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Bertha had come back from her patrols. She'd been going out of her way to find monsters to fight for the sake of possibly using [Custom Special] again. More than once you had some clankers accompany her— you didn't want another repeat of what happened when Mel got stranded in goblin territory.
When dinner came, your warrioress was talking your ear off about her attempts.
"And then I found some bandits too!" She happily exclaimed to you. "They tried attacking, but after I sent one flying to the sky they all just sorta looked at me and started running!"
"I heard the whole thing from your collar's radio." You replied after biting into some Japanese food of some kind, made with Ayane's recipe and courtesy of Herta's cooking. "It was impressive. You did a good job." You congratulated your busty Warrior.
Bertha beamed. "Thank you, Master~! I was trying super hard to hold back and do what you've been telling me~!"
"It's good to know you've been practicing with your mana, Bertha." Gerty commented.
"Oh, right. Mana weapon stuff." Bertha tilted her head, less lively than before."You're not supposed to use too much of it, yeah?"
Your secretary nodded. "Many beginners tend to pour too much mana into a weapon when they attack, leading it to gain mana corrosion." Your Holy Knight turned secretary commented with practiced ease, then faced you. "Master, forgive me if I'm wrong, but from what I understand one's mana flow has something to do with the [Custom Special] you, Ruby, and the goddess Herta have been looking at."
"Close, but not quite." You said, somewhat tired of repeating to them the fundamentals when it came to that complicated ability. You reached to Herta, who was sitting by your feet, and began to pet her. The goddess made a happy noise as you did so. "I can explain later if you'd like."
"I too, the accursed servant Yumi, have granted my powers to search for magic!" A certain spirit spoke up. It was true that the ghost girl had been giving you advice in the background, but she normally ended up annoying the others in her insistence that you become her 'acolyte' time and time again. "To cast my powers aside is to tempt the cruelty of fate, and shall bring about destruction to this Savant's sacred domain!"
"Do your powers include falling asleep every time I try to explain engineering to you?" You tease her.
"Hah!" She laughed haughtily. "Foolish mortal! Should your lessons spiral forth with the charm of interest, perchance I would wield to the darkness of slumber no longer, and understand the useless and maddening-" Before she finished, you spun around her crystal on the dining table like a top. This caused the little ghost to completely forget her arrogance and ask for you to stop. You did so after bullying her a little more.
"Speaking of this domain," Ruby posited. "Our current standing in the matters of influence within the world, as I've discussed with Ayane recently, are in dire need of improvement."
