Several days have passed since I left The Supreme Leader's city. Here I am now sitting inside a tavern getting a couple of drinks. Here I was finally expecting some peace and quiet but I guess the long walk from the republic to the kingdom is more peaceful than this loud tavern. The tavern was filled with AIs drinking throughout the night. To make things more interesting, the drink I'm having was actually on the house. It's all thanks to someone I come across when I got into the kingdom.
"So how you've been, White?" It was Azreal.
I happen to encounter Azreal when he was out and about patrolling the kingdom. So he says, but I don't think Sam would trust him enough to be doing that kind of thing considering how problematic he may be at times.
"It's been great." I clinked my glass with Azreal's. "I've been around all over the land."
Azreal then said, "So I've heard. According to Yumiko, you've been quite a troublesome person to work with, huh?"
I raised my eyebrows, "How do you get to talk to Yumiko, anyway? I thought she hate you."
"Well I thought she hate 'you'." He replied.
To which then I said, "Well I do hate 'her'.
"Oh, I thought she hate you."
I shake my head, "No, I hate 'her'."
The two of us then burst into laughter as we continued drinking.
Azreal then answered, "To answer your question, Yumiko have been secretly in contact with The Goblins for quite a while."
I stopped drinking and wondered, "The Goblin?"
Then all of sudden, Azreal looks around the tavern and shushed me.
He whispered to me, "The Queen does not know of this but there is a revolution coming. The Goblin Gang is planning a way to overthrow the crown."
"The...Goblin...Gang?" I shake my head in disbelief and told him, "This are...other players, right?"
He nods, "Yeah. Disgruntled classmates. They hate Sam's authority and they intend to take her out before she end up winning the conquest competition."
"How am I not surprised." I took another sip of drink.
Yeah, I've notice the cracks have been visible for quite a while ever since the 2nd semester. She has been a bit over her head and think the world revolves around her. Yumiko have always expressed her hateful feelings toward Sam whenever she's in the topic of our discussion. I guess almost everyone in Administrative Magic despises Sam Maximus.
"What about you, Az?" I wondered, "Do you hate her?"
"I don't know. Should I be hating her? She seems to rely on me a lot, you know."
"Rely?" I tried to recall.
I don't think forcing you to become his butler is a reliance. That's just painfully awful.
I told Azreal, "She's been using you all this time. Don't you notice? You're a laughing stock among your classmates, right?"
"I don't get what you mean, White. Everyone seem to be happy and laughing with me every time."
"No." I shake my head, "They are laughing 'at' you."
"Really..." Azreal suddenly looked down.
"Hey there..." I put my arm across his back, "I'm still here and you're not a bother at all."
He sounded glad, "Yeah. At least you're still fine with me."
We continued drinking throughout the night until Azreal pockets were empty.
He said it was on the house. It's not my fault, okay?
In any case,we got out of the tavern and took a walk around the kingdom under the moonlight.
"Hey White." Azreal started, "To continue with what I've mentioned previously, The Goblin Gang have been in contact with Violet Empire."
Then I figured, "So I assume, it's related to weapons and armors, right?"
"How do you know that?" He asked.
I shrug and replied, "Well I don't know...Yumiko loves a good business, right?"
He nodded, "True." He then continued, "Also, apparently Sam is planning to conduct a grand meeting. Every leader of each city will come and peacefully discuss the end goal of this competition. I guess we're finally reaching the end of Virtue." He gladly sighed, "Thank The Great Will, it's almost over."
I made a curious expression and said, "Never knew you were the religious type."
"I'm not that religious, White. It's just something we normally say."
"Well...thank The Great Will, I guess." I complied.
The Great Will, also known as the creator of the universe. As far as I can tell, The Great Will is never interpreted as any other life form. It,he or she or whatever The Great Will is, is often associated to multiple gods and deities that exist in religious texts. Whatever your believe are, The Great Will is the end of it all. It's like a concept more than it is a god of a religion. It's also the best way to thank the 'creator' without offending any other religion because of how ambiguous The Great Will is.
Putting that aside, I asked Azreal, "Do you think I'm invited for the meeting as well, Az?"
He shrugs, "I don't know. But you might be able to considering that you're a Pantheon, right? You're like the judge of this competition we're doing right now."
"I see." I changed the topic, "Who do you think is the winner right now?"
"Right now?" Azreal takes a guess and said, "Probably The Green Goblin...unless."
"Unless?" I wondered.
He explained, "Unless this grand meeting is a huge trap. Being set up by The Queen herself."
"That could be possible." I rub my chin. "Yumiko could also be tricking your goblin friends as well."
"Oh yeah. Should have noticed that to begin with." Azreal realizes, "Yumiko is a bit unpredictable. She get the upper hand in this somehow. It's like a...what you called it?"
"What?" I raised my eyebrows
He then mentioned, "Blitzkrieg tactic."
"Blitzkrieg tactic...do you even know what that means, Az?" I crossed my arms.
"Uh well...I don't know, I've heard it from someone in class. It could be an outsmarting move, right?"
"Maybe you should ask Yumiko what it means, she knows a lot about tactics." I laughed.
"How do you know that?" He wondered.
To which I say, "One of her unknown hobbies is that she loves anything related to warfare."
"Interesting. You are able to get that kind of useless information from a bitch like her, eh?"
"Yeah. I don't think she's that much of a bitch. She's more of a...a nuisance. I still hate her guts of course."
"That we can agree on."
Then suddenly, "What are you two losers talking about?" a familiar voice can be heard from the sky.
We looked at the full moon only to realize that a shining bright thing decides to drop down and land in front of us. Once the smoke has settled, it was revealed to be The Empress herself, Yumiko.
"Badmouthing about me are you?" Yumiko smirked.
"Yumiko..." I sighed.
Azreal panicked, "Oh hi there, Yumiko. No, no. We were just talking about how great you are."
Yumiko smiles as she walked pass by us.
"Hey where are you going, Yumiko?" Azreal asks.
"I thought The Queen ordered a summon. So here I am." She then added, "Considering I forgot to bring a companion...why don't you two be my bodyguard, huh?"
Azreal shrugs, "I guess so..."
I shake my head in disbelief. Even so, I followed them. At the very least, Yumiko paid the Inn room for us. But still...this woman is truly is unpredictable. With that being said, I wonder how will the grand meeting be...
TO BE CONTINUED