Scene-1:
"Elsabeth, the chief, told me that the plains near the mountain range, which means the place where Mare Village and Arcanum are located, are called Jura Plains."
"It was very informative, my lord."
Rudra and Elsabeth were strolling in the open fields where they just had a confrontation with the Jovinia Federation soldiers. They were captured by the forces of the Arcanum.
Rudra was reflecting on the first battle he had after coming to the Avaloria. This battle was very useful to him. Not only he verified that all his powers were working perfectly fine but also discovered that he felt no empathy for human lives.
Rudra also had some other things on his minds:
The last line was so cheesy, I better not use it again. By the way, what did Elsabeth think of my battle? Elsabeth was programmed as a very intelligent person. I hope I did not make any mistakes. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing. It is a fact that no one wants to work under a incompetent boss.
Rudra had no idea what Elsabeth was thinking, on the other hand her thoughts:
Holy Cow! Master was so fucking cool! The last line was badass! Tee-hee-hee-hee-hee!
"My lord, You told me why you wanted to save the village. But I did not understand why you had a business deal with them rather than just enslaving them?"
Actually, Rudra never had any idea to use magic for enslaving the villagers.
"Using forceful slave magic will gather resentment, as we have plans for government experiments that plan is not suitable. Hypnosis magic will wear off. Charm and Suggestion magic could be useful, but it will not make me content."
"Why, master? Isn't it easier?"
"Over reliance on magic will limit your creativity and intellectuality. Moreover, the village became economically and emotionally dependent on me. The villagers do not yet realize but they already consider themselves as my subjects."
"As expected of your excellence, your strategy is impeccable. But I would have been sufficient to deal with those human troops. I did not sense any formidable presence. There was no reason for you to take action yourself."
"Elsabeth, I know how strong you are and I trust you, but you shouldn't take things so lightly. That's especially important now when we don't have much info about this world. If we really did encounter a strong foe, I have the highest probability of escaping."
There was another reason for Rudra to take action himself. Up until now, he only fought or played in the game, so he wanted to experience his first real battle.
"Ahh, I'm impressed as always, My Lord. Such deep thoughts…"
Hearing her praise, made him think about intellectual abilities. He knew that when he was still human, he was good at quick decision making and being cautious at the same time but never on this level. After pondering for a bit, he concluded that his engineering such meticulous plan engineering plans with no inconsistencies or impossibilities might be due to the enhanced stats of his body.
"But my lord… I wonder if perhaps taking the spells of those mages was not the best course of action…"
"Oh? I figured I had confirmed that Greater Magic Immunity was working using those mages."
"Yes, that is as you say. I witnessed it with my own eyes. However, it is unforgivable that you should have been attacked with such insignificant spells while I was standing right next to you."
"Ah, you are right. I acted without taking you in consideration, even though I was having you protect me. Sor—"
"And what woman could approve of her love being stabbed, even if he were unharmed in the end?"
"Um, indeed." Not knowing what to say in these situations, Rudra gave a short reply.
He judged that everything he had come here to do was finished. Somehow or another, a lot of unexpected things had happened and he had stayed longer than he meant to.
"Let's go home," he said in a voice only Elsabeth could hear. But Elsabeth slowed her walk before saying "uhm,..,uh,Then what about that girl?"
"Which girl?"
"...That village girl."
"Oh, what about her, Elsabeth?"
"Why did you give her that Artifact?"
"It's an investment. No matter how inferior, I wanted to see what sort of talent she has as a resident of this new world. You could also call this an experiment."
"...then,erm,...why did you pat her head!?"
"Eh,...I,I did it unintentionally… Could it be that you are jealous because of that?"
"... I do not want to be an emotional fool. But I cannot help myself when it is about you."
"I am sorry."
"Please do not apologize,master! I am the fool who is overreacting to everything."
"No, You are right. It's you and our people who are always on my side. It should cherish you all more."
"My lord…"
Rudra took the helmet Armor off Elsabeth. Her face was blushing, her eyes were wandering on the ground and she was fidgeting all over. Ruder put his hand on her head and patted her a few times.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Her face became as red as her hair and spoke in a barely audible voice, ".. Your praise is too much, my lord…"
This moment had become one of her greatest memories.
"My lord, I have arranged everything for your public audience with the residents, just as you ordered." Merlin contacted Rudra through [Message].
"Good. I will be there soon."
Scene-2:
The 16th floor was currently more livelier than it ever was. The reason was that the Supreme Being of the entire Arcanum tower was about to have a public audience with the Arcanum residents.
"Violet, do the final touches of the stage. Gorgon, see if there are any blind spots in security."
Merlin was commanding her subordinate witches in front of the auditorium.
The auditorium's exterior was a huge closed domed structure made of shimmering obsidian and inlaid with veins of glowing crimson runes, pulsating faintly with mana.
Massive arched entrances are guarded by lifelike statues of demons and beasts, enchanted to come alive if intruders dared breach the sanctity of the auditorium.
Inside, the auditorium would open into a vast circular arena, capable of seating tens of thousands. The walls curve upward in elegant tiers, adorned with carved reliefs of celestial constellations and demonic sigils.
The ceiling was a masterpiece, an enchanted dome of black crystal that reflected the night sky.
Seating tiers were cushioned in dark velvet and arranged in a seamless spiral that ensured every viewer had an unobstructed view of the stage below. Each seat is imbued with enchantments to perfectly hear and view regardless of the distance from the stage.
The central stage waa a circular platform of polished obsidian that glows faintly with embedded runes. Surrounding the stage were floating crystal orbs, which would act as amplifiers for sound and light.
One could see so many people working here to make the auditorium more efficient to use.
Golems and undead were sitting up seats while witches were enchanting them. All of them were working carefully but swiftly.
One of the reasons for this level of efficiency was that everything here was overseen by a minister, Merlin herself. Besides the Supreme Being, ministers were the highest order beings in the Arcanum. Very rarely, if not never it was possible to see the ministers during ground level work. Hence the nervousness of everyone working here.
"Hey, Violet, are you sure it is true that the Supreme Being himself makes an appearance in the public auditorium?"
"I am positive, Ruby."
Ruby, a ginger haired woman with Tall and statuesque, with a well-defined yet curvaceous frame. Her attire featured a black and red palette with a corseted top that highlights her waist, long black stockings and a flowing cape, with high boots and arm bracers.
Violet, a woman with late teenage appearance with short, dark hair that frames her pale face in a dark purple hooded cloak.
"I have only ever seen him once or twice. I am very excited to see him in person." Ruby said with a smile on her face.
"Me too. Tomorrow will be one of the biggest days in Arcanum." Violet said expressionless.
"You are right, Violet. That is the reason we are working here. So stop chatting and focus on work." Merlin interjected them.
"We are sorry, Miss Merlin."
Merlin nodded and floated away while placing her hand on her hips.
"Miss Merlin, are you a little too serious, today?"
"Ara, am I?, then I will tell you a fun fact. After designing all the current floors, the Supreme Being never entered any floor except the 21st floor which has its residence. So our work now will reflect his first time experience on any floor besides the 21st one."
"Really?! Then we have to work harder."
"That's what I said girls." Merlin smirked.
Merlin meticulously overseen each and every work.
Arcanum had a population of approximately one million, without including low tier undead and spawned monsters. She had prepared the auditorium to have more than half of the population along with all the advanced facilities and complex enchantments. If it was anyone else including ministers and Rudra himself, it would take a heavy toll on them, but for Merlin it was not a big deal.
It was because of Merlin's special ability, "Infinity Magic". This special ability literally meant that she had infinite mana and magic power. Her spells would continue to work for eternity until she canceled them herself.
Merlin felt proud after seeing the work around her. Ruby came near her and was surprised to see Merlin's expression.
"Miss Merlin, that was a rare expression."
"Huh, What do you mean?"
"It may be rude but allow me to say this. Although you always had a cool smirk on your face, I never saw you genuinely happy after the Supreme Being until now. You really like to serve him, don't you, miss?"
"Ara, aren't you an observer? To be honest when I joined under the Supreme Being, I made it my life purpose to serve him. But when he left, my life became empty. I missed him more than I expected. When he came became, I swore to myself that I would serve him so efficiently that he would not want leave ever again"
"You love him, don't you, miss?"
"W-What?!" Merlin flustered for a moment but regained her calm very fast and cleared her throat, "I am a little attracted to him since he is a magnificent being."
"If it was just an attraction, then it would be lost when he was absent for two decades. But the flames of your feeling remained which meant, it really is love."
"Ha, I never thought my subordinate had this much wisdom in terms of feelings."
"It is only natural, miss. I interact with normal civilians and read books about it. But you do neither of them."
"I love him, very dearly. You have caught me now. So, what about it?"
"Are you not going to make any move, miss.?"
"Why should I? I am content with serving him, besides it would incur Elsabeth wrath. I do not want disturbance in the order of Arcanum."
"Lady Elsabeth would surely separate private matters from professional matters. I think Miss also knows this. Moreover it is only natural for the Supreme Being to have multiple romantic partners. I think you fear that if you make a move it will ruin your current status quo with him."
"........"
"Why don't you try making a move, Miss Merlin? Then conclude if you are really satisfied without any romantic relationship."
"It is an interesting idea. I will consider it later. But for now we should concentrate on the event before us."
"Yes, Miss."
As they were concluding their discussion, Violet came to report something.
"Miss Merlin, Lord Zodd is here and he wants to talk to you about the security matter of the public event."
"Okay, let's go to him."
Merlin, Ruby and Violet walked towards the room where Zodd was waiting. When they entered the meeting room Zodd was sitting on a sofa and another guy was standing behind him.
The standing guy was 200cm tall with east asian features. His hair was short black and there was a horn coming from his middle of the forehead. He was what could be called a Kijin. He was wearing a traditional samurai dress, blue Kimono, yellow Hakama and a katana at his waist. His name was Raiden Onigami, one of the direct subordinates of Zodd.
Zodd noticed Merlin entering and spoke in usual deep, loud voice, "Merlin, are the preparations in the public auditorium finished?"
"Yes, I assume you are here to discuss the security matters."
"You are right. How many troops do I have to bring and where should I station them?"
"Bring 10,000 soldiers and have them surround the auditorium. Us, the ministers will be at the podium and our direct subordinates will form a perimeter around us."
"Then what about escorting the Supreme Being?"
"Elsabeth and myself grouped together an elite team from different areas in Arcanum to escort him. It is called team Alpha."
"I have heard of it. Here, Raiden's daughter Satsuki is also part of that team. Then, I will take my leave for now."
"Let's meet tomorrow at the meet."
"Hm."