Gacha Kingdom Building

-This chapter is writt using Angelica's POV-

All I could do was run away. But there was no point to it.

There was no place for me anywhere.

Born to two races, I didn't belong to any.

Angels are sought after due to their healing and strgthing abilities. It's said that a tear of one is capable of making a hundred potions or healing a limb, while a drop of blood can create elixirs capable of making one immortal.

Dragons are hunted due to the durability of their scales and the power of their cores. To make the best armor and weapons, you'd probably need to kill a dragon or two.

Be it small villages or big cities, it was impossible for me to live among others.

It never took long for my idtity to be exposed, and hurting me was just too profitable.

Armor that heals a knight, weapons that strgth the user more than any other... my death was more valuable than my life.

So I ran.

I did it until my legs hurt.

Wh that wasn't ough, I flew away.

I tried not to hurt others. I tried to understand.

But the truth is that the same was not done for me.

I was starving. Days had gone by.

At that rate, I would die inside a dark cave, alone.

I just wanted ough to survive, and there was only one place I knew where I could get it.

It was barely a conscious choice...

But it was definitely a mistake.

I got to eat a single cow, but that was all.

News about sightings of a Holy Dragon had reached the town.

I might've had the power to fight back... but... I was just so tired. I couldn't muster any strgth.

I just wanted to fly away, but I didn't ev manage that.

It was unlucky for me to be born, and my death was much the same.

...

A blue sky, a gtle breeze.

From the walls, everything looks small, and I feel at peace.

However, it doesn't take long until someone reaches out to me.

Skuld: "...Your flight in this form is still a bit awkward... what made you so desperate?"

One of the Valkyries, Skuld.

She seems to be the most talkative of the bunch. Although... that's not exactly true.

To be more precise, she is oft represtative of Eir and Liefids. While the former is way less social, the latter seems more emotional.

Both seem to trust Skuld, who strikes a nice balance and seems to be better wh it comes to dialogues.

Angelica: "Um... Miw has tasked me with something today, I wt to check with Agatha if everything was alright, but she started cutting onions."

Skuld: "...?"

The Valkyrie that was following me while I was flying away in my angelic form didn't seem to understand what I meant by this.

Perhaps it was innocce, but I also failed to explain it properly.

Angelica: "Angel tears. Whever she sees me, she tells me a tragic tale. Wh we are in the kitch, she cuts onions. It didn't take me long to notice what she was after."

Out of all the methods used to extract fluids from me, this was among the nicest.

Skuld asked me if it was such a big deal.

Ev though she's polite, it hurts me a little.

The truth is that, if it's just the tears or sweat, th it would be fine. I don't think she has bad inttions either.

But... in this place, no one else seeks me for such things.

I'm scared of that changing.

It's selfish of me. I can understand that... I also want to be useful to them, but ev though these feelings are strong and true... I can't win against my fear.

I convince myself that just a little more... just one more day, and th It'll be fine.

But the next day... I fail to change.

I want to trust them. I've se Miw's memories, I know that he means his words.

And yet, I don't act.

Now that I stopped running, I feel lost.

Skuld: "Th it is a big deal. How about being direct with her?"

...She's kind.

To say that my selfish desires are a big deal...

Angelica: "She's going to be upset."

I fear she'll reject me.

Betwe the two of us, I'm more useful if I'm...

Skuld: "Hm. You understand our king better than I do, so correct me if I'm wrong but... isn't his policy to sure our choice?"

It is.

Miw refuses to force us into anything.

There's always another option available.

At most, he'll sweet the deal by exposing how bad the alternative is or giving inctives for going along with him.

He thinks of this as unfair, but necessary.

However, I find it... impressive... that doing this is something he dislikes, but does anyway out of kindness.

He hurts himself, in order to make things better for us.

This is something I was never able to do.

Angelica: "I'll talk with her... later..."

We had a mission together, so... it wasn't an appropriate time.

As Skuld sat down by my side, we talked about trivial things. Mostly life in the Kingdom.

Since I had Miw's memories, I was able to fill the gap for her in certain places.

It didn't take long for her sisters to join.

They seemed a little wary of me at first. A normal response due to their experice with monsters.

Yet, due to her sister's fridliness, they were able to overcome their fear.

They tried their best to teach me how to fly better in my angelic form, as I used to fly more like a dragon.

It was better for long distances, and it made me more resistant.

Once I had gott out of sight, or traveled far ough, I could change and heal myself.

But... It might've not be the best strategy.

After all, I did not survive for long.

It was going to take a while for me to get more accustomed to this, but... flying in the skies, which used to be my only refuge, in my most vulnerable form while accompanied by someone else...

I would've never imagined it could be so nice.

Never before did I have the opportunity to learn from someone else, so this was a first for me.

One more new memory that would not fit in my previous life, but that I would keep with care.

Although I was a bit anxious about whether or not I had done alright... But reading their expressions was hard ev for me, so I had no choice but to trust their words.

Cassandra: "Hm? You seem happy. Excited to play with your big sister?"

... Cassandra is one of Miw's retainers.

Appartly, she's a big deal.

Or at least the biggest deal of all, Elizabeth, considers her so.

She also has a sister. Which is not me.

Yet, she always calls me that.

Ev though we were both summoned at the same time, her relationship with Miw developed much quicker. They see eye to eye in many ways... most of them rather annoying.

I also believe we to be polar opposites.

She's confidt and doesn't seem to care about what others may think of her.

The feelings and opinions of others don't change or stop her words.

I can't help but vy her a little.

Elizabeth: "As you know, Your Majesty is interested in acquiring and learning the properties of some of the resources produced at the mines. Normally, he'd have Agatha and the Valkyries search for them, but he wants to test other possible groups, and so, we have be tasked with it. I'll be assuming command, I trust nobody has any complaints?"

Gabriella: "I have!"

...We had a problem.

No, we had many problems.

For starters, this group.

Cassandra and Elizabeth are like cat and mouse.

Elizabeth and Gabriella are like a small dog barking at a big one.

Agatha and I have an awkward relationship.

... The only ones not in trouble with anyone were Anna and Lana.

I don't have much of a relationship with Lana. She doesn't talk too much with anyone aside from Lily and Miw. Sometimes with Mia too.

From my observations, she seemed more reluctant in the first days.

As for Anna... she's quite amicable. She seems like such a mundane girl at first, her mood doesn't change frequtly, and she is easy to approach.

Since we both fulfill similar roles in the frontline, we usually go ahead of the others, and I was hoping this would help me avoid trouble with such a group.

Elizabeth: "...Fine. Let's put it to a vote th."

Gabriella: "Hah! Who in their right mind would trust a-"

Cassandra: "Demon."

Anna: "Liz."

Just like that, almost half of the votes were already accounted for.

Gabriella's only hopes were Agatha and Lana. But it was doubtful whether or not Agatha would want to participate in something silly like this since she seems quite focused on her job.

Lana also doesn't talk with anyone here too much, so she probably didn't care either way.

However... I for one, cared.

Angelica: "Elizabeth..."

My relationship with Gabriella, due to my own mistake, is struous.

I'd rather avoid having her order me if possible.

Elizabeth is also prov to be a good leader. Following her orders, we made quick progress.

Agatha was picking whatever minerals seemed easy or interesting, while the rest of us were fding off the monsters in this place.

She looked completely disinterested in us. Or rather... she was really passionate about the minerals on the walls.

The monsters in this place wer't particularly powerful, and sometimes they dropped gems or ores, which Agatha also asked us to collect.

For this mission, Miw allowed the mine to produce everything, so there were a lot of things we didn't know about.

It would be impossible to research all of them at once.

Still, collecting and idtifying resources that can be used later was useful for him.

Although we were doing fine, it was just a matter of time before the boiling water on our back erupted.

Cassandra: "Ugh, this is so boring... I already miss his dick."

Anna: "What? We spt the tire night doing it yesterday..."

Two girls in the same night...

I already knew about Miw's... lust. But it still surprises me.

In his memories, the girls he slept with seemed to joy it a lot.

It feels strange to remember memories that ar't mine. I feel like I'm peeking at something I shouldn't have.

Gabriella: "Demon, cease influcing the hero with your lust at once!"

Cassandra fought and killed many demons in Elizabeth's world once.

She was the hero's living sword, and so, a hero herself.

But Gabriella seems to have the wrong impression.

Just because Cassandra fought against the demons in the name of the Gods, it doesn't mean she hates them, or that she's a virtuous person.

Cassandra: "Hahaha! The millnia-old virgin influcing me? No way. She's as diligt as it gets."

Again, although Cassandra is like this, she actually seems to respect Elizabeth. A mutual feeling that goes both ways, ev though one has a very peculiar way of showing it.

Gabriella: "...A demon, diligt?"

Cassandra: "What about it?"

Gabriella: "That's not possible. I knew she was messing with your head."

Elizabeth stayed in silce, not dying her words.

It seems like she can't be bothered, and there's no need.

Miw will never take Gabriella's side, and anyone can see that Elizabeth works hard for the Kingdom."

She earns the respect of others through her actions, which are much more convincing than Gabriella's words.

Cassandra: "I see. You believe demons to be incapable of good."

Gabriella: "Of course! They are creatures filled with sin."

Cassandra: "Th, are humans always good?"

Gabriella: "But ours is differt. It's a challge we must overcome so that we can live better lives."

...To live better lives.

That's admirable.

But... the Kingdom is ruled by a man full of sin

And yet... I couldn't imagine a better place to live.

Cassandra: "Pfft. That is your answer? Missy, you are truly ignorant."

Gabriella: "Wha- What do you mean?

Cassandra: "You fail to realize the true nature of sin."

Her words were harsh and insulting, but Gabriella seemed unfazed by them.

Gabriella: "I knew the demon was messing with your head. Sins are bad. The world would be a better place without them. That's all there is to it."

She pointed to Elizabeth.

But she also looked my way.

By this point, our expedition had stopped completely as the two argumts escalated.

Agatha pretded she wasn't listing, and together with Lana, they kept collecting minerals.

Anna: "She's quite annoying. I wish Miw would let me punch her just once."

Angelica: "Don't. That would only make things worse."

Anna: "Who knows? Might d up fixing her loose screws."

She spoke in a soft, quiet voice in order to not be heard by the others.

It was meant just for me to list.

I couldn't help but appreciate that.

However, she wasn't the only one to dislike Gabriella's answers.

Elizabeth: "Sin is not inhertly evil. How you use them is what's most important. Demons know not to be ashamed of them, but instead, to use them. In that way, we, who accept and control our sins, are much better than humans who dy and surrder to theirs."

She hadn't said a word to refute Gabriella until now. And I could tel.. She was not trying to defd herself, she did not feel the need to in the first place.

Cassandra: "Right. Ultimately, they can also make others happy."

Gabriella: "...What are you saying? How could they?"

...Cassandra usually wears a mysterious smile on her face. Almost as if she's being tertained by the world itself.

However, hers wasn't nearly as terrifying as what Gabriella showed.

Her expression... it was one of anger, I knew that clear as day.

And yet... that guine, bright smile of hers, was hiding it completely. As if a mantra meant to do away with her feelings.

She didn't look like a human.

And as everyone's atttion had turned to them... to that creepy face that didn't belong to such a cute girl...

An earthquake occurred.