That question was a little difficult to answer.
Hastur carefully recalled the scenery he had seen in Intis, but there hadn't been any particularly interesting sights. He hadn't even gone to the White Maple Palace, where Roselle had fallen, in the end.
"The Cathedral of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun was pretty nice."
The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun was about the only thing that had left a relatively deep impression on him.
Hearing Hastur's answer, Audrey continued smiling at him. "Didn't you and Miss Sharon have any other interesting experiences?"
At this moment, Sharon also looked over, seemingly wanting to see how Hastur would answer this question. Even Ariella, nestled in her arms, raised her eyes toward him, her gaze filled with schadenfreude.
"That time, we were only passing through in a hurry. We didn't have much time to stop and have fun."
"Oh, I see." Audrey didn't continue asking, and she seemed to be in a fairly good mood.
To prevent Audrey from asking any more questions like that, Hastur had the servants prepare dinner as a welcoming banquet for Xio's first visit to Southville County.
Everyone else was easy enough, but Sharon might not be accustomed to such an occasion. Hastur had even already come up with an excuse in his mind for her to decline tonight's dinner.
But today, Sharon showed no intention of getting up and leaving or entering the mirror. Her gaze passed over Audrey, then swept over Fors and Xio before finally landing on Hastur.
It sent a chill down Hastur's spine as he chatted with Audrey, as if a cold wind were howling past him.
When Hastur looked back at her, Sharon had lowered her head slightly and was attentively grooming Ariella's glossy black fur. From time to time, she gently scratched the little cat's head and chin, making Ariella let out sounds of contentment.
The dinner wasn't particularly extravagant. There were only the five of them because Sharon disliked having too many outsiders present. Hastur didn't even invite Alfred, who also lived in Puning Harbor.
Hastur sat in the main seat at the center of the dining table, with Audrey and Sharon seated on either side of him. Fors and Xio sat on Audrey's side, while Ariella claimed a seat of her own beside Sharon, occasionally looking down smugly at Susie, who wasn't allowed at the table.
This caused Susie to let out several dissatisfied complaints, so Hastur arranged a special seat for Susie beside Ariella as well.
Although the scene looked somewhat unusual, everyone knew each other, so it still felt fairly natural.
The only unnatural one was Hastur, who sat in the middle with his back ramrod straight, his gaze fixed squarely on the food in front of him.
Audrey and Sharon didn't speak, so he also chose to remain silent. Fors and Xio exchanged a glance and tacitly chose to quietly enjoy their food as well.
After dinner, Hastur led them on a stroll through the garden. Then he had Caius bring over card games and several board games, such as a dice-based Monopoly, Winner in Life, as well as some mini-games involving mysticism knowledge.
These were recreational games specifically meant for them to pass the time.
In the end, they unanimously chose the game called Winner in Life.
This game also used dice rolls to determine how many spaces a player advanced. Each space represented an event that occurred along the path of life. Starting from birth and traveling all the way to the end of one's life, a player would be considered a winner as long as they fulfilled the corresponding conditions.
Since the game was called Winner in Life, the methods of winning were naturally based on society's conventional standards for what constituted a winner in life.
There were three paths to victory.
The first path was wealth rivaling that of a nation. When a player reached the end of their life, a final calculation would be made. As long as the total amount of money they had earned throughout their life exceeded 10 million gold pounds, they would be considered victorious.
If multiple players simultaneously fulfilled this victory condition, then whoever reached the end of their life first would win. In other words, the first person to reach the end while having earned 10 million gold pounds would be the victor.
The second path was a harmonious and happy family. This included falling in love, getting married, having children, romantic entanglements, whether one's children and grandchildren were more than the others, and many other aspects. If even one condition wasn't fulfilled, victory couldn't be achieved through this path.
The third path was the blessing of the gods. A life beloved by the gods was undoubtedly that of a fortunate winner. The requirement was to receive no fewer than ten divine blessings within a single game, while there were only twelve spaces granting divine blessings on the entire Winner in Life board.
The starting mechanics were also different from ordinary Monopoly games.
Players first had to randomly draw the identity they were born with. Then, according to their different initial identities, they would begin from different starting points and make their way toward the end of life.
To enrich the gameplay experience, the number of starting identities had already been increased to more than twenty. This meant there were more than twenty different tracks leading toward the grand stage of life.
After drawing their initial identity, players would set out on the life track unique to them. Only after traveling fifty spaces and reaching adulthood at sixteen would they enter the grand stage of life in the center of the main map and begin the final competition of life.
Because the game's map was very large, Hastur and the others went to a clean, empty room on the second floor and spread the map across the floor.
It was worth mentioning that the Winner in Life game had been adapted by the group of Yellow-Robed Monks, who were themselves winners in life with too much time on their hands, based on several board games left behind by Emperor Roselle.
It was a special edition exclusively available to members of the Yellow-Robed Monks. It couldn't be bought anywhere on the market.
Sometimes, members of the Yellow-Robed Monks would also use this game to test who among them was the lucky one most favored by fate.
Because of this, they had designed the die with twenty-one sides, further increasing the randomness of the game. The luckier a person was, the easier it would be for them to win.
After Hastur finished explaining the game's rules in detail, Xio, who felt as if her brain was about to stop working, hurriedly moved closer to Fors and carefully studied the rulebook.
Audrey and Sharon, meanwhile, understood everything after hearing it just once. Their eyes were already scanning the events recorded on each life space, and the more they looked, the more interested they became.
Seeing this after finishing his explanation, Hastur felt much more relaxed. If they were playing a game, there probably wouldn't be any more awkward atmospheres.
Still, why did this scene have such a strong anime vibe to it?
After Xio and Fors had more or less finished reading the rules, Hastur specifically guided them through a practice round so they could familiarize themselves with the gameplay. Only then did the real game begin.
During the initial identity draw, Hastur drew Son of a Priest, Audrey drew Daughter of a Great Noble, Sharon drew Princess of a Fallen Kingdom, Fors drew Ordinary Working-Class Family, and Xio drew Daughter of a Fallen Noble.
They then rolled the die according to the ranking of their starting identities.
In Winner in Life, initial identities were divided into three tiers. The highest-tier identities were all related to the gods, and there were three in total: Son of a Priest, Infant Blessed by a God, and the Pope's Illegitimate Child, the last one purely being the Yellow-Robed Monks' twisted sense of humor.
The second-tier identities consisted of the powerful nobility and extremely wealthy merchants. Audrey's and Sharon's identities both belonged to this category.
The lowest-tier identities included ordinary people, abandoned children, the fallen, and similar backgrounds. Fors' and Xio's identities both belonged to this tier.
According to the rules, those with the highest-tier identities could roll three times immediately after birth. Second-tier identities could roll twice, while the lowest-tier identities could only roll once.
Although life's journey wasn't necessarily better the faster one traveled, starting with a high-ranking identity meant that, during the stage leading up to the grand stage of life at sixteen, as long as one's luck wasn't too terrible, it was usually possible to accumulate a considerable amount of money. This made such identities very suitable for pursuing the wealth-based path to victory.
This was what it meant to win at the starting line. A very realistic game indeed.
"Then I'll go first."
Hastur rolled the twenty-one-sided die patterned in red and black, getting 12, 20, and 17 respectively.
He was only one space away from reaching sixteen and entering the grand stage of life.
From these three events, he received one Divine Blessing, Foundations of Theology, and Increased Charisma.
Foundations of Theology: If there is a Divine Blessing space within the next twenty-one spaces, the player may roll again.
Increased Charisma: Increases attraction toward the opposite sex, making it easier to fall in love and get married.
Although he hadn't received a single gold pound as a reward, this kind of growth path was very suitable for pursuing victory through Divine Blessings.
Next, it was Audrey's turn to roll twice. She rolled 16 and 18, encountering two events: 10,000 Gold Pounds in New Year's Money and Favor of Wealth.
The effect of Favor of Wealth was: all money earned from then on would be multiplied by 1.5.
Seeing this, Fors and Xio both widened their eyes in disbelief. These life events were practically a true reflection of Miss Audrey's actual life!
Ten thousand gold pounds in New Year's money!
They wouldn't even dare dream of receiving such an enormous amount. When they were young, receiving even one gold pound as New Year's money would have made them feel incredibly happy.
When it was Sharon's turn, she rolled 14 and 18. The life events she encountered were: Pursued by Enemies, Gaining Rich Life Experience; and Gifted a House Worth 2,000 Gold Pounds.
"Finally, it's my turn." Xio was a little excited. Her starting point in life was only slightly better than Fors'.
She rolled an 8.
Robbed, Losing 100 Gold Pounds.
"Haha, Xio, your luck really is terrible. You're not even an adult yet, and you've already lost 100 gold pounds," Fors laughed from the side.
"Hmph, damn bastard. If someone dared rob me of my money in the real world, I'd have already beaten their face into a pulp!" Xio glared angrily at the still-laughing Fors. "Don't celebrate too soon. Maybe your luck will be even worse than mine."
"I'm not as unlucky as you..."
As Fors spoke, she rolled a 13 and encountered the event: Parents Divorce, Receive 100 Gold Pounds in Compensation.
"Sigh, these 100 gold pounds really are hard to accept." Fors' expression became slightly complicated.
Xio merely glanced at her and didn't use the matter to tease Fors.
After the initial actions ended, everyone would only have one die roll per turn from then on, unless they encountered a special life space that allowed them to roll one or two additional times.
During the second round, Hastur smoothly crossed the fifty life spaces and entered the grand stage after reaching adulthood at sixteen.
The life event he encountered was Life Partner: only after activating this space could a player fall in love, get married, and have children, allowing them to pursue the family-based path to victory.
Audrey and Sharon both happened to glance at Hastur at the same time. They quickly withdrew their gazes, then silently rolled their own dice.