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

Several dozen days after Freesia's first experience in magic stone hunting.

“Phew, that’s the investigation of the five locations done.”

“Indeed, but we found nothing new at all.”

“We spent days traveling to each site, only to come up empty-handed. It’s so frustrating!”

We finished investigating the fifth sighting location, but we didn’t find any black magic stones or even any abnormalities in the hunting grounds. It seems that even if Diabolos was found, he wasn’t necessarily doing anything there. In fact, it feels like he’s passed through most places without causing any disturbance. There’s no sign of a chance encounter either, and at this rate, we’re not going to learn anything about our target’s motives.

With these thoughts of unease over our stalled investigation, today, as usual, I headed to the Sevarya Branch with Noru and Estel to see if there were any new reports.

“—That’s why! We have to go right away!”

The moment I opened the door to enter the building, I heard a woman’s shouting voice from inside. Looking at each other in surprise, Noru and I stepped in and found several people in ceremonial robes discussing something with Bens and a few other staff members. Among them, the woman shouting stood out in particular; she was dressed in a familiar shrine maiden outfit. Blue priestess robes with short purple hair… It’s Irina from the Testudo Temple! I’m curious as to why she’s at the Adventurer's Guild, but it doesn’t seem like a good time to approach her. For now, I’ll just listen in until their discussion is over.

“We understand that this is a serious matter. However, we currently have no one available to act as an escort…”

“As a servant of Testudo-sama, we must head there as soon as possible! We can also use healing magic, so please, we beg you!”

“Even so… to escort people from the temple, we need to request the help of multiple C-Rank parties or adventurers of B-Rank or higher…”

Irina was pleading desperately, but Bens replied with a grave expression, hesitating with his words. From what I could hear, it sounded like they were looking for adventurers to escort them. And it had to be B-Rank or higher. Hmm, this reeks of trouble. Should I intervene or… As I was pondering this, the receptionist who was with Bens noticed us. Before I could make my escape, she whispered something into Bens’ ear.

“Oh…! Oh, Ookura-san! It’s Ookura-san, isn’t it?! Just who we needed!”

“C-Calm down!”

“You seem very excited…”

Bens rushed over, grabbed both of my hands, and started shaking them up and down. His previously troubled face transformed into a beaming smile, and the other staff members around him sighed in relief. Ah… looks like there’s no escaping this now.

“Who are you all…?”

“Miss, we met you at the temple the other day. You helped guide us, and we appreciated it.”

“There’s no need to thank me for that. So, you all are adventurers?”

Irina also approached us, eyes widening as she looked at us. When we went to the temple, we were in civilian clothes, so she probably had no idea we were adventurers. Estel, noticing that I was still being enthusiastically greeted by Bens, took the lead in responding.

“So, what brings the lady from the temple here?”

“Well, actually…”

Irina lowered her head slightly and began to speak with a serious expression. Around Sevarya, there are several shrines dedicated to Testudo-sama. We’ve seen them ourselves, and we’ve also heard about them from the local fishermen. The reason Irina and her group are in such a hurry is that one of these scattered shrines has apparently lost its power. While they don’t know the cause, something has undoubtedly happened at the shrine. Normally, these shrines are protected by barriers, and such a thing shouldn’t be possible unless something extraordinary has occurred.

These shrines are connected to the sacred body housed in the temple of Sevarya, allowing Testudo-sama’s blessings to extend throughout the surrounding regions. If left unattended, monsters that previously feared Testudo-sama might start invading the nearby seas. Therefore, Irina and her group need to go to the shrine to find out what happened and reconnect the sacred body with the shrine.

“We must head there as soon as possible! But we’ve been told that there are no adventurers available to act as our escorts…”

“So that’s what the argument was about. What should we do, big brother?”

Hmm, even if you ask me what to do… We’ve been investigating for days with no new findings, and now this sudden abnormality. And it’s at a shrine that channels the blessings of a guardian deity. We didn’t notice anything because we couldn’t touch the shrine, but it seems it has a barrier, which means there are very few entities capable of damaging it. And the most likely suspect… is Diabolos, the one we’ve been searching for. There’s no guarantee, but there’s a high chance he’s involved. If Diabolos is there, Irina and her group would be in danger, so maybe we should act as their escorts while investigating? As I pondered this, Bens, who had been holding my hands, started shaking them up and down vigorously.

“Ookura-san! Could you please accept this escort request? I’m begging you!”

“O-okay, okay, just stop shaking me!”

“Even Ookura-dono is being swung around… The branch manager is quite strong, isn’t he?”

Hey, I’m floating! My body is actually floating! As soon as I agreed to be the escort, Bens finally calmed down and let go of my hands. Phew, I didn’t realize he had enough strength to lift me off the ground… Now that I’m free, I should confirm things with Irina.

“Um, Irina-san, right? We are B-Rank adventurers, so if you’d like, we’re willing to take on your request. How about it?”

“Please, we would be most grateful!”

Irina responded immediately, bowing deeply to us. We had Bens and the others prepare a formal request document, and we officially accepted the job to escort Irina and her group. They seemed eager to depart immediately, but since we had just arrived at the guild, we managed to negotiate some time to prepare and then left the guild.

“We’ve got time to prepare, but what should we do? Should we call Sisya?”

“It’s an escort mission, so I think we should definitely bring Sisya along. But that means there won’t be anyone left to keep an eye on Freesia…”

The shrine is about five days away from Sevarya by horse. Since we can’t use the magic carpet, we’ll have to travel on horseback too, so it’ll be around ten days for a round trip. Naturally, we can’t take Freesia with us, so she’ll have to stay home.

“We’ll have to ask Runa to watch over her. After the last magic stone hunt, Freesia seemed pretty scared, so she shouldn’t be sneaking out on her own.”

“True. It’s a relief that Freesia understands how frightening magic stone hunting can be. If she were like Ookura-dono or Sisya, I’d be worried…”

Since the incident during the last magic stone hunt where Freesia fainted after using her skill, she’s become quite scared of magic stone hunting. She didn’t wake up until the afternoon of the next day… For someone like Freesia, who loves to move around, being unconscious for an entire day was a huge shock.

Perhaps because of that, she’s been much less reckless and more obedient around the house. If we’re taking Sisya for the escort mission, it will leave only Freesia and Runa at home… but given the current Freesia, she should be able to manage. With that belief, we returned home and explained the situation to Freesia and the others.

“What?! I can't go outside for that long?!”

Freesia shouted, her face looking like the end of the world.

“We don’t have a choice. It’s okay if you just look outside, but you can’t go out while we’re away.”

“Objection! I’m fine on my own now!”

“That doesn’t sound very convincing…”

Freesia banged on the table, loudly protesting. I knew this would happen… If we go on this escort mission, it’ll just be Freesia and Runa left at home. There’s no way Runa would agree to go outside with Freesia, and letting Freesia go out alone isn’t an option either. We need her to stay quietly at home while we’re gone… but this doesn’t look promising. To make matters worse, Runa spoke up.

“No, I don’t want to be left alone with Freesia. I’ll die.”

She shook her head rapidly, still expressionless. Does she dislike it that much…? Well, considering what happened last time, I can’t blame her.

“Runa-chan, that’s so mean! You make it sound like I’m a troublemaker!”

“Look who’s talking. Just use your skill and stay unconscious the whole time.”

“That’s so cruel! It’s too much!”

Runa crossed her arms and turned her face away in dismissal, while Freesia, tears in her eyes, clung to Runa’s leg. This isn’t going to work. There’s no way we can leave just the two of them at home. However, we also can’t do an escort mission with someone like Irina, a shrine maiden, without our full team.

Even though Irina’s group can use healing

 magic, I definitely want to bring Sisya along. Taking the escorts into battle would be too dangerous, and while Sisya may often play the role of a fake priest, she’s still incredibly reliable. Noru and Estel are our main fighters, so it’s out of the question for them to stay behind. What on earth should we do? As I was about to pull my hair out in frustration…

“Runa, could you please try to get along with her?”

Noru clasped her hands together and began to plead with Runa. Runa pouted and furrowed her brow.

“Hmph… This would be solved if this elf would just behave herself.”

“I’m sure Freesia will keep her promise. But being alone can get lonely, right? So please, try to get along with her.”

As Noru bowed her head, Runa’s frown deepened. It seemed that even this lazy vampire had some thoughts when asked this earnestly. Feeling awkward, she tried to leave, but Freesia clung to her legs. Even when she tried to pry her off with her hands, Freesia wouldn’t budge. After a long silent standoff with Noru, who remained bowed, Runa finally sighed in resignation.

“…Fine, I’ll look after her while Heihachi and the others are away.”

“Yay! I love you, Runa-chan!”

“Ugh, don’t hug me! Argh, you’re annoying…”

“Mufufu, Runa, thank you so much!”

Freesia clung to Runa, who sighed heavily, looking tired and exasperated. While Runa often seems unmotivated, she always follows through once she’s taken on a task. So, we can probably trust her to handle things while we’re away.

…But now that I think about it, the reason Runa has to go through all this trouble is because of Freesia, right? If she’d just been more compliant, we wouldn’t have to worry about any of this. To ease Runa’s burden, I should probably give Freesia a warning.

“It’s fine to be happy, but don’t stalk Runa like you did before. If you do, I’ll drag you on another magic stone hunt. Hmm… maybe if I have you hunt a bit first and then use that skill of yours, it would be quite efficient.”

Freesia’s skill was impressive. It lasted around three minutes, but in that short time, we obtained almost 30 magic stones. That’s exceptional efficiency.

In terms of magic stones, 30 stones equal 1 Freesia. Two Freesias would mean 60 stones—ideal! I almost want to suggest using her skill every day. …Though she’d likely refuse since she’d pass out for a whole day afterward.

“I’ll keep the promise, I swear! Please, no more magic stone hunting!”

“Big brother, you have a very wicked look on your face…”

“If she’s this scared, it seems Freesia will keep her promise this time.”

Freesia, who was smiling with joy just moments ago, now had a stiff expression, standing straight and giving a crisp salute. …Yeah, looks like she’ll keep her promise this time.

This time, we might have to face an opponent strong enough to break through the shrine’s barrier. Ideally, I’d want to bring both Freesia and Runa along too. However, with Irina’s group present, that’s not possible. If it turns out not to be Diabolos, but a worst-case scenario where a demon is involved… then we might have to consider summoning Runa and Freesia to the scene, even if it means revealing our secrets.