Chapter 20: Triple Structure - first joint work of three people

Chapter 20: Triple Structure – first joint work of three people

Arc 02: Guild and Competition for the cursed sword

“… and that’s why I believe we should put an effort here in order to obtain ourselves a residence”

“Ok, I understand”

“Yeah, that sounds nice”

Shouldn’t you two be a little more hesitant about this?

Once we got back to the inn and Cecyl woke up, I explained the current events to the two.

About the destruction of the “Common Guild”, about Aine-san’s memories being stolen, and about Leticia-san, the childhood friend of Aine-san who wished to cooperate with us and help her friend.

“An item which pulls out memories… I think I’ve heard of something like that before”

Rita tilted her head after hearing the situation.

“If I’m not wrong, it’s supposed to be called a Purifying cane. It’s used on believers and others who wish to serve the goddess. It erases their past, turning them into brand new people. The pulled out memories have the form of a crystal and completely dissolve into air after about three days”

“I wonder if what’s hidden in the tower isn’t actually a counterfeit”

“It might’ve been if Argis was working alone. However, if this count went as far as swearing “on his honor”, then the likelihood of it being genuine isn’t that low. He even deployed “Steel Gargoyle” there after all”

“… good grief, even a bad thing can turn out good”

“Guess we have to get even with him”

Rita was angry… and considerably so.

If things didn’t go well, she might’ve been turned into a slave herself by the deputy bishop Argis and had her memories erased by now.

“Yes! I approve of this time’s strategy as well!”

Cecyl energetically threw her hands in the air.

“In the first place, the one who had summoned the cursed sword was from my family. If Nagi-sama expresses his desire to help those who ended up being unhappy because of this, I will work with all my power!”

Both of them seemed quite motivated.

And so, there were four skill crystals lined up before me.

“Drain Cleaning LV1” that I received from Aine-san.

“Song of magic amplification LV1” and “Slow LV1” that I got from Leticia.

“Steal LV1” that I bought on the way from the guild.

Since our opponent this time was made of metal, I made sure to buy a spare shortsword, just to be on the safe side.

“You know, I’ve always wondered how, by combining such things, one would go about defeating a Steel Gargoyle”

The goal of the current quest was to retrieve Aine-san’s memories. Once that’s done, we would head to Irgafar together with Aine-san and Leticia.

“Our opponents are some lowlifes and Steel Gargoyles”

The lowlives weren’t that strong. At the very least they would be weaker than Tanaka Koga.

It’s the “Steel Gargoyle” which’s a problem. The specs were as follows:

[Steel Gargoyle: a carved statue which moves with magical power. It possesses wings and claws. Flame magic is ineffective against it, and physical damage is reduced. However, amongst all types of gargoyles, it’s considered low-level”

“Cecyl, Rita, listen to me”

I sat down on the bed, folded my arms and looked at the two.

“There is something that I’ve noticed just the other day when I was experimenting with Rita on “Reconstruction Ability ‘Skill Structure’”

“… Wau?”

“C’mon, don’t get flustered. I won’t use it as a punishment anymore!”

“…Woof”

Please stop trembling and clutching your chest. And don’t act like a puppy only at times like these.

“Invoke — Ability Reconstruction”

Once the skill activated, a window surfaced. It’s the same as before. I imagined the skill inside of me, and its general concept was disassembled before me. However, once I took a closer look… it turned out the window had become slightly larger.

What this meant was that I apparently could fit one more skill into it.

“Cecyl, Rita, why don’t you help me out just a bit?”

“Ah, okay?”

Cecyl said with a puzzled face.

Ah, that’s right. The two of them could not see the window.

“Look, I want to ascertain whether I can make us more powerful so that we can clear this quest. If manage to do it, it means we will be able to borrow a residence where we can settle down, cook for ourselves, and even take baths”

“…baths, you say?”

Cecyl was pondering about it for some reason.

“We’ll be able to take our time in the bath, right?”

“Yep, as much time as we would like”

“All of us together, right?”

“Yep, with Cecyl and others”

“… I understand!”

Then, Cecyl quickly moved to me while still on her knees and presented her body.

“Y-yes, do as you wish, Nagi-sama”

“Ah, not fair!”

*Fluffy, pitter-patter* With moves like that of a kitten, Rita dashed to me as well. Both of them closed their eyes, having prepared themselves or so it would seem. I got down from the bed and stood on my knees in front of them.

… as I thought, I was nervous. My hands… don’t you dare tremble.

I took a deep breath. Ever so softly, my right hand was then placed on Cecyl’s chest. “…Mnn” — to which Cecyl twitched a bit.

I summoned the window of Cecyl’s skills.

“Animal Empathy LV1” was displayed.

Next to it was my skill. As an experiment, I’d installed “Steal LV1” into myself.

- “Steal LV1” — a skill “To snatch” a “Weapon” by using a “Technique”

- “Animal Empathy LV1” — a skill “To communicate” one’s “feelings” with “animals”

“…. Ah, mn… Haaa… Nagi…sama”

“Are you alright, Cecyl?”

“I am fine, yes”

“Okay… next is Rita”

“…….. Eh? Eh? Eeeeeeh?! Me too?!”

There was still some space in the window of “Ability Reconstruction LV2”. Although she was surprised, Rita had to understand that this skill was our lifeline.

“…Ya. Hey~. Nagi-i… wait a…”

I touched Rita’s chest with my right hand. She twitched a bit like she was ticklish. However, she didn’t distance herself.

“I’m sorry. Please hold on for a bit more”

“… don’t apologize, you fool”

I summoned the window of one of Rita’s skills, “Singing LV4”. I hope I can do it…

(3) “Singing LV4” — skill “to rouse” a “human heart” with “song”

… I managed to do it. I’d finally understood the effects of “Ability Reconstruction LV2”.

Thus far I was only able to “reconstruct” the abilities of only two people at the same time, now I could do it with three people. By combining the magical powers of myself and my slaves, I could potentially create even more advanced skills.

The magical power of two people could produce an ultra-rare skill. In that case, I wondered what I could do with the combined magical power of three people.

“Yep. The experiment is done”

I removed my hands from the two’s chests.

“…Hiya”

“…Ha …Fu… uh huh…”

Both Cecyl and Rita breathed out a sigh.

It became clear how to use a LV2 skill. However, there seemed to be various questions associated with it.

I waited for the two to calm themselves and started to explain.

The first problem lied with the burden on the girls’ bodies.

It seemed quite painful for them to exchange their magical power with me when we did it one-on-one. Therefore, I didn’t know what could happen if we circulated the magical power of three people at the same time.

The second problem was of physical nature.

I had to have a touch contact with the girls when I was using “Reconstruction”. Skills were located in a person’s chest, so being touched close to the heart was the easiest method to exchange magical power.

That’s why I touched them with my hands, but it was impossible to alter the “concept” in the “ability reconstruction” skill while touching both Cecyl and Rita. I only had two hands, after all.

It came down to that we would have to bring our hearts as close as possible to each other and link the magical powers.

The last problem was that I would like to do all of that in a safe place.

During the “Reconstruction” all of us were basically defenseless. I didn’t believe the “Noble Guild” would raid us, but I wanted to be careful on the off-chance that they would try.

“… and that’s how it is”

“Such a worrywart”

Rita giggled through her nose.

“Is that essential? Let’s forgo all of it then. The burden on the body and whatnot, bring it all on”

“About the second problem. In other words, we are all good if Nagi-sama can circulate magical power while his hands are occupied, right?”

Yep. Well, that’s how it is.

For some reason Cecyl’s cheeks became red and she clenched her hands into fists.

“My specialty lies with using magical power, and I have an idea which I would like to discuss with Rita in advance. The last problem is to find a safe place”

“There should be one, the place which only we know about and that can’t be entered by anyone but us”

… Ah, I somehow got it. That place might certainly do the trick. We will be able to experiment with the “Reconstructed” skills, and not worry about other people coming. Time-wise… We should be able to reach there by evening if we went immediately.

“…I most certainly hate having to work overtime though”

It wasn’t unpaid overtime, so who cares.

I regarded Leticia as honest, so she would pay the fee properly.

“Got it. Let’s make preparations, I want to arrive there before evening. We’re moving out immediately”

“Yes!” “Roger!”

And so, we decided to set out.

——————————-

The time required to finally reach the hidden room in the basement of the magician’s residence was a little bit over two hours.

Here daytime and nighttime were the same — the walls were illuminated by almost white light. The entrance was sealed with “Ancient language” so we didn’t have to worry about people other people entering here. As for the “Angel Guardian”, it wouldn’t do anything as long we didn’t enter the room it was protecting.

“Now that I think of it, the safe place that you talked about was this one”

I thank you, the honorable ancestor of Cecyl.

Trees were growing here and there in the room, and the floor was covered by a flowing river with almost waist-high depth — it was perhaps flowing into the nearby hot spring — this might’ve been the reason why the temperature here was pleasantly warm, like during springtime.

“This place clears the problem of safety”

As for the burden placed on the girls’ bodies, both Cecyl and Rita said “Bring it on”, so I decided to believe them.

The only remaining issue was how to circulate the magical power.

“You said that you two have an idea about that, right?”

“Yes”

For some reason, Cecyl was nodding bashfully.

“You and Rita talked it out between yourselves”

“Yeah. It’s perfect now”

“It is. Nagi-sama, could please sit down over here for a bit?”

All together, Cecyl and Rita pointed at the bank of the spring flowing in the center of the room. That place was like a riverbank in the Nakasu district.

“Ehhm, so I should just sit down here?”

Taking off my shoes, I sat down on the bank.

Somehow it felt like I entered a footbath in my former world, even though I never was at a hot spring at all.

“A little bit forward, Nagi-sama”

“And, we apologize in advance. Please forgive us, master”

—— Eh?

Rita plopped on my back. Losing balance, I slid down into the warm river.

The reason for my lack of resistance was that my field of vision went totally dark.

Without even voicing out her intentions, Rita then put a blindfold made of some cloth on me.

“Ah, Umm. This is a bit. What’s this, Cecyl, Rita?”

“It’s so that you wouldn’t catch a cold, Nagi-sama”

“It’s better to have a lot of physical contact if one wants to raise the efficiency of the transfer of magical power, right?”

“You know, I still feel a little bit… uhm… embarrassed”

“If it looks like you cannot use the “Reconstruction” skill without vision, then we will remove the blindfold for you”

“It’s possible that Nagi-sama can use it, so please give it a try”

“… We will have to fight a formidable enemy after this, so… Nagi…using force is no good”

“…………What are you two even talking about?”

I heard the sound of rustling clothes. From behind, Cecyl’s small hands started unbuttoning my coat. What’s going on? My upper body became naked, which I could tell by intuition.

“Wait a minute! What are the two of you do…”

“Heiya” “Nto”

Soft — Something warm pressed against me from the front and behind. The sound of pounding hearts was being transmitted to me directly through the skin.

The touch on my back was modest yet soft nonetheless. Slender arms were tightly holding onto me from behind.

The touch on my chest was voluptuous and heated. The sound of splashing water was probably caused by the shaking tail.

In other words… Both Rita and Cecyl caught me… in a tight hug?

Those two, they were embracing me in a way where their pressed bare chests were almost grinding against me…?

“Ehmm… Uhm”

No words were leaving my mouth.

I was sure I was trying to say something.

I was sure we were supposed to do something in this place.

“I-I believe Nagi-sama will be able to connect our magical powers like this”

Cecyl called out to me from behind.

… “Connect magical powers”?

“Skills are located inside the chest. Therefore, the strongest flow of magical power goes near the heart”

“W-which is why we pressed our bodies like this so that… Umm”

“Even without using your hands, Nagi-sama should be able to link our magical powers, I am sure of it”

I-I see.

The theory is sound, but using “Reconstruction” under such circumstances is…

By reflex, I invoked “Ability Reconstruction LV2”… and the window appeared in my pitch black vision.

Ah, so I can see it. This is something.

It’s originally something that only I could see, so having no vision didn’t even matter.

“If you cannot use “Reconstruction” in this state, we will remove the b-blindfold. I-I am fine with it. Even if my body gets seen, I believe Nagi-sama won’t feel anything. However, Rita-san is…”

“I-I am cool with it as well! Getting seen doesn’t mean a thing! C’mon, bring it on!”

I wondered, how do the two of them look like right now. No, I got it. I could feel it directly in various places. The sound of rustling clothes from earlier was them taking their clothes off. Should the blindfold be removed, I would probably be able to see something amazing… I certainly would.

“… It’s fine as we are right now”

However, we had an important matter to address tomorrow. Things would go awfully if my reason got whittled even more, after all.

“I am doing it. “Ability Reconstruction”

I had little interest in the dispute between “Common Guild” and “Noble Guild”. But if it’s about saving a girl and receiving the right to live in a house, the whole deal didn’t sound as bad.

“Ability Reconstruction — Skill Structure”, Invoke!”

- “Steal LV1” — a skill “To Snatch” a “Weapon” by using a “Technique”

I summoned a skill from within myself. This “Steal” skill allowed to dispossess an opponent of their weapon with a fixed probability of success.

All right, I am calm.

I knew how to connect my magical power with Cecyl’s and Rita’s.

The two didn’t say a thing for a while. However, their breathing transmitted directly to my ears. So hot.

I called the skill that I installed in Cecyl just a little while ago.

(2) “Slow LV1” — a skill “to delay” the “reaction speed” by means of “magic”

*Throb* — Cecyl’s heart rate spiked.

“Haaan! Ah… Ahh… Kuu… Ah…”

She put more power into the arms that were holding me close. Cecyl continued to tremble all the while. She’s probably being affected by the cumulative power of three people.

Next skill was Rita’s.

(3) “Magical Singing LV1” — a skill “to raise” the “Magical Power” by means of a “Song”

This skill was a common one as well. It allowed to amplify the magical power of magicians by singing.

A skill like that was ideal for Rita, and and it had good usability. However, it wouldn’t be a decisive factor against “Steel Gargoyle”.

“……Wha~, what’s this? O-only this much, it wasn’t anything special, am I right?”

Rita quietly murmured with her chin on my shoulder.

“I thought it was something… amazing… If it’s this much, you can… do as much as…”

“No, I only displayed your skill thus far”

“………Woof?”

Suddenly, Rita’s body shook.

“Ah… Auu. Rita-san, please don’t move around. If the connection gets desynchronized….”

“I… I’m sorry. Still…. Ehm…. Um…”

“When you reconnect the flows… Umm… it tingles… so…”

“…Hau. Yeah. I am sorry…”

Bit by bit, Rita started breathing roughly.

While I was waiting for her to calm down, I extended my hand towards the letters on the skill.

Touching the letters for “magical power” with zero vision——

“Mnn———-!”

Hot breathing, and a feeling of pain.

She’s play-biting?

“Mn! M-m-m, Ah, ah, ah”

Rita bit my shoulder lightly. I felt her warm tongue on my shoulder.

“Mnn. I-I am alright. So… Nagi-i, please continue”

“Y-yeah”

Shaking the letters for “magical power”, I started extracting Rita’s skill. Slowly.

“… Haa-a”

Once you start moving it a bit, it goes smoothly, so I should quickly—

“… Waa! No… this, this is different from… Ahh!” — Rita shook her head like a spoiled child.

Her golden hair hit my face, and… Ah…

The blindfold came off. The first thing that entered my field of vision was the eyes of Rita darting vacantly around.

…Did she not notice that the blindfold came off?

Say, now wasn’t the time for that. Both for Rita, and for me.

The next thing I saw was her back, flushed in deep red. The robe that exposed her up to her shoulder blades was swaying in the water.

“…Nagi-i… Stop… This… magic power… is much stronger than… the last time… Hurry…”

“Y-yeah”

It wasn’t the time to get fascinated.

Closing my eyes and then opening them ever so slightly, I made the extracted letters touch a different skill.

Next was Cecyl’s “Slow” skill.

“………… Fuwa-a. Somehow… I feel… light”

Behind my back, I heard the girl’s feverish voice.

“I will be rewriting two concepts on Cecyl’s skill… you okay?”

“……………. I… b-be… long to… Nagi… shyama…”

*Throb* — a small head pressed against my back.

“……. Both in body……. and soul…”

“……. okay”

However, Cecyl didn’t have as much physical strength we did, given how small she was. And besides, she’s surely exhausted after using her magical power during today’s battle.

I’d better finish it as quickly as possible.

“Here I come, Cecyl”

“……….Fuya…… Nagi-shyama… come….”

I moved two concepts of the skill at the same time.

I started pushing “Magical power” extracted from Rita’s “Magical Singing”, and “To snatch” that I’d extracted from “Steal” into Cecyl’s “Slow” skill.

“…. Ah…. Mn…. Ah…………….Aa-a-a-h, Ah!”

The small body on my back was trembling.

The sound of splashing water could be heard, overflowing and spreading around.

“Ya-a… Ya… Ah”

Cecyl’s slender fingers were scratching my back.

“Nagi-sama… and Rita-san… the magical power…. enters…. Ah, Ah-h-h!”

I was yet to enter the new concept into Cecyl completely. The two concepts got caught at the entrance, unable to push out the concepts of “Slow”.

Is that because I am doing them one at the time? The letters were slanted.

I applied some pressure on the stuck parts with my fingers.

“…. Ah….. Ah!”

Alright, they moved.

This time I add a bit more force, and—

“…….. Hyaun! Hya…. fuwa…. hi-i-i…. Mn”

“Ability Reconstruction LV2” allowed me to alter skills of three people, but I was unaccustomed with it yet.

It’s hard to move the skills, I was clumsy. If it continued like this, I would only be putting more burden on Cecyl and Rita.

“Nagi…. sama…. Nagi…. shyama!”

“Just a little bit more. Endure it, Cecyl”

“…. I don’t… know. Nagi-shyama and… Rita-hyan… inside of me… where do I end… and Nagi-shyama begin… I don’t know already… Ah, Ahhhhh!”

It entered. I managed to rewrite one damned concept in the “Slow” skill.

One more to go!

Cecyl strongly forced her slender body against me.

*Haaa, Haaa* her hot breath had been tickling me for a while now.

“Not good… It’s strange…. I’m…. it’s hot… and scary… yet… I am one with… Nahi-i… Nagi-shyama… Nagi-shyama…….. Ah! Aaah!!”

“I will be done in a bit”

“……… Nagi-shyama…. Love…. Lyuve…. Ah, Ahhh!”

I thrust the second concept inside Cecyl.

*Throb, Throb, Throb* — I was feeling her heartbeat being transmitted to me.

The sounds of flowing water resounded in our surrounding without stopping, waves hitting the walls and then retreating.

I knew that the magic power was circulating inside us.

Cecyl ground and nuzzled her head against my shoulder. She inhaled and her body rised a little, she exhaled and her body went listless. And then she inhaled again.

I was fully aware of how my and Rita’s magical power was bouncing and tingling inside Cecyl.

“Mn! Mn-aa. Mnnnnnn!”

As for Rita, she was nipping on my shoulder while she was enduring the magical power bustling inside her body.

I wonder if it’s because of the master-servant “Contract”, but Rita couldn’t injure me. That’s why, she playfully bit me and then let me go, repeating the nipping again and again.

Her saliva, overflowing from her still opened mouth, was running down between us. Which again added to the sound of water around us.

The process went for so long that I started to wonder whether it would ever end.

The breathing of the three people.

Their fever.

Their magical power.

Their voices.

The moist sounds, produced by the warm flowing current.

Flowing in, hitting the walls, falling back, flowing out.

“Haaa…. Haaa… Ah, Aahn! Nagi…. Shyama…”

“Mnn! Nagi… Master… Ma… This is… incredible… and scary… Ahh”

“Hold on, you two”

Everything will be over in just a bit.

I pushed the letters I had extracted from Rita and Cecyl into my own skill.

“Execute! Ability Reconstruction — Skill Structure!!”

An electric shock went through my back. The torrent of magical power was so strong that I realised that I should’ve been protected by “Ability Reconstruction”.

This wave then started flowing into the two all at once…

“…. Nagi-shyama! Aa-a-a-a-h, N-n, a-a-a-a-a–a-ah!”

Cecyl clutched onto me with all her power. The temperature of her being was being transmitted to me. We were glued to our utmost limits.

I realized it all, the figure of Cecyl on my back, the form of her chest, everything.

“Mnn-n-n, Ah-h, mn–n-n! Mn-n-n-n!”

Meanwhile, Rita’s body was arched like a bow. Her bright red and hot body was shaking. The water was flowing, in and out, around where our stomachs were. Again and again. Her golden tail was flapping so much that I was worried if it would fall off.

While still embracing me, Rita and Cecyl were stiff for a little while until…

“…. Hiya….. Nagi-shyama…. Ah”

“….. Wa…. Woof…. Ah”

The strength left them and they leaned on me.

“… thank you for your hard work”

Uhm…

I managed to free my arms, so I should start with putting the blindfold on my eyes. You see, the two of them used all their strength and couldn’t move anymore. Something terrible would surely happen if, in addition to the already overly strong stimuli of their voices, body temperatures, their sweat and smell, their figures would enter my field of vision. I would probably see something exceedingly beautiful, but we had a work to do tomorrow.

………………….. In any case, Cecyl’s and Rita’s skills were completely rewritten, as well as mine.

“Steal LV1”

“Slow LV1”

“Magical Singing LV1”

Those three skills were combined and produced the following, altered skills—

“Delay Arts LV1”

“Force Arrow LV1”

“Unrivalled Singing LV1”

As for their effects… I should affirm them with the two once they calm down. We also should test them out. I wonder if we manage to prevail over “Angel Guardian” in the next room, a “Steel Gargoyle” of a superior level?

All in order to acquire a base where we could relax in between our adventures.