alwaysunqualified

  Chapter 49 - Love nest.

  I awaken to a gentle pat on my forehead and open my eyes to see Alice smiling down at me. She’s perched lightly on my forehead, squatting down to tap me awake. As I stir, she flutters up, giving me space to sit up.

  For the first time since my return, I'm actually dressed in the morning. Beside me, the twins are still fast asleep, softly chewing on their toys with drool seeping onto the covers. Thankfully, they haven’t adopted Miki and Sakura’s restless sleeping habits; otherwise, they would have pushed me out of bed by now. Despite their size, their strength is disproportional; they effortlessly hoisted me overhead during our py time, to my surprise, proving generating the force was not a problem for them.

  I'm dressed this morning not because Miki refrained from pouncing on me st night, she did. I tried to uses the excuse of the twins already being asleep and our early departure to our new home to avoid the usual morning embarrassment. Miki, however, simply gnced at the twins and decred it beneficial for their education, Oni behaved as they wished, whenever and wherever, back home.

  Realizing she was utterly serious, I tried to pull her out of the room, but I barely made it past the doorway before my clothes were in tatters and her mouth was engulfing my cock. We ended up fucking in every corner of the house, her idea of a final goodbye, she said.

  I don't know whether to be impressed that I made it ten times or scared that I could have gone more. I passed out the first night after much less. It's something to worry about ter—or perhaps not, considering Miki seems always ready for more. Still, despite everything, I managed to get dressed before crawling back into bed.

  “Thanks for waking me up, Alice,” I said to the floating figure waiting for me to rise.

  “Leave the twins to me,” she replied, floating over to grab the small red and blue kimonos she had id on the desk near the bed.

  “Okay, just make sure they are properly dressed. No imitating Miki,” I instructed, hoping to curb the less desirable habits they'd picked up from Miki during my absence.

  "Okay," she replied, giving me a thumbs-up.

  After a quick bath and change of clothes, I was ready to meet everyone at the front door.

  There, Sakura was pyfully tossing the twins into the air, with Alice cpping joyfully on her head. Miki was sipping from a new bottle I hadn’t seen before. Angelica was listening to Mom, who was engaged in conversation with Seraphina by the door. Seraphina waited patiently, her eyes closed and hands csped in front as she nodded along.

  Era was also there, dangling by the scruff of her neck like a cat, held up by Yuno. She wore a pouty expression, and when she saw me, she gave a small wave before fixing me with an aggrieved look.

  "Hello, husband," Seraphina greeted, turning away from Mom, who merely shrugged at being ignored.

  I sighed at her continued use of "husband." How is it that she’s so compliant in everything except what I actually want her to do?

  "Is everyone ready?" I asked, gncing around the group.

  ”Come on, let's go see our new home," Sakura said, catching the giggling twins and handing them to Mom.

  As I stepped out, pink petals swirled in front of me, forming into Era. "I will lead the way," she decred, marching forward, and we followed.

  I had almost forgotten that Era had been staying with Seraphina, which now meant she’d be staying with us too. Not that I minded; she seemed to get along surprisingly well with Yuno. When I asked Yuno about it, she told me she had found Era outside and brought her back, much like rescuing a stray cat. Apparently, Yuno had saved her from some kind of trouble.

  As we departed, I couldn't help but look back at the little side-by-side that had been my sanctuary since arriving here. It was the pce I returned to whenever this world became overwhelming.

  "Don't worry, we still own the rights, so we can always come back," Angelica reassured me, noticing my reflective gaze.

  "Yes, I have retained permanent rights to this property," Seraphina added.

  ‘I kind of wish I could bring it with us,’ I thought, feeling nostalgic. It felt like I was leaving behind something important. This was a new sensation for me, having lived in the same home my entire life on Earth.

  [Your ??? is not high enough to move this building to Love Land.]

  I blinked at the notice. This was the second time I'd been informed about the possibility of bringing something into Love Land. ‘I wonder what the conditions are. More I need to discover,’ I mused, reading the screen. I quickly decided to use 'Show Hidden Secrets' on the question marks, I had no other pns for it this year.

  [Love Land Sync Level.]

  [Sync Level refers to the degree of resonance between you, the dominion, the world, and the primary Goddess. The closer the dominion's caster is to the Goddess granting authority, the more of her power can manifest in the world. Most people lose themselves before achieving full manifestation.]

  After reading the expnation, I thought, ‘Nope, not worth it,’ and hurried to catch up with our humming leader.

  We made our way to the noble area swiftly, and then strolled around until we encountered an encve of staggeringly oversized houses. Each residence occupied at least a city block, with some extending for miles, according to my mini-map.

  The whole area was deserted, not a soul in sight even as we turned into the gated entrance to our area. Upon entering, only a massive pinkish-white wall stretched as far as I could see, which Era seemed to appreciate, tracing her finger along it as she led the way.

  We walked for several blocks until we reached an imposing set of rainbow gates. Each side was guarded by two statues of white female angels with closed eyes, spears held in their right and left hands, respectively. The angel on the left bore a shield, while the one on the right held a stone fme. They were dressed in attire simir to Angelica's, leaving little to the imagination, even as statues. Their stone skin was adorned with the same white paint.

  [Guardian Angels tier 13. Activates with the defensive system. Crafted by a tier 17 Artisan Blessing and Life Blessing. Powered by Sipin type cores but can operate with normal cores at ten percent efficiency. The power tier has degraded over the years due to the constant use of normal cores, eroding their engraved blessings.]

  Above the entrance, the words "Smile Angel" were written in rainbow letters.

  I gred at Angelica; this was clearly her fault. She looked quite proud as she gazed up at the massive gates.

  Mom only ughed at the interaction, standing on her tiptoes to ruffle my hair while consoling me. "You need to get used to it," she said, which was easier said than done.

  "May I have my husband's permission to register this home in your name?" Seraphina asked, standing by the entrance. She pced one hand on the frame and readied the other over the device to record my information.

  [Would you like to register location?]

  "It looks like that won't be necessary," I replied after reading the prompt.

  "Understood," she responded simply, removing her hand and stepping aside.

  [Please touch for registration.]

  As I pced my hands on it, I felt a peculiar sensation spread out and link me to this pce. For a brief moment, a rainbow-like thread shot out and into the frame, then wrapped around the entire building.

  [A Love Nest has been registered.]

  [1/1 Love Nests have been registered.]

  [Effects - All bonuses of Love Land have been applied to your Love Nest at an efficiency of 10%. All love-reted interactions are boosted by 50% while in your Love Nest. Can gain love points from any girl in your Love Nest.]

  Reading the notification, it seemed I would gain something extra from the gatherings outside of the fan-girl meet-ups. It almost made it worth it, almost.

  With that, the gates swung open, revealing about fifty girls lined up in the massive yard—a ten-minute walk from the gate. The yard was a spectacle, filled with flowers and architecture that could put modern-day nations to shame. The walkway was so wide it easily accommodated the girls standing shoulder to shoulder along its path.

  Scanning the lineup, I thought I recognized a few. When I checked the log, it turned out I did; most of these girls had been at the tournament, assisting the participants during our winners' meal.

  [Likes to use her feet.]

  [Has a split tongue.]

  [Can vibrate her vagina.]

  Rereading these details made me swallow hard. ‘I'd never been interested in feet, but I was curious about the sensation of a split tongue and what kind of vibrations could she produce, could she oscilte?’ Shaking off the wandering thoughts, I refocused on the girls. They presented a diverse array of shapes and sizes, each intriguing in her own right.

  "This is the Master of this home," Seraphina introduced me, before presenting my family and giving specific instructions to the girls. Gncing over at Angelica's smiling face, I wondered if I should have really let her take charge. I hadn't cared much at the time, but now it seemed she might have gone a bit overboard.

  “Recollection date starto!”

  [Target - Angelica.]

  A yawn interrupted my thoughts as a silhouette appeared in front of me, slowly rising from a prone position in mid-air. "Good morning, father," she said, rubbing her eyes sleepily while looking at me.

  "Good morning," I replied with a smile, relieved to see her up and about; she had been sleeping more than usual tely, and I was starting to worry.

  "Good morning, Auntie," she greeted Yuno, who stood next to me.

  "Morning," Yuno replied curtly.

  As the girl surveyed the rest of our group, the system suddenly shrieked, "Ahhh!" and tried to run off. In an instant, Yuno was beside her, lifting her by the neck in an all too familiar manner, which made me blink at the unexpected interaction. Up until now, the system seemed only able to touch me and the items from my inventory.

  ‘What was that about?’ I asked, but received no answer, just the sight of the system struggling to get free, like a child caught doing something bad.

  "Is something the matter, brother?" Angelica asked, gncing back. It seemed Seraphina had finished speaking, and they were waiting on me.

  "Nothing, the system just woke up," I replied. I wasn't too concerned about people learning that I had a Blessing with its own consciousness. While rare, it wasn't unheard of in this world. Some Blessings could be communicated with mentally, but others required speaking as you would with any other person.

  "Oh, good morning, system," Angelica greeted, looking towards Yuno's empty hand. Alice also waved, mimicked by the twins who were hiding in Mom's arms, trying to avoid attention from all the new faces.

  Finally, after calming down, the system hid behind Yuno, giving Seraphina a worried look. She seemed to rex, so I decided to inquire about it ter. Looking over at Seraphina, I couldn't pinpoint what made her so intimidating; perhaps it had something to do with her Blessing, which still disrupted my ability to observe properly.

  Noticing my gaze, Seraphina resumed speaking. "Shall I register your assigned shadow, or do you wish for her to stay outside?”

  Thinking about the princess's assurance that the ninja was safe and wouldn't leak anything she saw back to the queen, and recalling how many times she had saved my life over the st five years, I responded, "Yes, that's fine. She can come in.”

  ‘Brother, your introduction,’ Angelica's voice echoed in my head, drawing my attention back to the waiting girls who stood looking at me attentively. “Sorry, I got a little distracted. I am Liev. Starting today, I will be the head of this house.”

  [Charm has triggered.]

  [+432 Love points.]

  Some of the girls fidgeted while others blushed at my introduction, even though I hadn't said anything particurly charming. The girls began introducing themselves one by one, but really, there were too many to remember at once, and I could pull up their information at any time. So, I brought up my mini map to look around. This pce was bigger than even the rgest pace back home, with more rooms than I could count.

  The house itself was built of a nearly unnatural white marble, with gss pilrs that allowed colored light to filter through the entire structure. There was more gss than would be structurally sound in a standard building, but each piece seemed to be crafted by a high-tier Blessing holder, making it multiple times harder than steel.

  After their introductions, the girls parted, shifting to each side to allow us passage. Walking past all the staring girls felt somewhat awkward, but it seemed that only the twins and I were bothered by this. Seeing them still trying to hide away, I knew I had to spend as much time with them as possible to help them acclimate to this new environment. They never liked having a lot of people around and would probably be anxious about not going home.

  After a bit of a walk, followed by the staff trailing behind, we reached the front doors. These were carved with an image of girls from different races lying on a soft bed, seemingly inviting the person on the other side to enter. Even just the door was four times my height. After checking the map again, the sheer size of the pce hit me. I couldn't help but mutter, "This pce is massive.”

  "It is still too small; I wanted to expand further, but our neighbors were being stingy," Angelica said, looking aggrieved.

  "I apologize for cking the funds," Seraphina apologized, as if she hadn't already contributed far more than we needed. Perhaps I'm the odd one out for feeling like this is all too much. A nice cozy home, just slightly rger than the one we moved from, would be ideal—maybe a five-bedroom house with an acre of nd like we had on Earth, providing plenty of room for everyone without the need to drive a car just to get to the bathroom.

  "Just how much money did you spend?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. From what Seraphina had shared, she held the accumuted wealth of a noble family, even though she lost about half when she came to this city. She had more than made up for it since her arrival, and unlike other nobles, she hadn't been frivolous with her spending, having no responsibilities outside of what the royal family required of her.

  "We have gone through 87 percent of your wealth," she answered nonchantly, causing me to take a deep breath. I could hardly imagine what was essentially a billionaire spending nearly ninety percent of their wealth to build a house. I could only ment that this was definitely a mistake, as neither my sister nor Seraphina seemed to give a second thought to the expenditure.

  With a mere thought, the doors opened, allowing us to step into the massive main hall, with staircases that spiraled up ten stories and corridors branching off in every direction. Suspended from the ceiling was a statue of the goddess of love, smiling down on all below. She bore a closer resembnce to the actual goddess than the versions crafted by the church. All around her were images of naked or nearly naked women, spiraling out and dancing above us but beneath her.

  Looking up, I couldn't help but feel annoyed, though it seemed I was the only one; everyone else stopped to gaze up with nothing short of devotion and respect. Even the twins were captivated by her visage. The only exceptions were Yuno, who wore an annoyed expression that typically surfaced only when the goddesses were mentioned, and the system, still hiding behind her, refusing to come any closer while Seraphina was next to me.

  The fact that Yuno was here and hadn't objected to the construction spoke volumes about its importance to everyone else, so I swallowed my annoyance and decided to add a cross to the top of the roof, pcing it above the goddesses. I know we're not supposed to idolize mortal objects, but I think God can cut me some sck here.

  Once everyone snapped back to reality, we moved on, Angelica leading the way through the halls. Behind us, the staff scattered, likely heading to their actual work areas.

  The first room we entered was the audience hall, directly connected to the main hall. It was massive, resembling a wedding venue suitable for thousands of guests rather than a simple hall. It was filled with tables, and at the center, a grand dance floor with runic inscriptions darting through it. At the end was a stage suitable for everything from giving speeches to putting on pys.

  "Watch, brother, this is so 'cool'," Sakura said, darting onto the dance floor. It lit up, projecting her image into the air as she moved. Lacking any dance skills, Sakura simply did a few backflips to show off. Mom also brought the twins onto the dance floor, allowing their images to be projected as they amusingly tried to bite their virtual selves.

  While they were pying, I was shown to the back where there was a more intimate room. It was enclosed, forcing occupants to sit closely together with comfortable plush furniture and a small flowing table at its center. Seraphina expined that it was used for one-on-one meetings, but it looked more like a cozy spot for couples to cuddle.

  Walking back in, Angelica showed me an orb-like object installed into the wall. When she pced her hand on it, a consistent stream of soothing music filled the air, instantly rexing me. It was a far cry from what Angelica could achieve with her Blessing, akin to a professional orchestra pying live right in front of us. I could even see the image of a girl with bird-like blue wings, singing in an inhumanly soothing voice.

  After exiting that room, we ventured up to the bedrooms, id out like an apartment complex, with each door leading to a room as rge as a private suite. Approaching one door in particur—a light pink one that stood out among the white doors—Era ran up with a rge smile on her face.

  She swung the door open, revealing a room bathed in pink from floor to ceiling. Her bed was rge, with pink see-through drapes pulled back to show pink sheets and heart-shaped pillows scattered across it. The carpet was pink, and the walls were a contrasting shade of pink that made them pop. Small pink bubbles floated through the air, emitted by a magical device off to the side.

  "Welcome to my room," she announced, clearly proud of her personal touch compared to the pin and orderly appearance of the other rooms. While the yout remained the same, she had given it her own fir, which I was sure the others would do as well. It would be interesting to see how they each expressed themselves, having never really had the chance to personalize their own spaces when we all shared one room.

  'Though I think she might take her liking of pink a bit too far,' I thought, observing the room that was essentially a monochrome of various shades of pink. Every object in the room had some tint of pink. I did wonder where this obsession came from but didn't care enough to inquire.

  After her grand reveal, we exited her room and continued our ascent through the building. When we reached the top, there was only one door, and inscribed upon it were the words that transted to "Master Bedroom"—so, my room.

  Opening the door to what would be my room, it was twenty rooms put together with a bed that was ten beds put together at the back end making up the centerpiece. Off to the side was a station that had towels and drinks like the lobby of a hotel. It came with a private, everything from food to bath like a house all on its own.

  Looking at the bed, I saw it could easily fit forty or fifty people with room to frolic. The reason for such a rge bed was clear. Miki seemed particurly interested in the room, especially given that there was a bar just a few feet from the bed. I didn't need to guess to figure out what was on her mind either.

  Exiting my room, we didn't travel far to another room nearby on the top floor, easily accessible from mine. We entered a space dominated by a rge, 3D-projected map of the city and its surroundings. The room was filled with multiple sections beled with information and notes. It appeared that every pce Seraphina owned or had connections to was listed, along with current events happening throughout the city.

  The interface allowed me to switch views, letting me explore areas further out, such as those controlled by the Amazons, which were mainly covered in trees, or the mountainous regions inhabited by the dwarves. However, unlike the Amazons, only basic structures were dispyed for the dwarven territories.

  This comprehensive map provided a real-time view of the city's activities and an active log I could consult ter. I noted that while in this room, the map could overy with my mini map, enhancing the crity and allowing me to zoom in on specific areas to see what was happening in real time. This feature could be incredibly useful, especially since it would help alleviate my worries; if someone I cared about was in danger, even if they were incredibly far away, I could still assist them.

  After exiting, we returned to the first floor. Following a lengthy walk through the hall past many less significant rooms, we finally entered another rge space. It was as expansive as a park and filled with magical objects I recognized from the game shop in the city.

  Off to the side was the kids' area, quite simir to the one Selen had installed at the church, only rger and with different sections themed after various races from elves to angels.

  "Actually, Selen helped us get in touch with the woman who built it, using her connections at the church to persuade her to make another trip here for this project. She has a territory creation Blessing that enabled the woman from the game shop to easily install the games here," Angelica expined, preempting my thoughts.

  The twins even had a small Oni-themed area all to themselves, though I wasn’t sure if the realistic-looking blood spilled all over it was appropriate. However, it was hard to voice any concerns seeing how much they were smiling while spshing in it.

  Nearby, there was also a massive magic chess area. Each side featured a podium where up to four pyers could stand and py. Here, I could finally py on my own without any g, no longer needing to wait for my sisters to input my moves.

  [Can be operated by the owner.]

  "Should we py a game?" I asked Sakura, while the kids were occupied. Seeing my smile, she opted to join the twins instead. Angelica also declined, but to my surprise, Seraphina stepped up. We took our positions, allowing the massive machine to boot up and the areas to come to life.

  Initially, I thought I had misunderstood the system when the panel didn’t respond immediately, but after a second or two, it activated, allowing me to exhale a sigh of relief. The game started, and I was able to py without dey, quickly building my base and deploying my units—only to walk them right into an ambush that overran them and then my base in quick succession. I had been zerged by a common unit type and lost in less than five minutes.

  Turning to Seraphina, she simply looked back as if she hadn't just crushed me. "Thank you for allowing me to py with you, husband," she said, making the crushing defeat sting even more.

  “Once more,” I said, determined to py better this time. Despite my efforts, Seraphina anticipated every move, skillfully maneuvering her troops around mine and consistently countering my strategy. It was frustrating, and I could see Sakura ughing at me from the sidelines. Realizing I was experiencing what Sakura often went through pying against me made it hard to be upset. Still, I decided to call it quits before I got too embarrassed. “Okay, it’s clear you have this in the bag. Good game.”

  “I sincerely apologize for my cking dispy,” Seraphina replied with a light hand gesture. It seemed to be the noble equivalent of "good game," so I just went with it and jumped down from the stage. The twins then waddled up to me, smearing their fake blood all over my pants as they tugged at me, eager to show me their py area.

  After spending an hour or so letting them cover me in faux blood, with my family and even Era joining in, the twins taking a quick liking to her, we were ready to move on. Seraphina waited patiently off to the side for us to finish.

  We then took a detour through the halls to the middle of the property, where the baths were located in a rge open-air room. As we entered, the room was already steaming.

  The baths were impressively rge, rivaling any outdoor hot spring, with ample room to accommodate hundreds of people at once. There was even a smaller area designed for kids or perhaps smaller races, I noticed, once I saw that the other side was accommodating what must be giants.

  Off to the side along the wall, steaming hot water cascaded down, draining into each of the bathing areas. As I surveyed the bath, I was suddenly shoved in, going face first into the rge pool. Quickly resurfacing, I saw a smiling Sakura and a pair of ughing twins cpping at my misfortune.

  "Hey, what gives?" I said, standing up with my shoulders just above the water level.

  "You were going to start moping about how you couldn’t wash with us all here," Sakura expined. I would like to say I wasn't about to mope; I was merely pnning to rinse off the worst of the blood.

  "See, you're already moping," Sakura teased before diving headfirst into the water next to me, fully armored. She effortlessly floated on her back, paddling as if the armor weighed nothing. Before I could respond, the rest of my family was joining us, albeit more properly, without their clothes. I struggled to maintain my gaze on the peaceful sky, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Miki wasn't affording me the same discretion, her eyes glued to me while she enjoyed her drink.

  After everyone was simirly cleaned, we exited the baths where a waiting Seraphina dried us with a swipe of her hand. My family could perform a simir feat with mana manipution, but never as efficiently. We were left completely dry, yet our skin's natural moisture remained unaffected.

  It didn't occur to me that Mom could have cleaned us up in seconds until we were already on our way out. Once outside, we took another detour, doubling back near the game room to a bar just down the hall, as Miki's drink had run out halfway through the bath. The bar area was as spacious as any public bar, with drinks lining the walls ready to be poured. From the smile on Miki’s face and the way she licked her lips as she looked around, it was clear this pce was her dream nd.

  "Would the lord of the manor and his perspectives like me to pour drinks?" The bartender asked. She wore only a suit top, her attire starkly contrasting her short, pure white hair against the bck fabric. Her nose resembled that of a mouse, adorned with three whiskers protruding from each side, and her fingers were elongated with sharp nails.

  [Name: Millicent Mi Mi Level: 277Affection: 300House: Smiling Angel’sPrimary blessing: Service CorrectionLike to solve mazes for fun.]

  Miki eagerly accepted the offer, and a mug was expertly mixed, producing a frothy greenish drink that she began to sip immediately. Mom also took a sip and looked surprised, "My, what a splendid mix. I will make sure you are at the front of the line," she said to Millicent, who only gave a professional nod in response.

  After exploring the bar, we were shown where the drinks were stored, down a set of stairs to a celr that spanned three stories underground. Each tightly packed shelf was filled with liquor from floor to ceiling, making it almost impossible to navigate for someone my size. However, Miki and the bartender moved through with ease to select their drinks of choice.

  We tried to wait for Miki to return, but she was thoroughly engrossed, letting the bartender eborate on all the types of drinks avaible and their origins. It seemed Miki was intent on memorizing it all; I think this was the most focused I had ever seen her, aside from the murderous look she gave us when we let our guard down outside the city.

  Eventually, we had to leave the bar without her. We took a long detour back near the entrance to pick up some meat for the twins, who were now past hungry. Mom breastfed them along the way, ughing as they pyfully tried to bite into her, but the twins typically also ate meat. It sounds cute, but according to Miki, Oni kids might resort to eating each other if their instincts became too overwhelming, hence the meat to help curb it. I didn’t think the twins would actually do it, but I wasn't about to take any chances.

  After a bit of a walk, we arrived at the kitchen area. The kitchens were massive, equipped to feed everyone who might visit this house. They featured unusual contraptions that I had never seen before, likely custom-built to accommodate the Blessings of the girls who cooked.

  "Oh my, this is strikingly simir to what is at the castle," Mom observed, looking around.

  "We acquired the same designer, and the princess allowed us to take some of their old magic devices. Everything has been double-checked for any defects by both us and the royal arbiters," Seraphina responded to Mom's comment.

  In the back, the storage area was simply a room—no need to freeze or dry out food, as it does not spoil here, no matter how long it's left out. Food can still lose its fvor, but that typically only happens if cooked by someone without a Blessing. Nonetheless, it remains the norm here to consume the food that is prepared, likely because there's no practical reason to preserve it unless you need to transport it somewhere else, and then the only concern is surviving monsters.

  There was a wall of all kinds of meats, each beled accordingly. Seeing the selection, the twins' eyes lit up, and they quickly abandoned Mom, waddling up in what looked like an attempt at a run. Each jumped on the nearest leg, devouring it. It was a funny sight to see legs as rge as they were disappear in a matter of seconds.

  With a burp, Anna spat back up some pieces of bones, then they both simply colpsed on the storeroom floor, leaving it to Mom and Angelica to pick them up.

  Deciding to continue, we took the main passage through the house and emerged into the back, which housed its own stadium-like area. It was reminiscent of homes with their own basketball or tennis courts, only on a much rger scale.

  “This is our training area,” Seraphina expined.

  At first gnce, it didn’t seem very complex, until the whole area transformed into a forest, then shifted into a mountainous region, and finally morphed into a volcanic ndscape. Like the guild, this pce could accommodate any environment you desired.

  “The cost is 17 million cores to run for a quarter day,” Seraphina continued.

  Suddenly, I felt like we didn’t have enough cores. ‘How do we even get enough cores for this thing?’

  As if in response to my thoughts, a popup appeared:

  [Can be operated with love points at a 2x efficiency.]

  Looking at it, that meant it was more efficient to use just love points. I didn’t understand why it even gave me the option to convert love points into cores. With the shop upgrade, I could now turn regur cores into themed cores, which would be useful, although they were a thousand times more costly than what the core was initially worth. Then again, this could be helpful for truly rare types of cores that are hard to find and needed in bulk. But that’s something to consider once I’m actually out of debt.

  Moving across the halls, we came to a set of doors that, once opened, revealed a room stacked with books on shelves reaching the ceilings. While books were the primary focus here, the room also contained parchment and different sections filled with magical objects.

  As we entered, the girl sitting at the desk jumped, dropping her book onto the desk, which then bounced onto the floor. She looked at us, startled.

  “Oh no, was that today? Oh no, I missed the welcome,” she moaned upon seeing our group. I recognized the panicked girl from my many trips to the library when I was younger.

  “Hello, Lamya," I said, picking up the book about pnts found in the Aliciti wastends and handing it back to her. It was really helpful that she liked to read just about everything; if I had a question, I could just enter Love Land and slot her card.

  “Oh, hello, Liev, you have grown up well,” she said, giving me a sad smile before her eyes were drawn to the twins who were giving her a wary look from Mom and Angelica’s arms, too full to do much else. She muttered, “They are still so cute.”

  She had met them before, but despite her frequent visits, the twins never warmed up to her. I waved my hand in front of her face as it seemed now that I wasn't a kid, she had lost interest in me.

  “How is it here?” I asked, not aware that we had hired her.

  “I thought an offer to get paid with amenities just for reading all day was too good to be true. But I'm gd I accepted,” she said in a subdued voice. Even her supposed enthusiasm was muted.

  “She actually refused until I told her there would be a lot of little kids running around here in the future,” Angelica said, causing the woman’s awkward smile to waver. If I hadn't known her all these years, I might see her as a bit creepy, especially with that smile. Maybe being here, instead of being cooped up all day in the library, will give her a chance to work on her social skills.

  “Oh, Era, I found the book you were looking for,” she said, noticing the small girl for the first time.

  “Thanks, Lami,” Era called out with a smile as she received the book.

  Its title read Crystal Synthesis. Definitely an unusual book choice for someone like her, unless she was intent on making pink crystals or perhaps candy. Actually, that sounded right up her alley.

  After chatting with the awkward girl about the various books she had been reading—which was everything—we left the library. On our way out, I asked why they chose to hire her for this position. While it would be helpful to retrieve information when needed, she didn't quite match the capabilities of someone who worked at the guild information centers; besides reying information to me, she couldn't do much more with it.

  “We have prioritized all your connected. Even if they are not the best fit now, all of them are growing at an accelerated rate and will outperform anyone else we could put in their pce in the long run,” Seraphina answered.

  That actually made a lot of sense. With them close, it would be easier to earn love points and affection as well as keep them safe. I realized I would need to sit down and talk with her like the rest ter; even if she was not going to be involved beyond reading information in the library that I could retrieve ter with her card, she still deserved to know what she was getting into.

  Exiting the library, we continued our way back and exited the house altogether, coming to a close-knit contingent of buildings that made up the barracks. It consisted of multiple buildings, each one seemingly id out to house a different set of troops.

  A section of buildings was already set up for Sk?gul, marked distinctively with the runic symbol of a Valkyrie riding a Pegasus on the building to differentiate it from the others, which were still unmarked.

  Altogether, these barracks could comfortably house maybe a thousand soldiers, and significantly more if necessary, especially since hygiene wasn't a major factor to consider here. However, even here, people would start to develop a peculiar odor after being exposed to various conditions, though none were truly unpleasant, just unusual, unless affected by a Blessing from the goddess of disease.

  In the center of the barracks was an armory, fully stocked with weapons. Some of them were oddly specific and seemed crafted for particur purposes.

  “We sold anything that you would be able to acquire ter to help fund the construction,” Seraphina answered my unasked question.

  Behind the barracks were the servant quarters, which essentially formed their own multi-story apartment building.

  “How many did you hire?” I asked, eyeing the rge building that could hold many more than those introduced earlier.

  “57,” Angelica answered.

  “Do we need so many?” I questioned, considering that even with a house this big, they were essentially superhumans. Someone like Mom could clean the entire pce on her own if she didn’t have to worry about running out of mana. Ten like her could easily manage it daily.

  “That is just for the basics. We will need more in the future, once you start having kids,” Angelica added, steering the conversation in a direction I definitely did not want to go, prompting me to change the subject.

  "What is in the rge bck area off to the back right side of the house?" I asked, noticing the area a couple of times while we were walking around.

  “We attempted to find a person with a time-reted Blessing that could prescribe it onto the room, allowing for time dition, but we were not able to locate one. So, this room remains unassigned,” Seraphina expined. That would have been extremely helpful for my sisters, though not so much for me, with my resets being on a timer that seems to correspond with my environment.

  After circling back around, it was starting to get te, so we headed back into the house, passing by Miki’s new b. The b was a scaled-up version of what Miki used back home, still filled with strange-looking pnts and parts of what I assume are creatures, though that's hard to tell.

  They capture non-race creatures here, keeping them in cages, and parts that were needed were removed before healing grew them back. I thought animals back home had it bad, but learning this made a quick, painless death seem merciful. Then again, maybe I am projecting again; it might not even affect them with how things work here.

  Miki was already inside, making a mess of the pce, hoarding a few of the bottles of liquor and stashing them inside for herself for ter. After having a look inside, we once again started our journey back to the rooms. It was quite inconvenient to have to walk an hour just to get to bed.

  "The servants have prepared your rooms," Seraphina said. It looked like everyone had a room just below mine, with Seraphina being the closest. As we were preparing to depart, I looked over at the still proud Angelica and it hit me what was wrong: she was working hard, doing her best to help me, and all I have done is compin. I could always get more cores, but you only ever find so many people who would sweat blood to help you. I have no clue how much work this all took, but it had to be a lot, and all I have done since I got here is compin.

  “Wait, Angelica,” I called out, stopping her in her tracks. “Thanks for working hard for me. Not just now, but ever since I was born here, you’ve been doing your best to look out for me.”

  “Don't mention it, brother. I love you and will always try to help you. Now go get some rest,” she said, acting as if it was not a big deal, but the notifications indicated otherwise.

  [Angelica’s blockage has been cleared, and her Affection has returned to normal.]

  [+100 Angelica Affection points.]

  Watching her enter her room, I couldn't help but ponder. ‘Sakura was blocked by worry—worry that she would be left behind, that she couldn’t offer anything, worried about how she would be seen, all exacerbated by me constantly reinforcing my ck of interest in marriage.’

  'Angelica was blocked by a need for acceptance. She wants to help, but more than that, she wants her efforts to be acknowledged. Working with me must have felt like a struggle for her. I barely say thanks, a habit I picked up before I thought of her as my sister, and her views often run counter to my own, resulting in a lot of compints from me. Yet, she would do it all regardless. It was not just her acceptance that was needed, but my own acknowledgment of her efforts.' I thought about this as I pulled up my cards again, reconsidering what Cire told me about love and reevaluating my retionships with everyone.

  [Date end]

  [Achievement Unlocked: Love Nest - Gain your first love nest. - Gain the ability to move to any room in your Love Nest by clicking on the mini map.]

  The only one left was Miki, with a drink in one hand and a smile on her lips, her rge fingernail pointed upward. I decided to bring her along quickly and rush to my room before she had me running through our new home naked.