The Gamer Chapter 1601 – Secretary Angel (Patreon)

John spotted motion in the corner of his vision.

He raised his eyes from the computer screen, integrated nicely into the wall of the living room, and took a look at it. “Huh,” he let out a surprised sound when he was greeted by the sight of a very annoyed angel flying next to the aircraft.

Even Ehtra had to beat her wings with some effort to keep up with the flying colossus of metal and luxury. Once she realized that she had John’s attention, the First of Hatred sent out an inquisitive tendril of her consciousness.

‘Maybe I have been rebuking you too harshly,’ John greeted her. ‘This is definitely the kind of situation where you can just contact me.’

‘What a well-timed revelation,’ Ehtra answered, her sarcasm every bit as derisive as her scowl. ‘Now let me in.’

‘Right this way,’ John said and gestured towards the wing of the plane.

Considering the particularities of the Abyss, it would have been a hefty design oversight not to have a way for people to join or leave the aircraft mid-flight. John moved to a semi-isolated chamber near the cockpit and went through the motions of unsealing the door.

Mechanisms along the rails of the sliding door assisted the pull. Wheels turned smoothly. Ehtra sashayed up the airplane wing as if it was a catwalk. Her grey feathers and white hair fluttered in the powerful winds of the intercontinental flight, as if they existed to put her in a scene. Smooth as her approach was, her expression remained ever the mixture of stoic disdain as always.

Two steps connected the edge of the wing to the door. Ehtra stepped inside and John dragged the sliding door back shut. His ears popped when the pressure difference made itself known. “Hope you weren’t out there for too long,” John joked.

Ehtra gave him the ‘are you retarded?’ stare. Obviously, she couldn’t have been following them for too long. For one, they had taken off less than ten minutes ago and, for two, the Mobile Barrier only went so far. Had Ehtra not been in the vicinity from the start, she wouldn’t have been able to follow them anyway.

The how she knew about this was easily answered through Metra spilling the beans. After their dramatic conversation, Metra had made the effort to spend more time with her sister – to good effect. Sometimes John still caught the First of Hatred gazing off into nothing in a visible battle against nihilism. By and large, however, she was keeping busy and putting herself back together.

The why she was there was the more interesting question.

“I finally found a use for these things,” Ehtra stated, pushing two fingers into her ample cleavage. John managed to keep his staring in check, instead following the neatly folded piece of paper she fished out and offered to him. He tried not to think too much about where its warmth came from, as he unfolded it.

It was another application, although it was neither a pre-printed form that she had filled out nor for anything that John found displeasing. In fine calligraphy, the First of Hatred had written out a request for employment, listing the services she was willing to provide and the compensation she wanted for it.

John read it all twice, while they returned to the living room. The grey angel’s arrival was met by a nearly universal, mildly surprised ambivalence. “Ya know what I’d want? A pool table!” Rave said.

“I don’t think having heavy balls that can fly around in case of a crash is wise,” John answered absent-mindedly.

“Then why do we have you onboard?”

“…Touche.” John plopped down in a chair and went through the wording a third time. “You have very clean handwriting,” he complimented. Ehtra folded her arms under her chest and waited for him to add something more substantive. ‘Really difficult customer… at least there’s no mention of sexual services in this. Still not sure if she’s coming on to me or not… well, not 100% sure.’ “I’m looking for a permanent secretary,” he told her and folded the paper back up. “It would definitely justify giving you the kind of funding you are asking for. You’ll be working basically constantly though. I am a busy man and a lot of idiots want things from me.”

“The last problem I have in the world is telling idiots off,” Ehtra stated.

“That’s why you’d make for a fantastic secretary,” John stated. “Hear that, Bae, you’ll be relieved of one duty.”

“Affirmative. I shall allocate the freed time in a productive manner.”

John chuckled and turned back to Ehtra. “We’ll draft the official document when we get back. Now… I think you might be stuck here with us. Unless you have a way to hide from the mundane people on the way down.”

Ehtra rolled her eyes, underlining how little that threat meant to her. The words might have carried extra weight if John had taken the time to get rid of his clothes already, but they had been so early in the flight that he had not even gotten through that yet. There were some of his haremettes that had, but most still wandered around in their daily garments.

They would be in the air for about 14 hours, until they reached Taiwan. The Wings of Duty was faster than a standard plane, but not by an exceedingly high amount. It was a long flight, but it was also ludicrous that they could get around half the globe that fast.

‘The jet lag will be annoying,’ John thought.

“So, is anyone going to tell me why you’re suffering the humiliation of delivering tribute to the Mandate?” Ehtra asked.

That was a splendid question, from her perspective. “The official version of events is that I owe them for returning something valuable to me… or Hailey, to be exact.” John would have gestured at the country gal, but she had already found a segment of the storage area and started a small workshop there. John had to triple caution her not to do anything too dangerous. The hull of the plane was made from magical metals, but the demands of an aircraft stated that they had to be light where they could. Even the wooden furniture wasn’t nearly as thick as it first appeared.

“Do I have to pull every last detail out of your nose, blabbering creature?” Ehtra groaned. “Must you love the sound of your own voice that much?”

“Statement: she’s being uncouth.”

“Kinda lucky for her that Aclysia and Claire are preoccupied.”

Ehtra blew air out of her nose, not knowing what forces she was trifling with. Her grey wings stretched subtly. “And?”

“The unofficial story is that I am greasing wheels to buy the west coast territories from the Mandate of Heaven. They currently exist as tributaries of the nation and by bribing its corrupt upper class, I can get them to assist me in the transfer, rather than protect them when Fusion inevitably reaches out.”

The First of Hatred clicked her tongue. “These are the kinds of people I’d behead if this was a civilized age.”

John could not help but laugh at the dichotomy in their ideas of ‘civilized’ conduct – although he could certainly see how the execution of corrupt officials would be seen as the proper thing to do by many. People were generally in favour of executing murderers and the argument could quite easily be made that a corrupt official of sufficient status did a lot more damage than a single murderer, even if it was ‘just’ economic.

But then the question of burden of proof came in and with it the whole host of judgement criteria and differential enforcement. Who was to say that such laws wouldn’t be used to execute officials that had other political leaning than whoever was currently in charge? Put broadly enough, everyone could be found guilty of corruption, just like most modern tax codes had grown convoluted enough that everyone could be prosecuted for fraud.

“Maybe you could behead them in a simpler time,” John stated after his thoughts had run their course, “but we live in a world of billions. We must judge our principles carefully in a world where we deal with so many people we don’t know.”

“Billions…” Ehtra muttered the word to herself, then shook her head. “Ludicrous how much the world has expanded.”

“Despite being born into it, I can only agree,” John said. “Anyway, to go on, I’m also doing this as a personal favour to the empress. We’ve agreed that I will help the Mandate of Heaven thrive until their times of trouble are over.”

“And what do you get out of that?” Ehtra asked.

“An adorable tomboy.”

The answer had Ehtra raise an eyebrow. She mouthed the words to herself, tilted her head, thought about it, then the second eyebrow also rose. “No… No?... NO!” Ehtra looked around the room, meeting grinning faces. “Are you such a lustful creature that 23 is not enough for you?!”

“When Hailey said that number, she already included her,” John pointed out. ‘I think she may also have included you,’ he added silently.

“Not that there ain’t gonna be a 24th,” Rave chimed in.

“Enabler!” Momo shouted.

Ehtra pinched the bridge of her nose. “I am stuck in a den of debauchery. The fat corpse of Akkasat writhes in my memories, his smile a mocking prophecy of the harem I then refused. What, oh you undeclared king, can be the end of your miserable indulgences? Are you such an utter, useless creature that you cannot stand the sensation of your balls weighing on your body for more than a second?! Are you of such weak will, you impudent, soul-rotten perve-“

A chill crept through the room, putting a smirk on John’s face. The Gamer folded his hands in front of his chest and just watched Ehtra slowly turn around to face Aclysia. Right behind the first maid was her vampiric compatriot. Whereas Claire displayed open annoyance with what she had heard, Aclysia’s expression was frozen in a smile.

It was every bit as fragile as the frozen top of a deep lake.

“You’re lucky Master finds you endearing,” Aclysia spoke, her voice dripping with false sweetness.

John found Ehtra’s reaction fascinating. Feathers puffed, knees bent slightly, her sword manifested in her hand. Widened eyes reflected a wariness that he had not seen on her before. “…What are you?” the First of Hatred asked.

“Aclysia, head maid of the Newman household,” the first servant introduced herself to Ehtra.

“I know, we met before,” Ehtra hissed.

“Then don’t ask questions you know the answer to.” Aclysia took a confident step forward. A raised hand was all the signal Claire needed to stay behind in the entranceway. “Ensure that the autopilot functions properly.”

“…Yes, Aclysia,” the vampire maid hissed, with one more glare at Ehtra. “Get your tone in check, there’s a limit to sassing Master out.” Claire allowed herself the formulation of that warning, before returning the way she came.

Aclysia elegantly placed the fingertips of her hands on their counterparts. Little icicles had formed on the black horns. Curved tips framed the base of her high ponytail. Straight hair and even straighter posture gave the appearance that she had all of her ducks in a row. John couldn’t help but marvel at it. All of her recent efforts to reclaim her elegance had borne fruit.

“Your unkind words to Master are most unwelcome,” Aclysia said and took another step towards the First of Hatred. Ehtra fully faced the first maid, her sword now clutched with both hands.

“Ya know, we vibe with tsunderes, but if ya swing that thing at the backbone of our household, imma chuck ya out the window,” Rave threatened melodically from the back.

Ehtra’s eyes darted around. In the room were her, Rave, Aclysia, John, Momo, Beatrice, and Lorelei. It would only take two of their number to overpower Ehtra, three if the combination was particularly low in combat strength. The First of Hatred silently gulped, perhaps for the first time fully realizing the powers she was engaged with.

Slowly, she raised her blade – then offered its handle to John. The Gamer was a tad surprised by the gesture, but took it all the same. Aclysia’s smile took on an honest character. “Perhaps you may be worthy of that uniform yet,” the first maid stated. “Come with me.”

Aclysia began walking towards the kitchen. Ehtra shot a confused glance to John, who deliberately remained passive in every way possible. He wanted to see what the First of Hatred would do in this situation.

After a few seconds passed, she followed Aclysia.