Chaos Gods in Turmoil
In the deepest heart of the Chaos realm, the sanctuary of the Three Evil Gods.
"We're screwed! Everything's gone to hell! After centuries upon centuries, we finally found our perfect agent, and now she's gone!"
"Calm yourself, Azothal. We haven't lost her yet."
"...What? Haven't lost her? Then where the hell did you stash her? The Chaos essence embedded all the way into her soul has completely vanished! It's been washed away by some bizarre holy power! Ahh... My love, Saula. Why did I ever send you there?"
"You idiot."
"What? Idiot? Watch your mouth, Lilith! You're just as guilty! If you'd known about a risk like that, you should've said something ages ago!"
"Excuse me? Who was it that said it was finally time and pushed to release Saula from her seal, you crazy bitch?"
"Enough, Lilith. The God of Madness is supposed to be mad, after all."
"Right! I'm madness incarnate! How could I not be crazy?"
"......Sigh. What a bunch of fools."
"Regardless, what's important right now is this: how do we get our Saula back?"
"...Is that even possible? Not only did the Chaos essence we implanted in her shatter, even the suggestions are gone. Without knowing who did it, reclaiming and controlling Saula again is impossible."
"Exactly. If the god in charge back then had just properly monitored her, we'd know who tampered with Saula. But no, you went insane and abandoned your duties?"
"That's right! I went insane!"
"......Goddamn it, what a pathetic excuse for a fellow deity. First things first, we need to figure out who did this to Saula. We raised her in secret, beyond the notice of any other divinity, so who the hell spotted her existence and stole her right out from under us?!"
"Stripping away the Chaos essence and suggestions from Saula could only be done through divinity. A god intervened."
"Divinity, divinity, divinity! Yeah, divinity! We can tell that much just by looking!"
"You crazy bitch, we still need to talk it out!"
"Azothal. This mess is your fault. Shouldn't you clean it up?"
"Fine. I, Azothal the God of Madness, will take responsibility for my mistake and handle it. ...Should I descend to the mortal realm first?"
"Argh... seriously. You wanna throw away all the plans we've been building for so long?"
"Oh? So that's how it is, huh?"
"Azothal. The priority is identifying who stole Saula from us—and figuring out what the current Saula is thinking and aiming for."
"Yeah, Azothal. With the essence we planted in her gone, we can't even read her thoughts anymore. Without grasping her mindset, controlling her again is impossible."
"But wait. Say we track down the thief who took Saula and figure out her thoughts... ...could we really get her back then?"
"We'd have to revise large parts of the plan... but yes, it's possible."
"...For real?"
"Yes. If we capture her and just flood her with Chaos, it could work. It'll take some time, but then we'd have an agent free to operate in the mortal realm without restrictions."
"Good. Leave it to me. I have a way."
"What method do you plan to use?"
"An avatar descent, obviously!"
"You moron!"
"What now?!"
"Forgot why we always use these cumbersome methods? To avoid detection by other divinities! An avatar descent gets spotted immediately, and everything goes down the drain!"
"Oh. Right?"
"'Right?' What do you mean 'right,' you idiot?!"
"...Call me a stupid god, and I'll tolerate it. But call me a stupid bitch, and I won't!"
"Sigh. I give up. How are things like you even gods?"
"Lilith. Why don't you handle it? You seem more capable than Azothal."
"...Me? I hate cleaning up this one's messes, but fine."
"Huh? Hold on."
"What now?"
"Did you catch what Saula just said?"
"What'd she say?"
"'I am a servant of Lord Deus.' Deus. Is there a god named Deus?"
"Deus... wait. Did she really say Deus?"
"Yeah. Who's Deus?"
"Hah... Deus, huh... To hear that name again."
"Yeah. Deus. The thief who took Saula is Deus? That doesn't make any sense. What the hell is going on?"
"I asked, who's Deus?!"
The three of us arrived at the dormitory building and parted ways with brief goodbyes, each heading to our own rooms.
At Kallandra Academy, rooms were strictly one person per room as a general rule.
Not just for nobles—even commoners who had clawed their way through the brutal competition got their own dedicated dorm rooms.
Thanks to that, I could comfortably use my room alone.
Truth be told, I was a little curious about sharing a room with someone else, but I figured it might be hard to adjust and stressful instead.
The one-person-per-room dorm setup was a blessing for me.
That said, once I made some academy friends, maybe I could pull an all-nighter hanging out in one of their rooms?
Creeeak.
I opened the door to my assigned room and stepped inside.
"Welcome back, Master."
A neatly dressed maid greeted me.
A beautiful blonde maid.
"Hello. You're the maid assigned to me from now on?"
"Yes, Master. I am Cheryl, the maid who will serve Luke from this day forward."
The academy didn't just provide rooms—they supplied maids for personal service too.
In a feudal society where so many students were nobles living lavishly outside, lacking attendants could make normal daily life impossible for them.
Of course, maids were provided equally to both female and male students, so one might wonder if male students exploited them sexually or led to moral scandals.
But thanks to noble pride, such incidents were apparently extremely rare.
There were a few cases, but the male students involved were branded as honorless scum in noble society and shunned as unfit nobility.
Probably a setting from Deus ex Machina being a 12+ rated game.
But damn, why is she so pretty?
I didn't remember the academy maids being this stunning.
"Alright, Cheryl. Looking forward to working with you. I'm Luke Perseino. Could you handle this luggage for now?"
I handed over all the bags I'd been carrying.
"Yes, sir. I'll unpack everything. Would you like a bath to wash away your travel fatigue? I'll prepare warm water right away."
"A bath? Hmm... yeah, good idea. Draw me some water."
Wait, thinking about it, this was ridiculous.
They provide maids because nobles can't handle daily life without servants, but they make you haul your own luggage from the academy entrance all the way here?
This wasn't in Deus ex Machina. The game's protagonist was a commoner anyway, and it didn't delve into minute daily details.
So this was new info—whoever handled logistics had a quirky approach.
Or maybe some clueless higher-up set the rules sloppily without considering the situation.
Common sense says they could allow servants in just for first-day luggage help. If security was the issue, at least provide academy staff to carry it.
Shaking off these pointless thoughts, I handed all my luggage to Cheryl, stripped down, and sank into the filled bathtub.
The moment I slipped into the water, a perfect warmth enveloped my body.
Not too hot, not cold, not lukewarm—the ideal bathing temperature.
Knock knock.
Someone rapped on the bathroom door.
"Master. It's Cheryl."
"Yes, Cheryl? What is it?"
"I'll assist you with your bath."
Ah. Bath service.
I'd adapted to most aspects of Luke's life.
But a few things still felt off—like bath attendants.
Even after over ten years as a noble, having women see me naked wasn't something I was used to.
"No need, Cheryl. I'll bathe alone, so you don't have to help."
Click.
As I finished speaking, the doorknob began to turn.
The door opened, and Cheryl stepped into the bathroom.
"...Cheryl? Didn't I just say not to come in?"
"Forgive my impertinence, Master."
Cheryl entered, knelt before me,
and bowed her head.
"......My Lord, my Savior."