Once we were home, I let Licia help me a little with dinner.
I wasn't keen on letting her try the oven just yet, but she handled the rest quite easily.
Thanks to her, we finished dinner slightly earlier today.
While she didn't ask for a reward or anything of the sort, the expectation on her face was unmistakable.
Licia: "About those skills..."
She was really looking forward to it, and while she stopped short of saying what she wanted, she had said enough.
Miwen: "I think it'll be better to wait until I use my Gift. That way you can choose the better ones."
Licia: "That's true... Ah..."
Took her a second to realize I knew exactly where she was going with this.
Miwen: "Also, I think I wanna try something else today, so do you mind giving me a hand?"
Only after I saw her face turning red did I realize I should've picked my words more carefully.
But she didn't give me time to correct myself and leaned against my arm, mumbling her answer.
Licia: "What should I do...?"
She held her head low, staring at the ground.
Occasionally, she'd glance my way, but then she'd quickly avert her gaze.
Miwen: "Let's go to my room."
Licia: "Ah... Sure..."
Once we entered, I sat by the bed and tapped it.
She was a little hesitant, but a second later, she took a seat next to me.
Miwen: "Take a look."
I took out my phone and showed her the chat log of our group.
The first few messages were Roy and Sam asking for her contact info, while the others were mostly praising her.
For some reason, she was much more flustered than I thought she'd be, and as my punishment, she made me read out loud all the compliments they had for her.
After that, she seemed slightly calmer, and I finally got on the main topic.
Miwen: "Licia... How do you feel about this?"
Licia: "Hm?"
It was a heavy-handed question, so of course, she was a little confused, tilting her head slightly to the side.
Miwen: "About me. About this world. Your current life. Is there anything I'm doing wrong? Anything you feel is unfair?"
She squinted her eyes a little.
The gears were turning in her head, though.
After a soft gasp, she seemed to realize where I was going with this.
Licia: "Well, things are pretty strange in this world. It's a bit hard to get used to them... And uh... I don't like lying to others. Also, if I could have it my way, you would use all your points to give me new skills to play with..."
She wasn't looking me in the eye, but I could feel the honesty behind each word.
Even things she didn't like to admit, or things she was too polite to tell me, like asking for skills, she laid bare.
Licia: "But... I think these past few days have been some of the best I've had, and it's all thanks to you. These things are just... small? Or rather... It's fun. Being with you..."
I felt immensely relieved to hear that.
However, I had another difficult question for her.
Miwen: "If you could choose. Would you have liked to-"
Licia: "I would've wanted to be summoned by you. I'd choose it every time."
Without those words, I might not have been able to do what I had planned next.
Just to be sure, I asked her one final question and made one selfish request.
In the end, she accepted everything and even reassured me a little.
Licia: "You can count on me, you know?"
She really was too much sometimes.
Miwen: "You really trust me that much, huh?"
Licia: "Well... You're important to me."
Her smile was the warmest I had ever seen from her.
But a second later, it vanished from her face, as she desperately tried to correct herself.
Licia: "...And you're always taking care of me, so... I want to care for you, and... Uh... You know? That type of thing... But... I mean..."
The more she spoke, the less she made sense, and eventually, she was just mumbling contradictions to herself.
Taking care of her was the minimum I could do after bringing her to this world without anything to her name, so I never realized how much it meant to her.
Still-
Licia: "Ah! And I don't know if my life is tied to your Gift, so I need to protect you. Yeah, that's right! So... We should take care of each other..."
It was funny seeing her try to sound selfish, thinking it was better than the alternative, whatever that may be in her head.
But it also made me feel conflicted.
I wasn't the type to trust others that easily.
Even with Licia, there were a few things about me that I avoided talking about, despite knowing she had no reason or even a way to betray my trust.
Since she also had things about her that she wasn't comfortable talking about, I excused these thoughts as natural, even though I knew it wasn't really comparable.
However, whether because of the unique circumstances between us or her dependency on me, Licia had become one of the few people I trusted.
And to me, that meant doing everything in my power to make her happy.
I felt responsible for her.
And she thought I was being kind.
It wasn't exactly like that.
It's just that this was the only way I knew to protect someone I cared for.
Even if it meant being overbearing.
Despite knowing the problems with this approach, I missed this feeling.
It had been a long time since anyone thought of me as a good person.
And I wanted to do more for her.
Much more.
So, I started with the simple stuff.
Out of the four gacha tickets I received today, I used three on the [Skills Banner].
My mind went blank, as always.
But the feeling didn't last as long as last time.
After taking a deep breath and collecting my thoughts, I looked at my [Current Skills].
[Mental Resistance
The user's resistance to mental attacks and debuffs is increased.
Some negative mental attacks and debuffs can be fully negated, depending on severity.
This skill has no mana cost and can be deactivated at any time.]
The first skill I saw was already pretty good, which made me hopeful for the next few in the list.
[X Slash
This skill has an upfront cost of 1 mana point. After the price is paid, the user can use the skill 2 times without an extra mana cost.
This skill can be triggered before an X-shaped or Cross-shaped slash, and can be activated regardless of whether the user wields one blade or two.
When activated with one blade, this skill increases the speed and strength of the attack.
When activated with two blades, the effects of the skill are strengthened.]
Surprisingly, another great skill.
Looking at the list, I noticed there weren't any level-ups, and so, I quickly searched for the last one...
[Focused Strike
This skill has an upfront cost of 1 mana point.
Adds the user's intelligence to their strength for the next attack.
Low chances to cause [Mental Fatigue] and [Body Fatigue] upon use.
Repeated uses of this skill in quick succession increase the chances of the corresponding debuffs and may cause longer, more severe debuffs.]
It was a good thing I leveled intelligence since I now had so many of these active-type skills that cost mana upfront.
However, I was amazed by the results.
It almost made me want to spend my last ticket on this banner, but...
Licia and I had already agreed on something else.
Miwen: "Alright, which one do you want?"
I had promised her one skill.
But only one, which made her a little dejected, but she understood why.
Licia: "[Sight Enhancement] would be the most useful for me since it doesn't need mana. But after that..."
She had a bit of a cheeky smile on her face.
Licia: "If you save some points for me, [Unending Determination] would be pretty good."
[Unending Determination] required 3 [Kingdom Points] even at level 1, so unfortunately, I could only give her [Sight Enhancement] this time.
Miwen: "There you go..."
After getting the skill she wanted, Licia readied her sword, standing near the bed while I sat in front of the door of my room.
Tonight, I was going to try my luck with another banner.
One Licia had already seen, only from another perspective.
Miwen: "Anything we're wishing for?"
Licia: "Hm... Someone warm, just like you?"
Miwen: "That'd be nice, huh?"
I wasn't planning on using the [Companions Banner] again so soon.
However, once we had finished dinner, I received a message from Sam saying she couldn't go to the Dungeon tomorrow because of her mother.
It was quite sudden, and she wasn't answering us anymore, so Roy and I agreed to cancel our next raid.
Upon reading that message, Licia suggested we go just the two of us, but given the monster we encountered this time, that seemed too reckless for my liking.
Even if she could handle things herself, an accident could always happen, and I wasn't confident enough in my own ability to help her.
After all, the battle against the Goblin Lord was only smooth thanks to her.
If something were to happen and she needed me...
I couldn't risk failing her.
The only banner I knew could make me rest assured was the [Companions Banner].
If I could get someone as strong as her to help us out, that would solve various problems, and we could even raid the Dungeon whenever Roy and Sam cancelled on us.
It'd also be nice to give her a friend who understood her circumstances.
Of course, I still had my own reservations about this banner, which was why I asked her how she felt about it and...
If she'd be fine with this decision.
She was a little surprised I'd ask her, calling me considerate and whatnot, but...
It felt fair.
Even if it was my Gift, she was probably the one most affected by it.
And since she didn't get a say last time, and whoever I summoned wouldn't get a say this time...
It was my way of making it right.
Or as right as possible, at least.
Miwen: "Fuuh..."
Licia: "...Do you want to leave it?"
She noticed my anxiousness.
How lame...
Miwen: "Don't worry. It'll be fine."
I couldn't help but worry a little.
There were no guarantees I'd summon someone as nice as her.
However, shying away from my own power was much scarier.
After everything she told me, I couldn't back down.
I knew that no matter what, I'd take care of whoever came out this time, just as I was taking care of her.
Just like that, a white void took over my mind.
I couldn't hear anything or even feel my own body.
But a second later, the white void suddenly filled with color, and in front of me, I saw two girls.
The first was Licia, the girl I had come to trust.
And to her side, a girl I didn't recognize.
She was on her knees, sweat dripping down her body as she panted hard.
Even though she definitely hadn't come running to my room, it looked like she had just run a marathon.
Her red twintails were bright and full, reaching past her shoulders.
While she seemed frightened, her expression was completely different from Licia's when she was first summoned.
Instead of quiet acceptance, her young-looking face was trembling, and her eyes darted around everywhere.
She looked slightly shorter than Licia and was built very differently, too.
Licia was well-rounded; her curves were all perfectly balanced, and she had nothing to be ashamed of.
This girl, on the other hand...
Her chest was smaller, but from the waist down, she had Licia beat.
And even though Licia was respectable there too, the girl led by a comfortable margin.
She was beautiful enough that I almost lost myself in it again, but thanks to a certain someone glaring at me with bloodshot eyes and a terrifyingly forced grin, I quickly collected my thoughts.
?????: "...Huh?"
The fear and confusion on her expression quickly disappeared.
She brought her hands towards her own chest, and after a quick look, her eyes locked onto mine.
?????: "Why am I alive...? Where is Pervial?"
Neither was a question I could answer, and seeing how agitated she became in just a second, Licia readied her sword.
However, I signaled for her to stop.
?????: "Who are you? Where am I?!"
Her eyes were fast, and she instantly noticed me raising my hand.
?????: "You won't have your way with me, kidnapper!"
Her words caught me by surprise.
I tried to tell her to stop, but it was already too late.
?????: "Brace yourself, you now face the power of Claire Ashbrodd, The Continental Burn!"
She jumped toward me, eyes burning with ire.