Meet the real Shiryoku Zai at T2

As the dust settled, with pieces of the so-called order fulfillment expert's armor and coat all around her, the arena began to murmur. You yourself were leaning out of your seat, curious as to what was being hidden underneath Bengen's ruthlessly utilitarian gear design. Would it be a snarling wild girl like Buchikowasu under all of that? As it turned out, quite the opposite. Her pale skin was almost completely revealed now, saved only by a sort of black, sportswear top with the word BUNGEN across her rather full D-cup chest and a matching pair of bikini-briefs, with the emblem of the winged tree on either leg and a white band around the waist. The priestess had an arousing, model-like figure that set the arena from murmur to buzz once it was revealed. Unlike Keiko, she didn't have much athletic tone, probably because she never had to run around, but it didn't make her ethereal beauty any less. The outfit was modest compared to the fundoshi underwear that you knew Keiko wore, but still, a beauty like this in sports-wear is always erotic.

What did make her ethereal beauty a little less were the large, semi-circle shaped lenses of her glasses, which had managed to stay on through the ****. She was still busily tapping on their frames, even in the absence of the rest of her armor. Around her neck was something like... a miniature abacus, hanging from a rope tied at her neck. Another weird addition to her gear: she carried a long, wooden staff like something out of a fantasy novel, ending in a club-like head.

Wait... speaking of fantasy... There's one more odd part too.

When you noticed it, you couldn't help but yell from the God Box, like a true otaku:

"ELF EEEEARS?!"

It was true! Shiryoku Zai had the long, pointed ears of an elf! Fitting with those purple eyes and her silver hair... was she some kind of elf?!

Bungen sighed, looking embarrassed for you. Shiryoku's eyes darted in your direction for a moment and stayed there, then turned back to whatever was on her HUD. Keiko glared over her shoulder at you, obviously urging you to stay focused. The whole arena was silent for a moment, after which, many other such shouts began to erupt from the audience. Finally, Shiryoku spoke up to address it. "Yes. I am what humans call 'elves,'" she finally answered. "We lived in the forests before becoming part of Bungen's corporation. In short, we are functionally the same as humans now."

What... what the fuck!? Why did Bungen's earth have elves on it!?

The man heard your exclamation and turned his head slightly toward you. "All earths have elves. It's just a matter of having the means to contact them. My technological advancement makes such a task trivial. Once I made contact, I showed them all sorts of technical advancements and brought them into the BUNGEN family. I've actually similarly won over elves from many alternate earths now," he explained. "Their magical savvy, mixed with my technological and logistic savvy, makes for an efficient delivery chain that no other god could dream of." You wondered how many other gods dreamed of package delivery chains...

"And what have you gotten out of it, Shiryoku-san? Do you find your life enriched by being a part of Bungen's family?" Keiko asked, focusing on her opponent instead of her god.

Shiryoku's pink lips curved into a slight frown... it seemed that was her default face, despite her supposed happiness with her god. "Of course. Before he came, my people and I wasted time in trees... hunting, carving... pre-civilization, basically. Now, we all focus on our jobs and receive immeasurable forms of compensation," she explained, not stopping her glasses work as she spoke.

"And what of freedom? Do you miss that?" Keiko asked, narrowing her eyes. Keiko had grown up in one of your temples... she hadn't seemed to have a great life, but it wasn't like she was **** into it. You wondered again if there was something in Keiko Fukeiken's past, or her lineage, that made her despise gods so heavily.

The tapping stopped for a moment. From your vantage point, you saw the elf's eyes moved to Bungen again, then back down. "... No. My work satisfaction is at acceptable levels. It's also no exaggeration that I'm indispensable to Bungen's work. I have no regrets," she finished simply. "But perhaps you should focus less on my regrets, Miss Fukeiken, and more on your own. This reckless fighting style of yours is going to come back to bite you..."

{if Keiko's Tier = 4}Reckless? Shiryoku was being a sore loser, huh? Thanks to your strategies and your priestess' footwork, Keiko looked completely unharmed! What was reckless about this strategy?{endif}{if Keiko's Tier = 3}Reckless? Keiko was practically undamaged so far compared to Shiryoku! If anything, Shiryoku was the reckless one, having fallen victim to her own weapons a moment ago in this same match.{endif}{if Keiko's Tier =1}Reckless? ... Okay, so you supposed the fight was a pretty reckless up to this point. Actually, you'd had to give away 99% of your planet's wealth to get to this point. You kind of wanted to ask Bungen for a double or nothing round now...{endif}