The tallic clank of the weights as they were placed on the rack echoed through the gym at that hour. Thomas dropped onto the bench, his elbows resting on his knees and his forehead slightly tilted downward.
Sweat ran down his temple and neck, soaking the back of his shirt. His breathing was heavy but controlled—the kind of breathing of soone who had just pushed himself to the limit and was now letting his body recover on its own.
He cracked his fingers.
The system interface appeared before him with its usual sapphire-blue glow. Thomas scanned it with his eyes, scrolling through the active entities section. Nas piled one over another in a list that seed endless.
’Twenty-two, twenty-three... Twenty-three in a single day.’
He exhaled through his nose with a faint, almost involuntary smile.
’Asking Freja and Sera for help was an excellent idea. They made the work easier in a way I didn’t expect. It would’ve taken days alone, but with them... I didn’t even have to intervene in most cases, just dosticate.’
He kept scrolling through the nas. Low-rank won, no major affiliations, no dangerous connections. Exactly the profile he was looking for: enough inco to be useful, enough anonymity to avoid problems.
’By the end of this month, I won’t have any problems with money or food anymore. Genuinely. It’s not that things have improved a little—it’s that they’ve improved a lot.’
He let the thought settle for a mont. It was a strange feeling. He wasn’t used to it—not having to think about tomorrow’s money. It made him smile.
’Today I’ll give Iris a real feast. No restrictions, no calculating the cost of every dish. She can order whatever she wants, period!’
The idea ward sothing in his chest. He thought about her face, about how her eyes would light up. Then he thought about sothing else—sothing that had been on his mind for weeks.
’It’s about ti I open a bank account in her na. Let her start saving money there. When she turns eighteen, she’ll have sothing real waiting for her. So she doesn’t depend on anyone. So she can live well her entire life, even if I’m not around.’
He stared at the interface without really seeing it.
’I don’t know what might happen to . This system, the Abyss, the heroines... there are too many variables I don’t control. But if sothing were to happen to prematurely...’
He smiled faintly, his eyelids relaxed, with a calm that wasn’t sadness but sothing closer to quiet resignation—the kind of calm from soone who had already made a decision.
’...I’ll leave everything to her. Everything.’
He blinked. Returned to the interface, and then frowned.
’Wait.’
He scrolled up the list. Then down. Then up again.
’Where is Selene? And Elvira?’
He searched for several seconds among the stacked nas. There were so many it was hard to distinguish anything quickly. Thomas let out a long, tired sigh.
"There are too many in this interface. I can’t even find the ones I care about anymore."
He muttered to himself while continuing to search without success. Then he stopped.
"Isn’t there so kind of folder option?"
He began navigating the side nus more carefully. Settings. Filters. Entity organization. There it was. A subtle option he hadn’t noticed before, probably because he had never needed to use it.
He activated it. A new panel unfolded, allowing him to create groups and assign nas. Thomas did it without thinking too much.
First, he created a folder for all the low-rank won who functioned as a source of inco. He selected them in bulk and dragged them into it. Then he created the second one.
He paused for a mont with his finger in the air, thinking of the na. Then he typed: Team A.
Ashley. Selene. Freja. Seraphine. Evelyne and Lucía. He placed them one by one. When he finished, he created another one and nad it: Bitches. There, he added Elvira and Catherine. He closed the organization panel and returned to the main view.
"What a relief," he said, exhaling. "Now everything’s organized..."
’Now that I think about it, which folder would I put Belle in? She’s the greatest heroine in all of history... I wonder if... I’ll end up dosticating more heroines from the top ten.’
He held his chin, thinking about all the possibilities ahead of him. Then he created a folder and nad it: My Goddesses. His index finger remained still in front of the interface as he drifted off into a daydream.
’Soday... If I want to reach the level of the Goddess of Ark, I’ll probably have to fight her using absolute power. I wonder if the Top Ten could defeat Belle in a fight.’
In his mind, an image ford: Belle Snow looking down with overwhelming presence at the rest of the heroines in the world, as if she were a colossal titan standing above everyone else.
’Maybe I didn’t fully think through the cost of dosticating Belle Snow. My future is definitely uncertain...’
He rubbed his face with both hands and leaned back on the bench, staring at the gym ceiling. The fan above him spun slowly. He decided to stop worrying about the future and focus on the good things.
’Good. The finances are on track. That’s one part solved.’
He held his chin.
’Now the next step: the Tad Beasts Tournant. Eight days left. Eight days to prepare Team A, to return to the Abyss, level them up, and to dosticate Inori and Luminara before it begins.’
He cracked his fingers again. The gacha roulette appeared before him, spinning with its usual animation. Thomas watched it as his mind kept working.
’I need a way to return to the Abyss soon. My heroines need real experience, not just surface missions. And if I want Team A ready for the tournant, I have to hurry.’
The roulette began to slow down.
He pulled out his phone with his free hand and opened his notes. Tomorrow was Saturday. And Saturday was the only day of the week when Inori Himiko was alone.
’Tomorrow is the day.’
The roulette stopped. Thomas lowered his gaze.
[You Have Obtained: Nothing.]
He let the air out slowly.
"Of course."
He slipped his phone back into his pocket and stood up from the bench, grabbing his towel from the backrest.
"Inori will have to be a one-on-one fight."
He said it without drama, like soone accepting a minor inconvenience. He wiped the sweat from his neck and added, almost to himself:
’Although with Ashley’s power on my side, I’m more than confident it’ll go well. Let her try to resist.’
◇◆◇
The school dismissal was noisy at that hour. Groups of children poured out through the doors, so running, others walking in pairs, all carrying the pent-up energy of a full day of classes.
Thomas leaned against the wall across the street, hands in his pockets. He saw her before she saw him.
Iris ca out among the group with her backpack over her shoulder and her white hair tied into two ssy pigtails, undone by the day. When her eyes found him, her expression changed completely.
"Brother!" she ran.
’I still need to have that conversation with her about bothering that boy, but screw that woman—today I’m going to spoil my sister.’
Thomas barely had ti to push himself off the wall before she crashed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing with all her strength. He received her naturally, placing a hand on her head.
"Hey, hey, not so hard, you’re going to break sothing."
"That’s a lie, you’re really tough!"
"Yeah, but rember you’re a heroine! My bones are nothing compared to you!"
"Ha, ha, ha!"
From the school entrance, a small group of girls watched them. One of them waved her hand in the air. Iris pulled away from Thomas just enough to turn and wave back with the sa enthusiasm.
"I’ll tell you everything tomorrow! Bye, bye!"
The girls responded with laughter and their own goodbyes before dispersing. Thomas watched the scene with a calm expression.
Then they started walking.
It took Iris exactly two minutes to realice.
"Brother, this isn’t the way ho."
"I know."
She looked at him sideways, frowning the sa way she did when trying to figure sothing out.
"Where are we going?"
Thomas glanced at her, his tone calm and confident like an older brother who already had everything planned.
"Nowhere in particular. We’re taking the day, just you and ."
"The day?"
"I did well at work this week." He shrugged casually. "So today you can eat whatever you want."
The silence lasted exactly one second. Then Iris stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk, her cheeks flushing a soft pink and her eyes wide.
"Really?" Her voice rose. "Did you finally get a good job?"
Thomas felt sothing tighten in his chest. A small, almost imperceptible pinch, born from knowing exactly how far the truth was from what he was about to say.
He relaxed his eyelids.
"Yes. I was hired, and the salary will let us eat very well from now on."
Iris looked at him for another second, as if verifying it was real. Then her expression burst into a huge smile.
"I want a seafood feast!"
Thomas let out a short laugh.
"I knew you’d ask for that. My money is yours too, little sister," he said, stroking her hair. "So from now on, you can eat without holding back."
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