Ten minutes before 2PM, a woman in all black had arrived at Flower Garden's agency. Once she spotted the room indicated in her invitation, she stopped in her tracks. Her gaze fell toward the plaque on the door.
[Rayen]
Yawn.
The woman touched the knob and turned it, opening the door wide.
The interior was immediately revealed. A long table stood at the center, surrounded by ten office chairs. Three people were already seated inside.
They also seemed to notice her arrival and turned their heads in the direction of the door.
"Sophie!"
One of them, a girl in middle school, recognized the woman in black and quickly stood from her seat to jump toward her.
"Yuzuka," Sophie called back, gently petting Yuzuka's head.
"I can't believe this. You also chose him, huh?" Yuzuka mumbled while enjoying the pets given to her.
Meanwhile, Sophie seemed to feel a sharp glare further inside the room. When she tried to find a source, she spotted another familiar person, a boy of a similar age to Yuzuka.
"Of course, Miles will be here too," Sophie said, matter-of-factly.
"What do you mean by that?" Miles shot back.
"Wherever Yuzuka is, you tend to follow her around. Are you her baby chick?"
"Grr... That's not your business to know." Miles turned his head away.
Sophie chuckled. From what Sophie remembered, the participant she decided to sponsor received seven sponsorships. Right now, only four people have arrived in this room, including herself.
Sophie had given two sponsorships, so there should be two more Entities that haven't yet arrived.
As the three Entities celebrated their reunion, from behind Sophie, a shadow appeared. This sudden appearance alerted Sophie.
When Sophie turned to look behind her, she was met by a tall and brown man. His languid face was staring down at her.
"Move," the man demanded.
Sophie raised one of her brows but still made way for him.
"What a bad day. I can't believe I'm meeting you here too," she complained.
The dark man flopped himself down on one of the seats before responding, "What I can't believe is you participating in this. You actually have a life outside work, huh?"
"Pathetic slacker," Sophie said.
"Heh, Old lady."
"Grr..."
"Let's not argue," Yuzuka said, letting go of Sophie. "We're all Rayen's sponsors here, so we should be getting along."
"Right! Right!" Miles agreed.
Sophie also immediately wiped away her grimace and smiled gently at Yuzuka. "Yes, yes. We'll get along."
However, the brown man, Harjun, only snorted at her words.
Just then, the only person that Sophie doesn't recognize also spoke. "Let's sit down. It seems like the recording is about to start."
Her appearance was that of an elderly lady, lips curled into an elegant and sweet smile that made Sophie act just as instructed.
Just like what the elderly lady said, the show projected on the screen was actually starting. The Overseer of Scribes, who introduced himself as Plotter, was standing in front of the participants.
"Are we the only sponsors of Rayen?" Sophie asked.
After all, they're still missing one more person.
"I think so..." Yuzuka said.
It seemed like there was another one who also did the same as Sophie and gave two petals to Rayen. Sophie glanced around, a complicated expression visible on her face.
'Who could it be?'
From the screen, Plotter was inside the broadcasting studio, speaking to the participants.
"Today, you're all going to meet your sponsors."
But Sophie was too busy to determine who the other rich-ass that was trying to snatch her place as the leader of the sponsors.
'I should have invested three petals instead of only two.'
Granted, she doesn't have that many petals. After all, petals are their lifespans.
She could earn it by gathering more merits, but she had been put under restriction after her last mistake on the job 20 years ago.
This show was supposed to be her chance to bypass that restriction and earn merits beyond her limits.
One month ago, the two Overseers of Scribes and Librarians launched the Minstrel Project. They invited several Entity Officers to participate as sponsors of the participants. By choosing to sponsor someone, they would earn merits with every performance. And the more they invest, the higher the benefits they would receive, but now, someone actually wanted to snatch her place as the lead sponsor!
'Should I increase my investment in the next round?'
Right as she was in the midst of thinking, the person who received all their support suddenly popped out in the air and fell on one of the seats in the meeting room.
Sophie's attention turned to him, catching sight of his stupidly confused expression.
"....."
'Do I really want to increase it?'
***
The last thing Rayen remembered was that he was still in the broadcast room. Plotter, the host, who actually looked like a midget in person appeared before them, introducing himself before he explained the day's agenda.
After the explanation, Plotter snapped his fingers, and Rayen suddenly found himself falling into the dark.
And then... he found himself surrounded by five strange people.
'... Where am I?'
"Yo. You look Stupid," one of them said.
He looked just like an ordinary youth at the age of 16. Beside him sat a girl who seemed younger than him whose brown hair was braided into a fish braid. When her eyes met with Rayen, she immediately looked away, her cheeks seemingly burning.
"Are you… Perhaps my sponsors?" Rayen asked.
"Yes, we are. Got a problem with that, Stupid Seed?" the youth said.
The girl beside him nudged him to the side. "Stop that, Miles."
"Okay. Okay."
"S-Sorry about that... I'm Yuzuka," the brown-haired girl introduced herself. "This one is Miles."
Rayen nodded and then turned to the next person — a black-haired woman.
She flashed a professional smile. "Sophie."
Once again, Rayen nodded before turning to the elderly lady.
"Hoho, such a fresh young man," she said.
Rayen fought the urge to wince at her words, but it seemed useless as she noticed immediately. Nevertheless, she wasn't offended and even sent Rayen a wink.
"I'm Beatrice. You can call me Ms. Beatrice, young lad."
"... Alright, Ms. Beatrice."
"That's right, that's right."
'Are they really my sponsors?'
They're just kids and the elderly. The only one seemingly normal was the woman in black. Well, even though they're strange, he was still grateful for receiving their support.
Rayen glanced around once more. When he spotted the last sponsor at the end of the long table, his eyes instantly widened.
"Y-You're…" Rayen pointed in his direction.
Sophie picked up on his reaction. "You know him?"
"Of course, I know him! That's Harjun!"
Harjun, who was about to doze off in his sleep, regained consciousness upon hearing his name. He blinked and stared at Rayen.
"You know me?"
How could he not know?
Harjun is a God!
He's one of the forefathers who once rocked their nation with only his music. If Rayen was compared to Harjun, the former would just be a newly hatched fledgling.
"Can I… get your autograph?"
After receiving Harjun's nod, Rayen stood up and approached his seat.
Harjun glanced up at the woman in black with a smirk.
Annoyed, the woman in black crossed her arms and begrudgingly leaned on her seat. "Can we focus on the matters at hand first?"
Hearing that, Rayen stopped in his tracks. He glanced at the woman in black stiffly.
"Oh, I got carried away…"
"Sophie, don't be such a killjoy. We have so much time to spare for just an autograph." Harjun turned to Rayen. "Come here. Where do you want me to sign?"
Sophie gritted her teeth but decided not to pursue the matter. However, Rayen realized her annoyance and trotted back to his seat.
"I'll get the signature later, if that is fine."
Harjun only smiled. "Okay."
Rayen sat back down in his seat, tense.
"You must have some questions," Ms. Beatrice pointed out.
Immediately, Rayen nodded.
"Go on, ask."
Rayen obliged. "Um... What are you guys?"
At first, Rayen thought that he must be in the afterlife. This sick show must be an event hosted in hell and the audience are devils who enjoy watching humans suffer.
That made sense, right?
Plotter seemed to enjoy tormenting them.
But with Harjun being here, Rayen was suddenly unsure. Rayen was certain that Harjun was still alive. He couldn't possibly be a devil either.
Just then, the five sponsors smiled.
"We are Entities," Ms. Beatrice answered.
"What exactly are Entities?"
This time, it was Sophie who answered. "We're a special kind of people. It's a bit complicated to explain, but here's the simple explanation: We are people who guide souls to the best path."
"A guardian angel?"
Suddenly, Miles laughed. "Stupid. Do we look like angels to you?"
"....."
Yuzuka jabbed him on the side again.
"We're just normal people outside. The only difference is that we can reincarnate while remembering the details of our past lives and we can influence fate a little."
"That's enough. It's not relevant to your situation anyway, so let's proceed to today's main agenda," Harjun said. "I still have to sleep."
"Main agenda?"
"You're here to collect your new identity," Harjun said. "Before you are introduced to the world, you must take up a new name."
Rayen's eyes widened. "What?"
"You got a problem, Stupid Seed?" Miles cut in aggressively.
"Geez, Miles, stop it! Can't you see he's still processing it?!" Yuzuka complained.
But all her words became just background noise to Rayen.
'Take up a new name? But what about my old life?'