"Sometimes, I feel like I'm running a freaking daycare centre," I grumbled as I sat down between my girlfriends, once all the nuisances had been successfully chased away from the premises. They promised they would be back though, but I put that headache in the waiting out of my mind and accepted the skewer from Elly's hand.

"They're just relieved that you're okay," Judy commented on my other side, her own snack long since gone and replaced by her phone in her hands. "More importantly, are you really planning to take Rinne with you to the Elysium?"

"I figured it would help your peace of mind if I had a bodyguard around." After a brief pause, I shrugged and added, "Not that I really need protection. So far, I'm not exactly impressed by the prowess of the average Celestial elite combatant. They need training."

"You want to train the people who kidnapped you," Judy responded a touch flatly, and my mouth automatically tried to respond with a 'Yes'.

"Y— No? Maybe. We'll see."

My dear assistant was looking at me sideways, but whatever comment she had on her tongue was pushed back by the princess grabbing hold of my arm and declaring, "Great idea! They already think that you're their Archon, so now you just have to slowly build up their personal loyalty, and before you know it, the whole Elysium is going to be in the bag!"

"I'm still not planning to subvert the Celestials. I only want to figure out why they are doing what they are doing, and then get out."

"I'll accept that as an adequate segue," Judy cut in and let her phone down, focusing on my face instead. "I have a hypothesis on the current Celestial arc's structure."

"Right! That's what we wanted to discuss from the beginning, didn't we?"

Judy nodded at my other girlfriend and launched into her explanation without any further ado.

"First, let's recount the information we're aware of in regards to the variables that could play a role in this arc. The Celestials had two leaders, Deus and Polemos. Deus died and there was a prophecy that he would somehow reincarnate."

"Correction." I cut in, and Judy immediately picked up her phone again. "The prophecy apparently came from me."

"You mean from Polemos."

"Yes. Precisely." I waited for her to finish typing. "As for the reincarnation method, it apparently came from the Abyssal Archon guy, and Deus got it in exchange for making their own pocked dimension for the Abyssals."

"Noted. Anything else?" When I shook my head, Judy poked her phone a few more times and set it aside once again. "This new information doesn't affect my hypothesis, but first, let's finish the recounting."

"We were at the reincarnation part," Elly spoke up, trying to be helpful. "That's why Josh is the second coming of Deus. I think." Pausing for a moment, her brows scrunched up into a frown and she turned to me. "Do they know this?"

"If you mean the Celestials, they obviously don't. If they did, they would've done their best to pick him up before bothering with me."

"They did consider Joshua a potential candidate," Judy pointed out, drawing our attention back to her. "Angeline told us about this the first time we discussed the topic. She was placed on the island to keep an eye on him."

"Oh, you're right. She did say that." Elly pondered until her brows unknot and climbed her forehead with a sense of realization. "Do you think he's still on their list? Everyone thinks he's a Draconian now, so maybe the Celestials don't even consider him a candidate anymore!"

"That's a distinct possibility," Judy noted and turned to me.

"I'll ask around once I'm back in the Elysium," I told her right away, and she nodded with satisfaction. She liked when I was quick on the uptake.

"In conclusion, our original prediction went like this: The Simulacrum has routes for every love interest for Joshua, where his relevance as the chosen one would be revealed, and the lovers would have to face one last hurdle together."

"In other words, the most basic formula."

"One man's basic is another man's classic," the princess chimed in, and I couldn't really argue.

"But then I got taken in by the Celestials instead of Josh, because I was a match for Polemos."

"No, Chief. We're talking meta now, so focus on the Doylist angle." Judy wagged her finger at me and then made tiny circles with it. "What you should've said was that the Narrative set you up to become Polemos from the very beginning."

"That would explain why Leo could read Celestial script."

Judy responded to Elly's comment with an approving nod and pointed at me again. "Considering all the available evidence, it's likely that you were Polemos from the very beginning, or at the very least, primed to become him on the Angeline route. Since Joshua triggered the route, the Narrative moved the pieces on the board to make sure you would assume your role in the scenario. I also think it's more than likely that the memory transfer procedure was a forceful plot device the Narrative invented to course-correct you into your pre-designated role."

"Potentially, though Fred and company just explained to me that the reason why I could absorb any of the memories at all was due to my soul already having holes designed for those to slot into."

"Is that so?" The conversation paused for a minute while Judy noted that down. "That's strange. I would've bet on the memory transfer procedure being a desperate retcon by the Narrative."

"Why?"

Elly spoke the word before I could, and my dear assistant decided to graciously explain herself.

"Think about it. The Celestials who originally tried to kidnap the Chief belonged to the Unorthodox faction. The Spear of Destiny that was responsible for the memory transfer was locked up in the headquarters of the Reformist faction. What exactly was their plan, if they didn't have access to the transfer device?"

"Maybe the important part was who found Leo first, not who transferred the memories?" Elly proposed back, and after a thoughtful hum, Judy shook her head.

"I doubt it. I considered it more likely that the Chief was supposed to awaken the memories of Polemos on their own once the Angeline route triggered, but because it's the Chief we're talking about, it never happened, so the Narrative created the Spear of Destiny to force the process."

"Okay, but if all of it was invented by the Narrative on the spot, then why didn't it put the Spear of Destiny in the hands of the Unorthodox people?" the princess pointed out, and I had to nod along.

"She has a point, you know?"

"There might be extenuating circumstances we don't yet understand," Judy relented, only to turn around and add, "However, I think my point about the memory transfer being a last-minute attempt to forcefully railroad the Chief into fulfilling his Narrative-designated role is still on the table."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Elly let out a dissatisfied noise.

"You know, the more we talk about this Narrative, the more he sounds like a bad dungeon master in a tabletop game."

"Maybe it is? We still don't know why the Simulacrum exists. Maybe it's an advanced form of entertainment for some civilization on the higher end of the Kardashev Scale?"

"The Karda-what?"

"It's a measure of the technological advancement of and power available to a civilization," I cut in a tad impatiently. "It's mostly sci-fi stuff, and if we're talking about it, it means we are veering off-topic."

"Right! We were considering Leo's role in this hypothesis of yours!"

Following Elly's words, Judy took a deep breath and showed three fingers.

"Since the Narrative went out of its way to force the Chief into the role of Polemos, it means the role of Polemos in general, and the Chief possessing it in particular, is vital for the scenario. Based on this assumption, I hypothesize that there are three potential roles the Chief was supposed to play." She curled up two of her fingers, so only her index was showing. "The first option is that Polemos, and thus you, was meant to be an antagonist, or even an outright villain."

"Oh? You mean, just like how, if we were in my route…" For emphasis, the princess pointed at her own face. "… Leo being the King of Knights would've made him the baddie." She was looking proud of herself, but her smile soon wilted and got replaced by a frown. "But wait. If Leo was supposed to be the baddie, shouldn't he have been an Abyssal?"

"While it would make thematic sense, you have to consider the Chief's report about the internal political and ideological strife within the Elysium. It has to exist for a reason, otherwise, the Narrative wouldn't have included it, and I reckon it's to create the setup for a civil war between Polemos and Deus."

"That would never happen." The girls looked at me funny, so I hastily explained, "That's just an impossible conflict. Polemos would never, in a million years, turn on Deus."

"Are you sure?"

Nodding at Elly, I uttered a solemn, "Positive."

"You have his memories, so if you say so, I have no choice but to accept it," Judy grumbled, audibly slighted by the way I shot down her theory, but there really wasn't an alternative.

It really was a scenario that would've never happened. As I had alluded to before, even from these fragments, I could tell that Polemos was really, really infatuated with Deus, while at the same time all the way in the back of the closet about it. I had no idea why, though. Considering ancient Celestial culture borrowed heavily from ancient Greece (or maybe the other way around?), and I was pretty sure that kind of thing wasn't too frowned upon back then, being so closeted about it felt a bit odd. That said, since I didn't have the full context of those memories and emotions, I couldn't say what the issues and motivations were for sure.

"In any case," Judy spoke up again, this time holding two fingers up. "The second possibility is multi-faceted, but it boils down to the memories and their transfer."

"I'm listening."

Following my prompting, Judy let her hand down and took a deep breath in preparation.

"As your example had shown, without your peculiar abilities, the memory transfer would overwrite the recipient. In a way, you could consider it a form of possession, and it's something that doesn't happen to protagonists, or when it does, it's treated as an affliction they have to be rid of. Looking at it from this perspective, we have three sub-scenarios that could play out. First possibility: you are the victim Joshua has to save from being possessed by Polemos, and so the scenario would revolve around this conflict."

"That can't happen now," the princess pointed out, and we both grunted in agreement.

"Right. I kind of 'saved myself' already, in a sense."

"Which brings us to the second possibility," Judy proceeded with extra élan. "In this case, Joshua is the victim. If his memory transfer worked the same way as it happened to you, it would result in his personality getting replaced by that of Deus. Since it would make him a different person, it would naturally interfere with the romance plot, and therefore, the scenario would be about everyone trying to rescue Joshua and return him to normal."

"That's one, two… what's the third possibility?" Elly inquired, and Judy let out a triumphant hum as if she was about to deliver the coup de grace.

"The third sub-scenario is what I consider to be the most likely original plan for the Angeline route by far. In this development, Joshua would be possessed in every regard but name by Deus, and everyone would naturally want him to return to his old self…" Here, she paused and levelled a finger at me. "Everyone, except Polemos."

"Oh? Oooh! I see now!" Elly exclaimed and put her hands together in excitement. "That way, Leo… I mean, Polemos would still end up as the bad guy, without actually putting him in direct conflict with Josh! Oh, and then, after Josh returns, he could even have a big final battle with Le—Polemos, who would want to have his old friend back!"

"Of course. This is, or at least used to be, a battle harem setting," Judy stated with absolute confidence. "A climactic final battle is an absolute necessity. I have also already written up a likely scenario about how Joshua and Angie would use the power of love to overcome his brainwashing and give him an eleventh-hour power-up for the final battle."

"… Dormouse. Are you seriously writing fanfiction about our lives?"

"Hush, chief. It's for theorycrafting," she chided me, and after a long beat, moved on as if nothing happened. "So, we can all agree that this is the most likely scenario?"

"Yes… But I'm still curious about the last one."

Hearing Elly's request, Judy casually raised her hand again, this time with three fingers extended.

"The third possibility focuses on the other cornerstone, and source of conflict, within a battle harem scenario: romance. Or, in this case, a love triangle."

"Oh geez… I can already see where this is going…"

My mutters were completely ignored by Judy, and she continued in a comically grave tone.

"As we all know, the Chief would never, ever, in a million years, aim for a harem. Ever. However, if the Narrative were to replace him with a different person named Polemos, he could be no longer the Chief, and therefore he could still serve as a love rival for Joshua."

"I don't know…" The princess let out a troubled sound with a finger on her chin and ultimately shook her head. "That just doesn't seem likely. Why would Polemos be interested in Angie, in the first place?"

"Love at first sight," Judy stated blithely, and before I could even roll my eyes, she addressed me directly. "Yes, Chief. It's a hackneyed cliché, but we're trying to construct a trope-heavy unoriginal scenario here, so it fits. We also already have an indicator, in the form of your sudden interest in Angeline."

"It's not interest," I denied on the spot. "It's… I don't know what it is, but it's something else. Not to mention, there's absolutely no way Polemos would be interested in her at all."

"How do you know that for sure?" she asked back, and I reflexively shrugged.

"I just do, okay?"

"Also, even if Polemos would be infatuated in Angie, she has no reason to return his affections. She's already going out with Josh, remember?"

"Not an issue," Judy answered with a disinterested expression. "Polemos could always just kidnap her, lock her up in the top of a big tower, and force Joshua to climb it to rescue her all the while he gloats and pervs on her."

"That… sounds abjectly terrible, and… wasn't that already the plot of a series about video games?"

This time it was Judy's turn to shrug.

"As I said, we are trying to reconstruct a potential scenario here. Based on the Narrative's track record, I was trying to come up with an adequate example."

"By scraping the bottom of the barrel?"

Judy didn't respond, but on the other hand, Elly looked strangely intrigued.

"What is this series you're talking about? Is it any good?"

"How about we ignore that, along with this entire totally impossible scenario?" I proposed, and while the princess was a touch dissatisfied, it wasn't something a hug and a kiss on the forehead couldn't fix.

In the meantime, Judy poked her phone a couple of times and came up with the following summary.

"In conclusion, we all agree that the third variation of the second hypothesis is the most likely scenario the Narrative is trying to enforce on us." She waited for me to nod. Elly was currently too busy being a cuddlebug, in reaction to my previous actions, so I nodded in her stead as well. "If so, then I propose we focus our attention on unearthing more details. In particular, you should use your newfound position to inquire about the exact mechanics of Deus's reincarnation and how it would affect Joshua."

"I was going to do that anyway. What are you two going to do in the meantime?"

"Manage the fallout of your absence," Judy flatly told me, and after a beat she amended, "I'll also help Roland's plans to catch Sir Percival."

"Oh, me too! I'll help too!" Elly proposed with a wolfish grin. "Maybe I can get the opportunity to punch him!"

"… While normally I'd tell you that violence is bad, this time, all I'm going to say is this: leave some for me too."

"Okay! You can have the left side of his face, I'll take the right!"

Judy slowly shook her head and put her phone away for good, getting ready to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"While I'd really like to snuggle, others are also waiting their turn to speak to you, and we shouldn't keep them waiting." That sounded unusually reserved, but then she turned around and added, "Not to mention, you're going to regularly come home to report, and then we can cuddle all we want, right."

"That… didn't sound like a question." She gave me a flat look, so I let out a chuckle and relented, "I'm kidding. Sure, let's do that later. I can't promise it'll be tonight though, as I have a meeting in the evening, and I don't know long it'll last."

"Judy's staying in my room, so even if it's late, feel free to Phase in!" Elly proposed, and for some reason, it caused my dear assistant's eyes to open wide… by her standards, of course.

"I told you I'm not sleeping in your room."

"But why? There's nothing wrong with it."

"There are already rumors about it," Judy argued in a decidedly annoyed tone. "I had a hard time explaining things to your mother this morning already; we don't need to start the rumor mill all over again."

"… I still don't get it. What rumors?"

Sighing, my dear assistant waved to my draconic girlfriend to follow after her.

"I'll explain on the way. As for you, Chief…" Stopping, she turned to me and gave me a peck on my head for a change. "Consider what we discussed so far, and then we'll continue to refine the hypothesis in private. Until then, stay safe, and don't do anything stupid."

"Dormouse? You know that I'm not leaving yet, right? We'll have plenty of time to say our goodbyes before I head back to the Elysium."

"I'm not taking anything like that for granted."

After saying so, she turned on her heel and pulled Elly along, and even as they left, I could hear snippets about the maids 'misunderstanding something'. If I had to guess, it probably had to do with Judy rushing over to the princess's room in the middle of the night and the two of them sleeping together afterwards. Considering we had an actual 'shipping community' on the island (though I still couldn't pinpoint its members, in my defence, it was pretty low on the priority list), I could easily imagine what those rumours were about.

Oh well. I was sure Judy would sort them out soon, so I stood up and limbered up my legs a little. They were aching a bit, and I contemplated asking Cal what that was about, but my weapons had been thankfully silent for a while now, and I didn't want to break that. As such, I just wrote it up to muscle strain after my session with the Celestial agents and ignored it to the best of my ability.

Since nobody came in to replace the girls yet, I used the momentary lull to collect myself a little and think things through. All in all, I mostly agreed with Judy's conjecture. Whether I was always supposed to assume the role of Polemos, or it was a last-minute swerve the theoretical Narrative threw my way to course-correct its plans, it was certain that this time, I had a role to play in the scenario. As in, a role I didn't make up for myself.

One thing was for sure though; considering what I knew about Polemos, both from external and more internal sources, I was one hundred percent sure that whatever plot he was supposed to move, it wasn't going to be about romance. After all, the only person this guy had any affection for was Deus, and Deus was…

"… Wait."

The word slipped through my lips as a sudden realization dawned on me.

I dismissed Judy's suggestion about a love triangle, because there was no way in hell Polemos would ever be romantically interested in Angie… but what if she wasn't the tip of the triangle? What if it was Deus? And Deus was supposed to be…

"Hey? Can I come in?" Blinking, I glanced over at the doorway, where Josh was staring at me with only one foot across the threshold. "You seem to be out of it. Should I come back later?"

"Hm… Nah, come in," I told the potential second coming of Deus with a perfectly level voice that didn't betray even a hint of my inner turmoil. "I was just considering a rather… disturbing possibility, that's all."