Chapter 137: Prosperous Kingdom (01)

When I woke up today, I saw Cassandra still awake.

She kept her promise, and stayed up throughout the night, watching us as we slept peacefully.

While a small sacrifice, it still made me happy that she was willing to do something for us considering we got to know each other just yesterday.

It was a good first step towards building a good relationship.

Miwen: "Are you not tired?"

Cassandra: "I'm fine. You can sleep the entire day if you want."

Miwen: "Pfft, I wish. There's a lot I want to do today. As for you... rest well Cassandra, you've done a good job."

Cassandra: "I'll be waiting for a biiig reward then. Also, call me when you finish breakfast~"

With her gestures and emphasis on the word "big", I could pretty much guess what she wanted from me.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested though, so I decided that I would give her the reward she wanted tonight.

Still, that was going to take a while. The first order of the day was to check on Maya.

I passed a few of the girls who were already up while making my way to her house, and once I reached her room, I saw that she was also awake already.

She kept watching Johnny, her boyfriend, from across the room as he was resting in a separate bed.

Yep, even in her current state, she still worries about others...

Personally, seeing her like this, and then helping her down the stairs to leave the house... was soul-crushing.

A girl who could challenge the world and come out on top... now couldn't even leave her bed...

Maya: "What is this place? It feels so different from where we were, and yet, it still is strange."

First Daughter: "It is not strange! While the Infinite Hotel is the most complex structure in all of creation, I put a lot of effort into organizing it! Can't you see how clean the floor is? That takes effort!"

Maya: "I'm sorry, I meant strange as in interesting. If you are the owner, you should be proud. It seems like a comfy place."

First Daughter: "...! You haven't seen anything yet! Here, let me show you the room design I've been working on."

As if it was the most natural thing to do, the First Daughter cloned herself in front of me. One of them supported Maya, while the order gave her a guide through a room.

I could kind of guess how The First Daughter liked to design the Infinite Hotel since I've seen the rooms and the hallways.

So when I heard Maya saying things about a giant Jacuzzi, the latest games, and whatnot, I immediately thought that The First Daughter was reading her mind and just adding whatever Maya thought of as being cool.

A single look of mine directed at her, and the "original" one confirmed it while my sister enjoyed sightseeing a room that would keep expanding as she thought it.

Miwen: "So? Did you fix the elevator?"

First Daughter: "Haha, I wish! That thing has been broken since forever. I would have to redesign the entire hotel from scratch if I wanted that to work... at this point, it's not even worth it."

Since forever?

That's a bit strange.

She seems to have complete control of the Infinite Hotel, and with her being one of the Endless, I thought there was nothing she couldn't do...

First Daughter: "The elevator was meant to facilitate traveling between floors... Cycles... for the guests who can't do so on their own. If you imagine the Hotel as a program... the elevator is a part of the code that isn't doing what is supposed to do. But it should!

I have no idea why it never worked, and at this point, I don't even care anymore. It became a test for the guests to figure out how to reach the reception anyway."

So she gave up because it was too troublesome...

Perhaps she would need to change the Infinite Hotel itself to make it work and so... Yeah, with a project of this magnitude, I can imagine why she gave up on a small detail like this.

If I were in her place, I would've gotten rid of it since it doesn't work, but repurposing it as a clue for the guests is not a bad idea either.

First Daughter: "Well, getting to the main topic... Sorry, I won't. I've got no interest in her whatsoever, so even the minimal interference is more than I am willing to do. However... You are a different case. I don't mind helping you if it's a single summon.

No more than that though..."

...Well, I imagined it would go like this.

Her being able to know everything from the start makes things fast though.

Basically, I was going to ask her to heal Maya completely, but... apparently, she has no interest in her.

To the point where she would say to my face that, if not for me accompanying her, she wouldn't have let my sister enter at all as she didn't meet the criteria for a guest.

I have no idea what kind of messed up standard she's using that puts my sister as lesser than me though, but fine...

At least I got half of what I came here for.

Miwen: "You said that if I desire something, it will boost the chances of it coming out of the Gacha... and that tickets with higher rarities will also help get better things... so, with you boosting luck in this place, I should be able to get a farmer, right?"

First Daughter: "Pfft... yeah, of course. I can never guarantee it due to randomness being an integral part of your Gift, but I can get it very near to a 100% chance."

You'd think that getting a farmer would be easier, but for some reason, I keep getting cool, cute, and strong girls...

Can't complain about it though... even more so when it's probably a result of my heart desiring it and thus boosting their chances, even if slightly.

But this time... I know exactly what I want. I don't care about appearances... too much... All I want is someone with a useful Gift for agriculture.

And so, I claimed today's gacha tickets, and with 124 in the bank, I was able to exchange them for an uncommon one and summon a new girl to the kingdom.

??????: "...H-hello... I..."

...I needed to get her clothed ASAP.

If Maya sees me with a naked girl it's going to be too awkward for me. Not to mention, the girl looked like she was on the verge of tears, and while her face looked pretty young, her body was quite... voluptuous... so I'm sure my sister would hate me forever if she saw the current scene.

First Daughter: "This is a timid one so exposing all of your nightly memories did a number on her..."

The increased luck is a good incentive to do the summons inside the Infinite Hotel, but the First Daughter sharing my memories is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it makes things way easier since I don't have to explain anything to newly summoned girls, and they also arrive with a good level of loyalty.

The problem is... most normal girls would be... less than thrilled to see what being summoned to the kingdom might mean for them in the future.

Miwen: "So... can you tell me your name, and your Gift, please?"

??????: "S-sure... my name is Lily... my Gift is not... very good... but I can help you with farming! It's called [The Bountiful Divine Garden of Lindseyberg]..."

Oh!

What does she mean by not very good? That sounds perfect!

First Daughter: "Hahaha! Girls with the power to potentially challenge the heavens live in your kingdom, and you're more excited about a Gift that helps with farming? Really? Hahaha."

Lily: "U-um.. the... my Gift can-"

Miwen: "Well, I can't feed power to my citizens, can I? To establish an economy and a society, food is indispensable. Even if it's to maintain order, control of the food supply could be considered a power on its own."

It's also extremely important to make the kingdom self-sustainable. If I can establish good, protected fields, I can scale them to allow as many residents as I want.

By making sure there's always a surplus, I can create food reserves too, allowing a large number of [Citizens] to move in without sacrificing the stability of the already existing residents.

The lack of food, as a basic need, can cause deep conflicts, and from those, resentment might arise, creating extremely difficult situations, something I want to prevent as much as possible inside the kingdom.

Don't underestimate the importance of farmers! They can make or break a country.

First Daughter: "Pfft... Such enthusiasm... If it's so important, why didn't you go ahead and start your own farm?"

Lily: "..strengthen the ground... calm people... it makes the harvest faster and more bountiful-"

With the skill levels that I shared around between my father and Angelica, I ended up with 512 kingdom points stored... Quite a lot considering how much I had spent, but it was thanks to registering my family and Johnny as [Citizens].

Sadly there was no new unlock for getting past 1000 daily kingdom points though.

Mia: "So... should I get some dolls for you to play house or...?"

Miwen: "No need. I'll get them myself."

I was already satisfied, so on Mia's cue, I decided it was about time to summon the new companions.

Even though it was five at once, I had enough space for all of them.

It's hard to say how it went since I didn't have enough levels into [Appraisal] to see their Gifts, but judging by their appearance, it was pretty good.

Also, while I couldn't see their Gifts, I could at least see their skills, which gave at least a slight indication of what their Gift might be.

As such, I started looking at everyone who was summoned.

From left to right, the first one was a beastwoman. I think she was a catgirl, but it could be another feline. She had short black hair with some orange tips that were rather stylish and cute.

The chest area wasn't the biggest, but she had something going on and her hips were also alright.

The thing is... I didn't want to look at her too much since like Lily, her face seemed pretty young.

She was quite contemplative given the situation though, her eyes were sharp as if she was analyzing her surroundings, and I took the chance to take a quick look at her skills.

She only had [Darkness Magic] at level 1, so I thought maybe she was a mage or had a Gift akin to Roy's.

Second from her was a girl I was a bit more comfortable looking at.

Quite big breasts and hips, she was probably not in the same league as Beatrice, but at least for the breasts, she came pretty close. They were definitely one size bigger than Anna's... actually, maybe two would be more fair.

It was interesting that she appeared here completely shaved and with her hair pretty well done... Most importantly, however, it wasn't only her body that looked a bit older than the other girl, but also her face. I'd say she's about one or two years older than me.

So it was okay to look as much as I wanted. And since there was a lot to look at, it worked for both of us.

Her reaction was a bit lacking though. Since unlike the three that were summoned in the Infinite Hotel these girls didn't have my memories to help them understand what was happening, I expected a lot of confusion, but at least for this girl... she seemed indifferent.

She also didn't have any skills, so I had no clue about her Gift.

Well, moving on... a girl with short platinum hair.

Again, she looked pretty young, so body-wise I tried not to look too much.

In her case, she didn't even have the hips or the chest. Flat, no ass, and a baby face.

At least she wasn't too short... but yeah, I didn't pay too much attention. This was enough of a deal breaker for me until I confirmed these girls' ages.

What I could look at without any worries, however, were her eyes... and they were very mesmerizing. Quite a nice blue, I was genuinely impressed with how beautiful they were.

She noticed that I was looking at them, but didn't react. It was hard to tell what was going through her mind, and while I felt like I could stare at them forever, I snapped out of it and confirmed her skills before it got weird.

[Light Magic] at level 1... but also... [Holy Magic] at the same level.

Angelica was impressed that my father had [Holy Magic] since it's a bit hard for humans to acquire it without being a monk or a priest, so maybe she was a nun...

As for her Gift... It almost certainly had something to do with healing, so I imagined that I wouldn't have to worry about her too much.

Fourth girl... and thankfully this one was without a shadow of a doubt, a proper woman. One might even call her a milf.

She had bags under her eyes and some of her skin looked a little bit mistreated.

Overall, judging by her face alone, I'd put her around 30 or so years.

Sadly, her body wasn't as developed as Bea's. Her breasts weren't big, and they seemed to sag a little. Good hips though.

Strangely... aside from her face, the rest of her body seemed a bit younger...

And as for skills, she had...

[Potion Potency Up], [Poison Resistance], [Herb Collection], [Appraisal], and [Gardening]... so... her Gift should have something to do with... plants and potions... maybe medicine too...

I'm not sure what the Gift itself does, but I'm pretty confident she's either an alchemist or an herbalist.

Her reaction aligned a bit more with what I would've expected. She was anxious, but trying to play it cool.

And last but not least...

Another proper woman. No doubt about it.

Hip size, chest size, ass... everything was there the way our creator intended.

She was also tall and could compete with Bea's body in every department.

Her face even looked a bit younger than the last woman's, I'd say she had just entered her thirties, so perhaps just a little bit older than Bea too.

As for her Gift, once again, I had no clue. Her only skills were [Reading Speed Up] and [Faster Calculations].

I think that quite a high number of them aren't fighters, but this is actually a good thing since I plan on putting a little bit more emphasis on increasing the number of [Citizens] rather than their individual power for a while.

So, having Gifts that help in other areas, or at least people I can easily excuse not taking to the dungeon, can be as much of a help as a strong fighter or someone with good synergy with [Gacha Kingdom Building].

Still, with or without fighting abilities, I have to be careful and not overstretch too much.

They might not be a direct threat, but nothing impedes them from offering support to fighters if I decide on summoning a new batch too soon.

And in the worst-case scenario, even if I have the better fighters, depending on what type of support they can offer, they might tip the scale.

Anyway, it's not like I could refrain from taking this step, all I could was try to be sure that everything worked out one way or another.

I want to have at least 30 [Citizens] so that I can give [Special Roles] to everyone in my family, and while this batch is not enough to even reach 20, I have a plan to quickly get there from here.

I might be able to reach the 30 mark without making new summons, but in case it's not possible, after establishing some trust with these girls, the next round of companions should hit the mark.

Miwen: "I understand that this may be strange for you. But I assure you we mean you no harm, some of the girls with me here today have also gone through the same situation and as you can see, they are completely fine..."

I'm not too good with this part... I know that everyone here has faced death before, and just imagining what circumstances might've led them to it makes me anxious. Even more so considering that they are all fairly young, even the ones that look to be around thirty.

On Earth, most people aren't worried about their deaths at this age. They are making plans for the future and-

I suddenly noticed that one of the girls had disappeared.

The cat was gone in the blink of an eye, and in the next, she jumped from... my shadow. Her hand was coming straight for my neck.

Before she could reach it though...

My cute little pet was a bit quicker than this stray.

Mia grabbed her arm, and pressed her against the wall, an altercation that made quite a loud noise.

This made most of the girls understandably worried.

I was trying to show them sympathy and reassure them of their safety but... this made things a little harder.

With the new circumstances in place, I decided to alter my approach a little bit.

Mia: "You so much as dip a toe into a shadow, and I'll break both of your arms."

Elizabeth: "Feisty. For your own good, I trust no one else had the same idea?"

Miwen: "...As I was saying... we will, however, protect ourselves. So to ensure everyone's safety, I would highly recommend listening until the end before doing anything rash. Mia, if you will."

Mia brought the catgirl back to the place she was before. This time though, she maintained a tight grip on her arms to make sure that she wasn't going to move.

It was a bit more chaotic than what I wanted, but at least it set a good example for the others, and they quietly listened to everything that I had to say.