'Well, considering the current state of the territory, it makes sense that they think that way' Kaito thought as he walked down the stairs.
Anyone would think that he was pushing himself too hard to achieve the territory's current state or, at the very least, that he was under constant pressure, but the truth was that Kaito simply did what he wanted and what he could.
As arrogant as it sounded, he actually considered everything he had done so far to be fairly easy.
While thinking this, in the entrance hall beside the first floor staircase, Kaito noticed small points of light, at least dozens of them, spread throughout the area.
And they were... cleaning?
"Ai?" he asked.
Upon hearing his words, all the points of light, or electricity to be exact, merged into a single figure right in front of him.
As they did, Kaito could see that they were literally many chibi versions of Ai wearing maid uniforms.
Once merged, they became Ai, indeed also dressed as a maid.
"What is it, Kaito?" Ai asked.
"Nothing, I was just surprised to see you cleaning and... like this?"
"You mean my Watts form? Since I have abilities now, I usually use them and my speed to clean instead of actually using my hands. Being able to split into many copies helps cover more territory" Ai explained. "As for cleaning, I like doing it, especially if it's for people I care about."
"I see. I thought you wouldn't keep being a servant anymore" Kaito said.
"Of course not. My maid version, as well as my normal version, my gal version, my assassin version, or any of the others, they're all me" Ai denied.
"Actually, when I had just freed myself from the Shinomiya family, I wondered how I should act from then on. Which of all my versions was the real one, and which were just an act?
But after a bit of schizophrenia, where some people complained that I was acting strange, and after a lecture from Kaguya, I understood. They're all me.
Each one is part of my personality, and all of them are the real me."
"I'm glad for you." Kaito smiled. "But even so, isn't this like ten floors? We should get more people. Now that I think about it, people usually have several servants in mansions. I don't know how that never occurred to me."
Ai remained silent for a few seconds, looking at Kaito as if she was unsure whether he hadn't understood or had simply chosen to avoid the important part of the conversation.
Unable to decide, she could only sigh before speaking.
"It's fine. We've already posted a recruitment notice in the server chat. The requirements include being a woman, being pretty, and becoming subordinate to you."
"Seriously? Only pretty girls? Aren't you afraid one of them will seduce me like in the movies?" Kaito joked with a smile.
"It's fine, that's the goal" Ai said, and seeing Kaito's confused expression, she decided to explain. "Believe me, a lot of women would love the opportunity to sleep with you. It basically means having the support of the most powerful person in Gaia. Although the job is technically being a maid, what we're really looking for are elite individuals to expand our influence in exchange for giving them an opportunity to seduce you."
"Wait, you're using me as bait?" Kaito realized.
"That's right" Ai nodded as if it were an ordinary matter. "Ah, don't worry, we're choosing them based on your tastes.
For example, we recently received an application from the young lady of the Suzutsuki family. Young, long black hair, somewhat arrogant personality, a balanced sensual figure rather than the bombshell type. An arrogant young lady dressed as a maid, great, right? She also comes with a female butler who for some reason pretends to be a man. Well, I think we're not supposed to know she's a woman, but it's obvious just by looking at her. We also received..."
"Alright, alright, I don't want to hear any more" Kaito interrupted.
"Hehe, is Kaito shy after all this time?" Ai teased.
"Not really, it's just..."
Before Kaito could finish, Ai stepped closer and kissed him. After a few seconds, she pulled her lips away.
"It's fine. As long as Kaito doesn't love me any less, I don't mind" she said with a smile before immediately splitting apart again and scattering throughout the house once more.
...
After leaving the mansion, Kaito ran into Silver.
"Master, would you like me to carry you?" the two-headed Cerberus asked enthusiastically while wagging his tail.
Faced with his excited gaze, Kaito couldn't refuse. He jumped directly onto his back and headed toward the Magic Tower.
"We've arrived, Master."
"Thanks for the ride" Kaito said while petting the giant dog, who rubbed against him affectionately.
Silver howled before quickly running off.
And once he was gone, Kaito entered the tower, greeted the receptionists, and climbed the stairs.
The Magic Tower was a special building.
Its main function was to teach basic magic. However, by basic, it referred to simple elements and basic tricks involving them, not merely teaching weak things.
There were two ways to do this. The first was natural instruction. The tower placed information directly into your head along with some tests to help you improve. However, the information in your head was like a book you could review at any time. Just because it was there didn't guarantee you understood it.
That was where the second teaching option came in, classes with a teacher.
The teacher was someone selected directly by the tower's owner, meaning Kaito.
However, there was a catch. Although teachers gained access to more information and types of magic, it still came in the form of books, so they had to learn it themselves before teaching it.
Not only that, but aside from gaining more information by becoming a teacher, they received no benefits whatsoever for teaching, so it was important to carefully choose who would do the job or whether anyone would do it at all.
That was exactly why Kaito had placed the person with the greatest magical knowledge he knew there, someone willing to teach without rewards.
"Kaito? What are you doing here?" Hope asked upon seeing him enter her office.
"Nothing special" Kaito said as he sat down on the sofa. "I just wanted to see how things are going and stop by to see you."
'Do all buildings have the same room with two sofas facing each other and a low table in the middle?' he wondered as he sat down. He had seen this room dozens of times already.
"Oh, that's great!" Hope immediately jumped up excitedly, instantly abandoning her work and sitting beside him while hugging his arm.
"It's been a long time since we saw each other, hasn't it?"
"We sleep together every day" Kaito said, earning a smile from Hope.
"That's because I still have trauma related to loneliness" she said while making a sad face.
"Yeah, I won't fall for that anymore" Kaito denied.
"Tsk, Kaito, you're getting smarter. Fine, then I'll tell you how things are going.
I have to say, the magic here and the magic in my world have nothing to do with each other. The magic in my world is basically just projecting mana outward. It's similar to what the glasses guy who likes the blonde girl with twin tails does."
"Tomoya and Eriri?"
"Yeah, them" Hope nodded. "Here, mana undergoes a transformation before becoming natural elements. I've been researching it, and apparently this isn't unusual. In this world, the elements themselves are born from that process instead of existing naturally. For example, natural fire is transformed mana.
A mage is simply someone capable of forcing that transformation. Combined with mana control, they become capable of what we call magic.
That's why the first thing people need to learn is mana control. It's not that different from what I did with magic in my world, so teaching that part is pretty simple.
The problem starts when it comes to transforming mana afterward. In this world, people are born with the specific ability to transform mana into certain elements. That's what they call attributes.
Some people are terrible at turning mana into fire, while others do it as naturally as breathing. It's pretty difficult to determine someone's attribute because we can't tell whether they lack the attribute or simply need more practice." Hope sighed. "Even so, teaching is very fun."
"And what attribute do you have?"
"Me? Oh, I don't have one" Hope said. "Since I'm not from this world, that system doesn't affect me. And thanks to my body having contained enormous amounts of mana from my world, which translates here into pure mana, controlling magic is fairly easy. It won't be long before I become a master mage who surpasses everyone else. Well, almost everyone, except cheaters like the Fairy Queen.
Of course, there's also that girl, but she spends more time in a laboratory than learning magic, even though she's my assistant teacher."
"Gwen, huh?" Kaito said, understanding who she meant. "Well, according to her two sets of memories, in one she died at ten years old, while in the other she spent her life from age ten onward in another dimension with Lala. She probably sees her as a second mother. We should let her adjust."
"I know, but... never mind, let's not talk about Gwen. Instead, tell me about your life. Let's chat like an old married couple" Hope smiled.
"There really isn't much to tell. You already know most of it. If there's anything, maybe..."
Kaito and Hope spent some more time chatting about nothing in particular until midmorning approached and Hope had to leave to teach classes.
Kaito simply remained in the office for a moment in complete silence until he spotted someone in the distance through the window practicing with a warhammer and decided to go see them.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)