Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 21

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 21:

“A set of replacement skills, as you requested.”

“I am satisfied.”

The god touched the pad to transfer the required amount, and left with its new skills.

“Next customer, please.” I waited for the deity in the form of a long-haired boy to come up to the counter. “How may I assist you?”

“I require several of your destructive elemental skills,” He stated almost robotically.

“Certainly. Would you like them as is, or would you prefer our reusable magic staff version?”

“What is the difference?”

“The latter encourages the holder to learn the intricacies of the skill to develop further, and while it is possible to make sure that it can’t be stolen from the holder, it can also be further modified to remain within the world should the holder depart. This way, it can be reused.”

“I understand.” There was a pause. “I would like a set of three of these, in addition to the elemental skills I requested.”

“Certainly. Please touch the pad.”

This was the first time I saw more than one deity present within the shop at the same time, leaving me with no choice but to make them queue.

Just as Sano said, the number of customers coming to the shop saw an increase, and the majority of them were requesting high energy skills to replace what they had lost. 

It was a distinct difference from those worlds who took in transmigrators to drain off some of the excess magic energy from worlds that could spare them. Considering this reverse in energy flow, there was a chance that some more transmigrators would appear to balance things out, but until then…

Work, work~

“Welcome back to Sano’s Skill Services,” I recited for the first time, “How may I serve you again?”

The unfamiliar god scrutinized me as he strode up to to the counter.“So Sano decided to hire a human to handle the work for him? Well, no matter, I need two- no, four of the skills I purchased last time.”

He touched the pad without needing me to tell him to, letting it read his data.

This god had purchased skills from this shop over a decade ago, and the job persona was responding based on that record. It was quite an extensive one too.

“Certainly, divine customer.” I began pulling out the skills from the storage. “May I also interest you in some of Sano’s newer products?”

“Show it to me later,” The god commanded.

“As you wish.”

Sometimes it made me wonder just how dangerous those demon kings are to require such destructive skills to defeat. 

In some cases, I knew the answer, because those demon kings were the former heroes, turned to evil for some reason or another. Sometimes it was the transmigrator themselves who had that hidden side of their character, other times it was the world that was just that shitty, or even the god that just wanted to take care of a ‘loose end’.

I couldn’t do a thing about it in my current state, so I just carried out my tasks and tried to forget about it.

Reality really was stranger than fiction, when it came to the multiverse.

“I apologize, but you do not have enough DP to pay for all these.”

Instead of demanding a discount, the god examined his selections once more, before looking back at me. “Which would you suggest I give up for now?”

Humbler than his appearance would suggest. “I would suggest this one.”

“What’s your reasoning?”

I had a tendency of blanking out when asked directly like that during work, which took quite a while to adapt to, but the job persona really helped in overcoming that issue.

“Its functions can be covered for by restructuring some of the others, particularly this, this, and this. We can handle that for a small charge, which your DP should be sufficient to cover.”

“We?”

“My colleague handles the modification work in the back of this shop,” I explained.

“I see. Then I shall do as you suggest.”

“Thank you for your business. Please wait a moment while the modification is being done.”

I pushed the three skills into the pad, and signaled Matsu through it.

<What’s up, Rick-tan? What do you need?> She asked through telepathy.

I conveyed the customer’s request. <Can you do it?>

<No problem. I’ll have it done right away!>

The skills came back, now in the form of four, and I handed it over to the deity for his inspection.

“I am impressed. Sano has chosen good workers.”

“Thank you for saying so. We hope to see you again.”

Even with the puppeteering assistance, I was quite relieved to see the shop close for the day, and let myself slump down on the counter once there was no one else but me present.

The buzz of my phone made me take it out of my pocket for a look. I couldn’t use it during work, so sometimes I had a backlog of notifications to work through.

‘How was work today?’ My dad’s message read.

‘Quite busy.’ 

‘New Year’s rush?’ 

I snorted at that question, and just responded with a short ‘yes’.

‘Treat yourself to a nice dinner afterwards then’ 

Now that made me smile, and I kept smiling all the way even after I stepped through the door to the shared living space.

“Welcome back, Rick-kun! Would you like to have dinner or a bath first? Or me?” Uzume winked with that last one.

“You first then!”

I swept her up into a deep kiss, one that she returned just as intensely, before we broke apart with sappy smiles on our faces. 

“Vee~” Our Pokemon padded up with a greeting of her own.

“Hello to you too, Eevee.” I watched her nod and stroll off to the couch, hopping up onto it and laying down, before looking at Uzume. “Did you bring her out?”

“Yes, I did. She had a nice checkup at the Pokemon Center, and there were no problems. Plus she even took part in a few battles.”

“No wonder she’s acting tired.” Before I could say anything further, the door opening behind me made me turn to look.

“Rick-tan! Uzume-tan! I’m back!” Matsu strolled in, pecking the two of us on the cheek as a greeting. “What’s for dinner?”

“Katsudon! I’m just about to start cooking!”

“Can’t wait.”

After a filling meal, we got to talking about our respective days, while idly watching our respective shows. Mine and Matsu’s days weren’t much different from what we usually had, apart from the increased customer traffic, so instead we listened to Uzume’s account of her visit to the Pokemon world today.

The door allowed her to go in without any issue, and apparently Arceus had no objection, because she appeared directly in Celadon City. Probably because Eevee was with her.

Since she hadn’t brought any skill-procurement stuff, she treated it like going on a walk with Eevee. She chatted with other Trainers, beat them in battle, and treated her and Eevee at a restaurant with the winnings.

“Some of them were asking me what I did to train Eevee, because she was quite strong for her age.”

“Really? She hasn’t been in that many battles before though.”

“Maybe it’s the growth skills you put inside her?” Matsu suggested.

“Oh right. That would do it.”

“I don’t think that was all though,” Uzume added, “I saw the way she ran around the field, and it reminded me of us running in our ATs.”

“You mean that she managed to pick up some of our skills just by watching us? Our little Eevee must be a genius.”

“That she is.”

After my current show came to an end, we finally got around to discussing the topic of the next world we planned to visit.

“With Sano gone, even if we collect skills for trading, we won’t be able to earn any DP. Not until he comes back,” I pointed out.

“True, but you need to look further ahead,” Matsu countered, “I can rework those skills, and we can earn even more DP with those.”

“So the best option would be the worlds with game-like settings then,” Uzume concluded.

“True, but at this point, I’m the only one who has been to Ivalice and Skyrim before. If we want a game world, then it has to be the Harem Labyrinth one.”

Since we still had to wait before we could access the worlds we requested of Sano, that decided our immediate schedule.

Seeing as we were sleepy after filling our stomachs, we decided to depart the next day instead. Time practically flew by during work, and I bolted out of there once the closing procedures were done. 

Uzume and Matsu were already waiting for me, dressed in practical clothing and gear appropriate for that world. The Veil Sekirei had a set ready for me as well, along with several bags of supplies for us to use while we were there. I wasn’t shy about using a [Quick Change] skill just to speed things up a bit.

Eevee didn’t mind watching the place, and we made sure to set an auto-recall on a timer to prevent us from overstaying.

The World Travel Door had taken up location next to the storeroom entrance in the main corridor, and it took only a moment before it connected to the other world, and released us out into Vale.

“So where to first?” Uzume asked.

“The Explorer guild, for starters. We ought to move to Quratar, since that’s where the main character is.”

“Lead the way then, Rick-tan!”

The main reason for going to that place was to make use of the transportation services offered by Adventurers using the [Field Walk] spell, since I had never been to that place before. It was like having a more experienced player unlock a waypoint for power leveling in Diablo 2. 

At the same time, I wanted to buy some magic crystals, which was another method of making money in this world. Since the place handled that as well, that just made things more convenient.

Trips to Quratar had a regular schedule, and the next one wasn’t too far off, which was perfect for our purposes. So when the Adventurer came through the portal calling for people interested in traveling to Quratar, we were ready with our black magic crystals.

“[Join Party].” We accepted the man’s invitation to join his group.

“[Field Walk].”

We followed the person through the black portal, and came out into a more developed place.

“Alright, let’s find a place to stay while we’re here. As for what comes later… well, we’ll see.”

“It’ll be nice to take a break from making costumes,” Uzume remarked.

Unlike the main character, we weren’t going to be renting a house for a whole year. Probably just a few months.

And sure enough, we were recommended an apartment. It was within the city’s main district, so we had to be wary of attention. Or so it would have been, if we didn’t have other advantages to sidestep that issue.

The data gained from analyzing Michio’s cheat skills allowed me to use [Creation] to replicate them pretty well. If I were to be exact, his whole schtick could be referred to as [Bonus Points], a mini-system with which he could purchase the various upgrades he wanted, and adjust as desired. Compared to that, my created versions were standalone skills that were permanent, limited only by the LP it took to create them.

They still worked with the whole Party system, so I could make [Increased EXP Gain] and [Reduced EXP Requirement] apply to my Sekireis. 

It was pretty interesting experimenting with the various options that were available. 

“So with [Warp], we don’t have to pay the entry fee every time,” Matsu summarized, “And it works even through the shield cement that’s used in a lot of the construction here.”

“We should at least make a show of going out though, in case people get suspicious.”

I nodded to Uzume. “You’re right. We can leave through the guild sometimes then.” No one would question it if we were going out through there, and we can equip our gear once we’re in the labyrinth.

“Come to think of it, have you checked out the equipment in the weapon shops?” 

Matsu crossed her arms. “Yeah, but the basic stuff can’t even compare to what you’ve brought from Ivalice. I bet you could get a lot of money if you sold just one of them.”

“I’d rather not.”

The redhead sighed. “Anyway, I think it’s too risky to use our Ivalice weapons. We might attract robbers.”

“Yeah, I assumed as much. We’ll just have to endure with the basic equipment here.”

“Or,” Uzume interrupted, “You could conceal their appearance with your illusion magic.”

“...my title as the Wisdom Sekirei is at risk.”

I just facepalmed. We were already using illusion magic, and it had totally slipped my mind about using it for our equipment.

“Still, we should at least try seeing how the basic equipment fares,” The brunette relented.

“Okay…”

“Seeing as we already bought some…”

And so, our temporary life in this Harem Labyrinth world began.

…

“Hey, aren’t you…”

“Oh, hi again,” I greeted the black-haired male who was approaching. “Fancy running into you here.”

The black-haired male and the orange-haired buxom wolfkin was Michio and his companion Roxanne, and they were wearing cloth and leather armor. His level had gone up by quite a lot, thanks to his EXP booster skills.

“Rick, wasn’t it?” Michio guessed.

“Yep. You look like you’re doing well for yourself, Michio.”

Next to us, Roxanne nodded to my Sekireis, who returned the gesture.

[Appraisal detected!]

I could see his eyes widen slightly when he saw my current job. Seeing as he still only had Roxanne as his companion, he probably didn’t know anything about it other than the name.

In this world, races had their racial jobs; wolfkins had [Beast Warrior], dwarves had [Master Smith], and humans, with their strong sex drive…

[Sex Maniac]. Something unlockable for humans who had more than one bed partner.

“I could say the same for you,” He responded casually.

“Rick-tan, it’s getting late, so we should call it a day for today.”

“She’s right, Master,” Roxanne agreed with Matsu.

“Your companion can tell the time too?”

“She’s very talented,” I said with a smirk. Being a tuner means having a perfect sense of rhythm.

There was a brief moment of silence as both of us tried to decide what to do next. 

Of course I knew the reason. He was hiding his skills from people outside of his party, and that meant not using them in a way that stood out. 

I finally chose to make the first move. “So… wanna catch up on things with each other?” 

“...well, I don’t mind.” Michio seemed to be receptive to my offer.

“We’re currently staying in an apartment in the third district, but it’s a bit small, so…”

“Oh, that’s fine then. We’re renting a house, so why don’t you join us for dinner?”

“If it’s not too much trouble for you…”

“We have some supplies of our own, so please let us contribute too,” Uzume offered.

The wolfkin perked up at that. “Oh, that would be most welcome!” 

“Then we’ll wait for you at the guild, if that’s okay?”

“Alright.”

I exchanged glances with my Sekireis, before blatantly using [Warp] on the wall near us without any chant. This time, Michio’s reaction of surprise was unmistakable, though I didn’t get to see him recover before we left.

Michio didn’t mention it when he came to pick us up later, though I caught him giving our equipment appraising looks as he led us on a long walk to the outskirts of Quratar’s sixth district, until we finally arrived at a house with a simple herb garden outside. 

“Welcome back, Master. And you too, Sir Rick.”

“So, you girls mind helping Roxanne with preparing the food?” I asked the two Sekireis as we entered the place.

“Sure thing! Enjoy your guy-to-guy talk!” Matsu winked at us.

Michio led me upstairs to one of the empty rooms, where there were two chairs waiting. Considering the absence of two chairs from the dining table below, I assumed he brought them up here for this personal conversation.

“Please sit.” He gestured to one of the chairs, taking the other for himself.

I did as he said, sitting across from him.

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together in front of his mouth.

“You’re… from another world too, right?” He asked me directly.

“Yes, I am. Just like you.”

The man’s expression didn’t change, but I could see he was thinking furiously.

“What are you here for?” Michio finally asked.

“A vacation. I work for a god, and I came here to unwind.” And to collect skills too.

“Then you can go back?”

I nodded. “I can.”

His eyes glanced downwards, towards the kitchen. I knew he was looking at Roxanne, whose position he could perceive through the party system.

“You have special skills too, right? Are they like my Bonus Points?” Michio asked.

I couldn’t help it. I snorted, then broke down chuckling. “Ahahaha… okay, okay, that’s enough playing from me.”

He tensed up. “What do you mean?” 

I recovered and straightened up in my seat to meet his eyes.

“Let me introduce myself again. My name is Rick Steel,” I stated politely, “And I work in a job that deals with skills for people who go to other worlds.”

Michio listened attentively as I gave a brief explanation of what I did in my job, and how it gave me access to other worlds like this. It definitely caught his interest, and he began asking a few questions about it, which I answered readily.

He appeared to have the impression that I was doing this as a research trip as well, given what I said about differences in skills and systems of various worlds.

That was true too.

“Normally, the chances of me coming into contact with a transmigrator is quite small, so you can consider this a lucky coincidence,” I finished.

“Wait, so what can you do then? If you deal with skills, then…”

“How about this?” I took out a wooden wand, one of the spares we had. “I’m sure your [Appraisal] can already tell, but this doesn’t have any skill slots.”

Michio nodded, already confirming the truth of my words. “What are you going to do?”

With him carefully observing, I used [Bestowal] on the wand, demonstrating one of the results of my experimenting in this world.

[Bestowal] could apply skill slots to weapons, but the LP cost increased for every slot that it already had, so anything above five slots wouldn’t be economical. But for putting one on a weapon without any, it was quite cheap.

Also, it cost less LP to [Bestow] a skill on a weapon with a slot, so the difference in cost had to be due to adding the required slot. 

“How…?” 

“Here,” I extended my hand, holding the wand out for him to take, “Consider this a gift. Feel free to load it with any skill you want.”

“How do I- Ah!” He quickly opened up his item box, and pulled out a hexagonal crystal. “The skill crystal!”

“That’s right,” I confirmed. That was the trigger for him to start looking into them.

He cupped his chin thoughtfully, clearly pondering the issue of how to go about fusing a skill crystal with a weapon.

“Well, I leave that for you to figure out.” I got to my feet. “Looks like dinner’s ready. They’re coming to call us.”

He looked downwards again, confirming what I said.

“Oh, and just to point out, that was only one of my skills. If you’re interested in seeing more, we can discuss that later.”

Dinner was a savory dish of stir fried meat and vegetables, with a thick soup to go along with it, courtesy of Uzume’s cooking skill at work. 

It was interesting to see how Michio’s usual pattern was altered by our presence, especially with the revelations of my origins to him. On the other hand, Roxanne’s behavior was the same as always.

“Yes, Master is amazing. I think he will accomplish great things one day.”

“No, no,” Michio denied, “I don’t think I’ll ever accomplish anything great.”

“I disagree,” His slave protested.

The teen’s eyes turned from her to me. “It’s true,” He looked back at her, “Rather, I’m here precisely for the sake of not doing anything.”

A nice enviable slow life then… except it involves daily monster fighting. I raised my mug up slightly to him in a silent toast, and he nodded back.

“Oh, by the way, Rick,” Michio suddenly said, “What’s it like fighting in a group of three? The two of us are doing pretty well on our own, but from the 8th floor onwards, we’ll be facing four monsters at once, and that seems a bit difficult.”

Matsu spoke up, “Just to be clear, you’re using magic from the back, while Roxanne fights at the front?”

“That’s correct.”

What followed was a conversation regarding the intricacies of party-based battles that concluded with Michio announcing that he intended to add a dwarf member to the party. To that purpose, he decided that they would make a trip to Vale to see the slave merchant there. 

Naturally, Roxanne accepted.

There wasn’t much else to do, and I didn’t want to interrupt his nightly fun, so the three of us left after that. With Michio’s permission, I used [Warp] to go directly back to our apartment, leaving him to explain to his slave how I could travel through shield cement just like he did.

“Did you get anything?” Uzume wanted to know.

“Not yet, but he knows now. We’ll see what he’ll do later.” I began taking off my clothes, “Shall we continue our testing of [Enhanced Vigor]?”

“Yes, please!” Matsu was already stripping, “I’m interested in seeing how it compares to your [Sexual Stamina] one!”

It was good that I had a silencing barrier up, because otherwise we would be keeping the neighbors up with how much noise we were making the whole night.

Apparently, [Sexual Stamina] was something like reducing the rate of stamina consumption during sexual intercourse, while [Enhanced Vigor] boosted all stats the entire time. And for the latter, that included the libido. Having both of them on… well, it would take the majority of a day, but I could actually wear out both Sekireis.

Much LP was earned that day.

The [Sex Maniac] job also had an active skill called [Abstinence Attack], which would convert a user’s repressed lust into a powerful attack, but using it while normal would just result in a harmless attack that barely dealt any damage.

Apart from that, we continued fighting our way through the labyrinth, honing our skills and abilities as we did so. Unlike Michio’s party, who was juggling both Quratar’s and Vale’s labyrinths, we were only focusing on Quratar’s one.

One particularly memorable fight was against the 7th Floor Boss, called the Rapid Rabbit.

The red-furred rabbit was as fast as its name indicated, making zigzag dashes around the room as it tried to attack each of us in turn with headbutts and slashing slaps of its large ears. That was a behavioral quirk we could exploit.

“[Slow],” I cast, causing its movements to become much more manageable.

“[Blizzard]!” Matsu hit it with an ice spell, before shaking her head, “Seems like it’s resistant to ice magic.”

The rabbit rolled back onto its feet, and began dashing towards Uzume. The attack was blocked by a spinning length of cloth, before a counter sent the beast flying through the air. I was already in position for the follow up.

[Full Focus Breathing: Seventh Water Form]...

[Drop Ripple Thrust]!

Murasame slid right through the rabbit’s neck with barely any resistance, and the next moment, it exploded into a cloud of smoke, signifying its defeat.

“Its evasion only works when it’s on the ground,” Uzume observed.

“Should we try again to see how tough it is without being slowed?”

“Sounds good to me.”

The subsequent fight was a little tougher, but still within our means to handle. We repeated it several times more, each time testing different tactics and methods. However, as long as we exploited its weakness or negated its strength, the boss fight became nothing more than a way to grind.

Aside from that, we continued to unlock more jobs and skills, gathering the data to look over later. That made for good trading with Michio, who was willing to share details on his discovery and have me appraise his skills in exchange.

“I recently unlocked [Cook], probably due to reaching [Explorer] Level 30,” He reported during one of our occasional check ins.

“I see, you’re right.” I noted that down for later. “So, what would you like in exchange?”

“Could you tell me what this skill does? I’ve tried to use it before, but it didn’t work,” He asked.

That was one downside of his Bonus Points cheat; the skills and stuff they granted him didn’t come with the description of their effects. If he didn’t have [Appraisal], he wouldn’t have known what his cheat-granted weapon would do.

“[Meteor Crash]... It’s a Fire and Earth element type magic attack that summons meteors on your target. The reason it didn’t work is because you lack the necessary MP to cast it.”

“Guess I’ll have to level up my Wizard job if I want to use it…”

“Oh, look at the time. We should go pick up our girls.”

“You’re right. I’ll use [Warp] then.”

With Michio leading the way, we warped over to the Imperial Capital, which was much more crowded compared to Quratar. With the night approaching, the number of people heading home had swelled the crowd even more.

Our destination was the library, where Matsu and Michio’s new member Sherry were poring over the records of labyrinths.

Sherry was a petite black-haired dwarf that Michio had added to his party to fulfill his need for a [Master Smith], and she was very knowledgeable on a lot of things that Michio had no idea about as a foreigner. She enjoyed reading, so he indulged her by letting her spend time in the library in exchange for gathering knowledge, as preparation for their future labyrinth trips.

Normally I’d be doing the same, but Matsu insisted that the role be given to her, and I gave in.

As expected of a medieval fantasy, books were very precious here, so the library extracted an entry fee and a deposit for keeping the books in good condition. We waited for them to receive back their deposit, and headed off to meet up with the final members of our respective parties.

That said, our time in this world was quickly coming to an end. We had pretty much covered most of what we came here to do. Unlike Michio, we weren’t that hard up on cash as we didn’t need to buy better gear or pay for a year-long housing rental. Not to mention that beating a boss helped charge up the magic crystal much faster than normal monsters, and we’ve been grinding the Rapid Rabbit quite a lot.

“It was nice meeting you again, Rick,” Michio said to me as we shook hands, “Good luck with whatever you’re aiming for.”

“Same to you, Michio,” I glanced at the two girls waiting behind him, “Though I think you’re on your way there. Maybe I might see a third member the next time I come?”

“Hahaha…” He laughed nervously, feeling Roxanne’s gaze on his back.

“Alright, see you when I see you!”

We used [Warp] to go to a more secluded area, and finally triggered the recall to return us back to Sano’s shop. According to the clock, we were only gone for a few hours.

“Ah, Eevee, I missed you so much!” Uzume picked up the cheerful Pokemon when she came to greet us.

“Vee~”

Matsu was already raiding the fridge. “Ahhh… I missed having a cold drink like this! Want some, Rick-tan?” 

“Yes, thanks.” I took the can from her and took a gulp.

“Indirect kiss~”

“Compared to all the direct ones we’ve had… it doesn’t even give me any LP.”

“Here then.” 

She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, and pressed a deep kiss against my lips with her tongue slipping in.

[103,200 LP]

All the stuff we did while we were there had finally gotten me above a hundred thousand LP, even with the skills I spent them on in our experimenting.

As expected, Uzume interrupted before things got carried away.

“Eevee, Quick Attack!” 

“Eeeeee…VEE!”

We took a nice long soak after that, since we had lacked access to a proper bathtub like the way Michio had in his house, and had a light meal before going to sleep.

Getting back to work after that long time away was nice, even if the large customer crowd continued to persist. The number of gods wanting replacements was still high, but with the increased magic energy back in the transmigrators’ original worlds, there were more than a few customers who wanted to utilize that excess for their own worlds.

“You have quite a lot of DP to spare, so I would recommend these skills for your selected transferee.”

“How would that work?” The goddess inquired.

“He has past experience with the crafting system of this game, which is very similar to the one in your world. By taking these skills and incorporating them into your world’s system, he will be able to utilize his experience very well. This ought to lead to more progress for your world’s level of technology.”

“Oh my, you’ve convinced me. I will take it then!”

“Thank you for your business. Will you need anything else?”

“No, that shall be all for now. I will let my fellow goddesses know of the service you have provided me.” With that, the goddess floated out of the shop.

“Next customer, please.”

The barbarian-like god scoffed as he came up to the counter. “Prissy goddess… gimme the best heavy weapon you have, and load it with skills fit for a warrior on the frontline!”

“Right away, customer.” I pulled out one of the weapons based on the broadswords from Ivalice, along with some stat-boosting passives and sword-wielding active skills. “Please examine these to see if you like them.”

He grunted. “Good enough for me.”

“Please touch the pad then.”

“Why?”

“It will allow me to configure the skills to better suit your world.”

“No need, I can handle that myself.”

I kind of doubt that… “Then please touch it to complete the payment.”

“...Fine.” 

After I nodded to confirm the transaction was done, the god swept up his purchases and left.

“Next customer, please.”

“I suspect that god will return when he messes up,” The cap-wearing god remarked as he stepped up to the counter.

“I cannot comment on that.” Even if I agree with you. “How may I help you today?”

And so on it went. A day of work followed by a night of rest and relaxation, with the occasional visit to another world to unwind.

Matsu was quite busy working on modifying the skills and jobs we obtained, trying to craft mini-system of her own based on Michio’s data, but she didn’t object when we dragged her out. Meanwhile, Uzume returned to her clothes-making with a revived enthusiasm.

“What do you think, Rick-kun? Does it look good on me?” Uzume asked me, spinning around to give me a good view of her outfit.

“Very sexy.” That FGO swimsuit is damn erotic.

“What about mine, Rick-tan?” Matsu was joining in as a model as well.

“Yours too…”

That night ended with those outfits off their bodies and on the floor, much like our other nights. 

I’m sure they could probably make it as professional cosplayers if they wanted to, but neither of them expressed any interest in such.

And then finally, the thing we were waiting for came.

“Hello, hello!” Sano greeted me over the phone. “Doing well there?”

I waited.

“If you replied, I didn’t hear it, because I’m currently too busy for a live call!”

Knew it. 

“Just to let you know that I managed to unlock access to one of the new worlds on your request list.”

“Nice,” I said out loud.

“It’s rather peaceful now that the big threat is gone, but you know there’s another one coming, so be careful while you’re there. Well, I’ve got to get back to work, so make sure you do the same!” So saying, the recording ended.

There wasn’t long to go before the end of the work day. So a few minutes later, I was able to confirm the truth of Sano’s words, along with the exact world the door could now access. Once that was done, I returned back to our living area, ready to share the good news.

“I’ve got good news!” Uzume announced, before I could.

“What is it?” Matsu asked. 

“Eevee’s decided what she wants to evolve into!”

“Ee!” 

“Oh, good for you!” I picked up the Pokemon and began petting her. “So what’s the Eeveelution you have your eye on?”

“Vee~”  She pointed at the evolution stone that Uzume brought out.

The Leaf Stone, which meant that she wanted to become a Leafeon.

With Uzume interpreting, we managed to get a rough explanation for her choice. Out of all the currently known forms, she thought that Leafeon’s peaceful nature suited her temperament best, and with the windows able to give her the sunlight she needed to photosynthesize, that sounded perfect for long naps.

It was a reasonable choice, but I decided to interrupt now instead of spoiling the moment later.

“I also have good news, by the way,” I spoke up, “Sano called to say that we can now go to the world that Uzume wanted.”

“Really?!” She perked up. 

I nodded. “Yeah, I checked earlier. When do you want to go?”

“Now is fine for a short trip,” Matsu added, “The weekend’s coming up too, and we can stay longer then.”

“It should be possible to bring Eevee- no, Leafeon, there,” I looked at the brown fox, who perked up at the mention of her future version. “Interested, girl?”

“Ee!” She barked excitedly.

“Then let’s take care of that now!”

Uzume popped open the protective case, and held it out to Eevee. TThe Pokemon looked at each of us once more as though to confirm, and finally reached out to lay a paw on the green stone.

Her body was consumed by a green glow, and reshaped into a sleeker version. Several growths appeared, and her tail flattened out to resemble a large long leaf. The light faded to show her brown fur was now tan in color, with the growths turning out to be small sprouts. The most prominent one was right between her ears, which resembled tattered leaves.

“Leeeeafeon!”

“Congratulations!”

“Fee~ On! On!” The newly evolved Leafeon began inspecting herself, before rising up to perch on Uzume’s lap and giving her a grateful lick to the face.

“Haha! Wow, you sure smell nice!”

Leafeon were known to give off a nice aroma, one that changed with its age. We passed Leafeon around for each of us to get a sniff, and she happily obliged. 

Once we had our fill of Leafeon and dinner, the three of us changed our clothes and assembled at the door. This time, Leafeon was with us, perched on Uzume’s shoulder. She was quieter than she was as an Eevee, but her excitement was still obvious.

After confirming my selection, the door connected to the new world, and turned into a glowing portal that we walked through.

The sound of a large crowd was the first thing we heard, followed by the sight of a large seaside port from where we were on a raised walkway. The architecture of this world was colorful, with lots of bright colors to go with the abundant white we could see.

“Wow… this place looks incredible!”

“The air smells so fresh here, compared to Tokyo…” Matsu leaned over the railing and pointed one hand, “Rick-tan, let’s go there and take a look!”

The subject of her attention was a structure built out on the water like a six-pointed star with a round stadium in its center, with one of the points serving as a bridge to the mainland. Straining my eyes, I could see some boats using those extensions as a dock.

“Alright then, let’s go see what this fantasy world has to offer!”

Afterword: Had some issues with my muse, but I managed to get through somehow. Quite a few reveals in this one, with Michio learning about a different transmigrator, Eevee finally evolving into Leafeon (I thought it was an appropriate form given how relaxed and peaceful this Eevee was), and finally, a whole new world to explore! I’ve left some obvious clues as to which world this is, because it’s fun to have my readers try and guess.

Thanks for all the support, really!