AE 312.4.57.

Anthony was standing in front of the royal palace, built in the middle of the island, early in the morning. The royal couple had a strange relationship with bronze alloy, one might suspect they deliberately named themselves after it, considering how much of it was used everywhere. This idea was partially true as the design choice actually came from the one who adopted the name, Queen Mira Aereus.

After about an hour of waiting, the heavy bronze gates slowly opened and two guards came out to escort Anthony to a small but well decorated room where he was told that the king would come as soon as he finished some urgent business.

Another thirty minutes later the entrance door was opened but instead of the well-built man that was expected to arrive, a graceful middle aged lady stepped into the room.

"Greetings your majesty. It's an honour to meet you, but I thought I would be having this interview with the king."

Despite being the strongest human alive, the king didn't have much political power. The legitimate ruler of the island was the queen who, unlike her husband who practically jumped at every opportunity to speak with people, was incredibly hard to get a hold of. Hence Anthony's surprise at seeing her.

{That was the case, until I was informed that the famous Anthony Williams would come back from death just to meet us.}

Even though he had not met her before, Anthony did hear the queen speak on numerous occasions, and the voice he heard wasn't hers. The feeling her words gave were the same he felt when those strange translucent creatures killed his assassin. While his understanding of those ethereal beings was severely limited, he did know that they weren't supposed to be around normally.

He also wasn't the most trusting when it came to potentially all powerful entities inhabiting the bodies of world rulers, so he did the only thing that would undoubtedly qualify as a show of hostility and pulled a bone sword on her.

"What did you do to her?!"

For a moment Mira had a disappointed look in her eyes before discarding the royal persona and sitting down to talk normally, completely ignoring the blade hovering inches away from her face.

{So those three blew their cover. Should have expected as much.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Don't worry, I don't plan on interfering any more than absolutely necessary. For your information, the only reason I can talk to you like this is the same as why you are still alive.}

Anthony was still suspicious of her but decided to lower his sword and sit down on the chair opposite of her.

"Guess this is as good of an opportunity as I'll ever get. Please tell me, what do you and the others want to accomplish with all of this?"

{You might have guessed that I can't tell you all of the details, but to answer your question, all of this is a game. The accelerated evolution of life, humanities newfound supernatural abilities and especially the cursed children, all of it exists just so the ones above can raise their place in their hierarchy.}

The answer was one of the worst things Anthony could think of. Being just another piece in a game of gods was understandably not to his liking, not to mention the kids he was taking care of. Fortunately, the one in front of him has so far been reasonable so he decided to push his luck.

"And what are your plans for this game? I assume you have something to gain as well."

{Personally I'm happy with where I am, so my priorities are to maintain my place and to protect this world from what's to come. I'm actually one of the few who protect their own champion.}

With his mind somewhat at ease, the reporter shifted the conversation towards normal interview questions so he can actually publish something after getting home. When everything was said and done, Queen Mira got up from her seat and offered a handshake before leaving.

{It was good to talk to you, my husband should arrive any time now with some wine. Feel free to keep the chalice as a present. If you need anything in the future you're always welcome on our island."

Anthony shook hands with the queen who was once again being herself and said his goodbyes. After what happened earlier he was looking forward to a more laid back conversation. He got his wish when the king, Marcus Aereus, arrived with two chalices and copious amounts of wine.

In spite of his best efforts to ask serious questions, his majesty was more interested in drinking. The only worthwhile information he got was something he couldn't publish. There was a rumour about the king having an affair, since the royal princess was adopted for, as far as regular people were concerned, no particular reason, despite the couple having healthy biological children both before and after her.

With the queen's comment about her so-called champion and the king's intoxicated answer about the crown princess "appearing out of nowhere" it was pretty obvious what happened.

At the same time, in two very different parts of the world, three children were reading something that none of them were expecting.

[You have gained the Ruler's Blessing!]

[Daily bonus (permanent): All physical attributes +0.01]

[Bonus limit: 5.00/attribute]

Their reaction was perfectly synced together even though one of them was far removed from the others.

"""What??"""