Summoning Spree (2/?)

"One...two...three...four...five..."

With Klee insisting she help out, Kokomi gave up her position while Paul just smiled helplessly as the pointy-eared youth carefully slotted in each piece of gold. It was cute seeing her so earnest about lending a hand, but it was also taking forever since she wanted to do it alone.

Fortunately, Klee appeared to be pretty lucky as her first four rolls were all hits. The first was a Constellation for Fischl, while the subsequent rolls were a 4-Star Polearm, a Constellation for Yanfei, and a Constellation for Barbara. Two of the rolls after that were misses, but the seventh ended up being none other than Klee's personalized weapon, a 4-Star Catalyst known as Dodoco Tales.

"Yaaaay~! Look, look, Master. It's Klee's book~!"

Seeing Klee present the predominately red book like a kid showing off a drawing to her parents, Paul couldn't help ruffling her hair as he exhaled a chuckle and said, "Great work. I'm happy for you."

Smiling to the point her eyes were closed, Klee hugged her Dodoca Tales to her chest as she asserted, "Klee told you she was lucky~! Now Master can just sit back and let Klee do all the work!"

"Uh..."

Realizing that Paul was getting overwhelmed by Klee's staggering desire to be of assistance, Ningguang decided to lend him a hand, saying, "Now, now, Klee. Don't forget who the real Champion of the Intersection of Fate is. Master has let you have your fun, so be a good girl and come join us on the periphery."

Looking towards Ningguang's an unwilling expression appeared on Klee's face. Before she could protest, however, Ningguang playfully squinted her eyes and asked, "Should I send someone to retrieve Jean~?"

"Ah-!"

Though Jean was easily one of her most favoritest people in the whole world, she was also the person that both punished and lectured her on a near-daily basis. Klee didn't want to get put into solitary confinement so soon after her arrival, so she ended up hiding behind the largest object present, Paul's body, as she muttered, "Klee will be good..." in a tone that made it sound as though she was about to break into tears.

Taking advantage of the opportunity Ningguang had clearly made for him, Paul's expression and tone softened as he ruffled the sheepish girl's hair and whispered, "Hey, now...no need to cry. We'll do it together from now on, okay?"

Refuting Paul's words, Klee wiped away at her eyes and asserted, "Klee isn't crying..." before lowering her hands to reveal an adorably stubborn expression as she asked, "Can Klee do one more by herself?"

Though he could feel Ningguang's 'judgmental' gaze on his back, Paul nodded his head and said, "Tell you what, Klee. I'll let you do two, but then you'll have to go sit down, okay? It's already pretty late at night, so we need to finish quickly so everyone can get to bed."

As if her previous melancholy had been a facade, Klee's expression lit up in response to Paul's words. At the same time, Paul was instantly elevated to the position of one of Klee's fifth favorite person, just behind the Uncle that used to give her sweets and encourage her to play in the woods. She hadn't seen him after their first encounter, but the candy he gave her was super sweet and made her body feel warm and floaty.

Unaware that his status in Klee's heart was less than a vagrant who had been disappeared by Kaeya, Paul watched on with a smile as Klee slowly and carefully counted out a hundred gold coins. When she finished and tried to copy him by shouting, "Confirm...!" a soft chuckle emanated from his throat as he said, "Sorry, Klee, but the only person that can trigger the summoning ritual is me. You did a good job counting, though."

Hearing Paul's words, Klee puffed out her cheeks as if she were about to throw a tantrum. Instead, her expression immediately changed to one of excitement as she smacked the area intended for Paul's hands and said, "Master can put his hands down first. Then Klee will put her hands on top of Masters. That way, we can make the lights go boom together...!"

Though Klee's suggestion would invariably require her to sit in his lap or squat between his arms, Paul eventually replied, "Sure..." with a wry smile on his face. Vivacious and spirited girls Diona, Esme, and Klee, had always been one of Paul's weaknesses. He would put his foot down if things got out of hand, but he didn't have the heart to refuse them when they were doing their best to be helpful.

After shifting to one knee so Klee wouldn't have to sit directly on his lap, Paul placed his hands in the oversized grooves and waited for her to do the same. When she was prepared, he said, "On three...one...two...three..."

"Confirm...!" x2

Similar to the majority of Klee's previous rolls, the light produced by the summoning quickly shifted from a cerulean blue to a vibrant shade of purple. In response, Klee bounced and clapped excitedly, while Paul, feeling like an actual father, just smiled as he held onto the back of her apron as a precaution against her stumbling or falling forward.

With the light eventually dispersing to reveal a fairly attractive woman with features reminiscent of Childe, Paul muttered, "So that's what she looks like..." before giving Klee a pat on the head and adding, "Another Constellation. Great job, Klee. You really are super lucky, aren't you...?"

"Ehehehehe~."

As Paul moved up one more position on Klee's list of favorite people, the people observing them had mixed expressions on their faces. Ningguang appeared rather helpless while Ganyu, Kokomi, and even Yae all had faint smiles on their faces. Zhongli was much the same, but her eyes made it difficult to tell if she was focused on the scene in front of her or if she had momentarily spaced out.

Voicing her thoughts aloud, Kusanali stood in a contrapposto pose with one hand on her hip as she droned, "Can the two of you hurry it up? This is starting to become tiresome. Just look, one of us is even sleeping..."

Lending credibility to her complaint, Kusanli pointed toward Sayu, who, rather impressively, had fallen asleep standing up. Kokomi was about to wake her up, but Paul said, "Just leave her." before handing Klee an Asura Gold Coin and saying, "One more." with a faint smile on his face.

Though she wanted to ask for even more rolls, Klee ultimately nodded her before restarting the process of counting to a hundred. She knew nothing about the pity system, so when the light she summoned ended up turning a vibrant shade of gold, she jumped so quickly she ended up headbutting Paul in the chin. The peculiar thing about this was that Klee didn't appear to notice while Paul, despite his superhuman toughness, felt as though he had cracked a tooth.

While silently using Healing Magic to alleviate his pain, Paul watched on with thinly veiled excitement as the golden light impacted the summoning circle and dispersed to reveal an illusory Eula. It was a little disappointing not acquiring something new, but Paul wasn't going to complain about his Thigh Goddess getting stronger.

"Another Constellation. Excellent job, Klee. Now be a good girl and go sit with..."

Looking around, Paul's gaze briefly met with everyone before settling on Yae. She gave off an aura like she was used to taking care of people, so Paul adopted a faintly mischievous smile as he asked, "Mind looking after Klee for a bit...?"

Squinting her eyes, an amused smile developed across Yae's face as she replied, "If Master insists." before looking to Klee, patting her thighs, and adding, "Come along, Klee. You're probably not tired, but it's pretty late in the evening. If you want to wake up early and have fun, you'll need to get plenty of rest."

Furrowing her brows, Klee alternated her gaze between Yae and Paul before settling on the latter as she asked, "Do I have to...?" with a perfect representation of puppy-dog eyes. Unfortunately for her, Paul had already anticipated such tactics, so he steeled his heart and said, "You asked for one additional roll, but I gave you two. Now you need to go and sit with Yae, okay...?"

Though she briefly adopted what could best be described as a 'betrayed' look on her face, almost like she couldn't believe Paul had withstood her penultimate trump card, Klee eventually nodded and replied, "Okay. Klee will go with Aunty Yae." before picking up her Dodoco Tales and running over to a suddenly annoyed-looking Yae.

With Klee out of the way and Sucrose having regained her senses, Ganyu returned to Paul's side with a smile. Kokomi was tempted to do the same, but she was also worried about Sayu suddenly falling over. The latter was teetering precariously on her right foot, so Kokomi was ready and waiting to catch her...

Fortunately, though Kokomi wouldn't be particularly pleased to hear it, Ganyu had managed to synchronize herself with Paul's natural rhythm. Their progress was still a little slower than three people combined, but their movements appeared smooth and practiced, almost like they had repeated the process tens of thousands of times.

With Ganyu's assistance, Paul was able to obtain a duplicate Blackcliff, a Festering Desire, and a Constellation for Gorou before three consecutive misses. After that, they startled Sayu awake by obtaining a Constellation for her, followed by Ningguang and Rosaria. This was followed by another miss before Paul, once again, found himself at the threshold for Pity.

While rubbing his hands together, Paul looked toward Ganyu and asked, "Any requests? Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky...?"

Adopting an adorably serious expression, Ganyu paused to consider her response before eventually nodding to herself and saying, "Ladies Murata and Barbatos would be ideal, but I also feel that the Yuheng, Lady Keqing, would be a boon to both Master and Lady Ningguang."

Though it took him a moment, the image of a very serious-looking woman with purple pigtails and cat-like ears entered Paul's mind. She recalled her being pretty standoffish during the main story, but the event that had run just before his death revealed she had an adorable, albeit gluttonous side to her.

Nodding his head in approval, Paul asserted, "People with Electro Visions tend to be pretty capable..." before placing his hands into the grooves for his palms and shouting, "Confirm...!" in a bellowing tone. He was tempted to say, "Get your ass out here, Keqing...!" but he didn't want to encourage any bad habits in Klee and Sayu.

Reacting to Paul's cry, the sky opened to reveal a cerulean blue meteor that quickly transitioned to his favorite shade of gold. When it struck the platform, both Paul and Ganyu held their breaths as a slender silhouette with pigtails promptly appeared at the center. Unfortunately, not that he was complaining, the person they had summoned wasn't Keqing. Instead, it was a petite woman Paul immediately recognized as she was one of the most common victims of hentai artwork and doujins...

While Paul and Ganyu were staring at her in awe, the blue-eyed, purple-haired woman furrowed her brows and groaned as she said, "Jeez, you would think a god could come up with a more convenient mode of transport than hurtling people to the ground in a ball of-oh...uh...hello?"

Noticing the two people kneeling across from her, a wry smile developed across the woman's face as she waved her right hand. In response, Paul adopted a smile of his own as he said, "Welcome to the world of Mushoku Tensei, Mona. Glad to have you."

"Oh? You know who I am...?"

While thinking of people who could have blabbed to Paul about her identity, Mona took a moment to give her would-be Master an appraising look. She half-expected him to be a fat, greasy, out-of-shape creep with a perennially lecherous smile on his face, so she was relieved to see he was reasonably handsome. Perhaps even unreasonably...

Adopting a teasing smile that caused Mona to second guess herself almost immediately, Paul revealed, "You were pretty famous back in my world as a perpetually penniless fortune teller. Your attire was also more than a little eye-catching, so much so that I can remember it clearly even now..."

Since she had been in her original outfit moments prior, Mona immediately understood what Paul was trying to say. Her outfit had garnered her a fair amount of criticism from women and countless looks from perverted men who viewed her as little more than a piece of meat. If she earned a Mora for each person that had mistaken her for a call girl, especially when she was looking for work, she would be able to fund her research indefinitely.

As a faint shade of red permeated her cheeks, Mona justified her outfit by pointedly explaining, "That outfit was the culmination of countless hours of research. It uses top-quality materials to ensure maximum comfort and breathability while enhancing the precision of my Astrology. It's not like I wanted a bunch of people to stare at my butt..."

Though he knew it probably wouldn't earn him any brownie points with the unamused Astrologist, Paul couldn't resist as he remarked, "I can't blame them. It was, and probably still is a very nice a-I mean butt..."

...

..

.