After doing the dishes with Isabelle, which also doubled as an affinity trainer, Gaius ambled over to the pile of cushions that Nakama and La-Ti were lying on and picked up one.

“Where did all the sofas go?” Gaius asked.

“Somewhere,” Nakama replied, a grin on her face.

Nexus popped up from the pile of cushions. “Trust me. You don’t want to know where and why. The great Soshino Incident should fallow in history and be eternally forgotten.”

“The great what?”

“Hush, my master.” Nexus patted a cushion. “Just place your head down here and look up at the ceiling. It’s been redecorated to be a lot more calming. I think you’ll like it too.”

“Redecorated?” Gaius asked. He glanced up at the ceiling, and a nice panorama of a mountain range entered his eyes. “Not bad. But why make something like this?”

“Oh, you know…reasons.”

Gaius was about to press the artificial intelligence on for more details when a gentle, soothing chime echoed through the house.

“That’s the doorbell,” said Nexus. “Looks like Pinnacle Kolya and Oracle Galina are already here. The Oracle sure lives up to her name.”

“Yeah, well, it is one of those Unique Skills.” Gaius got up from his cushiony seat with some reluctance, before shrugging. “It would be far more surprising if she didn’t notice that I was up and awake.”

The house they lived in was a small mansion, which, in Upper Elysium, didn’t have a walled-off garden of their own. Anyone visiting them would just need to make their way to the front door and make their presence known. Of course, more fancy options were available, just not for seventy-five thousand gold.

Ambling over to the double doors that wouldn’t impress the richer fellows living in Upper Elysium, Gaius unlocked the doors and flung them wide open. “Greetings, Pinnacle Kolya, Oracle Galina. Welcome to my humble abode.”

“How formal.” Kolya sniffed. “Did that coma somehow make you more respectful of the people around you? If so, I should consider knocking out everyone in my administration.”

“In your case, darling, I think you should be the one being knocked out,” the Oracle replied, a smile on her face. “Ever since you got back from the Conference of the Four, you haven’t been respectful to anyone in your nation.”

“I’m the leader of the Mortal Light Dynasty. Guiding light of my citizens far and wide,” the Pinnacle replied.

“And that exempts you how?” Galina shook her head. “Wait. Instead of hearing your excuses, I think we’ll be better off entering Gaius’ house first. After all, we are on a get-well visit.”

Gaius cleared his throat. “I appreciate your kind intentions. Please, come in.”

“Don’t mind if I do, then.”

With two new pairs of shoes sitting at the door, Gaius led them into the house. The two of them were carrying baskets of fruits and ice-cream, and as the two rulers of the North placed them down on the recently-cleared table, Gaius could sense two gazes that weren’t his own fall on them.

His gaze lingering on the huge tub of dark chocolate ice-cream, Gaius mocked Isabelle and Nakama for being so gluttonous. Staring at food that others brought, in front of the well-wishers themselves, was nothing short of rude, and after casting another long gaze at the elaborate tub, he turned back to Galina and Kolya.

The duo was already making themselves comfortable at the huge pile of cushions with a set of practiced movements. Nakama had also gotten La-Ti to make some space for the two new inhabitants of Cushion Country, and as Gaius took in the sight, his eyelid began to twitch.

This clearly wasn’t their first time here.

Furthermore, from how the two rulers of the Mortal Light Dynasty had discarded their bearing and standing with such ease to lie down, it was evident that both buggers dropped by on the regular.

“You two look very, very comfortable.”

“Mm. Anyway, it’s good that you’re up and awake now,” said Kolya. “The more experts we have for the upcoming war, the better. We’ve gotten hold of some rather disturbing intelligence with the return of Ark City.”

He paused for a moment. “Oh, you already know.”

“Hard not to,” Gaius replied. It was somewhat disconcerting to see the ruler of the North to discuss important issues while lying down on a pile of cushions, but it was very possible that to him, this was simply grousing about work after a hard day at the office.

His gaze fell on Galina, who was chattering away with Nakama, and all of a sudden, it did seem that those two were treating his home as a place to relax at. It was an interesting development, but he couldn’t help but feel somewhat dejected at how he was locked out of the loop.

Making a mental note to ask about how such an interesting development came to be, Gaius brought up the issue he wanted Kolya to help with — making Xanadu a household name.

“I need your help, Kolya.”

“My help? Sure. What do you need help with?” Pinnacle Kolya replied on reflex.

“Is it alright to promise it when you don’t even know what my request is?” Gaius asked.

“I haven’t forgotten the reason why you lost three years of your youth,” Kolya replied. Sitting up properly, he levelled a gaze at Gaius, a yellow cushion in his hand. “Any request of yours isn’t off-limits, as it is right now.”

“You know why I did that, right?” Gaius asked.

“For me, I only saw the outcomes of your actions,” he replied, taking out his trademark monocle and fitting it on his right eye. “And that is more than enough for me. Besides, you have no idea how many people owe favours to you. I can say with certainty that half of Upper Elysium will bend over backwards to fulfil any reasonable request you have. I’m just one of them.”

“I see.” Gaius shook his head wryly. “Does it include coming over regularly to ensure that Nakama doesn’t get lonely?”

“Galina’s idea,” Kolya replied immediately. “Not mine.”

The Oracle flicked his nose. “…What do I look like to you?”

“I’m not going to answer that.” Kolya cleared his throat. “Anyway, what do you need my help with?”

“Simple, really.” Gaius exhaled slowly. “Since you two frequent my home often, you must be aware of Xanadu’s deteriorating state, no?”

Oracle Galina patted Nakama’s head, before sitting too. “I’m very aware.”

“As am I,” said Kolya. “Sofia’s very worried about her, though. You should know that they became very good friends around two years ago, although I’m not sure why. She refuses to tell — OW! OW!”

“You have a solution?” Galina asked, her hands making putty out of Kolya’s ears.

After watching the process of how a good set of ears were being pulled out of shape for a few seconds, Gaius returned his attention to the important topic at hand. “Yes. In fact, it is a solution offered by a great god.”

“A great god that helps you?” Galina asked. “Please don’t be offended, but helping you of all people?”

“Said great god in question is Weiwu, the Chanter of Innocents,” Gaius replied. “Not the great gods of this Orb.”

“I see. He is a great god of the so-called ‘True Orb’, then.” The Oracle nodded to herself, before releasing Kolya’s reddened ears. “What do you think, darling?”

Rubbing his ears, Kolya — whose monocle was still sitting comfortably on his right cheek somehow — squished the cushion in his hand and said, “Depends on the solution offered, really.”

“We just need to make Xanadu famous. Well-known,” Gaius replied, “Apparently, the reason behind Xanadu’s current state is because she shouldn’t exist in the first place. If we can anchor her existence to Orb by making her known worldwide…”

“Was the Conference of the Four not enough?” Kolya asked.

“Perhaps not,” Galina cut in. “From what I heard, the speed in which her existence seem to fade out seemed rather odd, and I must agree. Normally, I would expect more people to ask about the smaller things of her future, but the way things died out so quickly was unnatural to me.”

The Pinnacle narrowed his eyes. “Is something working behind the scenes to prevent her from prolonging her existence? And to affect so many people at that…humph. I think I know who the culprit is.”

He turned to Gaius. “You just need me to make her existence a mainstay of this world, right? You’ve come to the right person. Leave it to me. I’ll make sure she becomes famous in the Five Lands…heck, even the Wildlands, when the Great Divide falls.”

“Stop with the bragging, dear.” Galina smacked Kolya’s head lightly. “I really doubt that you can make her famous in the Wildlands.”

“Oh? Are you doubting my ability? Want to have a bet?”

“Oh, you’re on, darling.”

Gaius glanced at the couple, an odd look on his face. Strange. I didn’t think that these two were the kinds to make bets with each other. Did they pick it up from somewhere?

He looked around the room. Isabelle was packing away the little gifts they brought, while Nakama was chattering away with La-Ti, over at the other side of the huge pile of cushions. From how they really didn’t care about the fact that the two rulers of the North were making rather…mature bets with each other, Gaius really couldn’t see Nakama or Isabelle as the culprit.

“Done with the betting?” Gaius asked, after watching them in silence.

“Ahem. Of course.” Kolya, who had removed his monocle while making the bet, coughed lightly. “I’ll make sure the world knows about Xanadu before the night is out. Right, remember that Display project you had going on with some researchers from the East?”

“Huh? I do, but what’s it got to do with Xanadu?”

“Well, we can do little things like include an information sheet about her when we release the Display for civilian use,” Kolya replied. “I need your written permission for this, though, or else the sponsors would get angry. It’s rather convenient, however, given that you are a shareholder of that particular piece of intellectual property.”

“Alright. I’ll get to it tonight.” Gaius blinked. “The Display’s already being prepared for a civilian release?”

“We added Bo Shi and Ihae into the R&D department for our Terminal,” Kolya replied. “The Terminal’s more suitable for civilians, but it’s lacking in some functions the Display has. After some negotiations, a new project called Display C1 was created. This is the one we’re preparing to release.”

“Uh. Ok.”

“You’re not interested?” Kolya asked. “I thought you would be.”

“I am, but three years just passed me by. It’s a bit hard to feel interested about external developments when I still haven’t fully grasped the changes to my family,” Gaius replied.

Kolya sighed. “Changes in character are most drastic at a young age. Three years is enough to make family seem like a stranger at times.”

“You sound experienced.”

“Maybe,” he replied. “But at least the people around you stay adorable at all times.”

“Right…I forgot you were a pervert at heart.” Gaius rolled his eyes. “Touch even a strand of hair and—”

“Don’t worry, Gaius.” Two arms fell around Kolya’s neck. “Under my watch, nothing’s going to happen. Right?”

Kolya shivered. “O-of course.”

Gaius glanced at Galina, whose smile was devoid of humour, and also shivered. Granted, he was far weaker than he used to be, with the current state of his body, but making him feel dread was quite the accomplishment for anyone. Steeling his face, he ignored the non-verbal pleas for help Kolya was sending him, and fell deep into thought.

Kolya’s earlier words had raised some questions within him. Was there truly some existence trying to extinguish Xanadu’s existence? Gaius immediately thought about the Human God, but to heap every single problem onto his head was probably not the best thing to do.

Unsure of what to think, Gaius decided to let Kolya, who was busy being scared by Galina, do it in his stead. That way, any incoming retribution wouldn’t be directed to him, but to the Pinnacle, who was far better equipped to deal with any contingencies.

Nodding to himself, Gaius found a nice squishy cushion and curled himself up on it.