Inside the Wonderland space.
The girls who had just returned from work were busy with their usual routines: some helped prepare dinner, some headed to the baths to relax, while others went to the library to read while waiting for mealtime.
The rest were sitting in the living room, chatting and resting.
At that moment, on the sofa sat Nilou, who had only recently moved into the space. Beside her, Amber was enthusiastically introducing the other residents of the Wonderland space.
Eula sat next to Amber, quietly sipping her water.
"Ah, Adventurer, you're back." Nilou's face lit up when she saw Nolan enter, and she greeted him happily.
"Hehe, so? How do you like living here?"
Nolan came over and sat close beside Nilou. His hands naturally slid around her waist, and he kissed her gently on her soft, pale cheek.
"Mm… everyone treats me very kindly here. It feels… warm."
Nilou had already been intimate with him before, but with little experience, she couldn't help flushing red when she felt that familiar intent from him again.
She had just returned from practicing her dance, still wearing the same Flower God Dance outfit from before.
Nolan stroked her smooth, soft stomach with his left hand, while his right hand gently kneaded her snow-white thigh. He said,
"That's good. You know, everyone here in the space has grown stronger through training. Nilou, you have to work hard too, to keep up."
"Mm… but not here…" Nilou buried her blushing face into his neck.
If it were in a private room, she wouldn't be this shy. But doing such intimate things in the living room was far too embarrassing.
"Hmph, you! Bullying the girls again!" Eula put down her cup, glaring with displeasure.
"Oh? So you mean I should bully you first, before bullying anyone else?" Nolan teased with a chuckle.
"T-that's not what I meant! Don't twist my words!" Flustered, Eula's cheeks flushed red. When she noticed Amber's mischievous smirk, she realized she'd been teased and snapped in embarrassment:
"Fine! I'll remember this grudge!"
She stood up as if to attack him, but Amber quickly pulled her back, shaking her head:
"Come on, Eula, don't fall into his trap. If you walk over, he'll just grab you and drag you into training with him."
Then Amber turned to Nolan, scolding:
"And you—if you want to train, take it back to your room. Nilou isn't as shameless as you."
"Ahem… fair enough." A little embarrassed, Nolan scooped Nilou up into his arms, preparing to head back to the room.
At the same time, two translucent spiritual threads extended from the air, curling around Amber and Eula's waists, lifting them as well.
Smiling, Nolan said:
"Amber's right—Nilou won't last long in training. So, why not have all of us together?"
"You…" Amber pressed against the phantom thread around her waist, instinctively struggling, but soon gave up with a small sigh.
Eula's cheeks had already turned faintly red, but she didn't resist. It suited her character—deep down she wanted to be with him, but her pride always stopped her from saying so. Every time, it ended up with him forcefully pulling her in until she gave in.
Amber secretly found it amusing, but knowing Eula's personality, she didn't expose her friend's little secret.
And so, with Nilou in his arms and Amber and Eula wrapped by his spiritual threads, Nolan brought them all into the room.
He set them down side by side on the bed—Amber, Nilou, and Eula—before lying down himself.
"Mm, to make this easier, let's not bother with clothes."
"Hmph! You're never serious!" Eula's pale cheeks were tinged pink as she spat back in disgust.
"Mmhm." Nolan ignored it. He first turned to Nilou, his hand caressing her fair thighs before gently lifting her skirt hem.
The white safety shorts underneath were revealed.
Just as he was about to remove her last line of defense, Nilou twisted slightly, bending her knees and pressing his hand with her soft little palms. Blushing deeply, she whispered:
"Adventurer… I-I'm nervous. Why don't you train with Amber and Eula first?"
"Oh? That works too." Nolan thought for a moment. "In that case, why don't you dance a little first to relax? When you're ready, we'll train together."
He figured if they trained first, Nilou wouldn't have the energy to dance afterward. Since he wanted to test the effect of her affection skill, letting her dance first while he trained with Amber and Eula was the better choice.
"Mm."
Nilou didn't notice anything odd. She got up and began to dance lightly in the open space of the room, soon immersing herself in the rhythm as if she were the only one present.
Nolan admired her graceful dance, while activating her favorability skill—"Nilou's Dance of the Flower God."
At once, everyone in the Wonderland space felt themselves strengthened by a surge of buffs.
This skill didn't require him to keep watching her for it to work. As long as he occasionally glanced at her or kept a sliver of his focus on her, the effect continued.
Satisfied, he turned most of his attention back to Amber and Eula.
He pressed his face against Eula's soft belly, covered in thin, black, translucent fabric, feeling her warmth.
Then he moved upward, pressing her down beneath him as he kissed her tender lips. His hands slid to her back, expertly finding the zipper of her bodysuit and slowly unfastening it.
Before long, Amber and Eula were drained of strength from training. But with the harmonization and strengthening effects, they had both risen to level 93.
When they reached that point, Nolan realized that even with Nilou's affection skill boosting them, further gains weren't as efficient.
But for him, it was different. After about an hour of training with the two, his own progress had more than doubled compared to before:
[Level: Lv102 (23,522 / 12,000,000)]
Normally, training for an hour with girls around level 90 would only net him around fifteen thousand Adventure EXP.
Under Nilou's affection skill buff, his training gains had jumped to 23,000—about one and a half times the usual amount.
And that was while Nilou was still only in the mid-40s. Once she trained hard enough to reach Amber and Eula's level, the bonus would likely reach nearly double.
The effect was remarkable!
In the room, Nilou remained immersed in her dance, unaffected by the sounds of Nolan's training with the others. Still, after dancing for so long, she was beginning to tire.
Only within the Wonderland space, with its many supportive properties—and her affection skill active—could she keep dancing so long without rest.
Completely absorbed, she hadn't even noticed time slipping by.
When she finally paused, Nolan pulled her into his arms. She had just opened her mouth to say she wanted to rest a bit when his lips silenced hers.
She was pressed against the wall, her skirt lifted once again. Her white shorts slid down from her soft hips to her pale thighs, stopping near her rounded knees.
Half an hour later, Nilou sat slumped against the wall, propped up by Nolan's gentle embrace from behind. Her strength had already broken past level 50.
At this pace, she would catch up to Amber and Eula in only a few days.
Afterwards, he brought them all to the hot spring baths. While soaking, he also sparred briefly with Yun Jin, Hu Tao, and Fischl, who were already in the water.
It wasn't until Mona came to call them—saying Noelle had finished preparing dinner—that they reluctantly left the baths.
His training progress had risen again:
[Level: Lv102 (55,232 / 12,000,000)]
After dinner and a short rest, Nolan went to train with Raiden Ei. At level 120, a single hour with her yielded more than 50,000 EXP points.
With Nilou's skill buff, that number rose to around 75,000. With efficiency like that, he couldn't afford not to push forward.
But Nilou had it the hardest, having to keep dancing beside him.
Even with the space's supportive features, and the way her skill boosted her own dance insights, endless dancing was still exhausting.
It was a bit too much to ask of her.
So Nolan resolved to try something next time: recording her dance with a Camera. Since the activation condition was simply "watching Nilou dance," perhaps a recording would suffice.
If that worked, she wouldn't have to dance herself every time.
But since she was already tired, that experiment would wait until tomorrow. With that thought, he held Raiden Ei in one arm, Nilou in the other, and drifted off to sleep.
---
Inazuma City, Tenshukaku.
The next morning, after sharing a tender moment with the girls, Nolan let them head off to work and made his way to the castle.
He arrived together with Yae Miko, who was there to discuss cooperation matters with Kokomi. Nolan himself had been asked by Kokomi to help resolve the issue of Watatsumi's "Sanctification."
"Hehe, that Watatsumi strategist—don't tell me you've set your sights on her as well? Come on, hurry up and conquer her. That way, when I negotiate with her, it won't be so confrontational anymore."
With long pink hair cascading down her back, Yae Miko walked beside Nolan into Tenshukaku, smiling as she went on:
"That strategist never gives an inch. But sometimes a little compromise, a bit of give and take, is the only way to reach a good agreement."
"…I don't quite see it that way." Nolan shook his head. "I think both of you are sharp-minded. And when smart people meet an equal, it's only natural they don't want to lose.
"Even if Kokomi were to move into the Wonderland space, I doubt she'd yield to you. It's not about circumstance—it's the pride of the clever at work."
"Oh? That does make some sense." Yae Miko thought back on her past clashes with Sangonomiya Kokomi. Most deals had been preplanned in her mind before official talks began.
As long as she hit her targets, things were settled.
But when facing a strategist who matched her in intellect, she couldn't help but feel the urge to make the other yield first.
My, so I do have a competitive streak after all.
They entered Tenshukaku, walking into the hall used for formal duels and high-level negotiations. There, Raiden Shogun sat silently in a chair, eyes closed in thought.
Kokomi had not yet arrived.
"Sitting there like a statue so early in the morning… is she broken? Looks like I'll need to call Ei out to fix her," Yae teased, pinching the Shogun's cheek.
"Hmph. Insolent!"
The Shogun's eyes snapped open, violet irises flashing as she slapped Miko's hand away. Rising to her feet, she looked straight at Nolan:
"The leader of Watatsumi is at the door. Let Miko handle negotiations with her. You and I—let's spar in the rear courtyard."
She could feel his strength had grown, nearly rivaling her own.
Battle-lust stirred within her. She wanted to fight him. Recently, sparring against her "inner self" in the space, she had lost each time.
The reason, it seemed, was that Nolan's training with Ei had given her counterpart an edge, upsetting their balance.
So the Shogun had grown curious about his methods.
But when she pressed Ei, she had only been told: "Ask him yourself."
Hmph. Then she would fight him, and afterward pry the truth from him. Once she learned his method, she would surely surpass her inner self!
"Oh? I don't mind."
Nolan's new strength hadn't yet been tested. Sparring with the Shogun sounded good.
Still, since he was due to travel with Kokomi to Watatsumi soon, a drawn-out fight would be troublesome. After a moment's thought, he said:
"Since we're in Tenshukaku, let's keep it simple. A brief sword match will do."
For experts, even a few exchanged blows revealed plenty.
"Agreed." The Shogun nodded.
Nolan turned to Miko:
"Miko, wait here for now. The Shogun and I will be in the back courtyard. Once your talks are done, let me know."
"Fine, fine. Go play with this wooden doll. I'll handle things here, even though I'm only the shrine priestess of the Grand Narukami Shrine…"
Miko feigned a pitiful look.
"Hehe, I'll make it up to you tonight." Nolan grinned, then followed the Shogun toward the courtyard.
(End of Chapter)
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