"Little brother! I'm here!"
Sampo sauntered into the administrative hall the next morning, only to find Mo Wang slumped in a chair, looking utterly defeated. Bronya and Serval stood beside him, their faces blank and their eyes filled with despair.
"Sigh..." Mo Wang didn't even seem to have the energy to greet him.
"What's wrong, little brother? You catch a cold?" Sampo asked, concerned. "It's pretty chilly in Belobog, you know. I've got some special imported cold medicine, if you want some." He pulled a blister pack out of thin air, a strange smell emanating from it.
"It's not a cold, brother. I've got... troubles."
"Troubles? Is the plan not working? Did something else happen?"
"Well... last night, I saw Qlipoth," Mo Wang said.
"Oh, you saw Qlipoth... wait, who?!" The name sounded vaguely familiar, then it hit him. "The Qlipoth? As in, the Qlipoth?"
"Yep. The Amber Lord."
Sampo gasped. Even Bronya and Serval leaned in, their interest piqued.
"Little brother, tell me everything," Sampo said, suddenly serious. This was huge. Was this what it was like to be one of the Nameless? Meeting Aeons as casually as you'd meet a stray dog? Yesterday Aha, today Qlipoth. Who was next? Lan? Nous?
"Okay, but don't freak out," Mo Wang said, swallowing hard.
"Please, I'm a professional Masked Fool. I don't freak out."
"Last night, in my dream, I met Qlipoth."
Tactical lean back.
"Who's Qlipoth?"
"Not who, the Aeon!"
(Draws Aha)
"No, not Aha! They're not that much of a troll."
(Draws Nous)
"No, They've got arms and legs!"
(Draws a big rock)
"No! It's Qlipoth! The creator of the Celestial Comet Wall, the Subspace Crystalline Barrier, and the Great Attractor Base! The one They call the Amber Lord!"
"I see. Please continue."
"So last night, I was about to go to sleep, and They pulled me into a dream. And They turned into a little white-haired loli and asked me to be Their Emanator! I was so scared, I nearly died!"
Bronya and Serval: Pfft—
Sampo: "Hahahahaha!"
"What are you laughing at?"
"I was just thinking of something happy."
"What happy thing?"
"That my hometown is about to be saved."
"And what are you two laughing at?"
"Emmm, we were also thinking about how our hometown is about to be saved."
"Are you all from the same hometown?"
"Yes, yes."
"No, we just live close by."
(Slams table) "I'm not kidding!"
"Right, right..."
"Hey!!! (WRYYYY)"
"Ahem, back to the topic. This Qlipoth... were They pretty?"
"It's not about whether They're pretty or not! It's... the deadpan expression, the marble-like skin, and the fact that They're the richest Aeon in the universe, so..."
(Pfft—)
"I've had enough of you!"
"My hometown is being saved."
"You're laughing at me! You haven't stopped!"
"Mr. Mo Wang, we have been rigorously trained to never laugh, no matter how funny something is... unless we can't help it."
The three of them burst into laughter, and Mo Wang just sat there, deadpan, for a full ten minutes until they finally calmed down.
"Okay, seriously, little brother, you really saw the Amber Lord as a little white-haired loli?" Sampo asked.
"Yes. Do you think I'd make up such a stupid joke?"
"Holy crap!" Sampo couldn't believe it. The Amber Lord, the most boring, stoic Aeon in existence, had turned into a loli? It was more unbelievable than Aha acting serious.
"So what are you so worried about? You're going to be an Emanator of Preservation!" Serval exclaimed. Why did this troll get all the luck? Had the Amber Lord gone blind? How was this guy in any way related to Preservation?
The thought that they had been faithfully following the Path of Preservation for years without so much as a glance from Qlipoth, while this maniac was being offered a position as an Emanator, made Bronya and Serval's heads spin. It made them feel like complete failures.
"You don't understand," Mo Wang sighed. "They gave me a test. This 'Save Belobog' plan of mine... has to meet Their standards."
At this, Bronya and Serval's eyes lit up. So the Amber Lord hadn't abandoned them after all! Finally, someone who could put a stop to this madman's schemes!
"So, brother, any ideas what this test might entail?" Mo Wang asked Sampo.
"Huh? You're asking me?" Sampo threw up his hands. How was he supposed to know what Qlipoth wanted? Aha's tests were easy: just cause as much chaos as possible. But Preservation... he was as clueless as Mo Wang.
Just then, Mo Wang's phone rang. It was March.
"Hello?"
"You deadbeat Mo Wang! What have you done?! Where's the 'easy and fun' script you promised?! I'm about to die of exhaustion!"
"March, calm down, what's wrong?" he asked, a guilty smile on his face.
"Calm down?! The streets of the Underworld are filled with people moaning and clutching their butts! And you know who they're cursing? You! The 'Butt Assassin'!"
"Butt Assassin? That's a pretty cool title..."
"Cool my ass! My hands are about to fall off from cleaning up your mess!" She switched to a video call, and the scene on the other end made Sampo choke with laughter. It was a sight to behold.
"Ahem! Anyway, how are things over there? How's Cocolia?" Mo Wang asked, and Bronya leaned in to listen.
"Surprisingly, she's doing much better since you removed the Stellaron. She even apologized to the leaders of the Underworld."
"See? My plan is working perfectly," Mo Wang said with a smug look at Bronya, who turned away, a hint of a smile on her face.
"By the way, how are things on your end? Why is Sampo there?" March asked.
"Oh, just ignore him. The prisons in Belobog can't hold him."
"What?!" Bronya glared at Sampo. So that was why he was always causing trouble! The man was basically un-jail-able.
(Aha's thoughts: A true Masked Fool must master the art of lockpicking.)
"I've been framed!" Sampo yelped. His life in Belobog was about to get a lot more difficult.
"Hey, you haven't done anything... weird to Bronya and Serval, have you?" March asked suspiciously.
"Weird? Does making them dance to 'Gokuraku Jodo' all day count?"
March blushed. "N-No! I meant... you know..."
"Hahaha, March, what's going on in that little head of yours? I'm a gentleman," he laughed.
"S-Stop laughing! Uncle Yang said you were unreliable! You're not really going to... you know... make them your 'mountain stronghold brides,' are you?"
"Hey! I said two days, and I meant two days! I'm a man of my word! Until then, I won't do a thing!" he declared.
"So you are going to do it after two days?!" March didn't know how to react.
"Anyway, our part of the plan is almost complete. You should be fine on your end, right?"
"Well, there's been a slight complication. The plan needs a few... revisions."
"Revisions?! This script is already a mess! What more can you possibly change?!"
"Well, a certain big shot showed up last night and said They're going to be grading our script, so I thought I'd make a few improvements."
"Who?! Who has the nerve to change my script?!" March raged. "Do they know how much I've suffered for this?!"
"Uh, it was the Amber Lord..."
March: "...Damn it!"