Sunlight Was No Easy Matter

"Woooow, Masteeer—!!!!!"

The instant the third familiar came flying at me with both arms spread wide—

Shrrrk—.

Crimson ropes shot through the air and bound her body tight.

"Wah?!"

It was Katarina.

Katarina, who had been standing beside me, had cast Blood Bind in the blink of an eye.

Outwardly, I said nothing and simply stood there with lofty composure, as if this were only natural.

But inside, I was unbelievably relieved.

...Whew. I almost got flattened.

I never imagined she'd charge at me the moment I summoned her.

With a reaction speed backed by Agility 4, there was no way I could've handled that. If Katarina hadn't stopped her, I really would have been pancaked on the spot.

"Ughhh... too tight...!"

She flailed in midair, dangling and squirming.

"How dare you."

Katarina's voice turned cold.

"Would you recklessly throw yourself at our lord?"

"Eh? I just wanted to hug Master.... Because I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like Master...."

"Then that insolent mouth of yours must be corrected first. How dare you speak casually to our lord. Use proper honorifics."

"Honorifics? What's that?"

"......"

The space between Katarina's brows twitched.

"It means speak respectfully. Polite speech. End your words with things like 'sir' or proper formal phrasing. Do you understand?"

"Mm... I like Master... sir...?"

The third stammered through it.

It didn't look like defiance. She genuinely seemed not to know. Apparently the whole concept of formal speech just wasn't built into her.

"Now then. Are you truly daring to make light of this in front of our lord?"

Katarina's eyes narrowed, a trace of killing intent leaking out.

"...?!"

The third familiar instantly wilted.

"Uuu... s-sorry.... I can't do the polite way.... I'm dumb.... Sorry... sir...."

Her face turned pale.

Her voice trembled.

Her big eyes filled with tears, and she looked like she might burst out crying at any second.

...Aigoo.

Feeling sorry for her, I decided it was about time to step in.

"Katarina. That is enough."

"However, my lord, this rude little—"

"Adding 'sir' is enough for now."

"...Yes, my lord."

Katarina withdrew her killing intent and released the Blood Bind.

Thump.

The third familiar landed on the floor and blinked up at me.

"Umm... so then, Master... sir?"

"...Just call me Master."

"Master! Okay! Thank you!!!"

Her face brightened at once.

She recovered emotionally at incredible speed.

Anyway, that makes the third familiar officially summoned.

I opened the system window and checked the information for the Familiar Summon skill.

...200.

It had been 100 just a moment ago, and now it had doubled.

From 50 to 100. From 100 to 200.

The cost really shoots up fast every time I use it.

Would it be 400 next time?

Raising my Blood Power was already enough work as it was. If the consumption kept jumping like this, things were going to get pretty tight later on.

Well, that was a problem for later.

For now, the important thing was figuring out what exactly this new familiar could do.

Appraisal Eye.

I casually used Appraisal Eye on the third familiar.

...Oh?!

My eyes widened.

I could see it. I could see it!

I could see her level!

With Katarina, the level gap had been too large, so Appraisal had been blocked. Same with Siyeon. But this time, it worked on this familiar.

Yes! I can finally see my familiars' levels too!

At last, my dignity as a master could live again.

I was cheering inwardly, when—

...Wait a second.

But.

Wasn't it actually bad if her level was low?

Level 35. Sure, that was still higher than mine. But compared to Katarina and Siyeon, this third familiar was clearly way below them in weight class.

Ah.... This isn't something to be happy about.

If Appraisal Eye worked on her, that meant she was weaker by that much.

I deflated.

The good mood I'd been in immediately soured again.

It looked like this familiar wasn't an SSR-tier familiar after all.

Well, whatever. I still had to give her a name.

I had no intention of treating her differently just because she was weaker.

Hmm. What would suit her?

I quietly looked her over.

Short red hair, big eyes, an innocent expression.

And on top of that, she'd tried to cling to me the instant she saw me.

How should I put it.

She's like a retriever.

A golden retriever wagging its tail and charging its owner.

That was exactly the feeling.

So then.

Retriever, shortened to... Lili?

Lili.

It sounded nice, was easy to call, and felt like a good fit for her cute, lively personality.

"From this moment on, I shall call you Lili."

"Lili? I'm Lili? Wow, I have a name!"

The moment I bestowed it on her, Lili beamed.

To be that happy over a single name.

Katarina had been like that, and Siyeon too, but every time I gave a familiar a name, their reaction was always nice to see.

"And furthermore."

I pointed imperiously at the other two familiars.

"Lili, thou art the third. Katarina here is the first, and Siyeon the second."

"Lady Katarina! Lady Siyeon! Please take care of me!"

Lili bowed her head briskly.

She couldn't manage formal speech, but she was bright and good at greetings.

"Our lord personally bestowed even a name upon you, so conduct yourself in a manner worthy of our lord's radiance from this point on."

With her arms crossed, Katarina gave a very first-familiar sort of remark.

"I'm Yu Siyeon. Let's get along."

Siyeon only gave a short nod.

All right, then. Now for the most important part.

Figuring out her ability.

What kind of power did this familiar have?

I wanted to ask directly, but I'd already learned from experience that because of Noble Bearing, the words "What's your ability?" simply wouldn't come out.

That would amount to admitting that the master didn't know her familiar's ability.

At that moment, Katarina stepped in with perfect timing.

"Lili. So what ability do you possess?"

"Ability? I can make all kinds of stuff ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with blood!"

Lili replied proudly, tapping her chest.

"Make things with blood...?"

Katarina tilted her head.

"Yep! I'm super good at it!"

What kind of ability is that?

Now curious myself, I checked Lili's Blood Grace interface.

And then—

...!

The Mystery branch.

One of the very branches that had all been locked behind question marks before had now been unlocked.

Oooh. So this is where it opens!

I immediately checked the detailed information.

Ahh.

Lili wasn't a combat type. She was a production type!

Below that, a long list of craftable items unfolded.

Weapons, armor, consumables, accessories....

And among them—

...Huh?

My eyes stopped dead on a particular entry.

Isn't this it?

The sunlight problem on Nightmare Floor 5 that I'd been worrying about for days.

It wasn't online, it felt awkward to ask President Kim for it, and buying it from the community felt like I'd be exposing my weakness, so I'd thought there was no answer.

And yet it got solved like this.

And the materials were low-grade blood, of all things.

Low-grade blood gave no experience when you drank it and tasted terrible, but if it could be used as a crafting material, that completely changed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its value.

Holy crap. Lili's an S-class familiar too, isn't she?

Maybe not to Katarina's absurd level, but she definitely possessed an amazing ability.

I nodded in satisfaction.

In that case, I could send the familiars into a gate to gather materials.

I immediately gave orders to Katarina and Siyeon.

"Katarina. Siyeon."

"Yes, my lord."

"Yes, Master."

"It seems we must visit a gate today. Go and procure the blood of low-grade monsters."

"I shall obey, my lord."

"Understood, Master."

They both bowed at once as they answered.

But then—

"Master! I wanna go too!"

Lili suddenly shot a hand into the air.

"I wanna help you too, Master! And I wanna see outside too!"

Lili looked up at me with sparkling eyes full of desperate eagerness.

Wasn't this exactly the kind of look a dog gave when it was dying to go for a walk?

Hmm....

Honestly, I was a little worried about her combat ability.

Was it really okay to send a level 35 into a gate?

At that moment, Katarina spoke up.

"Now that you mention it, this one ought to receive combat training as well. My lord, I shall take her with me."

"Mm. Very well. Do so."

I accepted readily.

If Katarina was taking her, there shouldn't be any safety issues.

"See to it that Katarina teaches you well."

"Yes, my lord. Leave it to me."

"Wow! Thank you, Lady Katarina!"

"...Ahem."

Lili smiled brightly.

Katarina let out an awkward little cough, as if caught off guard, but she didn't seem to dislike it either.

I took out my smartphone and searched for a suitable gate.

A C-class gate with low-grade monsters should be enough.

I found a decent one, reserved it, and handed the ID card President Kim had given me to Katarina.

"Use this to enter the gate. Siyeon, remain at home on standby."

"Yes, Master."

"Then go and return."

"We shall return, my lord!"

"Master, Lili's heading out too!"

Waving energetically, Lili headed for the front door with Katarina.

But then.

The moment they opened the door and stepped out—

Bang—!

"Gyaaah!"

The door suddenly flew open again, and Lili came scrambling back inside with a scream.

Then she braced a hand on the floor, panting miserably with tears in her eyes.

"Ughh... sunlight... dizzy...."

?

"My head's spinning...."

Apparently Lili had a hard time taking sunlight too.

Watching that scene, I felt a strange sense of kinship.

Lili. So you're pathetic too?

Mm-hm. Yeah, I know exactly how that feels.

Katarina and Siyeon went around perfectly fine during the day, so I'd thought I was the only one. But now I had a comrade.

Just as I was about to comfort Lili and tell her it was okay—

"We who have received our lord's noble blood are immune to sunlight."

Katarina came back in wearing a baffled expression.

"Are you truly making such a fuss over something as trivial as a little dizziness?"

She looked down at Lili with a stern face.

"If there were actually something wrong with your body, that would be one thing. But to show such weakness when nothing at all is wrong with you—have you no shame? Go back outside at once and adapt."

......

Hm. She was definitely scolding Lili.

So why did I feel attacked...?