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

With Noru at the lead, guided by Irina and her companions, we made our way along the steep mountain path toward the shrine. Thanks to the protective power of the shrine, no monsters appeared on the map app.

“Is this pace alright for you, Irina-san?”

“Yes, we are accustomed to traveling between various shrines, so we are quite fit.”

“Wow, even those who serve the temple are quite robust, aren't they?”

We were moving faster than we would during a hunt, yet Irina and her companions followed us without breaking a sweat. It made sense—they regularly traveled to shrines in these kinds of forests. Serving the temple didn’t seem like an easy job. An elderly man accompanying Irina chimed in on our conversation.

“Before we gained Dara’s cooperation, our shrine visits were quite grueling. It's thanks to Irina-sama that we can now travel safely.”

“Oh, not at all. I was merely fortunate enough to connect with Dara...”

Irina blushed, looking embarrassed as she lowered her head. So, that manta ray hadn’t always been there to help them. I didn’t even want to imagine how long it would take to travel between all the shrines around Sevarya on horseback or on foot.

“Wasn’t that guardian servant always there at the temple?”

“Yes, Dara has always protected the temple. But, it had never carried people or assisted with travel—it was solely devoted to guarding Testudo-sama’s sacred body.”

“Yet, it only listens to Irina-sama. Not even the temple head can do that…”

If not even the temple head, who I assume holds a very high position, could get its cooperation, it must mean that Dara is more like a subordinate to Testudo-sama than a mere guardian. No wonder the temple folks address Irina with such reverence.

“Does that mean Irina-san has some special quality that allows her to communicate with Dara?”

“No, I don’t possess anything special. It's just that… I’ve been with Dara since I was very young.”

“Since you were a child… So, you’ve been serving the temple since then?”

“Yes, due to certain personal circumstances, the temple took me in…”

Estel’s question seemed to touch a nerve, and Irina turned her head away with a slightly somber expression. Serving the temple from a young age, huh?

“Oh, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t bring up anything unpleasant.”

“No, no, it's fine. As for why I was with Dara... when I was little, I was quite fearless and often snuck into Dara's den to meet it. I was often scolded for it, but I kept going.”

“Oh, so that’s how Dara opened its heart to you?”

“I’m not sure if that was the reason. But by the time I was aware of myself, Dara was letting me ride on its back.”

Even though she spoke so softly now, she must have been quite a handful back then. Meeting a creature like that from childhood and having it cooperate with you as an adult—that’s quite the story. I guess it’s similar to how Mofuto first warmed up to Noru thanks to her innocent approach.

“Hehe, Irina-san’s pure heart must have reached the guardian deity. Your sincere feelings have surely connected with Dara.”

“Oh, this is embarrassing… But, I’m very pleased to hear that from you, Sisya-san.”

Irina blushed with a pleased expression after receiving praise from Sisya. Regardless of her background, if she has been devoted to the temple since childhood, her faith must be substantial. As for our own priest, Sisya, what’s her story? Even in the GC world, there must be some reason she became a priest, right?

“So, what about you? How did you become a priest?”

“Huh? Me? I… I was a street figh—What are you making me say! I have, of course, led a pure and righteous life as a priest!”

“Did you… almost say something really violent?”

“Thrown into the church… How did you manage to become such an adept healer…?”

What kind of backstory is that…? It doesn’t sound like she chose to become a priest herself. Even if I ask her when we get back, she probably won’t tell me anything. Ugh, this makes me really curious about her personal scenario in GC.

Putting aside Sisya’s usual mysterious stories, we continued cautiously through the forest, heading toward the shrine.

“There could have been traps, but so far, we haven’t encountered anything.”

“Yes, I’m on the lookout for invisible magical traps as well, but there’s no sign of them so far.”

“Magic is quite frightening if it can create traps we can’t even see…”

“Yes, setting traps to capture or explode when someone enters a certain range is relatively easy. If I were laying an ambush, I’d set plenty of them.”

“Thank goodness Estel isn’t our enemy…”

I’m really glad Estel isn’t an enemy… She’d probably set up inescapable explosive traps everywhere. Even so, the fact that we must remain wary of traps we can’t see, not just obvious ones like in Cancer’s cave, is a bit scary.

As we progressed further, a cave entrance came into view. At that moment, Irina and her companions let out a cry.

“Oh no! The shrine’s barrier has…”

“That big horizontal hole—does it lead to the shrine?”

“For something that's supposed to be hidden, it’s quite obvious.”

“No, normally, there’s a barrier covering the entrance so it wouldn’t be visible!”

“If it’s exposed like this, it means… the barrier has been broken.”

A broken barrier means someone has invaded. So far, nothing has happened, but it seems like the real challenge starts from inside this cave. If we end up fighting inside here, calling Freesia and the others with the beacon might be impossible. I’ll set it up near the entrance and make a run for it to fight outside if things get bad.

Taking the lead, I stepped into the cave, with Noru guarding the rear. When it comes to traps, leave it to Heiha! … It feels kind of sad to say that about myself, but I have the highest endurance here against both physical and magical attacks. With Estel lighting the way with her magic, the cave felt chilly and eerie.

“I usually worry about monsters in a place like this, but it seems there aren’t any here.”

“Testudo-sama’s protection has kept monsters away from this area. Even if the barrier is broken, it’s unlikely that monsters would settle in so quickly.”

There are no signs of monsters in the cave according to the map app. There weren’t any around the forest either, so it seems safe for now. But as we continued to advance cautiously, remaining vigilant for any traps…

“Stop! There’s a trap right there!”

Estel shouted out. I stopped in my tracks, shield at the ready, and followed her directions, approaching the spot with caution. Estel leaned over from beside me and poked her staff out. A gray, circular magic formation appeared on the surface, cracked, and shattered.

“Whoa… There really was a trap.”

“Good thing we noticed before we triggered it.”

“What kind of trap was it?”

“Hmmm, probably some kind of summoning magic. If we had stepped into its range, it might have summoned monsters.”

So, if I had taken one more step, it would have triggered? We wouldn’t have noticed anything without Estel; that could’ve been bad.

“Thanks to Estel, we don’t have to worry about traps, it seems.”

“Being able to see hidden magic circles… Estel-san, you’re amazing.”

“I’m a mage, so this is nothing special. Besides, it wasn’t hidden that well. Maybe the caster wasn’t that skilled?”

“You can tell that much?”

“Yes, but sometimes they intentionally make the first trap obvious to hide a more serious one behind it, so stay alert.”

Come on, just when I felt relieved, you have to say something like that… But if the enemy is operating at Estel’s level, there’s a chance they could lay traps like that. I usually think of her for her attack magic, but if she can set traps too, magic is way too scary. We’d better prepare for any follow-up attack in case we trigger something…

Fortunately, Estel managed to detect all the traps, and we continued deeper without issue. And then, we finally reached our destination…

“Oh, oh no… The shrine of Testudo-sama!”

“Ah!? W-Wait!”

“It’s dangerous!”

We stepped into a wider chamber beyond the corridor, encircled by a flowing ring of seawater in the center. In the middle, there were shattered stones, broken beyond recognition. Seeing that, Irina let out a scream and ran out of line, rushing ahead. We quickly followed her, sprinting toward the remains of the shrine.

“Oh no… This is too cruel…”

“Irina-san, it's dangerous to run off like that… Guess she can’t hear us.”

“With the shrine destroyed so thoroughly, I can’t blame her for reacting this way…”

“Looks like the sacred body inside is probably shattered too…”

I had Noru keep watch for enemies, while the rest of us guarded Irina. She knelt down, holding a piece of the shrine’s rubble, tears streaming down her face. Even if they only wanted to drain its power, destroying the shrine this thoroughly… Among the debris, the sacred body might be lost. But crying here won’t help; we need to figure out what to do next.

“The real question is if we can restore the shrine’s function somehow.”

“We brought a portion of Testudo-sama’s sacred body just in case. But with the shrine in this state… we’ll need some kind of pedestal or altar to

 place it on.”

“Oh, I can make something like that with my magic. Even if it’s temporary, I’ll whip up something impressive.”

One of the other temple members answered on Irina’s behalf, who was too distraught to speak. We can’t just place the sacred body out in the open. It seems like we’ll have to rely on Estel to create an altar. But even if we rebuild it, there’s a chance it could get destroyed again… What should we do?

“Ookura-dono! Something is coming!”

Noru, who had been keeping watch, shouted, and we immediately moved to protect Irina and the others. Suddenly, six Diabolos flew into the chamber where we stood. Just that sight alone was startling enough, but then the entire cave shook, and part of the wall blew apart. Slowly emerging from the shadows was a giant, purple, monstrous creature of a bizarre shape.