Outside, the surrounding space exploded, and Amira, who was spectating the game from the real world, got the brunt of the impact.
Amira/Plum: ...Eh?
They were frozen in shock when they saw that everyone had broken out of the dream world and woken up.
They stood up and Sora said.
Sora: Alright, checkmate, we win.
Amira: ...Eh, about that, Amira doesn't really get the situation…!
She was still speaking with a stiff smile, but Sora and Shiro told her nonchalantly.
Shiro: ...The rules didn't say we can't… Save and Quit…
Sora: In other words you never said that we couldn't leave the game until every one of us was rejected, so there shouldn't be a problem with us "Quitting" the game for now… You have to uphold the Pledges as far as you can, you know!
Xiao Qiangwei: Alright, Jibril, restore the air.
Jibril: I obey.
Then she drew out the air bubble she compressed previously with a spell, and a gust of strong wind attacked the Empress' room.
Plum and Amira were completely stunned while Jibril smiled thinly.
Jibril: Pardon me… I just restored the air that I compressed into a bubble earlier to its original state.
In the room, the air continued to expand, pushing and splashing apart the waters.
Miko: *Cough* ...Phew… ugh… hah.
The Miko, who pretended to be calm since earlier, suddenly revealed an expression as though she was in pain, and started to breathe fresh air that she hadn't got the chance to breathe in a long time, and in an instant, steam began rising from her body.
Miko: To bear water pressure 20 times higher than normal with a body of flesh and blood for such a long period of time… It feels pretty uncomfortable even after using Blood Devastation.
Plum/Amira/Steph: Eh?
The three of them were clueless as to what was going on, and Sora started to talk.
Sora: But due to the water pressure, blood won't flow out of the body, so even if she used Blood Devastation it would be undetectable, which was why we weren't noticed and we were able to listen to your heartbeats to our heart's content.
Thank you very much, Miko-san, please give us your verdict.
Miko: ...you really like ordering people around huh… Ah, forget it. That Seiren over there, she doesn't want to awaken the Empress at all.
Miko glanced at Amira, who started shaking a bit from hearing those words, and after hearing Miko's next sentence, she froze up.
Miko: Next up we have Sora's deduction… All that about complying with the Empress' bet was a lie as well, ah, and…
Then she looked at Sora with a gentle smile.
Miko: All that stuff about you being just her type, being a handsome guy and all that, those were all lies as well, except when she talked to Qiangwei.
Sora: I realized that long ago… Dammit.
Xiao Qiangwei sighed in exasperation and Miko started to look down upon Plum and Amira.
Miko: ...Did you really think being in the sea would be able to seal off my senses? The fact that I'm the Full Representative and the strongest of the Werebeasts isn't a fluke, you know.
Xiao Qiangwei noticed the hurt look on Sora's face due to being lied about Amira's preferences even if he knew it already, and patted his back, then he turned towards Jibril and nodded, she kneeled reverently at Xiao Qiangwei's feet and met his gaze.
Jibril: Plum's spell actually did work properly, as in that it did make the Empress fall in love with others. There's no question that it worked properly, and the Empress was actually affected.
This time it was Plum's turn to freeze, and Xiao Qiangwei's eyes narrowed and released his Immortal Senses since unleashing his Cultivation Base would be an Overkill.
Like the other time, Amira and Plum felt as if they were placed in a sea of mud, unable to move properly and unable to breathe. Meanwhile Xiao Qiangwei spoke in a cold tone.
Xiao Qiangwei: You maggots… Did you really think that you could use us as "Food"?
Hearing those words, Plum and Amira flinched, while Izuna and Steph still didn't understood the situation.
Steph: Eh? Huh? Um, well, what's going on?
Izuna: …?
Xiao Qiangwei: Jibril, take us to the beach.
Jibril: I obey.
She spread her wings and her halo began spinning while everyone except Ino, who was still sleeping, got in contact with her, Xiao Qiangwei stopped using his Immortal Senses, freeing Plum who hurriedly ran over as well.
Plum: Eh? Um! P-please wait!
Sora: You're pretty observant, Dhampir… Can you stop acting as the errand girl now?
Amira spoke at the sidelines.
Amira: Eh? Ino-sama is still here! Is it really alright to leave this early?
Xiao Qiangwei: Yeah, it's fine. Besides, you should know already the consequences if you do anything to him… Don't you dare to think that I can't do anything to you and your entire race just because the Pledges are here.
Amira's eyes grew wide in shock and Sora laughed mockingly.
Sora: We'll be back, Seirens, and don't forget that the price for looking down on us… Is great indeed!
After those words, Jibril teleported them out, leaving behind only Amira and Ino.
[Later]
Everyone was back at the seaside, in the sky there was a reddish moon and countless stars, the beach was lit up by bonfires. They were currently cooking food.
Sora: Oh, Shiro, it's almost done roasting right?
Shiro: ...Tropical fish… Can we eat it…?
Sora: It's a saltwater fish called Lelite, I heard it tastes pretty good.
Sora and Shiro were grilling fish, Xiao Qiangwei was training a bit with the Arrays and Formations, trying to use the nearby stones to make random formations, like the ones to generate simple water or fire.
Miko was eating fishes and drinking something in one gulp.
Miko: Hah! ...This stuff is usually what I eat as side-dishes with alcohol after work anyway… If only it was-
Sora continued her sentence with…
Sora: If only it was "Fried Tofu Skin", am I right?
Miko was shocked while Sora and Shiro laughed at her reaction.
Miko: How did you know that's my favorite food? Did I mention it?
Meanwhile Steph still didn't understood what was going on and was asking.
Steph: W-What is this… What's going on?
Beside her Izuna was looking down, speechless, and further ahead, Plum was silent as well.
Sora: It's nothing… It's just that Plum wanted to trick us, that's all.
And now he continued at Plum.
Sora: You're going to ask when did I realize that, right? Plum. It was from the beginning, your story was pretty suspicious from the start…. "Since we've created a form of magic to awaken her, please help us"... Hah, that's impossible.
Steph: ...Eh? W-Why is that?
Sora: Pretending to have a sure-win method in order to cheat us into playing a game where we have no chance of winning, causing us to lose everything. doesn't this sound like an extremely profitable method to you? Wouldn't you do the same?
Steph's face twitched instinctively upon hearing Sora's words with a smile on his face.
Sora: That's true, but there's still something that worries me. I couldn't seem to tell whether Plum was lying, and Izuna who was in the same room couldn't detect it either… Ah, Izuna, aren't you going to eat the fish?
Izuna: ...No thanks, des.
She shook her head slightly, while Miko closed her eyes and shook her head as well.
Sora: So just in case she really was lying I even took her to Miko… But she wasn't lying. But what Plum casted back there really was… "A magic that could make people fall in love". So she really had a spell that could guarantee victory… But why ask for our help then?
Steph: Essentially, w-what that means is, she really wasn't lying?
Sora: Yes, she wasn't lying… And that's the source of problem.
Then Shiro started to talk as if she was a recorder.
Shiro: ...UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) 5/20 22:42… "Nii: ...When we win that game, what will be our reward?"
Sora: And in reply to this, what did Plum say?
Everyone was shocked that Shiro was able to register the words from a day ago, and she continued.
Shiro: UTC 5/20 22:43… "Plum: Uh… Providing 3% of the underwater resources of Oceando, and establishing permanent friendly relations… It took me a week to make the Seirens understand the reality of the situation, make them accept and obtain this condition… *Sigh*...
...And, and also… that… I, I can be at your disposition… So, so I brought all my household items along with me…"
Xiao Qiangwei: ...Holy shit, you never told me Shiro was a damn recorder…
Sora ignored him and said while patting Shiro.
Sora: Exactly… Right here, she wasn't lying… But there was also no truth. Steph, didn't you said something to say about us having to bet everything in their game?
Steph: Y-Yeah… Because they're requesting for our help, aren't they?
Sora: Yes, you're correct.
Steph: Eh, huh?
Sora: I shot your protests down only because I needed to gather the necessary information. In apology, I'll explain why you're feeling such incongruity.
At this moment, Steph felt as if something wasn't right, and Sora told her.
Sora: This game is like a Horse race.
Steph: H-Horse race? The kind where you bet money for horses to win?
Sora: Horse racing is to let horses race, a game to predict which one will win… But in its most basic form it's just the act of letting horses race against each other… Which is also a contest between the riders, isn't it?
Horse racing is… A gambling sport created from a rider's sport… A double layered game...Basically, the riders, us, race against each other to win the Empress' love.
Xiao Qiangwei: On the other hand, the resources and relations given as rewards by Amira and Plum is a "Prize" merely directed at the aim of "Awakening the Empress"...
Racing and gambling are clearly two different games, but we were forced into the game as both horses and gamblers… Of course we would feel something wasn't right.
Steph inhaled sharply, realizing what was going on. They were forced to bet all they had on themselves, and being forced to take part in a second game.
Xiao Qiangwei: But that's not the problem… So if this is a horse race, where did the riders' "Prize" for the competition go?
Steph: ...Huh, it's the love of the Empress of course… Allowing her to wake up?
Xiao Qiangwei: If you make the Empress fall in love with the person, the Empress would love the person forever? And she would wake up for her prince? This is just pure bullshit, and then only the Empress would benefit about this, right? And where's the equal reward for the winner?
Steph finally found the source of the problem. Resources, good relations, and Plum's free will… None of them sounded what the Empress would've bet.
So, in the game that allowed the Empress to hibernate after swearing by the Pledges. The bet of equal value to both parties… To be given to the victorious rider… Regarding that reward… She hadn't mentioned it at all.
Basically, two games, one reward, and the other reward would always benefit the other party…
Outside, the surrounding space exploded, and Amira, who was spectating the game from the real world, got the brunt of the impact.
Amira/Plum: ...Eh?
They were frozen in shock when they saw that everyone had broken out of the dream world and woken up.
They stood up and Sora said.
Sora: Alright, checkmate, we win.
Amira: ...Eh, about that, Amira doesn't really get the situation…!
She was still speaking with a stiff smile, but Sora and Shiro told her nonchalantly.
Shiro: ...The rules didn't say we can't… Save and Quit…
Sora: In other words you never said that we couldn't leave the game until every one of us was rejected, so there shouldn't be a problem with us "Quitting" the game for now… You have to uphold the Pledges as far as you can, you know!
Xiao Qiangwei: Alright, Jibril, restore the air.
Jibril: I obey.
Then she drew out the air bubble she compressed previously with a spell, and a gust of strong wind attacked the Empress' room.
Plum and Amira were completely stunned while Jibril smiled thinly.
Jibril: Pardon me… I just restored the air that I compressed into a bubble earlier to its original state.
In the room, the air continued to expand, pushing and splashing apart the waters.
Miko: *Cough* ...Phew… ugh… hah.
The Miko, who pretended to be calm since earlier, suddenly revealed an expression as though she was in pain, and started to breathe fresh air that she hadn't got the chance to breathe in a long time, and in an instant, steam began rising from her body.
Miko: To bear water pressure 20 times higher than normal with a body of flesh and blood for such a long period of time… It feels pretty uncomfortable even after using Blood Devastation.
Plum/Amira/Steph: Eh?
The three of them were clueless as to what was going on, and Sora started to talk.
Sora: But due to the water pressure, blood won't flow out of the body, so even if she used Blood Devastation it would be undetectable, which was why we weren't noticed and we were able to listen to your heartbeats to our heart's content.
Thank you very much, Miko-san, please give us your verdict.
Miko: ...you really like ordering people around huh… Ah, forget it. That Seiren over there, she doesn't want to awaken the Empress at all.
Miko glanced at Amira, who started shaking a bit from hearing those words, and after hearing Miko's next sentence, she froze up.
Miko: Next up we have Sora's deduction… All that about complying with the Empress' bet was a lie as well, ah, and…
Then she looked at Sora with a gentle smile.
Miko: All that stuff about you being just her type, being a handsome guy and all that, those were all lies as well, except when she talked to Qiangwei.
Sora: I realized that long ago… Dammit.
Xiao Qiangwei sighed in exasperation and Miko started to look down upon Plum and Amira.
Miko: ...Did you really think being in the sea would be able to seal off my senses? The fact that I'm the Full Representative and the strongest of the Werebeasts isn't a fluke, you know.
Xiao Qiangwei noticed the hurt look on Sora's face due to being lied about Amira's preferences even if he knew it already, and patted his back, then he turned towards Jibril and nodded, she kneeled reverently at Xiao Qiangwei's feet and met his gaze.
Jibril: Plum's spell actually did work properly, as in that it did make the Empress fall in love with others. There's no question that it worked properly, and the Empress was actually affected.
This time it was Plum's turn to freeze, and Xiao Qiangwei's eyes narrowed and released his Immortal Senses since unleashing his Cultivation Base would be an Overkill.
Like the other time, Amira and Plum felt as if they were placed in a sea of mud, unable to move properly and unable to breathe. Meanwhile Xiao Qiangwei spoke in a cold tone.
Xiao Qiangwei: You maggots… Did you really think that you could use us as "Food"?
Hearing those words, Plum and Amira flinched, while Izuna and Steph still didn't understood the situation.
Steph: Eh? Huh? Um, well, what's going on?
Izuna: …?
Xiao Qiangwei: Jibril, take us to the beach.
Jibril: I obey.
She spread her wings and her halo began spinning while everyone except Ino, who was still sleeping, got in contact with her, Xiao Qiangwei stopped using his Immortal Senses, freeing Plum who hurriedly ran over as well.
Plum: Eh? Um! P-please wait!
Sora: You're pretty observant, Dhampir… Can you stop acting as the errand girl now?
Amira spoke at the sidelines.
Amira: Eh? Ino-sama is still here! Is it really alright to leave this early?
Xiao Qiangwei: Yeah, it's fine. Besides, you should know already the consequences if you do anything to him… Don't you dare to think that I can't do anything to you and your entire race just because the Pledges are here.
Amira's eyes grew wide in shock and Sora laughed mockingly.
Sora: We'll be back, Seirens, and don't forget that the price for looking down on us… Is great indeed!
After those words, Jibril teleported them out, leaving behind only Amira and Ino.
[Later]
Everyone was back at the seaside, in the sky there was a reddish moon and countless stars, the beach was lit up by bonfires. They were currently cooking food.
Sora: Oh, Shiro, it's almost done roasting right?
Shiro: ...Tropical fish… Can we eat it…?
Sora: It's a saltwater fish called Lelite, I heard it tastes pretty good.
Sora and Shiro were grilling fish, Xiao Qiangwei was training a bit with the Arrays and Formations, trying to use the nearby stones to make random formations, like the ones to generate simple water or fire.
Miko was eating fishes and drinking something in one gulp.
Miko: Hah! ...This stuff is usually what I eat as side-dishes with alcohol after work anyway… If only it was-
Sora continued her sentence with…
Sora: If only it was "Fried Tofu Skin", am I right?
Miko was shocked while Sora and Shiro laughed at her reaction.
Miko: How did you know that's my favorite food? Did I mention it?
Meanwhile Steph still didn't understood what was going on and was asking.
Steph: W-What is this… What's going on?
Beside her Izuna was looking down, speechless, and further ahead, Plum was silent as well.
Sora: It's nothing… It's just that Plum wanted to trick us, that's all.
And now he continued at Plum.
Sora: You're going to ask when did I realize that, right? Plum. It was from the beginning, your story was pretty suspicious from the start…. "Since we've created a form of magic to awaken her, please help us"... Hah, that's impossible.
Steph: ...Eh? W-Why is that?
Sora: Pretending to have a sure-win method in order to cheat us into playing a game where we have no chance of winning, causing us to lose everything. doesn't this sound like an extremely profitable method to you? Wouldn't you do the same?
Steph's face twitched instinctively upon hearing Sora's words with a smile on his face.
Sora: That's true, but there's still something that worries me. I couldn't seem to tell whether Plum was lying, and Izuna who was in the same room couldn't detect it either… Ah, Izuna, aren't you going to eat the fish?
Izuna: ...No thanks, des.
She shook her head slightly, while Miko closed her eyes and shook her head as well.
Sora: So just in case she really was lying I even took her to Miko… But she wasn't lying. But what Plum casted back there really was… "A magic that could make people fall in love". So she really had a spell that could guarantee victory… But why ask for our help then?
Steph: Essentially, w-what that means is, she really wasn't lying?
Sora: Yes, she wasn't lying… And that's the source of problem.
Then Shiro started to talk as if she was a recorder.
Shiro: ...UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) 5/20 22:42… "Nii: ...When we win that game, what will be our reward?"
Sora: And in reply to this, what did Plum say?
Everyone was shocked that Shiro was able to register the words from a day ago, and she continued.
Shiro: UTC 5/20 22:43… "Plum: Uh… Providing 3% of the underwater resources of Oceando, and establishing permanent friendly relations… It took me a week to make the Seirens understand the reality of the situation, make them accept and obtain this condition… *Sigh*...
...And, and also… that… I, I can be at your disposition… So, so I brought all my household items along with me…"
Xiao Qiangwei: ...Holy shit, you never told me Shiro was a damn recorder…
Sora ignored him and said while patting Shiro.
Sora: Exactly… Right here, she wasn't lying… But there was also no truth. Steph, didn't you said something to say about us having to bet everything in their game?
Steph: Y-Yeah… Because they're requesting for our help, aren't they?
Sora: Yes, you're correct.
Steph: Eh, huh?
Sora: I shot your protests down only because I needed to gather the necessary information. In apology, I'll explain why you're feeling such incongruity.
At this moment, Steph felt as if something wasn't right, and Sora told her.
Sora: This game is like a Horse race.
Steph: H-Horse race? The kind where you bet money for horses to win?
Sora: Horse racing is to let horses race, a game to predict which one will win… But in its most basic form it's just the act of letting horses race against each other… Which is also a contest between the riders, isn't it?
Horse racing is… A gambling sport created from a rider's sport… A double layered game...Basically, the riders, us, race against each other to win the Empress' love.
Xiao Qiangwei: On the other hand, the resources and relations given as rewards by Amira and Plum is a "Prize" merely directed at the aim of "Awakening the Empress"...
Racing and gambling are clearly two different games, but we were forced into the game as both horses and gamblers… Of course we would feel something wasn't right.
Steph inhaled sharply, realizing what was going on. They were forced to bet all they had on themselves, and being forced to take part in a second game.
Xiao Qiangwei: But that's not the problem… So if this is a horse race, where did the riders' "Prize" for the competition go?
Steph: ...Huh, it's the love of the Empress of course… Allowing her to wake up?
Xiao Qiangwei: If you make the Empress fall in love with the person, the Empress would love the person forever? And she would wake up for her prince? This is just pure bullshit, and then only the Empress would benefit about this, right? And where's the equal reward for the winner?
Steph finally found the source of the problem. Resources, good relations, and Plum's free will… None of them sounded what the Empress would've bet.
So, in the game that allowed the Empress to hibernate after swearing by the Pledges. The bet of equal value to both parties… To be given to the victorious rider… Regarding that reward… She hadn't mentioned it at all.
Basically, two games, one reward, and the other reward would always benefit the other party…
