Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 306: (System Break 08)

--This Chapter is written using Piper’s POV--

After jumping out of the aircraft, Miwen and I hopped back into the car I had parked near the AOTG facility.

We moved the limbless man to the backseat, but even with Miwen’s help, we couldn’t figure out a way to keep him still with the seatbelts alone. In the end, we gave up and used magic to tie him to the seat.

Despite having Miwen’s [Healing Magic] to keep the man alive, I didn’t want to gamble with his life, so once the government arranged a hospital to receive him, I stepped on the gas, speeding down the highway.

Even though I was pushing the car to its limit and doing my best to avoid the other vehicles in our way, it would take us at least an hour to reach our destination.

To make matters worse, we caught the attention of a few officers on our way.

I couldn’t afford the time to stop and explain the situation to them, so naturally, we ended up in a massive chase.

I masterfully dodged the cars that blocked the road, the screaming sirens behind us growing with every new cop on our track.

Meanwhile, Miwen tried his best to be a killjoy. Again.

He called every single number the government had given us, and sadly, he got his way.

After half an hour, the chase had ended, and the cops began to escort us. When I took a turn to enter the city, I found its streets completely cleared of traffic and the lights all green, no doubt courtesy of our fellows up there.

Thanks to their help and my awesome driving skills, we reached the hospital earlier than expected.

The cops who came to apologize were shocked when they saw the medic team rushing to bring the limbless man inside the hospital.

The officers returned to their jobs, speechless after I thanked them for their help and the exciting chase.

I knew I shouldn’t, but it felt like a movie climax, and it truly did help, as the excitement made me give more than my one-hundred percent.

Still, while the officers were gone, we were met by the army. The government’s, that is.

They arrived by helicopter only a couple of minutes after us.

It didn’t take them long to ask for custody of the prisoners I had captured, which I was happy to oblige with, considering the high mana cost that the extra-dimensional prison demanded.

However, Miwen wasn’t so happy.

Wary of them, he asked a few questions to cross-reference our information and make sure we were on the same page. I never thought about this, but he made a good argument. What we had accomplished today could delay Erik and the AOTG for months. It wouldn’t be strange if he tried to trick us into returning Finn and Gary.

Surprisingly, the guys from the army were fine with this. They answered every single one of Miwen’s questions, including where they’d take Finn and Gary.

Their destination was a prison built near the capital a few years ago, known as Kirgley. This installation housed powerful criminals, evildoers, and even top-tier adventurers that common prisons might struggle with, even with their Gifts suppressed.

Recently, it became the government’s top choice for holding high-profile AOTG members like The Toymaker and Bianca Graves.

Though Finn would be their first AOTG executive imprisoned there, I told the guys I’d soon be sending him company, all the way to the top.

Unfortunately, when I brought Finn and Gary out of my prison, the little rascal tried to shrink to get away.

To his dismay, Miwen was vigilant as hell and caught him in a wooden cage, no bigger than a gumball.

He lit up a flame on his finger, approaching the cage. With Finn unconscious, Gary had no hope of fighting his way out, but he also refused to surrender.

If things had kept going this way, Miwen might’ve gone too far, so I used the mermaid’s lullaby to put Gary to sleep as well.

Gary grew back to his normal size, and with his Gift suppressed by the cuffs, he was taken away with Finn by the boys.

Since the AOTG base was far from anything resembling government territory, it had taken us a long time to get to the hospital, and we’d still be a few more hours on the road.

However, now that I didn’t have to keep up the prison, I could summon another aircraft or something like that, and we’d reach home before dinner.

I was excited to kick back and relax after such a hard day’s work, but...

Seeing Miwen waiting for me in the car, my will wavered.

I found myself thinking that maybe taking the long road wouldn’t be that bad either.

So, I gave him a choice.

Piper: "What do you prefer? I could get us an even cooler ride, or... We could enjoy a neat nightly ride in the desert~"

Miwen: "Hm. Tough decision, huh?"

I thought he was being sarcastic and began thinking about what I should summon.

To my surprise, he tapped the driver’s seat, telling me to hop back on.

Before I could think of a reply, I had already taken the wheel.

The moon had taken the sun’s place above us, its light the only thing keeping the night from turning completely dark.

There were even fewer cars on the highway on our way back. We traveled for miles, and the only thing breaking the silence was the car engine. Not even loudly, either.

Miwen: "Done..."

Piper: "Hm?"

I didn’t want to annoy him, so I pretended not to notice as Miwen poured all of his attention on his phone.

After a while, he handed the phone over to me.

On the screen, there were two documents: "Report xx/xx: Miwen" and "Report xx/xx: Piper."

Miwen: "Just add a few details later, and you should be good to go."

How sweet.

These reports were the biggest downside of an otherwise great job.

I understood why the government felt the need to keep a watchful eye on us, considering the side that most adventurers took in this war, but things like these bothered me too much.

I had yet to complete a single report. Most of the time, I just waited for them to send someone to interrogate me.

This wasn’t pleasant either, but at least it was quick.

Piper: "I’m gonna be counting on you from now on."

While we still needed to talk a little so he could fill in the things he wasn’t there for, it was much better to explain it to Miwen than to someone I didn’t know.

Since we were used to each other, he didn’t need me to explain in different ways to get the gist of what I was talking about.

Miwen: "Don’t get used to it."

Good to see that this hadn’t changed about him. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Ever since he was young, he would always help others, only to be all grumpy about it.

Piper: "Hm... I wanna stop somewhere."

Miwen: "Eh?"

I was beginning to feel tired, so I stopped the car and stepped out.

Miwen followed me to the roadside, where I spread my mana into the air, giving rise to a purple-ish portal that hung above the ground.

I extended my hand, and when Miwen grabbed it, I jumped inside, pulling him in.

The road and the car disappeared from our sight, replaced by the glass door of a convenience store.

Clerk: "Welcome. How may I help..."

As expected, the young boy working at midnight wasn’t super energetic about it.

Still, he tried his best to welcome us in with a smile.

A second later, he realized who I was, and cold sweat began to run down his face.

Just connecting my face to my name was enough to paralyze him.

I hated coming to stores because of this, but whenever I became a regular at a place, people would flock to ask the owner questions about me.

It was like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, so I chose the path that bothered others the least.

At worst, this guy would lose sleep tonight thinking the area was about to go down in flames. It was much better than having the business interrupted by a bunch of-

Clerk: "W-Will this be it, sir?"

Miwen: "Yeah. Thanks."

Clerk: "You’re welcome..."

Thankfully, Miwen knew exactly what I came here for.

He got us a few snacks and some drinks to keep us awake.

It was still a reality check to see him buy and pay for his own beer, but I had handed quite a few to him when he was a kid, so I didn’t think much of seeing him drink one.

Once we left the store, I recreated the portal, and we found ourselves back on the road.

Miwen: "...This portal took a toll on you, huh?"

Piper: "Ah, yeah. Teleporting long distances is tough."

While I was enjoying my energy drink, I heard Miwen mumbling something.

It seemed like he was calculating the exact cost of our quick stop, but to my surprise, that wasn’t the question he had for me.

Miwen: "I was wondering... Can’t you wish for everything you want? With like, a genie lamp or something?"

Piper: "Who said I haven’t? You think it’s possible to be this great without a wish or two?"

Miwen: "...I’m being serious."

I could tell.

But it wasn’t a topic I enjoyed too much.

I had tried it a few times before. I experimented with things like that as much as I could, but it never worked.

Summoning the item itself doesn’t cost me too much, but making a wish would force all of reality to comply with my Gift, even if it’s something small like teleporting to the convenience store.

The more mana it takes, the higher the chances that I’ll lose control of it, and something like that would require more mana than anyone could give it.

The moment my mana runs out, the item would disappear, and whatever I wished for would be gone too.

Miwen: "...What if you had infinite mana?"

That’d be great.

But it still wouldn’t be a solution.

Piper: "Tried that. I still end up with zero mana after the wish, so I guess the toll is that high."

It’s funny, though, I summon it just fine.

It’s using it that’s impossible.

So tempting...

Miwen: "That sucks."

Piper: "Yep..."

I kinda got tired of trying these cheats after a while.

Yet, sometimes, I still try them when I have a weird idea.

It never worked, unfortunately.

Still, it was surprisingly nice to talk about it with him,

Miwen had the same idea as me. He’d ask for the perfect life or something along those lines, and so, we ended up talking about what that would look like.

Eventually, the topic changed.

Piper: "I heard the mission you suggested got approved?"

Miwen: "Yeah..."

Despite complaining about how long it was taking them, Miwen didn’t seem happy at all.

If I had to guess, it’s because of the interference of the mayor that he and James helped.

The guy pulled some strings to make things go faster, but Miwen saw it as an attempt to blackmail him. Something along the lines of "Don’t step out of line, and things will go your way."

After hearing him talk about it, I wanted to visit this mayor. Lucky for him, the others stopped me.

Still...

Piper: "When is it scheduled for?"

Miwen: "Four days from now."

The date didn’t really matter for me.

I could always make time.

But I didn’t want him to know that.

Piper: "I’ll make sure I’m free that day. Just in case you need me."

Miwen: "Really? That’d be great."

I was expecting him to say "I hope I don’t"; it’d be the normal response.

He probably knew that would sting me a little.

Brat.

When I took a look at his briefing, I noticed a bunch of plans and backups. Since he was taking it so seriously, I probably wouldn’t have to worry, but...

He was in a sensitive position.

He had found people he loved as much as Maya, yet he needed them to fight for him.

I could only imagine the weight this put on him.

Knowing I could lift it, even if just a little, made me glad to have this power.

Even without a wish-fulfilling ability, I could ensure things went his way.

It wouldn’t be nice to talk about what could go wrong, though, so I did my best to change the topic again.

I wanted to daydream more about the little things we’d change if we could.

Once we finally got home, I thought he’d go to his bedroom to spend the night with one of his girlfriends, but to my surprise, we stayed up playing instead.

Almost until morning came.

Miwen: "I think this will be my last one, Pip."

Piper: "You sure? It’s 7-9 right now. If you win this and the next, you could tie it. But if you wanna go to bed as a loser, I’m not stopping you~"

He fell for my provocation and started another match after winning.

A few minutes later, I noticed his characters had stopped moving.

I took a look, and he had his eyes closed, his head slowly falling towards my chest.

I scored against him and, once the match ended in my victory, I planned on taking him to his bedroom.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Marcus and the others had already woken up. The first thing they saw was Miwen and me sitting in the living room.

Piper: "Alex, get me a blanket, yeah? And a pillow."

Alex: "Yeah, yeah..."

I was a little embarrassed, but Marcus didn’t seem to mind.

It wasn’t the first time Miwen and I slept together, after all.

Marcus: "He still likes you the most..."

Piper: "Did he say that?"

Marcus: "A few years ago, yeah. Maria was furious."

Oh, I could imagine.

Despite pretending not to, she was as competitive as I.

A true Wolf in sheep’s clothing that woman.

Piper: "Well, that makes sense. Alex is not cool, and James was old enough to be his grandpa~"

James: "H-Hey? C’mon..."

It might be just because I was the only one around him, other than his sister, who was close to his age.

However...

Piper: "The feeling is mutual, though."

I pulled him closer to me.

Piper: "He’s also my favorite."