King Lancester sat at one end of the long, rectangular, oak table filled with assorted foods and drinks. He had dismissed his men and had called for lunch for 4 in the main dining hall—the 3 of them and Chelsea. She sat near the king with her knife and fork, poking, cutting, and chewing her food in small bites with refined manners. The king did the same.

A few chandeliers hung down from the ceiling, shining warm, orange light.

Kiyomi and Sako sat near the opposite end beside one another.

For a few long minutes, they all sat and ate, the only sounds being the clinking of utensils on white, ceramic plates.

Sako scarfed a lot down, but Kiyomi was a light eater, so unlike Sako, she hadn’t taken much. Sako had a mountain of food.

King Lancester put down his fork and knife on his empty plate and wiped his lips with a cloth napkin. “So, would you mind explaining your ranks? I’ve never heard of any adventurer of lowly rank capable of such astounding feats.”

Kiyomi glanced to Sako who continued scarfing, apparently expecting Kiyomi to answer for both of them. She sighed. I might as well be the party leader at this point. She looked to King Lancester. “Our ranks are extremely inaccurate because of our spiteful Guildmaster. He basically got mad because he lost to us, so he decided not to judge our abilities fairly.”

Chelsea, now finished too, took a sip of water from her glass while listening to her explanation.

“Hm, he sounds like quite the awful man. Not very professional either, is he? In that case, I will reissue more accurate versions of your IDs. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, thank you,” Kiyomi replied.

“Yep, thanks, king!” Sako looked up with a mouthful of food then look down and dug into her food again with her fork.

“I also owe you an explanation for the invasion, if you are willing to listen.”

“Sure,” Kiyomi replied. Actually, she was bored already and only agreed out of courtesy. She wanted to walk out and go learn more of the mechanics of the game, not this useless lore.

“Our—”

Kiyomi got up. “Actually, I just remembered. There’s something I need to do.” Who gave a crap about lying to the king? As long as she wasn’t caught, there wouldn’t be consequences.

King Lancester nodded. “Then I’ll inform your friend, and she can fill you in later.”

Kiyomi nodded and walked around the table and reached the door before bowing. “Thank you, Majesty.” Then she went out.

She made her way down a corridor filled with long, vertical windows along one wall that let in bright sunlight. Where’s the exit? Should be around the corner…As she reached the center of the corridor, a portal appeared before her—so close that she nearly stepped into it. She took a step back and the point of a blade lunged out.

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CLINK.

Her invisible forcefield deflected it and sent it flying in another direction. The sword steadied itself and now floated upright, blade pointing down, hilt pointing up. A familiar sword, obsidian. It hummed with great power, sparkled too. A thick, dark aura blazed around it like a wild flame, but emitted no heat. It flew up to the ceiling swiftly, spun around a few times, and dashed down.

CLINK. CLINK. CLINK.

It struck her shield, bounced off, and jabbed at it again and again.

CLINK. CLINK. CLINK. CLINK. CLINK. CLINK. CLINK. CLINK. CLINK.

The strikes were heavy and diligent with malicious intent.

Kiyomi was puzzled…

“Can’t you see you’re in the way? Move.” A girl’s voice came from the portal. Her voice was even with a hint of irritation. She had a posh accent.

Kiyomi took a few more steps back to allow space.

Le Francia stepped through. “Tch.” She walked past her, going down the corridor. The sword calmy drifted to her and returned to her side. The portal shut.

Kiyomi turned around. “Who are you exactly?”

She stopped, though didn’t turn around to face her. “Is that imperative to discuss now? I’m occupied with…” After a pause, she switched to another topic, “If you have such a high interest in me, go to the library. You can gather information on me in precisely 128 books.” She marched off.

~~

Kiyomi pulled a book off the massive library shelf, went to an empty table, sat, and opened it. She went through the contents, looking down the list. A… A-Se-Dau. She flipped to the page number. Damn. I should’ve looked at her stats while I had the chance. Another time then. She would read just a few paragraphs:

The current A-Se-Dau of the Kingdom of Aria is Le Francia Q. Bailelline. Firstly, the A-Se-Dau is a position granted to an individual by a representative of God, such as an archangel. This individual, conditionally, can possess supreme power over the entire kingdom, surpassing even the king himself. However, there are many caveats. For example, if neither the king nor the queen is fit to rule (like due to death or unjust rulership), the A-Se-Dau must take the throne at once to prevent a power vacuum, even bypassing the rights of all heirs to the throne. This individual will hold onto the throne until a suitable replacement is found. In terms of an heir, he or she must prove himself or herself as deserving of the throne through a long and rigorous series of challenges. The throne must be earned to ensure that the kingdom has an adequate ruler.

As another example, in a state of emergency whereby the kingdom is in danger and all authoritative figures, including those of royalty, cannot stop its impending doom, the A-Se-Dau must seize control at once and do all that is possible to avert the doom. Power must then be restored to the king, queen, or whomever had the right to the throne before the crisis if possible…

The A-Se-Dau is always exempt from the king’s rule as long as his or her actions will ultimately benefit the citizens or at the very least not harm the citizens… The holder of this position essentially acts as an independent, political entity that is in power but usually does not overlap with the current royal rulership…

“Huh…” Kiyomi closed the book, got up, and went back to the shelf to return it. Now, what was next on her agenda again… Oh, she hadn’t checked her stats and levels yet. And then raids… Maybe? Or maybe that would have to wait. She still needed to figure out some stuff. “I keep getting sidetracked…”