(Jamie)

"What about a race?" Light asks as we approach the housing agency.

"Your AGI is higher than mine," I say. "And Fairies have a higher natural speed than Humans. You'd win."

"Can we please try?" He asks.

He lost the arm-wrestling contest and demanded a retry eighty-three times, even though I only gave him four.

"No," I answer. "It would be pointless, as we know the outcome would be for you from the start."

"What about pushups?" He asks as I push open the door and enter the agency.

"You literally have a Level 10 Skill that improves your ability to do them, as well as how many you can do."

"Okay?"

"That gives you an immense advantage over me," I say. "Someone who doesn't do pushups at all. You can do more than me, guaranteed, purely because I don't have that Skill and you have it mastered. That's a given fact, Light."

As Light tries to figure out some other way we can compete for fun, I approach the counter, where a woman looks somewhat worried.

"I'm looking for a listing of all available houses in the city," I tell her. "I'd prefer to have two floors, plenty of yard space, a basement, at least two bathrooms – though at least three is preferred – with separate spaces for eating, cooking, and a family room. I'd also prefer to have at least four bedrooms, or three rooms with at least one room able to be used for training. If it has protective enchantments on the building, that would be a bonus. Could you compile a list of all available houses that meet or exceed these criteria, and give me that list, their locations on a map to the city, and the prices for each of those houses?"

"I'm sorry," she apologizes, and seems sincere. "But city law forbids any non-Human being from residing in a residence."

"Even if they aren't owning it?"

"Indeed," she looks scared. "It's an old law, and it forbids it completely. They are able to stay in a place like an inn, but not a home."

They can stay in a place like an inn, but there's nothing stopping people from chasing them out of the city.

"Who would I need to speak to about this law?" I ask. "And where can I find them?"

"The City Council," she answers, giving me a few locations where they might be. "But-"

"Compile that list for me," I tell her. "I'll return in an hour or two. Light, Cole, stay here. I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay!" Light says, then looks at her. "Want to play a game?"

I leave the housing agency and make my way to the nearest location. Empty. Same with the next. The next one, I'm informed by a nervous clerk that they're in a meeting at another location at the moment, to discuss some issues that have recently arisen.

She's willing to give me the location, so I make my way there, ignoring the guards who want to stop me as I push open the doors to the conference room with enough force to throw them off their hinges and turn them into splinters.

"Hello!" I greet the startled council. "I was told it was you wonderful people I would need to speak with and propose things to. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Jamie," one of the councilmen recovers quickly. "We-"

"Yes, yes," I wave a hand. "You're in a meeting. See, I went to a housing agency, only to discover that while I can live in a house, my team is only allowed to stay in an inn for the duration of their time within this city.

"So," I say. "I'd like to propose that you vote to overturn the laws and codes and whatever other shit ban them from living and staying in a private residence. Effective at midnight tonight."

"We can't-"

"Actually," I say. "You can. And you will. You see, I have a deal for you. You allow three Ultimate Skill Holders – including two Paladins, one of whom is the seven-century old, quadruple-Ranker King of the Fairies to actually live together in a residence, and… let's see what the Die of Mystery says would happen if you don't allow this."

With a focus solely on them and no other guidance, I toss the black die that appeared when I activated the Skill while speaking. The Councilmen flinch when it lands on the table. The die bounces several times, stopping, then spins and faces me.

The Die of Mystery has decided… Your Targets feel very ill.

Immediately, all of the Councilmen start puking.

"Ouch," I say, ignoring the smell. After dealing with poopy diapers and sick siblings for nineteen years, this doesn't bother me in the slightest. "Let's see if the Die of Mystery will cure you as well."

I toss the die. It rolls, stops, and spins to face me.

The Die of Mystery has decided… To Advance Paladin of Hope a Level! +1 to All Stats, LCK!

"Oh, nice," I smile. "I got really lucky with that roll. Unfortunately, that type of roll overrides the normal effects. Let's try the Die of Mystery again."

The Die of Mystery has decided… To alleviate your Targets' symptoms!

The Councilmen immediately look better, and stop retching… though they're still clearly bothered by the smell and sight of the vomit, which will just make them sick all over again. I try the Die of Mystery.

The Die of Mystery has decided… To clean up the mess!

Immediately, all of the vomit vanishes.

"That was nice of it," I smile at them. "So the Die of Mystery, it seems, thinks it's in your best interest to change the old law. After all, not only did it make you sick for that, but it would be logical, seeing as you'd be allowing a quadruple-Ranker and a King to live here, in addition to a duo of Paladins. How many people with Divine Classes do you know of who live here? You know what, why don't we see what the Die of Mystery says about you allowing them to do so?"

I roll the die, watching as it rolls, the Councilmen looking very, very nervous. They've probably figured out that it's completely random and truly is based on luck, and don't want to find out what happens if it doesn't have a lucky roll for this, since it clearly had lucky rolls for the previous ones.

The Die of Mystery has decided… To bestow wealth upon all within the room! +92,000 Gold Royals! All others receive an amount equal to your gains divided by the number of recipients, not including yourself.

"Oooh," I smile. "That is a very nice bonus, don't you think?"

That had to have been what Light would probably say was an eighteen, and then affected by my 52 LCK to boost the effect further. The fact that it's exactly four thousand times a rounded ten percent of my LCK plus the die roll number lends some credibility to that. There are ten on the Council, so each of them received ten percent of that bonus.

Though of course, it's likely that the real explanation is that they each received four hundred times the sum, and I simply received the total sum of what they all received.

Either way, I'm a fair bit richer, now.

And the Council decides to take a vote on eighty-three different laws, and overturn each and every last one of them, making some amendments or new laws as they do so.

"Thank you," I smile at them once business concludes. "I and my team thank you, and I'm sure my patron deity is quite amused by this turn of events."

Definitely!

-With lots of giggles, Trickster! Dude, the entire fucking Divine Realm is amused by this.

-Lots of love, Vaefor Why do you always pick the interesting ones?

-With Chaotic Order, Itimar

"You two do know that I'm receiving those notices, right?

Sorry!

-Lots of love, Vaefor Oops!

-With Chaotic Order, Itimar

"Does the Divine Realm have more than just the seven of you?"

The gods don't answer.

"I know you two can hear me," I roll my eyes. "You accidentally sent me messages instead of my patron. And I swear, it's the gods with the smallest followings that pay attention to me."

Oh, we're all paying attention to you.

-Freedom and Crafts, Koomo

I sigh.

"It seems the gods are having a little party right now," I tell the council. "And my own patron is probably at the center of it."

Actually, he probably wasn't invited, but that's a different matter entirely, and not one we're going to get into. Though the fact that the gods are paying attention to me is a little… unnerving. Especially since only one of them is my patron.

Odds are, several would have made me their Hero – or a Paladin, if they couldn't do that – if Trickster hadn't gotten to me first. I can definitely see reason that Koomo would consider me for at least Paladin, considering that his two aspects are freedom and crafts, and while I'm not a craftsman, I am an advocate of a fair bit of freedom.

Such as my actions tonight, which, starting at midnight, will bestow a level of freedom to some people who lacked it before.

I thank the Councilmen, then leave, making my way back to the housing agency, where Cole and Light are happily playing cards, Cole teaching the ancient Fairy how to play poker.

The clerks look uneasy – every last one of them. It probably has to do with the scorch marks and lingering frost, as well as the several pieces of smashed furniture.

"What happened in here?" I ask.

"Some Double Ranker tried forcing us to leave," Light says, tossing the cards onto the table, standing, and facing me.

"You got violent?"

"He tried forcing us to leave," he says.

"Physically?"

"Yep," he answers. "So? How did your meeting go?"

A Double Ranker trying to take on Light would be like a fly trying to take on a giant. The Fairy King probably doesn't even realize how absurd the fight probably was, especially considering they saved the structure of the building.

He probably just saw it as having fun.

"Quite well," I respond. "The Council has decided that maybe it's time to change some of the laws, and allow those who aren't Humans to live in the city. It goes into effect at midnight. Let's head to the inn and get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the buildings."

I walk over to the counter, asking for the list and the map. I'm handed it, and after a quick assessment, I determine that there are exactly fourteen buildings that would probably be alright for me, and all are within my budget as well. In fact, due to the generosity of the Die of Mystery, not one of the buildings on the list were outside of the budget.

Those items collected and the agent informed of which ones I'll be visiting tomorrow, I call my team over, and we leave, making our way to the inn. I let them know that I've selected a set of homes from the list, and that we'll be checking them out tomorrow.

Once we arrive in our room, Cole and I strip, then we head to the bath, the Fairy following us, thinking about something.

"By the way," I look at the Fairy once I descend into the bath. "You will need to pick one of the two. Either walk on the ground instead of hover, or wear clothes. I don't care which, but you need to do one of them."

"And why should I do that?" He asks.

"Because if you don't," I tell him. "You'll only ever be able to be a friend or teammate, at the most, and nothing more. Ever. And I will never willingly test myself against you ever again. If we fight, it would be an all-out encounter for me. I would be trying to take you out, not defeat you. In addition to that, you will not be allowed to sleep on the bed with me. I don't care if you sleep on a mat on the floor or a hammock or whatever, but it would not be in my bed, even if on the other side. Ever."

The Fairy thinks. And thinks. And thinks. And thinks. I can pretty much see the gears turning in his head and the frustration he's feeling. However, him doing both of those is somewhat unnerving for him. I'm sure that if he switched to wearing clothes, he'd probably end up in his real form and basically go 'fuck it' to pretending to be a Human. If he switched to walking on the ground, however, he'd probably stay in his Human form.

It might be an asshole thing to do, considering no Fairy does those, but if he's wanting to try to blend in with Humans, it's somewhat of a necessity. They don't fly or hover a few inches above the ground, and at least around here, they don't walk the streets butt-naked. That might be normal for Fairies, but not for us.

Light then floats over the bath, sinking into it. He moves so that he's sitting on the bench, then leans back. He doesn't tell me what his decision is, though, but I know he's come to one.