Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

She was very disappointed.

Thankfully, she stayed true to her promise and walked out the door. There was a sports car waiting for her, which she got into, then drove away.

"What was that about?" Oz glared at the leaving vehicle.

I looked at the dark woman and shook my head. "Someone fishing for a story."

"Did you talk to her?" Gesai looked at me, then back at the vehicle. "What did she ask you? Is she coming back? Did you get her autograph?"

"Yes. About dad. Hopefully not. And what?!?" I looked at the others. "What am I missing?"

"That was Kater Zorn." Pixie enunciated the woman's name. "THE Kater Zorn. You know the fantasy writer of the Gaither Frell series?" She looked around at us. "Seriously? Have none of you ever read a book?"

I could tell that Gesai had read them and was very into them just by the way she'd reacted. I hadn't had any extra money growing up, so I definitely hadn't branched out into fantasy novels. I looked at the others. Shelly looked confused, Rix was indifferent, Jenne tried to hide her excitement, and Ren had embarrassment all over her.

"So she's famous?" I turned my attention back to Gesai.

"She's more than famous! She's like…" The silver woman thought for a second. "Like Trent was back when he still participated in the Adventurer Games!"

Considering none of us had been alive back then, I wasn't sure how she was gauging that, but I wasn't going to ask her. "I take it you're a fan?"

"Yes!" Gesai looked down the drive. "If we'd gotten back a little sooner…"

I motioned inside. "Well you weren't and now she's gone." I sighed as disappointment clouded Jenne and Gesai's faces. "If she comes back, I'll ask her to wait so that you can meet her."

That seemed to brighten the two of them up.

"The others are getting cleaned up…" The others looked like they had already showered, which was probably a good thing because the bathrooms in our rooms only had toilets and sinks. I nodded back at the bus. "Maybe we could all go out to eat tonight?"

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It took Gesai a moment to switch topics, but after she'd had a few moments to catch herself up on my suggestion, she nodded. "That'd be a great idea."

"Cool!" I looked at Pixie. "Is there anywhere that you'd recommend?"

"Krisa's Cellar!" My cousin didn't need to think about it. "I hear it's amazing!"

"You've never been?"

Pixie rolled her eyes at me. "Mom never let me leave the palace walls much. Plus she has her own chef…" She made air quotes. "And 'we don't need to cause a ruckus by going out in public'." Her tone changed to mock Klix's violent purr.

"Why would your mom think that?" Jenne focused on my cousin.

That was an oops. Shelly, Ren, and Jenne had all been told that Pixie was Kimby Warray's daughter, just like everyone else was being told.

"Uh…" Pixie realized her slip and started thinking. "Mom worked really close with our Goddess, so whenever we went out, Klix would have Scarlets go with us."

"Really?" Jenne looked impressed. "Must have been pretty cool to have your own bodyguards."

"More like babysitters…" The pink-haired woman glared at the Scarlets inside. "I guess some were okay, but most of them treated me like a baby."

"But they're not going to insist on going out with you now?" Jenne raised an eyebrow.

"Gesai is sufficient." I cut my cousin off. I made a mental note that I needed to talk to Pixie about watching what she said around the other woman. I looked at Jenne. "She's level fifty now and with her training, she'd be able to hold out against almost any other Adventurer until the Authority or the Scarlets showed up."

I noticed my CB notifying me that I had a message, so I tuned out the rest of the conversation as I read it. Mostly because it was marked URGENT.

It was from Miel and very short.

BRING OZ TO THE CHAMBER AS SOON AS SHE SHOWS UP.

I looked over at the dark woman. I wasn't sure what it was about, but I doubted Miel was the type of person who worded messages like that.

"Looks like you'll have to go ahead without us." I touched Oz's arm. "Oz and I have just been summoned."

"Someone's in tee-rub-ul." Pixie made a face at Oz.

I sighed. I doubted that it had anything to do with that. If Klix had wanted to berate us about the conflict between Pixie and Oz, I doubted she'd want to do it in the Chamber. Her office would have a more headmistress vibe, and I had a feeling that if Klix was upset about that, she'd hunt us down herself instead of summoning us.

I pulled on Oz's arm as she tried to snap back, interrupting her. I turned to Gesai. "I'll let you know if we get a chance to join you."

I guided Oz back inside before anyone else could delay us. Something about the message made me feel like we needed to be there as soon as we could.