As they walked through the marble-and-glass corridors, Kaito pointed out the various Unit Series he had manifested to keep his boredom at bay.
- The Sanitizers (Unit-S): Small, floating silver spheres that hummed in a low frequency. "They don't just scrub," Kaito explained as one drifted past Lyra's robes. "They rearrange the molecular structure of dust into oxygen. The house literally breathes."
- The Archivists (Unit-A): Maids with glowing blue eyes sitting in a room filled with humming crystal pillars. "Those are the servers. They’re mapping the entire planet’s ley lines so I can get a stable signal for the 'Security Mirror.' It’s a bit laggy in the Southern Continent."
- The Cultivators (Unit-C): Sturdy, earth-toned constructs in the greenhouse. "They’re currently cross-breeding 'Glow-Lillies' with 'Solar-Ferns' because I wanted a bedside lamp that didn't hum."
Lyra watched as a maid vacuumed a rug using a localized gravity well. "Kaito... you’ve turned the fundamental forces of the universe into household chores."
"It's just efficient, Lyra. Why use a broom when you can use physics?"
The Garden of Artificial Peace
Eventually, they reached the Central Garden. It was a masterpiece of "Natural Perfection"—every blade of grass was exactly 3.5cms tall, and the koi pond had water so clear it looked like the fish were flying in a vacuum.
Kaito led her to a gazebo made of "Unbreakable Glass" and gestured to a reclining chair. "Sit. Relax. I’ve programmed a Unit to bring out some chamomile tea. I even adjusted the honey’s viscosity so it dissolves instantly."
Lyra sank into the chair, her divine heart finally slowing down. For the first time in an eon, she didn't feel the weight of ten billion souls pressing on her. The automated "Hestia" system was handling the paperwork, the tea was perfect, and the sun—now adjusted to a softer, less "tacky" gold—was warm on her skin.
"Maybe... maybe you were right, Kaito," she murmured, closing her eyes. "This isn't a hobby. It's a sanctuary. I could get used to—"
SHADOW.
A massive, chilling darkness suddenly blotted out the sun. The air, previously still and temperature-controlled, was whipped into a violent gale by the beat of gargantuan wings.
THOOM.
The ground shook. The "Unbreakable Glass" of the gazebo didn't shatter, but it vibrated with a low, bone-rattling frequency.
Lyra bolted upright, her face turning ghost-white. Standing in the middle of Kaito’s perfect, 3.5cm grass was an Ancient Frost-Wing Dragon. It was sixty feet of jagged white scales, ice-blue eyes, and teeth the size of broadswords. Its presence alone caused the temperature in the garden to plummet to 20°C.
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"ROOOOOOOOAR!"
The dragon’s cry shattered the silence, a sound that usually signalled the end of a kingdom. Lyra scrambled behind her chair, her hands glowing with desperate divine light. "Kaito! It’s an Ancient Disaster! How did it get past your barriers?!"
Kaito didn't move. He didn't even drop his tea. He just looked at his HUD and sighed, a long, weary sound of a man who had just seen a "System Error" pop up on his screen.
"Dammit," Kaito muttered, standing up and dusting off his tracksuit. "I told the Perimeter Units to flag anything over ten tons. This must be ' Silvane ' again."
" Silvane?!" Lyra shrieked. "That’s a World-Eater!"
"No," Kaito said, walking toward the dragon with the casual gait of a man going to check the mail. "That’s a pest with a bad habit of landing on my petunias. Watch the tea, Lyra. This won't take long."
The dragon’s landing was less of a majestic arrival and more of a tectonic event. The shockwave rippled through the garden, but the invisible kinetic dampeners Kaito had installed absorbed the worst of it, turning a potential earthquake into a rhythmic thrum.
Lyra was practically vibrating with divine terror. "Kaito! Its mana... it’s suffocating! It’s an Ancient Frost-Wing! Why is it dripping fire?!"
Indeed, as the gargantuan beast lowered its head, its jaw unhinged to reveal a glowing, molten core. Searing orange embers dripped from its serrated teeth, sizzling as they hit the grass—only for a small Unit-S cleaning sphere to immediately rush over and scrub the scorch mark away.
Kaito didn't look scared. He looked at Lyra, then at the dragon, then back at Lyra with a look of genuine surprise.
"Oh," Kaito blinked. "I didn't think she’d be back from the Southern Volcanos so soon. I told her to stay there until she cooled off."
"She?!" Lyra shrieked.
The dragon’s eyes, as large as carriage wheels, narrowed. It let out a huff of steam that smelled like ozone and sulfur. Then, with a sound like shattering crystal and a violent POOF—
A cloud of white essence erupted, swirling into a miniature cyclone. When it dissipated, the sixty-foot monster was gone. In its place stood a young woman, perhaps nineteen, with wild, waist-length silver hair and eyes the color of a winter storm. She was wearing a tattered cloak made of dragon scales and a pair of heavy leather boots.
She didn't look at the scenery. She didn't look at the mansion. She marched straight up to Kaito, stepping over a flowerbed with zero regard for his "Default Settings."
She stopped three inches from his chest and pointed a sharp, claw-like fingernail directly at Lyra, who was still crouching behind her high-backed velvet chair.
"Kaito," the girl demanded, her voice a low, dangerous purr. "Who is this? And why does she smell like 'Holy' incense and expensive perfume?"
Kaito sighed, rubbing his temples. "Lyra, this is Silvane. She’s the 'disaster' I mentioned. Silvane, this is the Goddess Lyra. She’s... my former employer. She’s staying in the guest wing."
Silvane’s eyes flashed with a predatory gold light. "The Guest Wing? The one with the heated floors and the silk sheets? My wing?"
"You don't live here, Silvane," Kaito reminded her gently. "You live in a cave three mountains over. You just come here to use my shower and eat my 'optimized' jerky."
Silvane ignored him, stalking toward Lyra. She sniffed the air around the Goddess, her nose wrinkling. "She’s too shiny. I don't like her. Is she another one of your 'imaginary' constructs, or is she real? Because if she's real, she's encroaching on my territory."
Lyra, slowly realizing she wasn't about to be eaten, stood up with as much dignity as a terrified Goddess could muster. "I am the Arbiter of Souls! I am not 'encroaching' on anything! I am merely here to... audit the reality engine!"
Silvane turned back to Kaito, her expression shifting from "Alpha Predator" to "Offended Housecat." "Kaito, tell the shiny lady to leave. She’s messing up the 'vibe' of the garden. Also, I’m hungry. I want the bread that pops out of the silver box. Now."