Chapter 10: To those it may concern

Who would've thought that I'd actually make it to chapter 10 of all things? I'd like to thank all of you who have been reading up till now and for all of you that have left reviews. It means a lot even if it is only "update please," to me it just means that you have enjoyed what I have put out there and want more. So for that, I thank you.

-One month later-

It took longer than I expected, but Stephani and I managed to make it to the final destination on the list, Rowand wasn't eager to let us leave. It was quite awkward when we tried to tell him that we needed to leave, but with a bit of guilting him with Stephani's homesickness, we persuaded him to help us get a ship that will take us here.

Off the Elkia coast is a nation that spans the ocean covering all the islands that lie in between the two continents. In fact, they have land holdings on both continents as well, but the capital is on the island furthest from both. A very advanced race, despite the technology of the rest of this world, they have somehow managed to create mechanisms that I recognized before even Stephani did. Elevators, skyscrapers and even televisions all technologies centuries more advanced than the rest of what I've seen from other nations. It was truly a wonder how they had managed to monopolize the technology of this world for themselves.

"Tatsuya look, that wall is moving." Stephani had never seen a television before, she was a little bit like a child going to a toy store for the first time. She excitedly pointed at all the interesting architecture and devices.

I couldn't help but smile at her child-like behavior, it was so adorable. Though I suppose I'm a bit biased when it comes to her. "Believe it or not Steph, this is closer to the technological level of the world I came from."

She pulled her face away from the TV to see where I was sitting while we waited. "Really?"

I nodded. "Though I think they're still a few years behind." I boasted just a bit. 'They must have discovered silicon and figured out how to harness it decades ago. It's impressive when considering the rest of this world.' I thought to myself.

Steph seemed to remember something so she hurried to my side and whispered in my ear. "Darling, I didn't tell you this in the lessons because I didn't think it useful at the time but there's something about these people that you should know. Even though they don't have magic they have this strange ability to read people's minds. So look out for that." She warned.

I chuckled, not because of what she said but because her hair got in my ear and it tickled. "Come now Steph, there's no way they could do that."

As if they were listening at the moment I said that the person I was coming to see arrived. "You might be surprised Mister ambassador."

A woman stood before Stephani and me. She was tall and to my surprise, or maybe it was by irony, was far more beautiful than I imagined the leader of these people to be. I held my composure however and rose to meet her. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. You've saved us a lot of time." I bowed in gratitude.

She placed two fingers under my chin and made me raise my head. "Let me have a look at you 'Human Ambassador' I'd like to see with whom I'm dealing with." Her voice was seductive and very alluring. Given her position, it was likely a ploy to keep me on my heels.

"Ma'am, I'd appreciate if you would ask permission if you want to touch my face in such a way." I remained stern to counter her offensive.

She snickered. "My my, despite your age you're very composed. Not many men can decline my advances." I couldn't tell if she was complimenting me of ridiculing me. "You are such a stern and manly child. No, that won't do, rather a strong-willed and mature man."

I may be young but thanks to Miss Fil I was able to learn how women here use their looks and position to manipulate the men and how to respond to their manipulations. Most of the Exceeds are run by women in fact so there's no surprise they'd be good at getting their way.

I took Stephani's hand in mine to reaffirm that she needn't worry. "Ma'am, may I ask that we conduct the meeting you've agreed to."

Her smile disappeared. "I'm just trying to have a bit of fun. It's not often I get to interact with a person from another world." Her fluffy tails swiped my face. "All right, right this way child." She paused for a moment turning her head just slightly to let us hear her speak clearly. "I hope you don't disappoint me."

Seems I lost my promotion from a "child" to "man" before the meeting progressed any further. This woman was difficult to read but nothing so far leads me to believe that she was reading my mind. The fact that there were people from another world became common knowledge after Sora and Shiro defeated Jibril so the fact that she knew that wasn't even alarming in the slightest.

She lead the two of us to her "office" if you could call it that. Actually, the better name for it was definitely "Bathhouse." I stood inside the room Stephani still holding my hand and with my eyes closed. "What is the meaning of this?"

I heard a splash followed by, "I find negotiations go better when both parties are relaxed."

"I'd prefer if this matter was taken seriously, ma'am." I felt Steph's free hand cover my eyes to make sure I didn't peek. I'm not like Sora I don't want to peep on a woman but I don't actually know what to do here. It might be their custom and I'd be being rude for not complying, even if it's not what is the purpose of this type of talk? "Ma'am…"

I heard the rustling of water followed by, "Yes child?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, even if I'm not like Sora, her outfit from earlier left little to the imagination and I wouldn't be a "man" if I didn't want to see. But I wanted to be faithful to Stephani who has already gone through so much just for me I couldn't betray her like that now. "Could I request a divider to be put up so that I can have ease of mind?"

"…" There was a brief moment of silence, then I swore I heard, "Tch." Did she just click her tongue?

"Very well child." She snapped her fingers and in a matter of seconds, there was a curtain running down the middle of the room. "Would this suffice?" She questioned poking her head through the curtain.

Stephani removed her hand and I opened my eyes. I was fine with it but I double-checked with her to make sure and she nodded before herself going to the other side of the curtain. I didn't see the harm in her enjoying the bath while I talked.

After a few minutes, I undressed and got in the water. The woman was in one of the highest pools so I entered the adjacent one. When I got settled She spoke once more. "Where do we begin child?"

-1 week later, Elkia palace-

(Sora's perspective)

"Checkmate." It was the third time today that I defeated Jibril in a game. Each time I won she was to remove a piece of clothing. She doesn't wear much so the idea only lasts for so long before I get bored of it.

"OOOOHHHH, Master you're so dirty, making me do this." She would whine but we all knew she really didn't care about being naked.

It's not even fun anymore. She doesn't even fight it. She's the one that came up with this game anyway. *sigh* "Jibril."

"Yes, Master?" She got this look like she was expecting something. I never did anything to the maids either I just liked seeing their reactions when I peeped on them knowing they couldn't do anything to me. But even that game grew old, but I digress.

"What's it like to lose a game that you never thought you were playing?" I asked her this question hoping that someday I'd get something that I didn't the previous day.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Games only affect the people participating in them. Much like how I became your property to do with as you please." The same answer she gave me every time. I don't even know what it is that I'm looking for but I keep hoping that I'll come up with something one day.

"How many days has it been since Tatsuya left?" I followed up the same as always.

Jibril lowered her head and placed her hand on her chest as she conjured up the memory in her database. "Your majesty's friend, Sir Tatsuya, left exactly 99 days, 3 hours and 42 minutes ago. Coincidentally that the last time that you ever stepped outside the palace." She adds that to her report. Since she can't tell me to do anything she feels she could at least tell me that… or maybe she's just trying to piss me off, either way, it annoyed me when she took that tone.

Shiro was often in a daze now and we'd actually not be in the same room at some points and be completely fine, at least until one of us noticed the other wasn't with us.

These days go by so fast I lose track of everything so easily. I just don't know why. Shiro and I are still undefeated and we want to conquer this world but we've lost all drive to proceed. I don't get it. Shiro won't discuss Tatsuya with me, she just becomes a sniffling mess and starts crying. Steph's not here to tell us what he's doing or what he's thinking. Jibril views him as inferior so she's not helping what so ever. I just want to figure out what to do now. Tatsuya sends back letters but he's only telling us if he feels that we could strike an opposing country or if relations were set up. Around noon we got another letter from him but I just couldn't bring myself to read it. When it was time for dinner I asked Jibril to read the contents to me.

"Ahem."

Dear Sora and Shiro,

If you're reading this then I am dead…

Jibril stopped reading because I took the letter from her and Shiro nearly fainted just from hearing that. "What the hell?" I started reading.

Dear Sora and Shiro,

If you're reading this, then I am dead.

.

.

.

Yeah right, I just knew you'd have Jibril read it out to you so I decided to play a joke on you. Poor taste I know but anything to picture the reactions you two just had. As stated in my last letter I ventured to meet with the 'Warbeasts' in the Eastern Federation. They are very advanced for this world, nearly on par with our old world. They're pleasant enough to me since I'm only here for talks. The leader is a "Fox", she neglected to state her name so I have decided to call her "Kitsune" for reasons you'll know soon enough. I'll not bore you with the details, so here's the report:

The Warbeasts are ready if you decided to invade they've come up with a game that not even elves with their magic have been able to defeat. According to Kitsune they always add the condition that if you lose you are to forget all aspects of the game on top of land gained. They even defeated the previous king of Elkia 7 times. There should be a large tower in view of the palace that is their easternmost facility. There is a young representative there by the name Izuna. I suggest establishing contact at that location you could use them as a deterrent from the elves if need be. That's all I have to report.

Ambassador Tatsuya

P.S. Flip this over for a surprise.

I flipped over the letter and I found two pictures attached. I dropped the letter, frozen in shock. The images were of the aforementioned Izuna and the other was of Tatsuya and Steph with "Kitsune" in a bath together, he was right though she does look like a Kitsune but I was more upset by the fact he got to bathe with her. "That lucky bastard, chumming up with this animal eared beauties. Dammit!"

I don't know why I was so angry. It didn't make sense, so what if he was taking a bath with a gorgeous fox girl. So what if he has a girl with loves him by his side on his journey. Why am I so upset now?

-hours earlier-

(Tatsuya narration)

The castle received two letters one was addressed to the siblings and the second to Jibril. curious by this She read it while Sora and Shiro were wallowing.

Jibril,

You know who is writing this so I'll skip to the point. It's been over 3 months since I've departed and I've not heard of any moves that those two have made. It seems my departure affected them more than I ever thought it was. Not only that knowing them and Sora, in particular, they probably don't understand why I was so angry in the first place. I've had some time to piece together my thoughts during my travels and I came up with something that I think they'll understand. You're probably wondering why I'm writing this to you and not them. It's simple really. I want them to come to the realization themselves but to do that you may need to leave a trail for them to follow they won't need a map just the starting point.

What I came up with is that games here don't just affect those involved. Even if it's unintended games have repercussions that not even they could predict all the time. When they defeated Kurami they didn't just defeat her they gained the title of King and Queen of a people who had nothing to do with the game they play. Only those people were the game. The winner became their ruler, their Leader and their beacon they look to for the future. Future is not something you can completely predict based on probability instead it should be something they prepare for. As they learned the hard way, not everything comes down to calculations and prediction.

That's all I have for now,

Tatsuya aka 'your favorite not Master'

P.S. I'm coming back now, do not tell them. And burn this letter.

Jibril did just as I instructed and burned the letter. I, to this day, don't know why she complied.

-the following day-

(Sora POV)

That letter sucked, it gave Shiro nightmares and made both of us lose our appetites. I was so tired trying to comfort Shiro to little success. She was blaming herself for everything. Saying she should have predicted this outcome too and measured the probability of it happening.

As became routine I played strip chess with Jibril. She wore more today for some reason, I figured it was to try and have more chances to win or entice me to keep going. But I petered out after the third game as it basically became my limit. I asked her the same question as I always did. "Jibril."

"Yes, Master?" She gave the same smile as he always did.

"What's it like to lose a game you didn't know you were playing?" I said it the same way as always. I don't even know what I was expecting any more, but today she said.

She closed her eyes and calmly spoke, "Master, 100 times you've asked this of me and 99 times I said the same thing as I don't have the answer. Today I want to ask you something in return."

This was surprising, to say the least, Jibril rarely, rather never, said anything different from her usual reply. "Huh? This is weird, but go ahead."

"Master, before I met you, you were involved in a game of Chess were you not? A game against the elves spy." She asked but this was common knowledge at this point.

I crossed my arms and tilted my head. "Yeah, you know that already. Why bring that up now?"

She bowed her head, "Forgive me if I seem presumptuous, but the ones playing were not the only ones that would be affected by the outcome right?"

"Where are you going with this Jibril?" This kept getting weirder and weirder. "Did the head maid put you up to this? This is a weird idea of a joke. First Tatsu and now this? What's next, Shiro confessing her unrequited love for Tatsu?"

Jibril didn't miss a beat. "Right?"

I sighed, "Yeah, there was 'Blank' and Kurami that's it."

She lifted her head and looked me dead in the eye. "If you truly believe that then you are hopeless to ever figure that out."

"What did you say?" Is she challenging my authority?

She winked at me. "There are 4 million people whom would have been affected by that game. They got a new king and they never played the game. In a way, they lost a game without playing. And won without playing it." Coming from Jibril this made no sense. Since when did she care about others enough to think of something like that?

"Jibril," I stopped her from continuing, "who put you up to this? I order you to tell me."

She sighed, I've never seen her sigh in that way before. "I maybe Master's property but I can still think for myself, Master."

She wasn't wrong, we never took away her free will entirely her thoughts are still her own, no matter how perverted they are… why do I care how perverted her mind is? "They why haven't you said something like this before?"

She shrugged. "I thought you'd be smart enough to think of it on your own. You did defeat me after all, a member of the Flugel council."

I didn't have a strong answer to her remark. "So you gave up on me?"

"Not at all, I simply decided to help you a bit more than usual." She gave a confident smile.

I placed my hands on my ears. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "So what are you suggesting that I do?"

She got closer to me grabbing my arm and just like that we jumped to the middle of town. "Wha! Why am I here?" I don't like being in public, she knows this so then why would she do this?

"Master, the only way to find out what it's like to lose a game you don't play you need to ask the people who were affected by the game." She took back her hand and began to fly away leaving me. "I'll keep Master Shiro company so don't you worry about her. We'll be awaiting your return."

That's all for now. While this chapter had "fanservice" in it, I will not really be making a habit of it. The photo of Tatsuya and "Kitsune" is after the bath and they put on rodes. Tatsuya had it taken to tease Sora making it seem like he actually bathed with her. Tatsuya is not that kind of person plus it would have done away with the entire previous conversation where he stayed true to his principles.

Anyway, thank you all for reading Chapter 10. I have been having a lot of fun figuring out the scenario. To those of you that may think I'm settling the matter of Tatsuya leaving too quickly, I think you're missing my intention with Tatsuya as a character. He's not meant to be Sora's enemy, he's meant to be Sora's conscious or even humanity in a sense. He always wants what's best for both Sora and Shiro. It's why he's always sending them letters letting them know who he feels is ripe for the taking. He's encouraging them to take on their first victim.

As always I encourage all forms of feedback. Reviews, rants, critiques, issues in continuity, grammar corrections, just saying hello. I try and respond to everyone. So please don't feel shy. You guys are what's keeping this going after all. I'll be focusing on finals the next month so I won't be updating for at least 4-6 weeks. Until then please enjoy.

Until nex time. This is Shi-oon Yi signing off.