All that shit happened, yeah, but it was a different Volcatia who still had time to waste on the day of the Hero's Cup now.

Much different.

For starters, she hadn't seen a blue Status Window of her own in years.

Or had it been decades?

Time was boring like that.

Or was it she who was boring now?

There was something really fucking interesting about seeing those numbers go up however many centuries ago that had been.

Something that maybe made everything else seem a little boring by comparison.

Nah, what the fuck was she thinking.

Status Windows never made anything more interesting.

Neither did numbers.

They were great for wasting time though.

She still had a lot of time to waste.

She ambled around the city aimlessly, trying to figure out what the fuck she should be doing.

She'd already had an unbelievably fun time the previous night drinking with an actual dwarf and a demon.

She didn't want to admit it, but Mina was really fucking interesting.

How many people could hang out with a group like that?

First there was Ir'alith, the actual fucking Regina Daemonum from the stories, who acted so stiff and uptight like she was everyone's mother.

How fucking funny was that!

She was a little strong.

Okay, she was probably really strong, but Volcatia had a hard time judging.

A strong bug was still a bug.

Then there was Jungrathol.

That guy's name was fucking Jungrathol?!

Amazing.

So amazing.

She wished she'd known when she'd encountered him years earlier during her search for a demon to fuck.

She'd still never really managed to judge the legs of any demons, and the idea of it was starting to taunt her.

She strongly suspected Ir'alith had great legs, but did it even count when those legs could change to be however…

The more Volcatia thought about it, the more she decided that Ir'alith was definitely disqualified since she didn't have real legs.

But then when she thought about it even more, didn't that also mean Ir'alith had the best possible legs because they could be whatever she wanted?

She struggled with the idea even now as she wandered through D-four.

Maybe if she asked nicely, Ir'alith would change her legs how she wanted?

Obviously fucking was out of the question.

She was royalty, after all.

Obviously.

Really obvious.

But if they were actually the best possible legs, could she withstand the temptation?

Obviously she could.

So obvious.

Didn't even need thinking about.

She wasn't thinking about it anymore, in fact.

But would blue legs taste or feel different?

What about scales?

She'd seen scales last night.

Would they be completely smooth, or would there be sharp edges between them?

How might they look sprawled on a bed—or not—under the morning sun?

Would they glitter and shine, or would they be more dull?

Volcatia was feeling more human than she'd felt in a really fucking long time.

She needed to keep that feeling going.

Felt great.

Motivational.

She stopped and bought some type of meat so she could eat while she walked.

If she had a Humanity stat, she imagined she'd be seeing blue Status Windows appear with each bite she took.

She still hadn't figured out what the fuck she was going to do, but that wasn't a problem.

Plenty of humans didn't know what they were going to do.

She swallowed the last big chunk of bone from whatever she'd been eating and came to a stop.

Something wasn't right.

What was it…

She tapped her chin while she thought.

Eh.

For a moment she'd thought she had something she needed to do, but she couldn't remember anything, so…

Or could she?

Her eyes widened.

Obviously!

She'd been recalling her previous night and got distracted by the leg potential of Ir'alith before she could remember Valgud Flintbrow!

What a dwarf.

A real hero when it came to drinking.

Not only was he good at the actual drinking part, but he was fucking amazing at the being drunk part.

One of the best.

A legend.

She was definitely going to drink with him again.

She wasn't sure she wanted to be friends with him, but as an acquaintance to drink with, he was currently her first pick.

She wondered what Carl would be like to drink with.

Eh.

He didn't want to drink, so that was his loss.

He'd never get to hear Valgud drunkenly tell his story of the missing iron ingots that had almost made her die from laughing too hard.

She felt again that she was forgetting something and moved to stand on top of the wall of the arena so she could think better.

Nah, this wasn't the spot.

She tried moving to the roof of Carl's workshop.

Yeah, this was it.

Friendship was great, she decided.

Much better than she remembered it being.

It didn't make any fucking sense, but it seemed to have been exactly what she needed.

It even seemed to help her think better somehow.

Right.

Now she remembered.

She wondered if it was too early.

An horologium would be really fucking useful now.

Not that she was going to bother looking at anything to check the time.

Time was for those already confined by it.

She moved to a certain room in the palace.

"Hey, Aquila, you aw—Oh."

"Scipio, we agreed you were going to knock before entering my private quarters."

"Did we? Huh. Hard to remember back that far."

"What thoughts are on your mind? It's rare to see you awake so early."

"What? Nah, I just came to—"

"Scipio."

"Well…"

"You can tell me before I finish dressing, or you will leave. I have an Empire to manage, and I'm busier than I used to be."

"Urgh, fine. I want you to register someone for the Hero Cup thing today."

"Your friend, I assume."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Carl? Now that's… Can't even imagine him driving a full lap without flipping the car over onto his head somehow."

"You're awfully amused. Mellitus tells me your friend has been an attraction of sorts in the mornings. Citizens are actually waking up earlier in the hopes they'll come across him."

"I can't—"

"He also tells me he saw you chasing after Carl today in a car being driven by a skeleton."

"Fucking Mellitus. Can't let me have fun for one fucking—"

"What's that, Scipio?"

"Um, nothing?"

"I'm sure. So you want me to register the skeleton, is it?"

"Yeah, but she's not actually a skeleton. It's this mask she wears that makes her look like one as a disguise."

"A mask… Is it magic?"

"Maybe? Not really sure why you think I'd know."

"Mm. And it can be worn by anyone?"

"Probably?"

"I'll allow her to compete if you'll do two things for me in return."

"I'll think about it."

"First, bring me that mask. I imagine I'll have a better use for it."

"Uh, well, it's not my mask, so—"

"I'm not asking, Scipio. I have something you want, and you have things that I want."

"You're not as fun in the morning."

"I haven't even had coffee yet."

"Wanna try some coffee I made? I have a little left."

"You made something? Scipio, are you attempting to poison me?"

"What?! No, see, I'll drink some first."

"Hardly reassuring. But if I can't trust my own niece, who can I trust?"

"Uh, you… I didn't expect you to drink the whole cup at once."

"Scipio."

"…Yeah?"

"This is great coffee."

"Thanks?"

"I feel as though I could battle in the arena again and be victorious."

"You…probably shouldn't do that?"

"No, I probably shouldn't. Second, you'll stay with me during the Hero's Cup as my guardian."

"Uh, what?"

"Mellitus and Salonina will be present, but Ivmarus and Allectus are both still injured even despite my best healers tending to them."

"They shouldn't have been fucking confining my friend like that."

"I'm sure. Regardless of your excuses, I'm going to attend the race, and you're going to be my aegis if you want your skeleton friend to compete. And if you want me to stop searching for her after the crimes she's committed against citizens of the first district."

"Urgh, you always—You've already got Mellitus and Salonina though!"

"I don't trust this Char. He's planning something, and the timing of this Hero's Cup he requested is suspicious. Did you know today is exactly ten years since he arrived? I have it here in my notes."

"Huh, you really keep track of small things like that?"

"I keep track of everything, Scipio. It's why the Empire doesn't fall to dust. You should see the notes I've kept on your visitors before you left. If I didn't already know otherwise, I'd suspect you of being a Char yourself with how many and frequent they were. And how obnoxious they were."

"Was it really that many? Huh. I was really fucking dumb when I was younger, wasn't I."

"You do seem slightly more mature now, I'll admit. With reluctance. But this coffee… Scipio, how can I persuade you to remain here and prepare coffee for me daily?"

"You want me to be your coffee steward?"

"Volcatia Scipio, I'm impressed. I never would have guessed you knew what a steward was."

"Can't believe you asked me to be your coffee steward. Do you even…"

"What's so funny about it? Has someone already made you an offer?"

"No, I… Hard to even stop laughing after…"

"Do we have a deal, Scipio?"

"What, to be your coffee steward? Nah, I—"

"For today, you annoying brat."

"Oh. Right. You know, it almost feels like I never left when we're talking like this."

"Yes, those blissful six years feel like I've blinked my eyes and found that time to be only a dream."

"You're happy I'm back. I know you are. And I think that sounds like a fair deal, but I'm not gonna give you the mask until after the race in case she wants to use it again today."

"Acceptable. You'll tell me of her later. For now I need to finish reviewing these—"

"Why do you have so many papers anyway? Where do they even come from?"

"These papers are what run the Empire. I even have a machine in one of my courtyards now which creates more of it for me. All the information—"

"Oh, information. Aquila, I'll wager that I have important information that you want right now."

"What is it?"

"I said it's a wager, didn't I? How about… If it's something you wanna know as much as I think you do, you'll forgive me the next time I make you angry."

"Are you planning to make me angry, Scipio?"

"What? Obviously not. I'd never do something like that."

"Scipio, is this something you already know you're going to do that will anger me?"

"Aquila, how could I know I'm gonna do something? That's—"

"Scipio, I know you can see the future. I've known it for almost a decade now."

"W-what?!"

"I'm not a fucking idiot. I'm the ruler of an Empire, and I've been doing that since long before you were able to crawl. You're a newborn in the realm of schemes and tactics."

"Urgh, how the fuck did I not figure this out already…"

"Stop grumbling and answer my question. What are you going to do?"

"Well, I don't know that I'm gonna do it yet, but I'm probably gonna kill someone later today."

"Tell me this information of yours, and I'll tell you who I wouldn't mind you killing."

"Okay, fine. I went to Charus City a couple days ago—"

"And you came back."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"This movement skill of yours has a greater range than I expected."

"Uh, yeah, range… So I was there with my friend, and we saw the whole city was in the middle of this big fucking rebellion, and all the people were talking about throwing the churches out of the kingdom, and… Why're you staring at me like that?"

"You were there for a day and you managed to destabilize the entire kingdom?"

"Wha—No, it was like that when I got there!"

"I'm sure."

"Anyway, I had this great fucking idea because I saw they were trying to take the castle, and there were all these mages, so me and Carl—"

"Carl and I."

"—started throwing cars up at the castle, and we threw a lot of cars, and then I killed the queen, and then some other shit happened, and we left."

"The city is in open rebellion."

"Yeah."

"And you personally killed Queen Merwenna?"

"Was that her name? Huh. Yeah, she's really fucking dead."

"Scipio, why did you wait two fucking days to tell me this? You've—"

"Eh."

Aquila sighed deeply and hung her head. "You truly wouldn't care if I conquered the entire continent, would you?"

Volcatia took another bite out of her plum. "Not really?" she said while she chewed, crunching extra loudly as she chomped on the pit.

"Fine. Let's discuss this person you're probably going to kill."

----------------------------------------

"Carl Maximus Tempestates. A hundred marks on Mina Tempestates. Personal bet with Rex."

The bookmaker looked at her with suspicion. "You don't look like a Carl Maximus Tempestates."

Volcatia scowled. She held up a fist, and blue light sparked off it continuously. "How about now?"

"That…does look like something a Tempestates might be able to do," the man said quickly.

Volcatia stopped sparking and slapped a hundred-mark coin down in front of him.

Obviously Carl would forget about this.

He was lucky to have such a great friend like her.

Maybe after the race today he'd let her drive…

Maybe after the race today Mina would let her drive that new car?

It seemed like it was really fucking fast.

She hadn't gotten to drive the last one, but it wasn't like both of them were going to expl…

Fuck, she'd forgotten.

The bookmaker finished writing in his ledger and looked back up. "I've recorded your wager, Tempestates, and Garus Horatius Rex has already left his half."

"Great." Volcatia gave a wave and turned away.

"I questioned your reasoning, but, though I'm loathe to admit it, this simple disguise is very effective," said Aquila. The old woman was wearing a copy of Volcatia's own outfit, a simple shirt and trousers with a white strip of cloth over her mouth. "It's been years since I've felt this free."

Volcatia draped her arm around Aquila's shoulders and started towards the seats Mellitus was saving for them. "You're welcome."

"Scipio."

Volcatia removed her arm from around the shoulders of the Imperatrix. "Fine, fine. So fucking surly."

"Don't think me ungrateful, but you aren't my niece," Aquila said as they walked.

"What are we then?" Volcatia asked.

It was something she'd wondered for a while.

She didn't expect her first visit after she'd returned to go as well as it had.

She'd expected any number of reactions, but it was like she'd never left.

It was comfortable, in a way.

Familiar.

"Why ask questions you already know the answers to?" Aquila asked.

"Hey, I don't always do it," Volcatia protested. "It's really fucking tiring to have the same conversation more than once."

In fact, she hadn't watched even once since she'd gone to see the old woman that morning.

She was feeling very human, and humans couldn't watch the outcomes of potential futures.

They continued onward.

People got out of their way where they walked.

It wasn't anything Volcatia did this time either.

The bearing of the Imperatrix was enough, even if people didn't know who she was.

Her steps were those of a woman who would walk over anything so fucking stupid as to exist where she strode.

She had a presence that needed no System skill to manifest itself.

It was like Volcatia's Leg Sense in that way.

The Imperatrix remained quiet for a few more paces while they navigated the wide, thronging tunnels beneath the upper track. They rounded a corner and started up a set of stairs.

"When I first met you," Aquila said while they climbed, "I was reminded of myself when I was young. I conquered and killed. I wanted to create a legacy. I wanted to be the one people spoke of centuries from now. I wanted victory above all else."

They crested the top of the stairs and entered into the bustle of the stadium. Volcatia waved to Mellitus, who stood next to a small bench in the first row of seats, and he gave a slight nod before disappearing through the use of a short distance instantaneous movement skill.

Volcatia remembered when he'd gotten it.

She'd been the one to explain how it could be used.

Aquila walked forward and sat on the bench as though she had no worries that the people seated behind were plotting to do her harm.

Maybe she didn't.

Volcatia sat beside her.

"By the look in your eye, you've taken far less time to realize the flaw in that thinking than I did," Aquila said as she looked down at the shorter woman.

Yeah, that was probably true.

Volcatia still didn't lose, but victory wasn't something that she made decisions around anymore.

Nothing was, really.

She was adrift.

"So if you don't care about conquering for victory, why're you bothering with it at all?" Volcatia asked.

The Empire had been asleep for nearly ten years.

She'd only just avoided her own military service, the latest campaign already having been won by the time she'd begun battling in the arena.

After she'd left the city though, she'd started to wonder.

A mirthfulness filled Aquila's eyes. "Because my people love it. When they're happy, I'm happy."

Huh.

Was that what it was?

Volcatia thought about it.

When was the last time she'd cared whether someone else was happy?

Really cared…

Not just in the sense of trying to have some short-term fun…

Mm.

Until recently, it had been a long time, hadn't it?

Maybe even a really long time?

Since before she'd stopped being human, at least.

"Victory is boring if you don't have anyone to share it with," Aquila said with a sigh as she leaned her chin on her hand and surveyed her people. "I've missed this. Did you know your battle with Belenus was the last one I attended with my face exposed? My advisors advised me that continuing to be seen publicly after I became young again was fueling a group of citizens who believed I was being impersonated by a younger lookalike. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to fight ideas, Scipio. People will believe that a gladiator can become strong enough to jump across the city from System stats, but asking them to believe I've returned to the body I had four decades ago is more than most will accept."

"That's really fucking depressing," Volcatia said. She grimaced. "Do you just sit in your palace every day?"

"I go out at times, but I wear a mask, and I have Mellitus speak for me. I still have my advisors, and my old friends who—"

"You have friends?" Volcatia stared.

Aquila chuckled. "Obviously. I may be myself, but I'm still human."

Human.

That same word again.

Hours and hours had passed, and her feeling of being human had stayed strong.

As though maybe she really was again.

She wasn't though.

She'd known that for a long time now.

Always lied to herself.

It was undeniable though.

She crackled.

She'd been doing so well that day too.