Date: Unspecified
Ti: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning, Ti Vestige, Morningstar University 2nd Campus
Earlier, I had planned to groom Corey Bright to serve as my voice in the Dark Realm, with Demigod Redfall backing her. It was a big gamble, but I trusted Corey Park to guide her well. The issue was that Corey Bright was still too weak and needed ti to mature. It would be a long while before she could represent in the Dark Realm.
But with Slay joining our side, I finally felt I had the representatives I needed there.
That left the Card World. I needed soone equally capable and trustworthy to act as my representative here. They couldn’t just be competent—they had to carry real authority. Otherwise, they wouldn’t survive a single day among these hyenas. If power weren’t such a defining requirent, I would have simply made Susan my representative in the Card World and let the others serve as her council.
I had three candidates in mind who fit my requirents, but the problem was that none of them were part of my group. Since I couldn’t find the right person in-house, I was considering an outside hire. They were all capable and powerful, but their loyalty was uncertain. And each of them had prior commitnts and arrangents of their own—I couldn’t be sure they would abandon those to work with .
Normally, if I couldn’t fully trust soone, I wouldn’t even bring them into consideration. But these three were different. I did trust them—just not enough to think they would put my interests above everything else.
The three candidates were Jill Norley, Asong Young, and Agatha.
Each of them possessed the qualities I needed in a representative for the Card World. They had deep experience in this exact kind of role. After all, they had spent most of their lives serving as the representatives of their own respective masters.
Jill had been her father’s representative for as long as she could rember. As the daughter of one of the founding demigods, she grew up dealing with her father’s friends, Masters, from a young age. Let alone the world leaders, they were nothing new to her.
Asong had served as the representative of the people for decades. Even when she was chronically ill and on the verge of death, she still faced world leaders without hesitation, fighting for mortals who had no voice in a world ruled by cards and card apprentices.
And then there was Agatha. She had represented Demigod Windsor long enough to earn a level of trust few could hope for—enough trust for him to leave his daughter Aba in her care and protection.
All three of them were remarkable in their own ways. I’d be fortunate to have even one of them on my side, but I wanted all three. The million-dollar question was whether they would set aside their existing commitnts and choose to stand with when I called.
If not, all this debating in my head was nothing but wasted ti.
I would have to seek them out and ask their opinions in person. I wasn’t sure about Jill or Asong, but Agatha had already spoken to about starting a venture together when Aba enrolled in Morningstar University. Since the university didn’t allow students to bring servants or bodyguards on campus, Agatha would be staying in the Morningstar University District with plenty of free ti on her hands.
She had suggested partnering with to sell the soul-tech dical devices I created using soul craft inspired by modern machinery to cure Lucy Roberts’ autism in Sun Blossom City to mortal doctors and alchemists.
She believed it would provide more accessible and affordable dical care for mortals and card apprentices alike. It was a noble idea, but I had to wonder whether she would be willing to go a step further and serve as my voice in the Five Regions.
"Master!"
As Lucine and I stepped out of the Ti Vestige, a young woman barreled toward her at neck-breaking speed, throwing herself into Lucine’s arms. It was none other than Chief Denise Johnson’s daughter, Ahalya Johnson.
"Laya, you silly child, why are you crying? Didn’t I co back alive and in one piece?" Lucine asked gently as she wiped the tears from her youngest student’s cheeks.
"Master, what about your ti-rule dentia? I heard it flared up and you lost consciousness. Are you really alright?" Ahalya asked, her voice trembling with worry as she searched Lucine’s eyes, trying to see how much the condition had worsened after her trip to the past through the temporal river.
After submitting the results of their research and experints in the Ti Vestige to the university, Ahalya had rushed back to the Garden of Beginning ignoring the Dean’s strict, repeated warnings. She couldn’t sit still after learning how her master’s condition had flared up because of Henricks and that jerk of a master of his.
"Haha, about that—it’s been taken care of. I don’t have to worry about it anymore," Lucine said lightly, offering no further explanation. She knew that if she told the truth, no one would believe her, and worse, it might draw unwanted attention toward .
"What do you an, Master?" Ahalya asked, genuinely confused. It was Lucine who had always discouraged her from researching ti-rule dentia, insisting it was sothing even celestials were powerless against—that she shouldn’t waste her ti on a hopeless project. And now that sa ntor was claiming she had "taken care" of it. Ahalya couldn’t help wondering if this sudden confidence was a symptom of the condition worsening—delusion, denial, sothing slipping through the cracks.
"I cured your ntor’s ti-rule dentia," I said from the side, stepping in when I saw Lucine hesitating to tell her the truth out of fear it would create trouble for . Her clueless self was still trying to "protect" from being targeted by Masters, even though I had already told her that her own university and the central governnt had allied and tried to kidnap in the Southern Capital.
Besides, I was getting tired of waiting for their emotional reunion to wrap up—I needed to let Ahalya know she should head back to Sky Blossom City. Her mother missed her.
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