"Sheâs nonexistent for me. Iâll be concerned about an ant more than Iâll be about her. You know I stay away from spiders, right? Just think of her as that," Ryder replied as he sat on the sofa and closed his eyes.
"Did someone from class tell you?" Ryder asked without opening his eyes.
"Yes," Alice muttered as she sat beside Ryder. Her shoulder made contact with his shoulder.
" Can you tell me their name?" Ryder inquired again.
"No. I donât want you to fight a friend as well. They were just concerned about you just like I was when you were like that after that incident. I asked them, no, I demanded that they tell me what happened. Thatâs how I got the answer," Alice said in a concerned tone.
" As I said, you donât have to be concerned about me. Iâm perfectly fine here," Ryder said with a smile on his face.
" I just... If you want to talk about it, just know that Iâm here for you, always and forever," Alice muttered as she rested her hand on his shoulder.
Ryder placed his hands on her cheeks and rubbed them gently.
"Me too. Always and forever," Ryder let out softly.
"You must be tired. So much happened today. Go and sleep," Ryder patted Aliceâs head as he told her to go sleep.
"You too," Alice told Ryder as she sat straight.
Both of them got off the sofa and went to the room as they smiled.
Ryder entered the second bedroom in the big guest room.
He laid on the bed and wore the Divinity Glasses. He remembered how he had to leave suddenly. He wanted to make sure that nothing unexpected happened in the Divinity after that.
"Take Me to Divinity," Ryder muttered.
He opened his eyes and found himself standing in the Great Hall in Deviliaâs Palace.
Ryder looked around and saw a few people standing there.
"You all are still here? Why didnât you all go to sleep?" Ryder asked in confusion.
"Youâre fine! We were so concerned. How could we sleep!" Duke Devilia exclaimed as she heard Ryderâs question.
"Are you fine?" High Duke Mila asked Ryder.
"Of Course I am fine. Rale knows where I went. Nothing can happen to me in that place," Ryder chuckled as he nodded.
" He did tell us that, but everyone was still concerned. Anyway, itâs good that youâre safe. What had happened, though?" She asked Ryder.
"Nothing. As I said, I forgot to do something important that was related to the maintenance of my treasure. It needs that every two weeks. I remembered suddenly that I was late and had to do it in a hurry. Now that you all know that Iâm perfectly fine, you can go to sleep. Iâm going to sleep as well," Ryder said as he smiled.
"Iâll escort you all to your rooms," Devilia told everyone as she gestured to them to follow her.
Devilia showed everyone the rooms they were to stay before she left. She showed everyoneâs room except Rale.
"Whereâs Raleâs room?" Ryder asked Devilia as he noticed it.
" Ah, Isnât he going to follow the Royal Guardian rules? Whenever the King is outside the Palace, the Royal Guard commander personally guards their quarters along with other Guards," Devilia let out as she looked at Ryder in confusion.
" Thatâs right. Iâll be staying in your room to keep you safe," Rale nodded his head.
"So, you wonât sleep?" Ryder asked Rale.
"No," Rale said as he shook his head.
" Thereâs no need to do that. You can sleep in peace. Iâll be sleeping in my special realm instead. You wonât need to protect me there. Sleep well. Iâll see you guys in the morning," Ryder let out as he smiled.
He just came back to calm them down, and now that he was sure he could leave. He didnât need to stay here, and it would be useless to hide that he was going to leave if Rale was going inside with him anyway. It was better to leave now so that Rale could officially sleep and so that no one even tried to target the room.
"But..." Rale wanted to say something, but he was stopped by Ryder, who gestured to him to stay silent.
"Donât worry about anything. Itâs not that I donât trust my safety with you protecting me. Itâs just that I donât want to waste your effort when Iâm not even lying here," Ryder replied as he shook his head.
He opened the system screen.
" Goodnight, everyone. Iâll meet you in the morning," Ryder said smilingly as he tapped on the logout.
Ryder logged out of Divinity and woke up on his bed.
He took off the Divinity Glasses and placed them in his storage.
He got off the bed and left the room.
He believed that Alice was already sleeping, so he decided to check once.
He opened the door of her room gently and looked inside.
Alice was lying on the bed. Her eyes were closed as she slept peacefully.
Ryder smiled as he left the room and closed the door.
He went downstairs and found Shu sitting on the couch. Shu was reading something on his Tablet. There was a deep frown on his face.
"Is something the matter?" Ryder asked Shu as he stood near him.
"Oh, youâre here. Itâs nothing," Shu smiled as he closed the screen.
"Is something troubling you? You can tell me," Ryder told Shu as he placed his hand on Shuâs shoulders.
"Nah, I was just a little too involved in the stock market. The Necrosis Corporation is doing pretty good," Shu muttered as he smiled.
"Of Course. It would be strange if they werenât performing well. Itâs not for no reason that they became the... Ah, I mean, they developed a great tech that changed the world of gaming. Of Course, they will become big, and they will probably keep getting bigger," Ryder replied as he smiled.
"Yeah, the tech is indeed extraordinary. To some, it may even feel like out of the world," Shu chuckled as he shook his head.
"Letâs leave," Shu said as he chuckled.
Ryder and Shu left the palace and reached the car.
" Want to drive?" Shu asked Ryder.
"Hahaha, are you sure? Just this morning, I crashed my car. You shouldnât trust me with driving," Ryder laughed out loud, but he still walked towards the driverâs seat.
Shu threw the keys towards Ryder.
Ryder caught the keys and unlocked the car. He sat on the driver seat while Shu sat on the passenger seat.
Ryder started the car and moved it in reverse as he got it out of the Mansion Entrance before he pressed on the race and started driving it towards the direction where the Reunion was going to take place.
"What do you think about Divinity?" Shu asked Ryder suddenly.
Ryder kept his focus on the road as he answered.
" Our Divinity? Itâs quite incredible, but I think itâs not entirely safe. If you listen to me, Iâll advise you to stay away from it," Ryder replied casually.
"You think so too, huh," Shu responded as he nodded his head.
" I feel like you know something about it. Tell me what it is," Ryder inquired as he frowned.
" Iâm not sure, but... Forget it. Itâs better that I find out everything before I spread this theory," Shu muttered as he shook his head.
"No, tell me. I know a few things, as well. I might be able to help you get an answer," Ryder glanced towards Shu for a brief second before he placed his focus back on the road.
"The involvement of the Government in a game is giving me a bad feeling. These guys never involve themselves this deeply in a project. Even though itâs a groundbreaking tech, but for them to invest this much and to secure the information so securely, thereâs definitely something messy going around in the back," Shu let out as he frowned.
" Of Course, theyâll keep the information secure. Donât they keep all high profile government investments secret? This tech has the potential to be a really big thing in the future. It can be used in many places in the future. They would want to keep it secure and away from the hands of other countries," Ryder let out casually. He didnât find it too strange.
"They keep the information secure and classified, but normally the President has the authority to declassify the information if they want. This is different. From what I heard, even the President canât declassify the information. They need the permission of the president, the Majority members of the ruling party, and the Majority Members of the opposition party to declassify it. All three of them are the key of a single lock. This is what makes it even more strange," Shu explained as he sighed.
Even Ryder started frowning at this information. This was indeed not normal level classification.