Upon entering the living room, the busy maids all looked at the suddenly-appearing Yuki with surprise on their faces.
However, as professionals, they knew this handsome young man accompanying their young mistress was a guest, and they quickly gave slight bows in greeting.
They then picked up the teapot and fresh tea set, pouring a cup of hot tea on the coffee table.
Akane led Yuki to sit on the sofa.
Once the maids had poured the tea, she immediately shooed them all away.
"You may leave now. Don't disturb us."
Akane issued the order calmly.
The maids nearby, hearing Akane's words, exchanged looks of astonishment.
It was the first time they had ever seen their young mistress bring a man home.
Not only that, but now she intended to be alone with him in a room.
This was undoubtedly unbelievable to the maids.
"Young Miss, are you sure you and this gentleman don't require our presence for service?"
The maid's tone carried a slight emphasis, clearly hinting at something.
At this, Akane finally realized the implication, and a flush of embarrassment instantly spread across her cheeks.
She stole a glance at Yuki, seemingly checking his reaction.
But noticing that Yuki, currently holding his teacup and sipping tea, didn't seem to pay attention to their conversation, she bit her lower lip lightly and nodded, whispering:
"I'm sure!"
"Don't come and disturb us."
"Very well."
Seeing their young mistress's resolute expression, the maids had no choice but to comply.
Placing the teapot gently on the coffee table, they gave a slight bow to the two before leaving the living room.
Only after the maids had left and closed the door did Akane turn her attention fully to Yuki.
However, under Yuki's calm, smiling gaze, Akane suddenly became acutely aware that they were alone together in a room. This thought made her heartbeat involuntarily quicken.
She hurriedly reached out, grabbed the teacup in front of her, and nervously took a sip, as if hoping the tea could help mask her inner awkwardness.
"Wait, it's hot..."
Seeing the girl's action, Yuki tried to warn her, but Akane was faster. She took a large gulp of the tea into her mouth.
"!!!"
Instantly, Akane felt the scalding hot tea in her mouth and immediately spat it out.
"Pfft—!!!"
"Hot hot hot—!!!"
"So—hot—!"
Tears were almost welling up in Akane's red eyes. She kept her mouth open, fanning air into it with her hand, trying to soothe the burn from the scalding tea.
"Aish..."
"What a clumsy mistake."
Yuki shook his head helplessly.
He gave a light snap of his fingers, and the redness from the burn on Akane's mouth instantly faded away.
"Huh?"
"It's better?!"
The moment the intense, searing pain vanished, Akane looked up in amazement.
"Of course. I simply deleted the 'result' of you being scalded by the hot water."
"So you no longer have the sensation of being burned."
Yuki offered a simple explanation.
"But you were in too much of a hurry. I'd barely finished speaking, and you'd already picked it up to drink."
Yuki spread his hands, sighing.
"Uh... sorry."
Hearing Yuki's words, the girl, like a child who had made a mistake, gently lowered her head, her gaze falling to the tips of her shoes, her voice tinged with timidity and shyness as she softly replied.
"No need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."
Yuki spoke plainly, then a light, playful smile appeared on his face.
"But I should thank that cup of tea for letting me see how cute Akane Nishino looked just now."
The corners of Yuki's mouth lifted slightly as he spoke softly to Akane.
Hearing this, Akane felt a tremor in her heart, followed by a quickened beat.
'He... is Yuki-kun saying I'm cute?!
Yes, he must be saying I'm cute!'
Her heart surged with emotion, ripples spreading through it, and the look she directed at Yuki grew even more filled with affection and bashfulness.
"Yu... Yuki-kun really thinks I'm cute?"
The girl's fingers lightly twisted the hem of her clothes, her eyes flickering uncertainly as she asked Yuki in return.
Yuki gave a gentle nod.
"Akane Nishino is indeed very cute. Not just cute, but also very beautiful."
Akane's black hair cascaded like a waterfall, swaying gently with the breeze and radiating a captivating luster.
Her pair of bright, ruby-like pupils resembled deep starry skies, flickering with a mysterious light.
Her skin was fair as snow, as if meticulously carved, flawless. Her features were delicate and well-defined, with a hint of resilience and intelligence between her brows.
Such a beautiful girl, right in front of him—as long as a man wasn't blind, he'd look a few more times.
Of course, the original male protagonist, Cid Kagenou, was an exception, since that guy only had nuclear bombs on his mind.
Hearing Yuki's praise, Akane's joy was evident. She felt as if she had broken free from gravity's pull, her whole body becoming light and airy, the smile on her face threatening to overflow.
"Thank you."
"Yuki-kun, you're also very handsome."
Akane's cheeks tinged pink as she blinked at Yuki.
After this mutual exchange of compliments, Akane quickly began chatting with Yuki in a relaxed manner.
Using the fact that Yuki was also a first-year high school student as a starting point, Akane chatted with him a bit about daily life.
Yuki went along with the girl's topics, chatting casually with her.
However, once the light conversation was exhausted, they soon moved on to serious matters.
"I remember Saeko-senpai, Miss Galacta, Seitenshi, and the others all triggered missions."
"But why didn't I receive any mission prompt after learning about this world's situation?"
Akane voiced her confusion to Yuki.
Her idea was actually quite simple: trigger a mission. That way, even if she asked Yuki for help, she could give the mission points to him and just take the draw rewards for herself, achieving her goal of gaining strength.
Unfortunately, her plan fell through. During her chat with the group members, she hadn't received any mission notifications.
"I think the reason is probably because this world's stage isn't set in the modern era where you are."
Yuki stroked his chin, calmly answering Akane's question.
"The stage isn't set in my modern world here?"
The girl frowned in confusion upon hearing this.
But soon, she recalled the earlier chat group conversations, remembering that aside from the parallel worlds guarded by Demon Kings, there was also another parallel world—a different realm.
"Could it be that Other World?!"
Akane exclaimed suddenly, as if a possibility had just dawned on her.
"Mhm. Only when you arrive in that world are you likely to trigger a chat group mission."
This wasn't just Yuki making a wild guess; it was a conclusion drawn from his research into the chat group system combined with the original story.
After all, in the original story, the vast majority of characters and events revolved around that Other World (where Cid Kagenou was reincarnated).
The modern world only had a brief, relatively simple arc.
Furthermore, when Yuki had observed this world's future earlier, he had already noticed that compared to the modern world's fallen ending, the Other World's ending was slightly better—though it ultimately didn't resist the Demon King's invasion, it at least held out considerably longer than the modern world did.
If it weren't for the deep infiltration by the Diabolos Cult in the Other World, it wouldn't have been overrun by the Demon King so quickly...