The next week and a half was a mostly boring affair for V and the group. As V and Alice suspected, either no one was left in the city to challenge them, or no one left was willing to. Most of their time was spent helping Alice heal the sick and wounded, and later even assisting in some of the cleanup of the city. L and V had spent some time sparring, or more accurately, L had spent some time trying to teach V the blade. Their experimentation with L's "Consigliere" title had moved forward a bit as well. As far as they could tell, L activated her end of the ability when she was concentrating on combat involving V. They tested this with Alice's assistance, staging mock battles between the two. V was capable of gaining part of L's insight into battle, but it proved inconsistently helpful. If he saw an opening, but did not have the skill to exploit it, it was more of a distraction then anything. V also attempted more testing on his ability to "command" "family members" as well as set up "Family Events." but was mostly unsuccessful. The commanding aspect of his title seemed to only communicate rough desires to Eika and L, which could be helpful, but could also be interpreted incorrectly. He also could not figure out if there was any other "family events" than putting a hit out on someone, so his ability to test that feature of his title was virtually nonexistent. Additionally, V had tried to figure out if he could replicate the strange feeling his blessing had given him in regards to Eika and its use in her... berserk state?  V was unsure what exactly to call it. At-some point near the end of this semi-peaceful stint of time, Alice had met with the two remaining members of the royal family, in an effort to continue to assist the city in a better capacity since most of the wounded had either healed enough to be stable, or died at this point. The champion Luna referred to as "No face man" and the women who was presumably the Ice Champion had yet to awaken, but the Crafting Champion had, a few minutes ago, awoke and received a briefing on what had transpired.

"Ah, what a horrible Champion. I can't say I am sorry to hear that Violence is dead, the ability to make an entire city tear itself apart is quite awful. The fact that it also affected us; that is to say Divine Champions, so freely was also terrible. I do quite regret my actions that night. Also, to be quite honest, I am somewhat concerned that my most violent creation is now less of a secret then it once was." The Crafting Champion was speaking with V, L and technically Luna at the moment. Eika was sleeping on one of the nearby sheets. Luna quickly spoke up "Hey! Where do you hide the silvery guy! I was looking in your pants because you did not have a shirt. I could not find it there though. Where is it?!" Luna had apparently been bothered by this question ever since she saw the being, and had returned to the Crafting Champions body at-least once a day to search for it. "It's inside of me. That way it cannot be stolen." The Crafting Champion replied with a smile on his face as he watched surprise and excitement creep over her face. "Wait! Inside of you?! You mean like the knife that Alice pulled out of your heart?! Man keeping all your possessions inside of you must hurt. But I guess it makes them safe maybe? That would have made it harder for the kids to steal my food if I had kept it-" V gently pushed Luna behind him, cutting her off.

"I'm curious, if you don't mind answering a question. If you have something as powerful as that... uh... suit, I guess is the word, then why are you not out there killing champions left and right? It can fly, shoot energy, and who knows what else." The Crafting Champion grimaced as he replied "Why would I? What benefit does that bring me? I died in a terrorist attack on my science station. After my death I was granted a new life. I had no desire to kill in that life, I have no desire in this life. If it was all the same to me, I would simply live out my new life on this world in peace. Creating products and items to increase the people of this world's standard of living. Do you know what a thinking robot is? How advanced was your world?" V smiled "Yes, we called it AI, it was only a fantasy concept to have truly self-aware machines, but by the time I died we had made some steps toward it." The Crafting Champion nodded. "Space travel? And if so, did you travel the in-between freely? Or were you confined to your solar system?" It took V an extra moment to respond, the Crafting Champion clearly meant "space" when he said "in-between." Why didn't the gods "auto-translate" cause the word to be "space?" He responded as he considered the question in his mind. "Oh uh, well we made it to our moon, but nothing else really. Deep space telescopes, satellites, that sort of thing was the norm." A blank expression drifted over L’s face as she listened to a conversation she could not comprehend.

The Crafting Champion smiled, as if remembering an old memory "Ah, such a carefree time for a people." V would have argued the point, as he did not think his would could have been called "care free" but that was really irrelevant. "You see, I came from a universe in which many cultures and peoples explored the stars. However, the number of problems we found awaiting us out in the void were uncountable. At a young age I devoted myself to inventing and furthering the sciences behind normal everyday items. In the vast expanse that was "everywhere" the common man was mostly forgotten. Solving problems such as "Suns have randomly started exploding." often took the forefront of our people’s attention. In my mind however, what was the point of stopping the solar plague if the common people still lived in squalid slum worlds?" He paused a moment, again remembering some distant memory. "I was killed by a radical imperialist faction of the populace who thought I was trying to "incite rebellion." and “bring back the republic." The fools had no idea that I cared little for politics." A sad smile came over his face as he continued. "I appeared in front of the God of the Hearth, and was given what I suspect was the same explanation everyone else received." V decided not to comment on that, and simply listened. "However, the Gods never said we had to kill or enforce our will on each other, did they? That it was simply the only way to end the game. They might desire the end of the game, but why would I? It's not even clear if we actually get anything out of all this once it is over. I received the power to create, which is what I had in my old life. Albeit in a different fashion than before. I still desire to create, not to destroy. What are the Gods going to do? Force me? I am under the impression that their interference in the game is extremely limited. Besides, The God of the Hearth's desires as expressed to me were to try and keep the conflict from destroying the common man’s livelihood." He looked around solemnly for a moment "Although I seemed to have failed that desire in this city at-least." He laid back down and closed his eyes, clearly exhausted. He had just woken up from his injuries after all. "You and your... woman there might crave battle, but there are a lot of us that would be happy to just live out our new lives."

V and L herded Luna away from the man as he rested. V had of course considered that not every champion would be a crazed murderer, Luna, L, and Alice being a few examples. However, it never really occurred to him that some champions would just attempt to live their life apart from this "game." The Crafting Champion also brought up a good point. V turned to L "Did... the God of Honor tell you anything about WHY we should be trying to win this game? Or simply that we... you know, should be trying to win. Obviously, I have nothing to say on the subject, I barely was even told what was going on in the first place." L shook her head "To be honest I thought he failed to mention it because it was irrelevant. I was given a task by a God, and so I would carry that task out. My old Emperor did not promise rewards when he commanded me to carry out my duties." V nodded silently as L continued "However, it would seem that at the absolute least, the Hearth God also neglected to speak of any reason that winning the game was beneficial for the Champions." V shrugged "While true, I would say it’s not definitive. The God of the Hearth supposedly wanted his champion to try and keep the fighting to manageable levels. Promising a reward would be an incentive to only fight harder, right? Your God also has a reason to not mention it, as you said. Mine was... neglectful to say the least. We could ask Alice, but would the God/Goddess of Good say something like "If you kill lots of people you will be rewarded?" At the moment, I would say we do not have any definitive evidence on the subject of "rewards for winning" one way or another." L shrugged and hesitated a few moments before responding "Either way it is meaningless to me. Your victory is my victory. I fight for whatever cause you determine now. Although..." L looked somewhere off into the distance and sighed.

"I can feel something calling me from the north. Mostly in quiet moments. At night, when I’m resting, or sometimes when I'm exercising alone." She paused as she considered her words. "Maybe call is the wrong word. I can feel a sense of longing to the north, sort of like the longing you get when you look toward your homeland during a long journey. I can only assume this is what the God of Honor wants me to discover. I would ask that whatever you decide our ultimate goal is, that we solve that matter as soon as we can." V followed her gaze north as Luna babbled in the background about how she went north once but it was cold. "What if I decide to ignore the Game? If I decide we all go and live in a city hiding our identities? Try and live the best life possible, rather than constantly risking death?" L nodded "Even then I will follow you. I swore to do so. It would bother me to serve one with so little ambition. Nonetheless, after I wipe my debt to the God of Honor, I will follow." V smiled "Oh, I certainly would have ambitions! Maybe even try to rule this whole world’s underworld. Become the Champion of Crime in name or something..." L pursed her lips, but did not rise to his words, in part because she was unsure if he was kidding, or if he was serious.

A day later, Alice approached V and L with a serious look on her face. "Although it pains me, I can no longer afford to spend any more time aiding this city. Two matters demand my attention." She paused a moment, considering if she should explain to them. "First, the war in the south has caused a large amount of suffering. I must return to that land, there is much work to be done. Secondly... my reason for coming north in the first place was not initially to assist this city. I learned of the Champion of Violence later on. I had come here to attempt to convince either the Champion of Lies, or the Champion of Deception to assist me with something. If you are unaware, there is a city to the east of here that used to be known as a free merchant city. It was not part of any kingdom or ruling body save itself. As far as anyone can figure out, the Champion of Lies and the Champion of Deception had arrived in the city very early on. Ever since they have waged a hidden war within the city against each other. At this point, every member of the city claims to be loyal to one or the other. It is an absolute impossible situation to get a real handle on, but I digress. I require at-least one of them to aid me in a task and had originally come north to seek them out, before being diverted here. I sent one of my followers there in my stead, to try and scout the city for any usable information. I have not heard back from them. Although he knew the risks of going to that accursed place, I nonetheless still owe it to him to follow up, and see if he can be saved or perhaps avenged."

"Will this city be ok without your help?" Eika asked, she had come over to see what was going on. Alice nodded "After a while. It will take a long time for the inhabitance to get over the tragedies caused by the Champion of Violence's curse, but they will recover. This kingdom is strong, even with its capitol in ruins it will persist. Although..." Alice shifted her weight as she frowned. "Soon enough I suspect the war in the south will come here as well. I have recommended to the remnants of the royal family to prepare for such an eventuality. The Crafting Champion has pledged himself to watching over the other two wounded champions, as he intends to stay here for a time. I would ask you and your groups assistance in that matter as well, but I have long suspected your intentions to leave soon." V nodded as he placed his hand on his sword hilt "We cannot stay here. Between the game, and the other obligations we possess, we can linger no longer, and will likely depart soon. We were mostly repaying our debt to you by staying and assisting anyway." Alice nodded and bowed to them "May next we meet it be under better circumstances. And perhaps we can fight side by side again in the future." Alice quickly turned and walked away, giving little time for responses. Luna called out anyway, "Thanks for saving everyone Nice Lady! It was really great hanging around here. We have to go and get the bastards now! They probably went somewhere else, but we will find them!" Eika sighed deeply and hung her head. Despite her best efforts to educate Luna, things were going slowly.