Chapter 148: Bastions On Earth (02)

The shooting range of the property is pretty wide, and it has a variety of guns, everything from pistols to rifles.

It's surprisingly safe for us to handle even the ones with a higher caliber since we can easily tank them due to our high levels.

Even those who haven't focused on defense, or someone like Cassandra who doesn't enjoy such a high level, or a naturally tough body like Angelica's, would only feel a bit of pain, but the bullets shouldn't penetrate her skin.

When it comes to aiming, no one in our group could compare with Ellie, and even though she was still learning about the gun's recoil, even Sam's dad and grandpa were impressed by her performance.

Since Ellie's aim is so good, she could focus on learning the mechanisms and intricacies of a gun, so it was expected that she was going to have an easy time with it.

However, the one who truly surprised me was Bea.

I doubt she's able to use a bow since it requires quite a lot of coordination and practice, but she was doing a great job even with the rifles.

She was always precise with her magic, even when she needed to cast at longer ranges. It was a mistake on my part to not notice that she has quite a good aim too.

it didn't take long for her to get overconfident about it though, and she ended up challenging me.

Sadly for her, she challenged someone whose aim was good enough to impress Ellie.

Even though she did well, it wasn't enough for her to win, so I took the prize of "asking for anything of the loser".

which was immediately taken away from me.

Bea complained to Ellie, who came to challenge me in her stead, and well... Even though I did my best, she was unparalleled in this field, so it was decided that I would have to follow a request of theirs.

As for the other girls, they were a mixbag. Licia and Anna were doing a good job, while Claire and Mia were struggling a lot. Both Cassandra and Angelica were average for a beginner.

Even the ones having a hard time getting the hang of it seemed to be having fun, so I left them to their own devices and went to talk with Roy and Sam.

I started telling them about my Gift.

Not the fake one I came up with when we first met, but [Gacha Kingdom Building].

I explained to them all the functions I had already discovered and used, as well as the possibility for new things to pop up due to the changing nature of my Gift.

I told them about my true relationship with Licia and Claire, and where they came from, as well as the others.

And I also offered them to come see the Kingdom for themselves. There was a lot for them to take in at once, but I wanted to be as honest as possible.

There were still a few people inside the Kingdom, but the first to notice us came from the walls. The Valkyries keep watch of everything both in the inside and outside areas, so they came to greet the guests when they noticed they were accompanying me.

After that I quickly showed them the residential area where the houses are; I introduced them to Agatha, Mei, and Olivia, and then Lana and Gabriella appeared and introduced themselves.

After that, I showed them the Quest Center and the fields that Lily was taking care of.

I refrained from taking them to the mines or the forest since the little that there is to see there is not worth the danger they represent.

After showing them the view from above the walls, we went back to Earth.

Miwen: "...You can stop being ]Citizens] now if you want to, but as I've said, it would be a huge help if you stayed."

It was a little unfair of me to ask them this. To make up for my lie, I tried to be as honest as possible this time, so I exposed everything when explaining things to them.

The benefits and the risks of being a citizen, as well as my ability to force [Orders] onto others, stripping them of their rights by using the [Special Roles], or just locking them inside the Kingdom by refusing to give them access back to Earth.

Even though I didn't have any desire to do something like that, I wanted their decision to be as informed as possible, so I didn't hide anything.

After all... Even if there were benefits to them, it didn't change the fact that this was all an attempt of mine to make use of them.

Even though I already knew that Roy was an upstanding and trustworthy guy due to the incident with Derek, I still refrained from telling him about my Gift since any benefit I could get from it wouldn't make up for the risk of getting my abilities exposed.

But the situation changed ever since the AOTG incident. I needed more [Citizens] to acquire more [Special Roles] and better protect my family.

Roy: "Oh, before I forget. I got Erika to meet with you in the Dungeon tomorrow, but can your Gift do something about the Dungeon being blocked?"

Miwen: "I'm not sure. But I know someone who can pass through barriers easily. It's a bit expensive, but he is reliable. Kinda. More importantly, you should worry about yourselves instead of worrying about me. With the AOTG revolution, the Dungeons connecting to other worlds, and this Divine Event, conflict seems to be brewing everywhere.

If you need a place to hide, the Kingdom's doors will always be open."

The world is already in a struggle.

The old ways and systems are doing their best to adapt and maintain themselves, while the desire for change has already sparked ideas of grandeur in those who now hold power to confront the establishment.

With external threats and pressure increasing, if the governments of the world show weakness, the fire of revolution will be sure to spread.

In which case, it will be a long time before any sense of normalcy returns, if it ever does, as whatever comes of it will become the new normal.

Whoever wins, people like Roy and Sam, who currently lack the power to guarantee their own safety are sure to suffer.

Since they are so willing to offer me a hand, it's only fair that I do the same for them.

At least I thought that offering free entrance to the Kingdom would help dispel whatever worries they might be feeling toward the recent events, but... Sam was more interested in coming to visit the Kingdom to talk and gossip with Licia and Claire, while Roy asked for a [Special Role] when I have one free so that he doesn't have to pay rent anymore.

As such, we spent almost all day just goofing around.

Sadly, I couldn't stay too long since I had other plans today, and well... I could tell that Sam was dying for some alone time with Roy.

Thus, I sent the girls back to the Kingdom and went to my next destination.

A small farm a little away from where we were before. A bit of a trip from home, so I took Licia and Claire along on the ride, just so that they could enjoy the scenery.

When we reached the place, I talked to the owner and bought a few cows, as well as a few hens.

I was satisfied with the chickens, but I ended up with just five cows and two bulls due to how expensive they were.

It was alright though since my parents were paying for the bill.

They offered to pay for the girls' expenses and whatever I might need for the Kingdom once they made the connection that they were paying for Maya's allowance and the previous house rent even though Maya wasn't around and I had moved to a smaller home.

I didn't feel bad about it though. I just didn't have any chance to tell them about everything that had changed since the last time they came to visit.

And well... money is not much of a problem for them.

While not the same as the most flashy and famous top-rankers, those guys still have a reputation and make good money through sponsorships and videos.

Not to mention, as top-rankers, they sell to the government the Crystals found in the deepest floors. Mining them is not that good for anyone who's not a high-ranker since their price drops quite a lot, but for them is a pretty nice source of income.

They still spend quite a bit on equipment and supplies, but I kept that in mind and didn't go overboard.

Claire: "That's all good but... how are we going to get them to the Kingdom?"

Miwen: "Carrier pigeon."

Angelica: "...Hm? Wait... you're not serious are you?"

Miwen: "Careful not to bite."

Angelica's dragon form is big enough to accommodate them in her mouth, so we used that to take these animals to the Kingdom.

The farmer was understandably worried, but I had Claire do a test drive to prove that it was safe.

And after we did the same with the animals, I took a photo of them inside the Kingdom to prove that it was safe.

I ended up lying and saying that the dragon girl had a unique teleportation Gift, but she could only teleport other beings if they were inside her body.

It was surprisingly easier to come up with this excuse than to explain what was really going on.

After that, we went back home since it was a long journey. This time I took Ellie and Bea with me since they seemed like they wanted to enjoy a small trip too.