Fat.
Short.
Irritable.
Loud.
Each of these attributes was unique in its own way, but when you bring them all together in one person, things get quite troublesome.
These were the four words Ryuk had in his mind as he looked at the man he was walking behind.
He was fat, with a loud, protruding belly that his official-looking suit couldn’t hide. And he was short too—about 1.7 meters in height.
That height was acceptable and might even be considered tall back in Endearth, but here in Ammamora, where nearly every random stranger stood at 2 meters or above, it fell into the "short" category.
But that wasn’t the worst part about him.
The worst part was the way every Ammamoran Service worker who passed by either bowed so deeply their heads nearly kissed the ground, or got screamed at and verbally abused in one sarcastic way or another.
And his loud voice didn’t help matters.
"Damn workers. Always need me to do everything. What are they, children!?" he complained in a huff as they arrived before a door.
"Here, hold this," he commanded, tossing a couple of books toward Ryuk.
Ryuk caught them before they hit the floor, a new observation flashing through his head.
’And he has a bad throw too.’
Anyone else would’ve missed the catch—and probably gotten yelled at all over again.
"Tsk. What’s wrong with the damn key—trying to—oh, it’s unlocked," the man grunted, finally turning the key and opening the door.
Ryuk found it surprising. A keyed door felt too primitive.
None of the doors he’d passed so far even had keyholes—except this one.
He was pulled out of the thought when the man fully opened the door and stepped in.
"Come in," he said, and Ryuk followed, entering a stuffy golden office.
"Drop the books over there on the table, then take your seat," the man ordered in a tone like he owned him.
But Ryuk could already tell—this man was likely one of those Fallens who had gotten so used to their position that they acted like nobles.
Ryuk didn’t waste time making it clear he wasn’t a slave. He walked toward the side table—but when he reached it, it was already piled high with books.
It seemed like even adding one more book was all that was needed for the entire stack to come crashing down.
So instead, Ryuk calmly set the books in his hand to his left, straightened up, and quickly rearranged the pile to make enough space.
All of this was silently observed by the Officer—Rhys—whose previously irritated expression faded into one of quiet contemplation.
’He’s obedient and accepts orders without complaint... Doesn’t let my irritability get to him.’
’He’ll be perfect for her.’ Rhys thought to himself as Ryuk finished organizing the books.
Now with more than enough space, Ryuk placed the new ones gently on top before turning to the man, who was typing rapidly at his keyboard and quietly took the seat opposite him.
The moment he did, the man spoke.
"You’re late to your resumption by a month and two weeks. A total of 44 days. A hundred points were deducted for each day of your absence. That means 4,400 points in total," he said flatly.
"You only had 700 Ammamoran Points in your card. That puts you at negative 3,700 now."
Ryuk didn’t know whether to feel stung or confused—he had no idea how the point system even worked yet.
"Life as an Arch Guard is simple, Ryuk," the man said, finally swerving away from his monitor and locking eyes with him.
"There’s only one thing that matters most: your Ammamoran Points."
"The average Arch Guard starts with 1,000. If your points reach major milestones—say 100,000—you qualify for promotion to the next tier after Arch Guard: the Arch Dominion."
"And how do you earn points? By taking on what we call Loyalty Quests," he explained.
Ryuk nodded, listening closely.
"Each of these quests comes with pay, but more importantly, Ammamoran Points. Complete them well, and your points rise—and so does the weight of your pocket."
"But fail them? Your points drop fast. So choose only the quests you’re confident you won’t screw up."
"I understand," Ryuk replied.
"Good. And here," the man said, passing Ryuk a card with a barcode.
"Just scan that with your device. You’ll gain access to the Inner Layer Comms of the Arch Guards. You’ll be able to view Loyalty Quest information, connect with other Arch Guards who are open to forming crews, and other helpful stuff."
Ryuk began looking around for a scanning light app on his device, but the man raised his hand, stopping him.
"Do that when you get home. For now, I’m going to brief you on the Loyalty Quest you’ll be handling as your first task."
Ryuk paused.
"But I thought we were allowed to pick our own quests?" He voiced out.
At least, it made sense since he was being given the comms, which should allow him to pick Loyalty quests.
"You only get to choose for yourself if you pass the first test given to you by your representative officer, which is me."
"If you fail this one, your remaining Ammamoran Points will be deducted and you’ll have to retake the test," he said sternly.
"But yours is at the negative anyway, might as well just be helping yourself."
Ryuk nodded again, understanding the situation.
"How old are you again?" the man asked, suddenly.
"I’m 18 now," Ryuk replied.
"Perfect," he said, tapping away at the keyboard for a couple of minutes before speaking again.
"Found it. Hey, pass me your card."
Ryuk handed over his Ammamoran card. The man slotted it into a reader on the side. A beep confirmed it.
He handed the card back to Ryuk, and immediately, a new card was dispensed from a slot beside the desk.
"This is your access pass to the Eiffel Royal Angelic Family," he said, passing it to him.
"The Eiffel Royal Family?" Ryuk asked, raising a brow.
"Yes. That’s the location of your first Loyalty Test. Your assignment—" he paused, smirking slightly, "—is to serve as personal guard to the spoiled but powerful Princess Leif Eiffel."
"Huh?" Ryuk blinked.