Chapter 71

Chapter Player.6 The Divine Love of a God Gods’ Games We Play 1 The morning sun glinted off the buildings comprising the Sacrament City of Ruin. It was six AM, and the Arcane Court dormitory was still quiet. Today was a day off. Many people were still dozing in bed. That included Fay. After he’d come back from the Lucemia labyrinth, Chief Secretary Miranda had interrogated him long into the night. Finally, he could get some rest… Or so he thought. “Hello! A very fine morning to you!” A young woman shattered the silence with a greeting so hearty, they could probably hear her next door, but she didn’t seem to care. “I hope you’re well, Fay!” “Who do I know who could sound that energetic this early in the morning…?” “Yes, it’s me! Anita! Founder and leader of Team Empress, a blossoming garden composed of chosen maidens, and she who intends to make herself the most notable rookie of the year!” Anita Manhattan’s voice came from the far side of the door. Just as she’d said, her goal was to have a team full of perfect maidens. She’d attempted to entice Pearl, Nel, and Leshea to her team, but the memory of her miserable failure was still fresh. What was she doing here so early? “Okay, hold on a second. I’ve got to change,” Fay said, getting out of his pajamas and into his day clothes. Normally, that would mean his Arcane Court uniform, but since there was no Court business today, it was just a simple shirt. “A very, very fine morning to you, Fay!” Anita said when he opened the door, her unmissable pink hair bobbing as she bowed. She was fifteen years old, one of the youngest apostles at the Arcane Court. Unlike Fay, she was dressed in her uniform. “Yeah, morning. Seriously, what’s going on?” “Before I answer that,” Anita said, looking wide-eyed around the room, “think you could let me inside? I mean, this is the boys’ dormitory… If word got out that a sweet, pure maiden like me visited this barbaric, filthy building, my reputation would be in tatters!” “Thanks. See you.” “Ahhhhh?! I get it! I get it! Just let me in your room! It’s freezing in the mornings and I’m going to catch a cold standing out here forever!” Anita ducked into Fay’s room. He showed her to the living room, then sighed again. She didn’t actually seem to have any business with him. “So you were, what? Waiting for somebody?” he asked. “Oh? How’d you know I was waiting for Young Lady Uroboros?” “You’re the one who said you’d been ‘standing here forever.’ I figured you were waiting outside my room to, uh, meet someone.” “Heh-heh-heh! I’m impressed by your intuition.” Anita plopped down on the sofa, bouncing once or twice—maybe to see if the cushion was still in good condition. “My investigations have revealed that for the past several days, Young Lady Uroboros herself has been coming to your room to play games.” “Uroboros. You mean, like…the Uroboros?” “I mean the god with the silver hair, huge eyes, and total adorability!” “And what do you want with her?” “Isn’t it obvious? I want her to join my team!” As soon as she said this, though, Anita adopted a less-enthused expression. She looked like she was chewing over each word carefully. “My plans met with failure the other day. I intended to gain three young maidens for my team in a single swoop, but I was roundly disappointed. The source of my troubles is that these young ladies were all members of your team.” “Leshea, treasured sister! Pearl, treasured sister! Nel, treasured sister!” “I have a special place prepared for you as honorary members of Empress!” Her invitation had fallen flat, to say the least. It might seem obvious to say, but as Anita had correctly observed, the three of them had already formed a team with Fay. They weren’t about to just go running off with her. “I, however, realized something! If I couldn’t pry the others away from your team, I could go for a treasured sister who isn’t part of your team at all!” “Huh? Oh, is that why you’re after Uroboros?” True, Uroboros wasn’t a member of his team. She wasn’t an apostle at all, so naturally she wasn’t on the Arcane Court’s membership list, which did indeed make her a viable target for recruitment. All very logical. “I think I should warn you, trying to get her to join your team could be pretty risky. I saw her one-hit monsters in that labyrinth without breaking a sweat.”