The robots also explained: this place was now their home. For now, they'd live together, but as they grew up, they could move elsewhere by applying for relocation. Takumi would approve it.
Food? Free.
Once rested, they could ask the AI where the cafeteria was. In time, they'd also be going to school.
Takumi wouldn't demand work from the children, but adults would eventually need to work. The entire city would soon be in full operation.
After releasing everyone, Takumi gathered a few specific people.
Sim Miori's parents received a private home and were sent off accordingly. But Sim Miori, the Holy Empress, and Tend Kisara? Takumi brought them back to his own villa.
"Get some rest first. Tomorrow, we'll properly discuss how to run the city."
"Pick whichever room you like."
"If anything comes up, we'll handle it then."
Takumi had no intention of doing anything shady. Hearing his words, the three women nodded.
Especially the Holy Empressstill overwhelmed. She had come to understand the full picture. Even knew who had brought Takumi over: Sim Miori.
The traitor had been right beside her all along.
But what could she say?
Takumi had taken the cursed children... but wasn't that their own society's fault?
Looking up at Takumi as he headed upstairs, she sighed.
Best not to dwell.
They were exhausted.
Still... one problem.
"Um... do you two have spare clothes to change into?" the Holy Empress asked Sim Miori and Tend Kisara.
Awkward.
Even if they wanted to bathe, they didn't have clean clothes.
Sim Miori shouted up the stairs:
"Takumi! We don't have anything to change into!"
Takumi, halfway up, turned back.
He glanced at them.
"Two C-cups and one B? Got it."
Without waiting, he manifested a few sets of clothes and tossed them over.
The three froze.
What kind of body scanner was that?! Just one look?!
A moment passed.
"Wait, does Takumi have some kind of x-ray vision?" Kisara whispered, uncomfortable.
The Holy Empress nodded nervously.
Sim Miori sighed.
"He doesn't. He just has a lot of powersbut x-ray vision isn't one of them."
Takumi had access to all kinds of Herrscher abilities. Analyzing their body data? Easy.
He even hacked their world's data while he was there.
Still, holding the clothes, even Sim Miori blushed.
Even though he hadn't touched them, and simply conjured the clothes, it still felt awkward.
She shook her head.
No point thinking about it.
Takumi wasn't that kind of guy.
"You two, go wash up! Then we can rest and get ready for our new lives."
With that, Sim Miori picked up her outfit and went off.
Was it a coincidence they all got JK uniforms and black tights?
The Holy Empress's was white.
Sim Miori mumbled to herself as she went to her room.
After bathing, she'd check in with the group chat. Just because she was in Takumi's world now didn't mean she could skip that.
The other two followed her leadbathing, resting.
...
Takumi:
[Everything's done!]
[Feels good. Finally, my world has a population.]
[Though most of them are lolis.]
[Only a few hundred thousand adults came along.]
[Most people didn't believe me.]
[Unbelievable!!]
It was nighttime, but many in the group chat were still awakewaiting to check in.
Only a few had gone to sleep.
Bronya:
[(;)...]
[You literally shoved a Star-Destroyer in their faces. Who wouldn't freak out?]
Seriously, you expect people to believe you when your intro is a battleship?
Fujiwara Chika:
[Exactly~!]
[Just seeing that scared the crap out of everyone.]
[Who would dare trust you?!]
[People woke up in the morning all normal and calm... and then you fly a warship down and demand to take the lolis?!]
When you think about Takumi's antics... it's amazing anyone followed him.
Takumi:
[What can I say? I just wanted to get things over with quickly.]
[Still, getting this many people was already amazing.]
[Over a million. That's enough to slowly develop.]
[And a lot of those cursed children are high-IQ.]
[If they study well, they'll eventually recreate a ton of advanced tech.]
Takumi was quite satisfied with the outcome.
Cursed childrenkids with superpowers and high intelligence.
If they mastered knowledge, they'd build wonders.
People like Natsuki were born for research.
Takumi planned to give them the perfect childhood.
Let them study in peace.
The schools were already built.
Once arranged, classes would begin.
They wouldn't even need teachersAI would handle the lessons.
As for the teachers he brought back? Takumi planned to make them principals.
Chapter 34: Are You There? Lend Me Ganyu for a Bit
While people had arrived, the real challenges were just beginning.
Things like establishing a monetary system and converting Miori Shiba's family fortune into the currency of this new world.
All of that gave Takumi a headache.
Right now, he sincerely wished he could borrow a few capable individuals to help.
Thinking of that, Takumi turned to the group chat and called out to Zhongli.
Takumi:
[@Zhongli, old man, lend me Ganyu for a while~!]
He wanted Ganyuthe efficient and reliable secretary of the Liyue Qixing.
If she helped out, Takumi believed things would go much smoother.
Zhongli, who was still sipping tea at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and hadn't gone to bed, blinked when he saw the message.
Zhongli:
[Ganyu?]
[That shouldn't be a problem.]
[But you'll have to provide the cost yourself.]
[I can help bring her over.]
[In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing your world myself.]
He was curious about what kind of world Takumi had built.
A personal inspection, if you will.
What had become of that world?
Takumi checked his remaining credits.
He still had one "World Travel Talisman" worth of funds left.
After a brief moment of consideration, he agreed.
Takumi:
[Sure!]
[You go ahead and arrange it. No objections here.]
[Just let me know when you're coming.]
Zhongli's visit would need coordinationafter all, Ganyu was always busy, possibly working overtime at that very moment.
Zhongli:
[Wonderful~!]
[Mind if I bring a few old friends along too?]
If he was going, might as well bring a whole entourage.
Maybe even the other Adepti.
Takumi:
[No problem!]
[You're always welcome!]
[You could even bring Hu Tao if you wanted!!]
The more, the merrier. Why would Takumi refuse?
Zhongli:
[Let's leave Hu Tao out of this]
[She's working on a huge contract right now.]
There was no way he'd bring her along.
If she found out about his real identity, things would get complicated.
So Zhongli shut that idea down immediately.
The two agreed on the plan.
Fujwara Chika:
[I wanna come too! But I'm broke!!]
Sagiri:
[Me too!! No credits either.]
Akeno:
[If possible, I'd love to visit as well.]
Everyone in the group seemed interested in checking out Takumi's world.
His world openly welcomed people from other universes.
If they ever found themselves without a place to stay, they could always go live with Takumi.
That alone made them curious.
Though no one was considering full-on immigration just yet.
Unlike Miori Shiba, who came from a post-apocalyptic world, they had no real pressure to relocate.
Miori Shiba:
[Mr. Zhongli is coming?]
[Welcome, welcome~!]
Soaking in a bath, Miori Shiba checked the chat.
Surprised by the discussion, she quickly chimed in.
So Takumi was bringing in Zhongli to help set up a proper system?
And Ganyu?
Seeing the chat history, she understood immediately.
If it was Ganyu, there'd be no problem at all.
If Takumi could get the entire Liyue Qixing, that'd be even better.
They chatted for a while until midnight, then all signed in and logged off for the night.
Takumi also went to bed.
Meanwhile, Zhongli sent messages to the other Adepti to prepare for a cross-world trip.
He told Granny Ping to bring the Teapot and planned to appear in Ganyu's dream later to grant her a short vacation.
She was likely still working overtime, so it'd have to wait until she slept.
Whether or not he slept himself didn't matter.
Zhongli often drank tea alone through the night, reminiscing.
Or he'd wait until Hu Tao came home.
It had become his routine.
Ganyu would probably fall asleep around 3 or 4 AM.
Everything was in order.
...
After signing in, Takumi went to bed.
The next day, after having lunch with Miori Shiba and the others, he took them into the city.
"Let's take a little tour. Get familiar with the place."
"Soon, some people will arrive to help us build out the administrative system."
"When that happens, Holy Empress, I'll be relying on you."
The Holy Empress twitched at his words.
So this was why she'd been brought here to manage the city?
How helpless.
But she had no choice now.
Hopefully, her abilities would prove useful.
Though inwardly nervous, she said nothing.
Kisara and Kayo remained silent too, simply walking behind Takumi and taking in the new world with curiosity.
No signs of Gastrea.
"So did you already wipe out all the beasts in this world?"
Miori Shiba asked, interested.
She was genuinely curious.
Had Takumi already destroyed the monsters responsible for humanity's downfall?
Kayo and the Holy Empress perked up.
Beasts? This world had those?
"Pretty much."
"Most of them were converted into Honkai beasts."
"The ones still roaming the wild aren't dangerous."
"The cursed children could easily handle them, even two or three at a time."
"I didn't convert all of them, though. I left some behind for training."
He explained the situation plainly.
The remaining monsters weren't a threat.
They could even be used as food.
Miori Shiba nodded thoughtfully.
"That's actually great."
"We could assign people to hunt them down regularly."
"You said the meat is edible, right?"
"Wasn't the porridge we had this morning made from beast meat?"
"I feel like my psychic energy even went up a bit."
Their breakfast had included meat porridge.
Where had the meat come from?
Obviously, the beasts.
It wasn't like Takumi could summon meat from thin air.
"Exactly."
"If you're interested, go ahead and hunt them."
"Once our systems are in place, people will need to find ways to earn money anyway."
"By the way, about your gold we'll need to convert it into this world's currency."
"I'm planning to issue you ID cards."
"Integrated identity and bank cards."
"With just a smartphone, you'll be able to access everything."
"The new currency will be backed by gold."
Takumi began laying out the plan he had brainstormed the previous night.
It was finally time to bring it to life.
Chapter 35: Lost in a Chorus of "Onii-chan"
The group strolled through the city streets. Though it was still morning, many had already come out to explore.
Everyone was either touring the city that Takumi had created, or visiting distribution points to collect their allotted supplies.
These supplies were temporary provisions. Each person was entitled to a personal set, completely free of chargefood, clothing, toiletriesall mass-produced by robots.
The flavor was decent, enough to fill the stomach. Takumi didn't require them to do anything else afterward.
As Takumi's group walked through the streets, they drew attention. Some of the young girls spotted him and immediately rushed over.
"Onii-chan!!"
"Onii-chan, Takumi onii-chan!!"
"Onii-chan, did you have breakfast?"
One call of "onii-chan" after another made it hard for Takumi to suppress his grin.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"Is there anything you're not used to? If so, you can tell the robots, okay?"
He gently patted one girl's head as he asked.
The little girl nodded eagerly.
"I slept so well! And I'm full, too. Heehee~! The handsome robots took great care of us!"
Her eyes sparkled with excitement. The other children around her were the same, expressing fondness for the handsome robots.
Even though it was only their first day, they already liked this place a lot. No one here looked at them with disgust. Everyone who came had been carefully screened, so they wouldn't despise the children either.
After some chatting, Takumi resumed touring the city with his group. None of the shops were officially open yet, as he hadn't finalized those arrangements.
The only accessible locations were those handing out supplies.
Eventually, Takumi brought everyone to a designated government building he had set aside.
"This will be your office from now on. It's equipped with computers and everything you'll need."
"Here are smartphones for each of you, preloaded with AI assistants."
The group curiously inspected the phones. They could connect to the internet, but there wasn't much content available yetbarebones apps, mostly empty.
The network was pristine. Probably because nobody had used it yet. That would change once people started contributing.
As Takumi explained the system, Zhongli began making his own preparations.
He had already gathered Cloud Retainer, Ganyu, Madame Ping, and Xiao. Just the four of them. He didn't bring anyone else.
Ganyu had been puzzled the previous night when she received Zhongli's dream-message. Still, she quickly arranged her duties and visited her master's abode early that morning.
Shenhe had already been sent down to Liyue Harbor by Cloud Retainer to have some fun.
"Everyone's here. Let's depart."
Zhongli gave the signal. Madame Ping nodded, and Lady Bai produced her magical teapot.
Everyone was stored inside. Only Zhongli remained outside.
He had already instructed Madame Ping on how to operate it.
Handing over the pot, Zhongli contacted Takumi via group chat.
Zhongli: [@Takumi, I'm ready on my end.]
Takumi, who had been showing Miori Shiba and the others around the administrative center, saw the message and his eyes lit up.
Takumi: [Zhongli's Exclusive Red Packet]
Without saying much, he sent over 1,000 points.
Zhongli accepted and purchased a World Travel Talisman.
The moment he activated it, a dimensional portal opened before him.
He was a bit surprised by the mysterious energy flowing from it. All he could sense was an overwhelming sense of enigma.
