“Good work out there, Paragon Gemini.”

“It’s been tough on you, Paragon.”

Similar words chorused out into the Congress lobby as Gemini strode into the building, a small bag of skewers in his left hand. To his right, Lila was chewing cheerfully on some food, clearly unconcerned by a few jealous looks that came from the unattached daughters of the rich and famous of Ark City. Gemini was well aware of his status a very eligible bachelor — as one of the Constellation Heroes, he was effectively a very young Paragon.

A week or so ago, an unofficial survey regarding the love lives and fertility rate of Ark City’s citizens had reached his desk. His name was sitting at the top of the list for the ‘Most Desired Partner’ for the ladies of Ark City, something that had earned him friendly jests from the Lords of Ark City. (And in revenge, Gemini decided to spar with these Lords under the guise of training, but that was another story.)

Ever since he was aware of such a thing, Gemini had made it a point to discreetly check on Lila and make sure that she wasn’t receiving any harassment, but it seemed that her…odd lifestyle had insulated her from such actions entirely.

After all, few daughters of Ark City’s senators would actually trek around the entire city in search of the Next Great Food Stand. Add on to the fact that the city had been scoured clean of criminal elements, and she was effectively safe from any threat, and that was discounting her own individual power.

He nodded back at the Knights greeting him, having decided to ignore the girls lounging around the lobby, before approaching the counter.

“Good afternoon, Victor.” Gemini smiled at the Squire manning the counter. “How many senators are in attendance today?”

“The minimum, as usual. One from each branch.” The Squire replied, his blonde hair drawing the eyes of everyone whenever the wind blew.

“They should be out soon, then,” Gemini muttered to himself.

“Yes, Paragon Gemini. There’s a room you could wait in. The pantry’s open too.”

“Gemini will do,” he replied. “No need for the title.”

Victor considered his words for a moment, and then smiled. “Thank you, Gemini.”

The Squire tossed a small sweet at Gemini, who caught it with a sphere of qi. The wrapper opened up automatically, and the bead of sugary goodness shot out from the sphere and into his mouth. The Constellation winked at Victor, and then pulled Lila into an unused room.

“Those girls are scary,” Gemini muttered.

“Girls?”

“The daughters of the senators attending today’s Congress.” He shivered. “They’re very rich, very beautiful and very self-opinionated. I’m not sure how such people could pop up from the most decent beings in Ark City, but I suppose it has something to do with their upbringing.”

Lila thought for a moment. “That’s a very sweeping statement. Do you have any biases against these girls? From what I can tell, they are your admirers, after all.”

Gemini thought back to the balls he’d attended back when he was still under the Human God, and then to the parties the others had made him attend in Ark City, and shuddered. It seemed that high society was the same everywhere — construing words, backing others into a corner, manipulating others like puppets — despite the fact that Ark City’s senators never did any of these actions.

The scions of important families pitted wits against each other, for no apparent reason. Sure, there were still lines that were never crossed, like drugging of hapless victims, but Gemini didn’t like the knife-like world he had gotten glimpses of.

Lila shook her head. “From the look on your face, it seems that you had rather…personal experiences.”

“Quite a few,” said Gemini. “My personal recommendation is that you avoid the scions of high society as much as possible, in case you get injured from their constant clashes.”

“High society?” A voice came from outside the room. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Good afternoon, Senator Guo Ming.” Gemini nodded at a middle-aged man, who had a dangerous-looking horn on his forehead. He was one of the Lords taking part in the battle earlier, but instead of resting, he’d chosen to discharge his duties as a senator.

“Good afternoon, Paragon. Your words just now…”

“Just me grousing about some things, senator.” Gemini smiled. “How was the session today?”

“Got more things ratified. Talked about some things. And…” His words trailed off. “Ah, I see why you’re here today. As you guessed correctly, we got a progress update from the other Paragons. They’re still keeping an eye out on the battle between Exemplar Rilata and the Demon God’s familiar spirit.”

“It’s been months since the fall of Ars Fortress, but their battle still continues unabated.” Gemini shook his head. He could recall the moment when the legendary Exemplar engaged the Demigod — even as he drew off pursing Sages, the battle between the two had created shockwaves that could be felt from beyond visual range.

“I’m still doubtful as to whether their plan to divert the two’s battle to another place will even work,” said Senator Guo Ming. “Sure, we’ve dispatched all the active Paragons, but the two fighters are on another level altogether. How’s that even possible is beyond me.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” said Gemini. “I too have no idea. Lila, what other legends did Ars have about Exemplar Rilata? How is she this powerful?”

“The power of love?” Lila answered doubtfully. “It’s written in the subtext of her legend. For her departed husband, she took on the entire responsibility of defending the entire Ars. She vowed to act for Ars, and only for Ars.”

“She vowed to do so, and that gave her strength…what do you think, Harlinder?”

A woman stepped into the room. “A rather reasonable hypothesis. Still, as governors of Ark City in peacetime, our Paragons do not have the leeway to have their freedom restricted so. It’ll require a very specialised process to groom one such Paragon…and it will be a controversial one.”

Gemini frowned slightly. His entire cultivation base was something he got from the moment he arrived on Orb, so it was unlikely he could do anything about it. He knew that the process involving the creation of Knights and beyond included the creation of a vow, but since he skipped the whole process…

He shook his head, and returned to the conversation.