Make it a full-on gourmet festival.
Surely they wouldn't lack for good food then.
Hearing that, Yuyuko's eyes lit up.
"Yes, yes! Let's do that!"
"I'll even provide some prizes!"
Yuyuko immediately agreed.
But Youmu was shocked.
"Lady Yuyuko!!"
"Hakugyokurou is already out of things!!"
Give out more? There's nothing left!
They had already sold everything of value from Hakugyokurou.
Would Lady Yuyuko now offer their last remaining belongings?
"Eh?"
Yuyuko was stunned.
Nothing valuable left?
Takumi laughed upon hearing this.
Yukari sighed beside them.
"Alright, I'll help this time."
"I'll put up some money for the rewards."
Yuyuko always ate her food anyway. Letting her give out prizes? Please.
What treasures could Hakugyokurou possibly have?
"That's wonderful! Thank you, Yukari!!"
Yuyuko beamed.
With Yukari's help, there was no problem.
Youmu, too, breathed a sigh of relief.
This was a great outcome.
"Right, let's just use money as the reward."
"Many chefs want to earn our currency to exchange for items."
"But... how do you have money, Yukari?"
"Don't tell meyou stole it?"
Takumi looked at Yukari suspiciously.
How did she have money?
Getting currency in Takumi's world wasn't easy.
You couldn't just open a gap and grab it.
"Nonsense!!"
"I would never steal!!"
Yukari was indignant.
He made her sound like a thief.
Stealing? No, no, no.
She didn't steal. She acquired.
Though... not in Takumi's world. That wouldn't work here.
"I sold some of my collected items."
"Don't underestimate the collection of a great youkai."
"I sold some spell techniques from mages, Onmyoji spells, and the like."
She pouted as she explained.
Making money in Takumi's world was too troublesome.
So she made copies of her collections and sold them.
Others from Gensokyo did the same.
Those without collections had no choice but to work part-time.
Like a certain paparazzi, always grinding away.
But overall, the situation wasn't bad.
People who moved from Gensokyo and had collections weren't short on cash.
Like the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Even though Takumi had already copied many of their grimoires, Patchouli and Remilia still traded some for good money.
Remilia even spent a fortune trying to get the science academy to help with Flandre's issues.
So yeah, collectors had no money problems.
And if you didn't have a collection?
Just follow a certain someone's example and become a gourmet hunter.
Catch some culinary beasts and boomcash everywhere.
Yukari was quite satisfied with this lifestyle.
Thinking of a certain Flower Tyrant, she smirked.
That one was fully addicted to battle now.
If you had power and entered the Gourmet World, it was like picking money off the ground.
Even Yukari made money that way.
So noit wasn't stealing.
Even if she wanted to steal, there was nowhere to do it!
"Great! Then we're set."
"As long as you're funding it, there's no problem."
"I'm sure tons of people will be interested."
"I'll arrange everything."
Takumi was genuinely excited about launching an event.
Also... wasn't it already winter outside?
He hadn't felt much change, but the temperature really had dropped.
While the cold didn't bother him, others might struggle.
Maybe it was time to start celebrating holidays and such.
Something he hadn't really thought about before.
Chapter 362: There's No Soul Without New Year's
After thinking it over carefully, Takumi realized that it was almost New Year's in his world as well.
Without holidays like New Year's, a world would be soulless.
Moreover, there wasn't even any snow.
With that thought, Takumi came to a decision.
"Prometheus."
"Make some arrangements. Set up a calendar. We'll celebrate the New Year."
"Also, spread the word about the culinary competition."
"Let's hold it at the Gourmet City."
"Extend an invitation to chefs from around the world."
"The prize pool will be 10 million. First prize gets five million, second prize three million, third prize two million."
"You'll handle the rules."
"As for the judges, let the public vote."
"Make the competition work like a food market setupwhoever sells the best wins."
Takumi outlined all the arrangements to Prometheus.
Hearing this, the terminal flashed briefly before falling silent.
Takumi knew Prometheus had already begun handling everything.
Of course there would be a New Year. Prometheus would take care of all the planning.
Not long after Takumi gave those instructions, everyone's terminal received a message.
It included information about the New Year celebration and the culinary competition.
As the news spread, the robots at Gourmet City began organizing.
Prometheus' command execution was lightning-fast.
With one order, many robots activated, and numerous merchants were notified of the upcoming event.
Upon hearing this, the people became excited. This event promised big profits!
At the same time, people in Takumi's world also received the news.
Everyone was full of anticipation.
Takumi's world rarely hosted temple fairs or festive events.
Now, finally, something like this was happening.
How could people not be thrilled?
A single command from Takumi had stirred the whole world into excitement.
Elsewhere, Ningguang and the others also received the news.
After reading the message from Prometheus, they couldn't help but feel exasperated.
Takumi hadn't even consulted them before telling Prometheus to implement everything.
Still, after reading the details, they had no real objections.
After a moment of thought, Ningguang made a suggestion.
"Prometheus, ask Takumi if he wants to declare an official holiday."
"Since we're celebrating, we might as well arrange some days off."
Hearing this, Prometheus relayed the question to Takumi.
When Takumi saw the inquiry, he thought for a moment and didn't refuse.
"Give them time off. Let them decide the schedule."
"Don't do any of that compensatory work nonsense."
"Let them rest properly. Set this as a fixed annual holiday."
Prometheus nodded and disappeared.
"A holiday? Are we sure this is okay? Won't it disrupt work?"
The ever-diligent Keqing frowned.
A break? Really?
"Disrupt what? Nothing's getting delayed."
"With Prometheus around, would anything ever fall behind schedule?"
Takumi rolled his eyes at Keqing.
"Can you not be so obsessed with work?"
"The monthly salary isn't even that much. Why exhaust yourself?"
Keqing's mouth twitched.
Fine, fine, you're the boss of this world. You make the rules.
"Alright then."
She didn't argue further. A holiday it is.
"Fantastic! That means lots of delicious food!"
The happiest of all was Yuyuko.
After reading the message, she became visibly excited.
Soon, she'd have plenty of delicious food to enjoy.
Seeing her joy, Takumi and Keqing both chuckled.
They didn't stay in the underworld much longer.
After dinner, they left. Takumi walked Keqing home, then returned to his own house alone.
That night, Sima Weizhi and Lilia also came home.
Seeing Takumi, Sima Weizhi asked curiously,
"Where did you go today?"
"And what's with this culinary competition thing?"
She hadn't seen Takumi all day. Was he out chasing girls?
"I went with Keqing to the underworld. The cooking contest was just a spur-of-the-moment idea."
"Our world has everything, but it still feels like something's missing. That's why I planned it."
Hearing this, Sima Weizhi was speechless.
ButKeqing? All day together?
She looked at Takumi suspiciously.
"Are you two together now?"
An entire day spent with Keqing?
Takumi quickly denied it.
"Absolutely not!"
They were just friends. Nothing more.
Sima Weizhi didn't believe him but didn't press the issue.
Then Lilia spoke up.
"The army needs training. Esdeath has taken command."
"She says the troops need real combat experience."
"How should we arrange that? Should we send them to Aincrad?"
Lately, Lilia had been handling military affairs.
Today, she finally sorted things out. Takumi had delegated the task to her and Esdeath.
Since Esdeath wasn't back, she needed to ask Takumi what to do next.
The army was quite large, after all.
After a moment of thought, Takumi responded,
"Tomorrow, have Esdeath find Velvie."
"Get some spaceships from her, then head into space."
"Leave the task of unifying the universe to Esdeath."
Let the army gain real combat experience?
Simplejust send them into space.
With so many civilizations out there, Esdeath would have plenty to work with.
"Got it! I'll tell her."
Lilia nodded and took out her terminal to begin arrangements.
"Are we fighting? Let the Flgel join too!"
At that moment, Koshiki ran downstairs.
She'd overheard Takumi and was thrilled.
The Flgel had been bored for ages.
Now they had a chance to fight. Of course she wanted in!
"Talk to Esdeath. Even if you bring the entire Flgel, it's fine."
Takumi didn't object.
The Flgel were literally born for war.
Keeping them idle would just bore them to death.
If they wanted to fight, let them go to space.
"Yay!"
Koshiki lit up with joy and immediately sent messages to the Flgel, sharing the good news.
Chapter 363: Gabriel She Fused Directly With Me
When Takumi was spending the evening at home, Gabriel returned.
When Takumi saw Gabriel come back and sensed the aura radiating from her, he was immediately shocked.
"You actually went and killed a god? And this aura..."
She really succeeded?
There was a thick divine-slayer attribute clinging to her.
If someone didn't know better, they'd think Gabriel was some kind of battle angel.
"Yeah! I succeeded!"
Gabriel was visibly delighted. She had managed to slay God.
It was something she never dared to even dream of in the past.
But now, she had pulled it off.
"What shocks me the most is that Pandora actually allowed your reincarnation."
Takumi stared at Gabriel for a while before muttering.
Pandora was just too outrageous.
Gabriel wasn't just any angel.
Technically speaking, she could be considered a god herself.
And yet, she had now reincarnated as a god-slayer.
Was Pandora really that unpicky?
"She didn't mind.
"Not only did I slay God, but... I also fused with the Gabriel from that world."
Gabriel's face lit up with a bright smile as she said this.
She was now both the god-slayer and that world's Gabriel.
The two had completely merged.
That was also why it took so long.
When Takumi heard this, his expression darkened.
"You fused with the Gabriel from another world?
"Are you sure that's safe?"
Could that really be done?
Did this mean that those gods from DanMachi could also go to other worlds and fuse with their counterparts?
"Yes! As long as you're strong enough, you can fuse.
"She's now part of my power."
After sitting down, Gabriel began explaining the details.
The disobedient god Gabriel had seen her and immediately relinquished herself, choosing to merge with her instead.
At first, Gabriel thought the other one was trying to devour her, which startled her.
She even regretted going over there so rashly.
But to her surprise, the other Gabriel gave up her own identity and merged with her.
It had gone far smoother than expected, just time-consuming.
After hearing the full story, Takumi frowned deeply.
"Then don't ever go to places like Little Garden again.
"You might get fused by a Gabriel over there."
Takumi hadn't expected that Gabriel could fuse with alternate versions of herself.
If he brought her to Little Garden, she might end up as the one being absorbed.
It would no longer be her doing the merging.
Gabriel blinked in surprise but nodded.
Little Garden, huh?
She had heard about it from Takumi.
But she probably wouldn't go to such a place.
Later that night, Takumi chatted with shiroyasha in the group chat.
He shared what had happened with Gabriel.
Takumi:
[If a being like Gabrielangel or godgoes to Little Garden and shares the same soul identity, would they automatically fuse?
[What's the mechanism behind this?
[@shiroyasha, you should know, right?]
Seeing the topic, shiroyasha grew interested.
She was quite familiar with these matters.
shiroyasha:
[Of course I know.]
[Fusion strengthens one's divine identity.]
[That's why many in Little Garden are willing to do it.]
[But there's a condition: one side must voluntarily agree.]
[Otherwise, the fusion can't occur.]
[It must be consensual.]
[If not, the two will enter into a struggle, and the divine identity might split.]
[You're worried your people might get targeted in Little Garden, right?]
[Don't worry. Even if they want to fuse, they're also afraid of others trying to steal the divine identity.]
After shiroyasha's detailed explanation, Takumi finally understood.
So that's how it worked?
If the other version didn't consent, then fusion wouldn't happen?
And forced fusion could cause a split in divine identity?
It was like fighting over ownership of a single soul.
After processing all this, Takumi relaxed.
Gabriel lay down on his chest.
Takumi's group chat floated before them.
After reading the messages, Gabriel murmured thoughtfully:
"No wonder that Gabriel fused with me so willingly.
"She probably didn't want to stay trapped in mythology.
"Only her disobedient avatar appearednot her true self.
"It felt like being imprisoned.
"By fusing with me, she freed both of us."
"That's probably it," Takumi nodded.
"Well, as long as there are no problems, that's good.
"After the New Year, I'll visit Little Garden myself.
"Maybe I can snag a few divine identities."
Takumi's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
If he could collect more divine identities, he'd be hitting the jackpot.
That would mean a big power-up.
Right now, he couldn't grow stronger through training.
His path to developing authority was limited to fusion.
But achieving that was near impossible.
Only by trying did he understand how hard it was.
So now Takumi had given up on that.
