In the end, Wakaba Hiiro still didn't accept Eriri's invitation.
Although she had made up her mind and had already begun changing her attitude toward Eriri, that didn't mean she was going to waste her gaming time over something like this.
That's right—to Wakaba Hiiro, going to Eriri's house for dinner was simply a waste of time.
However, this was only her current way of thinking. After she eventually tasted the delicious food made by Aoi Kujou, her opinion would definitely change drastically.
Eriri didn't force her when Wakaba declined. After saying her goodbyes, she headed straight home.
The house Eriri had purchased had nearly the same layout as Wakaba Hiiro's. Its interior space and number of rooms were identical.
There were three bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs.
With a home of that scale, even a family of six could live comfortably.
But Eriri didn't choose to live separately from Aoi Kujou. Instead, she shared a bedroom with her.
When she first heard Eriri's decision, Aoi had been overjoyed. Her usually emotionless expression nearly cracked.
And who could blame her? Ever since becoming Eriri's personal maid and being brought to this unfamiliar world, she had never once shared a bed with Eriri.
Even their most intimate contact so far had only been Eriri hugging her and acting spoiled.
Although she always upheld her role as a maid, that didn't mean she wasn't envious of Arifureta, who often spent the night in Eriri's room.
She too wanted to be closer to Eriri!
...
After dinner, it was already past 7 p.m., but Eriri didn't go next door to invite Wakaba Hiiro to hang out again.
Instead, she lay on Aoi Kujou's lap in the living room watching TV, while also participating in the chat group mentally.
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): So bored~ It's already been three months without any new members.]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Hey, Little Skirt, how much longer until the next batch of newbies join?]
[Ding, no comment!]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Aww, come on, Little Skirt-sama, don't be like that~ Just a tiny hint, please~ grovel.jpg]
[Ding, no comment!]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Chika-chan, there's no point asking Little Skirt that—you need to ask me!]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Oh right! Little Skirt always listens to you. Then hurry and ask for me~]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Hmm, not a bad suggestion.]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): But! I refuse!]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): ...]
It had been over three months since the last batch of newcomers joined the group.
But that didn't mean the group had remained the same size. Each month meant one invitation ticket, so naturally, three new members had joined.
Those three were Reina, Shirayuki Tokisaki, and Lefiya.
Originally, Riveria had planned to use her invitation ticket to invite Loki.
However, since Eriri hadn't granted Loki permission to pass through the World Gate, Loki had remained stuck in the DanMachi world.
Which meant her strength hadn't improved at all.
In contrast, Lefiya and the twins Tione and Tiona had all been brought to gatherings by Ais and Riveria, and had already reached Level 7, Stage 1.
Each of them was now far stronger than Loki.
Of course, that wasn't the biggest issue. Even with stronger members, none of them would ever abandon the Loki Familia.
The real issue lay with Hestia.
As everyone knew, Hestia and Loki were sworn rivals. Now that Hestia had reached Level 7, Stage 1, it was inevitable that she would frequently show off in front of Loki and mock her face-to-face.
Because of Hestia's connection to Eriri, Ais and the others couldn't do much about it. They could only watch as their own goddess suffered defeat after defeat in front of Hestia.
This caused a growing frustration in Loki, and her desire to strengthen herself only intensified.
Lately, she had been constantly complaining to Ais and Riveria, hoping they would help plead with Eriri to grant her access to the World Gate.
At the very least, she wanted to join the chat group so she could use points to grow stronger.
But in the end, her hopes were dashed.
Eriri still had no intention of giving Loki World Gate access, and even when Riveria tried to invite her into the group, she was immediately rejected by Little Skirt.
Upon hearing the result, Loki completely gave up, turning into a salted fish who hadn't stepped outside the familia base in ages.
[Kyoko (Level 4, Stage 9): Chika-chan, if you're bored, you can come hang out with me~]
[Lefiya (Level 7, Stage 1): You could come here too. We could team up and farm in the dungeon.]
[Azusa (Level 7, Stage 1): Sounds good. Laika and the others are still here with me too. Let's form a big party!]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Great idea! Lefiya, Azusa, I'll visit you this weekend. I still have school these next few days.]
[Elaina (Level 7, Stage 2): That does sound fun. I haven't been to that world yet. Count me in~]
[Lefiya (Level 7, Stage 1): Yay~]
[Lefiya (Level 7, Stage 1): Anyone else want to come? Meryl, Reina, want to join us too?]
[Adele (Level 7, Stage 1): I'm in!]
[Reina (Level 7, Stage 1): No problem. We'll bring Mavis and Pauline with us too!]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 3 / Group Leader): Are you all planning to raze the entire dungeon?]
[Riveria (Level 7, Stage 1): Looks like Orario's going to get pretty noisy for a while.]
[Ais (Level 7, Stage 2): ...]
[Lefiya (Level 7, Stage 1): Eriri-sama and Arifureta-sama, are you coming too?]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): I'll pass. As long as you all have fun.]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 3 / Group Leader): Then I'll come check it out.]
[Kyoko (Level 4, Stage 9): Count me in too. That ninja vampire's been bugging me nonstop lately. I need to get away.]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Oh? Looks like Seraphim came knocking again?]
[Kyoko (Level 4, Stage 9): Yeah. I'm so sick of her. She's been visiting me every day, and even though I beat her up every time, she hasn't given up. Talk about persistence.]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 3 / Group Leader): Sounds like you've really changed, Kyoko. The old you would've killed her without a second thought.]
[Kyoko (Level 4, Stage 9): That's not true~ I'm super gentle, okay? I'd never do something that cruel~]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Speak normally!]
[Kyoko (Level 4, Stage 9): Okay~]
Over three months ago, Seraphim had received intel from one of her clan members about the house Eriri had bought.
Unfortunately, Eriri had already returned to the Saekano world with Eu, so Seraphim never found her target.
She ended up wandering that city aimlessly for quite some time.
But recently, Eriri had returned to the Is This a Zombie? world with Eu for a visit, not even bothering to conceal her movements.
Naturally, Seraphim learned of it again through her vampire ninja intel network.
After receiving the intel, Seraphim didn't hesitate for a moment and rushed to the area where Eriri and Eu were spending their day.
However, she didn't immediately approach them for a conversation. Instead, she followed Eriri and Eu from a distance all the way until they returned to their residence in this world.
That was when Seraphim realized the original intel she had received wasn't wrong.
To avoid another wasted effort like last time, Seraphim ignored everything else and barged straight into the house.
Unfortunately, she was still a step too late. When she entered the home, she found only Kyoko and Naegleria standing in the living room. The two figures she had tailed all afternoon were nowhere to be seen.
In fact, Eriri had already sensed Seraphim's arrival the moment she got close.
But to amuse herself with Seraphim, Eriri chose not to expose her and, upon returning, immediately took Eu back to the Saekano world, leaving Seraphim to come up empty-handed once again.
This was the current state of things.
Seraphim was absolutely convinced that Eu was staying in the house with Kyoko and Naegleria, and so she visited every single day to investigate.
Although Eriri wanted to mess with Seraphim, she didn't want anything bad to happen to her. Before leaving, she instructed Kyoko to give Seraphim a bit of a lesson, but not to actually hurt her.
After all, Eriri was quite fond of this girl.
She planned to take Eu to the Is This a Zombie? world and deal with Seraphim properly once the current matters were settled.
...
While chatting in the group and watching TV, time flew by, and it was already past 10 p.m.
Aoi Kujou's lap had served as Eriri's pillow for over three hours.
"Mmm~"
Stretching comfortably after rising from Aoi's lap, Eriri let out a contented sigh.
"Aoi-nee, it's getting late. Let's go upstairs, wash up, and get some sleep~"
"Yes, Ojou-sama."
With a cheerful nod, Aoi followed behind Eriri as the two left the living room.
For Aoi Kujou, the most exciting time of the day was just about to begin.
Thanks to yesterday's experience, the moment they entered the bedroom, Aoi headed straight for the bathroom.
After filling the tub with water, she used her lightning attribute powers to rapidly bring it to the most comfortable temperature.
Once the bath was ready, she left the bathing area and returned to the dressing room.
At that moment, Eriri was already in the dressing room, wearing nothing but panties.
Her long hair, normally tied up, had been completely let down, cascading like a golden waterfall across the floor.
Even though Aoi had seen Eriri's body up close the previous night—even at negative distance—seeing this again still gave her a powerful visual shock, making her heartbeat accelerate.
And yet, Aoi made no attempt to avert her gaze.
"Ojou-sama, the bath is ready."
"Mhm."
Eriri made no attempt to hide her body under Aoi's gaze, standing proudly as she finished undressing.
She slipped off her last piece of clothing and tossed it into the laundry basket.
"Aoi-nee, I'll go in first. Join me once you're ready. I want you to wash my back~"
With that, Eriri opened the sliding door to the bath and walked in.
Aoi didn't hesitate. In fact, she looked eager as she quickly undressed and confidently walked into the bathroom after her.
...
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Aoi Kujou woke up right on schedule.
Feeling the warmth and smoothness of the body in her arms, she instinctively tightened her embrace.
Then she looked down at the peacefully sleeping Eriri nestled against her chest, and a gentle smile formed on her lips.
After gazing quietly for over ten seconds, Aoi lowered her head and kissed Eriri lightly on the forehead.
Then, ever so carefully, she withdrew her arms from Eriri's bare back and under her head.
She lifted the covers off herself and sat up in bed, her own unclothed body exposed to the air.
But she didn't rush to get dressed. Instead, she leaned over to tuck the blanket snugly around Eriri.
Once that was done, she headed to the wardrobe and put on her maid uniform—the same one as yesterday.
After her usual morning routine, Aoi went downstairs to begin preparing breakfast for Eriri.
At 7:30 a.m., Eriri finally got out of bed.
By the time she finished getting ready and arrived in the dining room, a perfectly prepared and delicious breakfast was already laid out neatly on the table.
Beside the table stood the always-composed Aoi Kujou, waiting quietly.
"Good morning, Ojou-sama!"
"Good morning, Aoi-nee~"
After a brief greeting, the two of them sat down to enjoy their breakfast together.
—
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