As the morning light poured into the room, Rikuo found himself sitting as his body was bathed in the warm light, still naked as he had yet to get up. Perhaps because his body is unused to sleeping naturally, instead of passing out from the torment Teleka inflicted upon him, but he tended to be a restless sleeper, and had kicked away the covers while he lay on his stomach. That said, perhaps because of the higher quality care he got since Jezre was gone, his skin and long white hair looked far better. Softer and more attractive one might say, even if he looked like such a young child, as if the heavens itself had pampered it.

As for everyone else, Ruuruu was currently absent, as was Herra. Sora had fallen out of the bed somehow, and was currently sleeping coiled in a sort of fetal position, hugging a pillow. Arila meanwhile was still fast asleep, with no indications of stirring in the near future.

And this was despite the fact she rolled over in her sleep and rolled right onto Rikuo, causing him to jolt awake as Arila somehow rolled over his body completely in her sleep. That said, as like most of this world he slept on his stomach, it was only the back of his body. Although his first life's memories made him embarrassed, the last two weeks and the memories of his second life were helping him adapt to such a thing like this situation.

"...how is she both such a deep sleeper and such a restless sleeper" Rikuo muttered, his face still red as he got out of bed. He felt a bit off balance though, which threw him off. "...maybe I am still a bit drowsy..."

Rikuo muttered that, as he walked by. However, that was when he looked at himself in the mirror, and stopped. He blushed more as he proceeded to look at his body in the mirror again, turning around and examining it.

His first life he had a different look, so looking in a mirror and seeing his new body often cause this reaction. He also made a few faces and poses, since no one was awake to see, as he tested something out. Seeing this, even he felt his body was cute. He wasn't sure about attractive, since to him it looked like a child's body, but he could understand why everyone kept acting the way he did. This body of his, it was super cute and adorable. Even when he tried to wrinkle his face or such, it looked cute. And if he made certain poses, even he felt his heart skip a beat, and it was his own body!

He blamed the fact that in his second life he was never really able to look in a mirror.

However as the drowsiness wore off, Rikuo finally noticed the thing staring him right in the face, as obvious as day, and he screamed from the shock.

"I wonder...you think he forgot?" Raevin asked.

"I am sure he will show up...probably..." Rayheart muttered, sulking a bit.

"Now now, he had a pretty good attendence record after all" Lutessa reminded them.

These three were currently sitting at a cafe table in the noble district, near the castle. It was a nice cafe, and it had a rather wonderful view of the city since it was located on the upper levels, upon the stone paths and platforms that dotted and stood above the rest of the city.

That said, the one they were waiting on, Rikuo, appeared to be a bit late.

"Perhaps we should start the conversation without him?"

"Hold it! I am here!" Rikuo said, running up to them as he was dressed in his usual adventurer outfit. That said, when the other three looked at him, they could immediately see something was strange. So as he reached their table, panting, Raevin couldn't help himself.

"Hey...Rikuo..."

"Hey guys! Notice anything different?" Rikuo asked, standing tall and proud, although the tall was relative.

Wait...hold on...

"Wait, Rikuo! You...you are like, five or six centimeters taller!"

"Yep!"

It wasn't a great amount, which is why Rikuo didn't notice at first. But he was indeed a few centimeters taller then before. He was still a very short, very young looking boy, but people might think he was like, a year or at least half a year older then they used to.

"Wait...how! You are a vampire! Its impossible for you to age!"

"Hehe...I think it was whatever that parting gift was that Aruu and Ciel did to my body....they said it would only work once, and that I would notice in the morning!"

Rather, that was the only occasion where someone did something to his body, so that was the only possibility.

"Well either way, lets sit down. We have quite a few things to discuss after all...but, why is your hair so long?"

"It probably had to do with whatever they did...I should remember to cut it later".

While muttering that, he sat down in his chair. As he did, a waiter came over to ask what tea they would like to order first. Rikuo ordered a red leaf tea, Lutessa an herbal tea, Raevin ordered the Imperial Black tea, and Rayheart ordered sansen tea.

And so once that was done, and the waiter left, they began talking.

"So, first of all...I would say these last two weeks have been a lot to process, so lets accept right now we probably wont agree on everything".

"Sounds about right" Rikuo muttered.

"I think there are plenty of things we can agree on!" Rayheart declared.

Lutessa meanwhile calmly sighed. "There is really only one thing that matters in the end, I am sure we all know that for sure".

"Indeed. Surviving in this world, and establishing some sort of safety net".

"Surviving?" Lutessa questioned.

"Yeah. At least some of you should know to some degree, but there are forces in this world that seem to hunt otherworlders".

Hearing Raevin speak, Rikuo voiced his thoughts next.

"Its not just people. The god of this world, Taktos, treats this world as his gameboard. To him, we and others are just pieces to use to play his game. He will manipulate and toy with us if necessary to make us do as he wants, and he wont be afraid to be dirty or nasty about it. And if we start to mess with his game, or mess with the setting too much, his attacks on us will likely increase. The only good thing we have going for us is that his agents dont seem to move in public, at least very often, in this world".

"...so the supreme god himself is our enemy? That...does not sound good" Rayheart admitted.

"Its not" Rikuo muttered. "We still have not gotten our bearings yet, but this was already sprung on us. At least, not all of the gods might be our enemy...but, thats unconfirmed, and we shouldn't talk more in case those very gods are listening".

Understanding the gravity of the situation, the others nodded.

"Agreed. Which means, we will need to build up power, influence, and other things. As a noble, I think I will be able to muster and accumulate strength the best that way, but...honestly, we need more people on our side. And, we need to find and rescue our classmates before Harzen or the Demon Lords that are hostile to us find them".

"Aruu promised to do something on his end, keep them busy for awhile to make it easier for us. He said we should do our best to adapt to this world and get strength. It seems he is an Otherworlder too, and he doesn't seem like Urten or Darius...well, I think he is mysterious in a lot of ways though".

"...yeah, we cant trust the guy fully. I did some research on Demon Lords, and how one evolves into them. It seems the requirements include slaughtering thousands of humans within the span of a few hours, and having ambition. Strong ambition. We cant be certain he will stay an ally if his amibitions and our goals deviate from each other".

Raevin was not willing to trust Aruu so easily, especially since he knew almost nothing about him.

Well, aside from the fact to never question his age in front of him...

"I think we should focus on finding the other students....and then leaving this world and going back to our world. No, this is what we have to do, no ifs, ands, or buts".

Hearing that, Rayheart immediately opposed the idea.

"How could we do that?! We have the power to help these people, we should focus on just helping them, not gathering power or status or returning home!"

"Leaving aside the fact there may be no way to return home, you realize our original bodies died right? We have been long buried, and if we return, several of us are not even human, and would probably face some rather harsh treatments. Going home is irrational, and foolish. Power and status will help protect us, and with money, we can get the tools and resources we need to expand our power and make us stronger".

"We have no right to rule over these people though? We should be respectful of their culture and beliefs! Why waste time dealing with politics anyways, we should just all go and help everyone! I mean, after all, there is that one saying. With great ability, comes great burdens!"

"...thats not how it went..." Rikuo corrected, as he watched the three draw their lines in the sand.

"No, if we can get here, and if people can be summoned here, then the reverse is also true! We can return home! And as your teacher, and as people not from this world, no matter what we must return! I will make sure we do".

"What right do you have to determine our futures! Either of you?! You talk about responsibility, but you two were not even responsible enough to stop the bullies that were harassing Rikuo each and ever day, or anyone else in our class for that matter! At least I was trying to gather evidence, so they would get expelled or even arrested!"

Hearing that, Rikuo's opinion of Raevin rose quite a bit. So aside from Herra and Haru, there were others trying to help after all?

Incidentally, Rikuo had discovered that Haru was his other friend he had. Well, he had already suspected as much when he recognized the anime song. It was one they watched together and were fans of after all, especially since Haru started sleeping over all the time at his place.

"We cant just play politics, nor should we. And we also cant just run away!"

"No, we should leave this place all together! Once we find the rest of the class, we find a way home, whatever it takes".

"And what about everyone else who reincarnates after us? What of the people Rikuo summoned, or that others will summon? We can make sure there are safe havens and support systems for them as well. Otherworlders who are brought here, nearly all of them end up dying at the hands of Taktos and his mysterious group that serves him. We can not only live comfortably and safely here, while helping this world advance and grow, but we can also save countless lives!"

"We can take all that we can, but my priority is this class. As a teacher, its my job to make sure we all get home safe, one way or another I will do just that".

Rikuo quickly interrupted the conversation.

"The people who I took were people who would only benefit physically and mentally from moving to another world. Bringing them back might be...unwise. At the very least, I dont agree with this idea of forcing everyone to follow whatever future we have in mind".

"You say that, but what do you think Rikuo?" Raevin asked.

As that question was floated around, everyone looked at him. Certainly, after hearing the three, he understood their points. There were parts he could agree with, and parts he was unsure about, for all of their arguments.

Rayheart seemed to want everyone to selflessly but blindly devote themselves to others, using their great power. Raevin wanted to amass power, wealth, and status, but in essence to achieve his goals effectively he would essentially need to take full control of an area, if not the whole world. Even he had to know that. And Lutessa would abandon everyone in this world, force them to go back home if they wanted to or not, into a life with even more uncertainties then staying here had, but they would be safe from the dangers of this world for sure.

Either one was hard for him to swallow. Certainly, he did have some thoughts about returning home, to have the life he enjoyed there, and to settle regrets he still had. Even if Harzen was in this world, there were other bullies outside of class, things he wished he did to oppose them and stop them from bullying himself and others. But, although there were some odd bits, some embarrassing bits, and certainly dangerous parts...he had seen the beauty of this world as well, and some of the great things it had.

As the waiter came with their tea, setting it in front of them before leaving once more, Rikuo took a sip as he considered everything. And as he did, he let out a sigh.

"I am not sure if I can come to a decision for any of your ideas myself. I certainly see the pros, but I see the cons too. As of right now, I dont think I can fully agree or disagree with any of them".

It wasn't really like they were extremes, except for maybe Lutessa. However, he couldn't ignore the facts.

"At the very least, before I decide what I think should be done, I need to learn more about this world and explore it. Its like we are always taught, as students and teachers. You have to learn more, research, and only then make a decision once you have educated and studied properly. I have yet to gather enough details, enough proper experience, to make that decision".

As he said that, none of them really felt like they could argue against that. Rayheart nearly did, but she remembered how Rikuo thought of her in their previous life, and couldn't help but tighten the fists on her lap as she understood the full weight of what he meant.

...thats right, I thought everything would be fine if I just gave support and did my best, but even with so many people being happy and liking me and what I did...I didn't really accomplish anything, because I never bothered to truly learn and look. I was too satisfied with what was before me.

As Rayheart thought that, Raevin just nodded.

"Thats fine. In any case, Lutessa cant push her point any more since we dont even know where all the students are. By the way, Harzen is a mass murderer now, and tried to kill people".

"...still, if we take him back, out of this world, perhaps that will make it better" Lutessa said, flinching. It appears that the subject of Harzen was a sore topic for her as well as Rayheart, since she understood her own failures on the matter quite well. Still, it seemed that she used it to fuel her own beliefs.

"I myself wont object to making an informed decision, just so long as you look at the facts properly".

Rikuo sighed and nodded, understanding that.

Raevin probably came to his conclusion using that method, just at his faster pace. I am sure he expects me to agree with him in the long run. But, I just cant be sure until I see things with my own eyes.

"So...I think then, at least for now, we should split up".

Rikuo told them that, shocking Lutessa.

"But, now that we found each others, we should stay in a group, and we should go around and find the others!"

"That might be harder if we group up. Plus, we would just end up bickering a lot over the previous topic. If we group up, the Demon Lords and others will find us easier and track us better, and come after us. Additionally, it means we would travel slower as a larger group, and we can only search one place at a time. Lutessa, Rayheart, and me should take our groups and go out, to get stronger while also looking for others. Unfortunately, it will probably be harder to find people now, and they are probably forming their own groups in other areas across the world. We got lucky, maybe, that so many of us appeared in this kingdom, but what about other kingdoms? Other continents?"

"And then while you all do that, I gather information on my end, while also accumulating resources, power, and prestige?" Raevin asked.

"Yes. Whatever we all end up deciding, without resources we cant do any of our goals, even the ones we have yet to decide. What do you think Raevin?"

"I agree. This sounds like the best idea".

"...I also agree. I think we need more time to adjust to the world" Rayheart nodded.

"...very well, it seems none of you plan to listen to me right now anyways".

Lutessa was forced to concede her point, at least for now.

There were still things that had them on edge against each other, such as the difference of their ideologies. But, at the very least, they did not plan to turn this into a major fight right now, and the logic of the plan was sound.

"Then we are all in agreement then. Good".

And so like this, the Tea Party Conference concluded.

Meanwhile, in the Divine Plane, Taktos was writhing, a burn mark having appeared on his arm.

"To think one of the Demon Lords went to the other world on his own, wiped out my Angel unit, and then even went so far as to hyjack a ride on the summoning process and steal my pieces from me".

By the time Taktos had recovered enough, all of the summoning rituals had already finished, and it was too late to try and interfere with the summoned heroes' souls now and make them his pawns. He had lost quite a bit of time too, because he had not expected an attack his defenses were down.

As for the other gods, they were scurrying around, although a few were still placing bets.

"And so, we know nothing of what happened during that time?" Taktos asked, irritated.

"No. When you were given that shock, the channels we use to observe the mortal plane fell into dissarray, and we temporarily could not see what was going on or hear conversations. A few gods went to investigate, but so far no red flags on that end. Still, we cant be quite sure what might have happened these past two days".

"Annoying. Still, we cant be sure about the status of our current game for sure yet. For now, we will just have to observe them, at least for a few months, and wait and see. Until we can get some concrete understanding of what happened during those two days, its too dangerous to eliminate anyone, or excuse anyone, without proper monitoring...I suppose we will just let some turns pass by for now, let things build up, evolve, and change. Make sure they understand that, Deirus".

"Understood. Then we will enact a holding pattern for now" the god of studying and observation, Deirus replied.

Taktos was still debating on whether this was the right decision, but he went with it as a god. With an infinite lifespan though, perhaps his perception had become a bit biased to be more open to waiting, so perhaps this was a bit more predictable.

Certainly, Ciel did not show a reaction one way or the other, as he made adjustments to his System to optimize it.

Round one goes to me then, Taktos. But I wont get concieted just yet. One round is not the entire game. Lets see what happens in round two...but I plan to beat you there too...

Ciel had some thoughts, as the divine realm began to settle down based on Taktos' orders.