Using Gacha to Increase My Companions and to Create the Strongest Girls' Army Corps

A little over ten days after finishing the investigation at the Cancer Cave hunting grounds, we checked out two more locations where Diabolos had been sighted. However, neither of these places offered any new discoveries, and we found nothing of value. We were planning to head to the next location tomorrow when...

"Heihachi! I want you to take me on a magic stone hunt!"

While making plans for the next day after returning home, Freesia suddenly made this request. Oh? She's volunteering to go magic stone hunting? Freesia, you're showing some promise!

"Oh, you want to go on a magic stone hunt? Alright then, let’s get started—"

I was about to agree enthusiastically when a silver-haired, somewhat clumsy knight slid in between me and Freesia.

"Freesia, what are you saying? You can’t be serious! You shouldn’t say things like that!"

“Whoa?! N-Noru-chan! Don’t shake me like that!”

Noru grabbed Freesia's shoulders and shook her back and forth, as if trying to shake some sense into her. With all the commotion, Estel and Sisya gathered around, so I explained the situation.

"You want to go magic stone hunting of your own accord? What’s gotten into you?”

“Well, everyone else has done it except me, right? Ever since I heard you talking about it, I just couldn't get it out of my head! So I want to go!”

“Freesia, I understand that you're curious, but there are some things in life you don’t need to experience… You don’t have to go to hell willingly!”

“Boo!”

Noru was desperately trying to convince her otherwise, but Freesia pouted, looking displeased. Even when her good friend Noru says so, she doesn't seem ready to give up. For me, that's actually very convenient.

“Well, well, we have to respect her wishes, right? We’ve finished the investigation of the third location, so it's a perfect time for a little break. Let’s go on a hunt for magic stones! Sisya, don’t you think so too?”

“Yes, I completely agree. We've been so focused on fulfilling requests lately that we’ve neglected gacha and magic stone gathering. It’s important to keep it fresh in our minds!”

“Doing requests seriously is a good thing, though…”

“Trying to use logic on these two is a lost cause, Noru. Just give up.”

Does she think that Heihachi will change his mind with rational arguments…? Sure, it’s good to be serious about the requests, but honestly, it’s been a while since we’ve gone hunting for magic stones. This is a serious matter. Plus, moving around and investigating continuously feels like we're pushing ourselves too hard.

“To be serious for a moment, we haven't had much rest lately, right? So, let’s take this opportunity for a bit of a breather. Even if we do go magic stone hunting, we won’t do it until midnight. I’d like Freesia to experience it, just in case we suddenly need more magic stones."

"I’d rather hope that time never comes..."

Noru shivered as she rubbed her upper arms, seemingly considering that scenario. I don’t particularly like magic stone hunting, either. It’s just something I do because I have to, for the sake of the gacha. And even though I know how strong Freesia is, I want to think about how to handle her if she does go hunting for magic stones. Now is the perfect time to take her on a hunt, especially since she’s asking to go herself.

“Noru-chan! Please! I really want to try magic stone hunting!”

“Hmm… if Freesia insists that much…”

“Yay! Thank you, Noru-chan!”

Freesia clapped her hands together in a pleading gesture, and Noru reluctantly agreed.

---

The next morning, I, Sisya, and Freesia headed to the Goblin Forest, a familiar hunting ground.

“So, how should we go about hunting?”

“Normally, we’d just charge into the spawn points and cause chaos, but Freesia is an archer.”

“Maybe the forest isn't the best place for Freesia?”

“Hmmm, who knows…”

We came here since it’s a standard spot for magic stone hunting, but with a bow, she can’t fight up close. I also doubt whether you can hunt efficiently with a bow in the first place. In hindsight, it might have been better to head to the open areas of Remri Mountain to face Lizardmen instead. But then again, against Kephur, eight enemies rush in all at once, and sniping alone wouldn’t be enough, so I’d rather not deal with that. While Sisya and I were deep in thought, Freesia…

“Hahaha! It feels so good to be in the forest!”

...was laughing and hopping from branch to branch, spinning around by grabbing onto tree limbs with both hands. Is she a monkey…? No, maybe it’s because she’s an elf that she’s so in tune with the forest? She’s moving faster than I can run on the ground—like a jungle champion.

“Wow, I didn’t know she could move like that…”

“I think Noru-san and Runa-san are faster in a straight line, but in the forest, Freesia might be more agile.”

Even though I’m watching her, she moves so quickly that if I let my guard down, I might lose sight of her. At this rate, she might be able to hunt effectively with her bow… maybe. After a while, Freesia jumped down from the trees and landed in front of us.

“Okay, so we just need to hunt here, right?”

“Yeah, goblins and orcs spawn at certain locations. You pick a few spots, and as soon as they appear, you take them down. Then a Black Orc will spawn, and you can get the magic stone from it. Got it?”

“Got it!”

…Will this really be okay? I felt a bit uneasy as Freesia responded with a crisp salute, but I explained how to cycle through the spawn points. After the explanation, Sisya and I stepped back a bit to observe as Freesia began hunting.

First, Freesia didn’t draw her bow; instead, she jumped back up onto a tree branch, just like when she was playing around earlier. She then took a few arrows from her quiver, held them in her hand, and nocked them while moving along the branches, keeping an eye on the goblins' location. As we followed to keep her in sight, she started firing arrows rapidly while hopping from branch to branch, hitting the goblins and orcs she aimed at. At times, she nocked and fired several arrows at once, sending an astonishing number of arrows flying. Naturally, none missed; every shot hit a head or heart, instantly killing and nearly obliterating her targets.

Even goblins hiding in hard-to-see spots were hit by arrows that curved unnaturally mid-flight. Without stopping, Freesia moved around the tree branches, clearing out the spawn points, quickly annihilating the monsters. She’s faster than I am when I run around on the ground to hunt.

“Fufun, how’s that?”

Having finished her hunt, Freesia returned with a proud smile, puffing out her chest with satisfaction. Honestly, I couldn’t find any faults and just wanted to praise her.

“Yeah… that’s more than enough. Looks like Freesia can gather magic stones here too.”

“With this, Freesia-san is now a member of our magic stone hunting group.”

“Yay! I’m with Sisya-chan and the others now!”

I thought hunting efficiently with a bow was impossible, but I was wrong. An UR unit is not just for show… If only she were quieter, it would be perfect.

“Alright, let’s keep hunting until the sun sets today!”

“Ufufu, it’s been a while since we’ve hunted here! Let’s enjoy it to our heart's content! Freesia-san, you do your best too!”

“Yeah! I’ll do my best! …Wait, what? The sun just rose, and we’re hunting until it sets?”

“Come on, don’t overthink it! Just get started!”

“Uh, okay!”

Freesia seemed to realize something she shouldn’t, but we brushed it off with enthusiasm and began hunting for magic stones. After a few hours, we decided to take a break with some lunch that Noru had prepared.

“Ugh, Heihachi! I’m tired of hunting already! Doing this until the sun sets is ridiculous!”

Freesia protested with a sandwich in one hand. I managed to distract her with enthusiasm earlier, but she seemed to have calmed down and reconsidered during the hunt. But it’s still a bit early to be complaining!

“Hey, we haven’t even been at it for half a day yet.”

“That’s right. We’re only just getting warmed up. And it was you who wanted to come, Freesia-san.”

“But we’re just going back and forth over the same spots, killing goblins and orcs repeatedly! Now I understand why Noru-chan hated it so much…”

Freesia recalled Noru’s words from yesterday and looked downcast. Hmm, she’s rather moody, and long hours of repetitive tasks don’t suit her.

“Well, if that’s the case, you can head back, Freesia.”

“What? But if it were Ookura-san, he’d say, ‘You started, so finish it!’ or something like that!”

“I’m not that heartless... We originally came to see if Freesia could handle magic stone hunting. If she wants to stop now, that’s fine by me.”

“Oh, so you’re actually being reasonable for once, Ookura-san.”

“That’s

 one comment too many!”

What does she think I am…? It’s not like I brought her out here as a punishment for breaking a promise. This is more than enough for now. I think she understands what would happen if she breaks a promise again.

“Oh, but there’s something I want to try before we leave! I want to use my skill!”

“Hm? Your skill?”

Just as we were about to head back after lunch, Freesia brought up something unexpected.

“What kind of skill does Freesia-san have?”

“If I remember correctly, it’s a wide-range, sustained attack.”

“A wide-range attack with a bow…? I can’t quite imagine how that would work.”

I think Freesia’s skill is called Inversa Sagitta? In GC, it felt like a barrage of arrows raining down from the sky… I wonder how it will manifest in this world.

“I want to see it too, and I’d like to check Freesia’s reaction to it, so why don’t you try it?”

“Yay!”

If we don’t know how the skill works, we might be in trouble when we actually need it. Especially since Freesia is a combat class; her skill alone could significantly change the course of a battle. …Oh yeah, I remember in GC, when a player with Freesia used her skill, it wiped out my entire army... Ugh!

Before letting Freesia use her skill, I checked the map app to see if anyone was nearby.

“Alright, there’s no one around, so it’s fine to use it. Go ahead!”

“Here I go!”

At my signal, Freesia nocked an arrow and drew her bow. She shouted energetically, and green light gathered around the arrow, starting to glow brightly. She aimed upwards, drawing the bowstring so tight it creaked, and finally released the arrow. The arrow flew into the sky and then suddenly stopped at a certain height.

As Sisya and I tilted our heads, wondering what was happening… The next moment, something shot out from the glowing green arrow suspended in the air. On closer inspection, they were arrows, multiplying rapidly and descending toward the ground.

“W-what is this…?”

“Wow… The red dots on the map are disappearing quickly.”

“This is my special move! How do you like it?”

The map app displayed many red dots, but they were vanishing rapidly. Even monsters that seemed to have just spawned were disappearing as soon as they appeared. Every monster within the map’s range had been wiped out… Just how wide is this skill’s range? I just got over ten magic stones in an instant.

While I was marveling at this, a glowing object launched from the green arrow floating in the sky was heading toward us.

“Wait, it’s coming this way too!?”

“Whoa, what are you doing!? Run!”

“Hahaha! My skill is amazing, right?!”

We quickly turned and ran, and soon, green arrows began raining down in the spot where we had been just moments ago. Judging by the map app, even a Black Orc would be killed instantly… If this attack is based on Freesia’s power, does each shot have a power of nearly 5000? This is a disaster-level attack! It’s even more fearsome than Noru or Estel!

We kept running until we were finally out of the Inversa Sagitta’s range.

“Phew… It was a good idea to have her use it beforehand.”

“I never imagined it would be an indiscriminate, wide-range attack…”

Watching from a safe distance, we could still see green lights raining down in the forest from Freesia's Inversa Sagitta. When I checked my phone, I saw we’d gained ten more magic stones, making a total of over twenty since she used the skill. Getting this many from a single skill use… Freesia is really something! But then…

“Huh… Ahh?”

Just as I was getting impressed, Freesia wobbled and then collapsed to the side.

“Freesia?! What’s wrong?!”

I hurried over and picked her up, finding that she had fainted, unconscious.

“…She’s passed out. Is this the recoil from her skill?”

Wait… So the recoil from using her skill is fainting? Noru’s muscle pain is one thing, but if she faints right after using it, there’s no way it can be used safely in battle! While we tended to the unconscious Freesia, we continued to watch the green light rain down from a distance. Just how long is that skill going to last…?