"Welcome home, Master."
When Tatsuma returned home, Sakiko was wearing a maid outfit and cleaning.
After more than twenty days of work, Sakiko had gradually adapted to being a maid. Whether it was addressing Tatsuma or small details in her work, everything was much smoother than at first.
Tatsuma asked, "Sakiko, what do you think of me?"
Sakiko was confused. "Master, in what regard?"
"Talk about every aspect, I want to hear your most direct opinion."
What kind of strange play is this again?
Sakiko stopped her work, her expression subtle.
These past few days, Tatsuma had often asked her strange questions. Over time, Sakiko had somewhat gotten used to it.
Standing still and thinking seriously for a moment, she replied truthfully, "A training fanatic, very rich, generous, friendly personality. In my opinion, you're a good person."
Besides that, he's also quite handsome.
Her gaze lingered on Tatsuma's face for two seconds, then Sakiko swallowed the sentence that might cause ambiguity. She didn't know why, but she felt that Tatsuma today was more charming than usual.
Tatsuma asked, "What about flaws?"
Sakiko's expression instantly became serious. "The amount of exercise is too high, I feel like I'm hovering on the edge of sudden death every day."
In the first two weeks of receiving enhanced training, she basically fainted halfway through training every day.
Although she could barely maintain consciousness to complete the training recently, she still felt like she was about to ascend to heaven. This was also why Tatsuma would heal her.
Sakiko asked, "Master, are there any other questions?"
"No more, go continue your work."
Tatsuma fell into thought.
Sakiko has a stereotypical impression of him due to the excessively high training intensity. Spending time to capture her would yield relatively low returns.
As for the choice of Harem members, someone like Rias who can fight with him is better.
If it fails, he doesn't lose. If it succeeds, he makes a huge profit.
After making a decision in his heart, Tatsuma opened his trait storage.
Recently, he had been fighting Cursed spirits every day, accumulating quite a few traits. Coupled with today's gains from clearing the church, the number of traits had reached the standard.
The question he needed to consider now was whether to get a new equip slot or choose a blue trait to upgrade to purple.
His gaze swept over the inventory, and Tatsuma had the answer in his heart.
Continue increasing equip slots.
He didn't lack high-level traits now. What he needed more were slots to equip high-level traits.
Checking and selecting a series of traits, Tatsuma pressed the confirm button to get the eighth equip slot.
Equipping the Boosted Gear and other new traits, Tatsuma's trait panel completed a new round of updates.
[Tatsuma Nakamura]
[Race: Dragon, Devil]
[Strength: Level 3]
[Traits: Spiritual Healing Bracelet (Blue), Athlete (Purple), Pawn (Purple), Senjutsu (Purple), Power of Destruction (Red), Harem King (Red), Boosted Gear (Gold), Limitless Potential (Rainbow)]
Excluding the Spiritual Healing Bracelet, which is used most frequently daily and often switched for other traits, Tatsuma's current permanent traits are three purple, two red, one gold, and one rainbow, which can be said to be extremely luxurious.
"Next, it's you."
Looking at the red gauntlet that appeared on his right arm, Tatsuma sank his consciousness into it.
...
Occult Research Club.
"Rias, what's wrong?"
Looking at her best friend, Akeno, who had a distraught expression after returning, felt a bit puzzled.
"Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
"No, I just encountered something just now, my mind is a bit chaotic right now." Rias sat on the sofa, still looking blankly at the floor.
Seeing that Rias didn't seem sad or upset, Akeno's curiosity was piqued.
"What is it? Tell me about it. Maybe I can give you some advice."
Rias said, "Tatsuma seems to have confessed to me."
Bang!
Looking at Koneko, who had accidentally stepped on and broken the floor, Akeno, whose brain was a beat slower to react, was silent for two seconds before the corners of her lips slowly curved up.
"Elaborate."
"President, I want to hear too." Koneko actively moved closer.
Seeing this, Rias smiled helplessly and roughly recounted what had just happened.
"Oh... That sounds pretty good."
Akeno's eyes lit up. "Rias, aren't you always troubled by your engagement? This is a good opportunity to resolve it."
Rias sighed, "Of course I know that, but how should I respond to Tatsuma?"
Akeno said, "Just interact with him normally as usual. Anyway, he didn't force you. And honestly, isn't Tatsuma quite good?"
Because they grew up together, Akeno had some understanding of Rias's criteria for a partner.
"He's strong, has potential, and sees you as Rias not Lucifer's sister or Gremory's heiress. "
"From any perspective, he seems to meet your requirements, right?"
Rias: "!"
It really seemed to be the case.
After being reminded by Akeno, Rias felt like she had suddenly seen the light, and her thoughts instantly became clear.
Oh right, she didn't need to be conflicted.
Before, due to various factors, Rias had been focusing on Tatsuma's strength.
Now, looking at other aspects, isn't this the person she was looking for?
Akeno said, "It seems you already have an answer."
Rias made her decision. "Mm, I'll try interacting with him first."
However, before officially starting, she still had two things to handle.
"Akeno, come with me to pick someone up."
...
At the same time Rias made her decision, within the Sacred Gear space, Tatsuma successfully met Ddraig.
"So, you've been in a state of slumber all this time?"
"Mm. When a host dies, the Sacred Gear enters a dormant state. I only woke up a minute ago."
Ddraig looked curious. "Normally, after the Sacred Gear is transferred, I should be able to see the situation outside. How did you do it?"
"Secret."
"There's no need to hide something like this, is there? We're partners who will fight together in the future."
"Partners also need to maintain distance."
Tatsuma refused to answer without hesitation.
He really couldn't answer this matter. He couldn't possibly tell Ddraig that he fell into slumber because he turned him into a trait and threw him into the trait warehouse, could he?
The trait system was Tatsuma's biggest secret, and this was the only thing he couldn't reveal to the outside.