The Simulacrum

"So Leo's been playing an Abyssal so much, he's becoming one," Elly mused aloud as she casually lifted the wooden crate in front of the door. "I didn't know that's how it works."

"Because it isn't," I objected just a hint sourly. "It's just Judy's hypothesis. Don't take it for granted."

"She's usually right about these things though, isn't she?"

"I'm pretty sure that's fallacious thinking," I grumbled, and in the meantime, the princess put the box back where she originally found it and dusted her hands.

"Doesn't mean I'm wrong though," my dear assistant pointed out, pocketing her phone, and all I could muster in response was an ambivalent shrug.

"You know, I don't know how to feel about that," Elly continued her previous train of thought. "Leo being the Knights' leader was already a tricky situation, but if he's also an Abyssal, my grandmas might make a fuss about it. Mom and dad probably won't mind though."

"As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Abram started boasting about it," Judy added. "Don't give me that look, Chief. It would make perfect sense. A self-made millionaire is probably not that remarkable in the family, but a self-made Abyssal Lord? That's a great conversation piece at the dinner table if I've ever heard one."

"Why do I have the feeling you two aren't treating this issue with the gravitas it would normally deserve?"

"I think we're kind of used to inexplicable things happening around you," Elly said, and my other girlfriend nodded.

"Face it, Chief. If we upped the shock and horror of our responses every time you did something crazy, impossible, or both, at this point we would have to do comedic slapstick overreactions. I think it's better this way, right, Elly?"

"Hm? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," the princess responded a tad absentmindedly, with one finger thoughtfully placed on her lips. "If Leo turned into an Abyssal lord, and he married into the family, would that make us all part of House Dracis?"

"You forgot that he's already the regent of Neige, so I think it would make it House Inanna-Dunning-Dracis."

"That's the wrong order," my draconic girlfriend objected, completely ignoring the tidal wave of disapproval I was directing their way.

"House Dracis-Inanna-Dunning then?"

"Much better," Elly nodded with a satisfied smirk, and that was the point I decided to step in.

"Cut it out, you two. I'm not turning into an Abyssal, lord or otherwise, and that's final."

That was the end of that topic, as I unceremoniously opened the door and headed out. Technically there was nothing stopping us from just Phasing out of the room as is, but Judy left her coat in Fred's lab, and I figured I'd check on everyone while she retrieved it.

"Ah? Blackloak. Faster than expected."

The moment I was back in the main hall, I ran into Brang sweeping the floor. Let's not even ask the question of what the venerable scout-general of a magically engineered shock-trooper race was doing with an old-school broom better suited in the hands of a witch with a pointy hat. By this point I was so used to the Fauns just casually performing any and all household chores, I would've barely even raised a brow if he did it while wearing a floral-print apron. His comment, on the other hand, did give me a pause.

"[I call for further illumination on your intent, general,]" I responded a touch suspiciously, and the old Faun's ears swiveled in apprehension.

"[Were thou not endeavoring towards the creation of an heir with thine lovers?]"

"[... No?]" I uttered in surprise, and I'd like to point out that this single word was somehow longer than his question. The Faun language was, as always, a mystery. [What manner of delusion had you in its grasp to even envisage such an occurrence?]"

"[Thine lover's countenance appeared most heated upon pulling thine group into the room. This old one presumed her heart was set ablaze once more by thine actions in thine disguise. If I was mistaken, I offer my sincerest apologies.]"

"[Such is not a matter you should lower your head for, general. It is but soft ice running beneath a connection of stone and metal.]"

"[Soft ice?]" Brang echoed me with his ears swiveling the other way.

"I meant to say 'water under the bridge' just now."

"Ah. Understood."

The old Faun flashed a grin and, since I didn't add anything else, excused himself to continue his work.

"What were you two talking about?" Judy inquired, so I shook my head.

"Nothing you should worry about."

"Then I won't," she declared and pointed to our left. "Let's go and get my coat."

"That's another thing you could delegate," Elly pointed out. "In fact, it's high time we hired a butler and a few domestics."

"Princess, I know you're used to having servants around, but we don't exactly need them," I responded as we walked along, and her eyes were immediately drawn to Brang.

"You can't expect the Fauns to do all the housekeeping! Soon this will be the base of the Ordo Draconis; you can't have them go around cleaning floors and greeting guests."

"Why can't we?" I shot back, though I was only half-serious. "I think Karukk would look great in a butler uniform, and as for the rest…"

"Elly? We have a problem," Judy suddenly declared, demanding our attention. "The Chief's maid fetish has reached the stage where he wants to put even the Fauns into maid costumes. We have to do something."

"No, you don't, and no, I don't have a maid fetish," I explained for what felt like the millionth time, but my dearest assistant only looked at me funny.

"Our first night tells me otherwise."

"Correlation doesn't equal causation," I said, then glanced back at Elly, who looked like she was about to explode from holding her giggles in for too long.

"I… just imagined Brang… in maid's clothes…"

Sighing, I lightly patted her on the back.

"Go ahead, princess. Get it out of your system."

Even though she had my permission, my draconic girlfriend continued to stifle her chuckles even as we reached Fred's workshop. As we stepped inside, my nose was prickled by the acrid smell of ozone. Its source was easy to see, as our chief resident mad scientist was in the process of welding two pieces of complex metal structures together with a tool that kind of reminded me of a giant, metallic cellar spider than an industrial machine.

"Kihihi! Good evening, boss!" He greeted me once we came closer, and canted his familiar welding mask up so that we could see his face. Not his eyes though, as he was also wearing goggles under his mask, but his toothy grin was visible all the same. "I've heard things went great! Congratulations on becoming one of the most powerful people in the world of mystics!"

"It was neither as smooth nor as great as you say, but thanks anyway."

"Kihihi! So, now that we're backed by the Draconians and all their wealth, can we discuss our workshop's budget for next quarter?" I had a feeling I might've frowned without even realizing it, as the guy froze up, and then backpedaled harder than a politician at the sight of a polygraph machine. "On second thought, never mind. You must be tired, so let's discuss this another time."

Nodding, I waited for Judy to grab her things, and while we waited, I couldn't help but admit that Fred was actually right. While it wasn't the reason why our discussion was 'postponed', I really did feel tired. It wasn't as bad as when I knocked myself out after the three-way encounter at the end of October, but I still felt exhausted, both mentally and physically, even though I didn't even move that much this time around.

In the meantime, Judy returned to our side, and after a short discussion, we decided to go the extra mile and head home via the fake teleport closet, just to be prudent. I had a sneaking suspicion Judy just liked it when we cuddled in the dark before Phasing, but I kept that opinion to myself.

"Oh? You came home early," Snowy noted quite casually as we appeared in the living room. My Abyssal sister was already in her pajamas, even though it was still pretty early, and she was curled up under a blue rabbit-print blanket on the couch in front of the TV. Normally you'd think a girl her age would be more interested in romantic movies or soap operas, but instead she was watching an old 80s-style action movie, with lots of big guns and bigger explosions.

"We had less to discuss than I thought," I told her and walked over to take a closer look at the screen. "What'cha watching?"

"Cyber Commando Three: The Revengeancer," she told me without looking up from the movie.

"Is it any good?"

"So-so. The protagonist has a lame catchphrase, and the plot about the communist spies trying to destroy the rainforest to make more potato farms doesn't make much sense, but the pyrotechnics are really good, and I like the soundtrack."

"So long as you like it."

"More importantly," Judy spoke up as she looked at each of us in turn. "What are the plans for tonight?"

"I didn't really have any plans," Elly stated a tad self-consciously. "The tournament was supposed to end around this time, and then I wanted to rest, but that's off the table now."

"I didn't have any plans either, so… Dinner, and then cuddle?" I proposed.

"Sounds great!" the princess agreed with my off-the-cuff proposal in the company of an enormous grin. "Actually, I told mom I'd be staying over, so we could do more than just cuddling."

"Aren't you tired?" I asked, one surprised brow raised high.

"A little," my draconic girlfriend said while shaking her hands with a 'so-so' gesture. "But we're going to eat first, and then we cuddle, and once I'm charged up with Leonium, I'll be ready for all kinds of lewding!"

"You can't," Judy deadpanned with a tinge of disapproval. "Only Judybot operates using Leonium."

"In that case, from this day onwards, I'm Ellybot," the princess declared like it was self-explanatory.

"Chief, please do something. She's stealing my identity."

"Calm down, you two," I chided them and simultaneously rubbed both their heads. "Also, could we please not discuss our sex-life in front of my sister?"

"I-I'm not bothered," Snowy denied with ears redder than a ripe tomato. "I-I'm just watching my movie over here, there's no need to mind me."

"Actually, should we watch something too?" Elly proposed in the spur of the moment, and my dear assistant considered the possibility with the kind of solemnity one would expect from a life-changing decision.

"We still have that movie we couldn't watch the last time it was only the three of us," I mused aloud, finding the proposition of an impromptu movie night with the girls quite agreeable.

"The one with the boob armor?" Elly asked, and I couldn't stop a sigh escaping my throat.

"It's a two and a half hours long fantasy epic, and you just summarized it as 'the one with the boob armor'," my dear assistant voiced my misgiving better (or at least, flatter) than I ever could.

"But… But they're literally on the front cover!" Elly whined and signaled to me for support, but unfortunately for her, I shared Judy's sentiment.

"I think it's settled then. How much longer does your movie last?" Judy inquired, and it took a second for the girl on the couch to realize it was aimed at her.

"A-About twenty more minutes, I think?"

"That should be enough to make some snacks," my dear assistant said and turned to me. "Any requests?"

"Something light."

"Then sandwiches."

"What's with you and sandwiches?" Elly mumbled, yet followed her into the kitchen all the same.

"Have I never told you the story? It all began on a rooftop on the first day of school, and…"

I could only listen that far before the two left the living room, and yet I already found myself smiling. It was a nostalgic memory, even though it only happened a couple of months ago. My sense of time was kind of messed up, as usual.

In any case, now that my girlfriends were out of the picture, I turned my attention back to my sister and said, "What about you, sis? Do you want to watch?"

"Y-You mean… the movie?"

"… What else could I have meant?"

"N-Never mind that!" Shaking her head, she hastily explained, "I was planning to go to bed early today. I promised Angie that we would meet up in the morning."

"Are you two going on an outing?"

"That's the plan." She smiled at me, if a touch awkwardly. "I think she wants to ask for advice about something but didn't tell me the details."

"In that case, make sure she'll pay you for the desserts."

Snowy blinked in surprise, and asked, "How did you know we were going to sample a new confectionery?"

"It's Angie we're talking about," I pointed out, and she whispered a soft ‘Oh, right,' in revelation.

"By the by, aren't you curious about what happened at the tournament?" I asked the question that's been on the tip of my tongue for a while, and my sister flashed me an amused smile in return and playfully shook her phone in front of me.

"I've already heard the details from Josh, Angie, and Amelia. In that order."

"Right. I should've never underestimated the high-school intelligence network…"

That stray comment earned me a tinkling little giggle. It only lasted until there was a harsh noise coming from the TV. Her eyes jumped back to the screen and she dejectedly muttered, "Aw. Not the cyber-doggie…"

Glancing over, I just caught the last couple of frames of a big CGI robot dog getting cut in half by some kind of industrial equipment. That was unnecessarily gory, but if that's what my sister liked, who was I to complain? In the end, I lightly rubbed her noggin and headed up the stairs.

Since the girls were busy preparing our evening snacks, I figured I might as well spend my time effectively as well. First off, while I had already wiped myself off when I changed my clothes before the meeting, I was still pretty sweaty, so I took a quick shower. Once refreshed, I went back into my room and turned on the computer.

First things first, I checked our supplies in the nightstand, and then fixed up the bed a little. I never used it, so there was no reason to change the sheets or anything of the like, but I fluffed up the pillows and smoothed out the sheets, just for appearances' sake. After that, I prepared some nightwear for the girls, so that we wouldn't have to search for them in the middle of the night, and placed them onto the dresser by the window.

I figured that was more than enough preparation for the coming lewding activities, so I put the topic out of my mind and sat down by the PC. Since Snowy already reminded me of information networks, I figured I might as well jot down my super-secret report for Mike. It's been a while since the last time I drip-fed the guy some intel, and I was pretty sure the Celestial Intelligence Networks was very, very interested in today's events.

In the first place, the reason why I agreed to 'collaborate' with Mike was so that I could sneakily insert some well-placed misinformation into the Celestial spy network, and this was pretty much the best opportunity to do so. As such, I opened up a new document and started typing.

"On the morning of the 27th of December, I entered into a Restricted Space prepared for the duel between me and Naoren Feilong."

Under that heading, I meticulously detailed how we spent half a day engaged in an intense cat-and-mouse game, where I used various illusions and traps to hinder him while he utilized all kinds of mystical martial arts malarkey to take me down. Then, in a last-ditch effort, I locked both of us into a powerful illusion, where we were unable to fight, and so we had to talk it out and reached a compromise.

Re-reading what I wrote, I nodded to myself. That was pretty much how our agreed-upon cover story went, and knowing Naoren's penchant for sticking closely to scripts, I was confident that if someone asked him about the details, he would give the exact same explanation. This part was important, because it was necessary to establish the veracity of the rest of the report.

"The coup d'état attempt at the tournament, and the reappearance of Bel of the Abyss."

Under that, I wrote several paragraphs detailing the plans of the grand elder, how everything was his fault, and most importantly, how Bel appeared and completely dominated the scene. I vacillated over whether I should reveal Xiao's dragonhood here, but that cat was out of the bag now, and I was pretty sure the Celestials would learn about it soon anyway. She was currently being safeguarded by the full might of both Draconian factions, so I figured it wouldn't matter much. More importantly, I needed to talk about her, because the ‘battle' with her was the linchpin of my mini-essay about the all-encompassing menace and perilous threat Bel of the Abyss posed to everyone and everything.

Well, fine. Maybe I was overstating that a little, but that was kind of the point. My talk with the princess reignited my will to make Bel into the big bad, and following her advice, the first step was to use whatever shred of clout I had to hype him up and make others think he was the worst thing since unsliced bread. Writing all of this down also had an extra benefit in that it helped me finalize and set into stone the things I would say to convince the Draconians of the same thing. Put less focus on being mostly non-violent and how his interference helped the formation of the Draconic Federation, and instead emphasize how threatening he was and how his motivations and allegiances are clouded by secrecy, making him an unpredictable and dangerous variable. Those kinds of things.

At last, came the tricky part. I'd spent close to five minutes mulling over this particular one, and in the end, I decided to draw the line here with the following line.

"The Brotherhood of the Most Heroic Bloodlines, now reformed under the name Ordo Draconis, had officially ceased their previous activities. As the leader of said organization, I'm afraid I can't share any further information about our activities through unofficial channels. I will maintain our cooperative agreement until the official announcement of our alliance with the unified Draconic Federation. After that, I would kindly request that for further information, contact me through official channels.

Sincerely,

Leonard Dunning

King of Knights"

I stared at the screen, and was almost tempted to add all my other titles, but decided to be humble and end it there. Sometimes simplicity had its charm, and seeing this would probably already have quite the effect on the Celestials. I knew that there was no point trying to keep my affiliations secret, as I wasn't their only ‘mole', so to speak. I had no idea where the reports came from, but the Celestial Hub had detailed descriptions and even transcripts of every previous closed-door meeting over the past couple of weeks, so I had no illusions about my identity and the formation of the Draconic Federation not getting leaked.

Also, note to self: finish reverse-engineering that lie detector enchantment on Onikiri's shroud. Either that, or have Rinne individually test everyone about Celestial connections. It was best to nip that problem in the bud.

To be safe, I read the whole document over, corrected a few typos, and clarified a few bits and bobs, and once I was satisfied, I uploaded it to the drop-off folder on a random file-sharing site, and then closed the browser.

"Chief! Food's ready!"

Well, well, well. Talk about timing.

"I'll be down in a second!"

Saying so, I put the PC into standby mode, and headed downstairs. Some might call me irresponsible, kicking back after causing so much chaos and new developments in a single day, but before Bel or Blackloak or whatever, I was Leonard S. Dunning, professional boyfriend, and if my girlfriends wanted to crash on the couch and chill with a movie (with some potential lewding thrown in for good measure), then come hell or high water, that's what they were going to get.

Part 2

This is probably going to be a controversial opinion, but sex is kind of overrated.

I mean, it's not unpleasant by any means, but it wasn't the be-all-end-all of human experience it's sometimes hyped up to be. It's just an intimate, mostly exciting, mildly exhausting recreational activity. If anything, the best part of it was the cuddling in the afterglow. Of course, that always had to be followed by some awkward cleaning up, but that's just unavoidable.

"Nyhuuuh…"

The princess shifted in her sleep but didn't wake up, so I let out a sigh of my own and continued to stare at the ceiling. If there was one major issue with my sex life, it was the fact that after doing it, the girls were clingier than usual, even in their sleep, which made escaping the bed pretty difficult. Glancing down, I looked them over in turn. Judy, ever the forward-thinker, had a set of pajamas stashed away in my room for occasions like this, while the princess opted to use one of my T-shirts I prepared for sleepwear.

On the surface, it appeared they were fast asleep, but I knew the moment I started moving, it would trigger their baby-koala instincts and they would hold onto me even harder, making getting away even more difficult. I mean, being embraced by two pretty girls definitely wasn't a terrible experience, but the novelty of the sensation tended to wear off over the night. Of course, in case of an emergency, Phasing away was always an option, but I would definitely wake them up, so it was out of the question.

In any case, I had a feeling I would be stuck here a while longer, so I did the one thing I could and used Far Sight to peek at whoever was still awake at this hour. Well, I say that, but it wasn't that late, so I had high hopes for catching at least one or two interesting scenes. Needless to say, my first target was a complete dud, with all the Abyssals already sleeping.

My next target, thankfully, was more successful.

"… and then you put mana into it, and bam!" Penny exclaimed, and a flash of ethereal light later she struck a pose to show off her uniform.

"And these clothes have the same properties as our armors?" Morgana inquired as she took a closer look.

Since the last time I'd seen her, she finally got some proper clothes in the form of a knit turtleneck sweater and a pair of jeans. With her bun undone, her straight dark-green hair reached past her shoulder blades and gave her a more approachable look.

At the moment, they were inside the same chamber where Penny and co. spent their first couple of days after being apprehended after the Arbitration duel, in a fairly spacious guest room with a couple of extra beds and amenities.

"They aren't up to par yet, but Leonard is constantly improving them," Roland commented, sitting on a nearby bed with an open beer can in hand. "More importantly, he can produce more of these Uniformer devices."

"Really? As expected of his majesty."

"Expected mah bahookie!" Duncan grumbled, sitting by a nearby table and carefully honing his newly recovered sword. Seeing the disapproving glances surrounding him, he paused and forcefully pointed at no one in particular. "Whit? Ye ken a'm richt! He juist pulls hings oot o' malinky air lik' it mak's perfect sense, 'n' ne'er explains jobby!"

"W-Well, it's true that brother rarely explains himself, but that doesn't mean you can talk about him like that!" Penny reprimanded him, and the big guy shrank back with an annoyed 'Bah!' and continued working on his blade.

"Speaking of his majesty, didn't he already undergo the test of Caledfwlch when he joined our ranks? How come he wasn't chosen back then?" Morgana asked, diverting the attention from the fuming Mr. Minotaur, and the other two Knights shared an awkward glance between each other.

"Leonard claims he lost most of his memories not too long ago. He is vague on the details, but I believe it might've changed him enough where the Kingmaker re-evaluated him again and found him worthy," Roland explained, and Ms. Gorgon raised an intrigued brow.

"That would certainly explain the change in his demeanor. I do not believe he possessed such leadership qualities the last time I met him."

"Leadership mah crease…" Duncan growled in the background, but it only took a glare from Penny to make him pretend he said nothing and focus all of his attention on the sword in his hands again.

In the meantime, the door of the makeshift barracks opened wide, and in walked Arnwald, closely followed by Raven Boy. The former was pushing a packed food cart, while the latter had two large bags full of various canned beverages, from sodas and beers to ice teas and mineral water. Like Morgana, he also ditched the surgical gown and was wearing a pair of loose black trousers and a dark grey sports hoodie.

"Sorry for the wait," Mr. Eagle apologized as he came closer. "We met some familiar faces on the way to the kitchen, and I lost my sense of time."

"I told you I didn't need introductions," the younger Knight grumbled and put his bags down onto one of the free beds. "They are wyrmbloods."

"Watch the language," Penny chastised him on the spot. "We don't use the w-word anymore. Brother doesn't like it."

"Why should I care?"

"He's our liege."/"He's your king." the two senior Knights responded in unison, and all he could muster was a disgruntled huff in return.

"Oh? We have wine?" Roland noted after he walked over to the food cart.

"It's a gift." Arnwald sounded a touch sheepish, but after a long beat, he quietly explained, "When I told her we were celebrating our reunion, the lady in charge of the night shift in the kitchen gave it to me, and it would've been rude to refuse."

"What's worth celebrating about this situation?" Raven Boy continued to be a party pooper, yet Morgana casually disregarded his attitude and responded like she was already used to this.

"It's not only the first time in years we have all gathered together, it's also the day when our King brokered peace with the Draconians."

"But all of this is a ruse! It's all because of… erm…" Raven Boy's face flushed red, and he hesitated. "It's… because of Bel!"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Roland commented, without looking up from the wine bottle in his hands.

"No, not just in a matter of speaking! He is a vile, conniving asshole who set this whole thing up!"

"Yes, uncle Roland already explained that during the meeting," Penny noted, earning her a scathing glare.

"No, I don't mean that! Auntie, you know what I mean!"

"I don't think I do."

Morgana's response was a touch wooden, but nobody seemed to notice. Duncan was still too busy oiling his sword, while Roland and Arnwald were in the middle of searching for a corkscrew. That left only Penny, who was still locked in a glaring contest with Raven Boy.

"But you do! All of you should already realize it too! Leonard is… I mean… Bel is the mastermind behind this all!"

"Yes, as I just said, uncle—"

"No, not like that! That bastard set everything up, and you didn't realize it at all! We are all dancing in his palm!"

"Sister Morgana? Could it be that Brother Agrawain was traumatized by his encounter with Bel of the Abyss?" Arnwald whispered to Miss Gorgon, but before she could answer, Raven Boy raised his voice again.

"I'm not traumatized! How can you not see it? That conniving snake is… is… obviously Bel!" Seeing the pitiful glances around him, Raven Boy exhaled a lung-rattling groan and threw his hands into the air. "Goddamit, I give up! You'll see it for yourself, and then you'll see what I'm talking about!"

"Yeah, suuure…" my knightly sister teased him, earning her another glare.

"Shut up. I need a beer."

"Hey, you can't!" Penny walked over and tried to stop him from opening a beer can, but she was too slow. Since she had her Uniformer on, it meant she probably wasn't trying that hard. "Stop it! Brother told me to follow the law! You're too young to drink!"

"So are you!"

"And that's why I'm not drinking!"

Penny sent a glance at Morgana, asking for support, but by this point, Arnwald was already in the process of pouring a tall glass of wine for her, so she only shrugged.

"A single can won't kill him, and we're celebrating. I allow it, but no more than that."

"I'm not celebrating! I'm drowning my sorrows!" Raven Boy protested while running away from my sister, much to the amusement of the older Knights. I observed them a little longer, just to be safe, but they were mainly just horsing around and discussing the events leading up to this point, which was something I was already well aware. As such, I moved on to my next target, and after a few more duds, I landed in the trophy room of the Dracis mansion.

The only light in the room came from the fire in the fancy hearth serving as the centerpiece of the room. It was a nostalgic place, as this was where I had my first meeting with Abram. Speaking of dad-in-law, he was currently seated on an antique leather sofa in the company of mom-in-law, while another sofa on the other side of the glass-topped wrought iron coffee table was occupied by Naoren, currently leisurely yet elegantly sipping something from a large mug.

"Yes, my son is quite a character, isn't he, honey?" the Dracis patriarch said in response to something I didn't quite catch, and Emese agreed with a quiet hum, without lifting the head resting on her husband's shoulder.

"He's certainly unique in more than one sense of the word," the bespectacled clan head spoke in a level tone that made it hard for me to decide if he was taking the piss out of me. "But to stay on topic, I believe he has no desire for power, so I doubt he would mind if he isn't given a position on the council of the Draconic Federation."

"But he was the one who originally proposed the idea, and he worked hard behind the scenes to make it a reality," Emese pointed out. "Considering he's already the leader of the Knights and our son-in-law, being on the council should be the bare minimum."

"Maybe from our perspective, but I believe Leonard might not think so," Naroen responded between two sips of his beverage. "Whenever we talk, it always feels like he is looking far ahead and thinking on a much bigger scope than any of us. We can't tie him down."

"I think I know what you mean…" Abram mused, rubbing his jaw. "To us, the unification of all Draconian bloodlines and the peace with the Knights are both monumental developments that completely overturned our world, but when I look at him, he wasn't moved at all. It was as if he thought it was all just a mundane task."

"So I wasn't the only one who thought that?" Emese uttered in surprise, raising her head from Abram's shoulder. "That's exactly how I felt even time he did something. When she cured my wound, I thought he would at least try to use it as leverage, but he never did. It was almost as if he didn't think it was anything special."

"Maybe to him, it just wasn't," Naoren said with a shrug. "He certainly strikes me as the kind of person who regularly does the impossible on a whim."

Oy. Mister sworn brother. You're starting to piss me off.

…

But then again, I ended a centuries-long feud and created a globe-spanning supernatural organization just so that my girlfriend could pursue her passion and safely become a singer, so… maybe he wasn't completely off the mark?

In any case, Emese closed the topic with a slightly trite, "That boy is like an enigma wrapped up in a mystery."

I was fairly sure that was a quote, but before I could devote any brainpower to figure out where it came from, Abram clicked his tongue and said, "Speaking of which, we really need to find out more about this Bel of the Abyss! We know practically nothing about him!"

Naoren nodded, with a slight frown.

"I'm also curious about his identity." For the record, while Naoren knew that I was leaving to orchestrate the incident during the tournament, I never explicitly told him that I was Bel. "In any case, I believe the testimony of the Knight from today's meeting should not be taken for granted."

"Do you think he didn't tell the truth?"

He shook his head at Emese's question.

"I didn't say that. I simply believe that this Bel might have a more ancient background than we can imagine."

My in-laws looked really intrigued by his words, and so was I, so I waited for him to elaborate. As if to tease us, he finished his drink first, placed the mug onto the table, and slowly linked his fingers before he finally continued.

"In the aftermath of the battle between Xiao Xiao and Bel of the Abyss, he said something peculiar to her. I do not believe anyone else could hear it at the time, and she old shared this with me. I believe you've heard about how he neutralized Xiao Xiao's dragonfire, right?" The Dracis couple nodded in unison. "After that, he told Xiao Xiao that he was hoping to see true dragonfire, and that it had been a long time since he encountered someone who could use it."

"By true dragonfire, do you mean the golden flame, or…"

"Xiao Xiao told me she breathed golden flame, yet Bel found it lacking."

"He couldn't have meant the prismatic fire of the ancients…" mom-in-law muttered, positively slack-jawed, and she was entirely right. I was only heckling her at the time, because that's what Bel does. That said, that 'prismatic' part sounded oddly familiar, but before I could figure out why the image of a rainbow-colored beam came to mind, my attention was grabbed by the conversation again.

"In this day and age, few know of the true fire of the dragons of old, let alone the art to produce it. Yet, Bel of the Abyss referred to it as something he had seen with his own eyes. This could mean two things: he was either lying, or he's an ancient grandmaster of eons past returning to the present."

"That's a troubling thought," Emese whispered, and I once again had to agree.

While the way Bel's lore was getting steadily expanded told me the Simulacrum was definitely doing its best to integrate him into the narrative, the fact that it was happening so haphazardly and without my input was getting a little annoying. Not only that, but this whole thing about 'true true dragonfire' was sounding like some kind of plot device that sounded both familiar and yet out of the left field at the same time. If anything, this just proved once again that I had to be really, really careful about what I said as Bel, as I could apparently stumble into plot points by accident.

But back to the scene at hand. I listened to the discussion between the Draconian high leadership a little longer, but after discussing Bel a little longer, during which nothing especially important came up, they started discussing less important things, such as gossip about other families, at which point I completely tuned out and decided to look for greener pastures. As such, I quickly Far Glanced through all the remaining marks, and…

"… a real dragon! Like, a totally real one!" Sahi's voice filled out Lord Grandpa's office, prompting the haggard old man to raise a skeptical brow.

"A dragon? On my island?"

"Yeah! Like, she was tiny, and I didn't see her dragon form, but she was totally a dragon! Everyone said so, right, Paz?"

"According to Penelope Dunning, Xiao Feilong is indeed a dragon," Armband Guy explained, and he sounded about as tired as he looked.

"So the Draconians not only decided to unite, on my island, but they are also joined by the Brotherhood of the Most Heroic Bloodlines, whose leader was Leonard Dunning all along, and then on top of that, they also have a flesh and blood dragon," Lord Grandpa summarized things with an expression that said he couldn't believe his own words, and the other two people in the room nodded in unison.

"It's so wicked, right?" Sahi spoke with a toothy grin plastered on her face, but the old man didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.

"No, it is most certainly not wicked in any shape or form! Saahira, you of all people should know what all of this could lead to! There is no way the Assembly would quietly accept the forming of a new organization of this scale and power! And all of this is happening on my island!"

"Oh, come on, Endy. Don't be so tense. You're, like, on good terms with the Dracises and Leonard, right? If those old fogeys in the Assembly give you grief, you can totally just jump ship."

"Do not even joke about such a thing," Lord Grandpa glared at her, but after maintaining eye contact for several silent seconds, the tension abruptly drained from his shoulders and he slouched back in his seat. "It is getting late. You are dismissed."

"What? But, like, I didn't even tell you about this Bel of the Abyss guy!"

"I do not care about such a nebulous person when I have the very clear potential of war on my hands. Now go. I have to make my preparations for opening diplomatic channels with a brand new association. On my damn island."

"Yeah, yeah. Sheesh. You can be so lame sometimes," Sahi harrumphed and gestured towards Armband Guy. "Come on Paz, let's go."

Unusually enough, Pascal only gave a shallow nod to the old man before following after the girl, and the two of them left the study. It was only when the door closed behind them that the arch-mage reached into his desk and produced a small metal flask.

"Today is not the day either," he murmured mysteriously, then took a swing from the bottle before grabbing a handful of papers and beginning to work.

This little snipped of discussion served as a wakeup call in a way; while things were proceeding really smoothly, and the Assembly didn't really bother me so far due to my 'agreement' with Lord Grandpa, the possibility of the Magi as a whole turning hostile over the sudden emergence of a new power in global supernatural politics was an acute possibility. Of course, there were ways to mitigate this problem, either through some deft diplomacy (read: let Naoren handle the negotiations) or creating an even bigger incident to draw everyone's attention away from the Draconic Federation (read: Bel). Either way, I just managed to shut down a big source of conflict, so I wasn't going to let another start right away; the solution all depended on how the Assembly would react to the news.

Anyhow, there was nothing to really see in the old man's office anymore, and when I glanced over at the duo that just left the premises, I found them mildly bickering without must substance, so I left them alone. With them out of the picture, it only left me with a handful of further Far Sight targets, however, before I could start peeking at them, I became aware of a strange sensation on my chest.

I exited Far Sight, and when I opened my eyes, I found Judy leaning over me, her modest but supple breasts squashed against my chest while she was observing my face from a few centimeters away.

"Oh. You're awake," she uttered when our eyes met.

"That's my line," I whispered back. "What are you doing?"

"You weren't moving, so I thought you were asleep."

"No, I was only using my Far Sight."

"That makes sense," she responded, yet remained completely still.

"So? Aren't you going to get off me?"

"Give me a second. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to seduce you."

"Why would you need to sed— Hey! Stop rubbing yourself against me! You're going to wake up the princess!"

"Too late," she uttered flatly, and it was at this point that I became aware of the movement on my other side.

"Hauuu! Is it morning already?"

"No, it's not. Go back to sleep," I whispered. "Same goes for you, Dormouse."

"You say that, but aren't you ready for another round?"

"What are y—? Dormouse! Don't just grab onto me without warning!"

"Are we lewding?" the princess muttered, still half-asleep.

"No, it's only Judy's libido being out of control again. You can go back to sleep."

"Chief, there's absolutely nothing wrong with my libido. You're the only one who's too passive."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's you. I'd bet you're near the top of the bell curve when it comes to sex drive," I objected, but by this point, the princess sat up and casually took off her shirt. This wasn't the first time I saw her naked, but it was hard to get used to just how astonishingly attractive she was. Also, curvy. And perky. Oh, and speaking of hard…

"You seem to be ready," my dear assistant whispered, her hand moving back and forth under the blanket.

"So, are we lewding or not?" Elly followed her up, the cool air on her skin finally waking her up to the point that she got self-conscious enough to cross her arms in front of her chest.

Well, this wasn't how I planned to spend the night, but at this point, going back to sleep was off the table, so I decided to go with the flow and kicked off the blanket in a single motion, eliciting a startled yelp from Judy still sprawled over me. After the first surprise, Elly let out a giggle and leaned in for a kiss, and after this point, things just naturally escalated.

Also, my totally normal Dormouse with the totally normal libido demanded two extra rounds for the audacity of letting the princess be on top first, but that was an intervention for another day…

Part 3

Usually my mornings were pretty slow and quiet. I loved to take my time in the shower, grab a bite, and then greet the morning sun as it rose. Since I didn't need to sleep, this routine was what ultimately gave a sense of rhytm to my days, and missing it felt kind of uncanny. Unfortunately, this time I had no choice but to deal with it, along with a noisy living room and a pair of rambunctious girlfriends.

"We should have a full English breakfast! Beans and bacon and eggs and all!"

For further emphasis, Elly put her hands on her hips as she glowered at my dear assistant, yet Judy stood her ground, arms crossed an glaring back in a fashion.

"No. I told you, it's too heavy."

"But that's the point! After last night, we need the proteins! In fact, let's make double portions!"

"I said no," Judy pushed back, not breaking eye contact for a moment. "Not all of us have your draconic constitution, and we can't have the Chief put on weight."

I was pretty sure she was more worried about her own lines than my own, but I wisely refused to enter that conversation, and instead focused on my sister by the front door. After some consideration, I picked a thick scarf off the hanger and carefully wrapped it around her neck before taking a step back to observe my handiwork.

"This should be good enough." Nodding, I gently rubbed Snowy's noggin, careful not to mess up her beanie. "Have fun, and don't forget to be home by dinner."

"I-I won't," she stuttered while holding onto her cap with both hands. After I stopped, she timidly glanced up at me, then behind me, towards the living room. "Shouldn't… you do something about them?"

As if waiting for her to ask that, Elly suddenly exclaimed, "We absolutely cannot put that into a sandwich! What kind of culinary heresy is this?!"

"I was only trying to compromise, but if you refuse to make concessions, neither will I."

Glancing over my shoulder, I shrugged my shoulder and simply uttered, "Eh, it's nothing to get worked up about. They'll figure something out on their own."

"Are you… sure?"

"Yep. Now, go. Don’t make Angie wait, and remember…"

"Have fun, eat as much as I'd like, and make sure Angie pays her share of the bill," she recounted the rules I made her memorize, which earned her another head pat. This time she quickly ducked out of under it and retreated to the door. "I'm going now! Bye!"

Saying so, she dashed through the entrance and once stopped to wave at me once she was well out of arm's reach. I returned the gesture with an amused smirk, and watched her walk off. I offered to call a taxi for her, but she insisted that she wanted to walk because she liked the snowy streets. What was the idiom? Nomen est omen, I believe?

Anyhow, once she was far enough away, I pointedly cleared my throat, and less than a second later, a dark figure landed on the path leading to the sidewalk in front of me and immediately descended into a genuflection.

"Your orders?"

Looking the Kage ninja over, one of Rinne's four direct subordinates, I let out a pleased hum. It took a while, but they finally got winter ready, and the one in front of me in particular ditched the stripperific mini-kimono and fishnets for a decently warm skiing outfit. Of course, she still had the headband and the short swords on her hips, so the ninja branding was still present, but at least she was season-appropriate.

"Follow her at a distance, and scan the area for surveillance or suspicious elements. If you find any, I leave things up to your discretion, otherwise make sure you don't get noticed."

"As you command!"

She gave me a Faun-style salute, which was rapidly becoming the general way to do it in our happy little secret organization, and she jumped off the ground and landed on my rooftop without a sound. I asked Mountain Girl about this, but apparently being able to jump eight-to-ten meters high from a standstill was a basic prerequisite for being a Kage ninja. She also kept blabbering about how it was a frog-ninja technique or whatnot, but by that point, I kind of tuned out of the conversation.

In any case, I closed the door behind me and returned to the living room, where my girlfriends were still locked in an intense argument about whether or not cutting the baked beans from a traditional English breakfast platter would make it healthier. I had no horse in that race, so I sneakily headed upstairs and managed to return to my room without getting involved. I figured they'd sort it out on their own sooner or later. I mean, they were flexible enough to make this whole polyfidelity thing we were doing work out great so far, so I sincerely doubted an argument over the breakfast menu was going to tear our peaceful lives asunder.

First things first, I poked my PC to get it to boot up, and while it did that, I fixed the bedsheets. I'd already put the evidence of last night's surprise lewding into the washing machine, so it didn't take too long to tidy things up, and by the time I returned to the desk, I was welcomed by the login screen. Once the desktop loaded in, I checked my mail, then loaded up the secure browser and checked the Celestial Hub.

There wasn't much movement on the site last evening, though I figured it was mainly due to Mike's report not reaching the higher-ups yet. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting there to be a huge hubbub, but I still had to do a double-take when the page loaded in.

"What the heck happened here…?"

While I intended that as a rhetorical question, things took a turn to the unexpected (or rather, even more unexpected) when I noticed that my inbox had a message in it. Not the PM box (though that one also had an exclamation mark), but the internal mail address that came with the account. The one that didn't receive a single message since the first time I logged into the Hub.

I didn't hesitate long before clicking on the prompt, and it opened an extremely barebones user interface right out of the nineties. Or rather, an even more barebones one than the basic Hub interface, but let's not split hairs over something like this. Once it loaded in, the first thing that caught my eye was the sender.

"Celestial Intelligence Network – Chief Operations Officer?"

That already sent all kinds of alarm bells ringing in my head, but when I read the actual message, it was soon replaced by a sense of deep and profound confusion.

The main body of the text, when stripped of all the nondisclosure clauses and double-speak, could be summarized as such: after reviewing my recent activity, I was getting promoted from 'Deputy Director of Intelligence Community Coordination' to 'Deputy Director of Clandestine Service', due to a newfound vacancy in the position. It apparently came with a new set of authorizations and duties I didn't care much about at the moment, as the second half of the text was much more important.

Apparently, all currently ongoing intelligence activities were to be immediately and indefinitely suspended due to a series of internal investigations. The cause of this was vague at best, but considering the message listed nearly a dozen director-of-somesuch and chief-of-something-or-other positions getting mysteriously vacated overnight, I had a feeling there was a sudden and violent restructuring going on within the Celestial Intelligence Network.

Furthermore, I was told to temporarily suspend the creation of any new accounts and to perform a full security check on all existing accouns, prune any sock puppets, and generally tighten things up a notch.

Getting a promotion was a tad unexpected, but I never knew Admin had a proper office in the Celestial hierarchy to begin with, let alone a fancy one like that, so I figured it didn't really matter that much. If they didn't call me out for not performing whatever directorial duties I had before, I had a feeling they won't call me out for continuing to neglect them either.

More importantly, after re-reading the message, just to be sure I understood it right, I moved on to check the PMs, and there were about a hundred of them. Scrolling up, I found that most of them were users complaining about losing access to the report repository, asking if I knew anything about the sudden icing of operations, and only when I reached the top did I find a message from MoroseMoose, telling me that he also received a message from the higher-ups, and that he pinned a forum thread about what's going on and blocked access to the repository for everyone without moderator rights. Her apparently did all that because I was offline at the time, but his messages sounded a tad uncertain, so I made sure to give him my thanks and tell him he did well.

It was a good thing I made him a moderator way back when; the guy was much more on top of things when it came to the site than I ever was, and it was nice to see him pick up my slack on his own. Was this the kind of delegation Elly kept pestering me about, I wondered?

In any case, after the PMs were resolved (read: answer Moose, ignore the rest), I opened the forums and the repository in two different windows and began my deep-dive into figuring out what the actual hell was going down at the CIN headquarters.

My initial guess was that the formation of the Draconic Federation under their nose caused a couple of heads to roll, but a quick skimming of the database told me Mike's report didn't make it to the repository, and when sorted from newest to oldest, none of the top entries had anything to do with intelligence related to the Draconians. I did the same with the forums as well, and aside from a single thread about the duel between Naoren and me, and even that was more of a light-hearted discussion with bets and predictions. Combined with the timestamp on MoroseMoose's message, I concluded that the lockdown on the Hub went into full effect before the Draconian tournament even began.

That meant that, whatever caused this internal mayhem in the Celestial Intelligence Network, it probably had nothing to do with the first public appearance of Bel, the alliance between the Knights and the Draconians, or the newly formed Draconic Federation. Whatever the reasons were, I couldn't help but feel apprehensive about this development. While my cover was still safe, this abrupt promotion could potentially mean Admin would have to personally report to the higher-ups to be sworn into office, which was obviously impossible for me. Furthermore, due to the newly imposed restrictions on the Hub, its usefulness as a source of inter-supernatural intelligence took a major hit.

And last, but certainly not least, the fact I didn't know the exact nature of what was going on inside the CIN was troubling. Did they get wind of the Draconic Federation through more analog means, which led to a string of demotions? Was it an internal cleansing operation? If so, who was doing it to whom, and why? Or was it a power grab? If so, did it already succeed, or did it fail and they are now getting rid of the upstarts? How many sides were there? I would've loved to know any of these things, but at the moment, the only two Celestials I had marked were Mike and Angie, and neither of them were exactly famous for being on top of Celestial politics.

…

No, wait. I also had a mark of Jaakobah, didn't I? I wasn't paying much attention to the guy lately, but now that he came up, I Far Glanced his way at once, and found him in a very stereotypically shadowy meeting room with a bunch of stereotypically shadowy people sitting around a round table, their faces hidden by the way the place was lit. I had no idea why this was necessary: they were all in the same room, so I figured once the meeting was over, someone had to flip a light switch so that they could find their way out, and at that point, they would see each other's faces anyway.

But putting my gripes about impractical shadiness aside, the Celestial agent's dot felt very distant and fuzzy, kind of like how Crowey's felt when I was spying on him. That got me a little excited, as this could've been the first time I could get a direct glimpse at the Celestials' little hidey-hole, but I quickly tempered it, as I had more important things to focus on at the moment.

"— the reincarnation candidates. Are you sure he's the one?" one of the shadowy men hidden in the shadowy shadows asked in a deep, resonating voice, and Jaakobah, whose face was also barely visible, firmly nodded.

"The one from the prophecy?" another man inquired from the other side of the table, and the gaunt celestial agent nodded again.

"Yes, director, sir."

Oh? Okay, putting my irritation about the absolutely schlocky execution of this whole 'clandestine meeting between powerful people in the shadows' trope, I belatedly realized that I might've stumbled onto something actually important this time around, so I put my prejudices aside and focused my full attention on the scene unfolding in front of me.

"Why didn't you report this until now?" a woman's voice called out next, sounding audibly irritated.

"As I already testified, I believed it was important to ensure the integrity of the Celestial Intelligence Network first. Bel of the Abyss is operating on Critias, but he doesn't seem to be aware of the target's identity yet. I was afraid that if the agency remained compromised and his identity was revealed, it would expose him to danger, so I temporarily withheld the information."

"You should've reported it to me anyway," the first man spoke up again.

"My apologies, director, but I wasn't sure whom I could trust at the time, and I deemed this course of action the most prudent."

"What's done is done, and there'll be plenty of time to discuss it later," a new voice interjected, sounding both younger and more eager than any of the ones before him. "Tell me, agent: Are you one hundred percent sure it's him?"

"Yes. I was trained to recognize him," Jaakobah responded bluntly, and even in the purposefully poor lighting conditions, I could see the younger man's eyes light up.

"We have waited for so long… to think that it would be in my generation…" he muttered, but the rest seemingly ignored him.

"This information cannot leave these four walls," the first voice, apparently the leader of the group, stated solemnly, and the others agreed in unison. "If agent Jaakobah's assessment is accurate, the second coming of Deus is upon us. We cannot afford any mistakes."

"Certainly, but we still have to decide on a course of action all the same," the only woman in the group interjected, and her words also drew a couple of nods from the participants.

"We should make contact right away! No, wait! We should send in a strike group instead and retrieve him at once!" the younger man proposed, but was shot down at once by a new voice, an old man talking in a droning, almost mechanical tone.

"Negative. The target is in direct contact with the Alteration School of Timaeus, and the local Magi are on high alert due to the many dragonblooded on the island. With the purge of compromised personnel still underway, we cannot afford to mobilize for an exfiltration operation, and with our case officers and assets being cut off from the network, we don't have up-to-date intelligence on the target's situation and environment either. Under these circumstances, I advise against any black operations on the island for the time being."

"But… we have waited for this day… for so long…" the younger man whimpered, but it was cut short by the leader with the unnecessarily deep voice.

"And we can wait a while longer, until we can ensure the success off—"

And then, just as he was about to finish his line, he was cut off by a guitar solo.

"Oh, for fuck's sake…" I grumbled as I exited from Far Sight and reached over to pick up my ringing phone. I checked the caller ID, then a groan later I forcefully swiped the green phone symbol and said, "Morning, Mike. Your timing really, really sucks."

"Oh, hello. Sorry about that," the hapless Celestial apologized at once, then remained silent.

"So? Why are you calling?"

"Ah, right…" He paused for a beat, during which I could hear him take several breaths, then he began with, "So, I've read the report you sent in, and… well… I just wanted to make sure I understood it right. Are you saying that you are the leader of the oath—I-I mean, the Knights?"

"We are called the Ordo Draconis now, but yeah, that's the short of it."

"And this Draconic Federation thing means… like, all of the dragonbloods and the Knights working together?"

"Yes."

"Oh geez… That's… um… H-How much can I actually report of this?"

"Why are you asking me?" I blurted out in surprise.

"I mean, wouldn't you be troubled if the CIN learned all about this right now? I'm just trying to be considerate…"

Sighing, I shook my head and told him, "You know, Mike, you're really not cut out for this spy job." He remained silent no matter how long I waited, so I added, "Last I've heard, there's something big going down in the CIN right now, so I doubt you can even send your report even if you wanted to."

"Wait, how do you know that?"

"… Mike. I'm an information broker. It's my job to know these things."

"Isn't being the leader of the Knights your job?"

"Don't nitpick my words and listen up: I sent you that report because I knew that your higher-ups would find it out anyway. At least this way, they would be hearing it from the source."

"Ah, speaking of sources," Mike cut in as if worried that if he didn't grab the opportunity, he would be left behind. "You wrote something about requesting official statements in the future, so… does that mean our deal is off?"

"In a way." I could hear an odd and distinctly worried noise from the other side, so I hastily added, "That said, we had a pretty decent cooperative relationship so far, so once things normalize on your end, make sure to tell your higher-ups that I'd like to keep you as my official liaison."

"Really? Thank you!"

He sounded way too excited by the prospect, but I didn't question him, and instead said, "Is there anything else you want to know about, or can we end this call?"

"Oh, right, sorry. No, I have nothing else." I grunted in acknowledgement and was just about to cut the line when he exclaimed, "Ah! Wait, there's one thing I completely forgot about!"

"Yes?"

"Happy holidays!"

I was honestly taken aback by that, and took me a good five seconds to utter a pleasantly surprised, "Right, we haven't talked since the banquet, have we? Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you as well."

"Thanks!"

I could totally imagine the ear-to-eat grin on the guy's face, and now that we were done with that, I could finally end the call and threw the phone back onto the desk before closing my eyes and returning to the meeting.

"— for the glory of the Second True Archon, and the glory of Deus," the head of the group declared, and the rest of the participants echoed the same line more or less in unison, including Jaakobah. Then, after a long beat of silence, everyone left the room one by one, meaning…

"Damn. I guess that was the end of the meeting," I griped, followed by a string of silent curses under my breath.

Still, I stayed around for a little longer, just in case something interesting would happen, but the only thing worth mentioning was my first glance at Elysium through the windows of the room where Jaakobah retired. Though again, that might not have been the right word, as based on the number of guards around his small, austere room, it almost looked like he was under house arrest.

But back to Elysium: Just like the Abyss, it was a parallel space overlapping the island of Critias. As for why that was the case, according to Judy's research into the topic, it involved some kind of ley-line configuration and one being patterned after the other and emergency measures and whatnot, but at the end of the day, I wrote it all up to it being just another trope. Just like how in Japanese or Korean fiction, everything in the world revolved around their small island/peninsula, I figured the reason why everything was so bloody focused on Critias was simply because Josh lived here.

Putting my tropey gripes aside, while the Abyss was remarkably similar to our island, not only in topography but also in terms of architecture, a couple of big, gloomy gothic castles notwithstanding, my brief glimpse outside the window made me instinctively take a second and even a third look, just to be sure I was seeing things right. On one hand, unlike in the real world, it was a pleasant summer morning, with sunlight glinting on several tall, white spires dotting the landscape. They had an almost organic appearance, as if made of countless layers of spider silk, but with countless windows and balconies dotting their surfaces. Considering the viewing angle, I had a sneaking suspicion Jaakobah was also inside one such spire, though I couldn't get a full picture of the place even when I moved my point of view outside the window.

On the other hand, when I did that, I noticed something weird: even though these towers looked like they would belong to some kind of technocratic utopian setting, when looking down, I saw they were surrounded by hundreds of thatched roofed hovels, and the dirt roads leading out of these settlements were occupied by people wearing simple togas and riding on horse-drawn carts towards large, hand-plowed fields covering the landscape.

Conclusion: Either Celestials were really, really into the whole 'agrarian idyll' aesthetic, or something was seriously wrong with this picture.

However, before I could get any more engrossed in the scenery, I was once again jolted out of my Far Sight, this time by the door of my room getting violently thrown open.

"Leo!"

After the obligatory surprised blinks, I lazily turned my chair around to face the princess in the doorway.

"Yes? Did you decide on breakfast?"

"That's not important right now!" she exclaimed while waving her phone my way. "Dad just called me! The tournament isn't canceled after all!"

"… Oh, you've gotta be…!"