Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Lighters reminded me of cigarettes. And cigarettes reminded me of Ellie.

It was a simple idea, but I was sure it would be effective. Confident in this, I kicked open the door and marched out.

Finding Ellie and Lydia wasn’t difficult; they were talking in a corner on the first floor.

The challenge was that both of them wore such gloomy expressions and were wrapped in such a serious atmosphere that it was hard to interrupt.

Especially Ellie, who had smoked so many cigarettes that the ashtray was piled high with butts, and the area was filled with thick smoke.

Even if magic herb cigarettes were said to be different from ordinary cigarettes in that they weren’t addictive or harmful to the body… smoking that much suggested there must be some problem.

That’s because the magic herb cigarettes Ellie smoked were used as a substitute for painkillers when she felt phantom pain in her lost right arm.

Hiding my growing worries behind a bright smile, I dashed towards them.

“…Jonah? Didn’t you say you were going to bed?”

“I was, but I forgot something.”

For some reason, her complexion was pale. As if that wasn’t enough, Ellie was biting down on a new cigar.

She must have been about to light it, as there was a lighter magic tool in her hand, so I quickly snatched that away.

Pickpocketing…ON!

“Nope!”

“Wait, wait! What was that just now?! You just swiped your hand and it disappeared!”

“Is that really what’s important right now? Just stay still for a moment.”

Ellie was making a fuss, probably because it was the first time she had seen my skill, but I calmed her down and stood in front of her.

Normally, Ellie would have been stealing glances at my body while pretending not to… But for some reason, she was avoiding my gaze completely.

Could it be…in that short moment?

It seemed like she tried to hide it, but I, Jonah Kim, a genius (not really) who even dares to insult the gods (actually), understood everything.

I gently patted her ash-colored head with a benevolent smile. This was only possible because Ellie was sitting down. It was amusing to see her wolf ears twitch every time my hand touched her.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I don’t mind. It could happen.”

“Jonah, you know everything…?”

“Of course.”

I nodded and brought my lips close to Ellie’s ear.

“…You jacked off thinking of my stomach, right? And now you’re getting scolded by Miss Lydia for it.”

“……Hah?”

Ellie tried to hide her embarrassment, feigning disbelief. It was cute, really.

“Oh, you. I told you, I understand. I’m indeed charming, but still contained within a young body. Surely, the Noble Miss Lydia wouldn’t forgive Ellie for being in heat over a child.”

“No! What do you take me for, you cheeky brat?!”

“A virgin who spends all day thinking about naughty things, but when the opportunity comes, freezes up and can’t do anything?”

“Stop with the facts! Stop, it hurts my feelings….”

“Sigh. I know that you were not only just chewed out by your junior after being caught doing a round but also facing the person that had been your target and that you feel a bit bashful and sorry talking to me… But I’ll be hurt if you ignore me too much.”

“No, just listen to me…!”

Ellie protested, clutching her chest as if she was being wronged. Next to her, Lydia clapped with an expressionless face.

Clap, clap!

“Jonah is amazing. You know Senior Ellie well.”

“Ahem. That’s me, alright.”

“Lydia, you too?!”

“It’s fortunate that Senior Ellie wasn’t taken away by the guards.”

“…I wish you were all dead.”

Ellie, sighing deeply, lowered her head. A cigar, unlit, still hung from her lips.

She somehow had yet to drop it. Giggling, I grabbed her cheek to make her look this way.

“Ellie.”

“……”

“Look at me, Ellie.”

“…Why.”

Ellie, clearly sulking, avoided my gaze with a grumpy voice.

In front of her, I raised my index finger and murmured softly.

“Weak Flame.”

Whoosh.

A flame blossomed from my fingertips, and Ellie’s yellow eyes widened.

“Is that… magic?”

“I think I gained a bit of mana after visiting the labyrinth. But this is the most I can do.”

I shrugged my shoulders, and Lydia, narrowing her eyes, asked, “Having mana doesn’t necessarily mean anyone can use magic. Did you already know that?”

“Roughly, yes. Didn’t I tell you? I originally aspired to be an adventurer, so I had studied a lot in advance.”

“…….”

Though her expression was far from convinced, Lydia nodded her head. Sorry, but it can’t be helped; my gacha ability is a secret.

Well, given what I’ve shown in the labyrinth so far, maybe she’ll let it slide. Even if not, at worst, she’ll just think I’m a genius, which is fine.

More importantly, I need to hurry now. Even at this moment, my granular amount of mana was being rapidly consumed.

“Please focus on this flame, Ellie.”

“……?”

Ellie tilted her head in confusion as I waved my finger back and forth in front of her. The flame flickered in response.

“You find yourself increasingly fond of the boy before your eyes…”

“Jonah, are you trying to hypnotize me right now?”

“You like them so much that you want to pounce on them tonight…”

“I said I won’t do that!”

“And then, claiming responsibility, you will end up getting married to them…”

“Wouldn’t turning oneself in be the norm in that situation?”

“But the guilt doesn’t disappear, so you can’t refuse anything the boy says, and you end up transferring all your property under the boy’s name…”

“Was that your goal?!”

Ellie shivered in horror for a moment, and then, with a sudden move, I thrust my finger forward.

“There.”

“Eh, what?”

The moment my finger touched, the cigar Ellie had been holding lit up, causing her to jerk her head back in surprise. A cloud of smoke rose above her dazed face.

Feeling my mana depleting, I shook my wrist to dispel the magic before it ran out completely.

“How’s that? I wanted to show it to Ellie first, so I even kept it a secret from Miss Lydia. Did you like it?”

“…….”

Ellie had grown stiff as if someone had paused her. Only her yellow eyes rolled back and forth between me and the cigarette.

I touched Ellie’s cheek and smiled broadly.

“I don’t know what’s worrying Ellie, but I’m on Ellie’s side.”

“Jonah…”

“Ellie has done more than just a couple of things for my sake, after all. Even entrusting my tutoring to Miss Lydia is one case. Tell me honestly. You became anxious because I was kidnapped this time, didn’t you?”

Ellie had always been kind to me, but not to the extent of paying a large sum to Lydia to make a request.

She had also often advised me not to do dangerous work like adventuring and to live a normal life, such as helping with her work instead.

But such Ellie seriously thought of making me into a proper adventurer? After giving it some thought, there was only one reason.

She believed that if I had been left alone, I would have realized how tough being an adventurer would be and come back to her, but instead, I was kidnapped and nearly sold off somewhere.

So instead of stopping me from becoming an adventurer, she had planned to support me properly so that I could develop enough strength to protect myself.

“Ellie’s such a dummy. It’s not Ellie’s fault I was kidnapped.”

“I…that’s…”

Ellie stammered, unable to finish her sentence. I hugged her tightly and patted her on the back.

“Don’t blame yourself. And just watch me and wait. I will never betray Ellie’s trust.”

“……!”

Ellie flinched violently as if struck by lightning. Though I added a bit of flair, my words were sincere.

The labyrinth city was vast, and it was densely populated. In such a complex world, how many people can one possibly fully trust?

It wasn’t like I hadn’t searched for my characters either. It was just that despite my efforts, Ellie had been the only one I could find.

And I was glad it was Ellie.

Because I had only sketched out the rough character of her, I didn’t know everything about Ellie, but I was certain she was one of the few absolutely lawful characters among my creations.

As a creator, as a human being, and as a man who had found his ideal type in the novels right before his eyes, I tried to show off a little.

“I’ll repay you double for what I’ve received from Ellie, so just you wait. …And please, stay by my side until then.”

“W, wait. I hadn’t done it expecting anything in return….”

“And!”

I cut off Ellie’s stammering voice. Then, in a voice too quiet for Lydia to hear, I whispered.

“I jack off to Ellie from time to time as well, so let’s pretend today never happened, okay?”

“……?!”

After giving Ellie one more pat on the back, leaving her unable to even breathe properly, I hurried over to Lydia.

I opened my arms wide, intending for a light hug, but…

“Can’t do. Senior Ellie will become bothersome.”

Seeing that she was really looking for Ellie’s reaction with a tired expression, I just lightly tapped on the shoulder part of her armor.

“Thank you for today as well, Miss Lydia! Now I’m really going to leave, so sleep well both of you~”

“Eh, uh…yeh.”

“Yeah. Let’s rest tomorrow and meet the day after.”

Ellie had become unable to speak, and Lydia was waving her hand with an expressionless face.

Come to think of it, we had planned tomorrow to be a reorganization day and also to review what had happened at the labyrinth, then the next day to be our next venture into the labyrinth.

“Yes ma’am. See you in two days.”

Only after waving back to Lydia did I head back up to the room on the second floor.

Thud!

As soon as I closed the door, I unfolded the hand that had been tightly clenched into a fist. There lay a shiny silver lighter magic tool.

Its luxurious decoration and finish seemed especially radiant.

“Selling this would easily fetch more than 1 silver.”

Since Ellie has me, she won’t need a lighter anymore, right?

And thus, a world was completed where no one was hurt.