I felt Goliath's warm breath against my chest. I lowered my gaze and discovered that he was still deeply asleep, oblivious to everything happening around him.
Probably, the banquet he had devoured before going to bed had ended up draining the little energy he had left.
By habit, I raised a hand and stroked his head, brushing some pink strands from his forehead.
As I did so, I began to examine the window.
I opened the skills menu and selected the only one I possessed.
[SSS-Gacha Femboy Summons]
[Description: Skill that allows the summoning of beings from other dimensions based on the luck of its owner. This skill will summon exclusively and only femboys, regardless of the circumstances or any modifications made by the summoner.]
[Additional functions:]
[Each summon possesses an independent affinity chart.]
[The affinity chart is divided into the following stats:]
[Trust: Measures the degree of trust the summon places in its summoner and its willingness to follow their orders.]
[Desire: Measures the sexual attraction the summon feels toward its summoner.]
I stopped.
"Sexual attraction?"
I slowly turned my head toward Goliath, I looked at his sleeping face again.
I couldn't deny that he was attractive. In fact, his beauty was so extraordinary that anyone could mistake him for a woman.
But even so...
"We're both men."
I shook my head.
Maybe it was some kind of system error. After all, I had copied Reinhard's skill through [Divine Reflection]. Perhaps that stat was a remnant of the original skill.
"Yes. That must be it."
An involuntary smile appeared on my face.
"At least Reinhard knew how to make use of his skill. With all those women at his side, it seems he didn't waste any time."
I let out a small laugh.
Then I continued reading.
[Love: Measures the romantic feelings the summon develops toward its summoner.]
[Jealousy: Measures the feelings of rivalry or possessiveness that arise when the summon perceives that its summoner's attention or affection is directed toward another person.]
[Respect: Measures the admiration the summon feels for its summoner's authority, personality, or capabilities.]
My smile faded slightly.
"Jealousy?"
I glanced sideways at Goliath.
Twenty-five points.
It wasn't an especially high number, but I didn't like the idea of having to deal with a jealous summon either.
"I hope he's not the type to rip heads off over a wrong look."
I decided not to dwell on the matter any longer and continued examining the system.
[Requirements to perform a new summon:]
[Raise at least one affinity stat of any summon to 10/100.]
I frowned.
"That's it?"
Goliath already met that requirement. His trust was at forty points and his respect at fifty.
So, why couldn't I summon anyone else?
I looked at the bottom of the window.
[Current summon limit: 1/1]
I stood motionless.
"One? Are you telling me I can only have one active summon?"
My expression darkened.
"And what am I supposed to do? Get rid of Goliath to summon someone else?"
As much as his behavior irritated me, that would be stupid. He was my only source of strength in this new life.
Before I could continue complaining, another window appeared.
[Maximum summon limit reached: 100/100]
"ONE HUNDRED?!"
My voice echoed through the entire room.
I sat up so abruptly that I almost hit Goliath with my head.
"When the hell did I reach that number?!"
A new list appeared before my eyes.
[Registered summons:]
[Goliath the Titan]
[Athena, goddess of wisdom]
[Cleopatra, queen of the deserts]
[Joan of Arc, the Saint]
[Eve, progenitor of life]
[...]
A long list of names began to scroll in front of me.
There were one hundred.
One hundred registered summons.
However, I only recognized a few names before the window finished scrolling.
Goliath, Athena, Cleopatra and, among all of them...
Joan of Arc, the Saint.
My breathing stopped for an instant.
I knew that name. I had seen that woman with my own eyes.
She had been beside Reinhard on the battlefield.
The same woman who, while I was dying, had asked that I be granted eternal rest.
My fingers slowly closed.
"Wait..."
My mind began to connect the pieces.
"If Joan of Arc was one of Reinhard's summons..."
I looked at the list again.
"Does that mean the other ninety-eight also belonged to him?"
The humor disappeared from my face.
Until a few moments ago, I had considered that skill an opportunity to recover my power.
Now I was beginning to understand that it could be much more than that.
More than forty women had appeared alongside Reinhard when he came to kill me.
But that wasn't all.
During the last years of my reign, I had received reports of kingdoms rebelling suddenly, armies appearing out of nowhere, and unknown forces intervening in conflicts that would previously have been insignificant.
At the time, I had attributed those events to secret alliances, political conspiracies, and the ambition of my enemies.
However, if Reinhard had truly counted on one hundred summons...
"Then how many of those rebellions had been his doing?"
The room seemed to grow colder.
I gritted my teeth as I looked again at the names floating in front of me.
If my assumption was correct, I hadn't only inherited my grandson's skill.
I had also inherited the registry of the creatures he had summoned.
And that meant that, somewhere in this world, there could be another ninety-nine people linked to that skill.
People with powers I still couldn't comprehend... and who perhaps had contributed to the fall of my empire.
I remained pensive, reviewing the possibilities opening up before me. Then an idea crossed my mind.
What if I could expand the summon limit by eliminating one of Reinhard's summons?
I narrowed my eyes.
If those one hundred summons were still registered in my skill, perhaps it wasn't a simple registry. Maybe each one occupied a space that I had to free before I could incorporate someone else.
It wouldn't be a bad hypothesis... Though I would have to verify it.
Of course, I couldn't rule out the possibility that I was wrong. After all, I was barely beginning to understand how this damn skill worked.
Darkness finally enveloped the room. Outside, the night wind whispered among the trees, while the silence of the village was only interrupted by the occasional distant sound.
I stayed awake, analyzing the possible outcomes of that situation.
If my theory was correct, eliminating one of Reinhard's summons might allow me to expand my options.