Chapter 69

Chapter Player.5 Only the Snake Noticed Gods’ Games We Play 1 As dawn broke, the Arcane Court was finally able to announce that all the apostles who had been trapped in the labyrinth were now safely home. “Amazing work, Fay!” As he walked into her office, Fay found Chief Secretary Miranda in the best mood he’d ever seen. She came flying toward him. “You did a great job! You took care of everything!” “Hrf?!” Pearl exclaimed as the Chief Secretary caught her up in a hug. Miranda was taller than Pearl, leaving the girl’s face buried in her chest, where she struggled to breathe. “Hfff… Y-you’re suffocating me!” Pearl scrambled to escape. “What are you doing, Chief Secretary?!” “What do you mean? I’m giving you a hug to show my excitement and to celebrate.” “No—I mean, why would you say ‘Amazing work, Fay!’ and then grab me?!” “Because you looked like you would be the most pleasant to hug. It was an instinctive thing.” “Pleasant?!” “Anyway, consider it a sign of how thrilled I am.” Then Miranda clapped her hands as if to indicate the so-called opening pleasantries were now over. “Have a seat, have a seat. I’ll make the coffee myself. Fay, you take two sugars, yes?” “Three, please. You really are in high spirits, Chief Secretary.” Miranda quickly put out a cup for Fay where he sat on the sofa. She was even humming while she did it. “Heh-heh! Can you blame me? Why, today, I think I could let an underling who got drunk at the New Year’s party and spilled wine on me and ruined my favorite suit off with just a glare.” “It sounds like you’re, uh, speaking from experience.” Fay’s interest was piqued by this hint, but he was even more curious about the calendar on the table. It showed a date more than two weeks later than the last date he’d seen. They’d spent two weeks in that maze. It was a terrible fact to contemplate—exceeded only by the realization that he had no sense at all that so much time had passed. The sense of time is different in Elements. It’s a spiritual world where you don’t need food or sleep, so you can focus exclusively on the game. His body felt like it had been two or three days at most. It was just that easy for a human to lose touch with their ordinary perceptions while in Elements. With the gears of temporal perception turning so differently, many of the returnees would probably fall sick. “Oh yeah, Chief Secretary—our people who finally got back, how are they feeling? Are they in good health?” “Mm-hmm. No worrying reports.” Miranda started the coffee maker. “A lot of mental and emotional exhaustion, but the overwhelming reaction is just relief at being home. It’s pretty much an ideal outcome for us. I guess… If I could have everything I wanted, it would have been great if all the returnees got a win mark.” She gave a little smile. “This…Anbuis, God of the Underworld, was it? It seems she only judged you four to have achieved victory. Not everyone who participated in the game was considered to have won it.” “What? Really?” Fay hadn’t heard that. It made sense, though. Such a distinction seemed very characteristic of this deity. “So Leshea, Pearl, Nel, and I were the only ones who were counted as winners. Only players who directly confronted Anubis got win marks, huh?” The gods’ games consisted of one god versus many humans. This labyrinth had been the most extreme example of that, but it was of course up to the discretion of the game master who received a win mark. Titan and Uroboros, and all the other gods they had faced up to this time, had always given a win to each of the participating players. Anubis, however, was different. “Congratulations on playing my game to the very finish.” “All items, all areas, all events. An extraordinary adventure, was it not?” Glory and honor went to those who had achieved the 100 percent unlock percentage. Since that was one of the conditions for reviving the God of the Underworld, only Fay and his three companions were winners. Everyone else was allowed to come home—but at the price of receiving no victory credit. “Huh. How very like that god,” Nel said with a wry smile. “But we couldn’t have achieved full unlock percentage without a lot of help from a lot of people. I feel a little bad thinking we’re keeping the win marks to ourselves and everyone who helped us walks away with nothing.” “Aw, no, it’s fine,” said Leshea, who was leaning against the backrest on the far edge of the sofa. “You hear this again and again, right? The gods smile only on those who make their own miracles. The gods reward opponents they happen to be pleased with. This time, that just happened to be us. Everyone else will have another chance—they just need to try harder.” “W-well, okay… It does have a certain persuasiveness coming from you, Mistress Leshea.” “Here you are, Nel.” Miranda passed a cup of coffee to her. “Lady Leoleshea is exactly right. The four of you defeated a god. You should be proud of that, not self-effacing! You could brag about it your whole life long.” “B-brag?! No, I couldn’t…” “Your old haunt, the Mal-ra branch office, sure hasn’t been shy about using you for PR. ‘Nel Reckless, from Mal-ra! Making good on a brilliant comeback!’ they say.” “What?!” “Oh, hadn’t you heard? So do you know that the Mal-ra branch office Regional Promotion Section has been selling Nel Bean Buns and Nel Cookies with your face on them?” “They can’t sell my face!” Nel groaned, going red up to her ears. Chief Secretary Miranda seemed to be enjoying her reaction. Then she clapped her hands and said, “Oh! There’s something else I should tell you. There’s another city that’s had exactly the opposite reaction from Mal-ra. Arcane Court headquarters sent their congratulations…but I’m pretty sure it was through gritted teeth.” “Headquarters did that?” Pearl blinked in surprise. She continually added more sugar cubes to her coffee as she talked. “But headquarters really took charge of this situation. Kilhiedge was the one who organized the rescue effort. Plus…well, we didn’t see them, but I heard Mind Over Matter went into the labyrinth as well.” “That’s exactly it.” “Huh?” “Mind Over Matter is supposed to be the world’s strongest team. Headquarters says so themselves. They didn’t hesitate to trumpet when that group went in as a rescue squad. But what’s your take?” “M…my take?” Miranda shrugged. “Did they pull their weight in the labyrinth?” Pearl looked into space, struggling for an answer, but finally, reluctantly, she shook her head. “A-as far as I know, they… Well, but I mean, we never saw them, so I can’t really say! They’re the world’s strongest team, so maybe they helped lots of trapped apostles and we just never saw them!” “The possibility exists.” “R-right, see?” “But it was still you who defeated the god, and only you got win marks.” The Chief Secretary picked up her coffee cup and brought it to her lips. “I suspect headquarters had every intention that it should be Mind Over Matter who cleared the labyrinth game. You stole a march on them, and I don’t think they like it.” “W-well, headquarters is very important and all…” This time, it was Miranda’s turn to be surprised. She tilted her head. “Hmm? Pearl, I’m guessing from your reaction that you don’t know?” “Know what?” “Mind Over Matter is a four-person team, and their leader is a young woman—about your age. Saint Heleneia is her name.” “Yes, I know that…” “She’s the only daughter of the Chief Secretary of Arcane Court headquarters.” “Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!” Pearl slid clean off the sofa. The Chief Secretary of headquarters—that would make him the most powerful person in the Arcane Court, the leader of the entire organization. And his only daughter was the leader of the most powerful team out there today? Even Fay hadn’t heard that before. No one has ever mentioned that here in Ruin, not even as a rumor. I guess anyone who knows about a connection like that between two extremely important people keeps their mouth shut. He’d never heard so much as a whisper of this fact. Maybe it wasn’t even public knowledge. “Chief Secretary Miranda, I don’t think anyone told us apostles about that,” Fay said. “Huh? Oh, crap!” Miranda clapped her hands over her mouth. Then she said, “Look, it’s not anything, you know, shady. When I say the Chief Secretary at headquarters and the leader of the world’s strongest team are related by blood, maybe you think daddy is working behind the scenes to make things easier for his precious little girl—but you have to do more than pull a few strings to get seven victories in the gods’ games.” Mind Over Matter stood at seven wins. Three to go until they reached ten, something that had never been achieved in human history. Miranda was right—all the power of the Chief Secretary of headquarters would count for nothing in the gods’ games. So really, it was just coincidence. The young woman who led the world’s strongest team just happened to be the daughter of the most influential man in the Arcane Court. That was all. “Heleneia’s the real deal. I assume that’s why her relationship to the Chief Secretary has been kept under wraps—they don’t want people assuming it’s just nepotism. Granted, it’s an open secret to the rest of us administrators.” “Mind Over Matter…,” Fay mumbled. “Hmm? What’s the matter, Fay? Are you really bothered by them being father and daughter?” “Oh, no, it’s not that.” A question nagged in a corner of his mind—not about Heleneia’s relationship with the Chief Secretary, but about the fact Pearl had mentioned. “I was thinking about how we never ran into them in the labyrinth. In fact, I don’t think any of the rescue teams did. No one’s mentioned seeing them.” Among themselves, they had cleared every area and found every monster—the one thing they hadn’t found was Mind Over Matter. Is it just coincidence that we never saw them? That seems a bit too convenient. There has to be an explanation, like that they were hiding so we wouldn’t find them…or something. Was there some reason they hadn’t wanted to be found? They hadn’t fought any monsters. They hadn’t rescued any trapped apostles. When you look at it from that side, it raises the question—what was Mind Over Matter doing in that labyrinth? That was what really bothered him. “Well, it’s all over now. No need to stress yourself out about it, Fay,” Miranda said. She opened a drawer of her desk and took out a box of expensive-looking cookies. “I get what you’re saying—I’ve seen the statistics from our administrators. But anyone has strengths and weaknesses as a game player. Maybe Mind Over Matter just doesn’t get along with maze games.” “……” Fay didn’t say anything. “What, still thinking?” “Yeah. It’s not just about Mind Over Matter.” Fay gazed down at his coffee. Steam drifted back up at him. He spent a moment stirring the dark surface of the liquid, then said, “Too many impossible things happened in that maze. And after all this, we still don’t know how or why apostles from all over the world were being forced into that game. I’m not sure Anubis had anything to do with it.” “Hmm? Well, that would be news to me.” Miranda hopped up and sat on her desk, as if she didn’t have a chair right there. “Headquarters just released a statement. And I quote: ‘The gathering of players from all over the world in the labyrinth is believed to be attributable to Anubis’s interference.’” Fay paused. “I’ve been thinking about it all night, and I don’t believe that. I don’t think it’s that simple.” Anubis was downright obsessed with the game system underpinning her labyrinth, but she hadn’t said a word about the Divine Gates. Which suggested something to Fay… The infinite respawns and inability to escape the game and finish it were part of the game structure. But the way players all over the world were forcibly drawn into the game? That was not. So what could possibly have caused it? Had something spontaneously gone wrong with all the Divine Gates in the world at once? Or had somebody messed with them? “This is just a guess, but I think somebody has already solved that riddle. And I think it’s—” “Mine undefeated self has come to play!” There was a crash as the office door was slammed aside on its runners and a silver-haired girl came tumbling through. “Oh, Uroboros. Perfect timing,” Fay said. “Ah-ah! Hold it right there, Tiny Human!” Uroboros held out a hand to interrupt Fay. “I know what you want to say. You heave with gratitude that you have at last completed the labyrinth and can now enjoy my game with a clear heart!” “No, sorry, that’s not what I was going to say.” “It wasn’t?!” “Hey, it’s okay. Let’s take things one at a time. You remember how after you annihilated Sphinx in the labyrinth, you were forcibly ‘logged out’? I want to talk about that.” Yes: that moment had clearly involved what might be called a supernatural phenomenon, something originating from outside the game system. We saw every nook and cranny of that labyrinth, and there was nothing else in there that seemed like it could or would have forced Uroboros out of the game. Had Anubis been behind it? “That wasn’t Anubis’s doing, was it?” Fay said. “Nope, not at all,” Uroboros said immediately. “I think mayhap I’ll give you a hint. Wanna know something, Tiny Human?” “Sure!” “There were six gods in that labyrinth.” …… …………? The office froze, silent. No one present could immediately apprehend the significance of what Uroboros had said—probably no one in the entire world could have. Nel, Pearl, and Chief Secretary Miranda all sat stunned, their faces pale. They could never have seen this coming; it was beyond any conception of normalcy. They just didn’t know how to react. When people are given information that simply, vastly exceeds their understanding, they tend to be struck dumb. Fay was no exception. Six gods? Wait, what does that even mean? There was Anubis and Uroboros…and four more? It sounded like some sort of joke—it almost had to be—but Uroboros said it as if it were utterly simple. “Leshea?” Fay asked the girl sitting next to him, trying desperately to find something, anything for his blank mind to grab onto. “Did you notice them?” “Uh-uh. Not at all.” The vermilion-haired girl shook her head casually. She looked serious, too, but unlike the rest of them, her expression was more a sort of, “Huh! Is that right?” “Hoh? Well, I can’t blame you for not noticing.” Uroboros crossed her arms, full of confidence. “They were hiding themselves, after all. But then I stuck mine nose into that game, which was when I realized they were there.” “…! Hold on just a second! I think you just dropped a huge bombshell on us like it was nothing!” Pearl had finally snapped back to reality. “Miss Undefeated! You’re saying the reason you were logged out of the game wasn’t because of Anubis or any of the labyrinth’s systems!” “Well, yeah. It was the gods hiding in the labyrinth that did it.” “Tell us more about that, please!” “You wanna know? Well! I guess I could be had. In that case—oop?” Uroboros abruptly stopped talking. She thought carefully for a moment, and then a very mischievous smile spread across her face. “You know what? I think I’ll keep it to myself.” “Whaaaaaaaat?! But why?!” Pearl said. “Let’s make it a reward! If you can win my game, I’ll tell you!” Uroboros bounced up and tossed herself onto Miranda’s desk, which she stood on like a podium, arms spread wide, as if to say, Look at me! “How about it, Tiny Human?” “I thought it might come to that. Yeah, I get it.” Fay met Uroboros’s naughty grin with a wry smile of his own—and a sigh. “So there was something funny going on in that maze game. You’re the only one who knows the whole truth, and you want a rematch before you’ll tell us anything.” “Heh-heh! But this time, I won’t lose. I am undefeated, after all!” “I think that line is a contradiction in terms, isn’t it?” “So it’s settled!” The silver-haired god’s eyes shone eagerly. “Then let’s not waste any time. Everyone to the basement, and the Divine Gates!” “Ah!” Chief Secretary Miranda held up a trembling hand. “Ahem…Lady Uroboros… If I might be so bold as to say something?” “Hrm? What is it, human?” Uroboros’s face darkened; she wasn’t very pleased to be interrupted when she was so excited. “I permit you to speak. For exactly three seconds.” “Three seconds?!” “You heard me. Go! Ooone! Twooo…” “You can’t use the Divine Gates!” “Huh?” The silver-haired girl froze. “Why not?” “Well, you see…” Miranda was hiding behind Leshea, presumably to protect herself from Uroboros’s wrath. “We’ve just had a major incident. Yes, everyone got back from the labyrinth in one piece, but there could still be a problem with the gates. As a safety measure, headquarters has forbidden anyone from diving until they can be sure it’s safe.” “Forbidden?!” “Please, just wait a little longer. You can use Fay however you like during that time.” “Sounds like I don’t have a choice…” “Were you not going to ask my opinion on this deal?!” Fay exclaimed, but it was already too late. Miranda had picked up a pile of paperwork from the desk and clutched it close, while Uroboros had pulled out a key to Fay’s room. (Where had she gotten that?) “All right, I’ve got a meeting. You kids have fun,” Miranda said. “Let’s go, Tiny Human! We can continue our games in your room!” “Seriously, does nobody care what I think?!” Chief Secretary Miranda veritably fled the office. That left Fay with Uroboros, tugging on his sleeve. All Fay could do was put his head in his hands.