After a while, I stood up. Just as I had learned from Haru, I would hide this unhappy face of mine. Though I didn't know if he was truly unhappy, he played the role well. I needed to take this trait from him, otherwise things would get difficult. I forced my face back to normal, but my mind was clouded.
It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone to the volcano and fought so early, none of this would have happened. No one would have died, and no one would be in a difficult situation. It's all my fault. I have to take responsibility. I have to take responsibility and fix everything. There's no other way. Just like in my old days, I'm alone again. My surroundings are once again covered with self-serving people.
I left the room and walked toward the city center. I was aiming to take a walk and pull myself together a bit. As I was walking, I saw Z in front of the tall company building. When Z saw me, she waved and immediately came over to me. Her face was close to mine; she was looking into my eyes with intense curiosity. Her purple hair smelled nice.
"Hey Rei, you're out for a walk, I take it."
"Yes, that's right. I'm out for a walk. What are you up to?"
"I'd just come out of the company building. Had some business to attend to."
"Do you work in this building?"
"Huh, work? No, of course not. This building is mine."
"Yours?"
"Yes. I became an entrepreneur at an early age and founded my own company to make my father's work easier."
"How old were you?"
"I'm seventeen. And you?"
"I'm eighteen. I see. You've done well. I'm impressed."
"Impressed, you say... Well, since you're impressed, would you like me to show you around inside a bit?"
"If it won't tire you out, that would be nice."
"It won't, don't worry. Come on, let's go."
When we entered the company building, I could see loads of employees all around. Various products were being fed into machines—it was clearly a large workspace. People were working hard; the environment seemed disciplined. The interior was covered in white walls, and there were loads of technological devices.
"Are all of these employees?"
"Yes, they are. I know it's quite a lot of people, but they're necessary. By the way, how do you like the technological devices? Look, it folds and places the chips by itself. Isn't it great?"
"Yeah, you've done well. I wish you continued success. By the way, what do you think of the public? Are they satisfied with the king?"
"The public?"
Z tilted her eyes to the ceiling and thought for a short while at my question. Z was a girl with connections—I was aiming to learn what the public complained about by getting information from her. I kept waiting for Z to speak until she answered.
"I think the public complains most about the king's aggressive attitude toward everyone."
"Are you talking about him constantly attacking places?"
"Not just that—he's ruthless to his own people in general too. He's never been seen getting angry, but he's known to always be harsh and cruel. That's why the public both respects him and fears him. Why did you ask something like that?"
"I'm new to the city, so I was just curious."
"I see."
"How is your father's relationship with the king, then?"
"I can't answer things like that, you know. And what are you aiming at by asking that?"
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"Like I said, I was just curious. I think I overstepped. Sorry about that."
"It's fine. I like curiosity. If there's no curiosity, a relationship won't progress, right?"
"You're right."
She seems to be growing interested in me. If I validate her too much, she might get bored of me. If I reject her, things will get difficult for me. I should just stay where I am and nod at her. This way, I can use her. I need to keep playing it like this.
"Anyway, I need to go, Rei. Come on, let's walk out together."
"Alright. Let's meet again next time, okay?"
"Sure, of course."
"By the way, can I ask you a small favor?"
"What is it?"
"I have the ability to teleport to another area—specifically to a certain village. Could you give me a similar authorization for this company building? That way, I can travel more easily and come see you more conveniently. After all, this company is your company."
"I see. That makes sense. Okay, I'm sending you the teleportation authorization for this place."
Z opened her phone, pressed a few buttons, and a notification came to my phone. I took my phone out of my pocket and accepted the teleportation authorization. This way, I could now quickly travel to both places. This would give me a strategic advantage. I was laying the first stepping stones toward dethroning the king.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. See you around."
"See you."
While my phone was open, I checked the time of the tournament. It didn't say when the next game would be—it said we would be notified when the time was set. When I read that text, the message box I had with Lie came to my mind. After opening the message box and looking at the messages for a short while, I felt bad again. If I focused on this pain, I wouldn't be able to move from where I stood. I closed my phone and placed it back in my pocket.
Just then, I saw the king descending into the city in the distance. He had multiple guards with him; everyone was pulling to the side of the road and watching them. I did the same—pulled to the side and observed the king. The king's face was not visible in any way; his entire body was covered in black-colored armor, so even his physique was indiscernible. The guards beside him carried shields and spears. They kept walking and moved toward the other part of the city. Clearly, the king had some business to attend to.
In order to achieve my goal, to carry out one of the foundational steps, I teleported to the elf village. When I checked the potion storage, there was nothing there—it had either been destroyed or taken. Quickly, within a few hours, I visited all four villages. They were aware of the dark soldiers' attacks. I told them about the situations that had occurred. I mentioned Akari's situation to the village she was managing. I told all of them to be ready to fight and to wait for me. Due to my confident and serious demeanor, and with the support of them knowing the events, they all listened to me. Then I spoke with the goblins in the same way and came to an agreement. Because of previous events, we were also friends with them. The goblins were now also prepared for a potential war, and at the same time, they were ready to listen to my words. I had prepared the four villages and the goblins regarding being led by me in the event of a potential war and had informed them of the situation.
After a few hours, I used my teleportation ability and warped in front of the company. The sky was dark as always, and this time a light rain was falling. When I teleported, I ran into Z again. This time, I was the one who waved and greeted her. Even though she was acting friendly, she didn't seem to be smiling much. Z waved back at me.
"Hey Rei. Traveling, I see?"
"Yes, there's a food I like there—I went and ate it there and came back. Thanks again for enabling that."
"You're welcome."
"What did you do? Is your work finished?"
"Yes, I'm a bit less busy now, it seems."
"By the way, the outskirts of this city seem to be covered in some desert-like areas—even the sand is black. Never mind that, though—the surroundings are very desolate. Are there no people further ahead?"
"Actually, there are. A bit further on, there are the buildings of three game clubs."
"Game clubs?"
"Yes, you know. In places like this, things revolve around games. Think of them as places that house talented players. Like player gangs."
"What are their names? How good are they?"
"The first one is called the Hope Club. That's my father's game club—my father's place. It's average, maybe above average, but my father doesn't focus much on it; he's more focused on the place where you work. The second place is called the Wingless. This place operates under the banner of freedom, you could say. They're at a good level. The third club is a bit, well, how should I put it... its name is the Supremacy Club. It's never been heard that they've been defeated even once. Every club member carries their club's emblem on their phone profile. The Supremacy Club players generally show themselves very rarely; people who see them are afraid and hesitate to play a game against them. If someone among the public is very talented, they're immediately thought to be from the Supremacy Club. These members roam around secretly and hunt people in games. But all three organizations are powerful—they have companies and buildings. There are situations where all three indirectly run the city. Within all three places, there are talented players, though the Supremacy Club is a bit superior in these matters. And as I said, it's never been seen that any of their players have been defeated. You usually join clubs by showing yourself around, but you don't go to the Supremacy Club to show yourself and sign up. They see you, they want to test you, and they find you."
"I understand. Thank you very much for the information."
"I talked a bit too long. Sorry about that, Rei."
"It's fine. Your voice is pleasant, anyway. It didn't bother me."
Z seemed to like my compliment.
"Thank you, Rei."
After that, I left her side. The light rain continued to fall; it was nighttime. I was thinking to myself.
The Supremacy Club, huh...