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Chapter 77: Gacha Disaster
"Oh right, the Goddess of Beauty's charm shouldn't work on you."
Furina also remembered Aiden's Descender skill and completely calmed down.
Aiden didn't mention that he had already caught Freya's eye; the poster girl of the Hostess of Fertility, Syr, was Freya.
Since Syr hadn't actively approached him, it was obvious she wasn't interested in his soul.
After all, he didn't think his soul was anything spectacularly radiant—certainly not radiant enough to attract the Goddess of Beauty.
Furina blinked her heterochromatic eyes. Her initial worry rapidly transformed into a mixture of smugness and relieved secret joy.
All panic and anxiety were swept away.
She cleared her throat, forcefully pulled her hand out of Aiden's grasp, planted her hands on her hips, puffed out her small chest, and raised her chin slightly. Using a tone that declared her absolute victory, she proclaimed: "Hmph! I almost forgot! You can't leave me!"
Her sudden shift back to being high-and-mighty, acting as if she had been fearless all along, made Robin, Tifa, and Hyacine struggle to hold back their laughter.
How can you steal something that can't be stolen?
Having figured it all out, Furina felt like she was back on top of the world.
She sat back down gracefully on the sofa, picked up a small cake Tifa had made, and began eating it slowly and elegantly, as if the person who had just been panicking and suggesting they flee the city into the night had been someone else entirely.
"What's done is done. Regretting it won't change anything," Robin sighed softly, concluding the discussion. "Even if the Freya Familia really does have some ideas, we'll just have to deal with whatever comes our way."
Her words put an end to this small wave of drama.
Indeed, excessive worry was useless.
Aiden took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing the gloom brought on by Heith, and shifted his attention to something far more exciting.
He rubbed his hands together, his face showing a mix of anticipation and a touch of reverence. Chanting silently in his heart, he opened the system interface that only he could see.
On the interface, the Intertwined Fate that represented a single summon had finally been filled after absorbing a massive amount of magic stone energy. It was currently radiating an enticing glow.
"Alright, let's see which new family member will be joining us this time," Aiden said with a smile, trying to use this to dilute the tense atmosphere from earlier, and to gather some good luck for himself.
Hearing this, Robin, Tifa, Hyacine, and even Furina, who had just snapped out of her worry, all showed expressions of anticipation. They curiously gathered their gazes at the center of the living room.
They all wanted to know what kind of powerful, interesting companion would cross the boundary of worlds to join them this time.
With a heart full of excitement, Aiden pressed the [Summon] button on the system interface.
However, the dazzling golden light he was expecting did not appear.
As Aiden's expression grew increasingly grim—eventually turning as black as the bottom of a pot—a blue magic circle slowly materialized on the living room floor.
"Huh? Why isn't it golden?" Furina tilted her head, muttering softly.
In the few times she had observed, whether it was summoning Robin, Tifa, or Hyacine, the magic circle had always been a brilliant, heavy gold, brimming with a sacred and powerful aura.
This was the first time she had seen this kind of watered-down blue magic circle.
Meanwhile, Robin and Tifa seemed to have guessed what was happening the moment they saw the blue light.
They exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of understanding in each other's eyes. Then, as if by prior agreement, they looked at Aiden—whose face was now completely black—with eyes full of pity.
The blue light flashed and vanished.
What appeared in the center of the magic circle was not the new companion they had anticipated, but rather a polearm.
It was an ordinary-looking polearm, its shaft made of white wax wood, and its tip gleaming with the luster of common metal.
It floated quietly in the air, emitting a faint magical fluctuation, before dropping to the floor with a clatter.
White Tassel.
Aiden stared blankly at his hands, then at the thoroughly unremarkable polearm on the floor. He muttered to himself, "Is it because I didn't wash my hands? —Or has Lady Luck finally abandoned me?"
Furina also realized what was going on. Looking at the lonely White Tassel, and then at Aiden, who looked as if his soul had been sucked out, she also cast him a look of pity.
So... this was the infamous gacha disaster.
"It's okay. It's just the gacha, it's totally normal."
Robin walked over to him, comforting him with a voice so gentle it could melt ice. "You've already been incredibly lucky. You can't expect to have good luck every single time."
"It's too painful—my heart hurts so much. I need a lap pillow to recover."
Clutching his chest, Aiden put on an exaggerated expression of grief, leaning toward Robin as if he were about to collapse.
Robin gave him a helpless look and dodged Aiden's blatant attempt to take advantage of her.
"A lap pillow? No problem at all. Come here, my precious Aiden."
A cheerful voice, laced with a hint of sweetness, rang out.
"?"
Furina, Robin, and Tifa all let out gasps of disbelief simultaneously, turning their heads in unison toward the source of the voice.
They saw that Hyacine had somehow already taken off her shoes and was kneeling neatly on the soft sofa. She gently patted her thighs, which were clad in pure white stockings.
A sweet smile adorned her face, her pink twin tails swaying slightly with her movements.
This scene caused the other three to experience a severe bout of cognitive dissonance.
In their minds, while Hyacine was lively and cute, she was definitely not a naive airhead.
Aiden was clearly faking his pitiful state to pull a fast one, yet Hyacine actually fell for it?
While they were still stunned, Hyacine spoke again.
"Aiden worked really hard fighting today. His body and mind have been tense this whole time, so I'll just give him a little treatment to help him recover. Tifa, I'll give you a relaxing massage later tonight too."
Hyacine winked playfully.
As a healer, it was her duty to ensure that every companion's body and mind remained in their optimal state.
"Got it."
Before Robin and Furina could even react to their shock, Aiden dropped down and laid his head cleanly onto Hyacine's lap with the speed of lightning.
"So fast!" Robin, Tifa, and Furina blurted out in unison.
Aiden unapologetically rested his head on those soft, bouncy thighs and closed his eyes.
Hyacine's slender fingers gently pressed against his temples. Her fingertips radiated a soft, warm magical glow as she began a soothing massage.
An indescribable sensation of comfort instantly spread from his temples.
That warm magic, carrying Hyacine's unique scent—like the fresh morning breeze—gently seeped into his mental landscape, smoothing away the exhaustion born from the day's battles.
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