*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
The loud knock wakes me up with a start. Rubbing my burning eyes and yawning widely, I tap my phone to look at the time.
It’s been a few hours since the incident in the garden. After Yrathea left, Marianne simply commented that I acted well (and how we could’ve done much better if she had some practice as my master) before transporting me back to my room. Although Yrathea had asked her to tell me the ‘truth’ and to help me recover from the shock, we both knew it wasn’t needed. All she had to do was heal my sore throat.
The first thing I did after coming back was to rush to Layla’s room and quietly check on her. Only after finding her asleep, safe and sound, did I truly feel relieved. Just for the peace of my mind, I checked up on the rest of my women as well before crashing out.
Standing up, I get struck by a mild wave of vertigo. I don’t feel nearly as well-rested as I wish to be. Yesterday felt like a full week squeezed into a day, so I think I deserve sleep equivalent to that.
*Knock* *Knock*
But it’s clear that the person standing behind the door wouldn’t let me have it.
Yawning widely once again, I make my way towards the door before opening it. To my surprise, it’s not just a single person but a small group standing outside. More specifically, a group of my women— Layla, Maya, Rebecca, and Zakira.
“What happened, guys?” I ask, a little alarmed, seeing all of them together.
“We’re here to check up on you, Jacob. I couldn’t find you the whole day yesterday after we… after we had breakfast,” Layla says, looking down with a faint blush.
The only thing I had for breakfast yesterday was you.
“Yeah, sorry. I made a new friend at the academy, and he took me out yesterday for… eh… lunch,” I tell her. “His name is Aeson. Cool dude. We had such a blast together that I ended up spending the whole day and a chunk of the night with him. Sorry for worrying you girls.”
All I can tell them about yesterday is a sliver of truth mixed with a bunch of lies. Yrathea, that bitch, forbade me from telling anyone about it. And I am not willing to risk my women’s safety by doing otherwise.
Oh, and I doubt they need to know about my brothel visit.
“The phone signals are abysmal in this city, or we could’ve just called you,” Maya complains while shaking her head. “Anyway, that’s the reason Layla and I came here. We actually found Rebecca and Zakira talking outside in the corridor, so we all decided to come together.”
“Oh, then are you guys here to check on me, too?” I ask, raising my eyebrows at Rebecca and Zakira.
“Not really, I didn’t even know you were missing,” Zakira answers. She and Rebecca both look quite restless. “I actually came here to tell you about something, and found Rebecca on the way. Layla and Maya found us right after I finished telling Rebecca about it.”
Oh, shit. I know what this is about.
“What are you talking about?” Layla asks with a frown. Her tone towards Zakira always carries a strong hint of rudeness.
“We’re at war,” Zakira drops the bomb gravely.
There’s a moment of silence in which everyone except Rebecca stares at Zakira in confusion (I simply pretend).
“My dad summoned me earlier and told me about this. It’s the century war. It’s going to happen soon. He and the other leaders will be making a public announcement shortly.”
“Wait a second,” Maya interjects. “What are you even talking about? Century wars happen, like what, once every century? There are still a few decades left for the next one. It cannot be now.”
Layla nods in agreement.
“I know, but that’s not the case anymore. My father said that they’ve received an official declaration of war from the system-independent countries,” Zakira explains. “As always, it’s over the right to control the World System Tower. And our leaders suspect that premature war is due to the restoration of the tower last night.”
Zakira rests her gaze on me while saying the last part. She knows that one of the reasons why I’m here in the Eleven country is so that the System tower could be fixed.
And well, it has now been fixed. That too, when I was missing last night.
I hope she doesn’t connect the dots.
“Wait, the tower got fixed last night? You didn’t tell me that!” Rebecca exclaims.
“Layla and Maya arrived before I could.”
“And here I thought I’d celebrate once the tower gets fixed, but now…” Maya sighs. “And why do the system-independent countries care so much about this? The tower only malfunctioned for a few weeks! It was alright before that anyway!”
“We don’t know exactly. Dad said that the other side gave no reason as to why they’re starting this war,” Zakira answers. “But… he also said that it’s not difficult to guess their reasoning.”
“It’s not?” Rebecca wonders.
“No. The system-independent countries seem to believe that the WST must have gone through some sort of transformation while that strange lightning was surrounding it. And to be honest, it can mean anything,” Zakira explains.
“Maybe the tower will start giving us even more powerful systems. Or maybe it will just remove Poisons from now on. Or maybe it will keep functioning the same as ever before.
“You see? They cannot take a chance on this variable. This can potentially cause a great power imbalance between them and us. And thus, they wish to seize the tower from us more than ever before. Enough to declare a war on us is the moment the WST returned to normal.”
She’s neither completely wrong nor completely right. As someone who was there in the midst of all the action last night, I know that the system-independent countries do want the WST more than ever before— but only because both sides now have all six primordial users and can pry into its secrets.
And yes, that can indeed result in anything. And it will definitely result in a power imbalance.
Anyway, it looks like the leaders have decided to release crumbs of truth instead of telling the public straight-up lies about the reason for this war.
[A good decision, I think.]
True.
“This is happening so suddenly… it is scary,” Layla says, shuddering a little.
“Yeah, are we even safe being this close to the WST? What if we become one of the casualties? It’s making me anxious…” Maya agrees with a scared look.
Even Rebecca nods solemnly.
Fuck, I didn’t think about that. I need to make sure that my women get back home safely. Hopefully, far away from this war or anything dangerous.
“Are you guys serious!?” Zakira asks, looking at us half in amazement and half in annoyance. “Do you guys believe the war will start in a couple of hours after it’s declared?”
“N-No, but it will after a few days, right?” Rebecca frowns.
“A few days?” Zakira lets out a small laugh. “It takes months! Sometimes even years to prepare for big wars like this. There are resources that need to be gathered as well as troops to be mobilized! Also, considering the fact that this war is way too premature, it might take even longer!”
“Is that so…?”
This gives everyone a slight bit of relief.
“I mean, during all the preparations, there will be small scuffles here and there and other forms of clashes, but even then, Ieproalia is the safest place you can possibly be,” Zakira says further.
“After all, the thing all of our powerful leaders and we are protecting is right here.”
…
I know she is talking about the WST here, but I cannot help but imagine that it also applies to me.
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