Gacha Harem System

"It generates no heat, burns nothing it touches, and cannot leave the top of the torch. You could press it against dry leaves and nothing would happen."

The attendant held out the torch slightly so they could see the light it threw across the surrounding shelves.

"The brightness was carefully engineered to be strong enough to illuminate your surroundings properly, but low enough that reflective surfaces won’t throw the light back into your eyes at full intensity."

"So, in a reflective environment, that balance is the difference between seeing clearly and blinding yourself with your own light source."

Akira leaned in, studying the flame closely, watching the way it moved.

"The only real drawback," the attendant continued, "is the obvious one. It occupies a hand. Whatever you’re doing down in whatever dungeon you’re in, you’re going to be doing it with one hand short."

"Either that, or you’re mounting the torch somewhere and staying near it."

Lukas frowned slightly. That was going to be an inconvenience. They wouldn’t really want to be in a position where they’d be one hand short in the middle of a life or death battle.

"However," the man said, and his tone shifted, the way a merchant’s did when the actual pitch was about to arrive, "there is an alternative."

"What is it?" Akira asked, her eyes still on the torch.

The attendant grinned.

"It’s called the sun ball."

The man turned to the shelves opposite and reached up, retrieving something with the care of a man handling glass.

He turned back and held it out for them to see.

It was a smooth, perfectly circular ball, looking milky white in color, its surface unbroken by any seam or fitting. It sat in his palm looking almost too simple to be anything special.

He let them stare at it for a moment before continuing.

"The core difference is this. The sun ball has been enchanted to float. Once activated, it hovers in the air on its own, which means your hands stay free." He glanced meaningfully at their hands. "Both of them."

"How does it activate?" Melody asked.

"It uses mana, same as the torch. But there’s an additional step." He turned the ball slightly in his palm.

"The sun ball requires a single drop of blood to bond with its wielder. Once bonded, the connection is set. This way, you can control its flight directly, and it will hover beside you, above you, ahead of you, wherever you direct it, moving as you move."

"So we get full control," Akira said slowly.

"Yes," the attendant confirmed. "Including its output. You can raise the brightness in an instant, bright enough to blind or stun an enemy who’s looking at it. You can also dim it."

"You can extinguish it entirely in the middle of a fight and reignite it a moment later." He smiled. "By buying the sun ball, you get a light that obeys you completely."

Lukas exchanged a look with Melody and Akira. None of them said anything, but none of them needed to. They could already imagine the possibilities of what they could do with the light.

"How much?" Lukas asked.

The attendant gestured politely to the price tag on the edge of the shelf.

Akira leaned over, read it, and whistled.

Lukas stared at the number, blinking like that would change what he was looking at. "That’s the actual price?"

"It is," the attendant said, entirely unbothered. "The sun ball is expensive. I won’t pretend otherwise. But it’s worth its weight in gold and then some. It performs every function I described exactly as promised, for years, without degradation."

He watched their faces for a moment, then added smoothly, "Of course, the torch remains an excellent option at a fraction of the cost. Some parties buy one sun ball and supplement it with torches."

Lukas turned to look at the torch, still sitting on the shelf where the attendant had set it down, its artificial flame extinguished.

Then he looked back at the sun ball.

He shook his head slowly, a small smile forming.

The torch had been introduced first on purpose. It had been presented well and demonstrated thoroughly, its one weakness laid out plainly.

And then the sun ball had walked in behind it and made the torch look like a candle stub.

The man had deliberately shown them the comparison, and it had worked exactly as intended.

Well played.

Akira leaned towards him and Melody, dropping her voice.

"Given enough time, I could probably build a version of this myself," she said quietly. "The floating enchantment is the hard part, but the rest is achievable. We’d just have to make do until then."

Lukas exhaled through his nose.

"Someday," he said. "But we’re going down there tomorrow."

He turned back to the attendant.

"We’ll take two each. Six in total."

A wide grin appeared on the man’s face.

"Excellent choice. Give me just a moment."

He moved towards the counter to process the transaction.

***

Sol shoved through the door of his apartment, his teeth grinding against each other.

He tore at the tie around his neck, loosening it with irritated pulls before yanking it free entirely and tossing it over the back of a chair.

He walked across the room and dropped onto the couch with enough force to shift it slightly against the floor.

His servant materialized from the side room within seconds, standing at a respectful distance with his hands folded.

"Young Master."

"Why," Sol said, staring at the ceiling, "is he still not back on the Second Floor?"

The servant hesitated for only a moment. "Valentine and his wives appear to be making preparations, young master

You were there when they visited the Le Fay pavilion this morning and purchased weapons. Bludgeoning weapons, specifically. Then they proceeded to the Golden Emporium."

He paused. "The pattern suggests they’re outfitting for a specific environment. Most likely a new dungeon. It’s only a matter of time before they—"

"Time." Sol sat up. "Time is what I keep giving them. They’re shopping, banking, heading to parties, and buying cars."

He pushed off the couch and began pacing. "I have been sitting in this city watching that man run errands for days. I did not come here to watch him pick out the best tool for cracking nuts."

"Young master, they will return to the Second Floor soon. All indications—"

"Then make it sooner." Sol rounded on him. "Find a way. Push them. Get Valentine and his wives to the Second Floor."

The servant’s expression changed slightly. "Young master, any direct interference carries risk. If we create pressure to move them, and it’s traced back to us, we’ll expose ourselves to Valentine. And through him, potentially to the authorities. The Le Fay family already has eyes on the Brotherhood’s presence in this city. If we—"

"I don’t care."

Silence filled the room.

Sol stepped closer, his voice dropping into something quieter and far worse than shouting.

"Two days," he said. "You have two days to put that man on the Second Floor. I don’t care how, and I don’t care what it costs or who you have to squeeze to get it done."

He leaned in slightly. "And if you fail, I will make every one of you wish your mothers had never carried you."

The servant bowed his head. "Understood, young master."

"Get out."

The servant withdrew without another word, the door closing softly behind him.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!