Gacha Kingdom Building

I remained inside the kingdom for a while as Angelica wanted to try killing some summoned beasts to get their Gifts.

Sadly the chances for that are quite low and we weren't so lucky, but even the status orbs that they drop are useful, so it wasn't all for nothing at least.

I also summoned spellbooks for Bea and weapons/armor for the Valkyries and Cassandra, although she was only interested in one.

While walking around though...

Miwen: "Oh... that's a different sight."

While there wasn't any bad blood between them, it's not that common to see Licia and Elizabeth talking alone like this.

Mostly because Licia is usually quite busy and so she hangs around with Ellie most of the time.

Their reaction to me was a bit strange though... they seemed surprised, as if I had caught them doing something I shouldn't have.

And so, since I have a good, trusting relationship with both... I decided to probe for fun.

Miwen: "So, mind getting me in the loop?"

Licia: "Uh... it's a girls' talk kind of thing..."

She wasn't very good at lying, mostly because there was barely any reason for her to keep a secret from me.

Unfortunately for her, Elizabeth is quite reluctant to show any disloyalty toward me, so...

Miwen: "Uh-huh. Is that right, Liz?"

Going after her like this was a low blow. Even that Devil was afraid of the malice behind my smile.

Liz: "...Well... we were talking about something... and we are girls... so... it's not wrong..."

Surprisingly, she avoided honestly telling me the truth.

Licia: "More importantly, what's that?"

I thought that if I pressured Elizabeth a little bit more she would give in, but Licia changed the topic pointing out that Angelica and I were holding hands.

I really wanted to get what happened with Gabriella out of my system, so I decided to ignore what these two were plotting since knowing them, at the very least it wouldn't be bad for me.

These two, as well as the girls I trust already know my opinion about Gabriella, but I made sure to show that I was even more annoyed with her now.

Miwen: "...Look, she's two strikes down, I'm this close to throwing her out butt naked."

She's not completely bad. To those she shows favor, she's been acting kindly and gently, but it's impossible to ignore that shitty side of hers.

Elizabeth might not care about it too much, but her presence in the Kingdom is shattering Angelica's idea and hope of a home.

Liz: "So she's causing this much conflict huh... Well... you'll have to deal with her then."

Miwen: "...I've tried warning her already. The only options left are... threatening, killing, or throwing her out. Between these, throwing her out is the easiest and least troublesome."

It's the option that would hurt our image among the newcomers the least.

Since it would be nice for us if they chose to remain after the agreed period of time, I'm willing to forget that she ever existed once she goes her way.

Licia: "Hm... Demons and monsters do cause problems, even named ones, so depending on her experiences, I can understand where she's coming from... I think if we could just show her that Liz and Angelica aren't like that, she would start treating them better and giving others the benefit of the doubt before... acting like that..."

That might be true, but if she has a valid reason, it will only make her hate harder to dispel.

However, there is-

Cassandra: "She seems submissive. Why don't you throw her in a jail and dick her until she's loyal?"

There is a way to make that work.

Miwen: "That's actually not a bad idea. You're brilliant."

Cassandra: "Right?"

Licia: "I don't agree-"

Miwen: "I wasn't talking about Cassandra's. I think there's a way to make her change. Well, it's at least worth trying it out before deciding on an ultimatum for her."

I'd like to believe Cassandra's idea was either a joke or a fetich of hers, so I just ignore it for now.

However...

Miwen: "For this to work I'm going to need a lot of cooperation and secrecy out of you."

I had zero worries about Angelica and Liz, and even though I wasn't going to use Licia to execute the plan, having her in the know was useful for planning and preparing things, of course, the possibility of her saying anything was null.

However, there was one person who had a slight problem with keeping her thoughts to herself.

Miwen: "Right, Cassandra?"

Cassandra: "My lips are sealed. Unless you want to unseal them~"

Somehow she managed to give me both a proper and improper answer at the same time, but I was happy with the result.

As such, I started telling them what I had in mind so that we could prepare everything and decide on a moment to strike.

Miwen: "...Also, I'm going to need your help, Lana."

Lana: "...Hmph. Why would I help you? I might just go and tell her right now."

She came out of my shadow as soon as I called her name but kept the same rebellious attitude as ever.

It's true that she's among the least loyal in the Kingdom, so trusting her is hard, but...

Miwen: "If you want to, go ahead. However, I'll deem both of you lost causes, and won't bother treating you well for the remainder of your days here. Think of this as a test for both of you, if everything goes well, I don't mind treating you favorably."

She looked at me suspiciously before raising a question.

Lana: "...How did you know I was inside your shadow?"

Miwen: "As you saw, I went to check on everyone. You weren't in your room, nor were you with anyone else. I don't think you'd be dumb enough to go to the forest or the mine, but you can't leave the Kingdom without my permission. Thus, there was only one possibility left. And well... you seem rather attached to my shadow."

She attempted to circumvent the need for permission by staying inside my shadow before, but it didn't work. When I left, she remained in the Kingdom and was thrown out of my shadow as it ceased to exist in this dimension.

Lana: "Whatever. Just call me when it's dinner."

No answer. But it didn't seem like she hated the idea either.

Licia was gleeful watching our interaction as it reminded her of Mia, while Liz and Cassandra were still thinking about my idea with devilish smiles.

We were going to need Agatha's and Anna's help, as well as the Valkyries, but among them, Agatha was probably the hardest to convince.

Still, the chances shouldn't be as bad as Lana's, even more so considering I have a nice little incentive for her.

Since the darkness was starting to take over, it was about time for us to start preparing to end the day, and so, we went to make use of the kitchen of the Kingdom.

With more space, we now had more hands available to help us, namely Angelica, Elizabeth, Lily, and Mei.

Since two of them had my memories, they didn't have any trouble with the modern equipment whatsoever.

Elizabeth and Mei however still had to learn how to use everything and what not to do. We left them with easier tasks until they learned it, which somehow managed to make both displeased.

Cassandra joined Claire's "take it easy club", and so did Lana. Anna and Mia often participate in their activities, and this time, they brought a console and games from my house to occupy themselves instead of helping.

Seeing that they wouldn't be able to help, the Valkyries accepted their invitation to join their games.

As for the other girls, they normally offer to help with small tasks. It's usually not needed, but since I promised a banquet to celebrate our victory today, we ended up accepting most of their offers.

This helped us prepare things quickly, and everyone was able to enjoy their meals.

We might've ended up going overboard, but we kept some leftovers for tomorrow.

I had a few things to do on Earth, and I was going to take a number of the girls for a quick and small trip, so the others would have to have their lunch with what was left.

It shouldn't be too much of a problem since Lily was going to stay anyway, and she showed that she could handle herself quite well in the kitchen.

Back on Earth, I had a fun time with Licia, Claire, and Cassandra before going to sleep. Mei protested about wanting to join, but I was still somewhat reluctant towards her.

Her Gift is called [Maid For You] and its potential is as high as Claire's extra points or the sharing ability of my Gift. But almost as if a joke, its only purpose is to serve someone else.

She's able to select and improve her master's skills by completing a multitude of housework/maid-related tasks.

Right now she can only select two, but by allocating the same skill in the two available slots, in a single day, she managed to increase the level of my [Fire Magic], which is my highest leveled skill.

I had indeed used it quite a bit during the Invasion, but it was still nowhere near enough to get a natural increase in its level.

In this regard, she's basically a passive mini-Claire, which is extremely useful and synergetic with my Gift.

Even though this type of night work still counted towards her Gift, due to my doubts about her strange behavior and personality, I decided to wait until I knew her better before doing it with her.

Aside from the sext, Licia and Claire also enthusiastically talked with me about our victory today.

They seemed even happier than me about claiming the Kingdom's first solo victory.

Seeing them so happy about it made me forget a little about what happened with Angelica and Gabriella today, and I began to think that the future held good things for us.

This idea quickly changed once we received Catherine's instructions and the Divine Event began.