Gacha Harem System

Melody reached forward and picked up the deeds Baldwin had left on the table, flipping through them one by one.

Her eyes moved across the pages, pausing on certain details before moving to the next page.

"These are legitimate," she said quietly, more to herself than the others. "She’s really giving us shops collectively worth a hundred million gold coins. All we need to do is sit back and collect rent, which should be a few tens of millions annually."

Akira leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. "Isn’t this exactly what we were already looking for?"

Lukas looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"We were already planning to build a foundation," Akira said. "We wanted to build businesses, make money, and create something solid to stand on as we climb higher."

"We talked about buying into existing ventures instead of starting from nothing." She nodded to the deeds in Melody’s hands.

"Morgana is handing us a starting point and asking for a partnership in return. And she’s not a stranger. We already know who she is and how she operates. Why not seize this chance? Something this good might not come by a second time."

Lukas was quiet for a few seconds.

"Better the devil you know," he finally said, "than the angel you don’t."

"Exactly," Akira said.

"But." Lukas set his hands flat on the table. "Partnering with Morgana means we become tied to her position. From the gossip we heard from the others on the mission two days ago, the Le Fay family isn’t unified."

"Her siblings are all competing for the City Lord seat, and if we’re seen as Morgana’s people, that makes us targets for whoever is working against her."

Melody lowered the deeds. "That’s a real concern. But think about what Morgana actually wants."

"If she’s genuinely focused on climbing the tower and reaching the wish, she won’t want to be dragged down into family conflicts any more than we would. Her eyes are pointed upwards, not sideways."

"Which means she’d want to resolve those conflicts quickly rather than let them drag on," Lukas said, nodding slowly.

"Right," Melody said. "She needs to move, same as us."

Lukas exhaled. "I think we should support the partnership."

He looked between them both. "We don’t know how things work on the floors above us. What we do know is that everyone is chasing the same wish at the top, which means every faction is trying to climb faster than the others, and trying to stop everyone else from doing the same."

"And that means we can be sure that this conflict isn’t just between factions either. There could be people within the same faction working against each other. People who would see us climbing and decide we’re a problem worth removing."

"But with Morgana beside us," Melody said, "we’d have more power on our side than if we’re standing alone. Having an edge, no matter how big or small might just be the difference between life and death."

"It won’t be a smooth road regardless," Lukas said. "But it would be less dangerous than climbing without any backing at all."

Akira unfolded her arms and placed her hands on the table. "While I’m all for the partnership, I don’t think we should walk immediately march to Lotus Hall tomorrow with an answer."

"This is the kind of decision that deserves more than one morning’s conversation." She looked at Lukas, then Melody. "We’ll take a few days and think through every angle. Then we’ll decide."

Lukas considered that.

"You’re right," he said.

Melody set the deeds down gently. "Agreed. A few days won’t change anything, and rushing into this would be foolish."

The three of them sat there for a moment, thinking about the offer Baldwin had left behind.

Then Lukas pushed his chair back and stood.

"Breakfast is getting cold," he said. "Let’s eat."

He headed back to the kitchen, turning the heat on low and working through each dish quickly, warming up everything without letting it dry out.

When it was ready, he plated it and carried it through to the dining room.

They settled in and began eating.

Akira spoke as she ate, finally remembered one of the things she’d thought of last night. "I need a few more components."

Lukas looked up. "For what?"

"I’m ready to start building my first [Mechanical Companion]." She grinned. "I have most of what I need already. I just need a few more specific parts and I can begin the actual assembly."

Melody straightened slightly. "What role are you building it for?"

"That’s what I’ve been thinking about," Akira said. "We don’t have a problem with offense. Between the three of us, we hit hard enough. And we each have our own defenses covered individually."

"But our defense as a unit doesn’t match how hard we can attack. If we encounter something capable of hitting harder than we can, we’d be more exposed than I’d like."

"So a defense configuration?" Lukas asked.

"Not purely," Akira said. "I want something between defense and utility. Something that can absorb pressure when we need it to, but also contribute in other ways rather than just standing there and taking hits."

"I haven’t locked down the specific details yet. I’ll finalize everything before we go shopping so I know exactly what to ask for."

Lukas nodded. "We’ll make it work. Just don’t drain everything we have on the first prototype."

Akira gave him a look. "It’s a prototype. I’m not expecting everything to be perfect on the first try. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the costs reasonable."

"Good," Lukas said.

"Probably," Akira added.

Lukas pointed his fork at her.

"Probably," she repeated, and returned to her food.

Lukas chuckled but let it go.

They continued eating in a comfortable silence, with only the sounds of their utensils filling the air.

When they were done, Melody stood without being asked, stacking all the plates together and carrying it to the kitchen.

The sound of running water followed shortly after.

By the time she came back out drying her hands, Lukas had already moved to the living room.

"Come sit," he said.

Melody dropped onto the couch, while Akira took the chair across from him.

"We still have a decision to make," Lukas said.

"What do you mean?" Akira asked, a frown on her face.

"We’ve spent enough time in the Red Desert." Lukas smiled. "It’s time to move to a new location."

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