Senju Kayo could only sigh in exasperation.
At this point, she had completely lost count of how many times this had happened.
Every single time Izumi wanted to see her—
He would simply pull her over without warning.
No notice. No preparation. No chance to react.
And every single time, she would be startled out of her wits.
Honestly… it was exhausting.
Hearing her complaint, Izumi only smiled as he gently patted her head.
"Isn't that what makes it a surprise?"
"This time, though—I actually need your help."
Kayo rolled her eyes without hesitation.
"That's not a surprise."
"That's a jump scare."
She let out a small sigh before glancing downward.
"…You want to talk about the city below, don't you?"
Izumi was currently seated at the edge of the Kabbalah Tree of Life, overlooking the massive city that had just been created beneath them.
There was no need to guess.
The reason he had called her here was obvious.
Izumi chuckled, ruffling her hair again.
"As expected of Kayo."
"Sharp as ever."
He had absolute confidence in her intellect.
After all, with all the knowledge she had absorbed over time, she had already become one of the top scientists in his world.
Not to mention, she had developed quite a number of remarkable inventions.
Looking down at the city, Izumi began explaining.
"This city is meant for outsiders."
"Before long, I'll start bringing in people from other worlds."
"And this place… will be where they operate."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"When you go back, ask the others if they're interested in doing business with visitors from other worlds."
"They can open shops here—sell whatever they produce."
"Food, weapons, tools… anything."
"All of it will be sold to those visitors."
"We'll earn abilities, talents, or universal points from them."
"And those can be used to strengthen ourselves."
After hearing this, Kayo fell into deep thought.
"…Izumi-sama, are you saying that even abilities can be traded there?"
"And when they're traded… are they copied?"
"Or are they consumed entirely? The kind where once it's sold, it's gone?"
Izumi nodded.
"Definitely not copied."
"Knowledge can be duplicated—but abilities are different."
"Once they're traded, the original owner loses them."
"However…"
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"As long as we obtain the ability once, we can replicate it infinitely within this world."
"So there's no need to worry."
"When it comes to business… we never take losses."
Everything had already been calculated.
The moment someone sold their ability—
Izumi would extract it directly.
Then, using the authority of his world, reproduce it endlessly and resell it.
A perfect system.
After processing his explanation, Kayo nodded slowly.
Her mind rapidly organized the information before she spoke again.
"In that case…"
"We'll need specialists to appraise abilities and assign fair values."
"And we should establish a retrieval system to acquire them."
"Also, a patrol unit is necessary to prevent outsiders from causing trouble."
"And we'll need a complete set of rules and regulations."
In mere moments, a rough operational framework had already taken shape in her mind.
Hearing this, Izumi smiled.
"Kayo-chan really is reliable."
"In that case, I'll leave this to you."
"As for the patrol units… we'll assign the Ex-Machina to handle that."
"Go back and ask the others—anyone who wants to open a shop or try something new is free to do so."
"They've been far too idle lately."
At that, Izumi couldn't help but sigh.
Those girls really had too much free time.
They spent their days running around everywhere, acting like wild children.
Some of them had become downright uncontrollable.
And on top of that—
They constantly dragged others into games.
Despite being terrible at them.
They would lose, cry, and then run back to Alaya or Gaia asking for replacements.
A classic case of being bad at something—
Yet hopelessly addicted.
So naturally, Izumi decided it was time to give them something productive to do.
After all, if they actually applied themselves—
They were capable of accomplishing quite a lot.
After discussing things a bit more, Kayo returned to begin preparations.
There was a lot to organize—planning systems, drafting rules, and coordinating with the others.
And honestly?
Given how bored everyone had been—
They would probably welcome this opportunity with open arms.
In this world, most of them had their physical age fixed at around eight or nine years old.
They simply couldn't grow any further.
Even those who technically could grow—
Had already stopped at that stage.
If judged by actual age, many of them would already be adults.
Take Kayo herself, for example.
If not for this limitation, she would likely already be around eighteen.
But Izumi had no intention of changing that.
Sure, seeing them grow up had its own appeal—
But nothing compared to how adorable they were now.
Besides…
They were all perfectly legal within the rules of this world.
Why bother changing that?
And truthfully—
They didn't want to grow up either.
As they often said:
"This way, Izumi-sama will like us more."
Under Izumi's direction, the entire world began moving.
Asagi Aiba, leading a group of brilliant minds, quickly constructed a fully functional trading system.
At the same time, the world's currency system underwent a complete overhaul.
Previously, Izumi hadn't bothered managing such details.
But now, with multiple worlds about to connect—
A unified currency had become essential.
Otherwise, countless different monetary systems would clash, creating chaos.
With Izumi's direct intervention—
A standardized currency was established across the entire world.
Soon, news of the Dimensional City spread.
And with it—
Interest exploded.
Applications to set up shops poured in from all directions.
Izumi, not one to be stingy, approved most of them without hesitation.
After all, many people had been bored out of their minds.
Giving them something to do was a win-win.
Several versions of Gilgamesh even teamed up to open a bar.
Meanwhile, Scáthach established a dojo to teach spear techniques.
Even Aleister Crowley joined in, opening a facility dedicated to helping others develop esper abilities.
Izumi didn't interfere.
He approved everything.
Because in the end—
What he truly wanted…
Were the rare and valuable items from other worlds.
Visitors would trade those items in exchange for currency.
Then use that currency to purchase what they desired from others.
Shop owners, in turn, could spend their earnings freely within this world—
Or even buy directly from Izumi himself.
As long as one could pay the price—
Even something as powerful as a Herrscher Core could be purchased.
Of course…
That was only if you could afford it.
For now, the primary commodities being sold were esper abilities from Academy City, along with various forms of magic and martial arts.
As for Aleister—
What he offered wasn't abilities themselves.
Only the chance to develop one.
Whether or not it succeeded…
That was entirely up to fate.