“What did you have for dinner, over at the Eastern battlefront?” Nexus asked curiously.

Gaius paused; the spoon laden with gravy-drenched rice brought to an abrupt standstill as the boy considered the question. “Mostly? Barbequed meat. Lots and lots of meat. You can smell it from a mile away. In Eo-Seu, in Feng-Lang…the chefs grilled meat every day. It tasted great for the first week, and I got sick by the second.”

“That’s quite bad for the stomach, right?” Isabelle asked. “The teachers at Nakama’s school stressed on the importance of a balanced diet. Something about the smoke being bad for the body.”

“Which is why I stopped eating their food after a while.” Gaius shook his head. “Admittedly, the sight of a whole bunch of Knights queuing up at the toilets was rather fascinating. I thought we didn’t need to go to the toilet anymore at that realm.”

Isabelle tilted her head. “That is partially true, since the body of a Squire and beyond is able to break anything ingested down into qi. Whatever that remains is the indigestible, which can remain in the large intestine for a very long time, until enough remains to be expelled.”

“Of course,” Nexus chipped in, “ablution does something similar. But the end result is the same — a stinking mess. The fact that so many Knights ran for the toilet probably spoke volumes about the meat they ate.”

Gaius mulled over these words for a moment, before remembering something. He got up from the dinner table, rummaged through his backpack and took out a box.

“What’s that?” Nexus asked.

“It’s the remnants of the Crystal of True Restoration, after I used it.”

“Please do not open it here. We’re still having dinner.” Isabelle glared at Gaius, and an odd sense of gratification welled up within the boy when he noted the absence of the reverence she usually had when talking to him. Clearly, being by Nakama’s side had weaned her off the overly-respectful demeanour she carried when talking to Gaius.

“Alright, alright.” Gaius placed the box onto a nearby chair. “Looks like Nexus told you about what happens to the Crystal after it is used, eh?

“Yup. How was your trip, Mas— Gaius?”

Gaius looked around, and noticed that Nakama too was listening intently. “Horrible. Eo-Seu fell within a week. The Lifespring somehow managed to gather a huge force, and then killed almost every single elite defending Eo-Seu. Only a few of us lived to tell the tale.”

“Wasn’t that the day after the Demon God fully awakened? When the Demon God used its power to push back the influence of the great gods?” Nexus asked curiously. It thought for a moment, and added, “You know, the day when a black line appeared at the horizon.”

“Oh, that. Yes,” said Gaius, “it was the day after that.”

“Looks like the Lifespring’s actions were forced, then,” said the artificial intelligence.

“What do you mean?”

“When gods clash, they expend their powers. Of course, now that their Divine Kingdom has been forced onto Orb, their expenditure is lesser, but to churn out such a force after battling another god is an incredibly risky gamble,” said the artificial intelligence.

“You seem rather knowledgeable in this aspect.” Gaius played around with a fishball on his plate. “Or is it because you are able to tell me now?”

“The latter, probably.” Nexus bobbed its head. “The more chaos there is, the quicker these restrictions loosen. But let’s put that aside for now. At least, it seems that Conrah’s gambit has paid off — he must have felt desperate when he saw the Worldshaper’s success in taking part of the Southern Continent.”

Gaius placed his fork down. “Which part?”

“The World’s End chasm. Fortunately, Liamar has not made any further movements, but the entire place is a stronghold of strongholds. His ranks continue to swell every passing day, to the point that the Southern Assembly and the Republic of Francois have been forced to cooperate.” Nexus shook its head. “Not even a year, and old enemies have become friends. Politics makes strange bedfellows…”

“I saw the red star…his Divine Kingdom, being forced out of the Central Continent,” said Gaius. “What was that about?”

“No answers. Just guesses. Still interested?”

“Go on.”

The others nodded along with Gaius, clearly interested.

“As the first great god to descend, Liamar probably wanted to occupy the Central Circle, to force the others into occupying the other continents. None of the other gods would dare to descend directly on him, once he had a day or so’s worth of advantage,” said Nexus. “Which meant that when the other three descended, they would occupy one continent each, leaving one more open. With the access afforded by occupying the Central Circle, the Worldshaper could wage war on the last continent, thereby gaining more land.”

“Which indeed happened,” Gaius added on slowly. “Given enough time to consolidate, Liamar would have occupied the Central Circle and take over a good chunk of the South at the same time.”

Nexus nodded. “That said, we’re still working on assumptions so far. The fixation on territory is something I cannot fathom, for one. Why would the great gods need to fight with mortal nations for land? It’s not like they’re using it for crops or something.”

“Don’t you have an answer for that?” Gaius asked. “It’s the whole ‘I can’t tell you until you get close to the truth’ thing all over again.”

“That’s not it. This whole situation…I do not have any knowledge about it whatsoever. There’s no restriction on me whatsoever regarding this, but rather, this is a first in Orb’s history.” The sculpture shivered, and Gaius was struck by how life-like the emotion showed on its face. “I…don’t know what to make of this.”

The boy stared at Nexus. It was the first time he’d seen it show fear. Even in the face of gods, it hadn’t flinched, but perhaps, Nexus had been relying on its profound knowledge the entire time. Without even a hypothesis to work on, Nexus was probably terrified, in a matter of speaking. Isabelle and Nakama had also noticed the anomaly, and Gaius could feel their gazes fall on him.

The boy mulled over his next words carefully. The artificial intelligence was badly shaken by its newfound inadequacy, or something similar to that. Gaius had a feeling that if he didn’t address the issue properly, something might just happen.

“Look,” said Gaius, “it’s okay if you don’t know. That’s how most of us live. What matters is that you make the effort to find out, right? It’s a challenge. Not a wall you can’t overcome.”

“But if I don’t know…I’m useless, right? You’re going to abandon me too, no?”

Gaius shivered inwardly at the bleakness of Nexus’ words. “No one said that. Me, Nakama and Isabelle…no one looks at you based on your usefulness. You’re a friend of ours. A guardian.”

“Mm!” Nakama nodded vigorously. “You’re a friend!”

“Indeed. You helped me when I was in need. You’re not just a tool; you’re a friend!”

Gaius spread his hands. “There you have it. So, don’t go fretting about your lack of knowledge in this area, because everyone else is equally clueless. So take that claptrap about being abandoned and throw it out of the window, because no one’s going to do any abandoning here. Got it?”

Nexus nodded slowly.

“Good.” Gaius stretched his arms. “Let’s go get some evening air after dinner.”