Tensei Skill Shop Chapter 12

Tensei Skill Shop

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 12:

I opened my eyes, looking up at the ceiling of my room. That had to be one of the best nights of sleep I’ve had in a while. 

Probably because I know I’m safe from pursuers here, unlike in Skyrim. I felt a twinge of relief, knowing that I didn’t have to be on guard against Mercer Frey catching up to me. Wait…

Without getting up, I slightly turned my head to the side to look. Even without my glasses, I could see well enough to realize I had a bed partner. Two, to be exact.

To my right was Matsu, also without her glasses and quietly curled up against me, lightly hugging my arm. Tilting my head the other way, I spotted Uzume, her cute face very close to mine. 

And approaching even closer, with her eyes open.

“Mwah.” She pecked me on the lips, then smiled. “Good morning.”

I blinked a few more times, then returned the greeting. “Good morning, Uzume.”

“How was the good morning kiss? Would you like another?”

With her hair falling loosely over my face, I couldn’t help but think about how beautiful she looked, especially with the tender gaze and flushed cheeks she was showing me. Even the shape of those sensual lips attracted my gaze. Then I blinked, and looked further down.

[4300 LP]

Even though I had seen them uncovered before, the view of those large breasts covered by her negligee granted me more LP. I admired their size and shape, especially the small bumps poking through the thin fabric. Memories of her letting me touch them came to mind, before I finally managed to control myself.

“Maybe just one more,” My mouth said in a betrayal.

Uzume’s eyes glittered, her lips curving in a teasing smirk. “Alright.”

This time, the kiss was deeper, and I felt her tongue probe into my mouth a few times as our lips pushed against each other. I was almost sad to have her pull away.

“Ufufufu~ Look at you two, starting the morning with some action.” Matsu’s voice made the two of us turn to her.

Compared to Uzume’s skimpy nightwear, Matsu went for a nightdress that covered up much more, though there was a lot of cleavage on show. The filling within was resting on the mattress, slightly deforming from its own weight, courtesy of her rising up to rest on one elbow.

“Rick-tan, could I get one too?” Matsu wasn’t wearing her glasses yet, so she looked cuter than her usual bookish self as she touched her lips with her right hand. “Good, mor-ning, kiss~”

I abandoned any thoughts of resistance and gave one to her. Compared to Uzume, this perverted Sekirei didn’t hold back at all, going for a really deep kiss like she was trying to suck out my soul. My LP jumped up once again thanks to that.

Thankfully, Uzume interrupted by physically separating the two of us. “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go wash our faces, and I’ll prepare breakfast.”

She winked at me, even as she lifted Matsu away from the bed and carried her out of my room. 

As mornings went, this was a pretty good one. Usually they slept in their own room, but I supposed we were enjoying ourselves too much last night, with me telling tales of what I did in Skyrim. It took me a moment to remember that they had asked to join me in bed when I wanted to sleep, and I couldn’t muster the will to reject their request.

It was only to sleep together in the same bed; I still hadn’t done the deed with them, but it was getting really hard to resist with how forward they were.

Maybe I should make a plan for that… Stretching as I got out of bed, I headed for the shower.

With her new skills, Uzume had a lavish breakfast ready for all of us when I emerged. Even after last night’s feast, the fried bacon and eggs looked and tasted so good.

“So what’s the plan for today? More skill collecting in another world?” I asked after clearing my plate of any food.

“Actually,” Matsu spoke up, “While you were showering last night, I suggested a world for all of us to go to, but Sano said it would take a lot of time to arrange. We’ll have to wait until next week.”

“Wait, you suggested a world to him? What sort of world is it, and why?” I asked her, curious.

I knew that Matsu was her own person, but I had kind of expected her to wait for me to ask her for ideas, because she was my Sekirei. That was on me, I supposed. I had forgotten that the Matsu in canon, despite being a shut-in hiding from MBI, had been rather forward, not just in her perverted behavior, but in going for things she wanted. My Matsu was the same in that aspect.

Also, it was surprising to me because I didn’t know she looked into other worlds to visit. She did use my laptop while I was busy working or doing stuff that didn’t need it, but I didn’t really keep track of what she researched.

“Yes, I did! It’s a very big world too, with all sorts of creatures with moves you can collect to trade!” Matsu described enthusiastically, “What’s more, the moves can be learned through technological means too, so you don’t have to take a hit from them to capture it with your Learning skill!”

Okay, I think I can guess which world she’s referring to. Popular enough for her to come across in her search, many creatures and with technology involved. “Is it Pokemon?”

“As expected of Rick-tan! You guessed it right away!”

“You made it too easy for me,” I waved off her praise. “But you’re right that it’s a very good choice. Uzume, did Matsu explain what Pokemon is to you?”

The swaying of her hair as she shook her head almost made me miss her answer. “Not fully. I know it’s a series of games, that’s all.”

Matsu blushed when I turned to look back at her. “My bad, I was too focused on researching it to explain properly!”

“Well, we don’t have much else to do today, so we can take our time learning about it.”

While I had never played more than the first generation with its 150 Pokemon, I did know quite a bit about the ones that came after it thanks to manga and Bulbapedia. As for the anime, I fell off it because there were other series that captured my attention, but fanfiction sure made up for it. Naturally, there were a few holes that came from having secondhand knowledge. Matsu assured me that she would handle the preparations though.

As we looked through the various images of Pokemon and read their descriptions on my laptop, I could see Uzume start imagining having a Pokemon of her own, just like every fan wished they did. But then again, there was no way we would be allowed to take it outside of this shop, since it would infringe on Sano’s contract. It would still be fine within the shop… though I didn’t know what Sano would think of it. There wasn’t anything in the contract forbidding the keeping of pets in the living area.

“Maybe we can get you an old console to play one of the older ones,” I suggested, “It could help you pass the time while we’re working.”

Uzume didn’t agree immediately, but she appeared to be seriously considering the offer.

“Also, Matsu,” I called to the other Sekirei, who was already paying attention to me, “Which region did you have in mind?”

“The first one, Kanto.”

She explained her reasoning to the both of us; aside from being the starter region for the entire series, the place was also where Silph Co.’s main office was, which she could use her ability to hack into, for data on TMs and other stuff. I had to admit that I didn’t think of that earlier, but now that she brought it up, I could see that it was a really good reason for her choice. The office was located in Saffron City, which was centrally located, so we could easily travel to the neighboring ones once our business was done there.

How would Sano arrange for us to enter there? I know fanfics mention Fallers in Alola, but I doubt we would be sucked through a wormhole and dumped out, right? Maybe he cuts a deal of some sort with Arceus or something? I wondered as I idly listened to Matsu continue to talk about some of the stuff she wanted to do, both for the Kanto region and future ones.

I had thought the monetary cost of going to that universe would be really expensive, but according to Matsu, it wasn’t even a quarter of her salary. I could understand the low price being due to the ease of conversion though. Humanity was largely the same over there, including the language.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” I realized, “I wanted to watch a game stream played by one of the V-tubers I follow.”

Matsu paused in her explanation. “Well, I guess we can take our time planning… I’m also interested in seeing what you like about these online entertainers.”

“I feel the same,” Uzume added, “Come on, play the stream.”

We spent the next few hours enjoying a Let’s Play stream of a V-tuber suffering through a horror game, chuckling at the screams she made when she encountered a jumpscare, or the reactions of the streamer’s audience in the chat. With how busy I had been trying to get the two Sekireis used to their new life with me, this was actually the first time we got to watch a stream together, and I realized I liked it more than I thought.

Instead of having Uzume cook dinner, I decided to take the girls out to eat instead. While they had their own outfits, courtesy of Uzume’s clothes-making expertise, they didn’t have cold weather jackets due to not stepping out of the shop much. We all had [Cold Resistance] thanks to me, but we would stand out without those. Thankfully, my mom had packed multiple jackets, so they each borrowed one. 

“So is Houshou Marine one of those V-tubers you watch too?” Uzume inquired, looking at the name on the back of Matsu’s jacket.

“Yes. I like her singing quite a bit.”

“Rick-tan, do I look good in this?” Matsu pulled the hood up, so her braids fell forward.

I glanced at the open front, which she only zipped up to under her chest. “Yes, you look very good.”

“Hey now, zip up properly,” Uzume chided her.

Despite the baggy size of those jackets, it said a lot about their chests that they were able to visibly fill it out.

Yeah, they’re gonna draw attention no matter what. I resigned myself to that.

Despite the cold weather in Tokyo, there were still a lot of people on the streets, and I made sure to keep track of the two of them as we took the train to Akihabara for a bit of sightseeing. Japanese people being who they were, they didn’t make it obvious that they were looking, but I caught a few looks once or twice.

Seriously, my Sekireis are just too beautiful.

We spent quite a bit of time just browsing through the books on sale at the Animate store, and the more adult stuff that Matsu teased me about, though we didn’t buy anything of the latter. Matsu made sure to get the first few volumes of Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World, for ‘research purposes’, she claimed with a lecherous grin.

After heading over to Ueno for a Chinese buffet restaurant for dinner, I led them over to the shopping street nearby, where we spent some of our savings on clothes and other stuff. Matsu didn’t hesitate to get one of the higher-end laptops for her computer-based work, even though it wiped out all her money. Since we were provided food through the shop, it wasn’t the reckless purchase it would normally be. Knowing her, she would probably find some way to make it back soon.

True to my word, I bought Uzume one of the older GameBoy models, and a few games to go along with it. 

“Thank you, Rick-kun!” She gushed as we headed back to the train station, hugging my arm along the way. “I’m going to enjoy playing this!”

“Tell me about your progress, okay?”

“Yup!”

This Sunday was quite an enjoyable one, and I didn’t mind the fact that I had to return to work tomorrow.

…

“Place your hand on this scanner, please.” I waited for it to scan the god’s data. “Understood. The setting of your world has been recorded.”

“So, what sort of skills would be good for the human I picked?” The goddess asked impatiently.

“For your desired purpose of cultural improvement, I recommend these basic skills to start with.”

[Enhanced Memory] would allow for the reincarnator to better utilize his past life memories, while [Inspiration] enabled better utilization of her world’s natural resources. There were other minor ones too.

“Let me see.” She frowned slightly as she examined the skills. “Yes, these will do well. Anything else?”

I considered her request, factoring in the characteristics of her world, as well as her intended plan for the reincarnator. “Then I would suggest these.”

She studied them, then frowned up at me. “Explain to me how these skills would help.”

“Certainly. First, based on the location you’ve selected…”

She heard me out, and finally made her decision to purchase my recommendations. Before the goddess left, she sniffed loudly.

“...for a human, your service isn’t bad. I’m pleased.” She swept out before I could react.

“Thank you for your business,” I ended up reciting to an empty shop, “Hope you patronize this shop again.”

That was quite the classic tsundere. Anyway, glad to see the [Trainer] skill Matsu worked with got accepted. I tapped the pad with a finger, sending a wordless message to convey the good news to her. 

The response came back just as quickly, giving me the impression of Matsu winking as she flashed a thumbs up.

With the large variety of skills I retained instead of trading over to Sano, she had a lot of stuff to experiment with, and the results had been quite promising. She managed to modify some of the Ivalice skills to accept upgrades, giving them something akin to levels as the proficiency reached a certain amount. Sano already had skills that did the same, but these were something Matsu came up with on her own, and even though his were better, it was still a step forward for her.

Normally, it wouldn’t even be on sale within the shop, but Sano apparently inspected it and gave his approval, hence I was allowed to recommend it over some of his own. The commission from selling it… did have a little bearing on me doing so.

The version of [Trainer] Matsu made would allow the reincarnator to spread the skill of his knowledge more easily, making it so that the students would help encourage the cultural change the goddess hoped to see.

She wasn’t the only one to buy some of Matsu’s creations.

There was an old god that was planning to retire in favor of younger deities, but wanted to add a few more skills to his world’s system before doing so, to encourage the potential for growth. Another young deity who appeared as a ball of blue light came only for weak skills that its world could support. A few more were just like the goddess earlier, wanting things that could better their worlds’ cultures.

Is it me, or are there more worlds that are generally peaceful lately? I wondered, just as the phone rang. “Hello, Sano’s Skill Shop, this is Rick speaking.”

“Hello, hello!” Sano’s voice responded, “Rick, just a heads up. You’ve got a few inserters headed your way.”

“Inserters, sir?”

“Their worlds are similar to works of fiction from other realities, and their choice of transferee is a person familiar with those. Their motivation for doing so varies, but they won’t usually buy a lot. Still, try your best to upsell, okay?”

There was only one answer I could give. “Yes, sir.”

So it’s something like Bakarina and other reincarnated as the villainess types then, I guessed as I hung up the phone and returned to stand behind the counter.

My hunch turned out to be right. Based on what the pad could read of the gods and their worlds, they were pretty hands-off, going for the small changes hoping for the biggest effects. Sometimes, they threw in more than one just for the chaos factor, and I had no idea whether their selections would be for the better or not. I did try subtly probing them for their reasoning, but more often than not, the answer was just ‘for the entertainment’.

Not that I was going to censure them for it. Some of the systems involved were so mind-boggling that even a divine mind would be stressed out trying to maintain it, so they were starved for fun. That was how I managed to get them to accept my recommendations, by presenting them as something with a higher chance of getting the chaos they desired.

One of the skills Noir made in his story was [Lucky Pervert], which affected fate enough to bless him with erotic sights and touches, at least until he reduced its effect. That was one of the skills I made at Olivia’s extortion, though I passed it over to Matsu to work with. While she couldn’t maintain the same level of performance in another world, it was enough to increase the chances of romcom moments for the skill holder.

With how many of those worlds resembling an otome game with a reverse harem, the few she made practically flew off the shelves. Figuratively speaking, since the skills were stored in a subspace.

As a trade-off, they didn’t buy any of the skill-loaded weapons, but I wasn’t expecting them to need such a thing in the first place.

There was also one strange being that my pad identified as a stray god. It had the appearance of a bat, but with rather alien colors, and made a strange request based on my nature as a human. It wanted me to get skills that resembled fictional series I knew of, and explain just how they worked based on their original material. Once it finished paying, it almost tried to abduct me, only for the shop’s defenses to chase it away.

Even in my job persona, it made my heart thump uncontrollably in fear. Thankfully, Matsu and Uzume were there to comfort me afterwards.

I continued to grow closer to my two Sekireis outside of work hours. Aside from having breakfast and dinner together, sometimes we watched anime or TV episodes, appreciating the entertainment presented as a group. Other times, I would interact with them one-on-one. Unlike Musubi and Tsukiumi, they didn’t seem to mind if the other had me to herself for that time. There was some jealousy, but not enough to fuss over this.

Matsu talked to me about how much fun she was having fiddling around with skills, but also about the online hacker community she joined to expand her expertise. Sometimes she would make a few skills that I would help her to test out, using [Editing] to adjust it as required. Not all of them turned out well, but the process of experimenting was kind of fun. She also brought up the light novels she had been reading, and I noticed that they all tended to lean towards the lewd side, which the perverted lady took great pleasure in describing as the parts she enjoyed. 

Uzume alternated between playing her new games and further developing her costume-making business, gaining a reputation for swift and precise work. It could be considered cheating considering she was making full use of her cloth manipulation abilities, but that was just her natural advantage. I also enjoyed discussing My Dress-Up Darling with her, considering the whole cosplay-focused part of the plot, and she even modeled a few of them for me. Aside from that, she talked to me about what she found fun about the Pokemon game she was playing, and we spent hours just sitting next to each other as she worked on completing it.

I still had yet to do the deed with either of them, but while they continued to tantalize and arouse me with their antics, I felt no need to rush into it with them. 

I knew that if I just asked though… they would happily accept me. The depth of the love they held for me was growing deeper gradually.

I- no, WE could tell. We just could.

Then again, with all the kissing, hugging, blatant nudity, it was pretty obvious even without the Sekirei-Ashikabi bond. 

We still didn’t break Sano’s rules, though there were a few close calls. The amount of LP gained was pretty high, though they were starting to diminish over time.

Yeah, I think the time is coming soon. The memory of Matsu innocently mentioning a bunch of love hotels in the nearby vicinity came to mind, before I dragged my thoughts away from it. Sano will be back tomorrow, and then I’ll finally see what the Pokemon world is like.

Friday practically flew by, the customers flowing in and out with their purchases, until closing hours came upon the shop. Sano still hadn’t shown up yet, so the three of us had our dinner first. Uzume actually made shrimp paste chicken, which tasted so good I was tearing through them one after another.

“I don’t have to ask if you liked it,” She commented amusedly. 

I swallowed my mouthful before replying. “It says a lot that I’m getting LP from this.”

[8080 LP]

“Oh, so you like the chicken breast that much?” Matsu teased, “How much are you getting as compared to mine?”

She tucked her arms underneath her breasts and lifted them slightly to emphasize the cleavage, before stopping when Uzume elbowed her.

“Not while we’re eating,” Our den mother said firmly.

It’s kinda funny how much she’s grown into the role that Miya held in canon, even though she does her own share of lewd flirting. I focused back on enjoying the food she made for us.

Sano’s message finally arrived after we had finished washing up and were relaxing over a nice cup of tea. Rather than rush off right away, we took our time to finish digesting, then picked up our prepared luggage and got ready to leave.

“Come in.” The response came right after I knocked on the door.

Sano had several skills laid out on his desk, and he was picking them up and putting them down one by one. 

He cast an amused glance at us. “Raring to go, I see, but hold on a moment first.”

The reason for the delay was because he wanted to inform us of a few things. The skills from the Harem Labyrinth world and the Sekirei-related ones had come in quite useful in negotiating with Arceus to grant us permission to enter the world. In fact, it had gained enough interest for Arecus to request a delivery of some skills that it could use to expand the Pokemon world’s system further.

“So those skills are…” I pointed at his desk.

“Yes,” Sano nodded, “Some of them are made from the skills you brought to me, reworked for the god over there. Help me deliver them while you’re there.”

“Well, okay.” I accepted the task, loading those skills into me. “How will it collect it?”

“It will meet you at the world’s boundary, so just pass them over when you’re there.”

From the feeling of those skills, I could tell some of them were just like Pokemon moves, a single elemental-type meant to have an effect, while others were based on the [Sekirei] skill, empowering the holder through the power from the bond. 

Apparently my selection of those two worlds had netted the skills crucial to convincing Arceus to permit this entry. Perhaps the same thing could apply to other worlds, like the Konosuba one that was denied to me before.

Also included was another analysis skill, which I was to hold within me until I left the world.

“Anything else before I send you over?” 

“All of our stuff is inside the [Inventory],” Matsu answered, “We’re ready anytime. Right, Uzume-tan?”

“Yes. I’m ready to go!”

“Don’t take too long. Bye now.”

Unlike my previous transfers, this time I found myself standing on an island floating in the dark void, though with Matsu and Uzume still with me. There was a strange ring structure in front of us, like some kind of Stargate, though it didn’t appear to be active.

Then all of a sudden, it was.

And in front of us…

Arceus.

The almighty llama just stared down at us, and I felt the two Sekirei shrink behind my back. Its white features were seriously imposing, almost overwhelming the gold portions of its body. 

[Divine Intimidation learned!]

Wait, that’s a skill I can learn?! What the hell? I thought divine acts don’t trigger Learning! I shivered, and all of a sudden the feeling fell off entirely. Oh right, time to do the task I came here for!

“Greetings, almighty Arceus,” I greeted politely, drawing on the experience of my job persona, “I have come to deliver the skills you asked for.”

I began to take them out from within me, an unseen force just pulling them out of my hand and holding them in the air around me. Once I finished bringing all of them out, Arceus raised its long head up, and eighteen rectangular plates of varying colors appeared around it. The skills began to move towards the plates, which absorbed the glowing boxes the same way I stored them within myself before. 

It was obvious that the skills were being classified based on the Type, and it looked like Arceus was using the plates as a way to update the skills into the system. But before I could analyze it any further, it was over, and the plates vanished as quickly as they appeared.

Arceus stared at us once more, and I felt my Sekireis’ hands twitch as they held onto me. Then it started to turn away-

And we realized that we were no longer standing on a floating island, but on the sidewalk of an empty street. It was nighttime, so that explained the lack of people around.

“Is it… gone?” Matsu asked timidly.

“I think so…”

“Yeah.” I slowly turned around, and gathered the two of them into a comforting hug. “That… was a god.”

I felt their trembling arms slide around my body, and they squeezed, reassuring themselves in my embrace.

After they had calmed down enough, we decided to take stock of our current situation. As expected, Sano’s assistance was thorough; inside our pockets, we had money in the form of Pokemon-themed cash notes, as well as a charge card carrying a large amount of Pokedollars. Each of us also had a small passport booklet with an accompanying identity card, which were necessary if we needed to make use of any official services. 

The only things we lacked were our own Pokemon and Pokeballs, but our funds were enough to buy a few of those from Pokemarts.

“Where are we, anyway?” Uzume wondered.

I held up my hand. “[Map].” 

The screen appeared, in the same shape I knew quite well from my memories, though it was much more detailed compared to the old 8-bit graphics. Certain marked points indicated the main cities, and one of them was blinking to indicate our current location. Selecting it with a thought, I saw the image zoom in to show the whole town, with our position within it indicated very clearly.

“We’re in Vermillion City,” I realized out loud. Oh yeah, I can smell the salty sea breeze. 

“Where is that?”

I zoomed out once again, and began pointing out the various cities on the map. “North of us is Saffron City, and the ones around it are Celadon City, Cerulean City, and Lavender Town.”

“So what should we do now, Rick-tan?” Matsu asked me a little timidly.

Meeting Arceus must still be affecting her. “Let’s go to the Pokemon Center first, and see if we can find a place to spend the night.”

I memorized the directions to the place from the map, and grabbed both of them by the hand before I started leading them there. Even now, I could still feel slight tremors through the grip they had on me, though they lessened the further we walked.

The still-lit windows of the PokeCenter sent a reassuring rush through me, and I appreciated the cool air that blew across us as the automatic doors opened for us. 

“Oh hello,” The pink-haired nurse behind the counter got up from her chair to greet us, “I wasn’t expecting anyone to come in this late.”

A glance at the clock on the counter indicated it was nearly midnight. Approaching even closer, I got a good look at how Nurse Joy’s hair was a uniform color of pink, something that didn’t look dyed at all.

“We just got into Vermillion,” I said as an explanation.

“Would you like me to heal your Pokemon?” 

I shook my head. “No need, but could we get a room for us to sleep for the night?”

“Certainly. May I have your identification?”

I released Matsu’s hand to take out the passport and identity card, which I handed over to her.

“Oh, a foreigner, and not a trainer? It will cost you one thousand and eight hundred dollars for a room for the night.”

Hearing that value made me hesitate, before I recalled that the Pokedollar was equivalent to the Japanese Yen, and handed over two one thousand dollar notes. After receiving my change, Nurse Joy led us to the room, using a keycard to unlock its door. 

What we got matched my meager expectations; three simple beds with small closets and side tables, and hanging screens that could be drawn around the beds for privacy. Hostel-level accommodations, just right for a group of trainers who only want to spend the night before setting out once morning arrived. 

“We have breakfast in the morning, for the cheap price of five hundred dollars,” Nurse Joy informed us, “You can buy a meal ticket at the counter if you’re interested.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“Have a good night, and try to keep the noise level down, as we have other guests spending the night here,” She reminded us with a meaningful glance.

“You too,” Uzume answered for us.

After she had left us to our privacy, Matsu started to grumble.

“Does she really think we would do that here?” 

That statement drew incredulous looks from the rest of us, before I realized that she was just venting her stress. I pulled her into a hug and continued to hold her until her angry mumbles faded. Uzume didn’t join the hug, but I felt a weight on my back as she leaned against it.

Matsu suddenly pulled away from me. “Alright, I’ve charged up enough from Rick-tan! Let’s plan out what we’re going to do tomorrow!”

Once again, her words drew incredulous looks from us, before Uzume broke down chuckling, and I joined her.

For our first night in the Pokemon world, it was a rather surreal experience.

Afterword: Time for a really big world to play around in! That’s right, it’s the Pokemon world! Rick might have lots of skills, but there’s the culture, and the fact that Pokemon are still dangerous to go up against without proper preparations, wouldn’t you agree? As for the next chapter, it depends on my muse as always, but Silph Co. awaits!