Gacha Kingdom Building

As warm sunlight streamed into the tent where the beastgirls and I slept, the shadow of a woman with long, sharp ears crept in.

Upon hearing her words, Fenya and Kiki jolted from under the blanket. The two stood on all fours, palms against the ground, backs arched and hips raised high.

It only took Mia a second to catch up and stand between them, her back bent forward and her arms spread wide. The only reason she took that long was that she had to fix her clothes after lovingly and forcefully taking me out of her.

While my son ached from the sudden movement, I caught a glimpse of the woman standing near the tent’s opening.

Her face was familiar.

I knew Mia wouldn’t attack without provocation, but Kiki and Fenya were a different story. After taking a second to admire the three cute butts lined up in front of me, I grabbed all three by the tails and pulled them back.

The beastgirls let out a loud moan in unison before all three fell on my lap, with Mia taking the coveted middle spot at the crotch for herself.

I wrapped my arms around the three, hugging them with gentle love as they howled toward the woman.

Miwen: "...I remember you. You’re the elf who left me on read."

Before Lily became the Kingdom’s farmer, the girls and I found an elf who could regrow an entire forest with her magic, and I considered recruiting her for the position.

But back then, she was helping her tribe violate a treaty by exploiting a loophole that defined their territory as extending only as far as their forest, and one of the tribe’s leaders had treated Ellie badly, so...

Kiara: "Ugh... Just my luck.... You’re the one who kept burning the forest! I was banished because of you!"

The badge on her chest marked her as a Champion, but I hadn’t seen her once during the Divine Banquet.

Since Lazo was the only absent God, she was likely one of his Champions.

In which case...

One of his worlds was connected to Earth.

If Cassandra were to discover that, she’d probably march straight into his territory, emanating a beacon of bloodlust.

I couldn’t let that happen, but perhaps I could cause him a small headache myself...

Mia: "Sorry, Miwen. Her scent is the same as the trees around us."

Kiara’s level was already high when we first met her, and my [Appraisal] told me it increased to the point of matching Mia’s.

She’d definitely used her Gift to regrow the forest since the only other [Green Mage] I knew who could replicate something like that was James. Unless there was more to her Gift than that, the ability to mask her scent was a product of her own magic.

Thanks to Elizabeth, I never confirmed how good of a mage Kiara truly was, but she was better than I gave her credit for.

Miwen: "...Why didn’t you attack us?"

While Mia obediently stayed put, I had to keep a tight leash on Fenya and Kiki.

As I held their shoulders, a long sigh escaped our guest.

Kiara: "...I was looking for help. But forget it. You can take my badge; I know better than to fight you."

With a defeated expression, she extended her hand, her Champion’s badge resting on its palm.

The wind blew her long, blonde hair to the side, enough to hide her face from us.

Once the strands fell back in place, she was still offering her badge, her hands trembling as tears welled up in her eyes.

Mia stared at me with a serene expression, watching what I’d do.

It was hard to pass on the opportunity to get another badge, especially when I knew how troublesome this woman’s powers could be, but...

We had already picked enough on her, and my problems were mostly with the guy who had badmouthed Ellie.

Miwen: "For now, let’s hear what you have to say."

I patted Mia’s head and walked toward Kiara, minding every step so as not to alert her.

Standing before her, I closed her fist, letting her keep the badge.

After the chaotic wake-up, Fenya and Kiki took a few minutes to dress themselves, while the rest of us talked outside over breakfast, courtesy of Mei.

Miwen: "If you want protection, I don’t mind taking your badge and sending you to my Kingdom. As long as you behave."

We sat on tree branches facing each other and used chopped trees as our table.

Lily and Mei had brought toast and coffee, but Kiara kept blowing at the steaming mug without taking a single sip.

Kiara: "That’s not it..."

She shook her head and grabbed the mug, staring deep into it with longing eyes.

Kiara: "I need help to take down one of the participants in this Event. I’ll do anything."

Her expression changed, and a silent second passed us by.

While giving my shoulders a massage, Mia tightened her grip.

Despite being about as far from a gentle massage as one could get, hers still felt great, and I leaned back, enjoying the series of cracks that filled the air.

Miwen: "Well, I just promised my wife that I’d be a good boy, so... Tell me your reason."

She closed her eyes and sipped the coffee.

As the bitterness seemingly spread, her face tensed.

Still, she pushed through and emptied the entire mug despite how hot it was.

Kiara: "...It’ll be easier to show you."

Mia noticed how much that had piqued my interest and smiled from the corner of her mouth.

Since the jaguar girls had finished dressing, we embarked on a short journey through the jungle.

I feared no traps with the three beastgirls surrounding me, but I still asked Kiara a few questions.

Most of the questions were about what happened to her and the elves after our party stopped showing up in that world, and while she seemed hesitant at first, I didn’t have to insist for her to open up.

Kiara: "Our tribe had to concede the Dungeon Gate, and I was to be banished, so that we wouldn’t try that anymore..."

I held a tree branch raised high so she could walk past, and she returned the favor by blossoming a flower beneath our feet.

With the flower as a lifting platform, we skipped climbing up the small hill in our way.

Kiara: "After that, I tried a few odd jobs before settling as an adventurer..."

After almost half an hour, the excruciating heat got Mia dizzy, and we took a short break.

I overheard Kiki confess that she and Fenya had slipped into our tent during the night and that, because of the heat, they took off their clothes and left the tent open, but I let Mia scold them while I focused on Kiara.

Kiara: "I ended up doing well for myself. Ironically, I even formed a party with a human couple and..."

She closed her eyes, and it took her a second to continue.

Kiara: "I met someone I like."

Before we resumed our journey, I sent Lily a message asking for water bottles.

It took her a few seconds to appear before us, and wearing a contagious, proud smile, she brought a jar of freshly squeezed orange juice.

The last few minutes of the journey were only tolerable thanks to the motivation that smile brought us as the temperature kept rising with each passing second.

Still, after almost an hour of walking, we finally arrived somewhere.

White stone ruins stretched past the patch of trees we hid behind.

Instead of houses, timber chopped from nearby trees lay horizontally, supported by the stone pillars as makeshift rooftops.

While interesting by itself, the people in the ruins drew my attention much more.

Kiara: "The man with the eyepatch is Turner. He’s a mercenary."

She whispered, but her breath caught in her throat and she clenched her fists.

The man she pointed to was around my height, but bulkier.

He was ordering a few other Champions with a discontent look on his face. In his hands, he carried a thick book with black leather bindings.

Even with my sight-related skills, the heat and his constant movement made the letters on the cover painfully difficult to read. But even if it were a spellbook, the mana reserve it contained was on par with something Raella would write.

Kiara: "His group is famous in the slave trade, and his last target was..."

She paused to breathe in, and the dirt beneath her feet began turning white and yellow as flowers bloomed without her noticing.

Miwen: "Your woods?"

Her gaze dropped to the ground, and as she nodded, a cold breeze brushed against us.

Kiara: "I thought I was strong enough to stop them, but we lost. He captured my partymates and a dozen elves..."

She sniffled, holding back her emotions.

Kiara: "You must have noticed yesterday’s black rain, right? It was his doing."

While I was distracted by my talk with Mia, I had my mana spread out, and I hadn’t noticed anything strange about the rain other than its color.

Kiara: "I’m pretty sure it’s a tracking skill that can even measure the strength of whoever it comes into contact with. It must be how he got this camp."

Even though we were supposed to pass to the next phase after acquiring eight badges, there were at least 9 Champions in the ruins.

Most of them followed the orders of the man with an eyepatch, but some obeyed the skinnier man standing beside him.

Miwen: "...Is that man from his mercenary group?"

Kiara nodded and told me that the skinny man was called Milo, one of the captains of their mercenary group.

We watched a little longer until finally, Milo interacted with Turner.

Their discussion wasn’t particularly heated, but it left an odd impression on me.

Miwen: "...I wonder if maybe the Gods fucked up?"

Knowing that our divine friends were watching us, I smiled at the air, hoping that one of their cameras would capture it.

Kiara: "What do you mean?"

As I narrowed my eyes, Mia approached from beside me, readying herself for a fight.

However, I had something else in mind.

Miwen: "I’m not sure, but..."

I reached for my pockets and handed Kiki’s badge to Fenya.

Miwen: "This is an order, Fenya. You are to obey my every word. Now... Order Kiki to sit and give her paw."

Since I had Fenya’s badge, she was under my command.

But since Fenya had Kiki’s badge, Kiki was forced to follow her command as well.

It was such a big oversight; I couldn’t tell whether the Gods were stupid, or if they thought this, too, was entertaining.

Kiara: "You think Turner has Milo’s badge? But they are from the same group..."

She tilted her head to the side.

Miwen: "Sure. But that doesn’t mean they are friends, right?"

And even if they were...

100 Champions were participating in the Second Phase of the Divine Event.

Kiki and Fenya taught me exactly how powerful each one was, so if someone were to get every one of them under control, they’d have an army on par with a nation’s.

That was obviously a dangerous, tricky move to pull.

However, I wouldn’t put it past slave traders to place greed above all else.

Miwen: "...Let’s camp somewhere nearby. I want to keep an eye on them."

In the worst-case scenario, I’d be forced to fight all other Champions at once.

The only way I could see that happening was if I brought out Elizabeth and Nissa, our heaviest hitters from the Kingdom.

Nissa wasn’t the most trustworthy, and with so many different Gifts, maybe someone could get a cheeky win on Elizabeth...

It’d be best to mobilize the Snow White Wolves, but the forest’s heat was hellish enough that even Mia seemed to struggle during daytime.

Miwen: "...You said that you wanted to bring him down, but let’s be clear. Do you want to kill him, or do you want his badge?"

She was in luck.

Whether I was right or not about their scheme, it was best to cut it by the root before it could grow into something unpredictable.

Kiara: "I can’t kill him. At least, not until I force him to tell me where he’s keeping my friends."

We found a hill near the ruins that we could use as a base.

I dug a hole into the hill using my [Earth Magic] and split the ground in two, using the elevation to create a small canal that ran down the entrance and would hopefully stop the rain from reaching us inside.

Kiara also used her magic to grow the jungle’s vegetation around the cave’s entrance, hiding it from view.

Inside the cave, Mia and I dressed ourselves in something more appropriate for the climate.

I left the cave wearing a dark green, knee-high bermuda with flower patterns drawn on it and a white tank top with a cool tiger that had the words "If you see me alone... I’m scared and need my wife."

Seeing the girls fail to hold back their chuckles brought a satisfied grin to my face.

Though Mia got her revenge by tying her white shirt up in a knot that left her stomach fully revealed, leaving me gaping.

Miwen: "Alright, Kiara. In exchange for your badge, I’ll give you a hand. You’re free to do whatever you want after the Divine Event is over. Deal?"

She hesitated.

Her eyes drifted to the jaguar girls and Mia, and then back at me.

Kiara: "I still hate you. But I also know you’re way worse than him, so... Please, help me."

We shook hands and spent the afternoon bonding over lunch, snacks, and cold drinks.

It was important to rest as best as we could.

Tomorrow, we’d have a busy day.

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