Expansion (01)

My body feels a bit numb due to all that happened yesterday, and even after resting peacefully, I still feel somewhat tired.

Well, the light of the sun doesn't lie though, so, since the day has already started, I've got no option but to get up myself. Since Licia is still sleeping next to me, I take care not to wake her up while leaving the couch.

Though I was surprised to see someone else awake.

Claire: "Had a goodnight yesterday huh?"

Miwen: "How can you tell?"

Claire: "I mean, c'mon now..."

Seeing it from her perspective, there's no room for any misunderstanding, but still cute when she gets ashamed by thinking about what happened.

Claire usually talks very openly without paying much mind to it, so you'd expect her to not care that much about such things, even more so when she's always poking fun at it and bringing up the subject.

It might be because of the culture in her old world, but it feels like she's not used to being on the receiving end of such talks, so it's actually quite simple to break her facade. Like this.

Miwen: "Oh, you're blushing... are you jealous?"

Claire: "W-what? Not at all!"

I swear, cute girls acting embarrassed is a sight to die for. Like puppies playing around, it's a picture of innocence that heals your heart.

Claire: "...it will be my turn soon anyway, so there's no reason for me to feel like that... ah, but don't misunderstand alright? I'm doing it mostly for curiosity since I didn't do it in my previous life. It's not like I like you or anything. At least not the same way she does..."

Miwen: "Uh-huh."

Claire: "What's with that reaction !?"

So if I poke her too much I might end up flipping her tsundere switch huh? Sadly, I quite like her usual honest self... it's a small price to pay for seeing her flustered though. Hell, her being like this is also cute in its own way.

Miwen: "Anyway, it's quite unusual for you to be awake so early, did something happen?"

Claire: "Hm? What do you mean? I'm not early, it's you guys that are tardy. Don't you have things to do today?"

Oof, I kinda forgot due to everything that happened yesterday, but she's completely right.

Licia: "He does, the next event is coming up."

Miwen: "Yeah, something to do with a merchant or something. Might be even more troublesome..."

Licia: "Then we should prepare, right?"

I hadn't noticed when Licia awoke, it might've been while Claire was going through her tsundere phase. Still, she was completely right, today was pretty important since I plan on strengthening our forces.

Before that, I had to go see Mia, just to confirm if she's gonna be present with us. I feel conflicted knowing how slim the chances of summoning Melissa are, but it's the best I can do for her. Also, any excuse to get her distracted right now works for me.

Mia: "You want me to watch you expand your harem? Fine. But you need to take me to a dungeon too."

I was already planning on doing that, so it works out for me in the end.

After that, we all left Mia's house, and I claimed today's [Kingdom Points].

Due to Mia's high level, I received quite a lot, more than enough for everything I had planned. It's a bit of a waste to claim them before summoning someone since by making them my [Citizen] I get a bit extra, but it's fine for now.

First I use the [Kingdom Points] I have to make a house, right in front of Mia's. I use the same style as hers, so they look identical. This house should be able to accommodate everyone I'll summon, and since Mia might not be too keen on meeting new people right now, a second house was in order.

And so, we go up a floor where there's a room already fit for living, with a bed, a closet... and not much else besides windows. These houses are a bit dull, so I might buy things for the people living here to decorate whenever I'm a bit more safe on the financial side.

I collect the [Gacha Tickets] for today. Since it's quite doubtful that I'd be able to level up today as I'm already at the level cap of the current floor in the dungeon this is not as wasteful.

For now, 4 tickets go to skills, out of which, only [Reading speed up] was a skill I already had. Getting it again makes its level go up, increasing its effects.

As for the new skills:

[Better Crafting

The final object obtained after crafting has its quality increased by this skill, allowing for a small general boost to an object's innate specificities. This is a passive skill that cannot be turned off.]

[Focused Breathing

By focusing on your breathing at any time, it's possible to have a minor increase in the user's physical abilities. This is an active skill, mana is used to keep it active at a ratio of 1 mana point for 10 seconds of use.]

[Wicked Attack

This is an active skill, when utilized grants the next attack a 'Wicked' attribute, increasing its power against opponents who have a good nature or are authorities. Further increase of damage if the opponent meets the first condition and is also a devotee of a cult. Each use costs 5 mana points.]

Outside of [Better Crafting], the other two have quite obvious uses for combat. I don't think I'll meet any monster with a good nature inside the dungeon to use [Wicked Attack] on, and I don't even know what criteria it uses to determine an opponent's nature, but it might come in handy. The real problem is that if someone uses analysis on me now, this skill might raise suspicion since normally I'd have to willingly get it from the [Available Skills] menu.

Well, there's not much I can do about that but hope that I get a skill to hide this in the future.

The [Better Craftin] is also troublesome in its own way, being a passive skill that cannot be turned off. But the effects aren't damaging in any way, so I'm still quite lucky when it comes to passive skills... if you ignore the ones that have to deal with Trees.

After the skills, I was left with three tickets remaining.

I had already decided on their use. The three of them went directly to the [Companions Banner]. It was the first time I would do a multi-roll on the [Companions Banner], so I had great expectations for it.