Chapter 146: Pact

The afternoon slowly faded into night. Haru showed Yukihime where the butterflies stayed, she showed him which flower she liked the most, and time passed in a way he hadn’t realized would go by so quickly.

He returned her to the children’s wing before dinner was called.

"Goodbye, Dad!" she said, running inside.

The caretaker stood there, and so did several of the children who had overheard.

"What!?" one of them exclaimed. "Your dad is a student?"

Yukihime simply nodded, satisfied, and went into the dormitory.

Haru smiled and left.

"What do I do now?" he thought as he walked across the courtyard.

He remembered that he was supposed to wait for the retest. There were so many other things to deal with—the General’s core, understanding Lilith better, processing everything that had happened over the last forty-eight hours.

"Tokyo!" someone called.

Haru turned.

"Baguette!? Fuck..."

Genius was already charging at him, throwing one punch, then another, before drawing his spectral sword.

"Dude, what the hell!?" Haru dodged. "Is this another test?"

"You’ll feel it."

Moments later, the two were fighting right at the academy gates, trading blows, dodging, even laughing in the middle of the fight in the way only people who truly knew each other could.

They didn’t stop until the guards—who were only authorized to watch the outside of the academy—intervened.

...

Some time later, they were sitting in the same carriage.

"You disappear and don’t even look for the others, Tokyo," Genius said, adjusting his coat, which had been wrinkled during the fight. "Life’s treating you pretty well, huh?"

"Shut up. You show up out of nowhere and start throwing punches. I’ve got things to worry about..."

Genius looked at him.

"That’s true," he said, becoming more serious. "Unlike me, you died, so you’re not worried about beating the game anymore. You’re worried about staying alive. But that doesn’t make you any less of a Gamer."

Haru stayed quiet for a moment.

"What are you getting at?"

"We’ve got a pact to make with Flavius," Genius said. "Forgot about the rings?"

Haru rubbed his face.

"I really did forget about that. But I wasn’t worried because, if I remember correctly, before we went to the Cathedral, Flavius said he wasn’t going to turn us in."

"Because we’re a source of knowledge for him," Genius finished. "But just to be safe, we decided to make a pact. We lose nothing. The knowledge he wants is basic stuff for us."

He paused.

"Like mechanics. You know mechanics, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" Haru said. "Easy and cheap."

He began explaining average-level physics, simple engineering, concepts that any average physics student on Earth would know, but that represented a complete revolution in Aethelgard.

Genius stared at him, giving him that particular look of someone recognizing competence hidden beneath stupidity.

This guy looks dumb. But he’s smart. A genius, just like me.

"Remember what you did to that Imperial Gamer?" Genius asked. "Tokyo?"

Haru processed it, the memory returning: the Gamer in golden armor, the numbers exploding across his HUD.

"I hacked him. So what?"

Genius smirked.

"How? How did you do that? I’ve been curious ever since."

Haru gave him a sideways grin.

"Oh, the student wants to learn."

"Fuck off. I’m asking something serious, you damn Japanese hacker."

"Is that an insult?" Haru exclaimed.

"Ore wa Hackeruuu," Genius said, badly imitating him just to mock him.

"Go fuck yourself, French player. Your mouse is a croissant."

They kept insulting each other, genuinely, casually—the kind of comedy that only existed between two people who had already been through Resonance together so many times that rivalry had turned into disguised affection.

They stopped, laughing.

"Okay, okay," Haru said. "I’ll tell you."

"It was like doing a bypass."

"No, no." Genius cut him off. "I don’t want you to tell me how. Better yet, I don’t want you to tell me how to hack. I want to know how you hacked him."

Pause.

"Like, are there limits to hacking? Do you need to breathe the same oxygen? What did the God or Goddess responsible for you say about it?"

"Well, to be honest..." Haru admitted. "I don’t know. I haven’t really tested it yet."

He thought for a moment.

"That day, I just selected the guy in the armor as my target and blasted him. HUD Desync—that’s what I called it, or maybe that’s what the system called it. It’s like I trick his HUD with false information."

Genius stared at him.

"You normal Gamers who have HUDs and all..." Haru continued. "You depend on it way too much. What I call ’Gamer Eyes.’ Without them, or with them feeding you lies, you’re screwed. If you’re experienced like that guy, you’ll hesitate for a few seconds. If you’re a noob, you’re already done."

Genius turned off his own HUD right there.

"From now on, I’m not using my HUD," he commented, suddenly feeling more immersed in the game itself.

"Good," Haru agreed. "Without Gamer Eyes, we can see every detail of this supposed game directly."

"And what’s this thing about a God or Goddess responsible for you?" Haru suddenly exclaimed.

Genius explained—the entity each Gamer could speak to whenever they "got the chance," the one responsible for bringing them to that world.

"I thought Chronia did that for everyone?" Haru said.

Genius froze.

"What!? How do you know the name of my Goddess?... Unless... wait a second. Chronia is your patron too!?"

"No," Genius said, confused now. "That’s impossible. She told me each Gamer has their own God responsible for them. What the hell is this...?"

Haru remained indifferent, not fully understanding why that was strange.

Just as Haru was about to argue—

"Sir, we’ve arrived at the Elegantius mansion," the coachman announced.

That became a conversation for another time. Right now, they needed to deal with the pact with Flavius.

As soon as they stepped out of the carriage, the butler led them into the usual room.

They found Flavius reading, a wine glass in hand, his posture so elegant it almost seemed like a performance.

"Damn, you really overdo it, Flavius," Genius said, looking at him.

"The guy wears a suit even at home," Haru commented, sitting down.

"Long time no see," Flavius said, closing his book. "You two took your time."

He snapped his fingers. The butler left to fetch something.

"School stuff," Genius said.

"So, are the rings ready?"

"The butler is bringing them now."

"We should start going over our vows for the ceremony," Flavius said.

"Let’s just make the pact," Haru grumbled. "Otherwise this is going to start looking like a wedding."

"And isn’t it?" Flavius asked genuinely. "We’re joining together in a pact until death do us part. Beautiful, isn’t it? Hahaha."

"Now I understand why he’s wearing a suit," Haru muttered.

"I put it on as soon as I saw the carriage arriving from my balcony," Flavius said proudly. "I prepared for the wedding, hahaha."

"And you two should be prepared as well," he continued. "After all, we’re going to be united."

Haru stared at him, barely holding back a laugh.

For some strange reason, Genius felt a genuine shiver.

"Dude, this is creepy," he said. "And I’m starting to suspect this ring is going to enchant us."

"Hihihihi." Flavius laughed. "I’m so excited for this."

The butler opened the boxes.

Three rings. Black with golden details.

"I adorned them with gold, the color of elegance and the Empire," Flavius explained, admiring his own work for a long moment before continuing to describe the forging process, the Tacty crystals embedded within them, and the symbolic meaning behind each engraving.

"And finally, the finishing touch," he concluded.

He picked up his own ring.

"Relax, Genials," he said. "The ring only seals the pact once we unanimously agree to its conditions."

Flavius put his on.

"Look, if you’re planning something, we can still hack you, Flavius," Genius warned as he put his own ring on. "Just so you know."

"Hack? What’s that!?" Flavius asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Something that transcends your understanding of magic," Genius explained. "Magic that messes with the programming of what you are."

Flavius looked fascinated.

"Magic that alters reality!?"

"That’s right," Genius confirmed. "Isn’t that right, Tokyo?"

Haru simply nodded.

"As I said before," Flavius continued. "It’s foolish to try fighting Gamers. Last time, you mentioned that you could revive members of your so-called... what was the name again...?"

"Squad."

"Squad. I realized at that moment that the best course of action was to ally myself with you. Going against you would result in what has happened in several villages throughout the Empire."

"What do you mean?" Haru asked.

"They’re disappearing," Flavius said, his voice becoming more serious. "Erased. And the only suspects are Gamers. Dungeons are starting to become nothing as well. There are even Gamers who control entire dungeons."

Genius wasn’t particularly surprised. He simply put on his ring and sighed.

"Beating this game is going to be difficult."

Haru picked up his own ring.

Having a guy with this many connections on our side is the best move we can make.

He put it on.

The three men’s bodies began to glow, golden light flowing from their rings and connecting them in a visible line that pulsed with the same rhythm.

It was time to seal the Pact.

"Let’s begin with the vows," Flavius said, straightening his posture as if this really were a wedding ceremony.