I Was Invited to a Roundtable and Somehow Became the Chair

Rei had faced spirit beasts in heat-driven ruts.

He'd served tea to a phoenix.

He'd even stared down a bureaucratic sky-goat in legal arbitration.

But nothing had prepared him for the horror of a government-issued name tag.

It read:

> Rei — Neutral Sanctuary Representative

"Catalyst of Balance" (provisional title)

Ellyn had laughed for ten minutes after reading it.

Rei adjusted the badge on his chest and tried not to flinch when they ushered him into the roundtable hall.

Twelve chairs. Six human. Six beast-aligned. And one slightly larger, cushioned seat at the center, presumably for someone important.

That someone, it turned out, was him.

He sat down and sipped the overly formal tea provided—slightly burnt, understeeped, and somehow bureaucratic in taste.

He missed Fluff's brewing already.

The representatives trickled in.

Guild captains. Noble heirs. Academic heads.

And a tiger spirit with three earrings and far too much eye contact.

Each took their seat. Nodded respectfully. Measured Rei with quiet interest.

He offered them the same in return, minus the eye contact.

A staff member called for order, then stepped back.

All eyes turned to Rei.

He cleared his throat.

"I'm here because someone sent me a letter with a stipend attached."

That broke the tension. Half the room chuckled. The tiger spirit tilted his head in approval.

A white-haired noblewoman adjusted her gloves. "We take that to mean your neutrality is intact?"

"I'm not aligned with anyone," Rei said. "I serve tea to whoever doesn't try to bite the cups."

A beast-tamer from the Eastern Coexistence Pact raised a hand. "Then may we propose your sanctuary as a test site for cooperative education?"

Rei blinked. "You mean you want me to teach?"

"Not just you. Beasts teaching humans. Humans teaching beasts. Shared vocabulary. Rotational roles. Observation-based learning."

Rei narrowed his eyes. "And you want Fluff Co. to be the campus?"

"It's already become one."

He had no good rebuttal.

They debated for hours.

Ethics. Logistics. Spiritual compatibility. Restroom regulations for non-corporeal guests.

Rei said little, but when he did, everyone listened.

Because while the others had theories, Rei had practice.

He described how the soot-foxes preferred scent-tagged cups.

How badgers learned best through tactile tasks.

How never—never—to interrupt a sun-elk mid-yawn.

He didn't realize how detailed he sounded until the room began taking notes.

And when a heated debate arose about beast voting rights in shared guilds, he settled it with a single sentence:

"They already vote. You just haven't noticed."

The room went quiet.

The tiger spirit nodded once.

---

At the end of the day, they passed a resolution.

Fluff Co. would host the first Peace Integration Pilot Program.

Three months.

Six species.

Rotational duties, optional bonding sessions, and a daily nap schedule.

Rei stared at the final document.

It was real.

And somehow, he had agreed to it.

A noble leaned over and whispered, "Congratulations. You just became a historic precedent."

Rei wanted to cry.

Back home, Ellyn had already redecorated the shop with the program banner.

Kreg was baking tiny biscuits in six beast-safe flavors.

Auron was sketching a "class photo" outline on the front chalkboard.

Rei walked past them all and sat down in his usual chair.

Fluff hopped onto the table, dropped a piece of fruit in front of him, and thumped his tail twice.

"Is that a gift or a bribe?" Rei muttered.

Fluff tilted his head.

"…Right. Both."

He stared at the fruit.

Then at the paperwork.

Then at the garden, where two wind-weasels were already lining up beside a snoring marmot.

He'd wanted peace.

But maybe—just maybe—this strange, chaotic, tea-scented circus... was the closest thing to it.