Once time froze within the world, I promptly returned to the Admin Room, stretching my arms a bit as I called out to the other deities. Anyone that wants to come with us to the meeting, meet up in the living room.
I wasn’t sure if everyone would want to go this time, so I decided to send out the message first to invite them. As expected, it didn’t take long for Aurivy to arrive. “Are we going to be able to keep the points we earn again today?” She asked in excitement, causing me to chuckle.
“You still have quite a few saved up from last year, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah! Most of them went to the fourth tier of magic, but I can still save up for more!” She beamed a wide smile as she said that, causing me to simply nod my head.
“Alright, just make sure that you let me know when there’s something that you want to buy. Or, do you already have something in mind?”
Aurivy’s smile turned into a mischievous grin. “I was thinking about buying a new advanced class or two. But those aren’t anything major. What I really want is something way bigger. I’ll show you when we get back!”
I simply rolled my eyes, finding no point in pushing the issue. Advanced classes weren’t too expensive. I only never bothered to get new ones because I felt like it was time for the people to start breaking the ‘shackles’ of the class system. If Aurivy wanted to use the points she earned to buy them, that was up to her.
As for this mysterious other item she wanted to buy? If she described it as ‘way’ bigger, I could only imagine it being a rather large system, or maybe she wanted to buy some information. Either way, I wasn’t going to restrict her.
After Aurivy came Udona, Terra, Keliope, and Accalia. The four sisters were no doubt spending time together when I sent the message out, so they all showed up at the same time. Then, following the same logic, came Ryone and Leowynn.
The last to join the group were Bihena and Irena, with Bihena bringing a message from the others. “Tubrock, Tryval, and Ashley wanted me to let you know that they’d be staying here this time. Chel thought about going, but said that there’s really nothing for her there, so she’ll stay.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear that Tubrock was staying. Most likely, he was in the middle of a special project or something. Similarly, Tryval never seemed to be as active in the meetings. Ashley, however, surprised me with her decision to stay. When I recalled her mood at the last Keeper meeting, I somewhat understood.
To her, the meetings weren’t such a festive thing, but rather a grim reminder of what she had lost from the old world. It wasn’t surprising that she would rather stay here and simply take a few days to herself rather than join in, if that was the case.
With the group gathered here, I went ahead and summoned the door to the meeting. At the same time, I focused on selecting Tsubaki and Dana to bring with us, curious what method they would use to appear at the meeting themselves.
Once the door appeared, Udona and Aurivy looked at one another with matching grins, charging through. Those two probably already have plans together. I shook my head lightly as I looked to Irena, who walked over towards me with a smile on her face.
As always, these meetings were a chance for me to have a real date with Irena. It was the only true chance I had to take her out in an environment that was not entirely controlled by the two of us. Standing on my other side was Terra, who gave a knowing nod towards me, and Ryone just beyond her with Leowynn.
Together, the rest of us all walked through the doorway, seeing the white landscape on the other side. Since I had waited a little while to gather everyone together, it seemed like a good number of Keepers had already arrived. Buildings had started to appear one after another, and many were searching for their venue of choice.
Udona. I called out to the kitsune who had a significant head-start on us. I need that information orb I had you make before.
Don’t worry! I left it with Irena! Udona was clearly excited by her tone, no doubt already rushing towards the arcade. As I turned to look at Irena, I caught sight of someone else standing not far away from my door.
Tsubaki and Dana looked around with wide eyes as they took in the expanding scenery. They saw the different shapes of the Keepers all emerging from their own golden doors, and how everyone seemed to head for the city that constructed itself on the spot.
When I saw them, I noticed something about the two of them. There was an image stamped onto the back of their right hands. It looked like a heater shield with a line splitting it down the middle.
Once Tsubaki caught sight of me, she immediately rushed over. “My Keeper.” She offered a faint bow. Dana blinked, walking over and waving. As usual, I set the same restriction to prevent everyone from discussing our world.
“Tsubaki, Dana.” I nodded to the two of them. “You two are free to wander around and participate in the different activities, if you want. Consider it a vacation from our reality.”
Tsubaki blinked curiously at that concept, before naturally moving over to stand behind me. Seeing that, Dana rolled her eyes playfully. “I’ll come back to get her when I decide to start doing the performance.” She assured me with a light laugh, before turning and running off to the city.
“Well… let’s go take care of business, first.” I smiled, looking around for the restaurant. Now that I knew that was where most business deals took place, I immediately sought it out. After all, that was likely where Grimor would be waiting for me.
Soon enough, I found the iconic building, and saw the small stream of Keepers walking towards it. Nodding to Terra and Irena, I began making my way over as well, with Tsubaki following right behind me.
“I’m borrowing Leowynn for a while!” Ryone called out to us as we walked off, and I faintly laughed in response, waving my hand back towards them. As for the rest, they had already dispersed into the city.
As we approached the restaurant, I made out the large figure of Grimor waiting near the door. At the same time, it seemed that he caught sight of us as well, waving at us with a reserved smile. Once we arrived, he looked over our group, before his eyes rested on Tsubaki. “Oh? Brought one of your champions with you?”
No doubt he noticed the stamp on her hand, so I readily nodded. “I felt she was ready to see this. It won’t be a problem for her to sit in on the deal, right?”
Grimor shook his head at that. “Not at all. The business is between the two of us. If she were from another world, it might be an issue however.”
At that, he turned and began leading us inside. Just like my previous meeting with Balu, we were led to a large table that seemed already prepared for us. There were exactly five seats, just enough for all of us to sit down. Of course… “Tsubaki, you’re eating with us.” I told her in a tone that brokered no argument. I couldn’t just have her standing back and watching all of us eat our favorite foods, could I?
Tsubaki let out a quiet squeak of embarrassment before hastily taking the remaining free seat. Much to Grimor’s enjoyment, as the other Keeper let out a boisterous laugh. “Ah, you’ve got one of those, huh?”
However, rather than elaborating on that, or giving me time to formulate a response, his eyes grew more serious. “So, you had information on Sanction?”
I gave a nod, glancing towards Irena. She reached into her breast pocket and produced a small, crystal orb that she passed towards Grimor. As she did so, she explained. “This contains all of the information that we managed to extract from the invader. There is cultural explanation, system data, as well as information on what is likely to be the Keeper’s personal situation within that world.”
Grimor nodded with a serious expression, taking the orb and sweeping his thoughts over it. His eye gave a faint twitch after a moment. “So it was that system. Comprehensive skill tree… And that’s how it really works, then?”
Grimor focused, creating another information orb that likely matched what he just read, before passing the original back to Irena. “We’ve wanted to test that system for a while, to figure out its uses. However, our quality assurance team doesn’t have the budget to freely test anything over a million points. We couldn’t be sure if there was a hidden trap in it or not, even at that price.”
“Since you not only gave us the system he’s using, but also a detailed explanation of its effects, I can throw in a small bonus for you on top of our agreement.” Saying so, he reached his hand over the table towards me. Tsubaki’s hair stood on end for a moment, before she saw me stretching my own hand out to shake his.
Naturally, this was the process of transferring points between Keepers. However, when I saw the amount that he had sent me, I was briefly taken aback. I knew that someone at his level would never send the wrong amount, but still… a hundred and fifty thousand was perhaps the largest sum I had ever earned all at once.
No doubt, this included the amount for the cultural information as well, I was just still surprised by the total number. Just as the transaction finished, I saw a waiter wandering over towards us, a small basket in his hand. “For you, Alkahest.” He gestured towards the larger Keeper.
Alkahest simply chuckled, standing up with a nod and taking the basket. Apparently, he was planning on directly leaving after the deal, so the system brought him his food to-go. As he walked away, the waiter smile to us. He appeared human, but his eyes were pure yellow. “I’ll be back with your meals in just a moment.”
After saying that, he turned to walk away, Tsubaki shooting me a curious glance. “This is how a Keeper conducts business? Is it not a little too… open for such a sensitive matter?”
“There is a privacy screen on these tables.” Terra explained with a small smile. “Nobody would be able to hear what was being discussed unless they were personally seated here.”
Tsubaki’s mouth opened and she let out a brief sound of understanding before her eyes bulged out. Following her line of sight, I saw the waiter walking over with two large trays supporting four plates of food. When he placed the food down in front of us, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Much like last time, I had a nice, juicy cheeseburger with a side of fries. Irena had what looked to be silver spaghetti, no doubt a creation of spiritual cooking. Terra had a large, grilled fish that had her mouth watering from the moment it appeared.
As for Tsubaki… she had a plate of pink rice covered in a thick, white sauce that seemed to have glittering sugar on top. She looked at the food strangely, before picking up a spoon and taking a bite. The moment she did so, her nine tails immediately stood ramrod straight, her ears stiffening and eyes going wide again.
“So sweet!” She shouted once she finished the bite, but she seemed… incredibly happy with the sweetness. Okay… she was the last person I expected to have such a strong sweet tooth.
