“How boring. Why does Minerva insist on doing this every time? And she is late as well.”
Karan could only shake his head at the calamity’s goddess. She was too much for him to handle in this early morning.
Things could get difficult with her anytime and Karan was not in a mood to pacify her if she decided to go berserk.
“I’m sure Minerva has her reasons. Personally, I don’t mind her being late. It will mean that the meeting was cut short and I like that.”
Karan was not lazy by nature. He just did not like to spend effort where he did not need to. And the tower was certainly not a place he wanted to spend her effort in.
When he had been Lucy, there had been a period of time when he had admired the tower.
To conquer the abyss was not an easy task to accomplish. It required strong willpower and attitude to accomplish such a feat.
He had even argued against the rebels when they had come to his home to ask for help. But the decision had ultimately lied to his parents.
And they had decided to tower about their deeds.
In the end, they had been laid to rest by the other nobles that could not afford for the tower to lose such strong support. And Lucy had joined the rebellion.
But that was a talk of the past. Lucy was no longer that little girl but a powerful male god.
He had to get his head in the game if he did not want to give himself away. Especially not now when Aurora had gotten involved in this mess.
Karan had always kept tabs on the girl that had like a sister to him. He had seen her try and infiltrate the tower during the selection test.
And then he had lost contact when she had stormed out of the room.
Had it not been for him keeping tabs, he would not have recognized her in her adult form at all.
He did not have to question why the younger female looked like an adult. He could already smell the abyss all over her.
And staying in this community you learned not to question the abyss and its actions. Even the gods could not go against it.
“Finally, she decided to come. I was getting bored.”
Karan lifted his head up at Mei’s words.
And true to her words, Minerva had decided to grace the room with her presence. Her head was held high and her aura screamed power.
She was the true definition of a goddess beloved by the abyss. She was upright and tried to do the right thing.
If not for her inflexibility, Karan would have liked her as well. She was thinking of the betterment of the common people after all.
“Everyone, take a seat. It is time we start this meeting. I am sure you have a lot of questions about me and my actions. And it is time we address them all.”
===============
Minerva could see that the people were getting agitated at her delay.
But she also knew that the cabinet was made up of cowards and fools.
As high and mighty gods and goddesses tried to make themselves out to be, they were nothing more than the tower’s pawn. They were given this power by the tower and even their title held no meaning.
These people might have the instincts of a divine being but that did not make them divine themselves.
Minerva’s eyes fell on Astoria and her regal form.
‘Perhaps not all of them were a lost cause.’
But the success of one did not make up for the failure of the others.
“Everyone, take a seat. It is time we start this meeting. I am sure you have a lot of questions about me and my actions. And it is time we address them all.”
Minerva could already see the eager faces looking back at her. These people were not even trying to hide the fact that they wanted to drag her down from the main seat.
Too bad, the main seat was not a favor but a shackle. The 7 original gods would never be replaced by anyone outside the circle.
“Boo. You took your sweet time getting here. I was beginning to get bored.”
Mei was the first one to greet Minerva. This was something Minerva had expected to happen.
Mei was not the most patient person in the world. And her temper was legendary even among the gods.
Karan looked more subdued to see her arrive. Generally, he tried to egg Mei on and cause as much havoc as he could.
But he looked a little lost in thoughts today.
“Lord Karan, are you bored as well? You can leave if that is the case.”
It would be ideal to have Lord Karan here. The god had a presence that was strong and scary. Most people would not even dare utter a single word in his presence.
“No, I am good. I was just thinking about something.”
“More like someone. Are you missing your lover already? I head about him from the gossip vines.”
Minerva arched her eyebrow in surprise.
Of course, she had heard the rumors regarding Lord Karan and Astoria’s escort. But she had not paid much attention to them.
Knowing the people of the tower, they could gossip about anything and everything.
“You should not believe everything you hear in the gossip Mei. My relationship with Aura cannot be explained in words.”
Minerva felt shocked at the admission.
Lord Karan took extra care not to form relationships. He was a certified weirdo and someone who no one liked to mess with.
“Is that a confirmation? Are you admitting to having a lover? And a male lover at that? I never thought I would see the day.”
Lady Mei broke out in laughter.
‘What is going on down there?’, ‘ Did Lord Karan tell a joke?’, ‘Darn these magic canceling-stones. I can’t hear anything at their present volume.’
Minerva felt her temper rise at the ridiculous situation.
She could not allow rumors to rise due to this misunderstanding. She had to cut the gossip off before it could get any further.
“Ridiculous. What good would holding on to a mortal do for you? Remember, humans, are as insignificant as ants to us. They will pass in the blink of an eye.”
“The only thing we need to focus on is….”
“….the continual survival of the human species. We know. You don’t have to repeat it every chance you get old lady.”
Mei cut Minerva off.
Minerva could tell that she had already lost the interest of the two gods in front of her. This situation was beyond salvageable.
“Lady Minerva, can we start this meeting now? It is getting late and I need to head back to my territory.”
Everyone held their breath as a minor god finally decided to stand up and say his thing.
Speaking such words was akin to suicide for most. But the god that had stood up to interrupt Lady Minerva has a good pedigree.
He was also close with Lady Asami. So he knew that he would be relatively safe even if he caused a minor scene.
“You are right. We should start this meeting now.”
Those words brought mixed emotions to the present party. All they could do was stare at each other and wonder if they had seen the same thing.
After all, it was unlikely for Lady Minerva to let someone behave like this and not say anything.
“So, do any of you have any questions for me?”
Lady Minerva decided to beat around the bush and ask the question.
For a minute, it looked as if no one would dare ask her anything. They were all too scared of any potential reparation to even open their mouth.
But then someone finally stepped ahead and raised his hand.
“If the lady doesn’t mind, I would like one of my questions answered. It is regarding the recent permission you granted. Why did you allow a no-name person to open a training academy in the Rocx valley of all places?”
It was the tower master who spoke up.
Minerva felt her temper rise as he questioned her decision. How dare a human try and humiliate her like this? Did he not want to live any longer?
But then she took in deep breaths and calm herself down.
Of course, he would ask something like that. He had been trying to get an answer out of her all this time.
But Minerva had underestimated his desire to know the answer. He had taken account of this opportunity and forced her into a situation that was difficult to answer.
But she had an out as well.
“It was not my decision but a request made by Lord Karan. That was all.”
Everyone’s attention shifted from her to the carefree god at her side.
“What? I was just bored and wanted action. I don’t care about anything else.”
It was such a Karan action that no one could even say anything against him.
After all, who did not know of his weird habit of picking up strays and collecting them in the guard squad?
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