Chapter 95: The Merchant Departs

I entered the kingdom to do the last of the summons for the Merchant. Even though he told me to find him in his house, the moment I appeared inside the kingdom, I saw him in the wall.

He waved his hand and disappeared. I thought he had used his Gift to go inside the house but...

[Invasion! The Traveling Merchant Arrives

Ending Achieved: The Merchant Has Been Repelled

The rewards for achieving this ending are:

100x Your current amount of Daily Gacha Tickets

10x Your current amount of Kingdom Points

2 Rare Gacha Tickets

Three Skills have been unlocked in the Available Skills Menu, their price has been fixed to 0. Please note that when one of them is selected, the others will disappear until they manifest again as a reward.]

[As a special reward, you now can choose between three different events.]

[Due to successfully completing the event, you can choose to either add or subtract two days from the event timers permanently.]

Seems like the Merchant is gone then...

I can't believe the idiot didn't even say goodbye.

As for the event rewards, they sound incredible, especially having my current Daily Gacha Tickets amount multiplied by 100. It would've been amazing if I had any Gacha Tickets in reserve.

I swear that my Gift does this on purpose, there's simply no way.

I can't even blame the Merchant since I would've spent them all on his last summon before he left anyway.

Well, it wasn't all for nothing though since I now have 4690 Kingdom Points stored thanks to the event reward.

As for those Rare Gacha Tickets... there's no mention of them anywhere in my Gift, but it's pretty easy to assume what they do.

At the very least, it probably increases the chances of getting an item of better quality/rarity. It might even be the case that certain things can only be acquired with this ticket.

The Merchant said that the weapons I brought out of the gacha couldn't hurt Gods, so perhaps if I were to use this ticket, I might get something capable of doing that.

A companion would also be an interesting choice, but... if Claire came out from a normal ticket, I'm a little unsure of what would come out from a rare one.

The third obvious option would be a skill... but since there's no pressing matter, I'll just keep them for now, depending on the circumstances of the next event, they might come in handy.

Also, I finally had a use for the [Available Skills] menu, so I didn't waste any time and checked what was new there.

[Knight King

As a king who demonstrates power and conviction, this skill will provide the user with inherently fighting abilities, increasing the effectiveness of every point spent on physical attributes. However, the laws of chivalry are a chain that will decrease your power when your actions are unbefitting of a knight.

This is a passive skill that cannot be turned off.]

Overall it's a pretty good option, most of the time it will work as a straight-up buff. The debuff aspect might be a problem though...

I also must think about the next event. Since I've added two days to the timer, it will happen eight days from now, meaning I probably won't be able to achieve the same level as Mia.

Depending on how effective this skill is, it might make me stand toe-to-toe with her, but if an opponent appears that even she cannot defeat, then that would just make me an extra obstacle.

For now, I'll consider it...

[Reputable Ruler

Your reputation supersedes any disbelief others have against you. This skill alone proves your merit, and by having it, your words will be more trusted, negotiations won't break down as easily, and your chances of convincing others will drastically improve.

This is a passive skill that cannot be turned off.]

No downside is already an upside...

Thinking about it logically, the girls are my biggest strength, and this skill would give me an easier time when summoning companions...

It might also be a way out of a fight against a stronger foe if I cannot defeat them.

[Web Weaver

No words should be trusted. It's your pride to walk alone, weaving lies and intermingling truths as you go. This skill increases the chances of your lies being believed. Fate will work harder to increase the chances of any malicious schemes against others. Though beware, evil attracts evil, and the possessor of this skill will surely find himself surrounded by untrustworthy minds.

This is a passive skill that cannot be turned off.]

Since the time expected for event completion is over half of the user's expected lifespan, a time dilation will be applied. The user might decide to quit this event at any time, but if no ending is achieved, no reward will be provided.

Restrictions: All gacha banners are restricted except for...]

Well, there's quite a list of banners that are still available...

The time limit is a bit of a concern but my interference might end the whole thing early like what happened in the Snow White Wolves Tribe...

And though this Lunar Beast sounds menacing and whatnot, things might not be so clear-cut.

Even more so considering that a similar thing could be said about the Merchant, and he wasn't really bad or anything.

Hell, by that standard, I could be seen as a heretic since I think the guy who literally kills Gods is not that bad.

If I go for this one I'll have to investigate this thoroughly before coming to a decision...

Well... last but not least...

[Invasion! The Demon Queen Falls Down

The Demon Queen, once one of the most powerful beings in existence, is now but a shell of her former self.

Drifting away, as her soul continues to fall, she finds herself in an unknown place with no connections to the world she once knew.

Defeated after the war, she now has a chance to start again, but what will happen when she faces another monarch?

Time Limit: Unknown

Restrictions: All banners except for [Companions Banner], [Skills Banner], [Weapons Banner], [Drinks Banner], [Armor Banner], [Spirits Banner] and [Ships Banner].]

...The difficulty for this one is around the middle, way better than the previous one which was in the red area.

Another Invasion... since the description only talks about the demon queen herself, I don't think the rest of her army or her kingdom will come.

If that were the case, the difficulty would definitely be way higher.

An invasion event is a bit bad since I risk losing the kingdom, but since it's only one girl who is apparently a shell of her former self, we might stand a chance if it comes down to a fight.

The way the description was written also makes me feel like there's an alternative here that doesn't include a fight, which would be preferable.

Given what happened with the Merchant, I'm leaning toward this event a bit.

Even more so considering Erika and her sister, who albeit demons, were pretty chill and nice.

Well, I'll disclose all of this with the girls later and we can come up with a plan going forward.

Before doing that though, the Merchant said that I should meet him in his house, which is impossible now that he's gone, but I doubt he would say that without meaning anything by it, so I decided to check that just in case.

I was expecting some sort of payment or a gift for the good times but I just found a note above the table.

It was... a collection of tips for the future.

Amongst them, a few seemed really important:

"#1: The First Cycle fell all on its own. No one should be blamed for the loss of that paradise.

....

#3: Divinity and Demonic Power exist in opposition to one another, if you possess Divinity, any amount of Demonic Power you acquire will subtract from that Divinity. During this Cycle, a demon has developed a technique that allows one to maintain both, if you decide to join the Caravan, I'll teach it to you.

#4: If you have to choose between Divinity or Demonic Power, I would strongly recommend the latter.

#5: REFUSE TO ASCEND NO MATTER WHAT. You'll only become a puppet. Try not to gather too much divinity, especially if it's gifted by a God. If anything happens, throw it all my way and tell the Gods that you lost it somewhere.

....

#10: Be it as an ally or as a friend, you're welcome to join us anytime."

He also thanked me for the hospitality and said he had a good time, all the while excusing his rudeness due to being "bad with goodbyes"...

I swear, this guy...

Even though he messed with us at every opportunity he had, now that he's gone, the kingdom feels a bit more empty.

But it's fine, he's surely capable of coming and going as he pleases, I even bet if I leave a few snacks at his home they will mysteriously disappear during the night.

Anyway, now that the event is over I kind of wanna celebrate... we also defeated the fifth-floor boss so the timing couldn't be better for a little break.