After the food just magically appeared in front of them, or so it appeared as she actually moved in between her seat and the kitchen so fast that there was no way of telling, they started eating.
"So… What do we do after we this?"
"We will go bowling!"
"You sure went through a lot of trouble when building this place, huh…"
"Yes! However, when you can move at super speed, it's a piece of cake, really! I hope the food is to your liking?"
"It's delicious. Without a doubt the best I ever had."
"Hehe, well, I'll be sure to let the chef know~"
Moving on to the bowling part, which was as close to modern standards as possible, with exception of the monitors keeping score. There was even a small bar with tables, though no one was working there.
"I will proceed to destroy you now, Master! Be ready to grant me any wish I have as reward!"
"Oh? Don't you know by now that I rarely lose at anything? But by all means, be my guest and give me all you've got."
"Then we will play with only one throw each for ten rounds! You start!"
After both hit nine pins on their first try, it became apparent that they were quite evenly matched. Especially as the game progressed with only strikes from then, until the last round, where it was now Yamato's turn. Really wanting to win, Yuki sneaked up on him and blew into his ear as he was about to throw, which affected him more than he thought it would. However he still managed to hit one out of ten, giving her enough room to comfortably win with this final throw as long as she scored at least two.
"Too bad, Master! I was only trying to give you a good luck charm, but it seems it had the opposite effect… Well then, my turn~!"
As she was getting into position, he thought about getting her back and sabotaging her as well, which he had all right to do so. However, seeing her excited expression and the lengths she was willing to go to, he could not bring herself to rob her of the chance to win. As much as he wanted to win himself just for the sake of it…
"I already know what I'm gonna wish for once I—"
"-Mistress Yuki, it's an emergency! An emergency!"
As Yuki was about to throw, Petrisha had rushed in and the sudden noise of the door distracted Yuki enough for the ball to land straight in the gutters, leaving her with a zero and a loss.
"…Petrisha… You…"
Staring at the ball that missed everything rolling back in front of her feet, she could not help but feel robbed of everything that could have been if only Petrisha had never been born. What an utopia the world surely would have turned into, if only the apex of all pests had died at birth. But then she remembered that the universe was against her, and therefore her noble and selfless desire for Petrisha's immediate downfall would naturally be ignored. Truly a sickening world with no hope or justice, besides her one true light. The light rested on her shoulder, cheering her up in her time of need, in its infinite compassion and grace.
"Don't worry, Yuki, I'll still fulfill your wish, whatever it may be, okay?"
"Sniff… Master…"
Moved by the lights true beauty, her anger was completely forgotten and she already forgot the pest's existence, until it spoke again with its annoying and repulsive voice.
"Mistress Yuki, I don't mean to rush, but there is a serious problem outside of town!"
"What kind of problem?", Yamato asked in Yuki's stead.
"It's the Empire of Humanity! Their whole army is outside and there is a messenger that is waiting for you, Sir!"
"Their whole army…?"
"That doesn't seem right… I already concluded they are unable to go all out because of Natsumi… Was I wrong? Or maybe she suddenly lost on influence, or is unable to affect their decisions to that degree for some reason…? If she is here, I should be able to confirm that. But the citizens… Yuki should be able to hold them off though. But for how long? And should I really depend on her for this? Well, either way I have to talk to that messenger first."
After pouring himself a glass of water at the bar, Yamato signaled for Yuki that they would be leaving now and turned to Petrisha in the doorframe.
"You can bring the messenger to the throne room, I will be waiting there. After that, you can just continue with your work as usual."
"Yes, Sir!"
As they walked through the hallway to the throne room, Yuki tucked at Yamato's sleeve to stop him.
"Master, something is off here… I should be able to tell how many people are outside of town, but I can't."
"As in, you can't tell the number of people or their presence at all?"
"The latter, I'm afraid…"
"Huh… Well, don't worry about it. I will figure something out."
"Okay then…"
"Would it be of help if I just killed them all right now? Maybe… But I also really want to see how he will solve this situation… Ah, I truly can't wait to see his glory shine onto the battlefield… Although, maybe not directly the battlefield… I want to keep him here all safe and sound, after all~ Hm? What's that?"
Sensing something approaching them without a physical form, even reaching into the cube, though only through an open door and not through the walls, Yuki became quite curious on what it was. Walking as if nothing was wrong, she personally blocked whatever that was from coming any closer and took a closer look at it. It seemed to he some sort of surveillance, as far as she could tell. If she had to describe it, she would use a drone as comparison, though it was invisible to the naked eye. Even more invested now, she peeked inside the drone, and found where it was linked to by brute forcing her way through whatever was already connected to it, which seemed to be the consciousness of a person. Now in the mind of whoever was trying to spy on them, she first listened to what that person was hearing.
"And? Are you there yet? What can you see?"
"N-nothing, I'm sorry… I'm trying to move further into that large structure you spoke of, but I seem to be stuck for some reason…"
"Are you kidding me?"
"No, I would never dare make fun of the great Nakahara Hana, not even think about it, no. I am but a humble servant of the emperor after all, here to help you the best I can."
"Urgh, I didn't ask for a whole speech. Just hurry up, I wanna see what's going on in there."
"I believe I can move forward again in just a moment…"
"Urgh, why is it only you are allowed to use that crystal anyway? I bet I could do it way better. You're just doing it wrong!"
"I assure you I am the only one capable of using it, and it was the Emperor himself that prohibited you from engaging with it."
"Argh, just hurry up!"
As Yamato and Yuki arrived in the throne room to wait for the messenger, she chose to have a little fun while she was connected to that man's consciousness. Waiting around was rather boring, after all.
"Oh, what do we have here? A high mage, with an special ability. Seems to have something to do with that crystal they mentioned. I'm guessing it's the source of this interesting magic. Let's see… So you see what that drone like force can, huh? Trying to spy on Master and myself, that is quite rude.
I can't let this go unpunished, obviously. However, as long as that connection exists, I might as well use it to get around whatever is blocking me."
Arriving in the throne room,Yuki kept an eye on everything the mage could see and hear, though it seemed that housing part of her consciousness was extremely exhausting for the mage, so as he failed to get deeper into the Cube, he asked for a break which limited Yuki's vision immensely. So while they waited for the messenger to arrive, she left the mages consciousness and jumped to a near by soldier's one instead.
Meanwhile the messenger finally arrived, dressed like the one Yamato declared war against after he took control over the town. He wondered if this was a different one because the other one faced consequences due to his actions. After all, if you send an envoy to a rebellious town and thag town suddenly declares itself empire and at war with you, you would wonder what that envoy did wrong. But in his defense, Yamato would have done nothing different regardless of what the envoy had said. The new one was accompanied by Petrisha who left after opening him the door and closing it behind her, the sound of it shutting echoing through the long hall followed by the messenger's steady footsteps, though he seemed slightly nervous. Yuki stood next to him and was not paying much attention to what she assumed would just be some nonsense anyway. However Yamato had to listen to it since he was the one directly addressed, of course. Though by his bored expression and his head leaning into his hand on the armchair, she guessed he was not too invested either. But at least he listened.
"I stand here in the name of our glorious emperor Arctinus and supreme mage Nakahara Hana. We demand your immediate surrender, under the following conditions—"
"Declined."
"I-in that case, you leave us no choice but to take drastic measures! Your actions are an affront to the very foundation of the Imperial Government, and will be treated as high treason. Therefore, you will be executed okce captured without a trial. Do you still wish to fight against an army 200.000 men strong?"
"200.000? So it's not your entire army after all? I suppose that makes things easier to some extent. Though I already counted on you to be 600.000… Well, whatever. You can tell your superiors that if they continue to bother me we will be the ones using drastic measures. Your angel is no threat to us, and you should know we already defeated her once, which I assume she did not tell you. I am the some legitimate divine authority in this world, and you will come to learn that the hard way if you do not immediately surrender yourselfs. You go tell them that, okay?"