"You give us a complete map of the Cathedral. Escape routes. Guard schedules. Everything."

"Done."

"And if it goes wrong... you get us out of there."

Flavius smiled. "Impossible. But I can create a distraction."

Genius nodded. "That’ll do."

Flavius spread a large map on the table, a complete architectural plan of the Cathedral, three floors above ground, five underground levels.

Genius leaned forward, studying it with clinical eyes.

"Routes..." he murmured, tracing with his finger, "...how often do guard patterns change?"

"Three hours." Flavius replied. "Full shift."

"Ideal time..." Genius calculated, "...midnight. Shift change. Five-minute window where guards communicate positions."

Haru looked at the map but ignored most of it.

"Too much strategy. Complex plans fail quickly."

"Or..." Haru said loudly, "...we go in during the day. Disguised as students."

Genius looked at him as if he’d said something crazy. "During the DAY? With the Cathedral packed?"

"Exactly. Packed. Nobody notices two extra people in the crowd."

Flavius watched the two, fascinated.

"These so-called Gamers... always so intelligent. One thinks like a general. The other like a warrior. Completely different, but both right in opposite ways."

"Interesting..."

"Your plan is suicide," Genius argued. "During the day there are teachers, students, priests..."

"And at night there are trained guards, active magical barriers, alarms..."

"Which I can deactivate!" Genius interrupted.

"Do you know how to use holy magic?" Haru doubted.

"I know how to work with systems. Magic is a system."

"Holy magic doesn’t have a code!"

"EVERYTHING has a code!"

They stared at each other.

Flavius coughed, hiding a laugh.

Yukihime looked at the two of them. "You two look like Mom and Dad arguing..."

An awkward silence.

"Okay..." Genius took a deep breath, "...what exactly is your plan for the day?"

Haru explained: "We disguise ourselves. We enter as visitors or new students. We go down to the basements during class. We get the artifact. We leave through the window."

"And the guards in the basements?"

"We fight... Or avoid them?"

"FIGHT!?" Genius shouted. "In the middle of the Cathedral!?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Genius thought.

He looked at the map and back at Haru.

"...Actually... if we combine the two plans..."

Haru smiled. "Now you’re talking my language."

Genius traced a route on the map.

"We’ll go in during the day like you said. Disguised. But we’ll follow my route to the underground levels here, here, and here." He pointed. "Avoid 90% of the guards."

"And the other 10%?" Haru asked.

"Then you fight." Genius smirked. "Since you like it so much."

Haru laughed. "Deal. But when we run into a magic barrier that you can’t move..."

"That won’t happen."

"When it does..." Haru insisted, "...I’ll blow everything up and we’ll run."

Genius sighed. "You’re too chaotic."

"And you’re too perfect."

"Perfect works."

"Chaos works too."

They looked at each other, then smiled at the same time.

"If it goes wrong..." Genius said, "...we’ll follow yours."

"If it goes right..." Haru added, "...we’ll follow mine."

A functional respect was being born.

Flavius watched in amazement.

"They disagree on everything... but they don’t really fight. They complement each other. Like... a Guild."

```

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

◊ Genius Genials sent SQUAD INVITATION

◊ Accept? [YES] [NO]

◊ Warning: Accepting prevents mandatory kill quest

◊ Warning: Squad data sharing enabled

◊ Warning: Betrayal may result in severe penalty

```

Haru looked at the Genius.

"I know you don’t have a Squad... and it’s the only way to prevent the system from penalizing us for not killing each other..." Genius explained seriously, "...and unlock cooperative features."

"Like what?"

"Map sharing. Mental communication without delay. Skill combos. Member resurrection."

"Resurrection of Members! But something new to discover..." Flavius and Haru exclaimed mentally...

Haru hesitated. "Joining a Squad means trusting. And I barely know this guy."

But he looked at Yukihime.

"But if the artifact exists... we need to get it... or take a look."

```

[ACCEPT SQUAD INVITATION?]

```

Haru took a deep breath and accepted.

```

[SQUAD FORMED]

◊ Members: Haru Mizuki, Genius Genials

◊ Squad Name: [PENDING]

◊ Mandatory kill quest: CANCELLED

◊ Shared features: UNLOCKED

```

"So you didn’t have a Squad either!?... You lied about having one?"

Genius smiled. "Welcome to the Squad."

"It doesn’t have a name yet." Haru pointed out.

"We’ll think about that later. First... let’s steal an artifact."

Flavius clapped.

"Wonderful! So we have a deal?"

He looked between the two.

"You steal the artifact. I provide information and distraction. In exchange... you periodically pass on your gaming knowledge to me."

He paused.

"And we make a binding magic pact so that no one betrays anyone."

Haru and Genius looked at each other, then at Flavius.

"Deal." They said together.

Flavius smiled broadly. "Two gamers working for me... oh, the possibilities..."

...

Yukihime had been taken home by Flavius while Haru and Genius prepared to enter the Cathedral.

"Looks like the meeting is over..." Haru murmured, watching the flow of students.

"Meeting!?" Genius asked distractedly, studying the map.

"Well, the first artifact is..." he traced a line with his finger, "...in the library. Just get the Tacty."

"What’s that thing... Tacty?" Haru asked.

"A ruby that interacts with the soul. Used to make magic pact rings."

"Now I understand!" Haru looked at his own Valtherion ring. "That’s why it burns my soul..."

"What!?" Genius turned to him.

Haru explained: "Valtherion forced me to wear this ring if I wanted to be his daughter’s bodyguard. The slightest intention of betraying the family... my soul burns."

Genius processed. "So you spawned there already in that situation? I think you followed the game’s script too closely... to get out of there you had to be Isabela’s bodyguard..."

He paused.

"Wait... you’re VALTHERION!?"

"Yeah..." Haru scratched his head, "...kind of like Chronia’s punishment for me touching those delicious melons of hers. Hehehe..."

"You touched Chronia’s MELONS!?" Genius burst out laughing. "How was that!?"

"Man..." Haru gestured in the air with his hands, "...huge. Soft. Perfect. Like this." He made a melon shape, "...and when I squeezed it, it was like BOING!"

"BOING!?" Genius repeated, laughing loudly and gesturing. "Like a magic pillow?"

"EXACTLY! Only better! And she turned bright red!"

People around started looking, students, nuns, teachers, tourists, visitors...

Murmurs of disdain:

"By the Gods... what kind of conversation is this?"

"In the Cathedral..."

"Young people today have no respect..."

They quickly composed themselves, coughing awkwardly.

"Let’s go..." Haru said softly.

They left, heading to the library where Tacty was supposedly located.

<FLAVIUS’ EXPLANATION: Hours earlier, at the Elegantius mansion:>

"The artifact that detects Gamers is a problem..." Flavius had explained, "...but before that, we need to make a ring to seal our three-way pact."

He spread the diagram on the table.

"To make a ring of this nature, I need Tacty. A special ruby that, when used properly... binds souls to the pact. The Cathedral has it on the covers of special books... some don’t even know its true value."

Flavius pointed to a location on the map. "Library, restricted wing. They take three Tacty. One for each."

...

They walked through the corridors towards the special wing.

"In my case..." Genius said casually, "...I chose to transmigrate into Genius Genials. He dies in the original game’s story anyway. This way I prevented the Genials house from falling apart, his father from becoming a villain and..."

"You chose who to incarnate into!?" Haru interrupted, astonished.

"Correction: transmigrate." Genius corrected. "Incarnating is being reborn. I transmigrated, into an already existing body."

Haru stopped walking. "You chose who to transmigrate into!?"

"Yes... the normal one." Genius shrugged.

"DAMN IT!" Haru thought. "Am I really that unlucky a gamer? I could have chosen to transmigrate into Arthur’s body..."

"I thought about Arthur..." Genius continued, "...but he was already taken. After all..." he looked at Haru curiously, "...who is this Haru Mizuki in the game?"

Haru stared at Genius.

Genius understood.

"No way!?"

"Yes, it is..." Haru realized his own situation for the first time.

"So you really are Japanese!? Hahahaha..." Genius laughed, "...what a mess, you ARE you here! Could it be because of groping Chronia’s breasts?"

He laughed without knowing if that was a disadvantage or an advantage for Haru.

"As if that wasn’t enough..." Haru murmured, "...I can’t even see the HUD..."

Genius fell silent.

They had arrived at the entrance to the special books section.

Two guards stood at the door, armed and alert.

"Apparently..." Haru whispered, hiding behind a bookshelf, "...we won’t be able to fight here. We must find a way to distract ourselves without drawing too much attention."

Genius paid closer attention, observing.

Students could enter, provided they were identified.

"I have an idea, Japanese..." Genius smiled.

...Moments later:

"I think this book is good..." a student was saying to another near the bookshelves, "...it explains things very well..."

Haru grabbed his mouth from behind, silencing him.

The other turned around, Genius struck him on the back of the neck with surgical precision, and he fainted.

The one Haru was holding began to drowsy until he also fell.

"I told you it would work, Japanese..." Genius murmured, removing the unconscious student’s clothes, "...although if we used magic it would be a little less painful."

"Using magic here..." Haru, also removing the other’s clothes, "...triggers alarms. You don’t want Custodians after you."

He put on the Cathedral uniform, perfect.

"And stop calling me Japanese. Haru is my name."

Genius, also dressed, nodded. "Closed, Tokyo. Hehehe."

Haru sighed. "This guy..."

They dragged the unconscious bodies behind shelves.

They headed towards the door of the special wing.

They passed through the door calmly.

But the guards stared at them suspiciously, something was wrong but they didn’t know what... yet.

Haru walked without looking back. "Don’t show nervousness..."

**TLINK.**

Sound of metal falling to the floor.

Genius’s Custodian coin had fallen out, the pocket of that outfit was torn.

The guards turned.

"Hey, stop!" They both stopped.

Haru stood there without looking back. "Shit..."

Genius turned around, smiling naturally. "Ah, that’s right! My second ID! Hehehe..." He walked back, picking up the coin.

The guard took the coin before him, reading it, his eyes widening.

"Genius of the Genials house!?"

The other guard approached, his hand on the sheath of his sword.

"I don’t remember Genials’ son studying holiness..."

"Shit..." Haru thought.