Chapter 16
“By the way, are you still using the 『Rairinko[1]』 ?”
After getting tired of the constant and excessive grumbling directed at her past self, Mira tried to somehow change the topic and said the name of Cleo’s most used summon.
“Oh, did you also hear about my Rairinko from Dunbalf-sama?”
“Ahhh… hmm, yes, you are right!”
Taking just a bit of time to ponder, in the end the girl decided to say that everything she knew from the old days came from what her “master” had told her.
“My goodness, this is a tad embarra.s.sing. But, well, that means he talked quite well about me, huh.”
While saying that, the Expert smiled happily. Even though he threw a barrage of complaints, the feelings behind them were simply of respect and devotion towards Dunbalf. Then, from the bottom of his heart, Cleos was delighted to know that the Sage himself had been chatting with his disciple about his servant.
“Exactly. I have heard lots about you.”
“And just like you mentioned, my main summon is the Rairinko. Although I must say that it became much stronger than the last time Dunbalf-sama saw it.”
“Oho, seems pretty reliable then.”
The Rairinko was considered an above average summon amongst the summoning techniques. If it grew even stronger than what she remembered, that summon would indeed be a reliable strength.
“I went through so much trouble to form a contract with it. But when talking about Dunbalf-sama…”
As Cleos began, this time he pa.s.sionately spoke of how wonderful Dunbalf, the Sage, was. Undeniably, Mira only dragged that servant with her because she considered him someone pretty convenient to have, but when she heard how highly Cleos valued her past self, mentioning things such as “That time he did it for me,” and “That was how he taught me,” the girl, embarra.s.sed, was a.s.saulted by a sense of guilt; she then mustered all her strength to not let those feelings show on her face and returned to her yes-man acting.
———–
“Then, with everything I have experienced, I ended up working as the subst.i.tute of Dunbalf-sama, taking care of the management of our Tower.”
Seemingly satisfied, the Expert concluded his long history. To Mira, it even made her fondly recall some past events; from Cleo’s point of view, however, it was mostly a narration of Dunbalf’s heroic tales. After she listened to everything, the girl remembered a certain worrying matter that occurred when she entered the Tower of Summoning.
“Now that you mention it, before coming here I stopped by at the Tower, but differently from the Tower of Sorcery, it looked awfully deserted. Did anything happen?”
The moment Mira asked that, Cleo’s once cheerful expression gave way to a gloomy one, his eyes dangerously close to tearing up.
“Oh, hitting right where it hurts, I see… indeed, that’s exactly right. The current number of Summoning Experts is extremely low.”
“Uugh, so it really was that.”
Considering she had visited the building during the night, Mira imagined that the lack of people in the building might have been caused by that simple fact, but when she heard what the servant said, the young girl could guess that the Tower of Summoning was suffering from a severe lack of personnel. As she dropped her gaze down, feeling depressed, Mira remembered how lively and crowded was the Tower in the past; she had to do something about that problem.
“If Mirchan’s the pupil of Dunbalf-sama, then you probably went through the same process during your first contract, right?”
Cleos asked, innocently, after feeling he caught, for some reason, a vague glimpse of Dunbalf on the girl’s figure, with her eyes cast down while in deep thought.
The process of her first contract. During her time as Dunbalf, the only things she had brought with her for that task were healing items and bombs. However, Mira knew that the process the Expert was talking about was something different.
“Refined equipment and blast sealing gems, yeah?”
It was a method suggested and recommended by Dunbalf himself, with the intention of helping his followers as the Elder of the Tower of Summoning.
“Yes, exactly. With Dunbalf-sama’s disappearance, for a while we were still able to form contracts. But after some time, the blast sealing gems were completely expended. Following that, all our refined equipment broke and, well… even with the refining engineers from this castle, we couldn’t produce materials with quality as high as the ones created by our lost Elder. Gradually, the number of individuals who weren’t able to make contracts increased.”
“Ahhh… hmm, I see.”
The method proposed by Mira was similar to the one that used a great number of medicines and bombs, but was much more efficient. Instead of applying the healing items to increase their stats, refined equipment would be used by players to raise their stamina and endurance; similarly, in place of the bombs, they would expend blast sealing gems of the attribute that matched their opponent’s weakness. As a result of using that process, the degree of difficulty for the Expert’s first contract became incredibly easier.
However, since it was something backed by Dunbalf, with his disappearance the continued use of that method turned into a problem. Although there were a few people who could still use the refining technology, because the production took a considerable amount of time and effort, the price for the refined equipment had an inevitable jump. Furthermore, when compared to the ones produced by Dunbalf, those items were clearly inferior in quality. As a result, amongst the newbie Summoning Experts, there were many who couldn’t defeat an Armor Spirit and, subsequently, ended up leaving the Tower. Finally, with the absence of its absolutely charismatic leader, the Tower of Summoning saw its numbers dwindle, becoming practically deserted.
“Alright, for the time being let me do this!”
With her thoughts collected, Mira raised her face and opened her item box to retrieve all the blast sealing gems she had there, letting everything fall and scatter on the floor. The girl then gathered every single one of the items and presented them to her servant.
“These should be able to help about twenty people against their contract targets.”
“Wait, those are blast sealing gems! And on top of that they are really strong, similar to the ones from thirty years ago… no, they seem even stronger! Are you fine with giving me something so precious?”
Cleos was staring wide-eyed at the gemstones on the palm of Mira’s hand, each one shining brighter than common jewels.
“Yes, for now this is the most I can do for everyone.”
“But didn’t Dunbalf-sama give those so you could defend yourself, Mirchan?”
That kind of sealing gem was a very powerful item that, in times of need, could be used as a trump card. Because of that, Cleos thought the ones in Mira’s possession were given to her by Dunbalf, with the intention of protecting his disciple; even then, he still tried to confirm it first, swallowing his desire to instantly grab the items.
“There is no problem, I have the Dark Knight I received from my master. Besides, if he were here right now, there is no way Master would ignore the current state of the Tower.”
It was in a roundabout way, but the girl managed to say what “Dunbalf” really felt about that situation.
“Indeed. If it were the Summoning addict Dunbalf-sama, he would probably do something to change our situation.”
Cleos muttered a reply and, with both hands held out, received the blast sealing gems from Mira.
“Thank you, Mirchan. After this I won’t lose a second to contact the newbies who gave up on the path of Summoning and tell them that everything’s fine now.”
The Expert bowed to Mira, a huge smile appearing on his face. Obviously, Cleos himself was also discontent with the present condition of the Tower and had taken a series of measures to combat that problem. Although he managed to be fairly successful, in the end there were still many issues left to resolve as his methods still lacked a critical component. Then, seeing their dreams shattered, the young individuals who gathered at the Tower, aspiring to become Summoning Experts, decided to leave the Kingdom of Arkite. For Cleos, who had continued to watch those figures as they departed, the gems he received had more worth than a 100 carats[2] diamond.
“Good, please do that. Oh right, you should have this here too.”
Feeling that Cleos tried his best to manage the Tower even during her absence as Dunbalf, Mira decided to please the Expert, giving another farewell gift. This time, she removed a ring from her finger and a necklace for her neck, handing both over to Cleos.
“Th-These are…”
“They are specially made ornaments that will, respectively, increase one’s physical strength and power. With those, going against an elementary level Armor Spirit should not pose a threat of defeat.”
“Is it okay for me to receive something this valuable?”
“Of course. My wishes to protect something are aligned with my master’s. In return, I am definitely counting on you to do your job, Cleos.”
“I swear on my name, as the Elder Subst.i.tute, to bring back the prosperity of our Tower!”
The man, seemingly elated, looked straight into the little girl’s eyes and greatly nodded, his pupils shining with a fierce light.
———–
“Alright then, the second phase of the experiment will be carried out in five days, at the same hour.”
As Solomon brought the meeting to an end with his announcement, the n.o.bles and Elder subst.i.tutes bowed and began leaving the development room.
“Looks like they are done. Okay, Mirchan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have to contact everyone this instant, looks like things will get really busy now.”
“Yeah, take care on your way back.”
Cleos bowed very deeply towards Mira and, following what his colleagues were doing, rapidly left the room. Despite the fact that the other subst.i.tutes were surprised by the man’s lively expression as he walked with nimble movements, they still gently observed his figure going further and further away, until he was finally gone. Every single one of them did know how much that Summoning Expert was worried about his Tower’s problems, but they already had their hands full with the management of their own Towers and couldn’t do anything to help. Until that time, the other subst.i.tutes often saw Cleos displaying a very depressed look; it had been a long time since he was in such high spirits.
The reason for his happiness was, of course, the light of hope he found that would help restore the Tower of Summoning. However, since his fellow workers didn’t know about those circ.u.mstances, they misunderstood it and simply thought that Cleos, who was fond of kids, felt renewed after talking with Mira.
When everyone else had left, the only ones remaining in the development room were four people: Mira, Solomon, Luminaria and Thoma. The king, after reaching for the shelf of doc.u.ments, secretly pulled a certain stack of papers that was placed really deep in that furniture, so far it seemed like someone had wanted to keep it hidden. He then looked over it with a serious expression on his face, grinning broadly from time to time. As for Luminaria, after the woman spotted Mira from behind, sitting in a corner of the room and making some weird rustling noises, she slowly approached the young girl and quietly looked at what was on her friend’s hands. Incidentally, Mira was fiddling with the robots once again.
“Hey, are you still doing that?”
Seeing the strange shape that the toys took after being modified over and over again, Luminaria brought her face closer to the girl’s shoulders and muttered a question, seemingly bored.
“This is incredible. Just a bit more and I will complete them!”
Mira replied with a carefree, childish smile; or rather, her current appearance was indeed that of a child, but the cheerful answer she gave was similar to that of a boy who was deeply engrossed in something. In her case, it was the modification of the robots, which she still continued.
Wondering what was going to be complete, Thoma searched for the source of that comment and saw the two friends sitting near each other. Pulled in by that curious sight, the chief developer approached them, catching a glimpse of the objects that were on Mira’s hands.
“Ah, isn’t that the 『Super Combining Lord Vulcan[3]』? Where did you find it?”
Apparently, Thoma recognized the robots the girl was playing with.
“They were lying inside the shelf over there.”
Answering, she pointed towards the upper portion of the furniture that was in front of her.
“So it was there, huh. I thought I had lost it for good.”
The developer gazed nostalgically at the jumbled up object being held by Mira.
“Oho, are you saying this is yours?”
“Yes, and rather than being just mine, it is something I crafted.”
“Whoa, really? That is a pretty good hobby you have there.”
“Oh my, I guess you could say that such a hobby became my main occupation. Well, I made it with the best of my abilities, but in the end that robot was a failure: because of errors in the design, the two parts can’t be combined.”
“What… did you say…?”
With an expression of complete disbelief, Mira awkwardly turned her head after hearing the conclusion of the man’s explanation, trying her best to hide her embarra.s.sment with a smile as she stared at Thoma’s face.
“E-Errm… when I was including the combination mechanism, I ended up making a slight mistake with the width. Since I had to disa.s.semble it first to fix that problem, I kept telling myself I would do it one day. But when I finally noticed, the robots were already gone.”
After taking a look at Mira, whose lifeless and somewhat scary eyes contrasted greatly with his previous image of her as a lovely little girl, the chief developer mumbled an answer and slowly moved away from there.
“WHAT THE HEEELLL!!”
It was a scream that could be heard from outside the development room.
Promising to rebuild the robot and give it to Mira, Thoma managed to calm her down; then, feeling relieved, he received the Super Combining Lord Vulcan and left the room as if his life depended on it.
———–
“Huh, huhu, huhuhuhuhuhu.”
Ominously, a sinister laughter filled the place. Reflexively, Mira turned towards the source of that sound, spotting Solomon with a stack of doc.u.ments in his hands.
“Finally. At long last, we will be able to start a full-scale development.”
While saying that, the king stared straight at Mira, his face distorted into a frightening, huge smile of delight.
“There he goes again.”
As someone who knew that boy for years, after seeing his current state and the papers he held, Luminaria could guess the reason for that sudden outburst, muttering something in the end. The moment Mira heard that, she wondered what her friend was talking about and tried to ask the woman its meaning; however, before the girl knew it, Solomon himself was already by her side.
“So far, our bottleneck was the production of raw materials, so we had to work with an economic design. But now, with you here, it’s almost as if I’ve got a hold of the highest output sealing gems. Finally I will be able to say goodbye to the miserly idea of saving energy, we will develop everything without worrying about our consumption. This is a major step towards the Type-10!”
Looking completely excited, the king started speaking without a single pause, carefully telling Mira all the hardships he had to go through until she arrived. According to him, in order to work flawlessly on a practical level, the cannon would need to consume several hundreds of magic sealing gems; and simply preparing that many gems would take half a year. Obviously, it was impossible to consider that amount of time as something “practical,” Solomon fervently explained.
“The Sorcery Engineering is still advancing and it will be able to do much more in the future. And that’s why I saw a possibility there. Especially, depending on the cla.s.s of the sealing gem used, the difference in output is something incredibly amazing. You see, the higher the gem’s cla.s.s is, the higher the—”
“Okay okay, that’s enough. Dude, look at her, she’s nearly dozing off already.”
Noticing the steady growth in the boy’s enthusiasm with his speech, Luminaria appeared and brought him to a stop. Rather than doing it just because it was a convoluted topic, the effects of continuously listening to a talk that focused mostly on Solomon’s hobbies could be clearly seen on Mira; as the girl’s head began drowsily swaying, her friend decided to act.
“Hmm, then it can’t be helped, I guess.”
Easily accepting the woman’s argument, Solomon withdrew and returned the doc.u.ments to their place inside the shelf. Nevertheless, it did not actually mean that his fervent pa.s.sion had subsided. The boy simply believed that, from now on, he would be able to have Mira accompany him as much as he liked. His best friend was there. For the time being, that was good enough to Solomon.
Easily accepting the woman’s argument, Solomon withdrew and returned the doc.u.ments to their place inside the shelf. Nevertheless, it did not actually mean that his fervent pa.s.sion had subsided. The boy simply believed that, from now on, he would be able to have Mira accompany him as much as he liked. His best friend was there. For the time being, that was good enough to Solomon.
“Hey, wake up.”
While poking the girl’s cheek, Luminaria called out to Mira.
“Oh no, I am not sleeping.”
Came her reply as she brushed off her friend’s hand and glared, with firm eyes, at that woman. A moment later, however, Mira’s eyelids lost strength and, when they were about to completely close, she managed to regain herself, once again forcing her eyes wide open.
“But you wanna hit the sack, right?”
“Yeah.”
She immediately answered.
“By the way, did you take a bath already?”
“I will take one tomorrow.”
Upon hearing the girl’s reply to her second question, Luminaria’s expression completely changed.
“Nope, you must be nuts. There’s just no way someone would choose to not enter a bath after becoming a woman!”
Although that was simply her friend’s opinion, while already trying her best to keep herself awake, Mira had no strength left to object.
“Okay, we’re going!”
The moment she said that, in a scene similar to a kidnapping attempt, Luminaria grabbed and ran away with the young girl in her arms.
(There are so many things wrong with this… but maybe I will be able to enjoy what is coming next.)
Being left behind, Solomon saw his two best friends disappearing from the room, a happy smile on his face. Then, alone, he slowly walked towards the men’s bath.
———–
“Why do we have to go in together?”
As the fragrance of the bath reached the tip of her nose, the drowsiness that had been restraining Mira lessened a bit and, since she was already there, the girl decided to get into the water. Of course, the main reason for that choice was her curiosity over the enormous bath in the castle.
“C’mon, it’s fine, the place is really large. And since it’s been so long since we’ve last met, let’s just go there naked and socialize![4]”
After being carried by her friend, the girl finally reached the dressing room of the castle’s large bath.
Luminaria, already used to undressing herself, folded and placed her clothes on the clothing shelf; in contrast to the woman, Mira was still struggling with her robe covered in ribbons, something that was personally customized by the aides, Litalia and Mariana.
“Geez, let me help you.”
Standing in front of the young girl, with dexterous hands Luminaria began untying the ribbons, one by one. At the same time, majestically emphasized before Mira’s eyes was the voluptous object of that woman’s obsession. Since she couldn’t possibly look straight at it, the girl forced her eyes to wander around the place. Then, after Luminaria’s efforts, there was a total of twenty ribbons lined up on the shelves. With those items removed, the robe returned to its original form as the hemming that had been prepared came undone. Finally, when the woman took off the ribbon-shaped hair band that was fastened around Mira’s body, the robe’s collar opened to the point that the girl’s shoulders could be seen, revealing through a small opening her modest chest; the moment Luminaria noticed it, she gave an approving smile.
“Hmm, I see that even this part of your body fits your tastes.”
“Just drop that topic already…”
While dragging the lower hem of her garment on the ground, Mira walked towards a corner of the room, brought her arms inside her robe and, after squirming around, finally removed it. With the faux magical girl-esque attire out of the way, the only thing remaining on Mira’s figure was her underwear: the Robe of the Celestial Maiden and the bloomers. This ended up being enough to, once again, incite Luminaria’s attack.
“d.a.m.n, wearing a see-through lingerie together with the old-fashioned bloomers… even though you’ve barely spent a day in this world, look at how much you’ve grown up. At this rate you’ll reach my level soon enough.”
The combination of a childish, bewitching see-through garment and the seemingly unattractive bloomers made the red-haired woman discover something. Throwing the robe that was in her hands towards that pervert, Mira hurriedly stripped off her remaining clothes and ran in the direction of the bath. Luminaria carefully folded her friend’s garb and placed it on the clothing shelf, afterwards joining the same place as Mira.
Considering it resided inside the castle where the king lived, that bath was so splendid it would never bring shame to its royal location. The large bathtub was always filled with warm water; in the middle of that place, looking almost like a fountain, hot water was gushing out towards the ceiling and, with the gravity’s attraction, kept showering the surroundings, incessantly.
Since even visitors were allowed to use that bath, it had been packed with things to show off how grand the kingdom was. Consequently, it was possible to guess Mira’s current state as she would be fully enjoying that feeling of being in a completely new world.
“This is crazy! This thing here is completely ridiculous!”
With the rest of her sleepiness blown away by that spectacle, Mira was cackling right below the fountain, basking under the water that fell there. In an instant, after absorbing the moisture around it, the girl’s hair began sticking to her body and droplets of water slowly flowed down her soft, fair skin. Such a place felt ridiculously extravagant, even when compared to a high cla.s.s spa; and in that bath, the girl was now kicking around the hot water that poured out of the fountain, all the while savoring the pleasure of swimming around that place.
“Now that I look at it, she’s really acting fit for her appearance, huh. Well, from the beginning that guy always had that childish side of him. But are you perfectly fine with this, Dunbalf?”
Luminaria muttered to no one in particular as she, looking somewhat pleased, observed her friend’s antics.
Vol.1 Chapter 16
In the bath, a familiar theme song from a certain anime could be heard. While deeply submerged in the bathtub and getting completely relaxed, the woman had began humming to herself. Then, after glancing at the singing Luminaria for a second, Mira returned to the dressing room, feeling refreshed as her mind and body were healed by the hot bath.
Since the garments that the girl had left on the shelf were sent to the laundry, a change of clothes was placed there for her use. However, the moment she took that article of clothing and unfolded it, Mira instantly froze; what she saw in her hands was a frilled, sky-blue dress. At her own discretion, a maid had mustered all her strength to find an outfit that would best suit Mira.
Yet, that wasn’t the only problem. Or rather, that simple dress was overshadowed by something else that had been prepared next to it: white panties decorated with a small ribbon. Although it looked plain, that piece of clothing was showing how it was still possible to further boost Mira’s already perfect allure. There was no need for the other useless stuff, just wearing those panties was good enough. She would then be able to reach the supreme body… no, the embodiment of her tastes[5]. That was what the underwear told the girl.
Promptly, Mira opened her item box and tried to find something to use as a replacement for those clothes. But just like the other night, when she verified its contents, there was only the reaffirmation that she could not escape her fate. In order to recompose herself, the girl casually averted her sight from the panties. The moment she did that, before her eyes appeared a beautiful girl, one that would probably look pretty well with the underwear Mira was trying to forget.
“Hmm… ahh, there is a mirror here…”
That cute, stark naked girl was none other than Mira herself, her body reflected in a large, full-length mirror. After staring at that figure with great intensity,
“I am… so cute.”
Was what she murmured. Since becoming Mira, the first time she saw her own figure was on the mirror-like armor of the Magic Clothed Knights. Then, the next one was on a window, dyed by the dark of the night. As a result, after seeing her perfectly detailed reflection on the mirror, the girl became thoroughly captivated by her own charms; in the process, she was reminded even further of her own preferences.
Mira continued to observe the mirror as she wiped her body with a bath towel and, for some reason, began touching her face. After starting with her cheeks, she kept moving her fingertips and reached the lips; following that, her fingers slowly ran down towards the nape of her neck. Once she removed her hands from that place, Mira directed her attention to the sleek, fluttering silver hair on her head and began to gently comb it.
“I welcome you to my side of the world. Greetings, my friend.”
Engrossed in her own stupid world, the girl was taken by surprise and, startled, straightened her back, looking towards the source of the female voice that tried to imply something about her. There, Mira found the figure of Luminaria, a triumphant and warped smile on the woman’s face.
Engrossed in her own stupid world, the girl was taken by surprise and, startled, straightened her back, looking towards the source of the female voice that tried to imply something about her. There, Mira found the figure of Luminaria, a triumphant and warped smile on the woman’s face.
“How long… have you been here?”
“ ‘I am… so cute.’ ”
A second later, the young girl used 【Way of the Xian: Shukuchi】 to charge against Luminaria. However, as if it was an illusion, the woman’s figure flickered and she easily evaded the attack.
“Hey, what the h.e.l.l is that? I have never seen that kind of movement before.”
Luminaria seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden. Needless to say, Mira found herself fascinated by those never seen movements; among all the skills she knew, there was nothing that would have caused those motion effects.
“Don’t go thinkin’ that the only progress we made during your absence was the Sorcery Engineering. It’s been thirty years, y’know? Day by day, all sorts of skill cla.s.ses made steady progress, too.”
Together with her illusion, the woman kept appearing and disappearing. When Mira saw that, she completely forgot all the embarra.s.sment she had been feeling a moment earlier, the girl’s head now filled with her curiosity over that brand new ability.
“I think this one was developed eight or so years ago, the evasion skill 【Mirage Step】. Its effects are, well… exactly what you’re seeing now.”
Explained Luminaria as she continued to leave behind afterimages while doing her movements.
“There are some conditions to learn it. If I remember, first, you need to possess mana, and second, you must have acquired the divine protections of light and water.”
“Oooh! Then it means I am able to learn it immediately. Teach me!”
Aware that she met all the conditions to obtain that ability, Mira strongly demanded the woman to instruct her.
“Whaaat? I wonder~… why would I teach it to you for free? That was something produced through many years of effort and history, y’know~?”
Replied the unwilling Luminaria. He—or rather, she— knew, from the very beginning, about Mira’s striking and insatiable tenacity when it came to skills.
“Hmpf, never mind then. Solomon probably has that ability too.”
While saying that, the girl threw her bath towel. Then, after receiving it, Luminaria used the towel to cover her hands, as if hiding something.
“Hey, wanna guess what I have here?”
Like a magic trick, the moment the woman flung the cloth high into the ceiling, a book appeared on her previously empty hands. Written on its cover was 『Skills Compendium – 2146 edition.』.
“No… no way… is that what I think it is?”
The “Skills Compendium” was a huge bestseller, created in order to collect in one single book the countless number of diverse skills that had been appearing. Obviously, as a skills aficionado, Mira had one copy, but it was the 『Skills Compendium – 2116 edition.』. In other words, a book from three decades ago.
It wasn’t a surprise, then, that Mira couldn’t take her eyes from her friend’s compendium. Even in the four years since the opening of the game’s servers, various kinds of abilities were either discovered or developed; as a result, the thirty years of wisdom written in the book held by Luminaria was inestimable.
“Currently, this valuable book is heavily limited, to the point that no matter how much money you acc.u.mulate, you still won’t be able to get one. So, what if I said that I’m willing to give this one to you?”
“…What do you want in return?”
The young girl asked, going directly to the point. In Luminaria’s case, she had already finished reading all the instructions written in that compendium; however, she knew exactly how attractive that book was to the current Mira. Since the woman brought it out, she had no intention of giving it for free. That fact was also obvious from the pretentious tone Luminaria had just used.
“Good, this won’t take long, then. Anyway, considering it’s you we’re talking about, it won’t be hard to achieve. I heard from Solomon that you’re going to search for those guys. So while you’re at it, I just want you to get your hands on two items.”
“Oho. Then, what is your request?”
“The first item is the Sword of the Red Lotus King, and the second one is the Yggdrasil’s Charcoal.”
“Hmmm… they are pretty rare. But well, it is not like I cannot get them. The problem is that the same thing applies to you. Why would you bother asking me to collect them?”
Both the items mentioned by the red-haired woman were first-cla.s.s treasures. On the other hand, with Mira’s strength, they wouldn’t be impossible to obtain.
“As you know, I can’t take a single step out of this country. There’s also the development of our Accord Cannon, but d.a.m.n… the biggest problem is that I have to avoid at all costs giving the other countries a reason to attack us. Like carelessly crossing our national borders, for example. I’ll have you know that I’m considered a big shot in this world.”
While saying that, Luminaria threw out her ample bosom, full of pride, and raised the corners of her mouth in a fearless smile.
“I see. Since the beginning this game was pretty realistic. But now it became reality itself, huh. Indeed, if that is the case, then it might be easier for me to move around.”
“Right? That’s why I’m counting on you. If you complete my request, this thing here will be yours.”
She replied and, at the same time, as if trying to show off, patted Mira in the head with the book.
“Okay, okay, I accept it. However, what are you going to do with the sword? I believe that using Sorcery is faster and stronger, no? And what are you using the charcoal for? From what I remember, it was a material used for alchemy. Did you not say that packing too many professions was not your cup of tea?”
Luminaria was a Sorcery Expert. And the highest ranking one to boot. But no matter how rare the Sword of the Red Lotus King was, it would only display its true worth when equipped by an advanced Swordsman. A Sorcery Expert would never be able to master its use; and even if their intention was to employ flame attacks, using 【Sorcery：Dual Blaze】, for example, would be overwhelmingly better in terms of efficiency. Then, since Luminaria had a hard time dealing with delicate works, she completely ignored alchemy, so Mira had no idea why her friend would need Yggdrasil’s Charcoal, an ingredient required for the Secret Gem of Purification.
“Well, I’m not planning on using them normally. They will just work as a catalyst.”
Completed the woman as she lightly hit Mira’s head with the compendium, following a rhythm. Raising her eyes, the girl glared at her aggressor.
“Catalyst…? Wait, by any chance are you talking about a catalyst used to learn spells!?”
“Correct. Long ago, I found a completely new pentagram. And after a.n.a.lyzing it, the information I got was that those two items should be used as its catalyst.”
As their conversation continued, Mira took the opportunity to strike and stretched out her hands towards the book on her head. Sadly for the girl, though, they uselessly grabbed nothing.
“To think that even new abilities were developed… those thirty years were amazing. But hey, you just mentioned something about ‘a.n.a.lyzing,’ right? What is that? Were you not supposed to randomly expend different materials until you actually found the right catalysts? If you apply that ‘a.n.a.lysis’ method can you really discover the right ones?”
“Yes, it’s a new skill that evolved from Appraisal, the 【Technical a.n.a.lysis】. Of course, inside this book you’ll find the information related to this new ability.”
After answering Mira’s question, Luminaria held the compendium right before the girl’s eyes. In an instant, faster than the eye could see, Mira stretched out her hands, only to grab an afterimage.
“Ughh.”
“You’re exactly thirty years too early to even think of defeating me. Now then, what are you going to do? I’m givin’ this to you if you find those items for me.”
“Okay, I accept those terms.”
Turning her head to look at her friend, who used Mirage Step to sneak around her back, the girl consented, her eyes sparkling at the sight of that skill.
“Okay, I accept those terms.”
Turning her head to look at her friend, who used Mirage Step to sneak around her back, the girl consented, her eyes sparkling at the sight of that skill.
“But only on one condition.”
“Hm? And what is it? Travel expenses? Some tools you would need? I believe Solomon’s going to provide those already, man.”
“Oh no, I just want you to teach me how to use that illusion-like ability.”
With an expectant expression on her entire face, she looked up towards Luminaria. After receiving such an indirect attack, even the deeply experienced woman felt her heart skip a beat.
“You know quite well how to use that body of yours, huh? Fine. Think of this as an advance payment.”
Then, inside the dressing room, a temporary study session between two naked ladies began.
———–
Before long, the teaching of the skill finished. Once she got the gist of it, Mira didn’t have any problem using the ability. But maybe because of the difference in training experience, when compared to Luminaria, the girl’s roughness was evident. Nevertheless, that was and would always be the point of diligently practising.
As they completed their study session, the stark naked friends finally started dressing themselves.
“Wait what. Are you really hesitating there? You better give up now since you’ll have to deal with this same s.h.i.t for your entire life. If you’re going to freak out with every single thing you’ll just end up wasted.”
While putting on the clothing that was prepared to her, Luminaria looked at Mira, who stood still with the dress and panties in her hands, and complained. She’d only needed a second to understand what was happening.
“But… you see…”
Murmured the girl as she turned her face towards Luminaria and stared at that robed figure, eyes wide open.
“Why do you have a robe to wear…?”
“Come on, I often come here, you know? If it’s a change of clothes, I have plenty enough of them.”
“Then lend one for me. No way I am going to wear these.”
“They would never fit you, look at the difference in our sizes. And no matter how I look at it, those you have there will really suit you, so don’t worry and wear them already. I could even give you a hand too.”
Luminaria completed, a suspicious smile on her face as she gradually approached Mira.
“I can do it myself!”
Immediately after replying, the girl left an illusion behind, escaping to the other side of the room. She then took a deep breath, readying herself, and pushed her head through the skirt of the one-piece dress. A few moments later, feeling her wet hair getting cramped inside the garment, Mira used one hand to force that shining silver hair out.
Finally, the only thing left was the panties. Inside her head, two different options waged war: one would result in her going commando and the other would cause her to lose something dear to her being. The latter option was strongly backed by how short was the hem of her dress; the former option, however, was desperately defended by the last line she didn’t want to cross, as someone who was once considered a man among men, the great Dunbalf.
In spite of that, when it appeared that Mira’s internal struggle would continue indefinitely, a single person’s hands were enough to quickly bring an end to that fight.
“Why are you still at it? d.a.m.n…”
Said Luminaria as she took the underwear from her friend’s hands and crouched down, preparing it near the girl’s feet.
“Come on, lift one leg.”
“No… like I said…”
“Hurry up already, dude.”
Trying to urge Mira, the woman poked her leg. Reluctantly, the moment the girl slightly lifted one leg, her red-haired friend did not miss the chance and swiftly placed one side of the panties through the raised foot. “Now the other one, come on,” the woman urged, once again. Resigned, the young girl did as told and, in the end, had someone putting underwear on her. It was almost like a reenactment of the bloomers incident.
Being made to magnificently lose something dear to her, before finally leaving the dressing room, it appeared that, instead, Mira had achieved enlightenment.
———–
The visitor’s bedrooms were located near the maid’s quarters. After being guided there, the girl immediately slipped into the bed.
(Today was pretty busy, huh.)
Mira thought while remembering the events that happened in a single day. She now had to live in that new world, a game that turned into reality. But she didn’t feel too anxious about it, as her friends were there to encourage her. She couldn’t go clean and confess, however, that it was because of those two individuals that she felt at ease. It would be too embarra.s.sing. Amidst such thoughts, the girl fell asleep.
TL Info:
1↑雷鱗虎 – Lightning Scaled Tiger (I believe it’s an actual name, mostly because of the furigana used)
2↑Carat – Unit of 0.2 grams used for gemstones and the like. A flawless diamond must have at least 100 carats.
魔封爆石 – Blast Sealing Gem
3↑超合体ロードバルカン – Super Combining Lord Vulcan – Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan
4↑Naked Socializing – See this: ↑“それで至高の。。。いや、嗜好の存在へと辿り着ける” – There’s a play on words here. 至高 (Supreme) is written with the same kana/sound as 嗜好 (Tastes, preferences): “Shikou”. So the narration would be saying that, rather than being able to reach the “Supreme Being” it would be the “Embodiment/Personification of (her) Tastes/Preferences.”
仙道歩法：縮地 – Way of the Xian: Shukuchi (rapid movement technique)
紅蓮王の剣 – Sword of the Red Lotus King
世界樹の炭 – Yggdrasil’s (The World Tree) Charcoal
魔術：双焔 – Sorcery: Dual Blaze
術式解析 – Technical a.n.a.lysis (Ability-styled a.n.a.lysis)
“By the way, are you still using the 『Rairinko[1]』 ?”.
After getting tired of the constant and excessive grumbling directed at her past self, Mira tried to somehow change the topic and said the name of Cleo’s most used summon..
“Oh, did you also hear about my Rairinko from Dunbalf-sama?”.
“Ahhh… hmm, yes, you are right!”.
Taking just a bit of time to ponder, in the end the girl decided to say that everything she knew from the old days came from what her “master” had told her..
“My goodness, this is a tad embarra.s.sing. But, well, that means he talked quite well about me, huh.”.
While saying that, the Expert smiled happily. Even though he threw a barrage of complaints, the feelings behind them were simply of respect and devotion towards Dunbalf. Then, from the bottom of his heart, Cleos was delighted to know that the Sage himself had been chatting with his disciple about his servant..
“Exactly. I have heard lots about you.”.
“And just like you mentioned, my main summon is the Rairinko. Although I must say that it became much stronger than the last time Dunbalf-sama saw it.”.
“Oho, seems pretty reliable then.”.
The Rairinko was considered an above average summon amongst the summoning techniques. If it grew even stronger than what she remembered, that summon would indeed be a reliable strength..
“I went through so much trouble to form a contract with it. But when talking about Dunbalf-sama…”.
As Cleos began, this time he pa.s.sionately spoke of how wonderful Dunbalf, the Sage, was. Undeniably, Mira only dragged that servant with her because she considered him someone pretty convenient to have, but when she heard how highly Cleos valued her past self, mentioning things such as “That time he did it for me,” and “That was how he taught me,” the girl, embarra.s.sed, was a.s.saulted by a sense of guilt; she then mustered all her strength to not let those feelings show on her face and returned to her yes-man acting..
———–.
“Then, with everything I have experienced, I ended up working as the subst.i.tute of Dunbalf-sama, taking care of the management of our Tower.”.
Seemingly satisfied, the Expert concluded his long history. To Mira, it even made her fondly recall some past events; from Cleo’s point of view, however, it was mostly a narration of Dunbalf’s heroic tales. After she listened to everything, the girl remembered a certain worrying matter that occurred when she entered the Tower of Summoning..
“Now that you mention it, before coming here I stopped by at the Tower, but differently from the Tower of Sorcery, it looked awfully deserted. Did anything happen?”.
The moment Mira asked that, Cleo’s once cheerful expression gave way to a gloomy one, his eyes dangerously close to tearing up..
“Oh, hitting right where it hurts, I see… indeed, that’s exactly right. The current number of Summoning Experts is extremely low.”.
“Uugh, so it really was that.”.
Considering she had visited the building during the night, Mira imagined that the lack of people in the building might have been caused by that simple fact, but when she heard what the servant said, the young girl could guess that the Tower of Summoning was suffering from a severe lack of personnel. As she dropped her gaze down, feeling depressed, Mira remembered how lively and crowded was the Tower in the past; she had to do something about that problem..
“If Mirchan’s the pupil of Dunbalf-sama, then you probably went through the same process during your first contract, right?”.
Cleos asked, innocently, after feeling he caught, for some reason, a vague glimpse of Dunbalf on the girl’s figure, with her eyes cast down while in deep thought..
The process of her first contract. During her time as Dunbalf, the only things she had brought with her for that task were healing items and bombs. However, Mira knew that the process the Expert was talking about was something different..
“Refined equipment and blast sealing gems, yeah?”.
It was a method suggested and recommended by Dunbalf himself, with the intention of helping his followers as the Elder of the Tower of Summoning..
“Yes, exactly. With Dunbalf-sama’s disappearance, for a while we were still able to form contracts. But after some time, the blast sealing gems were completely expended. Following that, all our refined equipment broke and, well… even with the refining engineers from this castle, we couldn’t produce materials with quality as high as the ones created by our lost Elder. Gradually, the number of individuals who weren’t able to make contracts increased.”.
“Ahhh… hmm, I see.”.
The method proposed by Mira was similar to the one that used a great number of medicines and bombs, but was much more efficient. Instead of applying the healing items to increase their stats, refined equipment would be used by players to raise their stamina and endurance; similarly, in place of the bombs, they would expend blast sealing gems of the attribute that matched their opponent’s weakness. As a result of using that process, the degree of difficulty for the Expert’s first contract became incredibly easier..
However, since it was something backed by Dunbalf, with his disappearance the continued use of that method turned into a problem. Although there were a few people who could still use the refining technology, because the production took a considerable amount of time and effort, the price for the refined equipment had an inevitable jump. Furthermore, when compared to the ones produced by Dunbalf, those items were clearly inferior in quality. As a result, amongst the newbie Summoning Experts, there were many who couldn’t defeat an Armor Spirit and, subsequently, ended up leaving the Tower. Finally, with the absence of its absolutely charismatic leader, the Tower of Summoning saw its numbers dwindle, becoming practically deserted..
“Alright, for the time being let me do this!”.
With her thoughts collected, Mira raised her face and opened her item box to retrieve all the blast sealing gems she had there, letting everything fall and scatter on the floor. The girl then gathered every single one of the items and presented them to her servant..
“These should be able to help about twenty people against their contract targets.”.
“Wait, those are blast sealing gems! And on top of that they are really strong, similar to the ones from thirty years ago… no, they seem even stronger! Are you fine with giving me something so precious?”.
Cleos was staring wide-eyed at the gemstones on the palm of Mira’s hand, each one shining brighter than common jewels..
“Yes, for now this is the most I can do for everyone.”.
“But didn’t Dunbalf-sama give those so you could defend yourself, Mirchan?”.
That kind of sealing gem was a very powerful item that, in times of need, could be used as a trump card. Because of that, Cleos thought the ones in Mira’s possession were given to her by Dunbalf, with the intention of protecting his disciple; even then, he still tried to confirm it first, swallowing his desire to instantly grab the items..
“There is no problem, I have the Dark Knight I received from my master. Besides, if he were here right now, there is no way Master would ignore the current state of the Tower.”.
It was in a roundabout way, but the girl managed to say what “Dunbalf” really felt about that situation..
“Indeed. If it were the Summoning addict Dunbalf-sama, he would probably do something to change our situation.”.
Cleos muttered a reply and, with both hands held out, received the blast sealing gems from Mira..
“Thank you, Mirchan. After this I won’t lose a second to contact the newbies who gave up on the path of Summoning and tell them that everything’s fine now.”.
The Expert bowed to Mira, a huge smile appearing on his face. Obviously, Cleos himself was also discontent with the present condition of the Tower and had taken a series of measures to combat that problem. Although he managed to be fairly successful, in the end there were still many issues left to resolve as his methods still lacked a critical component. Then, seeing their dreams shattered, the young individuals who gathered at the Tower, aspiring to become Summoning Experts, decided to leave the Kingdom of Arkite. For Cleos, who had continued to watch those figures as they departed, the gems he received had more worth than a 100 carats[2] diamond..
“Good, please do that. Oh right, you should have this here too.”.
Feeling that Cleos tried his best to manage the Tower even during her absence as Dunbalf, Mira decided to please the Expert, giving another farewell gift. This time, she removed a ring from her finger and a necklace for her neck, handing both over to Cleos..
“Th-These are…”.
“They are specially made ornaments that will, respectively, increase one’s physical strength and power. With those, going against an elementary level Armor Spirit should not pose a threat of defeat.”.
“Is it okay for me to receive something this valuable?”.
“Of course. My wishes to protect something are aligned with my master’s. In return, I am definitely counting on you to do your job, Cleos.”.
“I swear on my name, as the Elder Subst.i.tute, to bring back the prosperity of our Tower!”.
The man, seemingly elated, looked straight into the little girl’s eyes and greatly nodded, his pupils shining with a fierce light..
———–.
“Alright then, the second phase of the experiment will be carried out in five days, at the same hour.”.
As Solomon brought the meeting to an end with his announcement, the n.o.bles and Elder subst.i.tutes bowed and began leaving the development room..
“Looks like they are done. Okay, Mirchan, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have to contact everyone this instant, looks like things will get really busy now.”.
“Yeah, take care on your way back.”.
Cleos bowed very deeply towards Mira and, following what his colleagues were doing, rapidly left the room. Despite the fact that the other subst.i.tutes were surprised by the man’s lively expression as he walked with nimble movements, they still gently observed his figure going further and further away, until he was finally gone. Every single one of them did know how much that Summoning Expert was worried about his Tower’s problems, but they already had their hands full with the management of their own Towers and couldn’t do anything to help. Until that time, the other subst.i.tutes often saw Cleos displaying a very depressed look; it had been a long time since he was in such high spirits..
The reason for his happiness was, of course, the light of hope he found that would help restore the Tower of Summoning. However, since his fellow workers didn’t know about those circ.u.mstances, they misunderstood it and simply thought that Cleos, who was fond of kids, felt renewed after talking with Mira..
When everyone else had left, the only ones remaining in the development room were four people: Mira, Solomon, Luminaria and Thoma. The king, after reaching for the shelf of doc.u.ments, secretly pulled a certain stack of papers that was placed really deep in that furniture, so far it seemed like someone had wanted to keep it hidden. He then looked over it with a serious expression on his face, grinning broadly from time to time. As for Luminaria, after the woman spotted Mira from behind, sitting in a corner of the room and making some weird rustling noises, she slowly approached the young girl and quietly looked at what was on her friend’s hands. Incidentally, Mira was fiddling with the robots once again..
“Hey, are you still doing that?”.
Seeing the strange shape that the toys took after being modified over and over again, Luminaria brought her face closer to the girl’s shoulders and muttered a question, seemingly bored..
“This is incredible. Just a bit more and I will complete them!”.
Mira replied with a carefree, childish smile; or rather, her current appearance was indeed that of a child, but the cheerful answer she gave was similar to that of a boy who was deeply engrossed in something. In her case, it was the modification of the robots, which she still continued..
Wondering what was going to be complete, Thoma searched for the source of that comment and saw the two friends sitting near each other. Pulled in by that curious sight, the chief developer approached them, catching a glimpse of the objects that were on Mira’s hands..
“Ah, isn’t that the 『Super Combining Lord Vulcan[3]』? Where did you find it?”.
Apparently, Thoma recognized the robots the girl was playing with..
“They were lying inside the shelf over there.”.
Answering, she pointed towards the upper portion of the furniture that was in front of her..
“So it was there, huh. I thought I had lost it for good.”.
The developer gazed nostalgically at the jumbled up object being held by Mira..
“Oho, are you saying this is yours?”.
“Yes, and rather than being just mine, it is something I crafted.”.
“Whoa, really? That is a pretty good hobby you have there.”.
“Oh my, I guess you could say that such a hobby became my main occupation. Well, I made it with the best of my abilities, but in the end that robot was a failure: because of errors in the design, the two parts can’t be combined.”.
“What… did you say…?”.
With an expression of complete disbelief, Mira awkwardly turned her head after hearing the conclusion of the man’s explanation, trying her best to hide her embarra.s.sment with a smile as she stared at Thoma’s face..
“E-Errm… when I was including the combination mechanism, I ended up making a slight mistake with the width. Since I had to disa.s.semble it first to fix that problem, I kept telling myself I would do it one day. But when I finally noticed, the robots were already gone.”.
After taking a look at Mira, whose lifeless and somewhat scary eyes contrasted greatly with his previous image of her as a lovely little girl, the chief developer mumbled an answer and slowly moved away from there..
“WHAT THE HEEELLL!!”.
It was a scream that could be heard from outside the development room..
Promising to rebuild the robot and give it to Mira, Thoma managed to calm her down; then, feeling relieved, he received the Super Combining Lord Vulcan and left the room as if his life depended on it..
———–.
“Huh, huhu, huhuhuhuhuhu.”.
Ominously, a sinister laughter filled the place. Reflexively, Mira turned towards the source of that sound, spotting Solomon with a stack of doc.u.ments in his hands..
“Finally. At long last, we will be able to start a full-scale development.”.
While saying that, the king stared straight at Mira, his face distorted into a frightening, huge smile of delight..
“There he goes again.”.
As someone who knew that boy for years, after seeing his current state and the papers he held, Luminaria could guess the reason for that sudden outburst, muttering something in the end. The moment Mira heard that, she wondered what her friend was talking about and tried to ask the woman its meaning; however, before the girl knew it, Solomon himself was already by her side..
“So far, our bottleneck was the production of raw materials, so we had to work with an economic design. But now, with you here, it’s almost as if I’ve got a hold of the highest output sealing gems. Finally I will be able to say goodbye to the miserly idea of saving energy, we will develop everything without worrying about our consumption. This is a major step towards the Type-10!”.
Looking completely excited, the king started speaking without a single pause, carefully telling Mira all the hardships he had to go through until she arrived. According to him, in order to work flawlessly on a practical level, the cannon would need to consume several hundreds of magic sealing gems; and simply preparing that many gems would take half a year. Obviously, it was impossible to consider that amount of time as something “practical,” Solomon fervently explained..
“The Sorcery Engineering is still advancing and it will be able to do much more in the future. And that’s why I saw a possibility there. Especially, depending on the cla.s.s of the sealing gem used, the difference in output is something incredibly amazing. You see, the higher the gem’s cla.s.s is, the higher the—”.
“Okay okay, that’s enough. Dude, look at her, she’s nearly dozing off already.”.
Noticing the steady growth in the boy’s enthusiasm with his speech, Luminaria appeared and brought him to a stop. Rather than doing it just because it was a convoluted topic, the effects of continuously listening to a talk that focused mostly on Solomon’s hobbies could be clearly seen on Mira; as the girl’s head began drowsily swaying, her friend decided to act..
“Hmm, then it can’t be helped, I guess.”.
Easily accepting the woman’s argument, Solomon withdrew and returned the doc.u.ments to their place inside the shelf. Nevertheless, it did not actually mean that his fervent pa.s.sion had subsided. The boy simply believed that, from now on, he would be able to have Mira accompany him as much as he liked. His best friend was there. For the time being, that was good enough to Solomon..
“Hey, wake up.”.
While poking the girl’s cheek, Luminaria called out to Mira..
“Oh no, I am not sleeping.”.
Came her reply as she brushed off her friend’s hand and glared, with firm eyes, at that woman. A moment later, however, Mira’s eyelids lost strength and, when they were about to completely close, she managed to regain herself, once again forcing her eyes wide open..
“But you wanna hit the sack, right?”.
“Yeah.”.
She immediately answered..
“By the way, did you take a bath already?”.
“I will take one tomorrow.”.
Upon hearing the girl’s reply to her second question, Luminaria’s expression completely changed..
“Nope, you must be nuts. There’s just no way someone would choose to not enter a bath after becoming a woman!”.
Although that was simply her friend’s opinion, while already trying her best to keep herself awake, Mira had no strength left to object..
“Okay, we’re going!”.
The moment she said that, in a scene similar to a kidnapping attempt, Luminaria grabbed and ran away with the young girl in her arms..
(There are so many things wrong with this… but maybe I will be able to enjoy what is coming next.).
Being left behind, Solomon saw his two best friends disappearing from the room, a happy smile on his face. Then, alone, he slowly walked towards the men’s bath..
———–.
“Why do we have to go in together?”.
As the fragrance of the bath reached the tip of her nose, the drowsiness that had been restraining Mira lessened a bit and, since she was already there, the girl decided to get into the water. Of course, the main reason for that choice was her curiosity over the enormous bath in the castle..
“C’mon, it’s fine, the place is really large. And since it’s been so long since we’ve last met, let’s just go there naked and socialize![4]”.
After being carried by her friend, the girl finally reached the dressing room of the castle’s large bath..
Luminaria, already used to undressing herself, folded and placed her clothes on the clothing shelf; in contrast to the woman, Mira was still struggling with her robe covered in ribbons, something that was personally customized by the aides, Litalia and Mariana..
“Geez, let me help you.”.
Standing in front of the young girl, with dexterous hands Luminaria began untying the ribbons, one by one. At the same time, majestically emphasized before Mira’s eyes was the voluptous object of that woman’s obsession. Since she couldn’t possibly look straight at it, the girl forced her eyes to wander around the place. Then, after Luminaria’s efforts, there was a total of twenty ribbons lined up on the shelves. With those items removed, the robe returned to its original form as the hemming that had been prepared came undone. Finally, when the woman took off the ribbon-shaped hair band that was fastened around Mira’s body, the robe’s collar opened to the point that the girl’s shoulders could be seen, revealing through a small opening her modest chest; the moment Luminaria noticed it, she gave an approving smile..
“Hmm, I see that even this part of your body fits your tastes.”.
“Just drop that topic already…”.
While dragging the lower hem of her garment on the ground, Mira walked towards a corner of the room, brought her arms inside her robe and, after squirming around, finally removed it. With the faux magical girl-esque attire out of the way, the only thing remaining on Mira’s figure was her underwear: the Robe of the Celestial Maiden and the bloomers. This ended up being enough to, once again, incite Luminaria’s attack..
“d.a.m.n, wearing a see-through lingerie together with the old-fashioned bloomers… even though you’ve barely spent a day in this world, look at how much you’ve grown up. At this rate you’ll reach my level soon enough.”.
The combination of a childish, bewitching see-through garment and the seemingly unattractive bloomers made the red-haired woman discover something. Throwing the robe that was in her hands towards that pervert, Mira hurriedly stripped off her remaining clothes and ran in the direction of the bath. Luminaria carefully folded her friend’s garb and placed it on the clothing shelf, afterwards joining the same place as Mira..
Considering it resided inside the castle where the king lived, that bath was so splendid it would never bring shame to its royal location. The large bathtub was always filled with warm water; in the middle of that place, looking almost like a fountain, hot water was gushing out towards the ceiling and, with the gravity’s attraction, kept showering the surroundings, incessantly..
Since even visitors were allowed to use that bath, it had been packed with things to show off how grand the kingdom was. Consequently, it was possible to guess Mira’s current state as she would be fully enjoying that feeling of being in a completely new world..
“This is crazy! This thing here is completely ridiculous!”.
With the rest of her sleepiness blown away by that spectacle, Mira was cackling right below the fountain, basking under the water that fell there. In an instant, after absorbing the moisture around it, the girl’s hair began sticking to her body and droplets of water slowly flowed down her soft, fair skin. Such a place felt ridiculously extravagant, even when compared to a high cla.s.s spa; and in that bath, the girl was now kicking around the hot water that poured out of the fountain, all the while savoring the pleasure of swimming around that place..
“Now that I look at it, she’s really acting fit for her appearance, huh. Well, from the beginning that guy always had that childish side of him. But are you perfectly fine with this, Dunbalf?”.
Luminaria muttered to no one in particular as she, looking somewhat pleased, observed her friend’s antics..
.
Vol.1 Chapter 16.
In the bath, a familiar theme song from a certain anime could be heard. While deeply submerged in the bathtub and getting completely relaxed, the woman had began humming to herself. Then, after glancing at the singing Luminaria for a second, Mira returned to the dressing room, feeling refreshed as her mind and body were healed by the hot bath..
Since the garments that the girl had left on the shelf were sent to the laundry, a change of clothes was placed there for her use. However, the moment she took that article of clothing and unfolded it, Mira instantly froze; what she saw in her hands was a frilled, sky-blue dress. At her own discretion, a maid had mustered all her strength to find an outfit that would best suit Mira..
Yet, that wasn’t the only problem. Or rather, that simple dress was overshadowed by something else that had been prepared next to it: white panties decorated with a small ribbon. Although it looked plain, that piece of clothing was showing how it was still possible to further boost Mira’s already perfect allure. There was no need for the other useless stuff, just wearing those panties was good enough. She would then be able to reach the supreme body… no, the embodiment of her tastes[5]. That was what the underwear told the girl..
Promptly, Mira opened her item box and tried to find something to use as a replacement for those clothes. But just like the other night, when she verified its contents, there was only the reaffirmation that she could not escape her fate. In order to recompose herself, the girl casually averted her sight from the panties. The moment she did that, before her eyes appeared a beautiful girl, one that would probably look pretty well with the underwear Mira was trying to forget..
“Hmm… ahh, there is a mirror here…”.
That cute, stark naked girl was none other than Mira herself, her body reflected in a large, full-length mirror. After staring at that figure with great intensity,.
“I am… so cute.”.
Was what she murmured. Since becoming Mira, the first time she saw her own figure was on the mirror-like armor of the Magic Clothed Knights. Then, the next one was on a window, dyed by the dark of the night. As a result, after seeing her perfectly detailed reflection on the mirror, the girl became thoroughly captivated by her own charms; in the process, she was reminded even further of her own preferences..
Mira continued to observe the mirror as she wiped her body with a bath towel and, for some reason, began touching her face. After starting with her cheeks, she kept moving her fingertips and reached the lips; following that, her fingers slowly ran down towards the nape of her neck. Once she removed her hands from that place, Mira directed her attention to the sleek, fluttering silver hair on her head and began to gently comb it..
“I welcome you to my side of the world. Greetings, my friend.”.
Engrossed in her own stupid world, the girl was taken by surprise and, startled, straightened her back, looking towards the source of the female voice that tried to imply something about her. There, Mira found the figure of Luminaria, a triumphant and warped smile on the woman’s face..
“How long… have you been here?”.
“ ‘I am… so cute.’ ”.
A second later, the young girl used 【Way of the Xian: Shukuchi】 to charge against Luminaria. However, as if it was an illusion, the woman’s figure flickered and she easily evaded the attack..
“Hey, what the h.e.l.l is that? I have never seen that kind of movement before.”.
Luminaria seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden. Needless to say, Mira found herself fascinated by those never seen movements; among all the skills she knew, there was nothing that would have caused those motion effects..
“Don’t go thinkin’ that the only progress we made during your absence was the Sorcery Engineering. It’s been thirty years, y’know? Day by day, all sorts of skill cla.s.ses made steady progress, too.”.
Together with her illusion, the woman kept appearing and disappearing. When Mira saw that, she completely forgot all the embarra.s.sment she had been feeling a moment earlier, the girl’s head now filled with her curiosity over that brand new ability..
“I think this one was developed eight or so years ago, the evasion skill 【Mirage Step】. Its effects are, well… exactly what you’re seeing now.”.
Explained Luminaria as she continued to leave behind afterimages while doing her movements..
“There are some conditions to learn it. If I remember, first, you need to possess mana, and second, you must have acquired the divine protections of light and water.”.
“Oooh! Then it means I am able to learn it immediately. Teach me!”.
Aware that she met all the conditions to obtain that ability, Mira strongly demanded the woman to instruct her..
“Whaaat? I wonder~… why would I teach it to you for free? That was something produced through many years of effort and history, y’know~?”.
Replied the unwilling Luminaria. He—or rather, she— knew, from the very beginning, about Mira’s striking and insatiable tenacity when it came to skills..
“Hmpf, never mind then. Solomon probably has that ability too.”.
While saying that, the girl threw her bath towel. Then, after receiving it, Luminaria used the towel to cover her hands, as if hiding something..
“Hey, wanna guess what I have here?”.
Like a magic trick, the moment the woman flung the cloth high into the ceiling, a book appeared on her previously empty hands. Written on its cover was 『Skills Compendium – 2146 edition.』..
“No… no way… is that what I think it is?”.
The “Skills Compendium” was a huge bestseller, created in order to collect in one single book the countless number of diverse skills that had been appearing. Obviously, as a skills aficionado, Mira had one copy, but it was the 『Skills Compendium – 2116 edition.』. In other words, a book from three decades ago..
It wasn’t a surprise, then, that Mira couldn’t take her eyes from her friend’s compendium. Even in the four years since the opening of the game’s servers, various kinds of abilities were either discovered or developed; as a result, the thirty years of wisdom written in the book held by Luminaria was inestimable..
“Currently, this valuable book is heavily limited, to the point that no matter how much money you acc.u.mulate, you still won’t be able to get one. So, what if I said that I’m willing to give this one to you?”.
“…What do you want in return?”.
The young girl asked, going directly to the point. In Luminaria’s case, she had already finished reading all the instructions written in that compendium; however, she knew exactly how attractive that book was to the current Mira. Since the woman brought it out, she had no intention of giving it for free. That fact was also obvious from the pretentious tone Luminaria had just used..
“Good, this won’t take long, then. Anyway, considering it’s you we’re talking about, it won’t be hard to achieve. I heard from Solomon that you’re going to search for those guys. So while you’re at it, I just want you to get your hands on two items.”.
“Oho. Then, what is your request?”.
“The first item is the Sword of the Red Lotus King, and the second one is the Yggdrasil’s Charcoal.”.
“Hmmm… they are pretty rare. But well, it is not like I cannot get them. The problem is that the same thing applies to you. Why would you bother asking me to collect them?”.
Both the items mentioned by the red-haired woman were first-cla.s.s treasures. On the other hand, with Mira’s strength, they wouldn’t be impossible to obtain..
“As you know, I can’t take a single step out of this country. There’s also the development of our Accord Cannon, but d.a.m.n… the biggest problem is that I have to avoid at all costs giving the other countries a reason to attack us. Like carelessly crossing our national borders, for example. I’ll have you know that I’m considered a big shot in this world.”.
While saying that, Luminaria threw out her ample bosom, full of pride, and raised the corners of her mouth in a fearless smile..
“I see. Since the beginning this game was pretty realistic. But now it became reality itself, huh. Indeed, if that is the case, then it might be easier for me to move around.”.
“Right? That’s why I’m counting on you. If you complete my request, this thing here will be yours.”.
She replied and, at the same time, as if trying to show off, patted Mira in the head with the book..
“Okay, okay, I accept it. However, what are you going to do with the sword? I believe that using Sorcery is faster and stronger, no? And what are you using the charcoal for? From what I remember, it was a material used for alchemy. Did you not say that packing too many professions was not your cup of tea?”.
Luminaria was a Sorcery Expert. And the highest ranking one to boot. But no matter how rare the Sword of the Red Lotus King was, it would only display its true worth when equipped by an advanced Swordsman. A Sorcery Expert would never be able to master its use; and even if their intention was to employ flame attacks, using 【Sorcery：Dual Blaze】, for example, would be overwhelmingly better in terms of efficiency. Then, since Luminaria had a hard time dealing with delicate works, she completely ignored alchemy, so Mira had no idea why her friend would need Yggdrasil’s Charcoal, an ingredient required for the Secret Gem of Purification..
“Well, I’m not planning on using them normally. They will just work as a catalyst.”.
Completed the woman as she lightly hit Mira’s head with the compendium, following a rhythm. Raising her eyes, the girl glared at her aggressor..
“Catalyst…? Wait, by any chance are you talking about a catalyst used to learn spells!?”.
“Correct. Long ago, I found a completely new pentagram. And after a.n.a.lyzing it, the information I got was that those two items should be used as its catalyst.”.
As their conversation continued, Mira took the opportunity to strike and stretched out her hands towards the book on her head. Sadly for the girl, though, they uselessly grabbed nothing..
“To think that even new abilities were developed… those thirty years were amazing. But hey, you just mentioned something about ‘a.n.a.lyzing,’ right? What is that? Were you not supposed to randomly expend different materials until you actually found the right catalysts? If you apply that ‘a.n.a.lysis’ method can you really discover the right ones?”.
“Yes, it’s a new skill that evolved from Appraisal, the 【Technical a.n.a.lysis】. Of course, inside this book you’ll find the information related to this new ability.”.
After answering Mira’s question, Luminaria held the compendium right before the girl’s eyes. In an instant, faster than the eye could see, Mira stretched out her hands, only to grab an afterimage..
“Ughh.”.
“You’re exactly thirty years too early to even think of defeating me. Now then, what are you going to do? I’m givin’ this to you if you find those items for me.”.
“Okay, I accept those terms.”.
Turning her head to look at her friend, who used Mirage Step to sneak around her back, the girl consented, her eyes sparkling at the sight of that skill..
“But only on one condition.”.
“Hm? And what is it? Travel expenses? Some tools you would need? I believe Solomon’s going to provide those already, man.”.
“Oh no, I just want you to teach me how to use that illusion-like ability.”.
With an expectant expression on her entire face, she looked up towards Luminaria. After receiving such an indirect attack, even the deeply experienced woman felt her heart skip a beat..
“You know quite well how to use that body of yours, huh? Fine. Think of this as an advance payment.”.
Then, inside the dressing room, a temporary study session between two naked ladies began..
———–.
Before long, the teaching of the skill finished. Once she got the gist of it, Mira didn’t have any problem using the ability. But maybe because of the difference in training experience, when compared to Luminaria, the girl’s roughness was evident. Nevertheless, that was and would always be the point of diligently practising..
As they completed their study session, the stark naked friends finally started dressing themselves..
“Wait what. Are you really hesitating there? You better give up now since you’ll have to deal with this same s.h.i.t for your entire life. If you’re going to freak out with every single thing you’ll just end up wasted.”.
While putting on the clothing that was prepared to her, Luminaria looked at Mira, who stood still with the dress and panties in her hands, and complained. She’d only needed a second to understand what was happening..
“But… you see…”.
Murmured the girl as she turned her face towards Luminaria and stared at that robed figure, eyes wide open..
“Why do you have a robe to wear…?”.
“Come on, I often come here, you know? If it’s a change of clothes, I have plenty enough of them.”.
“Then lend one for me. No way I am going to wear these.”.
“They would never fit you, look at the difference in our sizes. And no matter how I look at it, those you have there will really suit you, so don’t worry and wear them already. I could even give you a hand too.”.
Luminaria completed, a suspicious smile on her face as she gradually approached Mira..
“I can do it myself!”.
Immediately after replying, the girl left an illusion behind, escaping to the other side of the room. She then took a deep breath, readying herself, and pushed her head through the skirt of the one-piece dress. A few moments later, feeling her wet hair getting cramped inside the garment, Mira used one hand to force that shining silver hair out..
Finally, the only thing left was the panties. Inside her head, two different options waged war: one would result in her going commando and the other would cause her to lose something dear to her being. The latter option was strongly backed by how short was the hem of her dress; the former option, however, was desperately defended by the last line she didn’t want to cross, as someone who was once considered a man among men, the great Dunbalf..
In spite of that, when it appeared that Mira’s internal struggle would continue indefinitely, a single person’s hands were enough to quickly bring an end to that fight..
“Why are you still at it? d.a.m.n…”.
Said Luminaria as she took the underwear from her friend’s hands and crouched down, preparing it near the girl’s feet..
“Come on, lift one leg.”.
“No… like I said…”.
“Hurry up already, dude.”.
Trying to urge Mira, the woman poked her leg. Reluctantly, the moment the girl slightly lifted one leg, her red-haired friend did not miss the chance and swiftly placed one side of the panties through the raised foot. “Now the other one, come on,” the woman urged, once again. Resigned, the young girl did as told and, in the end, had someone putting underwear on her. It was almost like a reenactment of the bloomers incident..
Being made to magnificently lose something dear to her, before finally leaving the dressing room, it appeared that, instead, Mira had achieved enlightenment..
———–.
The visitor’s bedrooms were located near the maid’s quarters. After being guided there, the girl immediately slipped into the bed..
(Today was pretty busy, huh.).
Mira thought while remembering the events that happened in a single day. She now had to live in that new world, a game that turned into reality. But she didn’t feel too anxious about it, as her friends were there to encourage her. She couldn’t go clean and confess, however, that it was because of those two individuals that she felt at ease. It would be too embarra.s.sing. Amidst such thoughts, the girl fell asleep..
.
TL Info:.
1↑雷鱗虎 – Lightning Scaled Tiger (I believe it’s an actual name, mostly because of the furigana used). 2↑Carat – Unit of 0.2 grams used for gemstones and the like. A flawless diamond must have at least 100 carats.. 魔封爆石 – Blast Sealing Gem. 3↑超合体ロードバルカン – Super Combining Lord Vulcan – Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan. 4↑Naked Socializing – See this: 5↑“それで至高の。。。いや、嗜好の存在へと辿り着ける” – There’s a play on words here. 至高 (Supreme) is written with the same kana/sound as 嗜好 (Tastes, preferences): “Shikou”. So the narration would be saying that, rather than being able to reach the “Supreme Being” it would be the “Embodiment/Personification of (her) Tastes/Preferences.”. 仙道歩法：縮地 – Way of the Xian: Shukuchi (rapid movement technique). 紅蓮王の剣 – Sword of the Red Lotus King. 世界樹の炭 – Yggdrasil’s (The World Tree) Charcoal. 魔術：双焔 – Sorcery: Dual Blaze. 術式解析 – Technical a.n.a.lysis (Ability-styled a.n.a.lysis).