Chương 150: Isekai - The World-Hopping Game

"And then he cried."

"He did not cry." Tori threw Ilyana an exasperated look. She had told Gideon that she was not obligated to forgive him because he asked. He had purposely wished to cause her harm, whether through defamation or through her village, and she could not and would not forgive such offenses. She would be as civil as she could towards him and assured him she would do her duty properly, but not to ask for forgiveness again. She and Ilyana had left him with a stunned expression that day.

The group of young women walked down the stairs from the upper floor of Duel after checking on their set up. Tonight, they were having a soft open for friends and family who were interested in tabletop gaming. They'd rushed over after Lycée ended to prepare.

"Well, he looked like he was going to cry." Ilyana tried to replicate the face Gideon made when Tori had rejected his request for forgiveness.

"He just stood there, as if he didn't know what to do next."

"He has some nerve to ask for forgiveness after all he said and did to disparage you," Sonia said with a scowl as she walked ahead of them.

"I wouldn't forgive him either."

"You should never forgive him, Tori," Iyana agreed.

"He's done too much."

"You should make him suffer." Sonia looked over her shoulder with a determined expression.

"I'm not going to make him suffer," Tori said with a dull look.

"I don't have time to deal with that, but I won't forgive him either."

"Good! He should wallow in his disappointment that he lost out on such a friend." Ilyana clenched her fist, determined. Her eyes narrowed.

"I still remember when we met him and von Dorn while looking for our classes before Lycée started. You were polite and he started out by accusing you of buying your way in. And now you're ranked far above him!"

"Okay, calm down." They reached the ground floor and Sonia lifted her hand to soothe Ilyana's back.

"As much as I don't want to acknowledge it, he's still the second prince of Soleil." Tori gave Sonia a surprised look. Out of all her friends, Sonia showed her displeasure at Gideon the most.

"There's no point in criticizing him when he's not here. We should do it when he's present so people can't sugar coat it when they report to him, and he becomes aware of his flaws." Tori's lips pulled into a tight line as Ilyana seemed to nod, enlightened.

"How's everything upstairs?" Henrik asked. He was pacing the foyer nervously and stopped as they reached him. Tori chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Everything is perfect, Henrik. And if it's not, we'll find out tonight and can still fix things before we open. Don't worry," she told him.

"You did a great job."

"Everyone invited tonight is a friend or a friend of a friend," Sonia said.

"They won't be too critical." Henrik took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"It's just that this was such a big project." Sonia laughed.

"Bigger than your restaurant and Lions Gate?"

"Tori and Ilyana did most of the storefront for Lions Gate and the restaurant had room for failure since it's a project," Henrik replied.

"There was less pressure."

"Don't worry so much," Tori told him.

"You've been working on this for weeks and you know everything you need to know. You're just nervous because tonight's the first time you'll need to put everything you learned into practice." Henrik took a deep breath and nodded his head, but it didn't seem to make him any less nervous.

"Tori and I won't be doing much tonight, but JP is your assistant and he's good at this sort of thing," Ilyana said. JP was off in the exhibition hall, giving the final directions to staff and Albert, who had volunteered to help with new players. Tori took out her timepiece from her pocket.

"It's almost time," she said. She looked towards the exhibition hall.

"JP, Albert! We're going to open the doors."

"Got it!" Albert gave her a little salute and took a seat as JP gave the two staff members a nod and walked out into the lobby clutching his clipboard.

"We'll start off with the introduction, schedule, offer tours, and then lead them to tables depending on their skill level," JP said. He gave them an affirmative look.

"We're ready." Tori nodded and looked towards the guards standing on the inside of the doors. There were two more outside to answer any questions and organize an orderly line. She walked forward and gave them a nod. Tori walked through the doorway with Henrik and Ilyana to find a row of mostly adults.

"Good evening, my lady!" A chorus of voices came from the side and Tori saw over a dozen familiar imperial knights in civilian clothing. The open doors and commotion caught the attention of the other guests and greetings were given.

"Welcome to Duel!" Tori gave them a wave and then stepped aside with Ilyana to let Henrik welcome them into the lobby. As guests came through the door, Tori and Ilyana greeted them cheerfully.

"Good evening, Duke Fekete. Evzen." The son looked far more excited than his duke father, but Duke Fekete's eyes were darting around, taking in the lobby with its vaulted ceilings and the fantasy themed mural on the ceiling that Tori had designed to look like something that was airbrushed on the side of some guy's van because she thought it would be funny. The artists Ilyana commissioned to do it didn't seem to know how to feel when Tori showed them her initial drawing.

Tori was sure that it wasn't because she wasn't a particularly good artist, but because the style had never been seen before. If she were the heroine of the game who transmigrated, her art would've been seen as revolutionary, but no. She was the villainess. Her art was… questionable.

"Countess, my mother sends her regards. She will come for the grand opening," Evzen told her.

"Yes, we'll be doing Sun Tiles in the cafe that weekend," Tori said. Duchess Fekete was an aggressive player.

"Hi, Haban!" Ilyana greeted the little boy who had been waiting in line and keeping to himself. He gave her a blank nod and instead of staying in the lobby, wandered to the exhibition hall, ready to learn.

"I guess he's eager."

"He wants to get down to business," Tori chuckled.

"There are a lot of knights," Sonia said as she looked over the first wave of people. They stood to the side as Henrik gave a speech and let them know of the plan for that evening. It was late afternoon, and the sun was just setting, but they planned to be open for five hours allowing for guests to come and go. Guests for the soft open were invitation only, but in most cases, the invitations were open to a group. In this case, Ezvan and his father's invitation left a half dozen open spots for guests of a guest.

Piers' escort knights had long known about Duel and were some of the first invited. They got one invitation each with a plus one. Unfortunately, since they guarded Piers in shifts, only those who were off duty and weren't resting could make it. However, the lobby was almost full of thirty or so guests. JP and Henrik split up to give two tours. Luckily, the guests themselves were all experienced players and claimed a few rooms and tables to begin game play once the tours were over.

JP assured them that complimentary beverages and snacks would come later, but if they wanted more, the menus for Duel Cafe were in the slots on the sides of the custom table. The head of the table just needed to call using the embedded comcry crystal to make an order and then either go downstairs to pay, or hold an account crystal fob against a green crystal next to the comcry to pay. The crystal technology made it convenient because making it as easy as possible made people more willing to use it.

That meant more orders. The red crystal on the opposite side of the light blue comcry crystal and green payment crystal, was the assistance crystal and someone from the lobby below would come to help them if they placed their hand on it for three counts. Once the experienced groups were broken up into their own gaming areas, Henrik and JP went downstairs.

"How was it?" Ilyana asked. Henrik nodded.

"Easier than I thought."

"Told you," Tori replied.

"To be fair, so far, most of the guests know what they were expecting and how to play," JP said.

"Ewan said he was bringing classmates who don't know how to play at all, but are curious."

"Did Ewan say how many he was bringing?" Tori asked. Henrik shook his head.

"Did you give him a guest limit?" Tori furrowed her brows.

"No... should I have?" Before Henrik could reply, the door opened, and the group turned towards the entrance. A familiar bald head peeked in.

"Ewan! Welcome!" Ilyana waved as one of the guards held the door open. Ewan was holding a gray invitation card with two swords printed on them. His face lit up as he saw his friends. He perked up and quickened his speed, motioning for a rather large group to follow him. Tori drew her head back and raised a brow. Since she knew that dungeon crawl was immensely popular amongst knights and in La Garda, Tori had told him that Ewan could bring as many people as he wanted to the soft open. She silently counted the group.

There were twenty students and four adults. Instructors, perhaps? If she remembered correctly, the number of students accepted each year was not massive. She crinkled her eyes. How popular was Ewan?

"I'm back!" Ewan beamed and held his arms open as he rushed to his friends. Henrik looked him up and down and Sonia nodded, appearing satisfied that Ewan had changed into clean casual clothing. They'd seen him in his training uniform and not only would he have tracked dirt into the new building, but there was a lingering stench of sweat and leather. The other La Garda guests had come in also wearing casual clothing and were looking around curiously and talking amongst themselves.

"You've been looking forward to this for a while," Tori said with a grin. Ewan nodded.

"We all have. These are some of my classmates. They're all interested in the tabletop games and most of them have played dungeon crawl with me," Ewan said.

"A few haven't, but they wanted to learn."

"We have an exhibition area set up to teach people how to play," Tori said.

"It's a good chance. Albert is already there to help." She motioned towards the exhibition room and the few people who had already arrived seated around the table with Albert. Two employees were also with them.

"Henrik is tonight's main host and JP is helping him," Ilyana said, motioning to Henrik and JP, who was holding a clipboard.

"Ewan," a young man put his hand on Ewan's shoulder and gave him a shake.

"Introduce us to your friends." He said friends, but his eyes were fixed on Tori, Ilyana, and Sonia. Ewan smiled and nodded.

"Of course!" He turned around to face his fellow students.

"Everyone! These are my friends in Lycée du Soleil. That's Henrik, he's like my brother. JP and Sonia, they're twins. I don't know if you pay attention to the Spring Three-Day, but they're the current riding champions."

"Oooh...." Several people looked impressed.

"This is Ilyana. She's ranked first amongst the third years and was my tutor. She's the one who taught me how to study." Ilyana turned to his friends and gave them a nod.

"Thank you for coming to support our store!" Ilyana said. She gave them a brilliant smile. Tori watched a few people turn red.

"And this is Tori, I mean... Countess Guevera. She prefers to be called Countess Tori," Ewan said. Tori stepped forward and gave them a small bow of her head.

"I also give you my thanks for coming tonight to support our store. Henrik will give you a full introduction." She smiled and someone whimpered. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"All right, if everyone is here, I can begin the introduction," Henrik said.

"One moment, Henrik!" A voice said from the back of the group. The door had opened once more, and Axton had arrived with Piers and one unexpected guest. The silver-haired second prince avoided their eyes as he entered quietly behind his brother. He was still in his Lycée uniform. Ilyana looked at Tori, silently asking if she knew. Tori gave her a small shake of her head. Sonia frowned, but didn't say a word. JP and Henrik pretended nothing was amiss. A guest was a guest until they showed they weren't.

"What's the second prince doing here?" Ewan spoke up and Tori could've sworn that Henrik shut his eyes to hold back a yell.

"He seemed interested before," Axton said.

"We mentioned the soft open and Godmother suggested we bring him." Several of them frowned, remembering when Gideon had to come to the delta as punishment and ruined their game with his barrage of questions.

"Henrik," Piers said as he stood a bit aways from the group with a dull look. He gave them a nod.

"Continue."

"Yes, Your Highness." Henrik gave him a small bow and ignored the stunned, if not awe-struck expressions of the La Garda students. While their main goals were to become knights, it was unexpected to see both princes and the near legendary figure of La Garda alumni, Axton. Tori stood aside as Henrik took over, giving a brief welcome and then telling them what was offered and what could be done and sold at their store.

He then had JP lead half the group on a tour while the other waited, as too many people made it crowded. Henrik continued to keep the other half of the group occupied by taking them to Duel Cafe while telling them about food and drink options. Before they left, Claire James had arrived, having been invited by Sonia and being a fan of one of Tori's big flagship tabletop RPG games: Isekai - The World-Hopping Game. When Tori had named it, she couldn't stop laughing at her own inside joke.

Even Sonia had been a bit interested in playing a character who had gone to a library and was sucked into a book world. Up to five players could play at once and they were each sent to a different starting point in the first book world to be a priest or priestess to save the kingdom they landed in. Tori had wracked her brain to tap into all the old anime, various manga, and webnovels she remembered.

Currently, Isekai had a dozen 'worlds' and they could be drawn at random after the first world, which was meant to introduce them to the game and its concepts. New worlds could always be added. The player would get to keep all their skills, whether they started out with them or learned them in the previous world, but they would pick up a new identity when they started a new world.

In the previous world, they could be a priestess tasked with saving a southern kingdom, in the next, they could be reincarnated as a fluffy gray cat with murder tendencies owned by an arrogant noble daughter, and whose goal was to prevent the said noble daughter from dying. Admittedly, some roles were more difficult than others. Piers walked forward with Gideon following obediently behind them. Axton was eyeing the exhibition area. Tori noticed and called his attention.

"Axton, some of the off-duty escort knights reserved a room upstairs."

"What?" Axton frowned.

"They reserved a room without me?"

"Aren't you on duty, though?" Tori raised a brow. Unlike the escort knights who had shifts guarding Piers, Axton didn't have a set schedule. He looked at Piers with some accusation, as if blaming him.

"Ewan is here. You can ask to join his game. You are his master," Piers said in an unimpressed voice.

"We reserved the main table upstairs for Ewan's party, Your Grace," Ilyana dutifully reported.

"There is enough room." As the tour group with Ewan passed to go upstairs, Axton stopped him.

"Ewan, let me play a round with your group."

"Yes, Master! I'm thinking of going with the Lich of Granite Mountain tonight."

"Are your other players advanced enough?"

"Yes, Master."

"All right, then I'll see you after the tour." Axton gave him a nod of approval. As Ewan's tour group headed up the stairs, Tori heard a few classmates ask Ewan why he called Axton 'Master'. A few short moments later, the group shouted with excitement. It seemed this was the first time his classmates knew who his two masters were.

"No wonder he's at the top of the class!"

"Your two masters learned directly under the greatest swordsman in Soleil and your tutor is the first ranked student at Lycée!" Ewan chuckled.

"I also got to train with the Guevera knights and on the weekends, when I visit the delta, the imperial knights stationed there let me train with them."

"Ewan, I want to live your life...." Tori looked back at Piers and then at Gideon.

"Why did the second prince come to tonight's soft opening?"

"As Axton said, I was curious and Mother said I could come," Gideon said as he stood up straight.

"Tori," Piers said in a calm voice.

"I know you hate him, but please allow him to participate." She took a deep breath.

"Hate is a very strong word," she said. Gideon stared at her expectantly and she shrugged.

"I'm just saying. It's a very strong word. That's all." Piers seemed to think for a moment.

"I will send him back." Gideon paled and Tori lifted a hand.

"He's already here. He can join the exhibition table to get started. Albert's there and he's the expert. The staff will help the second prince fill out a character sheet and run through some light rounds." Relief filled Gideon's face as Axton brought him to the exhibition hall along with two knights who couldn't help looking around. Piers looked at Tori, gave her a nod, and then headed to the cafe with a knight behind him.

"His Highness isn't going to play?" Ilyana asked with furrowed brows.

"You know he doesn't like to play games with others," Tori said with a shrug.

"He likely only came so Axton and his brother could come." Henrik's group passed them, and Tori, Ilyana, and Sonia joined them for their part of the tour. Tori made sure to pay special attention to everyone's reactions, where their attention went, and the various questions they had. Henrik had long prepared for this day and masterfully managed the questions that came up.

The tours appeared to be a success and after bringing different guests to different areas depending on their skill level, Tori decided to let them play their games without further involvement. She wanted to know what they thought, but they had an exit survey to pass out before they left.

"Let's go get something to eat at the cafe," Tori said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She raised her voice a bit as the sounds of people playing games and yelling filled the building. It was a good sign; they were excited.

"We've been running around making sure everything is ready," Ilyana said with agreement.

"I'm starving."

"Claire, do you want to join us?" Sonia asked the young woman who was beside her. Claire nodded.

"I'd love to."

"We can take a long break," Ilyana said with a wide smile.

"All the expected guests have arrived."

"What about the others?" Claire asked. She craned her neck to look across the lobby and to the demonstration hall across the way, where two employees were explaining the game to Gideon and another half dozen guests who had been dragged over by their friends.

"I've arranged to have one of the employees push in a refreshment cart in a half hour," Ilyana replied.

"He'll also bring it upstairs to offer complimentary refreshments and snacks to the players there."

"And you are having this 'soft open' tonight?" Claire asked. Ilyana nodded.

"Once a week until we open," she replied.

"The next few have a very small guest list. When we close tonight, we'll ask if anyone wants to reserve a spot for next weekend's soft open."

"We're hoping many of tonight's guests will be interested in returning," Tori said. They headed towards the cafe and one of the guards by the entrance stopped them.

"My lady, this came for you while you were doing your rounds." The large, burly man gave her a respectful bow and held out a pale envelope with a gold foil symbol on its front. He presented it to Tori with two hands. Tori furrowed her brows and stared at the envelope. There was no reason for her to receive mail at Duel. If she got a letter or a package, it would have either gone to Lycée or Auntie Lucia's.

"Thank you, Mr. Palmas." She accepted the envelope and flipped it over. The only words on the envelope were in the back, written in fine calligraphy: Countess Victoria de Guevera.

"Do you know who sent it?" Sonia asked, looking towards the guard.

"The messenger was from the Golden Cow Printing shop. Aside from printing, they will personally deliver messages that they've printed for an extra fee. The messenger said this was for the Countess from Baroness Hart." Tori held her breath. She almost wanted to fling the envelope away. Anytime Hart was involved, it was bothersome. When Hart and Adrien Rosiek were both involved, it was a danger. Sonia and Ilyana immediately frowned at the name and Claire looked at them, confused.

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't know if you remember a few years ago when Tori and the others opened Lions Gate with the down jackets?" Sonia asked her. Claire nodded.

"I remember. It was the topic in many circles for a while. The outerwear is very popular and there was some argument in front of the store when it opened."

"It wasn't so much an argument as a trial in front of the Commerce," Tori said, weighing the envelope in her hand. She looked towards Claire.

"I had let Hart borrow one of the vests during our excursion and she gave the vest to be replicated to Adrien Rosiek, the owner of the Golden Cow. He then accused me of stealing my own designs." A disgusted look filled Claire's face.

"So, it really was like that." Tori took a deep breath and ushered them to the cafe.

"Let's take a seat."

"I'll order the cream puffs!" Ilyana sped up and walked into the cafe first, heading directly to the counter in the back to put in their order.

"Miss James, what can I order for you?"

"Do you have iced coffee?"

"Of course!" Ilyana rushed to give an order before turning around and going to a small, round table with four chairs around it.

"I ordered a platter of puffs and four iced coffees, one with sweet cream for Tori and one with salted caramel for Sonia."

"Ask Mr. Lukas for a tasting bowl of sweet cream and salted caramel and then split one of the iced coffees into two glasses so Miss James can have a chance to taste both customizations," Tori said.

"Good idea!" Ilyana stood up to make the request and Miss James gave them a thankful look.

"Do they make a big difference?"

"I think they do," Sonia said.

"A little salt tends to bring out sweetness," Tori added. When Ilyana returned, they discussed the options of the cafe. The food and drink were limited, but themed to fit with what they sold. Tori categorized the food into three: salty, savory, and sweet. Each category had about three to seven options, with salty having the most, as both potato and corn chips were included. Savory snacks were basically mini quiches, meat pies, and sausage rolls. She didn't want anything too filling for guests who were playing.

The cafe primarily focused on serving guests who were playing and guests who were waiting for a space or taking a break. Aside from coffee, there was agua fresca. The chilled fruit drinks were apparently readily available in parts of Sur through fruit trade, and Tori had probably drunk gallons when she was playing in Tres Arcos. Tori had fruit shipped in to make it and reserved several farms to farm some fruit along with their staple crops for the coming year.

Agua fresca would be sold in Viclya when they opened, but until then, only Duel would sell the chilled fruit drinks. Samples would be brought to the guests later and Piers, who was sitting in the corner of the cafe reading while two knights sat nearby, was drinking the watermelon agua fresca. Tori liked the mango, but outside of importing them, they could only be grown in the most tropical-like regions of the empire, which was around Tres Arcos and the islands around it.

Even then, those mangos paled in comparison to imported ones she was gifted by Ambassador Das and his wife. It was difficult to get tropical fruits, so Tori had to settle for regional fruits. Their food was brought to their table and Claire eagerly picked up the 'award-winning' cream puff. She stuffed it in her mouth and seemed to pause before nodding, as if she understood why it had gotten second place. Tori sipped on her iced coffee.

"I had the idea of keeping a small rolling cart by each table with drinks and snacks that the group ordered for the duration of their game."

"Preset menus, of course, so as not to overwhelm the cafe staff," Ilyana nodded.

"Two types of drinks and three snacks per table."

"How long can they reserve their table for a game?" Claire asked.

"Minimum is an hour, maximum is three hours," Tori said.

"Ewan already figured out that people in the same party can try to reserve back-to-back for extended periods." Ilyana sighed and shook her head. Sonia snickered and chewed on a cream puff.

"You made him too clever." Tori grinned.

"We've created a monster." Sonia pursed her lips.

"Speaking of monster, what did the messenger from Hart send you?" Sonia asked as she leaned back against her chair. Tori furrowed her brows and reached into the pocket of her uniform jacket where she'd put it. She took out the pale envelope with the gold foil debossed symbol of Saphira. She flipped it over and slipped her finger through a part in the flap to open the envelope. Across from her, Ilyana's lips turned downwards as she pulled out a thick piece of ivory cardstock trimmed with some sort of scalloped trim.

"If it has something to do with the orphanage, isn't it a bit wasteful to spend so much money on an elaborate card?"

"She could've bought the materials and put it together herself," Tori said as she touched the edges.

"That would save on cost."

"There is gold foil on the envelope," Sonia replied with a deadpan voice.

"It could've also been donated or at a discount. We don't know." She knew a lot of crafters in her original world and knew that while the materials would be affordable, they'd put the pieces together themselves and with the right amount of skill, the finished product looked much more expensive than something they could've bought. She also knew that Alessa received many donations from some of the love interests. It was possible that she received a monetary sum that would've helped her pay for these cards.

Tori lifted the cover that had the same debossed symbol of the goddess without foil. The inside of the card was printed, and she narrowed her eyes as she read the card.

"What is it?" Ilyana asked, leaning closer.

"Just an invitation." Tori raised her brows. That was quite normal. Nothing strange there.

"Invitation to what?" Sonia, however, already didn't like it. Tori looked up over the top of the card.

"She's inviting me to the opening ceremony of the orphanage's school."

"Why is she inviting you?" Ilyana frowned. She reached forward and Tori handed her the tri-fold card.

"It's common for wealthy or high-profile guests to be invited to charity events. Inviting me to the opening is a subtle way of soliciting donations," Tori replied. She wasn't mad at it. Even if it was related to Alessa, a school for orphans was a good cause. Sonia frowned.

"Why didn't she just give you the invitation at school? Don't you sit several rows behind her?"

"Perhaps she doesn't want to make it awkward or is afraid I'd outrightly reject her."

"Are you?"

"I don't mind donating some money for supplies."

"You're too nice."

"Tori." Ilyana sat up straight and reached out, grasping Tori's forearm before Tori could lift her drink. Ilyana's eyes were wide as she almost glared at the card.

"Why does it say that for the opening, there will be a blessing dance?"

"Entertainment for the guests for such an event is common-""Are you performing it?" Tori drew her head back and squinted as Ilyana's intense eyes bore into hers.

"Why would I be performing it?" Ilyana slowly turned the card around to face her. She removed her hand from Tori's arm and tapped the third side of the card.

"Children's Blessing Dance for Saphira Performed by Countess Victoria de Guevera."

"What?" Sonia shot up from her seat as Tori snatched the card from Ilyana's hand and ran her eyes over the printed text.

"Welcome speech by Abbess Charlotte du Monte; gratuity speech by Lenny Arca, student; gratuity speech by Sister Penelope Marie; introduction of teachers...." Tori read off the breakdown of the plans included aloud and held her breath.

"Children's Blessing Dance...." Her shoulders sank.

"Countess Victoria de Guevera." She closed her eyes and tossed the invitation on the table. Sonia picked it up.

"Did you volunteer for this?"

"No," Tori said in a firm voice.

"I have no reason to volunteer for it. I don't remember saying I'd do anything for that orphanage." Sonia looked at the card with disgust.

"Then why is your name on it?"

"I don't know! It's the first I'm hearing of it, too!"

"She never asked you!" Ilyana's face filled with indignation.

"What is this?"

"My lady, did you see the date of this event?" Claire asked as she received the card from Sonia to look at.

"Two weeks from now," Tori said with a heavy sigh.

"If she asked me, I would've considered it."

"No, my lady. Two weeks is when you're asked to let them know that you're attending," Claire said as she put the card down and spun it, so it faced Tori.

"The opening is two weeks after that." Ilyana and Sonia stiffened at once and Tori looked down at the invitation once more. She noticed that there were two dates and one of them was larger than the other. She assumed this was the date of the opening and didn't pay attention to the note that confirmations were requested by then. The second date was smaller, and Tori grit her teeth.

"The second day of the twelfth month." Ilyana looked stunned, as if she'd never imagined such a thing to happen.

"That's when we have Duel's Grand Opening."