Saki

  "Royal Advisor Sakilera! Me is Trixua, me is manager of city. May Trixua ask what she do to serve?"

  I paused as I looked at her before asking, "How do you know my name?" Even as I asked, I activated the titles, and hers came up. Since the city now belonged to Trissaile and I was a Trissaile Royal Advisor to Princess Tama, it made sense I'd be able to see the names. The title was as follows:

  Trixua

  ? Age: 7

  ? Titles: City Keeper

  ? Primary Element: Dirt

  ? Secondary Element: Mist

  ? Race: Goblin

  ? Level: 23

  I blinked in surprise at multiple things. For one, her primary element was Dirt? I thought only the four primary elements were chosen for primary and secondary? Second, she was level twenty-three! She was above my level, yet still much weaker than me!? Levels were liars, I was beginning to realize something I had assumed anyway when a level forty-five Nekojin could fight a sixty-plus lich to a standstill.

  I looked back at the goblin as I realized I had wandered off in thought again. She looked at me expectantly, and I realized I hadn't heard her. "Sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked.

  She nodded and repeated herself. "Your name appears above your head, and I have a task in my sheet that tells me to come to you for new directions."

  I froze as I realized she probably meant the same thing that appeared above her head. Did just everyone have this?! I'd lived my entire life in Xanrea, and ever since meeting Tama, I kept learning things were not how I thought they were. Something else caught my attention, though. "What do you mean I appeared as a task in your sheet?" I asked quizzically.

  She pulled out a piece of what looked like parchment and unrolled it before handing it to me. There was a to-do list on the sheet, and on the list, at the very top, was 'Find Royal Advisor Autumnal Sakilera and request new orders.' Right under it was 'Find Princess Fuyuki Tamaneko and show allegiance to your new ruler.'

  I stared at the perfect handwriting and looked up, shocked. "You wrote this?" I asked.

  She shook her head before saying, "No, it fills itself out. Trixua got it when she became city manager. It appeared and stayed with her."

  I stared at her for a moment before an idea hit me. Almost fearfully, I held my hand open, palm up, and willed my task parchment into existence. I watched in dawning horror as a piece of parchment just like Trixua's manifested in my hand. My eye twitched, and I wrapped my tail around myself subconsciously. I half-heard Trixua say, "Oh, you has one too!"

  I ignored her and looked at my to-do list. It only had two items on it, and I wanted to scream. The first was what I was already doing: 'By the royal decree of Princess Tamaneko, you are to use any means necessary to end slavery in the goblin empire.' And a more confusing one that said, 'Kill the Demon Lord and save the world from destruction.'

  I sighed and ripped the paper into pieces before throwing it away. As a test, I held up my hand and waited. Sure enough, another one formed, and it read the exact same thing. "Was I always able to do this my entire life?!" I said in shock.

  "Probably not! Unless you were born Royal Advisor? Only us leaders and stuff get tasks. They given to us by bigger leaders to do things," Trixua said happily.

  I grabbed her paper out of her hand and read her list. Aside from the two at the top, the rest were stupidlike picking up laundry for the now-dead goblin leader, ordering prostitutes for the dead goblin leader, and eating a cake made of... what? I considered for a moment before speaking. "Your new orders are as follows: all previous orders are null. You are to hereby ban slavery and hire new guards to defend the city."

  As I spoke, I stared at her parchment and watched it update in real time. All the stupid tasks went away. The one that said 'find me for directions' turned green and vanished. 'Find Tama' was still at the top, but there were now three under it: hire new guards, ban slavery in the city, and return to Saki for more directions.

  I handed her the paper back, and she bowed before turning and running directly towards the gates. Why did I have a feeling she knew where Tama was? I wouldn't be shocked if she had some kind of voided mental map of the town or something stupid like that!

  Even as I thought that, a map of the city appeared in my view, and this time I actually screamed in rage at the insanity. What was even worse was the whole map was filled with small dots, two large dots, and a few medium dots. The largest dot on the map was right outside the gate, just changing position to random locations. Above the dot it said "Princess Tamaneko." The second biggest dot was me, and the rest were city officials, including Trixua, who was making a beeline for the gate.

  My tail grew and turned to an earthen spike before I slammed it repeatedly into a nearby wall, causing the building to collapse. I wanted to cry, to fall to my knees and curl into a ball. Even the compulsion didn't help as much. My entire life, I thought I understood. I studied in libraries, I watched people. I learned and learned. And yet, after meeting Tama, reality has just decided what I had learned was just the tip, and everything I didn't learn was what I was supposed to know all along! And the only void person who could teach me couldn't even read!

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I took deep, calming breaths. Now was not the time for another breakdown. It was a magic map and a magic task list. I should be happy. It makes my job easier. That's what I told myself, but the rage kept simmering. Instead, I decided I would go talk to Tama myself. Not an angry talk, but I had a lot of questions, and I would use Anna as a mediator if necessary.

  Tama

  I leaped into the air and sliced with Serenity, sending a wave of air that cleaved a dozen goblins in half. Landing, I caught a goblin's wrist as she swung her club at me, twisting until it snapped. My other hand decapitated her with Serenity. Sheathing my blade, I blinked upward, summoning water daggers and hurling them at random goblins. Each pierced a vital point, killing seve ral more. This was so much fun! I landed, grabbed a goblin, and blinked a hundred feet into the air, releasing him to splat below before blinking back. Smirking, I threw another water dagger at a flag-bearing goblin. Landing again, I drew Serenity and spun, killing more. The goblins had stopped fighting each other and now teamed up against me. Exciting! I dodged a dagger, blinked right as a club swung down, hitting another goblin, then blinked behind the club-wielder, stabbing his head with my dagger and seizing his club. I swung it, sending a goblin flying, then threw it skyward. Swirling water around my fists, I punched a sword-wielding goblin, blasting a hole through her heart. She collapsed, lifeless.

  Raising Serenity to slice another, a blue wave swept across the battlefield. The goblins froze, confused, then stared at me. I stepped back, unnerved, and started blinking and killing, but they didn't react. Stopping, I blinked to the gate and yelled, "Tama doesn't like staring! Stop staring!" They averted their gazes, making it weirder. "Tama wants to fight more!" I shouted. They cheered and resumed fighting. Relieved, I leaped, blinked at a goblin, and stabbed his heart.

  Mid-swing, I halted, spotting a small goblin holding a paper, smiling at me unarmed. Something about her felt off, like Sensei before assigning chores. I tilted my head, catching a thrown dagger and returning it to its owner.

  "Hello, Princess Tamaneko! Me is Trixua. Trixua gives her..." She frowned at the paper, stumbling over a word. "Alee... alleg... allegiance!"

  I tilted my head. What was allegiance? The paper? I didn't want it! "Tama doesn't want a piece of paper!" I said indignantly.

  Trixua looked puzzled. "But... Trixua was not giving you a piece of paper?"

  I frowned, tail lashing, arms crossed, ears twitching. "Then what is an allegiance?"

  She hesitated. "Trixua does not know! She was told by the list to pledge it to Princess Tamaneko!"

  Confused, I opened my mouth, but Saki's voice cut in. "Don't worry about it, Tama. She just had a task. Thank her and let her go." Saki strolled through the battlefield, stabbing encroaching goblins with her tail. I nodded, turned to Trixua, and said, "Thank you." She nodded and ran toward the gate.

  Saki faced me seriously. "We need to talk, Tama." I froze, stepping back to blink, but she grabbed my arm, shaking her head, eyes locked on mine. I sighed. "Tama is busy fighting war!" I said with as much force as I could muster, barely any. Saki gave me a meaningful look, and I nodded. We headed to the gate. The goblins stopped fighting again, chatting among themselves. Weird.

  Saki glanced at them. "I was wondering why they were still fighting. I'm assuming you commanded them to fight?" I frowned, confused. She sighed. "That's what we need to talk about. Tama, you're a Princess. I know you hate it. If I could, I'd remove the title, and we'd never worry about it again. But I can't, and as far as I know, you can't. We need to figure this out. Too much unexplained stuff is happening around me because of you, and we need to work together." She took a deep breath, looking expectant.

  I considered her words. "But Tama doesn't know anything." She nodded and walked into the city. I followed. Twenty feet from the gate, we stood in the city center. Goblins scurried everywheresome fighting, others rushing about. It was livelier than before.

  Saki scanned the scene, then said, "Tama, can you hold out your hand and imagine a piece of paper appearing that tells you what to do?"

  I frowned. "Tama does not like that paper! It says lots of hard words that Sensei said were made up!"

  "Just do it, Tama. Let me see it," Saki said, irritated. I sighed, raised my hand, and the stupid paper appeared. I handed it to her. I couldn't read it anyway. Sensei called them scribbles, unimportant.

  Saki studied the paper, frowning intensely. I tried to blink away, but she grabbed my arm without looking up. So mean! Anna giggled on my body, asking in my head, "What's stunning her more? That you're a divine avatar or that you've ignored seven royal court summonses?"

  I looked at Anna, confused, and said aloud, "Tama doesn't know what either of those are. She is Tama and doesn't care about royal or divine stuff!" Anna giggled, my gi tickling and shimmering. Saki looked up, eyes wide with horror and shock. "Tama, you've gotten over sixteen summons from your aunt, the Queen of Trissaile. Your Sensei called these scribbles? Don't even get me started on your 'divine duty to ascend'!" Her voice mixed confusion, shock, and stunned silence.