"Welcome back, Master! And welcome, Milady... Oh! You're the guest from yesterday, aren't you?"
"Yeah, the same one. Sorry for the back-to-back visits. Are Feyris or Daru around?"
"Feyris-chan and Daru-kun? One moment, please!"
Hachiman watched her hurry off. So she calls her 'Feyris,' not 'Feyris-nyan,' he noted idly. A few moments later, Feyris herself came scurrying out from the back, looking slightly flustered but wearing a bright smile.
"Hachiman! Welcome back-nya!"
"Sorry, Feyris. I'm imposing on you again today."
"No trouble at all for our castle-nya! Please, take the same seats as yesterday-nya."
As they moved toward the private room, Hachiman introduced Asuna.
"Feyris, this is Asuna Yuuki. She was the commander of our detachment yesterday—'Shizuka.' You probably recognize the name; she's Asuna from ALO. Also, she's my official girlfriend."
Asuna bowed politely. "I'm Asuna Yuuki. It's a pleasure to meet you, Feyris-san!"
"Nya-nyah?! What?! Could it be... the legendary Berserk Healer-nya?! This is too much honor! Please, Imperial Princess, you must simply call me Feyris-nya!"
"Imperial... Princess?" Asuna blinked, tilting her head in confusion. "Uh, okay... Feyris?"
Hachiman leaned in and whispered into Asuna's ear. "Just roll with it. It's her 'setting.' You know how these cafes work, right?"
"Oh, right. I see."
"Yesterday she called Shino 'Princess Shinortis,' and the other three were the 'Valkyrie Sisters,'" Hachiman added under his breath.
Asuna giggled. "The Valkyrie Sisters? You mean Shino-non's friends? Honestly, Hachiman-kun, you and your nicknames."
"My bad, my bad. Anyway, just play along."
Once they were settled in the room, Hachiman turned to Feyris. "I wanted to say hi to Daru. Is he in?"
"Yes-nya! Wait just a moment-nya."
"Also, we're a bit parched. I'll take a hot coffee. Asuna?"
"A milk tea for me, please."
"Understood-nya! I'll be right back-nya!"
As Feyris vanished, Asuna looked around. "She's cute, isn't she? Feyris-san."
"She's eccentric, to say the least," Hachiman replied. "But I'm used to Pito, so Feyris feels almost normal by comparison."
"I see... so you logged in from here yesterday? I'd love to see how the stream looks on the monitors."
"If they could downsize this tech and sell it as an Amusphere peripheral, streaming would explode," Hachiman mused. "It's really just taking the existing system one step further."
Asuna nodded. "It would certainly make things more exciting."
Hachiman's expression clouded slightly. "Beyond that, though, there's something else on my mind."
"Something else?"
"The Augma."
Asuna tilted her head at the unfamiliar term. "What's that?"
"It's an AR interface being developed by another company. VR is Virtual Reality, right? AR is Augmented Reality. Basically, it overlays digital images onto the real world you see with your own eyes."
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