She's not even here yet, and she's already doing this. It's crazy.
- It worked,' I said.
- That's wonderful, Master! - Yumeko clapped her hands together, smiling sweetly. - From now on, you'll be able to get the best rewards with Yumeko's help and win even where it seems impossible.
- Mm... uh-huh, but can I ask you one question? How did you come up with that?
- It's quite simple, Master! The answers lay in your capabilities and the details of the System. For example, did you ever think that you could activate the System with your mind, but still spin the gacha with your hand?
- Well... not really. Those things are pretty common, so I didn't think much about them.
Yumeko raised her finger importantly and puffed up her cheeks, leaning slightly towards me.
- Master! You should be more attentive to little things like this. The secret to controlling the System is that the key thing that allows you to interact with it is your will, not your actions. This can be guessed at just by remembering that you can summon a window with your mind. You don't need your hands for that, do you?
- That makes sense,' I nodded, looking at my hand, 'but I'm twisting the gacha with my own hand. I think I get it... interesting, I really hadn't thought of that.
- Yes, that's right,' Yumeko raised her finger again, 'that's why when we tried to spin the gachu with your hand we failed. My luck is not a part of your will, so when I tried spinning the gacha with your hand we failed.
- But when I subdued you... and asked you to spin the gacha with my hand, those two actions became part of my will, right? - I smiled excitedly, realising the full extent of the trick.
- In the moment of submission, I became completely yours, became part of your will. And when you ordered me to spin the gacha for you, my luck became part of your powers,' Yumeko smiled sweetly, putting her fingers together.
- You're a genius! Though I still can't believe it actually worked,' I laughed.
After receiving the awards, I immediately handed Yumeko her uniform, which she dressed up in and now looked more like herself. Her stats went up by 15% and I was able to exhale quite a bit.
After that, I had the rest of the items to deal with, but it was a bit of a mess right now.
After these frantic twists and turns, I decided to take a break for food, and the girls and I sat down at the table where Esdes' hands had prepared venison and rabbit.
- Now that Yumeko's creation is over, we can finally get down to business,' I said excitedly, shovelling the succulent rabbit into my mouth.
- Master, may I ask why you look so worried? - Yumeko asked casually, catching me off guard.
- Concerned? I don't know. I'm just a little tired, I guess.
- Um... perhaps there's something I don't know and I should help you with something?
- Quite possibly,' he immediately realised what she was getting at, and nodded thoughtfully.
Yumeko seemed to see something in my gaze and general demeanour. Just like that? I just met her.
It seemed to be one of her lauded skills, 'Insight of Genius', which allowed her to notice the smallest details in people's behaviour.
After waiting for Esdes to finish preparing the last dish, I began to tell Yumeko our current situation, and watched her reaction with interest. As it turned out, Yumeko didn't bat an eyebrow when I told her what Esdes and I had done. I told her about the brutal killing of the kobolds, our failed plan to get gold, and the current problems with the bandits that needed to be resolved for the good of future relations with the Alliance.
Yumeko listened to me with a look as if I were telling her an ordinary life story. She continued to eat her meat with her fork. She smiled sweetly, looked at me like some pretty flower with the look of a kind girl, and almost didn't move.
She hardly reacted to Esdes, just as Esdes hardly reacted to the unusual behaviour of the new homunculus on our team.
I even had the impression that there couldn't have been a misunderstanding between the homunculi? Maybe the System was simplifying their behaviour and all that.
- I see. I have a rough understanding of the current situation. You did a good job, Master, but you lost a lot of money to create me,' Yumeko placed a hand on her chest gratefully, 'let me interfere a little with your magnificent plans and make up for all the damage.
- Oh, come on... no need to,' I waved my hand, 'I don't regret spending the gold to create you in the slightest. And actually... talking about this is a little awkward. Even though you were created by me, I see you as equals and I want to respect your wishes. I hope I'm not embarrassing you by speaking like this.
- Not at all.
- Not at all,' they both replied almost in sync.
Only Yumeko stood up abruptly from the table and continued:
- And yet you have spent so much money and effort to create us. In the current situation, I cannot stand by and accept that my beloved Master is not getting the reward he deserves for his labours. And so I ask you to allow me, Yumeko Jabami,' she put her hand to her chest in a respectful pose, 'to compensate you for your expenses. I will earn you ten times the amount you spent on our creation... in one month.
- Ten times? - Esdes asked, grinning, -that's a pretty high bar for a delicate girl like you, don't you think?
- More than low,' Yumeko smiled confidently, glaring defiantly at her "sister".
And that's when I first felt the... hot atmosphere in the air.
I had naively assumed that this wouldn't happen, but... looking at the situation now, I realised that I wasn't in the warm company of two beautiful girls. No, I was between two women who could easily be called monsters.
- Esdes, what do you think? - I said, than made the two predators look at me already... with a more gentle look.
Ugh... am I sure I'm the master here?
- As much as I don't want to doubt this girl's ability, I still can't deny the fact that I see her as an incredible talent,' Esdes admitted honestly, though I could sense her displeasure. - I suggest you listen to her, Master, and then decide whether to listen to her or not.
- Well... in that case, Yumeko, tell me your plan.
As strange as it sounds, it was about a plan I didn't think I'd be returning to anytime soon. Yumeko suggested using the gold mine that Esdes and I had been to recently.
- Using kobolds, huh? That's an interesting plan I once thought of, but even so it's pretty complicated. For one thing, we don't know how to negotiate with them to make a connection. They are still non-humans, and god knows how they might behave in the next moment. Suppose we make a deal with one, but then what? They might betray us and tell our plans to the brigands they made a deal with. Then not only will we reveal ourselves, but we will be under attack. Secondly, even if we force the kobolds to work for us, we will inevitably attract the attention of the Alliance. And I wouldn't want to deal with the Stormgrad authorities just yet, because none of us can predict their reaction to interfering with the mine.
- Even if we succeed, we will not only have to keep an eye on the kobolds, but also to protect the kobolds from possible invasion by brigands and unwanted attention from the Alliance,' Esdes added, folding her arms across her chest. - In the first case, we will show ourselves and set ourselves up for the brigands' attack. In the second case, if the Alliance people get in our way, we'll either have to explain to them why we're taking their gold and working with the kobolds, or we'll have to get rid of them.
- That's out of the question,' I said, 'even if there is the tiniest chance that we could turn the Kingdom of Stormgrad against us, it's not a worthless idea. I don't want to cast even the shadow of a reputation on a relationship I haven't even begun to form. Besides, the Alliance is now our Kingdom, which I want to protect and co-exist with. Any enmity with them is ruled out.
Not that I care much about the humans, but I've always sympathised with the Alliance. It's very full of good and decent individuals that you want to follow and support. I'm not even talking about power yet, but I'd like to be one of the loyal swords of the Alliance.
In any case, putting sticks in the wheels of my own faction is not an option. It would be tantamount to shooting myself in the knee, because I can't cope with all the horrors of Azeroth alone. No way, I don't even want to try to tear for alone - I'm not crazy.
Against the Dark Gods and demons? Brrr... they're nasty, and powerful. I don't even know how fate's gonna play out next. And there's no point in going it alone if the locals want to do it themselves. I'll just help, cos there's no choice. But never against the Alliance. It's not worth an egg.
We have enough enemies in the future against whom even time magic doesn't work well. I don't want to make it harder on myself and others early in the story.
My reputation with the Alliance must remain untarnished.
However, Yumeko's calm smile did not disappear from her face, no matter how much I poured arguments. And I wondered what was behind her extraordinary confidence.
- Suppose we could get the kobolds to work for us. How much could we gain by taking control of an entire mine?
I've been wondering about that question ever since I first conceived that plan to infiltrate the kobolds.
A mine was a great influx of money, but it could enrich me, but it required labourers to extract the gold and ore discreetly. Plus it would inevitably attract the attention of the Alliance and the Brotherhood of Justice.
Any way you look at it, the plan has too many flaws that cannot be overcome by just a good plan.
- I realise that Master had a bad experience, but I assure you that we can use this mine and earn so much gold that we won't need it for a long time,' Yumeko said confidently, her scarlet eyes glittering. She put the fingers of her hand to her chest in a polite bow,' I'm willing to tell you everything in outline, but in order to think of a more promising strategy, I need you to believe me and do what I want.
- It's very risky, lass. We have to get better reasons than just your promises,' Esdes said.
- In this case, you will have them after the first stages of my plan. If you are not convinced after that, then I will obediently abandon my plan,' Yumeko bowed her head obediently.
And here I was stuck in heavy thoughts. I was a little tense at how quickly things were moving with Yumeko's appearance.
I was used to taking things slowly and being very careful, but on the other hand, we were running out of money and we couldn't continue like this. Maybe that was why I subconsciously decided to take the risk of creating Yumeko at the expense of gold?
- Hmm... hell, I think we should take that risk,' I suddenly agreed.
Suddenly I realised that none of the girls were trying to talk me out of it.
Looking up at the calm Esdes, who was smiling, and at Yumeko, whose smile was barely visible because of the tilt of her head, I laughed at my own thoughts.
So they were always ready for any move, huh? Or no, they knew it was inevitably the right decision. Phew...so I didn't fool their expectations, huh?
It's hard with these two smart heads on the pair....
Somehow looking at them gave me a lot of confidence and I finally made up my mind.
- What's your plan all together, Yumeko?
With a mysterious silence, Yumeko slowly straightened up and smiled sweetly, crossing her fingers together.
- In fact, Master, I haven't quite figured it out myself yet....
... What?!
- Yumeko... you do realise how wrong it sounds, right? - I asked.
- More than I do, but I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go along,' the girl said with a confident open palm and a predatory grin that had no shadow of doubt in it. Just a challenge and an incredibly strong confidence in her abilities.
Feeling the heat emanating from her ambition, I involuntarily smiled and swallowed my saliva.
- Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! - I laughed and bowed my head, 'I've never met such eccentric and crazy people before.
- So your verdict, Master? - Yumeko Jabami asked with a devilish grin, as if pushing me to do something I would regret later.
- We'll do it, but only because I'm tired of feeling like a pathetic patient. Show me what you're really capable of, Yumeko Jabami. Justify your name.
- By your will... I will make you the King of this world.
(Just in case I clarify that Yumeko is using a play on words peculiar to the Japanese, and is referring to his position as a player on the world stage. It's a schoolboy-style speech with a touch of expression and humour. Although in fact Yumeko is a talented pretender who turns words into jokes, her actions often go against her jocularity and show a cold-blooded and cruel disposition on the contrary. In other words, he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Never trust her)
The first thing we did was head into the Alvin Forest as morning came. I opened the portals letting the girls come out first, heading out after them.
Our first step in Yumeko's plan was to find the Justice Brotherhood bandits who had broken away from the bandits.
It took a while to find them, as the forest was too vast, but we took our time, scrutinising the surrounding area for possible activity. We studied the rumours that were going around in and around Golden Earth, never heading for Stormgrad to avoid any possible complications.
- 'The Master is absolutely right here,' Yumeko said over lunch one day.
At some point we finally came upon groups of brigands. As I stood on the hill paired with Yumeko, I saw a small group of men wearing red bandages on their faces. They were heading towards an abandoned tower near the Alliance post, but they were the only ones we were interested in right now.
- The first thing we need to do is get information,' Yumeko said, her arms crossed over her chest and her chin resting on her chin. Her gaze wandered over the men as she turned to Esdes, 'Which one do you think would be best?
- The one on the right,' Esdes pointed out with a slight wistfulness.
Yumeko clapped her hands together.
- In that case, I'm relying on you, sister.
Esdes silently leapt down the hill and jumped in front of the gathered men of the Justice Brotherhood, unsheathing her long rapier with a slight movement of her hand. The bandits immediately drew their daggers and swords, glaring at the blue-haired girl.
- Huh, just some girl? What are you doing here, cutie? Do you want to play? - grinned one of them, pulling up a red bandana where the scar had been.
- You're nothing but pathetic trash that should be taught manners.
The bandit stood three abreast, and the two heads on either side flew off their necks as quickly as they blinked. The last surviving man froze in horror, and when he screamed, he had already been knocked out with a kick to the stomach.
Esdes glared at the surviving man, taking his fingers in her hair, and raised a sharp look to Yumeko, who nodded smilingly at her.
Trying not to give the appearance that their brutal ways made me a little uncomfortable, I continued to watch them from the sidelines and waited for Yumeko to explain to me what was going on.
Yes, the brigands were human, but it was probably easier to get rid of them than to control them. Especially since I wasn't connected to the Stormgod authorities enough to throw them in jail yet. I think the girls knew that, and that's why they got rid of the eyewitnesses without delay.
In principle, I guessed why they left one of them alive, to beat the information out of him. But why? I was left guessing. To me, the mine plan had too many problems to solve.
And I was eerily curious to see how Yumeko Jabami would cut through every obstacle in front of her to inevitably achieve her goal. Even if it seemed impossible.
After getting rid of the murder trail, Esdes and Yumeko took me to a small backwoods area. Esdes then threw the unconscious bandit to the ground and kicked him in the stomach to wake him up.
- Master, you can sit here for now and watch everything from the front row, - Yuemko opened her palm on the log, where she soon sat down herself, as if demonstrating that it was very comfortable.
Nodding, I silently sat down and folded my arms across my chest as the bandit woke up.
- Good afternoon, Mr Bandit,' Yumeko said sweetly, squatting down in front of him so that her skirt was slightly up and you could see what was underneath.
But it didn't bother her at all, and she smiled sweetly with her hands on her cheeks.
At the sight of such a picture the brigand was frightened of something and backed away... Ah, now I see, he felt the insanely frightening presence of Esdes, who was watching him.
- Please don't kill me!