Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

After the tour of my new residential area, I went to fetch Smoothie from the library. She seemed to have levelled up a bit. A new trait had appeared called |librarian|. If I recalled correctly, the lizard demon had something similar.

"Smoothie, time to come home."

"New home?"

"Yes! Another fancy place for us to play around."

"Do I get to sleep with you?" She asked cheerfully.

"No. I don't sleep with naughty children."

"But I've been studying like you asked, no?"

"I'll think about it!"

I grabbed her hand and towed her back to our new residential place.

Right to the point I asked, "Smoothie, I heard it can be challenging to evolve at level 70. Do you know anything about it?"

"How would I know?" She shrugged without a care.

I urged, "Can you ask [soothsayer]?"

"It doesn't just know things. It can predict things and help me learn things faster."

"Then, how did it know what my abilities and traits did?"

She made a hammer with one hand and tapped her other hand, "Ah that! It can draw information from status."

I wonder if I was too slow to notice or that she never bothered to tell me about it. There's definitely something fishy about that ability. Maybe she told me and I just forgot?

While I thought, I kept a poker face to prevent [soothsayer] from picking up my thoughts. If that ability could be gained, I would love to have it.

Alas, I couldn't hold back my curiosity so I asked. "Is there a way to obtain [soothsayer]?"

"Not telling! You'll throw me away the second you get that ability!"

She pouted and hopped into bed, wrapping herself in thick blanket, completely covering her head.

I thought that was kind of cute but the fact that she wouldn't tell me about it was slightly concerning. There was definitely something more to that ability than meets the eyes.

Maybe I should try germinating another seed? But then again, I don't want to deal with more than one Smoothie. Children are certainly headache inducing. If only I could steal abilities, that would be nice and convenient. Eh, let's clear that thought, I don't want to mess with [soothsayer], at least not yet.

"Another question, Smoothie, I recently looked at a mirror and noticed strange patterns in my eyes. Were they always there?"

She unwrapped herself and stared at my face.

"No? Did you not use [transformation]?"

I nodded, "Ah, then it must be |bewitching| that caused the change."

"They do look peculiar but that's all. You don't have to worry about it."

"Thanks."

Obviously that wasn't my true thoughts. It seemed even [soothsayer] had no such access to these kind of information.

"Anyway, I'm going to craft some items to sell in Vera. It's money-making time!"

"Does it including making those miniature versions of yourself?"

"Yes! I'll be popular!" I grinned happily.

Popular like an idol! Or even worshiped as a local god!

"Are you thinking of replacing the guardian deity of Vera?"

"Not at all. I'm young and fresh, nothing like that old geezer."

Even though I had never met this fey serpent, I had a feeling he might look like an old man. That was just the image I had in my mind when temple was combined with meditation.

Speaking of meditation, during the previous night where everyone was resting, I worked on compressing my mana. It could also be considered meditation in a way.

I didn't know how much mana I had in surplus but so far I had compressed my mana multiple times already. Still, not all could fit inside this fey body. My densest mana was now crystallizing. It was in a state like a liquid crystal which might be able to be stored in a container. In a way, this was fairly convenient meaning they could be stored in my subspace without immediately spilling out.

Crystallized mana was much denser than the composition of my original fey body. When I first started, I hardly had any substance. Right now, I was no different than being a physical being in terms of interactions within this world. This liquid crystal state was as dense as I could compress mana. It might be possible to continue condensing mana into other states but I had no method in mind so far that was feasible without endangering me.

That method would have to be tested in the subspace. In the case I messed up, I didn't want to destroy a good chunk of this world.

Ah, what to do with these isolated extremely volatile mana? They're completely unusable to me. If I release them, I wonder if it could melt a mountain?

Anyway, let's keep it as a backup plan in against demons. I have a feeling De Planck would have noticed the anomaly already. In that case, anything that can be used against him would be nice.

I had lots of things going on in my mind. Normally, I hated thinking too much but if my survival was on the line, that was a different story.

I need to level up and evolve as soon as possible. I do not wish to end up dead or being his servant. De Planck! We shall soon be playing on an even battlefield. I may be inexperienced and weak in hands-on combat. Though, my abilities are nothing to scoff at. You just sit tight and wait a bit. I'm coming for you in due time.

I began crafting items agreed upon with Kanoko. Although not much, they still provided me "experience" to level up. It was now getting much more difficult and slower to level up. Again, I had no way to confirm whether "experience" existed in the system but I had to assume so.

"Smoothie, help me pack these goods into the boxes."

"Okay!" Smoothie happily helped me pack things since she had nothing better to do. After she packed them, I carried the boxes into the hallways because my room was slowly filling up.

From figurines to bottles to boxes, I was producing all of them via [creation]. The figurines took the longest to manufacture because I had them all take on different poses. Of course, I also had them in different sets of outfits. Limited edition items always sold like hotcakes if I remembered correctly.

After selling all these good stuff, I'll be rich! Then, I can eat as much good stuff as I like! Hehehe... Here comes my easy life!

My goal was quite simple. In any world, having funds was essential for everything.

"Smoothie, do you know if all the countries use the same currency?"

"I haven't looked at any financial documents."

"Any rumors?"

"No. There hasn't been any trades with other countries."

"Ah, I see. I'll have to ask Kanoko about it."

Please be only one currency. I hate dealing with multiple currencies.

A single currency would make everything so much easier and convenient. I wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of currency manipulation and war.

Currently, it didn't really matter but the more I thought about it, the more unpleasant my original idea of building a strawberry empire was. There was too much to consider. It might just be easier to take over an existing country than to create one out of scratch. That way, all the infrastructure and personnel were already there. 

In the morning, I reported back to Kanoko.

"Where would you like to have all the containers dropped off? I can't just leave them at my living room. Some of those boxes are now even blocking the hallway."

"You just love to give me extra work, don't you?" She sighed with exhaustion, "I'll have someone move them. Once they're inspected and approved for use, payment will be processed."

"Great! Hope I get paid a lot."

"You'll be paid accordingly. In the future, please create them in a designated area. We have plenty of storage areas around. All you had to do was ask. Never mind, I should have told you in the first place. Here."

She passed to me a map of the inner city and labelled the areas where I could manufacture stuff.

"Alright."

"Moving onto the next subject. We have a task for you. Since you have proven yourself versatile and capable in combat situations, you seem to be the perfect person to investigate the tunnels to the northeast."

"You want me to clean out the remnants of their army?"

"Yes. The debris are being cleared as we speak. As soon as one of them is cleared, we ask you to investigate and head to the nearest settlement. Are there any questions?"

"Wait, I don't get a break?"

"We have a shortage of personnel and you're being paid for the work. Do you really need a break?"

"Oh! I get paid! Okay, it's a deal."

"Here's a seal of emissary. You'll need it to prove your identity as a government official."

She handed me a small golden plate that felt warm to the touch. On it, a picture of a serpent was carved into it with the words "Emissary of Vera" beneath.

"Ooh. I'm a government official now..." I mused.

Following that, she listed a bunch of tasks for me to complete. It wasn't just a simple investigation after all.

I totally forgot to ask her about currencies. Since it wasn't that important and I didn't really want to bother Kanoko in her sorry state, I decided not to bring it up for the time being.