Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 49

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 49:

The burst of magical energy obliterated one of the fiends, leaving only rapidly fading pyreflies.

“Oh, impressive.” 

The others tried to attack, only to be locked down as the mage and sole combatant in our group cast her next spell to encase them in ice.

“Niiiiice…” My comment drew a quick smile out of her, even as she performed the movements to cast her next skill.

“[Summon: Glacius]!”

One of the icy prisons burst apart in a spray of ice shards and pyreflies as the summon manifested from within it. A long blade of ice grew from its hand, and it slashed through the remaining frozen monsters, ending them decisively.

Irene planted her staff in the ground, leaning forward in a stretch as she adjusted the wide-brimmed hat on her head. It was certainly an action befitting of a victory pose.

I gave a few claps. “Absolutely stunning.”

She straightened up, putting one hand behind her back as she looked back at me over her shoulder. “I feel like you’re referring to something else other than my magic prowess.”

“Uh huh. Why would you say that?” I asked, my gaze still fixed on the spot her hand was covering.

“Maybe it has something to do with how you’ve been staring at my butt this whole time?” Irene suggested dryly.

“It is a very nice butt,” I shamelessly admitted. “Right, Uzume?”

“Right,” The brunette tailor agreed, “That’s why I designed your outfit to emphasize it.”

Compared to the spellcaster’s robe she had worn while in Danmachi, Irene’s outfit this time was much more mystical-looking, courtesy of a modified Black Mage dressphere. A halterneck top exposed a good deal of cleavage of her generous bosom, detached sleeves that drew attention to the skin of her shoulders, a long skirt with wide thigh slits that showed off her shapely legs… and that final one draped itself over her plump butt, somehow hugging it in an exhibitive way no matter how Irene moved her body.

The redhead blushed slightly, turning her body to face me head on as she walked over to where we had been observing her from. Deprived of the sight of her shapely ass, I finally looked up to meet her eyes.

Then I stepped into her personal space, bringing my face very close to hers…

And reached around to grab her butt. My fingers sank into a sensation I was very familiar with, and I gently groped the firm flesh in my grasp.

“Really?”

“I can’t help it. It’s very grabbable.”

“You’re lucky I love you enough to accept that.” Irene told me, before tilting her head to look at Uzume over my shoulder. “As for you, I’ll remember this.”

It had been quite some time, but we finally made a return to Spira, this time with the addition of Irene to our party. Naturally, she was our designated mage, so she handled all the magic-related skill testing.

With the exception of the Mascot dressphere, we had managed to gain access to every other one, and had unlocked most of their abilities as well. Our collection of Garment Grids also contributed a number of passive and active skills, so Matsu had a large variety of components to work with. The result was a large variety of original dresspheres and skill builds for us to test out. With the endless number of fiends lurking around Spira, we had more than enough test subjects for us to work with.

“Hmm, there’s a distinct difference between Irene-tan’s spells and Uzume’s,” Matsu reported, looking up from her floating screen, “The Mage Developmental Ability is having a strong influence. What’s its rank now? H?”

“G,” Irene answered, “All the magic casting we did in Hogwarts helped push the rank up again.”

Matsu nodded, entering that data into her records. “The falna’s really useful, but the way it disrupts my calculation is a little annoying.”

“Just like it did for your [Mix] skill?” I asked her.

The bespectacled Sekirei adjusted her glasses. “Just like it did.”

In addition to recording all the skill data and making adjustments to our skill builds, Matsu also participated in the dressphere testing; Alchemist because she wanted to see if her Mixing DA would affect the strict rules of Spira’s game-like world system, and Trainer so she could monitor the skills being used through the pet instead of using them herself. The latter dressphere was what she was currently using, although it could hardly be called that now after multiple modifications.

Drone Controller was Matsu’s name for it, as the pet was now a mechanical creature that responded to her commands. The original version had a dog, monkey or bird for each member of YRP, but Matsu’s version allowed her to transform the drone into any of the three forms depending on the battle style she wanted to go with. Currently, it was in the form of an owl that was perched on her head, its unblinking gaze fixed on the screen.

Just like how Lenne’s spirit was in the Songstress dressphere, I’m pretty sure the animals’ spirits were in the Trainer dressphere, I thought as I watched the robotic bird’s head stay in position even as its body shifted around with Matsu’s movements. But I don’t see any of that in this one. 

“By the way, Rick-tan,” Matsu turned to look at me.

“Hm?”

“How long more do we have until the concert?”

“Hold on…” I used [Event Predictor] to check. “About another week or so.”

“They’re dealing with the fiend outbreak in the temple now, aren’t they?” Uzume inquired.

“Yes,” I confirmed, “After a while, Yuna will fall into the Farplane, where she’ll meet the missing leaders of the three factions, and then she’ll start organizing the concert.”

“Think we can finish up all the testing by then?” 

“Probably not,” Matsu said regretfully, “Not unless we focus entirely on it. Anyway, whose turn is it next?”

“Mine!” Uzume answered cheerfully as she executed a spin, switching out dresspheres, “And it looks like the next batch of fiends have arrived!”

Her outfit rearranged itself into the form of a Songstress costume, though there were slight differences compared to the ones YRP had; the handheld microphone had been swapped for a headset-mounted version, and several scarves were draped around Uzume’s body, ready to be used for her cloth attacks. Other than that, the ruffles and pareo skirt were quite similar to Yuna’s.

If Irene was the mage and Matsu the tool-using support, then Uzume was the all-rounder. She could buff us with her dancing and singing, or she could attack directly, either using magic or physically with her cloth streamers. The variety of options available to her expanded even further when support items came into the mix, and Uzume had a pretty good track record of finding interesting combinations of different factors.

“Rick-kun, would you accompany me as well?” She invited me, “I want to dance for you.”

Faced with an invitation like that, how could I turn her down? Releasing my hold on Irene, I stepped forward to join my Veil Sekirei, activating my own Garment Grid’s dressphere. As pink petals blew in from nowhere, I swung with one arm, materializing a large katana in my grip. Instead of my usual Murasame, this one had a flame motif along its length, which matched the blade guard on it.

Meanwhile, my clothes had transformed as well. I now wore an open-faced helmet with a crest above my brow, and several armor pieces on my shoulders, arms and thighs. The rest of my clothes were similarly Japanese in style, as befitting of the source of my current dressphere.

For me, I handled all the physical attacking dresspheres; Warrior, Thief, Dark Knight… And in this situation, the Samurai. Since they all used blades, my Swordsman DA was a perfect fit for them. Simple attacks were quite powerful, but the fun part of skills was adding other effects to the mix, like the ones from Sekiro’s world that Matsu mixed in.

A bit of MP expenditure, combined with a flick of my free hand, and the charging fiends recoiled as multiple fireworks went off among their numbers. With their ability to act temporarily stolen from them, I was free to move in and attack.

To my side, Uzume started her dance, one with frequent spins and twirls. Glowing scarves made out of light flew out to constrict around the fiends, slowing them down even further. She also started singing as well, a high-energy song I recognized from a shonen anime. A red glow appeared around both of us, signifying a boost in attack strength.

My first target was the hard-armored one among the group. Grabbing the handle of my weapon in both hands, I raised it above my head, and swung it down hard.

[Kabuto-wari]!

The helm-splitting attack, designed to pierce through high physical defenses, easily sliced the monster into two, and its separate parts quickly dispersed into pyreflies. I moved onto the next one, grabbing a few Gil between my fingers and flinging it. The scattered impacts failed to kill it, but the fiend was left reeling, and I sensed an opening appear in its posture.

[Deathblow]!

My body automatically adjusted itself into the proper stance, and executed a perfect thrust right into the center of the fiend’s body. Technically a passive skill, [Deathblow] had a chance of triggering depending on the number of debuffs its target had. Once it did so, despite its target’s relatively healthy status, a single strike would completely reap its life. Much more reliable than the Samurai’s original [Zantetsu]. However, instead of simply escaping and fading into nothingness, the pyreflies collected around my blade, forming an energy coating that extended the blade’s length and damage. 

Combining the [Breath of Life] skills together with the [Bestowal Ninjutsu], along with the Samurai’s [Momentum] that deals more damage with enemies defeated… I quite like this one.

“[Static Samba]!” Uzume called out, performing a different set of dance moves.

This one caused the remaining enemies to suffer repeated shocks; while the original Songstress could either debuff the enemies or buff her allies, Matsu managed to tweak things so that she could create a version that could attack more directly. And it still didn’t cost a single bit of MP.

Plus with the combination of [Thunder Wave]’s paralysis effect and accessories that boost the effect of Lightning-element attacks, it’s become quite potent too.

With the two of us working in concert, the rest of the fiends were easily culled. So were the subsequent batches, as each of us went through the various skill setups

Afterwards, we raised a small Room for us to rest in and review our performance without being disturbed by more fiend attacks.

“So what do you think of Spira so far?” Uzume asked Irene.

Our party’s mage considered the question for a while before answering. “It’s more dangerous than Earth Land, but the people here, they’re much more hopeful.”

With the use of [Warp], we were able to visit multiple locations within Spira; Besaid, Kilika, Luca, Macalania, the Calm Lands, even the ruins of Zanarkand, where we currently were. That gave Irene plenty of opportunity to interact with the locals and learn more about their history and culture.

“They did just overcome a cycle of destruction and rebuilding that’s gone on for a long, long time,” I pointed out, “It’s not like the whole Dragon Festival thing that you went through before.”

“But from what you told me about the current setting, this world is headed for conflict again.”

Matsu shrugged. “Blame the religion. They were the ones who perpetuated the whole cycle thing, and some of their lies were exposed, causing the current schism.”

“New Yevon, Youth League, and Machina Faction, right?” Irene asked, getting nods from the rest of us, “I would think that it was irresponsible that the one responsible for the whole change didn’t step up to lead.”

“But it was this whole belief in the right of self-determination that led her to break the cycle in the first place,” Uzume interrupted.

As the two of them began debating the philosophy behind FFX’s storyline, I turned to Matsu. 

“By the way, are you still connected to Vegnagun?”

“I am,” She confirmed, tapping her temple, “Shuyin hasn’t reached it yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Its hostility sensors are able to track the other two members, Nooj and Gippal, and they’re slowly closing in.”

“So the schedule…”

“Is still on track.”

I changed the subject. “Any issues with the data collection from earlier?”

“Nope!” She replied with satisfaction, “It’s going to take me some time to parse through all of it though, not to mention the adjustments for the next round of testing. Do you have any feedback?”

I thought for a moment. “I think the [Deathblow] failed once? And the powerup from the kill didn’t feel very stable.”

“Hold on, let me check…” Matsu accessed the data stored on [Archive], her eyes darting over the rapidly scrolling information. “I see. You’re right. There’s a high variance value… this will require tuning.”

“Just pace yourself, okay?” I told her, patting her hand fondly. “There’s no point in overworking yourself.”

“I’ll be careful,” She promised, slipping her hand around to grab onto mine instead, squeezing tightly, “But perhaps you could give me some reminders…”

I sighed in the face of Matsu’s sly invitation, delivered with a blush that was tempting enough already.

Never change, my perverted Sekirei…

Though I didn’t use telepathy then, Matsu stuck her tongue out and winked at me as though she knew what I was thinking.

…

With the rest of the Gullwings listening, Yuna spoke about her experience in the Farplane, after a blast from the corrupted Aeon Ixion had knocked her down there. Controlled by the emotions of the late summoner and songstress Lenne, she met the man who looked like the one she pined for, except it wasn’t him. His name was Shuyin, and he was Lenne’s lover in the past, but the hatred and rage had corrupted him, and now he was intent on destroying the entirety of Spira so that there would be no more war.

The arrival of Nooj and Gippal snapped her out of it, allowing her to realize that the Shuyin she was seeing was actually Baralai, whom Shuyin’s spirit was possessing. The man fled, with Nooj and Gippal in pursuit. Before they left, they passed Yuna a pair of Crimson Spheres to be handed over to Paine, along with a request to take care of things topside. After that, she wandered around the Farplane for some time before the sound of familiar whistles led her to emerge out in the depths of Bevelle, where the Gullwings finally found her.

According to the feeds from CommSphere Network, the situation across Spira was not good; both the Youth League and New Yevon were gearing up to attack each other, thinking that it was better to strike first rather than to be struck. Thankfully, there were some people trying their best to maintain cooler heads, but if nothing was done, it would soon flare up into actual conflict. The question was what exactly could they do.

Which was when Brother suggested the idea of having Yuna sing and dance to calm the folks down, and the rest of the Gullwings decided to go with it. The brainstorming session that followed led them to conclude that they should recruit Tobli to help produce their concert. However, the Pelupelu was apparently on the run from his Al Bhed debt collectors. Once again, the CommSphere Network came in handy, as Yuna began looking for any clues of Tobli’s presence.

A lead appeared when she connected to the one placed at the hot springs in Mount Gagazet, with the feed displaying a bespectacled woman with twin braids sitting with her feet in the spring.

She perked up after a few moments, before turning to look at the sphere. “Oh, Miss Yuna.”

Yuna took a moment to recall the other woman’s name. “Matsu, right?” 

She nodded. “Yes. Is something the matter?”

Yuna shook her head. “No, it’s nothing much. Are you alone? Where’s Rick?”

Matsu’s eyes flicked off to the side, where soft moans of pleasure could barely be heard. Yuna decided that whoever that person was, she must have been really enjoying the hot spring.

“Oh, he’s busy elsewhere, but I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually. More importantly, I’ve managed to progress the mastery of the Trainer dressphere you left with me last time, mastering another three skills.”

“Oh wow!” Yuna perked up at that good news. “I’ve found a few more valuable accessories recently, so I might ask for your help again soon.”

“Of course. You know where to find me.”

“Luca, right?”

Matsu shook her head. “Blitzball season is starting soon, and it’ll be too crowded for my liking. I’ll probably stay around Guadosalam. Oh, have you heard this rumor recently?”

“The brewing conflict between the Youth League and New Yevon? I think that’s all everyone has been talking about.”

She shook her head again. “Not that. You remember Tobli? We were helping him sell tickets at the Moonflow.”

“What about him?” Yuna didn’t mention that they were looking for him yet.

“I heard some Al Bhed are after him because he owes them money. Seems like some of his recent productions didn’t do too well.”

“Would you happen to know where he is? We’re kind of looking for him too.”

“You are?” Despite the questioning tone, Matsu didn’t sound very surprised. “Then I would suggest looking around the Moonflow. Better hurry though.”

Yuna nodded. “Alright. Thank you.”

Just as the feed disconnected, she thought she saw Rick and another woman come out from behind a rock, looking very pleased with themselves.

With their destination decided, the Gullwings flew over to the Moonflow, where the trio of girls disembarked to search for Tobli. As expected, they weren’t the only ones; there were several Al Bhed around, all searching for the diminutive fellow as well. Tobli appeared a few times, but somehow always managed to stay one step ahead of his pursuers. Yuna and her friends did their best to stay on his trail, and eventually managed to catch up to him in Guadosalam.

“Hi, hi, what can I do for you? What brings you here?” Tobli greeted them in his hyperactive manner, as though he hadn’t been haphazardly evading his debt collectors.

“Well…” Rikku tapped her chin.

After they explained the plan to him, Tobli was jumping to handle the production. In order to draw the biggest numbers, he suggested holding it at the Thunder Plains, and to promote the event and attract people to come, the stage producer had a trusty band of Hypello all willing to handle the task.

“Advertising ish our shpeshalty. We’ll get you your shpectators.” The frog-like representative told them.

“Are you sure about this?” Paine asked Yuna doubtfully.

Before she could reply, a message came through the comms.

“Round up every last Hypello and bring them with you,” Buddy instructed, “Brother’s orders.”

Seeing as the decision was out of her hands, Yuna shrugged. 

The Celsius flew all over Spira, dropping off the Hypello. In the meantime, Yuna joined Rikku in the bar, where a mini stage was set up for them to rehearse their dancing and singing.

“Say, have you found any more of those notes lately?” Rikku asked her as they were taking a short breather.

“Notes? Oh, you mean those.” Yuna thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”

“Miss Yuna?” Barkeep the Hypello called out to them. 

“Yes?”

“There’sh a note left for you here.”

Surprised and curious, the two of them went over to take a look. Once again, the note contained a vague piece of advice that was prophetic in nature.

‘Pesky dragon wants to spoil the show, too unappreciative of the magic? Steal its will or Eject it entirely!’

Rikku looked at her cousin. “What do you think it means?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

Yuna’s prediction came true very quickly; as people all over Spira gathered at the Thunder Plains, fiends appeared to threaten them. The martial members of the two factions did their best to handle the bulk of them, but the Hypello, who were cordoning off the bulk of the crowd, warned the trio that there was a particularly dangerous one lurking in the cave, and the event couldn’t proceed until it was defeated. Seeing no other choice, Yuna, Rikku and Paine prepared themselves to handle it.

“Oh, Lady Yuna! One moment please!”

Stopped by the call of her name, Yuna turned to see Rick, who was followed by three other women; Matsu, Uzume and a new face of a rather beautiful redhead.

“Yes?”

“I heard you were going to take care of the fiends in the area, so I thought it might be better if you had a little help.” Rick said to her.

“We can take care of it on our own.” Paine told him firmly.

He shook his head. “I don’t mean it in that way. Here.”

He handed her several Megalixirs, and it wasn’t the only gift they received. Matsu returned the Trainer dressphere that had been entrusted to her, and Uzume gave them a bangle that boosted attack damage by a significant amount.

“Thank you. We’ll make good use of these.” Yuna said to the other group gratefully.

Rick smiled at her. “You can pay us back by making the concert a spectacular one. I invited Irene here specially just for it.”

Yuna looked at the redhead, who was looking rather uncomfortable with the persistent rain over the area. “I’ll do my best,” She promised.

The dangerous fiend in the cave turned out to be a dragon, one with powerful attacks. Following the note’s advice, YRP avoided using magic, and it was the Trainer dressphere that proved to be the most useful. Yuna was surprised the dog Kogoro could deal so much damage, and it even managed to deal the finishing blow, with a powerful pound that scattered the fiend into pyreflies.

With the fiend threat dealt with, they returned to the surface just in time to see the Celsius arrive with even more people, and the Hypello finally permitted the crowd to enter the Plains. There were sparks between the two factions as they took notice of each other, but Yuna quickly put a stop to it, drawing everyone’s attention by standing in front of them on the stage. 

She spoke to them, telling them about how the threat of Sin had ended two years ago, and how Spira would only continue to grow and shine from there. Those emotions were what went into the song she intended to sing, and as everyone watched, she started to perform her song.

Yuna wasn’t expecting how it actually turned out.

…

“Oh a thousand words, have never been spoken~” The two figures sang in unison, standing within a giant hologram display, “They’ll fly to you, They’ll carry you home and back into my arms Suspended on silver wings”

Irene leaned her head on my shoulder, and I felt her hand squeeze mine tightly. On my other side, Uzume did the same. And standing right in front of me with her back to my chest was Matsu, who had her own hands on ours. The bonds with my Sekireis were pulsing in time to the song; it seemed like they were particularly susceptible to its effects.

The emotions of a long-dead songstress… yet they feel so real. Real enough to influence us like this…

“This… it is soul magic…” Irene murmured, her voice thick with feelings.

<Rick-tan… I love you so much!> Matsu told me telepathically.

<Ashikabi-sama… my Ashikabi-sama, now and forever…> Even Uzume was in on it.

“They hold you forever~”

Overwhelmed with the emotional burst, I was only barely able to pay attention as the climax of the song created a powerful pulse, one that not only deactivated the hologram display, but even cleared the persistent thunderclouds away. For the first time in ages, the Plains were finally touched by sunlight.

Much later, the four of us sat in a Room discussing the experience. Despite being only a single song, as Yuna had collapsed after the song, it had been so intense that I had gained nearly 600 LP in one go, something I wouldn’t have expected from music alone.

“That was more incredible than I expected!” Uzume gushed. “I knew it was going to happen, but to see Lenne suddenly appear was just amazing.”

“There was some interaction between the dressphere and the sphere hologram technology that was being used for the display,” Matsu explained, “The song evoked emotions to let her spirit manifest itself more strongly from the dressphere, and that carried over to the display, causing the whole scene that we saw.”

“What about that last part though? People are saying that it’s the first time the skies over the Thunder Plains cleared,” Uzume pointed out.

Irene cleared her throat. “It was a resonance effect, due in part to the music itself.” 

Our mage specialist proceeded to explain how the persistent thunderstorm was caused by a self-sustaining cycle of mana, but the amplification effect caused by the holographic display also applied to the song’s finale. The result was like a nullification effect, which momentarily dispelled the thunderstorm.

“But it wasn’t enough to halt the cycle entirely,” Irene finished, “Hence the return of the storm afterwards.”

“I see!” Uzume nodded in understanding. 

“It’s given me a lot of ideas too!” Matsu added, “Something like a song-invoked antimagic effect, or a chorus summoning clones!”

I could guess what she had in mind. “You want to go back to the shop to work on it?”

“Can we?” Her brown eyes blinked at me hopefully behind her glasses. “It’s not like there’s anything to stay here for in the immediate future.”

“We don’t?” Irene questioned.

I looked at the redhead. “Actually, she’s right. This whole concert was meant to discourage the two sides from fighting, and it accomplished just that. Both sides are no longer intending to fight each other.”

“Not only that,” Uzume chimed in, “We’ve left all the notes to help the protagonists with several things in the future, so we only just need to come back at the end for the final pickup!”

“Do you want to stay here a little longer, Irene?” I asked her.

“It has been very nice,” She admitted, “Especially the scenery, but I think I’ve had my fill of fighting for the time being.”

She’s got a point. Final Fantasy settings have no shortage of enemies outside of the safe zones. “Just asking, but do you have any particular favorite spots?”

Irene looked at me, a light blush coloring her face. “Zanarkand was nice, and so was Mount Gagazet. Especially the hot spring.”

“Wasn’t that where you and Rick-” Matsu jerked, as though someone kicked her underneath the table. “Oh, I see~”

Despite her teasing tone, the bespectacled Sekirei said nothing more, but simply grinned at Irene. 

The hot spring up at Mount Gagazet was quite nice to soak in, but I also had some particularly exciting memories of the deeds I did with my girls there. We even put up repelling wards just so we weren’t interrupted by other visitors.

“Don’t change the subject,” Irene reprimanded Matsu, though without any heat.

“I didn’t though?” She replied innocently. “It was Rick-tan who did.”

Irene glanced at me, but made no move to scold me. “To repeat what I said, I enjoyed my time here, but I would like to return to the shop.”

“Uzume?”

“I miss Leafeon,” My brunette Sekirei admitted, “Since she chose to stay home instead of coming with us this time.”

“And you already know my answer, Rick-tan!” Matsu chimed in, “So what will it be?”

Just like the time I had defeated the Goliath by surpassing my limits, the whole song experience had left me somewhat emotionally drained, so going back to the shop to rest and relax was a much welcome experience. 

And believe me, I find letting the job persona take over for me at the shop front to be quite relaxing.

“Your shop’s sphere technology is very intriguing!” An ethereal figure in a floating robe told me enthusiastically after he finished his current purchase, “I’ve read through some of the development records, and I would like to know if it is possible to create customized ones based on the spirit records of some of the famous heroes in my world’s history.”

Okay, now this is a rather unique request. And he actually read through that lengthy thing in this short a time? He’s definitely powerful.  “It might be possible,” I told the deity, “But it would take some time, and Sano might not be able to guarantee the results.”

“I would still like to try,” The god insisted, “I have enough divine energy to spare for this.”

Now I’m a little concerned about what sort of god he is to the world he oversees… “Understood, honored customer. We will attempt to craft job classes as you request.”

The god pulled on his clothes, seemingly tearing strips from his robes, but they turned into tiny orbs afterwards, which he left on the counter. After making sure I knew how to contact him once it was done, he finally departed.

“Hmm, a specific request from a customer…” Sano told me after I informed him about it, when he called to check in on me, “It’s doable. I’ve checked it and the record isn’t all that different from the spheres in Spira. I believe you all can handle it instead of me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Can the girls do it?”

“We’ll try.” I said with some confidence. “Wait, the girls?” Not me?

“Good. And yes, I’ve got another reason for calling you.” 

“What do you need me to do? Another delivery of magic skills?”

I still remembered the time when I was granted the [World Travel] skill. While I was a little reluctant about going out again so soon after returning, rejecting a work request wasn’t a good idea.

“Not so much a delivery, but a maintenance update instead,” He answered.

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

Sano began to explain; with the shop’s growth and the improvement of the quality of the skills, some of his previous customers started raising concerns about the performance of their older versions. Normally Sano wouldn’t pay much attention to such requests, but apparently some of these deities were old regulars whom he owed favors to.

So just like that Seryaga guy then? “Okay, so what does this update involve?” I asked. “And why can’t that god bring the skill into the shop instead of me going there?”

“There are several reasons for that, but I’ll explain them to you later in more detail. For now, I’m updating your job knowledge so that you will know what to do when you get there.”

I shivered as the knowledge just slotted itself into my head. So the issue stemmed from several minor changes all compounding together, a growth in the world’s system, a transmigrator with an unexpected skill, resulting in a developing incompatibility. My task was to go to that world, diagnose the issue and make the necessary adjustments.

“I take it this is training for me.” Matsu could handle it better than I could, but she’s got the request to deal with.

“That’s right. Don’t worry about the shop. It’s okay to close a little early. I’ll let the others know about their own tasks.”

“Got it. I’ll leave right away then.”

“You know what to do, so get to it.” Sano hung up.

Hmm, a bit abrupt for him. Must be feeling pressure. 

Once again, I picked up [World Travel] from the skill storage with Sano’s permission, along with a few others that would help me make the changes outside the shop’s vicinity. The girls wished me a safe trip, and I stepped out of the shop and my world once more.

As always, [Traveling] was a unique experience, unlike the usual way Sano sent us to other worlds, or when he converted it into the special door we now used. Compared to that delivery I went on last time, the ‘distance’ to this new world wasn’t that far, and I quickly passed through the barrier keeping it separate from the void between worlds.

The divine realm within was fluffy and cloudy, save for a boulder with a cloaked woman sitting on top of it. 

“Greetings, you must be the one from Sano’s shop,” She spoke in a silky voice.

“Yes, I am. How may I be of assistance?”

“Hm, you’re polite. That’s good.” She crossed her hands in her lap. “The transmigrator holding the skill is down in the physical world. I’ll send you down to her, so go fix the problem.”

Before I could ask for more details about this problem, I was expelled from the divine realm, and appeared on a grassy hill overlooking a small village. From where I stood, I could see a few people working the farm fields, as well as some kids playing around. The level of technology was on the medieval side, though I could detect some magical activity as well.

Well, that was abrupt. She really didn’t tell me anything more. I tilted my head thoughtfully. Don’t tell me… Sano asked her to do it like that? Anyway, better not waste time.

Activating my [Search] skill, I quickly located the person in question, who happened to be a young girl sitting by herself on a stump just admiring the scenery. I approached her in an obvious manner, not wanting to startle her.

“Oh, hello!” She greeted me. “Who might you be?”

“Hi, I’m Rick. I’m supposed to help update your skills.”

She blinked, then comprehension dawned on her face. “Ah! Yes! Nice to meet you! I’m Chiho. Hidaka Chiho.”

My expression froze as the name and appearance of the girl synced up in my mind, finally allowing me to recognize her as the one who should have been Uzume’s Ashikabi.

Afterword: Well, that’s another chapter for this story done. Sorry for the slow update! My muse left me for a bit, and I was suffering from a severe case of food poisoning, with fever and diarrhea that lasted for days. Would not recommend. 

As most of you probably guessed, the supposed death of Chiho was an excuse for an isekai! Though to be honest, I have no idea where I plan to go with this. Maybe it’s a short scene for some closure, maybe something more, I can never tell with my muse!

Thanks to all my readers who still support me!