Chapter 398: The Performance
In the afternoon, Sophia finally secured a window of absolute silence.
She utilized this duration to conduct a high-speed audit of the backlog of
documents on the desk. Most were routine administrative variables—parameters
that could be resolved by simply following the "Recommended Outcomes" attached
by the subordinates.
She deferred a small number of files involving major strategic pivots, intending
to process them once she had achieved a higher synchronization with the Empire's
operational logic.
Through these archives, she learned a staggering amount about the Sovereign's
blueprint.
The Imperial Treasury was robust. Revenue was primarily siphoned from mineral
extraction, cross-planar trade, and service fees from the Transit Hub.
Expenditures were weighted heavily toward military maintenance and
infrastructure. Overall, the balance sheet showed a slight surplus. Logistics:
Optimal.
The Population Demographics were equally fascinating. The Undead accounted for
approximately 40% of the total units, with the remainder composed of various
living races. After several years of "Coexistence Debugging," inter-species
relations had stabilized, though localized friction still manifested
occasionally.
The Educational System centered around the Evernight Academy, with branch
campuses handling foundational knowledge and vocational training. The curriculum
was comprehensive, spanning everything from Mana-theory to agrarian technology.
As Sophia processed the data, she felt a flicker of genuine shock.
This Skeleton had architected a complete, functioning nation in less than five
cycles. Administration, military, economy, education, diplomacy, and law—every
sector followed a precise code. It was a far cry from her era, where she had
merely established a faith-loop, offloaded the management to a bunch of clerics,
and retreated to her Divine Realm to collect Od.
In terms of sheer "Administrative Competence," this Skeleton surpassed her
significantly.
Sophia scribbled an "Approved" on a curriculum proposal for the Academy and
shifted it to the processed stack.
Knock. Knock.
"Enter."
A Skeleton she had never seen before manifested in the doorway. He was shorter
than average, wearing a black robe that looked as if it had undergone a "Wrinkle
Event." His gait was sluggish, his posture radiating a terminal lack of energy.
"My Sovereign..." his voice was a lazy drawl.
Sophia quickly scanned her mental archive of the Seven Sins. Skele-Sloth. The
Lead Unit assigned to the Molag ruins in the Elven Forest.
"Status report?" Sophia queried.
Sloth navigated to the desk and dropped into a chair without a prompt. Sophia
froze for a micro-second. Every other General had maintained a standing posture
during their audits. Sloth simply sat.
Variable Audit: Either Sloth's relationship with Kaito is exceptionally
informal, or he treats everyone with the same level of lethargy. I must maintain
composure.
"Checking variables before deployment," Sloth said, his fingers tapping the
armrest in a slow, irregular rhythm. "The Elven ruins. Preliminary audit
confirms resonance with Molag. The God of Death. Stagnant necrotic energy is
likely to be at a terminal peak. My Shadow Authority will suffer an efficiency
drop in that environment."
"Mhm."
"So, I'm requesting a 'Heavy Lifting' asset. I want to take Gluttony along. If
we encounter a 'Hard-Wall' obstacle, he can tank the variables."
Sophia hesitated. Avarice's original roadmap hadn't mentioned Gluttony. If she
accepted the prompt, she was manually editing a pre-approved deployment. Would
it flag as a "Logic Inconsistency"? But if she refused, Sloth might find it
anomalous, given the soundness of his tactical reasoning.
"Agreed. Have Avarice recalibrate the personnel manifest."
Sloth offered a sluggish nod. "Locked."
He didn't initialize an exit sequence.
"Further queries?" Sophia asked.
Sloth's fingers stopped moving. His soul-fire fixed on her frame. "One more
variable. Regarding Skele-Pride… are you still attempting to link his 'Red
Thread'?"
Sophia's mind hit a total "System Null."
What? Red Thread? Matchmaking?
She possessed zero data on this variable. But she couldn't manifest ignorance.
"Status check: why do you ask?" she deflected, throwing the query back at him.
Sloth tilted his skull. "I calculate the success probability is low. You know
Pride—he's a terminal logic-error when it comes to social synchronization.
Fundamentally, he's just a pile of serious bones."
Sophia worked frantically to process the information. The Sovereign of Evernight
was acting as a Matchmaker for his own Undead Generals? What kind of Authority
is this?
"State your recommendation," she countered, maintaining the clinical tone.
Sloth thought for a long duration. "Change the protocol. Terminate the 'Dining
Sessions.' Arrange a 'Joint Combat Mission' instead. Allow them to develop
synchronization through battle. Units like Pride only operate normally when
they're hitting things."
"You're suggesting we deploy his potential match to the Elven ruins?"
"Negative," Sloth waved a bony hand. "Those little units are only Tier-3; they'd
be liquidated instantly. I mean find a mid-tier task. Pair them up. Let them
grind."
Sophia considered the feasibility. She cared zero percent about Skele-Pride's
romantic variables. But as "Kaito," she had to manifest the appropriate level of
investment.
"Initialize the mission. Locate a suitable task."
Sloth's soul-fire brightened slightly. "Really? You usually handle the
mission-logic yourself."
Sophia's fingers tightened beneath the desk.
"The administrative load is high," she said flatly. "You are delegated to share
the burden."
Sloth stared at her for two seconds. "...As you command."
He stood up and headed for the door. Halfway there, he paused and looked back.
"My Sovereign."
"Status?"
"Your vocal output is remarkably low today."
"Heavy work-load," Sophia replied.
"Reasonable."
Sloth exited.
Once the door clicked shut, Sophia looked down at her hands—bony, articulated,
void of flesh. She mentally cursed the "Director" she was impersonating.
A Skeleton Emperor playing Cupid? What a massive Logic Error.
How many bizarre sub-routines did Kaito have running in the background? The
masquerade was becoming exponentially more complex. Mimicking energy was simple.
Mimicking a personality, habits, and an entire network of interpersonal
"Matchmaking" logistics? That required data she simply didn't have.
The leaks are accumulating. Lust flagged the gait. Sloth flagged the vocal
frequency.
If she didn't accelerate her roadmap, the Sins would eventually trigger a
"Compromised Asset" alarm. She needed two things finalized immediately:
1. Direct Planar Link: Secure actual Authority over the Core so she could drop
the disguise.
2. Power Restoration: Return to at least Tier 5. Tier-5 Temporal Authority plus
Planar control would make her invincible.
But both required Time. And as the Goddess of Time, her lack of it was a bitter
irony.
She reached for the final stack of files. The top document wasn't a standard
administrative report. It was a technical whitepaper regarding the Planar Core.
Sophia's heart (the conceptual one) accelerated as she read the title:
[PROTOCOL: OPTIMIZATION OF PLANAR CORE ENERGY OUTPUT EFFICIENCY (VER. 3)]
The author was a specialized research squad from the Evernight Academy. She
scanned the content. The report detailed the current state of the Core, the
efficiency ratings, and several proposed "Patches."
One paragraph triggered a high-priority alert in Sophia's mind:
"The connection bandwidth between the Planar Core and the Authority-Holder is
currently hovering at 67% utilization. Theoretically, by recalibrating the
energy frequency and data-structure of the link, utilization can be boosted
to 85%+. However, this requires the active cooperation of the Sovereign and a
direct manual modification of the Core Interface."
Direct manual modification of the Core Interface.
Sophia stared at the text, the logic paths illuminating her mind. If she
participated in this project—as "Kaito"—she would gain direct access to the
Core's "Hard-Wiring." During the modification, she could discreetly establish
her own hidden link.
A legendary-tier play. She would execute the "Sovereign's" duty while
simultaneously achieving her own apotheosis.
Sophia scribbled four words on the document:
[PROVIDE DETAILED BRIEFING.]
She set the file on the "Action Required" stack. Outside, the sun was sinking
below the horizon. The shadow of Evernight Castle stretched across the plaza
like a dark hand claiming the city.
Sophia sat in a stolen chair, wearing a stolen face, signing stolen documents.
Everything was proceeding according to her roadmap. The only variable that
caused her processors to lag was the sensation deep within the sealed Time-Space
Domain.
She could still feel it.
That steady, quiet soul-fire that refused to go offline. Statistical Anomaly:
Kaito remains active.