Summer Start (5)

"I didn't think she would be this fragile," Charles' father apologized to Joanna.

"It's more due to the lack of control in mana. She can't handle these heavily spelled objects," Joanna revealed.

These swords were disappointing, lackluster compared to its appearance. It reminded me of the sword I accidentally used two winters ago, nearly making me dance to my death. Using mana and spells in this world wasn't easy, everything required a minimum amount of large effort. I managed to catch my breath a few minutes later, everything slowly returning to normal. My eyes were gimmered with unfairness, wondering why only I suffered from having a grand supply of mana.

"I can try practicing. Aren't there easier swords out there?" I didn't want this to repeat.

"You're not ready for them yet. An opportunity will come when you're healthier," Charles' father saw me as a feeble fledgling.

"Micah, I want a sword, better than everyone else possesses," I tried to summon him.

With my command, Micah stepped out of the swirling hole, a portal slowly opening in front of me. I slightly smiled when he held a slender sword in his hand, dazzlingly filled with energy, surrounded by a lovely pink aura. Pretty engraved silver roses curled around before roping and twisting together to create a handle. Anyone could tell this one was more superior than the rest, a high force of mana radiating from it.

"My event was successful," Micah was rewarding me.

"I can just swing this around, right?" I wondered if it had instructions.

"It resembles the staff, a different form of the same idea," he explained its features.

My eyes glittered as I held the sword in my hand, feeling like I received a legendary item. Gliding my hand over the blade, it nicely resonated with my mana, a faint song humming to join. This could be fun to play with. However, Micah broke my hopes once again, going into the details, "you can ask them to teach you the moves. Maybe around ten years in the future when your stamina grows."

"My stamina isn't that poor," I had to admit it was pretty bad.

"Your stamina is weaker than newborn fairies," Micah pitied me.

Once Micah returned to his side of the world, my sword was gone as I instantly turned to accuse the person in front of me. I should have never summoned Micah, finding my eyes watery from the fake hope. Meanwhile, I couldn't see a hint of guilt in Luke's eyes, adding my sword to his collection. My shoulders slumped as it was partly my fault, doing this in the open. Maybe I expected more from these heartless people.

"I can give it to you ten years later," Luke noted Micah's suggestion.

How would I know if I was even going to be here ten years from now? Ten years was a long period of time, enough to carry nearly my entire lifetime inside this reincarnated world. I didn't want to stay around a bunch of bystanders, watching everything unfold. I dashed towards the door, tapping on the screen giving access. But why was I not surprised when the door was somehow locked as usual?

"I want to return to my bedroom," I turned for someone to help me.

"Everyone is participating in this event, it'll end in one more day," Allison watched me.

"Shelly isn't participating," I found her lucky.

Although we were inside the same mansion, Shelly was never dragged to these random events. I would rather be treated like her, completely invisible unless it was crucial to be mentioned. It was hard not to be envious of her sometimes, countless number of things I could list inside my head. She didn't have to share a dorm room with Alex anymore since he was pushed to me. Even if Alex's family held grudges against her, she didn't have to openly face them.

Shelly got to visit her parents during the holidays, easily getting access to them. Since her family resided in the first district, she had the freedom to do whatever she wanted in her mansions. Meanwhile, I found myself abandoned by all my allies, feeling betrayed as none of them answered me. Why wouldn't I want to run away from here? Maybe this alliance was an act like the rest of Luke's family who were excellent actors and actresses.

"I'm tired. I want to rest," I used my poor stamina as an excuse.

I was stunned when Joanna revealed a small bed, heavenly fluffy pillows toppling on each other. The offer was tempting, the blankets resembling the ones inside my usual bedrooms. Trying to convince myself it was the best option, I nearly melted when I slipped into the bed sheets. I didn't know I was actually exhausted, the cuddly space luring me to sleep. Although my eyes were closed, I could hear everything.

"Luke, it's nearly your turn in the next round," Joanna pointed out.

The noises of the door opening and sliding shut entered my ears. Slightly squeezing my blanket, I discovered the only one who didn't know the pin code was me. The sole person I could rely on to escape from this hellish family was myself.

"Is this why you kept the crib in the room?" Charles' father made an absurd claim.

"We place them everywhere, young children are unpredictable," Allison nonchalantly answered.

"Look how grouchy she was from lacking sleep," she added.

"She was fine in the beginning," he agreed.

One day, my grudge against them was going to skyrocket and this family was going to die. However, the bed was a nice offer, an escape from spending more than the day with them.

I had no complaints when I found myself inside my bedroom when I woke up. It was way better than watching something I couldn't do. After rubbing my eyes, I got out of my bed and soon knocked Luke's bedroom door. And like I expected, he immediately opened the door, confused in the middle of the night.

Was there something I was missing out on? Unexpectedly, Alex was with him, sitting on his bed while holding a book, oddly conveniently in the same place.

Wasn't this the perfect opportunity for both of them to help me? Before I got to work, my head turned towards Luke's bed, the most comfortable area inside the room, and walked to flop onto it. Once I rose to sit down, I explained, "we're adding more projects to the current mansion. These are the design plans."

"We can't do this much. It goes over the budget," Alex stared at the requests.

"I have the money. What do you think I've been doing while you two were doing your sword spars? This is the budget per room," I showed them my screen.

Both of them went speechless, looking at the money in my bank account. I had to admit it was pretty impressive as I passed them a copy of the files I received. For some family members, I had extorted as much money as possible, getting a little bit of my revenge for me and a few others in the process. In the end, my best form of payback would be to limit access once the rooms were finished to these terrible people.

"Why are you so slow? We need to start working on making the arrangements," I pressured them.

"How did you get this amount of money?" Alex was in disbelief.

"I told you, try to pay closer attention to how your family interacts. They easily sell each other out," I recalled my role as the counselor.

"Look at how detailed this list of weaknesses is, even your names are included," I gave them a sneak peek.

It wasn't good to reveal my cards too early. As soon as they leaned closer to get another look, I switched the view.

To redirect their focus, I nudged Luke to get started on a sizable number of design plans, staying completely silent as I watched him look at me in a new light by my supposed improvement.

Well, I did make some alterations, didn't I? He didn't have to know it was his relatives that wrote these design plans.

To do the rest of my part, I summoned Micah to source the labor and materials while rolling around Luke's bed. All I had to do next was watch them work in my place. Until, a random thought came into my head, wondering, "can we scam fairies?"

"What is your plan?" Micah seemed interested.

"You guys like my ideas and I can sell them for a high price. Let me directly negotiate with your connections," My eyes glinted with ambitions.

"What do you want in exchange?" He agreed to make the arrangements.

"I want dragons, they're super expensive. I won't ever be able to afford them even with the current money I possess," I wanted more rides for my waterpark.

Dragons didn't exist on this side of the world, and were lightly touched upon in ancient documentations. It was weird. We had mana and all that but the most important aspects of the fantasy genre were missing in this reincarnated life!

"I may have a few who may be interested," Micah disappeared into the portal.

Surprisingly, Micah was excited to watch the negotiations unfold to the point he managed to get one of his connections inside this room within a few minutes. I could tell this fairy was wealthy, wearing an extraordinary number of charmed accessories and radiant clothes.

"You're the first human who wanted dragons. Dragons are hard to take care of, possessing many demands," she revealed.

"I wanted them as sources of entertainment. Wouldn't they be great rides? Better than teleportation?" I bluntly threw my intentions.

"Here are my demands and offers, you can either take them or I can contact other fairies who are waiting for this opportunity," I tried to bait her.

"I want a sample," she appeared tempted.

"Pay attention to the revealed first page, it should be enough," I was prepared.

This file of random ideas was something I created within a minute, practically useless. Reading many light novels and manga helped me make stuff up, writing my aspirations for becoming a cheat character. Unexpectedly, this wealthy fairy agreed, "this is high quality material, profitable in my circle. I can offer you an elemental dragon and their food source. The rest you will have to procure on your own."

I brightly smiled to accept the deal, not knowing what she was talking about. This fairy was easy to scam. It was obvious she didn't handle her assets well. Even Micah was surprised, wondering if my last-minute report was worth this much. Unfreezing from the results, Micah revealed, "she is giving you an entire mine from the fairy world to transfer into your created dimension space as the food source. The dragon has a rare metal element, expensive to feed."

"What did you give her?" Micah wanted a copy.

"I want another dragon in exchange," I wasn't doing this for free.

"I gave you a sword," he reminded me.

"I'm giving you half the report," I thought the sword was free.

"This is revolutionary!" Micah praised the otaku fandom.

"I can give you one of my dragons for more," he turned to me.

"And their food source. I want caretakers to be included and all the other details," I passed him the entire report.

Micah wanted several reports as the price, something I finished within ten minutes in total. Curious about the content, Luke and Alex read the trashy copied ideas from my usual books they confiscated.

In less than a minute, their eyes changed when looking at Micah, completely disappointed and a little confused? It was a mix of emotions, but more surprised and staring at the ebook versions of my manga and light novels they threw into their trash boxes like they could sell them later.