Cost

After escaping Lisa's clutches, Paul returned to Amalie's bakery to explain the situation to Ei, Eula, Xiangling, and Ghislaine.

"So the idea is that we place a Lodestone at a central location and allow its influence to expand over time. We also need to travel around to place Beacons, but that's pretty much pointless unless we can supply them with Elemental Energy."

Being the most detail-oriented among the quartet, Eula suggested, "We can use the Princess and the dwelling you had constructed in the Ranoa Magic Academy. It's safer than placing it here, and Princess Andromeda should be able to power it using her Vision."

Nodding his head, Paul replied, "I had a similar thought. However, while I believe Andromeda can be trusted, her stay at the Academy will come to an end within the next two and a half years. It would also cause a number of issues if we were constantly moving in and out of the Academy, so we should consider alternatives before deciding to place it there."

Chiming in, Xiangling attempted to be helpful by asking, "Why not leave it with Lisa? She has already established herself in Sharia and possesses an Electro Vision. If you can acquire a few Constellations for her, she should be able to reach the status of a King or Emperor-Ranked Mage in the next couple of years. After that, she can become a Professor or even take over the entire Ranoa Magic Academy."

Impressed by Xiangling's proposal, an approving smile developed across Paul's face as he said, "Not bad. The only problem with that is Lisa's lack of status. The current Principal, Georg, is the son of an Earl and a friend of the reigning King. He seems like a decent enough guy, but I can't imagine the Nobility being okay with a 'commoner' succeeding him. After all, the Ranoa Magic Academy is the largest and most prestigious Magic Institute in the entire world. It is essentially the public face of the Ranoa Kingdom, so they won't let a low-born outsider serve as its representative."

Adopting a slight pout, Xiangling muttered, "Politics are dumb..." in a sulky tone.

"You can say that again...still, your idea has a reasonable amount of merit. With Lisa's talents, she could easily become a tenured Professor. We just need to secure some form of backing to ensure she doesn't get targeted by some asshat with more status than sense. You girls are all so beautiful that it would only take crossing a single entitled shitbag for everything to go South in an instant."

Though Paul had long accepted that some of the people he summoned from the Intersection of Fate would have relationships with other people, specifically those like Kaeya and Childe, he wasn't okay with them being forced by circumstance. If Lisa joined the Academy and was pressured by someone like Georg to become his Mistress, her only options would be to accept his offer or leave Ranoa. As her Rank as a Mage increased, it was only a matter of time before some arrogant Noble set their sights on her.

Shaking the negative thoughts from his mind, Paul added, "There is also the option of waiting until we reunite with Ningguang and the rest before we begin placing Lodestones. That would mean having to backtrack tens of thousands of kilometers, but I feel it would be a lot smarter to expand our Teleporation Network from our actual seat of power than somewhere thousands of kilometers away."

While it would undoubtedly be good to have the means to traverse to and from the North at their leisure, Paul estimated it would take hundreds, if not thousands of Beacons to create a path linking the Ranoa Kingdom to the Strife Zone. With each Beacon costing a thousand Asura gold Coins, he would go bankrupt long before they reached their destination.

Explaining his reasoning to the girls, Paul effectively quelled any thoughts of expanding his Teleportation Network with Sharia at its center. 153,000 Asura Gold Coins was the equivalent of 1530 summons, nearly double the amount he had currently summoned. That guaranteed at least seventeen 5-Stars, so, as tempting as the thought of Teleportation was, Paul was in no hurry to expend all his resources trying to create a network.

"For now, we'll keep the Lodestone here and see how far its influence can spread within the next four to six months. If it can expand to cover Sharia and extend to nearby cities and villages, we'll consider investing in a few Beacons. If it can't, it would be better to spend our money on acquiring additional allies and Constellations. After all, we're still missing four of the seven Archons. Without them, we wouldn't even be able to make effective use of the Teleportation Network."

Since most of the people he had summoned possessed a Pyro, Cryo, Anemo, or Hydro affinity, twenty-three of Paul's thirty-three allies were still unable to use their Visions. Since three of them were the literal source of their respective Elements, that meant less than a quarter of his allies could make use of their full power. Unfortunately, as it would provoke all kinds of problems if he did a mass summoning in Sharia, they would have to wait a while longer before Paul's next gacha spree...

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After half a day and an entire evening of making up for his absence the previous night, Paul awoke a bit later than usual. When he did, he found the only person next to him was Ei. He half expected to find Lynette as well, but she tended to avoid his room whenever he had sex.

Poking the slumbering Archon in the cheek, Paul remarked, "You look adorable when you pretend to sleep..."

Opening her eyes, Ei replied, "I wasn't pretending. I was just waiting for you to wake up. Had you gone back to sleep, I would have accompanied you till the end."

Caressing Ei's cheeks, Paul said, "Yeah, I know. Now, let's get up. I'll give you a thorough wipe-down before helping you get dressed and combing your hair."

Though she complied with Paul's words, Ei couldn't help exhaling a sigh as she whispered, "It should be my responsibility to help you..."

Surprising the purple-haired woman by grabbing her ass and giving her a peck on the cheek, Paul teased, "We both know you do more than help me. If we were back in your world, I bet people would fight wars for the chance to grovel at your feet, much less bed you. I'm the fortunate fool that gets to wake up next to you nearly every day..."

"..."

With her vibrant purple pupils crackling with violet-purple Electro Energy, Ei stared back at Paul with a somewhat blank look on her face. She didn't know if he did it on purpose, but there were times when his words made her heart flutter like a butterfly fighting through gale-force winds...

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Emerging from the upstairs shortly before noon, Paul was unsurprised to find several Beastfolk hard at work renovating the bakery. The faint sound of movement and the persistent pounding of hammers was what caused him to awaken.

Noticing Paul's and Ei's appearance, a surprisingly muscular cat girl with amber eyes, short grey hair, grey ears, and a long grey tail approached them to ask, "You Amalie's new mate?"

Well aware of how candid the members of the Beast Race could be, Paul maintained a relaxed smile as he shook his head and answered, "No. I'm just her Benefactor. What about you? I'm guessing you're the Boss since everyone else is hard at work...?"

Instead of being offended by Paul's words, the incredibly buxom cat girl puffed out her chest with pride as she replied, "That's right! Within Sharia, I'm the third-strongest member of the Beast Race! I'm not very skilled at construction, but these rascals would slack off if I weren't here."

Though he couldn't really imagine a member of the Beast Race slacking off, Paul nodded his head, asking, "Got a name? Mine's Paul, by the way. Paul Greyrat."

Recognizing the name Greyrat, the grey-haired cat girl suddenly became a little uneasy as she asked, "You're a descendant of the Greyrats? Which branch...?"

"Notos."

Exhaling a sigh of relief, the buxom beauty wiped away some nonexistent sweat from her brow as she remarked, "That's good. If you were from the Boreas family, I could totally imagine you taking over the little community we've created here...wait a second..."

Recalling what the members of House Notos were famous for, the grey-haired beauty began to sweat for real as she looked between Ei's and her own rather sizeable assets. She was also aware that Paul was traveling with another member of the Dedoldia Tribe, as, before Ghislaine's arrival, she had been the second strongest in Sharia.

Seeing through the woman's thoughts, Paul said, "Relax. I'm not trying to take advantage of anyone. Me staying here was pure coincidence. Esme called out to us when we were looking for a place to stay. Now, how much longer are you going to keep me waiting for your name...?"

"Oh, whoops..."

Pointing to herself, the grey-haired catgirl spiritedly replied, "I'm Mileena, Mileena Dedoldia. It's a pleasure to meetcha, boss man~!"

Since she had heard that he was Ghislaine's Boss, that effectively made Paul her Boss's Boss. After all, when she had challenged Ghislaine to a match, Mileena barely had time to react before she found herself pinned to the ground and forced to yield.

Unsurprised by Mileena's form of address, Paul decided to use it as a segue, asking, "Where is Ghislaine, by the way? I can't imagine her going off to train without me."

"Ah, the Boss is in the kitchen. She's been helping Amalie and the Master taste test some new bread and snacks."

Tilting his head to the side, Paul was momentarily confused as he asked, "Master? Do you mean...Xiangling...?"

Bringing her hands together like an enraptured fangirl, Mileena excitedly replied, "That's right! Master Xiangling made us all breakfast, and it was the most delicious thing we've ever eaten! It's no wonder Ghislaine is so strong. After eating Master's cooking, I could work the entire day without rest...!"

Though she wasn't actually doing any work, Mileena wasn't lying when she said she was full of energy. The food Xiangling prepared, much like the dishes from Genshin Impact, had all kinds of beneficial effects. She was still figuring out the best combination of ingredients, but she could create food to replenish stamina and stave off the cold.

"Sounds about right. Well, it's been nice talking to you, Mileena. I'm going to go and find my companions. Keep up the good work."

Crossing her arms in a manner that accented her breasts, Mileena replied with a somewhat arrogant, "Just leave it to me! With me in charge, things are bound to go smoothly~!"

"Right..."

Resisting the almost instinctual urge to pat Mileena's head, Paul made his way past her to the incredibly aromatic kitchen. There, he found it wasn't just Ghislaine helping Xiangling and Amalie test new recipes. More than a dozen beastkin children sat patiently at the side while some of the older girls helped process ingredients.

Noticing Paul's entrance, a smile developed across Amalie's face as she said, "Good morning, Paul. Were you drawn here by the smell of bread, nya~?"

Hearing Amalie's words, Xianling also looked over, a marginally more radiant smile on her face as she parroted, "Good morning, Paul, Ei! The next batch should be ready in a few minutes~!"

Since he could smell the aroma of apple in the air, Paul couldn't help supplying a smile of his own as he replied, "I'm looking forward to it." However, instead of sitting off to the side, he asked, "By the way, have you seen Eula?"

Setting aside what she was working on, Xiangling used a white towel to clean her hands as she explained, "She accompanied the group that went to procure ingredients. Since you said we would be taken the next couple of days off, we decided to open a soup and bread kitchen to feed some of the less fortunate beast people in the area. Is that okay...?"

Nodding his head in approval, Paul replied, "Of course. Just make it clear from the start that we're not a charity. If you consistently provide people free food, they'll become dependent on it. Helping people out is fine, but don't let them take advantage of you."

Returning a nod of her own, Xiangling revealed, "We were going to have anyone over the age of eight help out by shoveling snow or disposing of trash. We also have Ghislaine and Mileena here if anyone tries to make a scene, but I don't think it will be an issue unless homeless people start migrating over from other regions of the city."

"Sounds like you've thought things through. Since that's the case, I'll let you do as you please. As for the children younger than eight, leave them to me. I don't really have anything going on, so I'll have them learn how to read, write, and cast lifestyle magic. That includes you, Esme."

Hearing Paul's words, Esme stopped hiding behind the counter. She liked learning about Magic and how to defend herself, but reading and writing were super boring. She had only had two lessons, and she already hated them both.

"Nyaaa..."

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