“Alright — I’ll build four of them.”
“…Are you sure that’s all right? Please don’t strain yourself with the mana.”
“It’s fine. I’ve been recovering steadily — forty or so is manageable.”
I’d arrived at a realization recently.
Since my mana fully restores while I sleep — why not spend it all before bed?
Maximum efficiency with no waste, and running dry means I fall asleep immediately. Two birds, one stone.
Tonight’s plan: build the farms all at once, then pass out from mana depletion.
“Once I’m done with the farms I’m going to sleep.”
“At this hour? Impressively healthy for a young man.”
“Rei does sleep well.”
Lady Fiona’s praise was sincere, and the strategy seemed solid as long as my mana cap stayed modest.
I built the farms in the locations Primila had marked out, then went straight to sleep.
◇
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“The first thing is: have no expectations.”
“…Yes.”
“By deceiving yourself into low expectations, you create an opening — and that’s when you snatch a win.”
“I see…?”
“Faith helps too. I’ve recently committed to a practice of channeling mana the moment I wake up each morning.”
“Ah…”
“What is that look?! That hollow response! You’ll understand how I feel eventually, Rei!”
“I’m sorry.”
I’d decided to do my monster gacha alongside Lady Fiona.
She’d been unexpectedly delighted, and launched immediately into what I can only describe as a philosophy of gacha — which I had apparently failed to receive with appropriate reverence.
“With respect to Lady Fiona — I’m not chasing one specific thing, so I doubt I’ll get quite as invested.”
“Then don’t come crying to me when you’re miserable! I won’t comfort you!”
She was going to comfort me.
I find myself asking what exactly a Demon Lord is supposed to be, increasingly often these days.
“Here I go!”
“You’re not asking Serika to check the options?”
“She’s working. Not that this isn’t also work. I’m not slacking.”
“You don’t have to justify yourself to me.”
“You’re so understanding, Rei! You’re the only one who lets things slide for me!”
Primila would have words if she heard that.
Anyway — Lady Fiona was going first, apparently, as a demonstration of some kind.
“I’ve already poured in quite a bit of mana. It’s due. Something good should come out by now!”
She’d shifted to pleading.
Being the Demon Lord, she probably couldn’t pray to any god. I wondered what exactly she was appealing to.
I wouldn’t pray to that goddess either, for what it’s worth.
“Now! Rei, open it!”
“Right…”
Opening chests for Lady Fiona was routine by now.
Usually I didn’t bother checking the contents, but since I was right here I took a look.
…A feather. Gold and silver, shot through with something reddish — it seemed to carry a flame-like aura.
“Ugh! Of all things — I hate when it’s almost right!”
“Lady Fiona, what is this?”
“That is a phoenix feather…”
That sounded like a significant item.
And the name suggested something similar in effect to the resurrection elixir.
“No matter how grievous the holder’s injuries, it will fully restore their vitality — but only once…”
Right. Almost right, in the most aggravating way.
But it wasn’t what revived a dead member of the Demon Lord’s Army.
“As it happens — I anticipated this possibility and set aside a fully charged chest!”
“Oh…”
Lady Fiona was playing differently today.
Usually she stopped after one pull. But she’d been holding back, ready to chain them.
“Please!”
“Sure.”
I opened the chest. Inside — a glowing feather.
“A phoenix feather! Next!”
“You had another one saved?”
I opened it. Feather.
“A phoenix feather! Oh nooo~…”
Is Lady Fiona particularly beloved by phoenixes, or particularly cursed by them?
Watching her wilt, somehow I’d become nervous about my own pulls.
“I’ll avenge Lady Fiona’s misfortune.”
Time for the intermediate monster creation.
My mana was at 38. Same as Lady Fiona — three pulls.
First roll.
Forest Fairy — Mana: 40 / Strength: 8 / Technique: 41 / Fortitude: 12 / Agility: 40
A hit.
It looked like a small green sprite, but it registered as a legitimate monster.
Added to the creation menu now, and at 10 mana for additional copies — convenient.
“A Forest Fairy. Congratulations. They can cast magic that accelerates plant growth — a perfect fit for what you need.”
“Primila will be pleased.”
From Lady Fiona’s description, this wasn’t just high-Technique — it was purpose-built for farming.
Good start. I could just keep creating Forest Fairies from the menu at this point, but since I had pulls left, I kept going random.
“Second roll — also a Forest Fairy.”
“Primila will be very satisfied.”
True, but since I’d already unlocked the creation menu entry, rolling the same monster again was a bit wasteful in retrospect.
Last one, still random.
Something larger than a Gargoyle had appeared.
Its body was composed of what looked like plant matter — roots and woody growths. A plant-type monster? Something like an Ent?
Plant Golem — Mana: 35 / Strength: 58 / Technique: 55 / Fortitude: 66 / Agility: 15
So this was a Golem. Higher Technique than its appearance would suggest — that helped.
This one would probably do solid work for Primila too.
Added to the menu, but the creation cost was 20 mana.
Same as the Gargoyle — I’d pulled an upper-tier monster.
“A Plant Golem… strong and surprisingly dexterous, so farm work should suit it well. It also has an ability to channel its own vitality into the soil and plants around it. An excellent pull.”
“Thank you.”
With abilities like that, it would be genuinely useful.
I’d pulled well across the board.
“Ugh… please share some of that luck with me.”
“I’m technically the one opening them, though.”
The real issue was that she was chasing one specific thing with low odds — that was always going to hurt.
“I wish your mana pool were more like mine…”
“You’d turn me into something that surpasses a Demon Lord?”
She probably just wanted someone to handle things in her place.
Though I actually did enjoy the dungeon work — building it, running it.
…Which meant things weren’t all that different from now, come to think of it.
◆
“A farm…?”
“Yes. Mana Fruit will help in the battles ahead.”
“Not just food?”
“You can eat them. Though the effect is weaker that way.”
“Once the fighting is over, you’ll be able to grow whatever you like. So I’m going to settle this — for certain.”
That day would come soon. My power existed for exactly that purpose.
Thinking of the world that would follow — peaceful, with nothing left to fight — I renewed my resolve.