The King sat on the opposite end of the table, facing the Head priestess.
Remembering that orb with wings, the system's book, and now her eyes made him genuinely curious about what sort of lore hid behind all of that.
"Since this is his Majesty's first time in the temple. I would like to honour our meeting with a game," Estella said, causing Ryan to raise a brow in turn, "A game?"
"Yes. A game." The Priestess affirmed before placing her hand beside the carpet floor, pulling out a wooden box.
Ryan first thought of chess when he saw the checkered black and white tiles, but when a ton of colored circles—some painted white, others black—fell out, he realized it was a very different game.
Esteria picked up a black piece before sweeping her gaze over the box.
"The game is simple." She said, "All your majesty has to do is to ensure four of these coloured pieces are connected in a straight line."
'A straight line uhn. Isn't the 4 in a row game?'
He loved the challenge.
Both players stared at the 64-square box. They had to start from the first row and build up from there.
Each player had sixteen coloured pieces. If neither of them had a straight line composed of four pieces, then it was a tie.
Out of respect for his position, the priestess willingly allowed him to go first.
He started by putting a white circle at the end of the third column to the right.
The Priestess reacted by placing her piece directly to the right of his own.
With a smile, he held up a piece and placed it on the square above hers. She answered with an exact move, her black circle on top of his white.
Ryan gleefully smiled from within, keeping his expression masked with a blank face.
As the sound of their pieces smacking against the board continued echoing through the room, that inner smile began to wane, becoming a painful reminder of how easily he'd underestimated the opponent.
Now he had played his ninth piece, and the mildly frustrated Ryan was seeing a jumbled mess of what he'd visualized.
"Has the King ever played this game before while in the Kingdom of Gar?" Esteria inquired as she placed her piece on the fifth row, blocking his white circle from the right.
"A couple of times," Ryan answered.
"I see." Estella fixed her eyes on the board as Ryan placed one of his circles on the left around the sixth column of the fifth row.
Both players were on their twelfth and thirteenth pieces when Estella dropped her token and declared, "You've won."
"Uhn?" Ryan frowned before looking at her, confusion masking his face until he realized the diagonal line that had formed.
"You were so focused on blocking me, you didn't notice the victory until you dropped the executioner."
Executioner refered to a killing move in the games of Tum.
Although he wanted to speak and question her, his voice was immediately silenced when the stars in her eyes gleamed with light.
Suddenly, the floor underneath him quaked violently, the board rambled along the table as its pieces fell off with a stir.
Ryan braced himself, pulling his hand towards his waist when he witnessed Esteria's hair rise from behind her with sparks coursing across each strand.
Then, with a blink, everything returned to normal, and the sparks vanished.
He shook his head only to see Esteria stare back at him from across the table; the board was still in its original form.
"It seems his majesty learns fast." She said, grinning for a moment. "The Chancellor reported an assassin attack during the time of darkness."
Ryan subconsciously tightened his fist.
"He did ask me to confirm if your spirit was still strong from that experience. And I am glad to say it might even be stronger than before,"
'It's stronger because I want to leave this place and not get attacked by some hired assassin.'
Unless his head was hit by an enormous rock, why would he want to stay in that unwanted position in the first place?
She stated further that if rumors were to spread about the daring act, the temple could release a response. As long as the King's spirit was strong, the nation would not crumble; that was the belief of the people.
"So you let me win so you could test me?"
"Some secrets are best kept as secrets."
"Keeping secrets from your King?"
"The Divine bounds me more than mere mortal loyalty ever could."
Ryan's eyes darkened when he heard those words; the system's rejection made it even worse.
[Information about this individual is blocked as your power is still quite low.]
The system's response made Ryan knit his brows in confusion.
"Very well then. Is today's discussion over?"
"Not quite." The Priestess replied as she clasped her palms together and pulled out another box from underneath the table.
The lid slowly expanded, revealing a red crystal with a hole above its head.
"What is this?"
"I believe that goddess Astrix was impressed by today's play and decided to grant you a reward. A flaming shard."
'How sure am I that this isn't you?'
Ryan took the shard out of its box and inspected its info.
[New Item Obtained - Flaming Shard.
Grade - Rare
Description - Once a crystal and having spent decades in existence, this shard appeared when it merged with a beast orb centuries ago. Can be used for recovering mana quickly or inserted into an Affinity Weapon.]
"Once a crystal bonds with the essence of a corresponding elemental animal, it becomes a shard, capable of being forged into a weapon to imbue it with abilities," Estella explained, adding that in some cases those abilities might only be unlocked when a user reaches the stage where the beastial essence allows it to draw out the potential.
"With this gift, I hope you'll come again to the Temple," She appealed.
"Maybe, maybe not. Secrets are best kept as secrets after all." Ryan mouthed as the two priests who had been silent since the start opened the doors for him to leave.
"How petty." The Divine Envoy shook her head, chuckling at his reaction.
Her expression switched to a serious one as soon as the doors were closed, 'Lord of the Land. How would your rule be?'
She chuckled at those words, 'Will it be prosperous or frail?'
~~~
More thoughts lingered in Ryan's mind as his rider rode on with the rest through the streets.
"What exactly did she see?" He mumbled loud enough for Rictor to hear, guiding his steed towards his own.
"Sire. I believe the Envoy's meeting went quite well."
Ryan cast a side eye at Rictor and tapped the rider's shoulder. The horse moved along, distancing itself from its own, an act which left the Counsellor confused.
"Come back here, you little thief!" A loud shout repeated.
From their position, the group spotted a young teenage boy with ragged clothing, running out of an alley with a piece of bread wrapped around his clothes.
Behind him was a fat fellow with a baker's cap, allowing everyone to catch on to what was happening.
As the teenager ran while panting heavily. He spotted the riders, and due to that one moment of distraction, he ended up tripping on a rock.
Once he stood up to resume running, the fat fellow reached out and grabbed him by the collar. Then, without hesitation, he threw him a slap, a tooth rinsed with blood flew from the boy's mouth.
"How dare you?!" The Baker barked as he retrieved his palm and gave the boy a backhanded hit, causing blood to spit out of his lips.
"How dare you steal from me!" The Baker brought himself to his knees and grabbed the boy's dirty collar with both hands. So close he was to headbutting him when a hand tapped his shoulder.
"Who are—" His face slackened after seeing a guard.
"W-what do you want with me? I-i pay my taxes!"
"Look around you."
Baker's face twisted in horror when he saw the number of onlookers staring at him with persistent stares while throwing snarky comments.
"I wonder why he's so fat. He fits those bully stories well."
"He should have used his weight for kneading his dough, yet he uses it to chase children."
"Scum!"
Hearing those comments made the Baker snort, but then the guard threw him a silver coin, "Persistent violence in public is not admitted under the law. You should be fined or imprisoned, but the King decided to let you off with a warning."
The Baker looked at the coin, and his face lit up in greed. "Good." He drooled, letting go of the child's collar before walking off.
The soldier noticed the child, stared at him for a few seconds, before he walked away.
The Boy's heart sank as the sentry rejoined the riders and left.
Seeing them wave the King's flag up high in the air, a strong feeling of bitterness and thankfulness rose within. He walked back to the alley, cleaning his mouth with his fist, when a rough hand tapped him from behind.
He peered with a feisty glare. Another guard was right behind him. "The King instructed that you get treatment. Come with me."
He paused and later stuttered, "T-treatment"
"Yes." The guard replied when the boy turned teary-eyed, holding himself back from flooding with tears.
Meanwhile, Ryan's mind had shifted from the whole ordeal to something else. He glanced at the structure around the mountain ranges.
"Rictor!" He called, decided to drop the feud, and settle it later.
"Where was she put?"
Rictor's expression remained nonchalant as before, "The dungeons, as you asked."
"However, she will not say a word."
"I see," Ryan said as the view of the mountains became bigger.
"Who exactly is responsible?"