I Am the God of Games

Northern Lancaster.

If the previous two rounds of the Twin City Cup charged the atmosphere of the city, the Third Round directly ignited the excitement for all Lancaster citizens, with everyone leaving the streets empty as they went to watch the tournament.

Aside from some merchants on the commercial street who couldn’t afford to close their shops or were not interested in the tournament, there was basically no one to be seen on the streets of the northern district.

After all, this district was a slum-beggars and pickpockets would have better gains at heavily crowded areas.

Even so, two unfamiliar figures could be seen walking the rather filthy streets here.

“Your high-milady, is it really alright for us to come out here?” Boris asked carefully as Princess Leah walked ahead of her. “We should at least inform Lord Vanke…”

“If we do, he’s going to give me an earful and stop me from coming.” Princess Leah refused determinedly.

“But there are many eyes around inside Lancaster. It will be troublesome if you’re recognized.” Boris dissuaded.

“It’s fine. Everyone left to watch the tournament, and there’s basically nobody anywhere else in the city.” Leah dismissed him nonchalantly. “And we’re just coming out to play.” Boris the guard made a helpless face: so that’s why we’re here? To play?

However, Princess Leah didn’t pay attention to the look on his face and kept disguising her slipping out as serious business. “I heard a few Players mentioning that red names were showing up at Northern Lancaster. They are the enemies of the Church of Games, and with other Players being busy with the Twin City Cup while yours truly being not allowed to play -I mean, not involved, I’m the most suitable person to investigate this matter!”

“But didn’t Lord Vanke and Lord Angora believe that it was normal?” Boris replied, trying his best to stop Princess Leah from slipping away and return to the guesthouse. “News of the Twin City Cup had spread far and wide after the last two rounds, and visitors are coming from as far as Wickidor now…”

Even if this was a fantasy world, it was rare for most peasants and minor nobles to encounter magic, sacred arts or combat aura. As such, an occasion such as the Twin City Cup where a crowd of people with supernatural powers were beating each other up was something they might not even see for a lifetime.

Moreover, with Xi Wei replaying edited videos that took inspiration from Earth’s game or reality tv shows, its outreach potential could instakill the Brilliant White Church’s preaching! With so many watching the gif images begging of more, who wouldn’t want to see the real thing after those thrilling edits?

“With so many believers of different churches here, it might be unavoidable if those…” Boris paused at that as he corrected himself. “I mean, deviants who view the God of Games as a heretical god…”

He was about to mention that ‘those churches that invaded Tierra’, but soon remembered that the Brilliant White Church was a part of them and yet their monks were just yellow with a little shade of orange. That meant that they were neutral units that were unfriendly, but not red hostiles.

Princess Leah snorted then. “If there really are enemies of the God of Games, I don’t think they are here for peace and friendship if they still come inside the city after the Twin City Cup was announced.”

“That is true, your hi—milady, but there’s no need for you to come personally, is there? If anything happened, us royal guards have the whole country (Tierra) to answer to.” Boris scowled.

“It’ll be fine. At worst, I’ll die… and hadn’t I died before? There’s nothing new about that.” The girl smiled unusually carefreely, although her guard was taken aback. “Please don’t make such a joke, your highness!” He said, before solemnly tapping his chest in assurance. “I will definitely keep you safe even if it kills me!”

With that, Boris took the lead and scouted the way ahead suspiciously. He looked so careful that he would notice grass moving with the wind, fearing that a mouse leaping out of a ditch could stab him to death.

“Clear, your hi-milady. Come on!” He whispered, after studying the path ahead for half a day and ensuring that there were no threats.

And yet, there was no reply after half a beat aside from the whooshing of cold winds.

Promptly turning, he realized that there was only a ghost street behind him, and Leah’s figure was nowhere to be seen. He went pale in shock.

“Oh no, what should I do now?

‘I lost the princess!

***

Leah was slowly advancing in the aqueducts.

Boris was really making mountains out of anthills back there, and in the very least, Leah wasn’t convinced that he could find any red names.

And naturally, aside from avoiding her annoying escort, there were other reasons she wanted to come here.

As mentioned before, Lancaster’s aqueducts were very complex, and the Players had yet to fully explore it.

Still, since this place was inhabited by some small monsters that weren’t strong, many newbies who couldn’t win against skeletons would come to explore it. The red names had also been spotted in the aqueducts aside from Lancaster North, although it was glimpses most of the time and the newbies could have been seeing some monsters escaping from them.

Moreover, even though an entire group of red names would definitely stand out, but no Players had yet to found a specific place where they gathered.

With that thought in mind, it was very likely that they were using the aqueducts as a hideout, just like the Players did at the start.

With that thought in mind, Leah began scanning randomly around the aqueducts of northern Lancaster. And after watching for over half an hour, she found several suspicious figures with red names hanging over their heads, vanishing with a flash at the mouth of the aqueducts!