While Nexus was busy with Lightning’s training, egged on by Stone at the side, the television-like artefact Isabelle and Nakama were watching had moved over to news in the East. The news anchor — given that the current Pinnacle was widely acknowledged to be an otherworlder, terms from Earth were leaking over to Orb — was talking in a setup that looked remarkably similar to Earth’s own news.

“There is one week before the Human God’s deadline is met, and eyes are trained on the East. Does the God of Water’s murder at the hands of unidentified powerhouses mean the cessation of hostilities? We can only wait for the great god’s judgment.” The news anchor smiled. “Meanwhile, ongoing fights over Feng-Lang continue to make rescue efforts difficult. Casualties are heavy, and the locals are still suffering from the aftermath. Reporter Markov, who just reached an affected town, will now take the scene.”

“Thank you, Emilia.” The screen changed to show a ruined town, and with a jolt, Gaius realised that it was the very same town that Gaius had stopped at when he first left for Eo-Seu, and right now, the viewport of what artefact that was transmitting Reporter Markov’s surroundings was showing a destroyed inn.

It was the one that Gaius had stayed in.

“Some fifteen kilometres above us is an intense battle going on,” said the reporter. “The situation there is unknown, but it seems that both the Thousand Flowers and the Humanity Front are planning on drawing out the battle. Paragon Ying Xin, who was incarcerated recently, has broken out of her prison, and is currently managing whatever remains of Feng-Lang right now.”

The reporter’s surroundings deeper into the ruined town, showing that there were still a few intact buildings. “Whatever buildings that still stand have been converted into makeshift shelters, which contain the less serious cases; severe cases have been moved over to towns closer to Mi-Zu.”

For some reason, Gaius had the feeling that both newscaster and reporter were winging it, but the emotions that flickered on their faces from time to time was far better than the statues the boy recalled back on Earth. And besides, their seeming inadequacy to Gaius could be attributed to the relative nascency of the newscasting vocation.

And besides, coming to Orb was rare enough. The chances that one such visitor was a professional newscaster was…quite low. Sure, anyone who watched the news would think that it was a good idea, but few would have paid attention to how the newscaster presented their information.

Isabelle sighed. “It’s… sad to see these disasters. Maybe we can try helping them.”

“No point sighing about it,” said Gaius. “Do, or do not. There is no try.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, just sitting around here and talking about it isn’t going to change things,” said Gaius. “If not for my…sensitive identity right now, we could have gone over to help out. Bring some food and all.”

“That simple?” Isabelle asked. “I thought you would try to intervene in the Plenum’s infighting. Beat them up a few times, and then force them to sit at a table and have tea.”

Nakama giggled.

“Last I checked, Isabelle,” said Gaius, “I’m still human, and very much a half-baked Knight without any vows. Asking me to take on a single Paragon is doable. Two, three, an entire faction? No can do.”

“You took on Xanadu quite handily, right?” Isabelle asked. “When you two first met.”

“She tried to take me on with weapons,” Gaius replied. “She didn’t have anything as hilariously overpowered as never-ending qi, nor did she use a Dominion.”

“That didn’t stop her and her posse from killing the God of Water, though,” said Isabelle. “But I suppose it’s their public debut. What were they hoping to achieve by doing that?”

Gaius shook his head. “I don’t think the great gods can answer that, so why are you asking me? Nexus doesn’t know either!”

“Did someone say my name?” the sculpture, who was in the middle of training Lightning, asked.

“Nope,” Gaius replied. “Just saying a bunch of random things, that’s all.”

“Alright then,” Nexus replied. “Hey! Don’t slack off! Do an extra hundred float-ups!”

“I really want to ask,” Isabelle said, glancing over at Nexus and company, her hands busy tying Nakama a small ponytail. “But I don’t want to know either for some reason.”

“They’re friendly!” Nakama looked up. “You just need to talk to them gently, and they’ll follow you around after a while. And Nexus can even translate their thoughts too!”

The world’s — probably — oldest artificial intelligence relegated to Nakama’s translator for little, cute artefacts. How the mighty have fallen. Of course, Gaius wasn’t foolish enough to say these words out loud, so he could only pity the unfortunate Nexus in his heart.

“And now, two updates on the South! First, a minor diplomatic row has broken out between the Republic of Francois and the Eastern Territories, after the commander of the famous Thunderbolt Battalion beat up a government official’s son. More details at eleven; our reporter is en route there! Second, a hotshot toy and game-maker has taken his first step into the Southern Assembly’s political scene! Legendary toymaker Flynn…”

Gaius yawned. The name sounded familiar to him for some reason, but a full belly and a comfortable rug beneath him had dulled his mental faculties. This was the first day in the past few months that he felt safe, and he was beginning to feel sleepy. The others were probably feeling something similar — Nakama was on the verge of falling asleep, while Isabelle’s expression had turned…mushy.

Gaius wasn’t even sure if ‘mushy’ was the right word to use, but he couldn’t think up of a better word right now. As he tried to rack his brains, Nakama murmured something, before snuggling into Isabelle’s embrace. A steady, rhythmic breathing followed a moment later.

She had fallen asleep. It didn’t take long for Isabelle to succumb to her fatigue either, and the two girls were soon lying on a fluffy rug. The boy rubbed his eyes blearily, forcing himself to get up to deactivate the television-like artefact.

He ambled back to the rug, tired. By now, Kenouji was probably carving out a place in Upper Elysium, greasing palms and setting up businesses all over the place. It wouldn’t take long before he saw the first hints of their business empire in the area, and…

The boy’s eyelids closed, bringing with it a vast expanse of warm blackness.