Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 739: Sharing Divine Stone; If I Don’t Go To The Trouble, Trouble Comes To Me

Isaac happily opened his mouth and accepted the food Emily offered him. She continued feeding him with a bright smile, apparently far more interested in making sure he ate properly than in the fact that everyone else at the table was watching them. Isaac had never felt embarrassed about being spoiled by Emily, so he simply enjoyed the meal and occasionally praised Selene’s cooking whenever Emily gave him another bite.

Once everyone had finished eating, they gradually returned to their own activities. Emily went back to training, Selene began helping with some of the work around the Sky City, and Alice disappeared for a while after saying she had something she wanted to take care of. Catherine was also preparing to leave, but just before she disappeared, Isaac called out to her.

"Don’t train too hard. You need to rest properly so you can recover and digest the gains you’ve gotten from those battles," Isaac said, looking at Catherine. He knew she had been pushing herself harder than usual recently, and while he did not intend to stop her from improving, he did not want her to exhaust herself simply because she was eager to become stronger.

Catherine stiffened and slowly turned around to look at him. She was still smiling, but Isaac had become good enough at reading her expressions that he could immediately tell she was shocked, and she quickly walked back toward him.

"How?" she asked, her voice brisk despite the smile on her face. "How did you know?"

"Know that you’ve been sneaking out into the wilderness to train and trying to hunt a powerful Catastrophe by yourself?" Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched her reaction. "Was that what you were asking about?"

Catherine stared at him for a moment before nodding. She had higher stats than Isaac thanks to being both a Champion and a Conqueror, and because her skills belonged entirely to her, and were attuned to her soul, she could strengthen and alter them much more freely with evolved Aura than he could alter her own skills. Once she decided to hide herself, even Isaac had almost no chance of finding her, or at least that was what she had apparently believed.

"Yes," Catherine said. "How did you know?"

"I wonder how?" he finally said, deliberately refusing to give her a proper answer.

Isaac saw the corner of Catherine’s lips twitch for only a fraction of a second. The movement was so fast that he probably would not have noticed it without his enhanced perception, but he still caught it before her expression returned to normal.

"Seems like my little brother is growing faster than I expected," Catherine said with a smile.

Isaac laughed because he knew exactly what she was doing. She knew perfectly well that although he acted as though he was fine with being called her brother, he would rather be called something like darling, husband, or dear. So she was saying it here to get back at him.

Isaac leaned closer and whispered into her ear, "You know, considering how passionately you call me darling on the bed, calling me your little brother here for a petty revenge is only making me laugh instead of annoyed."

Catherine’s smile remained unchanged, but Isaac could tell that she was displeased with his response. She was thinking of how to get back at him. He reached up and patted her head before gently squeezing her cheeks, making her expression slightly awkward.

"Anyway, jokes aside, I won’t stop you if you want to fight. You can fight whatever you want, but I just want to know that you’re safe, so don’t hide things like this from me next time," Isaac said.

Catherine pursed her lips and looked at him for a few seconds. Isaac could tell that the slight resentment she had been feeling had already disappeared while he was holding her, although she still looked somewhat reluctant to admit it.

"Okay?" Isaac asked, waiting for her answer.

Catherine eventually nodded. Isaac smiled, leaned forward, and gently bumped his nose against hers before letting her go, and the small gesture immediately made her expression soften.

"All right, see you later," Isaac said.

Catherine smiled before disappearing. Isaac watched the spot where she had vanished for a moment before turning around and walking through the hall, thinking that at least he had managed to convince her not to hide her dangerous behavior from him again.

He had barely taken a few steps when a hand suddenly shot out from one of the rooms and grabbed him. Before Isaac could react, he was pulled inside, and the door closed behind him with a gust of wind.

A moment later, Isaac found himself lying on a bed with Alice sitting on top of him. He blinked in confusion and looked up at her, wondering what had suddenly possessed her to drag him into a room without saying anything.

"Alice?" Isaac asked.

"The World Tree can’t sense us if we’re outside the Florathi Kingdom, right?" Alice asked as she looked down at him. Her voice sounded unusually serious, although Isaac still had no idea what she was getting at.

"Yes?" Isaac answered, still confused by her actions. He was about to ask what she wanted when he noticed her eyes, and the hazy look in them immediately made him suspicious.

Isaac checked her status just to make sure. The information that appeared made him stare for several seconds before he could even process what he was reading.

[Status 2: After fighting Isaac repeatedly in the Combat Simulator, she discovered that his clone could bleed when injured and sweat when exhausted. After watching Isaac’s clone become exhausted and drenched in sweat for hours, she can no longer control herself.]

’And this girl called me a scum who was corrupting her sister earlier,’ Isaac thought, staring at Alice. ’I swear she’s worse than me.’

After she completed several System Quests, she could make the clones weaker if certain conditions were met. She had been using that to fight his weakened clone. At least that was what Isaac thought. But this crazy girl was just getting turned on.

"Are you done?" Alice asked after watching him remain silent for several seconds.

"What?" Isaac blinked, genuinely pretending not to understand what she meant.

"You can see what I’m thinking, right?" Alice asked. "You should know why I brought you into the room."

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked innocently as he continued looking at her. He knew exactly what she wanted, but after she had called him a scum earlier, there was no way he was going to let her get what she wanted without making her admit it she was wrong and just as bad as him.

If Alice wanted to move on to the main part of what she had in mind, she would have to openly acknowledge what she wanted. Isaac felt that after calling him a scum, she deserved at least that much embarrassment before he agreed to anything.

Alice pouted slightly because she immediately understood what Isaac was doing. She stared at him for a moment before pursuing her lips, looking almost like a child who had been denied something she desperately wanted.

"Do we really need to complicate it like this?" she asked.

"Heh," Isaac scoffed, clearly enjoying the situation.

Alice pursed her lips and stared at him for several seconds. Isaac knew she would eventually give in because she usually did whenever he refused to let her escape from an argument, but this time she surprised him by lowering her head slightly and speaking before he could tease her again.

"All right. I’m sorry for calling you a scum," Alice admitted.

She sat on his abdomen and looked directly into his eyes, her tail wrapping around his leg as she waited for his response. Only then did Isaac, once again, realize that Alice seemed to have become even more docile after regaining her memories, and the realization caused a faint pang in his heart because he knew that there were a lot of things from her past that she had not completely recovered from.

He wanted to spoil her and make her feel better, especially after seeing how much her personality had changed since regaining those memories. So instead of teasing her any further, Isaac smiled warmly at her.

"All right, my mad princess," Isaac said as he looked into her eyes. "Now that you’ve admitted what you did wrong, it’s time to be punished."

...

A few days later, Isaac and everyone else were gathered around Emily as she continued her training. She had been training intensely for several days, and they had even delayed their trip because Emily insisted that she was on the verge of completing one of her Class Advancement requirements. Since she seemed genuinely close to finishing, nobody wanted to interrupt her at such an important moment.

Ripples of Spirit Element continued spreading from Emily’s body as she maintained her concentration. The entire Sky City began shrinking little by little under the influence of her power, and before long, the enormous city had become small enough to disappear completely into Emily’s Soul Space. The process took some time, but eventually the last traces of the city vanished, leaving Emily standing alone in the center of the area.

Emily slowly opened her eyes, and Isaac immediately noticed that something about her had changed. Her appearance was almost the same as before, but her presence felt considerably stronger, and even the way the Spirit Element moved around her seemed different. Isaac could tell that whatever she had accomplished had brought about a significant improvement.

Emily looked toward everyone and smiled brightly. "It’s done. I’ve successfully fused the Sky City into my Soul Space."

"Congratulations," Isaac said with a smile, genuinely happy for her. Emily had spent several days pushing herself to complete the requirement, so seeing her finally succeed made all the waiting worthwhile.

"Congratulations!" Celia cheered happily, and everyone else soon joined her in congratulating Emily. Emily’s smile became even brighter as she listened to everyone, and it did not take long for them to decide that the occasion deserved a proper celebration.

That night, everyone gathered together for the celebration, and Jasmine and Althea were invited as well. There was plenty of food, desserts, music, games and alcohol, and the atmosphere quickly became lively as everyone relaxed after the long wait. The only person who was not allowed to drink was Emily. Isaac and Alice were keeping a very close eye on her because neither of them had forgotten how troublesome she could become when drunk.

Isaac had initially decided not to drink either, saying he would abstain to accompany her.

Emily immediately disagreed and insisted that he could drink normally. After she repeatedly encouraged him, Isaac eventually gave in, although he quickly regretted the decision because the alcohol Jasmine had brought was much stronger than anything he was accustomed to drinking.

By the end of the celebration, Isaac was sitting in his room with one hand pressed against his forehead. Celia had followed him, saying she would give him a message to relieve his headaches, but he ended up nursing her and putting her to sleep after her headaches started.

Now, she was sleeping on his bed, and he was awake. His head was hurting badly, and he spent several minutes massaging his temples. His mind was working very slowly, and he couldn’t think clearly. Isaac decided that taking a walk might help clear his head before he went to sleep.

Tomorrow, they were finally leaving for the Main City for the Third Priest’s trial. They would have gone to the Main City much earlier if they had not been waiting for Emily to finish her training. Now that she had completed her requirement, there was no reason to delay the trip any longer, and Isaac wanted to make sure he was feeling better before they left.

As he walked through the large resort, Isaac suddenly remembered something and smiled. ’System, share Emily’s upgraded Soul Space!’

The moment he gave the command, Isaac felt his own Soul Space begin to expand. The sensation was strange, but he could clearly feel the changes taking place, and when the process was complete, another Sky City appeared inside his Soul Space. Isaac stared at it for several seconds before breaking into a wide grin.

They now had two Sky Cities, which meant they effectively possessed two sets of the resources contained within them. That included the Divine Stone, and knowing how valuable the material was, Isaac could not help feeling excited about the possibilities created by this duplication.

Isaac continued walking while thinking about everything they could accomplish with the additional resources. The first Sky City had already given them enormous advantages, and having another one meant they could obtain even more materials without worrying about exhausting their existing supplies. For that alone, Isaac’s headache almost felt insignificant.

He eventually reached a large pond in the middle of the resort and noticed a pavilion standing at its center. Isaac slowed down when he saw someone sitting inside it, and his expression gradually became complicated as he recognized the person.

Jasmine was leaning on the table with her hair spread across the surface, while several bottles were lying around her. She was clearly drunk, and every so often, she hiccupped before wiping at her eyes, making it obvious that she had been crying.

Isaac stared at her for several seconds before deciding to leave. His motto these days was simple: if he did not see the problem, then the problem did not exist, and something told him that walking over to Jasmine and asking what had happened would only create problems for him.

He turned around and began walking away, deliberately pretending that he had not seen anything. He could already imagine Jasmine saying something strange, asking him for help, or somehow dragging him into whatever had caused her to get drunk, and he had no desire to deal with any of that tonight.

Isaac had only taken a few steps when Jasmine’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Darling?"

Her voice was soft, almost as though she had just woken up, and Isaac stopped in confusion. He looked around, briefly wondering if Gael had somehow appeared nearby, because he could not think of any reason why Jasmine would be calling him that.

Then Isaac realized that Jasmine was looking directly at him. She was smiling, and before he could react, she took a step forward and instantly appeared in front of him.

"Darling, you’re here, yay~" Jasmine said happily.

She immediately hugged him and leaned into him without giving him any chance to respond. Isaac was so shocked by the sudden movement that he failed to catch himself properly, and the two of them fell to the ground with Jasmine landing on top of him.

For several seconds, Isaac simply stared at her in disbelief. Jasmine remained on top of him with a satisfied smile, apparently completely unconcerned about the fact that she had just tackled him in the middle of the forest in the resort.

"Darling? Why are you silent?" Jasmine asked, tilting her head as she looked down at him. She seemed to think about the situation for a moment before her face suddenly became red, and she continued in a much quieter voice, "Wait... don’t tell me you want me to greet you you’ve taught me?"

Jasmine glanced around and finally seemed to remember that they were outside where anyone could potentially see them. Her blush became even deeper as she looked back at Isaac, and she awkwardly lowered her voice.

"B-But we’re in the open. What if we get caught?"