Chapter 36. I Finally Asked the System a Question, and Now I Have Homework

Chapter 36: 36. I Finally Asked the System a Question, and Now I Have Homework

When I woke up the next morning, the shutters were open and sunlight was spilling across the floor.

"H-huh...?" I looked around, having to feel that my back was in a bit of pain, but it was all worth it for what’s happening last night. "Phewww... she’s wild alright... more wild than Alicia when she’s used to it."

And then I looked at the star... yes, it was my girlfriend... Laura. She was asleep next to me with one arm draped over my chest and her hair sticking up in every direction.

I didn’t want to wake her up yet, well... duh. Looking at a moment like this is exactly the same feeling as when you gaze upon the heavens!

So... I just lay there for a while, listening to her breathe, grateful that she’d chosen to be there without having to leave me.

I felt different. My body still ached, but the exhaustion that had been dragging at me for days had eased... like a weight lifting off my shoulders.

I could feel the quiet current of Aether trickling back, thin but steady.

The sex I had with Laura yesterday probably made my lust full again, and now... in the near future, I don’t have to worry about that because I can just switch between Alicia and Laura, who I’ll fuck, to raise my lust back to normal.

And so... I thought about calling up the panel, then decided I might as well get it over with.

[NEW MUTUAL BOND ESTABLISHED]

[Partner: Laura Lapisfield]

[Relationship Status: Lovers]

[Bond Integrity: Stable]

[Lust Recovery: Increased]

[New Ability Unlocked: Valkyrie’s Grace]

[Effect: Improves combat coordination, defensive timing, and Aether efficiency when protecting a bonded partner.]

[Warning: Your body requires further restoration. But not through sex... it’s enough to take a break once in a while.

I read that and smiled.

’At least the system finally has some good news,’ I thought.

A second notification slid into view before I’d finished reading the first.

[ROYAL KNIGHT APPOINTMENT: APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE]

[Candidates: Roland Ravenshield, Alicia Ainzfield]

[Witness and Sponsor: Sharon Sanford]

[Final Ceremony: Pending]

I grinned like an idiot at the ceiling.

After years of nothing, I was going to be a royal knight... it felt like a fucking wet dream.

Alicia and I were going to be official knights, and they’re royal knights as well! I wanted to wake Laura up just to tell her, and I wanted to run to the other room and hug Alicia, and I wanted to write a letter to my parents.

But... there’s a but.

I almost missed the last line, tucked at the bottom of the screen.

[SITE NINE INVESTIGATION: INCOMPLETE]

[Recovered records indicate that Garrick Voss was not the highest-ranking individual involved.]

My smile faded... oh no...

I looked at the words for a long time. Garrick had been a dangerous man with a cause, but he’d only been a piece of something bigger, and whoever was moving that piece was still out there.

Somebody in this kingdom... somebody with enough authority to bury Sharon’s report and reroute royal caravans, was still pulling the strings.

I looked at Laura, sleeping peacefully beside me, and I thought about Alicia, Sharon, and Martin, especially the little girl who thought I was a knight from a storybook.

’Fine,’ I thought. ’I’m going to find out who you are.’

And this time... I was going to do it as a knight.

Ah... clip it. ROYAL knight.

And then I... accidentally fell asleep again. But eh... who am I to blame when we’re going at it for hours and hours.

...

I woke up one hour later... still feeling all warm, comfortable, and not dead, which felt like a decent start to the day.

Sunlight was coming through the shutters of Laura’s room in long gold stripes, and her arm was still draped across my chest belonged... and yes, still belonged to a woman who looked about as dangerous as a sleeping kitten.

Her short blue hair was sticking up in three different directions.

One of her feet had somehow ended up on my shin. I’d have been perfectly happy to lie there for another hour and let the whole kingdom run itself.

Then I noticed that the tiredness was gone... it’s different when I woke up before.

It wasn’t just that I felt better, although I did... The heavy, sandy feeling that had been dragging at me since Blackthorn had lifted, and in its place was a steady warmth... like a furnace that had been banked overnight and was ready to burn again.

I raised a hand without moving the rest of me and pulled up the panel with my eyes.

[STATUS RECOVERY COMPLETE]

[Lust: 100%]

[Aether Reserve: 38%]

[Physical Condition: Recovering]

[Active Mutual Bonds: 2]

[Partners: Alicia Ainzfield, Laura Lapisfield]

A hundred percent.

Two nights ago... I’d been collapsing in a plaza with three percent left in the tank, and now the meter was full to the brim... as if somebody had topped off a lamp.

I’ll admit that I felt a little smug about it.

But... The smugness lasted about ten seconds, because a thought hit me right after it. I couldn’t count on this every time.

If I fought another battle like the one against Garrick, I’d burn through that hundred percent in an afternoon, and I couldn’t exactly ask the enemy to pause while I went home to recharge... yes... I had to bring either Laura and Alicia to fuck.

And that’s why... I needed to understand how this thing actually worked, and so far I’d been learning it the way a man learns about a cliff... by falling off it.

So I tried something new. I’d been treating the panel like a bulletin board, reading whatever it chose to display, but there was no rule saying I couldn’t ask it questions.

I focused, kept my eyes on the ceiling, and thought as clearly as I could.

’Hey, system... I have a few questions.’

[Query acknowledged. Please state your inquiry.]

I almost laughed. It was like finding out that the grumpy innkeeper had a bell on the counter the whole time.

’If I take turns spending nights with Alicia and Laura, is that enough to keep my Lust stable?’

’Like... uh... Enough to cover what I burn in a real fight?’

The answer came back without any small talk.

[ANALYSIS COMPLETE]

[Current Partners: 2]

[Estimated Lust Recovery: Sufficient under moderate combat conditions.]

[Warning: Recovery may become insufficient under prolonged high-intensity combat, repeated ability activation, or extreme physical strain.]

That made sense, and it was more or less what I’d expected.

Two partners could keep me running on an ordinary week, but a siege or a fight with something like Garrick would still leave me on the floor...

I tried the next question, the one that had been itching at me since the road to Elarion.

’I know the returns drop when I go back to the same partner.’

’By how much, exactly?’

’Is it just a bit slower, or is it useless?’

[Existing bonds provide sustained benefits, but the initial bonding bonus cannot be repeatedly claimed in full.]

’So I need new partners to keep growing.’

[Not necessarily to survive.]

[However, additional compatible partners increase long-term growth potential, expand available abilities, and improve recovery flexibility.]

I rubbed my face with my free hand, careful not to wake Laura up...

I get it now... So that was the shape of it.

This class wasn’t built to be used by a lone wolf who found one perfect partner and stayed there. It was built to grow outward, bond by bond, and I’d have to accept that if I wanted the strength to protect everything I’d signed up to protect.

Yeah... a fucking harem, which I always wanted when I arrived here in this world.

I’d already made my peace with the harem part, if I’m honest. I’d had a whole speech about it with myself back in Marrow Creek.

But there’s a difference between agreeing to something as a vague, exciting idea and finding out that it’s a load-bearing wall in your life, and I needed a second to let that settle.

Then I asked the question that had been sitting at the back of my head.

’You keep saying this... long-term growth... What’s the actual limit?’

’Is the number of partners just the number of abilities I can get?’