Gacha Harem System

"Calm down, Barlas." Le Fay chuckled at the man’s serious expression. "This favor is not as formal as you think. Which is why I called it a personal favor. You can feel free to reject me if it cannot be done."

Barlas nodded, but said nothing. Feel free to reject Le Fay? He wasn’t sure if that was something he could easily do, and the man knew it.

"My niece," Le Fay said. "Her name’s Morgana. She’s here, and I’d like her to participate in your Prodigy Tournament."

Barlas was quiet for a moment.

The daughter of Salaria’s City Lord was here in Havenhart.

He’d stood under the sun in his own courtyard, welcomed this delegation for the better part of the afternoon and had even counted three Adepts stepping out of those carriages.

But he hadn’t seen any young woman of note. So, where was she?

"She came with you?" he asked.

"She did." Le Fay’s expression grew fond, before turning to weary. It was clear the man loved his niece, but was constantly exasperated by her.

He sighed, the kind made by people who had long since accepted something they couldn’t change. "She’s currently taking a walk through the city."

"Alone?"

"She has adequate protection with her. I wouldn’t worry."

Barlas did worry, privately and immediately, but kept the expression on his face entirely blank.

Under the table, his finger moved almost imperceptibly against the ring on his right hand, which was an [Item], unobtrusive and unremarkable to anyone watching.

And through the [Item], he sent telepathic instructions to Rollo to keep an eye out, find the young woman, and not to approach unless necessary.

He wouldn’t want anything to harm the young lady in his territory, or he might just lose his life over something that minor.

The ring grew a tiny bit warm in acknowledgment. Rollo had received his message.

He returned his full attention to Le Fay. "You were saying. The tournament."

"She wants to compete." Le Fay refilled his own glass. "I’d like your permission for her to enter as a participant. After all, this is your city."

Barlas carefully thought about it. Was it worth it for Morgana Le Fay to be in his tournament?

The niece of the man sitting across from him, and the daughter of Salaria’s City Lord, competing among other newly minted Awakeners in a Tier 5 city’s annual event.

Was it worth angering Le Fay to say no? It looked like the man was prepared to force the matter, but he didn’t want the problems that would arise if anything went wrong to be attached to his name.

So, what could he do about this? Well, there was only one option to satisfy Le Fay, and absolve himself of any fault.

"If she sustains injury in the tournament," he finally said, "I would prefer that to be clearly documented as outside my responsibility."

Le Fay waved a hand. "She won’t be injured. She’s considerably stronger than anyone you’ll have competing."

"With respect," Barlas said, "I’d still prefer the documentation."

"Fair." Le Fay conceded without argument, which told Barlas the man had expected the request. "I’ll have something drawn up before the day is out."

Barlas nodded slowly. "Why not enter her in Salaria’s tournament? Surely that would be more—"

"She declined." Le Fay’s expression flickered with something between amusement and resignation.

"She’s already defeated every notable contender Salaria has, so she found the whole prospect uninteresting." He looked at Barlas with a slight tilt of his head. "She’s hoping someone here might change that."

Barlas considered the city he governed. Then his mind went to the young Awakener with dual classes who had recently been clearing dungeons at a pace that had caught Rollo’s attention.

He picked up his wine.

"I’ll have the immunity document prepared on my end as well," he said, deciding not to mention it. There was no need to put the kid on Le Fay’s radar. "And tomorrow, both parties will sign."

Le Fay smiled. "Agreed."

***

Crunch!

Crunch!

Akira had found herself a bag of chips somewhere. No one knows if she’d gotten one at the hotel or had brought it along with her in her spatial ring.

But right now, the sound of chewing filled the air, but nobody paid it any mind.

She watched Lukas and Melody from the bed, her eyes moving between them as they spoke. She had to admit she was enjoying the discussion. It made her feel like she was at the theaters.

"If you go in at full speed," Melody was saying, her arms folded, "everyone in that tournament will see exactly what you’re capable of. And that is the opposite of what we want."

"I’m not going in at full speed." Lukas leaned against the wall, shaking his head in exasperation. "I’ll be going in at the speed required to win. There’s a difference."

"The difference being?"

"I’ll moderate it."

Melody scoffed in response. "How will you moderate it when you’ve never even felt what it means to be a normal Awakener for more than a few hours?

"Normal means something different to you than everybody else, Lukas. You could expose yourself even when you think you’re being normal."

"That’s not true." He trailed off. "Is it?"

"You once jumped off a tree and crushed three Deathstalker Scorpions with your strength and body weight. Have you ever heard of any E-ranks doing the same thing?"

Lukas had no response to that.

Akira put another chip in her mouth, chewing.

"The point is," Melody continued, "that you don’t need to show your stats at all as you fight. Let everyone think you’re a glass cannon, and that way, you won’t invite trouble that we can’t afford to keep."

"Just one [Smite] should be enough to end any fight before it becomes complicated. And best of all, it doesn’t tell anyone how strong you actually are."

"That’s actually what I said."

"Then we agree."

"Then why are we still arguing about it?"

"You know," Akira interrupted, "I have something that ends this conversation entirely."

They both looked at her.

She reached into her spatial ring and produced a ring, holding it between two fingers. She extended it towards Lukas with a grin.

He looked at it. "What is that?"

Her grin widened.

"A limiter."