Gacha Kingdom Building
Chapter 158 - 158: Called Forth

The night I had with Licia and Claire yesterday was intense, which made me want to rest a little bit more.

However, I had a busy day ahead, so I left the room as soon as I woke up.

In the middle of the night, after my fun with the girls had finished, I gave Cassandra the [Queen] role and asked her to keep watch again before giving the role back to Elizabeth, so once I left, she jumped in the middle of the girls.

This was important to me since we now had to worry about the AOTG more than ever, and a night raid could be problematic for us.

Once inside the Kingdom, my first business was to check how Lily was doing.

She has one of the most difficult and important jobs in the Kingdom, and while she does great work, I like to keep my own eye on things.

Also, since she goes to sleep and wakes up incredibly early, I like to keep her company, as two early birds.

Nowadays, she often helps us prepare breakfast in the Kingdom's kitchen since mine is not spacious enough for how much we need to do.

We are not the only ones to wake up so early though.

Mei, who was inside the Kingdom, was already working on things when we came.

Even though there was a lot to be done, she was performing a splendid job. It almost looked like she didn't need help at all, but still, neither Lily nor I could refrain from giving a hand.

Thanks to Licia and Ellie who joined a few minutes later, it didn't take long for us to finish, and right on time too as most of the citizens had already woken up.

We also ended up having an unexpected guest.

First Daughter: "Oh~ Such a nice smell."

Miwen: "...What is up with you higher beings and stealing food?"

Although a welcome guest, I'd certainly like her to notify me before coming, as the plate she ate was meant for Claire, who had yet to come.

Thankfully Mei noticed it without me saying a word and started working on another portion for her.

First Daughter: "It's easy to forego and forget such things when you have no need for them. But once exposed again, we remember that there was more to it than just the need."

I suppose?

If I were to compare it to a situation a human might find themselves in, it would be like-

First Daughter: "Wrong."

Miwen: "...?"

Oh, yeah, she can read my mind.

I thought she was only able to do it from inside the Hotel, but perhaps now that there's a link between it and the Kingdom, her powers have extended here too.

Still, I don't think I'll ever get used to having my own thoughts denied before I can even properly put them into words.

First Daughter: "Humans, and all living beings for that matter, do go through something similar, albeit on a smaller scale. Think about it, how many flavors of your infancy have you forgotten? Wouldn't you be happy to taste them again?"

I see.

It was foolish to try to put it in other terms, There simply was no need.

Miwen: "Then, did you come here for something specific, or did you just want to remember something from your past?"

Hearing my words, the happiness she had faded for a moment.

She regained it almost instantly, but it was still enough for me to notice it.

Somehow, she's never able to fool me well.

First Daughter: "...The Event you're going to select... I'm sorry. I hope that when the time comes, you don't pursue retaliation. I'm willing to offer you a reward, if necessary... if that's... agreeable..."

I was right then...

From the moment I saw this event, I thought there was something going on with it.

Miwen: "I'm very curious as to why you'd lower your head like this, but... we'll talk later."

It wasn't a scene I was comfortable with.

A being capable of wiping me away with a flick of her fingers was asking for mercy.

Well, calling her a "being" is also not nice.

The First Daughter is a cool girl. And our relationship isn't bad.

Certainly, she could do more for me, but... I do understand she has her own circumstances and limitations.

Asking things for a friend left and right is also not good, and she has already given me more than necessary. It seems like she has done everything she can from within her boundaries.

Still, this was one thing I wanted to ask her about just in case.

However, seeing as she came here on her own, there was no need to ask questions anymore.

Once she left, the day proceeded without any major issues, and I later requested everyone to reunite in the area between the houses that is slowly becoming a town hall for us so that I could give them a few instructions.

Elizabeth: "I don't understand why the Infinite Hotel showed herself. Did she do something?"

Miwen: "Not directly. The only thing she did was to reduce the available events that I could choose, and well... I think she did that as a precaution, which seems to not have worked. In the end, the both of us just got tremendously unlucky."

Elizabeth: "Then... why would she apologize?"

Miwen: "...I'm not sure myself. But we'll figure it out."

Whatever it was, I planned on facing it head-on, no matter how strange it might be.

And for that, I had to give a few orders to my subjects, just to make sure nothing was going to go awry.

Miwen: "I might not be able to commit my full attention to the Kingdom for a while. Of course, I expect all of you to behave as much as possible even in my absence. In case there are any problems, Licia is first in command, and Elizabeth is second. If they can't handle it for whatever reason, you can report to me once I'm back."

Like the Infinite Hotel and the Snow White Wolves, this event seemed to indicate that I was going to go somewhere, instead of others coming to me.

And so, it was necessary to establish a hierarchy under me.

Normally, Elizabeth should be second as she is the one with the most experience in these matters as well as the better commander.

However, I valued Licia's good relationship with almost all [Citizens].

She is also the most likely to do things I would, as she understands my position and decisions better than any other.

Having her in charge was the closest to me not leaving at all, and that stability was crucial to give me peace of mind while dealing with whatever this Event had in store.

Miwen: "Also, be mindful of notifications to join me. I'm expecting an immediate response for those."

I did ask everyone beforehand to confirm if they would comply with this, as I cannot risk trying to call a girl only for them to delay the response or not answer at all.

Such a thing could easily put me in a bad spot, and while I don't have to worry about most of them doing it intentionally, it was good to remind them of the importance behind this.

Thankfully, everyone understood the importance and agreed to put this as their highest priority no matter what.

I took the chance to also get a few other things out of the way, and then I finally selected the next event that the Kingdom was going to participate in.

[Summoning! The Darkest Star Tries To Shine Bright

The Dukedom of Evretis is home to a few stars, however, one of them, unlike the others, is unable to shine.

Is it due to its nature, the environment surrounding it, or simply destiny? Did the higher forces create it just for mockery?

Can the answers for those even change its life?

Will answering them make it shine? Or will it die without ever accomplishing a single dream?

While all important questions, there is only one that truly matters.

Will the King answer her prayers?

Good Ending Condition: If The Darkest Star is satisfied before the timer runs out, the event will be deemed a success, and the user will be able to enjoy the rewards, as well as continue the scenario if he so wishes. Other hidden conditions may lead to a good ending.

Bad Ending Condition: If the timer hits zero and The Darkest Star is not happy, the event will end and the user will suffer the consequences. He'll also be forcefully ejected from the scenario. Other hidden conditions may lead to a bad ending.

Time Limit: 80 years.

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: Every Banner used before entering this Event will be unavailable.]

This was the first event to give me clues about what needed to be done in order to reach certain endings.

However, it was also one of the most mysterious in its description.

And yet... I knew what it was about.

I often refer to my sister as the brightest star. And I do believe her to be from the bottom of my heart.

The reason for that is... an incident that happened in our infancy.

Simply said, she lost her confidence for a moment.

It wasn't as if she had lost hope. She would never.

It's just that... her light flickered. She failed for the first time, and that made her lose her balance.

Thankfully, her brother was there to support her.

After that, she only started shining brighter, and I knew that no one could compare to her.

This Event talked a lot about something called The Darkest Star.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but...

It felt like a provocation. Especially the last words.

The description referred to the star as "her".

It said that nothing else besides my answer would matter.

Which means that her destiny will remain unchanged forever if I don't act.

A girl on the brink of losing her dreams. No matter what she does, fate itself might be against her.

A dark star that can't shine as bright as those surrounding it.

Those were all too familiar to me.

Even though this Event made sure to tell me there would be consequences in case of failure, I couldn't refuse it.

It was completely personal, but at the end of the day, it is my Gift, and I am the one who decides how to use it.

Even if it's entirely personal, that's enough reason. Or rather, that's as important as it gets.

And this one... was important for me. I could not avoid the bait.

And so...

The green fields of the Kingdom, as well as the faces of the girls I love so much all disappeared from my sight.

Replacing them was white.

White all around.

White walls.

White furniture.

White floor.

It was nauseating.

However, her pink hair broke the pattern.

Her green eyes were only tarnished by the image of the man reflected in them.

And under my feet, as well as around me, there was a drawing.

If it was a cute one, I'd feel bad about stepping on it, however... This one was made with this exact purpose in mind.

A summoning circle with a star in the middle.

Blood seemed to have been used to draw it.

A person was summoned. A situation I've been in plenty of times, albeit from the other side.

According to my experience, there are two main approaches for the summoned. Either I stay quiet and listen to my summoner, or I jump them.

Unable to decide on which one to take, I imagined both scenarios and ended up unable to hold back my laughter.

This was certainly an action that would've made a summoner afraid, or at least I knew I would be if this happened after using the [Companions Banner].

And yet, the girl in front of me seemed to pay it no mind.

??????: "[Darkest Star]... It only says that I attract catastrophes, bad luck, oddities, and tragedy... as for [Gacha Kingdom Building]... this one says a lot but... Did I get two Gifts at once? This is incredible."

Yes. Incredible is a good word to describe it.

First of all, for her to ignore me to this extent was incredible.

And second...

[Isabella has been registered as a [Citzen].

You have been awarded a new [Special Role] slot.

Isabella has been awarded the [Queen] Special Role.

The previous [Special Role] has been renamed to [Queen (02)]

Would you like to change it?]

I changed it to [Wife] for now, as Elizabeth was the one in its possession.

Sadly I wasn't able to see her reaction to that, but I'm sure the others were going to tell me all about it.

But more urgently...

Isabella: "I can roll in a... gacha? Acquire things with my Kingdom points... uh... oh, citizens?"

This girl was level 1. Our level difference was such that I was able to see her Gifts, and incredibly, she did possess [Gacha Kingdom Building] as her second one.

Miwen: "Ahem. Isn't it a bit cold to not talk to me? You know you have some responsibilities as the one who summoned me, right?"

Isabella: "Can't you see I'm busy reading what my Gift does? I'll deal with you later."

She was being quite rude.

In another context, I suppose I would be the rude one for interrupting someone while they were reading.

However, context matters, and she was clearly being a brat.

Miwen: "You mean my Gift. Don't misunderstand, I-"

Isabella: "Using 1000 Kingdom Points, I order you to shut up! Huh?"

[Orders cannot affect the King].

Oh, so you're on my side now huh?

Lately, it feels like everyone is able to manipulate my Gift but me, its owner.

It started with the Merchant, then the Infinite Hotel, and now this Event that was clearly made to instigate me.

Miwen: "With 10 points I Order you... tell me your name."

Isabella: "Uh..."

Oh... she resisted.

I thought it would've been more effective since she's only level one, but I suppose her role is just below mine.

Sadly I can't change it, but I had my way of dealing with this resistance.

Miwen: "I Order you using 100 points. Tell me your name."

Isabella: "..Ahh! ...Is- Isabella Von Evretis."

...Her first name is the same as the villainess from Claire's game.

I'm not sure about the rest, but Evretis is a familiar word to me, although I couldn't recall if it was also from the game or not.

Still, I decided to first extract some information from her, and then bring Claire so we could discuss, however...

Maid: "My lady, I was going to wait until tea time, but I heard a scream and... Oh my-"

Miwen: "Hah. It's true. You're really good at attracting problems."

And it seemed like now that our lives were linked, I'd be dragged into her affairs too.