[MGM]: 76 - Problem; Solution

We moved into the room in single file and surveyed our surroundings. The group was there, occupying a corner or a chair, all together looking at us with expressions clouded in gloom. For some reason, the intensity of their gazes made me feel pressured.

I watched as Tania moved to stand next to Pyra, who was nibbling on her thumbnail and boring holes into me with her stare. Luna sat on a chair with a solemn expression, while Cassia looked on with a glint of amused mirth in her eyes.

I walked two steps deeper, paused, and searched for a seat that wasn’t dead in the center of the room.

“Sit,” Cassia gestured toward the chair in the middle.

Yup, I was sitting in the center, about to be interrogated, and most likely not walking out of this room alive.

Okay, I might be exaggerating a little, but you’d have to forgive the mistake, given the looks I was receiving.

I glanced back at Amara, only to find her gazing up at the ceiling. There was nothing there except the elaborate patterns and a crystal chandelier we should have seen plenty of last night.

Last night. I shuddered at the recollection of images, moans, and scents—and the picturesque scene of her sweat-covered body astride mine. I felt fear recede and something else stir.

No! I shook my head, clamped down on the arousal, and forced the sword to retreat to no man’s land. This wasn’t the time to be aroused—especially not when surrounded by my ladies. Beautiful, hot ladies, who looked at me as if they intended to punish me.

So arousing…

What the fuck! I screamed internally, sweat beading down my back. Did I just get aroused by that? No, impossible! I shook my head and tried to calm my racing heart.

Before I could dive deeper into the dark thoughts urging their way to the surface, Cassia spoke.

“So,” she said, “do you have anything to offer in your defense?”

I had nothing to offer in my defense—not for lack of one, but because I had no need to. No matter how deviant my inner thoughts might threaten to become, outwardly I could always maintain the pride and honor of a dragon.

I raised my head high, looked at each of them in turn, and smirked. “What?” I asked. “You can’t seriously be asking about what happened yesterday?”

“Why not?” Pyra snapped, annoyance seeping into her tone.

“So, you expect me to believe that none of you actually anticipated it?”

My question was met with silence, though Cassia only smiled at me. I gave her a pointed look.

She sighed and leaned forward. “What I’m—they’re—trying to convey is that they aren’t happy with their chances,” she said, earning a puzzled look from me.

“Listen,” she continued, “you’re already aware of how your Origin works. Before, it was just Amara. Then Tania came along, and then Pyra. And now you also have us. Given time, you’ll have more. The ideal scenario in this case is to give everyone a fair chance.”

I gave her words serious consideration. Though this wasn’t the first time the concern had been hinted at, it was certainly the first time it was being addressed with such solemnity. And to be fair, Cassia wasn’t wrong.

Since becoming a Drakekin, I had paid far less attention to the rising Favorability of others. It was still there, still growing, but I had pushed it to the back of my mind and focused on the real world. I didn’t want some numerical representation to affirm what I could accomplish on my own. Besides, relying on it made me feel nauseous, like I was tasting some artificial version of affection.

That said, I couldn’t ignore what it represented either. No matter how artificial the display might be, the image before my very eyes was as real as my own existence. That meant giving them due consideration—and treating them with the same amount of love and affection.

I looked at Cassia and asked, “What do you suggest?”

She raised her index finger and said, “Individual attention. Segmented interaction—whatever you want to call it—but basically, some alone time with each of us.”

“You mean like a date?” I raised a brow. Dating was a concept utterly foreign to me before, and judging by the looks of confusion from Tania, Pyra, and even Luna, I’d bet they hadn’t heard of it either. Cassia, however, stared back thoughtfully.

“Somewhat,” she nodded.

“Alright,” I said, nodding. “I guess that resolves the matter. But I also have a request.”

“Hm?” Cassia gave me an inquisitive look.

“You must also take some alone time among yourselves and at least try to build a friendly relationship.”

Even now, I hadn’t seen much progress between Amara and the others, and that concerned me. Normally, you’d expect a sisterly relationship to form among the girls, where they’d support one another and all that. But that wasn’t the case with my group, and I’d deduced the problem was their undivided attention on me.

It was like I was an adhesive stick and they were each individual threads. I wanted us to live like a single cloth, not a torn rag barely holding together.

I could tell instantly that Cassia was troubled by my request, and as if to confirm it, a glance at Amara told me where the unease was coming from. Despite their outward reluctance, I maintained a steady gaze full of firmness and resolve. They weren’t walking out of this.

A sigh from Cassia drew my attention as she crossed her arms and pouted. “Fine,” she said. “I’m willing to agree, as long as the others don’t have a problem with it.”

“None from me,” Tania offered. Pyra and Luna followed suit. I looked at Amara and waited, until finally, the vampire sighed and spoke with a voice barely above a whisper.

“Okay.”

I smiled and relaxed into my seat.

“Now, let’s talk about why we might have to postpone our love bonding for later.”

I took to explaining the situation to the rest and noticed glimmers of hesitance on Pyra and Luna. No doubt, the duo had forged a bond with this place—and no matter how fragile—it spoke volumes in a place where none had existed before. Truth be told, I wasn't any different. In fact, I was beginning to like my new life—the feeling of growing stronger and discovering strengths I was still coming to terms with.

"So, Baron is stressed that the Royal Family might declare him a traitor?" Luna noted thoughtfully.

Cassia shook her head. "No," she said. "Not the Royal Family; the Guild."

If the barriers belonged to the Hunters Guild, the Royalty would no doubt hold them accountable, and from then on, it would be their responsibility to resolve the issue. I’d bet a limb and a half that they’d be offered full support.

"And with our presence, that doesn’t make it any easier for them, does it?" Pyra asked, though she seemed to have already anticipated the answer. A shrug from Amara was enough to confirm her suspicion.

"So, are we going to leave?" Tania inquired, looking around the room at each of us.

No one replied—not even me—and we let the despondent mood settle between us. Until, finally, Cassia broke the silence.

"I’d like to ask something," she said, raising her hand. I gave a nod of acknowledgment, and she turned to look at Tania. "Tania, the Rune Markus mentioned—what do you think of it?"

The dwarf looked at the Foxkin in puzzlement, then suddenly shook her head before replying. "It’s awesome. Clean, efficient, and sophisticated—a masterpiece, in my opinion."

"Right," Cassia nodded. "But do you think you could maybe replicate it? Create a functional duplicate indistinguishable from the original?"

"What?" Tania asked, her head tilted in confusion. I frowned and leaned forward, interested.

"You want her to replace the damaged Rune with a working one," I noted.

"Yes," Cassia nodded, looking at Tania. "Can you do it?"

"I..." Tania trailed off as she realized every pair of eyes was now trained on her. "M-maybe..."

"Can you do it, Tania?" I pressed.

"Okay—I mean, yes—I mean, sure. I can do it!"

Cassia leaned back and crossed her arms. "I guess that resolves the matter."

If Tania managed to pull that off, then not only would the Baron avoid implication, but we also wouldn’t have to migrate from this place. I was about to stand up when Tania suddenly spoke again.

"It’s not going to be easy," she said.

"What?" I asked, frowning.

"Creating a new Rune like that," Tania continued. "It’s going to be difficult, what with my limited attributes—but I can manage that. The problem is the core capacitor—the main resource."

"And we can’t have Baron deliver that to us?" I asked.

"No," Pyra replied, surprising me with her interjection. "Because a core capacitor is a specialized Mana Crystal that can only be created by combining a large number of Mana Crystals. We’re talking about wealth in the range of hundreds of thousands of gold coins."

"I guess that means unless we can somehow arrange for that kind of wealth, our options are strictly limited to either getting the heck out of here, or staying and facing some very serious accusations," said Luna.

I thought about the problem for a moment and then asked, "How many Mana Crystals, exactly, are we talking about?"

Tania shrugged and offered a rough estimate. A glimmer passed through my eyes, and I turned to look at Amara.

"Are you thinking what I’m thinking?" I asked, and received a smirk in return.

"What?" Cassia probed, frowning.

"I think we can announce the good news to Baron," I said with a smile, standing up.

A look of confusion passed among the rest, but I decided to explain only after we had spoken to Baron.

"No," Amara said suddenly. "We aren’t here to do charity work. We’re going to negotiate."

"Hm? For what?" I asked.

The vampire didn’t answer but smiled and walked out. I shrugged and followed behind.

Note: Apologies for the delay, I was a bit busy these past couple days. That said, you can expect daily updates for this week and even 2 chapters on some days as well. Thank you for your understanding.