The door flew open as Beth rushed inside. She had found all the necessary evidence. Now all she needed was information on how to use it. She had the perfect person at home to get that off. At least the system was useful in such ways. he had told her that he could get her any information that she needed.
Latching the door securely behind her, she walked over to her folded futon and pushed her hand inside. Feeling the cold of the metal, she grabbed the bracelet and pulled it outside. Beth quickly put it on her wrist and rubbed its flat surface like the boy had asked her to. In the blink of an eye, she was back inside the world of the system.
As soon as she appeared, the boy turned around with alarm. But this time, it was more of an 'oh god did she come again' alarm rather than an 'oh god I'm going to die today' alarm. It brought a smile to her face, knowing that he was getting used to her. She waved, motioning him to come forward.
"Why have you come back so soon?" The boy asked with a sigh.
"I need some information," Beth replied, ignoring the disappointment in his tone.
"What do you want to know?" He asked, sitting up on the mattress.
As he did, her eyes wandered off to his unbuttoned chest. She could see the supple muscles that peeked through the gap. Her heart raced in excitement but this time, Beth shook her head. She had to stay alert if she wanted to stay alive. There was no time for dilly-dallying, she reminded herself.
Forcing her eyes back onto his face, she asked, "If I want to expose something that a minor god did, then who should I go to?"
The boy thought for a while and replied, "Any of the kings would do."
"Kings?" She asked, pursing her lips, "But I haven't seen any kings here. They must be quite up in the hierarchy. Isn't there anyone else that I can go to?"
The system shook his head in denial. "Not really. Above the tasked minor gods are the military and above them are the nobility." He paused, as if deep in his thoughts. Or was he calculating the outcomes? Beth wondered. The boy continued, "Though the latter can punish the tasked minor gods, there is always a chance that your plan backfires. If my guess is correct, you want to tell on the gods that cut down the tree?"
His question shocked her. She hadn't mentioned such a thing to him before. Beth thought that if she did, then the system would deduct her GD by default and that she would lose points. But it seemed like he already knew about the incident. Why then had he not asked her about it? She wondered.
"How did you know?" Beth asked warily, licking her lips.
Now that the balance of power was tilted towards him, she felt vulnerable. Would he take revenge on her for teasing him all this while? She thought nervously, eyeing his movements. But there was no change of expression on his face. He sat back, leaning his back against the wall. Seeing that she was nervous, he waved to her to come towards him. Beth did as she was asked, and sat down on the mattress next to him.
"I know almost everything that happens in this place." He began, without mentioning anything about punishments or losing points. "If you go to the nobility, then they might try to hide it in the fear that they too would get punished. This is because they are in charge of controlling the minor gods. And since it was a sacred tree, the gravity of the issue would force them to silence you. And that is why any of the kings is your best option." He said as a matter of factly.
Beth looked at him suspiciously. What was he playing at now? Was he trying to get her to lower her guards? Or was he really as forgiving as he appeared? She hoped that it was the latter. The realization made her feel a little bit more at ease. She leaned back against the wall as well, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the system.
This time, he didn't flinch at her touch. A smile grew on her lips. Did that mean that he would always be on her side, no matter what? She wondered, a warm feeling seeping into her heart. That was when she realized what she was doing. She was sitting there, smiling like a fool while he explained things to her. Beth cleared her throat, dragging her mind back to the issue under consideration.
"How many kings does heaven have?" She asked, turning her head slightly towards his direction.
Her mind was now racing at the possibilities that the information put forth. If there were more kings in heaven then that would mean that her chances of reaching at least one of them would be high. At the same time, it put forth a challenge.
"Four as of now." The boy replied. "But we have many princes too who-"
"Whatever," Beth said dismissively. She didn't want more explanation of the hierarchy. She needed elaboration on the already received information. "So any of the four would do huh? Where do I go to meet them?" She asked, raising her brows.
"You cannot." The system said, turning his face towards her.
For the split of a moment, her heart skipped a beat. His face was too close to hers. She could feel his breath on her. Though she had done all kinds of things to him like a hungry pervert, at that moment, she felt conscious of the child's body that she was trapped in. Beth quickly looked away, an involuntary blush spreading on her cheeks.
"Why?" She managed to ask.
"You're a slave right now." He replied. "Only gods are granted access to the royalty. If you were a servant you could have at least sneaked into one of their palaces."