, old man doubled over in the hallway. He had one hand on the wall, with the other on his chest as he coughed heavily. He wore a loose-fitting white robe with gold embroidery that gave off an almost cleric-like impression, making it clear he wasn’t just anybody. “………Ah………” The old man was quiet, but then he gasped softly before falling silent again—only to collapse on the floor. “Chairman?!” Miranda and Alain cried in unison. Faces pale, they rushed over to him. The old man didn’t look up even at the sound of their shouting. “Chairman! Alain, what is this?!” said Miranda. “I knew he was pushing himself too hard!” Alain said, clenching his jaw. “There’s a medical office on the first floor. It’ll be quicker for me to run down there than to call them. Stay with the chairman!” Alain raced off without waiting for an answer. Left behind, the others had to do what they could. “Chief Secretary Miranda, is there somewhere more comfortable we can move him?!” Fay said. “The chairman’s office is that door right there!” she said. “Nel, you take his left side.” The two of them flanked the chairman, supporting him on their shoulders as they lifted him up. Pearl and Leshea opened the door to the office, entering into a reception area with a sofa inside. Once they laid the chairman down on it, Fay finally let out a long breath. “That will do for a start,” he said. “Phew. Good work. Now we just have to wait for Alain to come back with a doctor.” Miranda had a hand on her chest and was taking a deep breath herself. She crouched down and peered at the old man. He was breathing hard. “Chairman, medical help will be here soon. Until then, just—” Ping! Behind Miranda, from the direction of the open door, came the high-pitched sound of something breaking. They all turned to see a young woman standing there, her face pale. She wore a black ceremonial garment embroidered with shining gold… “Father?” she asked. Heleneia O. Missing. She was leader of the world’s strongest competitors in the gods’ games, Mind Over Matter—but at that moment, she did not wear the stern visage of the leader of a great team. She was just a girl, unable to hide how pale she was, unable to conceal the trembling of her lips. On the ground were the fragments of the ceramic cup she had dropped, now resting in a small pool of water. Her hand hung limply at her side, still clutching a tray that had held the cup and some capsules. She must have been on her way to bring her father his medicine. “Father…!” “We’ve already summoned a doctor. Or rather, Secretarial Assistant Alain has,” Miranda said, turning towards the girl. She tried to sound reassuring; the girl was ready to howl with grief. “He was quite lucky—we happened to be there right when he collapsed. We brought him in here so he could lie down until the doctor arrives. I mean, these young people here did.” She gestured to Fay and the others. At that, Heleneia swallowed hard. Until that moment, she hadn’t registered anything except her father lying on the sofa. “Fay… Theo… Philus…” Heleneia’s gaze grew hard. The look was not friendly, and she didn’t bother hiding it. “You brought my father here?” “Hey. Uh, nice to meet you,” Fay said with a small wave. To be perfectly honest, even he hadn’t been expecting this. Seriously? I sure didn’t think this was the way we were going to finally meet. Really, from the first time they had talked through that screen, he’d sensed her hostility towards him. “Would you consider quitting the gods’ games?” And this unexpected, tragic moment was their first encounter? “………” Heleneia was silent. She started to say something, then stopped. She started again, thought better of it, then finally opened her mouth once more in a third-time’s-the-charm sort of way. “You—” “Heleneia, sweetie! There mew are!” A voice came from behind Heleneia, who was standing just inside the door. “Nibel,” Heleneia said. “Hmm? Just a meowment, sweetie. Who are those humans, hmm?” A girl with braided hair pushed past Heleneia and into the chairman’s office. Whereas Leshea’s hair was a brilliant vermilion, like flames, this girl’s locks were a deeper, darker crimson. She looked earnest and composed, but her eyes sparkled with a childlike curiosity. “Oh-ho!” the red-haired girl clapped, then turned to Heleneia and grinned. “I thought we weren’t going to show ourselves, meow?” “I’m terribly sorry, Nibel,” Heleneia said slowly. She hung her head, a lost look in her deep, jade-green eyes. “It was an emergency. My father—rbbgh?!” No sooner did she try to explain than Nibel finally noticed the chairman and exclaimed “Outtatheway!”, shoving Heleneia aside. “Chairman?! What in the world happened to mew?! Mew look agonized…” “Coming through! All of you, make way, please!” There was a flurry of footsteps as a group came racing into the room—it was Secretarial Assistant Alain with several doctors in tow. They piled into the office, completely ignoring Fay and the others as they loaded the chairman onto a stretcher and hurried out again. The room was silent once more. Fay, Leshea, Pearl, Nel: Team May Your Gods. Heleneia and Nibel: Team Mind Over Matter. The two top teams in the world at that moment, tied with seven wins apiece in the gods’ games, stood facing each other in the chairman’s office at Arcane Court headquarters. “Uh… I’m glad they were able to help the chairman,” Fay said. Heleneia responded with the words: “Your team name.” Her tone was fearfully cold; the passion with which she had cried out for her father only moments before had vanished. “I see you finally chose one. And not a modest one at that.” “It wasn’t me.” “What?” “Someone was kind enough to pick it for us. They’re not here right now, though.” “And who was that?” Heleneia demanded, before snapping her mouth shut. “Ahem! N-never mind. It’s nothing.” The girl turned on her heel, swiftly enough to make her lavender hair billow. She let the momentum of the turn carry her straight toward the exit of the chairman’s office. “I have nothing to talk about with you,” she said. “Now, goodb—” “Wait a meowment, Heleneia, sweetie!” Crick! There was an audible sound as the red-haired girl, Nibel, grabbed Heleneia around the neck with both hands to force her to turn and look at Fay and the others. “Hrrgh?!” Heleneia gasped. They’d never heard a sound quite like that from her. “Ahh…ah… N-Nibel?” “Heleneia! They helped out the Chairmeown! Mew gotta say thank-mew!” “N-Nibel… My neck… You’re going to break my neck…” “The chairman owes his life to these folks!” “I can’t…b-breathe…or talk…,” rasped the increasingly breathless Heleneia. Far from loosening her grip, Nibel lifted Heleneia up higher and tried to turn her to face Fay. “Heleneia, sweetie! Why won’t mew say anything?!” “B-because…I can’t! Humans…can’t speak…while…necks…crushed…” “Hmm?” Nibel finally seemed to realize what was going on with Heleneia. She studied the other girl, who was going pale for want of air. “Why, Heleneia, mew’re practically white as a sheet!” “I’m g-going…to die…” At last, Nibel let her go. Heleneia clutched her throat and coughed hard—and then they heard two more sets of footsteps as others arrived. “Hoh-hoh. Heleneia, my dear.” Heleneia’s eyes went wide. “E-Elder! And Nafutayua…” Standing in the hallway by the chairman’s office were a brown-haired boy who was so cute he could have been a doll and a young man wearing a monocle and holding a huge dictionary. “I see that the game is over,” the brown-haired boy said with a grin. “If you’re found in hide-and-seek, you lose. Of course, you came out of your hiding place of your own accord, but a loss is a loss. Accept it with good grace.” “Accept what? I wasn’t playing any hide-and-seek to speak of.” The girl, their leader, pointedly turned her head away, her lips pursed as if she were pouting. “What’s worse, now you both have come out of hiding. And you, Nibel.” “Yep! Since I’m out in the open, meowbe some introductions are in order! Mew there!” The red-haired girl, Nibel, pointed enthusiastically at Fay. “Mew’re the human they call Fay, aren’t mew?” “Er… Yeah. Hi.” “Then allow this one to introduce meowself!” Fay had noticed the girl’s rather…unique way of speaking ever since she came into the room, but he resisted the urge to point it out. Instead, he took a good look at the four people standing across from him. Heck, they don’t have to introduce themselves. I know who they are—they’re the most famous team in the world! “Nice to meet you,” he said. “You’re Mind Over Matter, right?” “Exactly! I am Nibel, and this unmannered young lady is our dear Heleneia!” “I—I am not unmannered! Not really…,” Heleneia said, but she still didn’t look at them. She was supposedly the leader of the team, yet in this company she seemed oddly…small—as if she were the youngest of them all. “We meowght as well mention these two while we’re at it,” Nibel said, gesturing to the pair behind her: the brown-haired boy, whose cheerful grin gave nothing away, and the monocled young man, who still hadn’t said a word or even looked at them. “The old-fart-sounding guy is Ol’ Ara,” said Nibel. “Hoh-hoh! You may also call me Elder; either is fine.” “And this sullen character is Naffun!” “……” Naffun remained silent. Ol’ Ara? Naffun? Hold on. Had the names on the list of Mind Over Matter’s members in the Arcane Court apostle database been quite so odd? Miranda and the others shared a perplexed look. “Ol’ Ara. Naffun,” Pearl repeated to herself. “Those names are a little, uh, strange. Are they nicknames, maybe?”
Chapter 103
22 min read