Akira let the victory of his embrace settle for a moment, savoring the sight of the self-proclaimed goddess momentarily stripped of her lofty pretense.
"Alright, we need to head back," Akira stated, gently releasing her. "As much as I enjoy this new world," he paused, giving the infinite domain a pointed glance, "we have real-world problems to address."
With the boundary-ruler now his surprisingly flustered accomplice, the three then back to the real world and quickly devised a few basic steps for managing his immense power. Kurumi, still smiling sweetly, offered silent assistance.
Once the brief planning session concluded, Akira pulled out his massive stack of summoning tickets. He then proceeded to use his entire stock. The items and beings that burst into existence were so numerous and utterly ridiculous that even made Yukari couldn't contain herself.
The sound of her pure, unrestrained laughter, a joyful, ringing noise that momentarily eclipsed the silence of the room. She laughed to her heart's content, entertained not by her own power, but by the sheer, chaotic absurdity of Akira's luck.
1. A Fully Functioning, Self-Replenishing "Bottomless Bento Box": Capable of producing any gourmet meal requested, tailored to the user's dietary needs and preferences, in infinite quantities. It also automatically cleans itself and perfectly maintains food temperature.
2. The "Unlicensed Predictive Almanac": A shimmering, non-sentient crystal tablet that displays real-time, perfectly accurate future data (stock market trends, election results, lottery numbers). The absurd catch: No one will know when it really a hit.
3. A True Doraemon-Style Four-Dimensional Pocket: True Doraemon-Style Four-Dimensional Pocket: Not a replica, but the genuine article—an infinitely deep, extra-dimensional storage space accessible from a simple patch of blue fabric. It holds thousands of impossible future gadgets. But it locked and You need a password to open it.
4. A Perpetual Motion "Laundry Golem": A tireless humanoid made of sentient lint and fabric softener, whose sole purpose is to gather, wash, dry, fold, and perfectly put away laundry. It generates its own power and detergent, but hums excessively loud while working.
5. A "Reality-Bending Cleaning Spray": When applied, this spray subtly adjusts the molecular structure of dirt and grime, turning it into useful, small objects like spare change, paperclips, or perfectly formed miniature sculptures of historical figures. You never know what you'll get.
6. The "Instantaneous Financial Transmuter (HFT Briefcase)": A sleek briefcase that, when activated, can perfectly convert any mundane resource into pure, fungible gold bars or coin. It only works while the briefcase is being carried at a brisk walk, and its exchange rate fluctuates wildly based on the carrier luck.
7. A Pair of "Temporal-Leaping Wingtip Shoes": These elegant shoes allow the wearer to instantaneously jump forward in time by exactly 6.8 seconds. Excellent for dodging attacks or perfectly timing a mundane task, but utterly useless for long-term time travel, and the residual time echo causes the user to sneeze every time they leap.
8. A "Portable, Self-Sustaining Island": A perfectly manicured, small tropical island, complete with a variation of Tropical Fruit tree, a freshwater spring, and a hammock. It floats effortlessly in the air, can be shrunk to fit in a pocket, and produces endless fruits.
Yukari, tears of mirth streaming down her face, finally caught her breath. "Oh, Akira! A locked four-dimensional pocket full of impossible wonders! You truly have the most wonderfully useless luck!"
Akira's grumbling about his strange luck was abruptly cut short by a sharp, deafening sound. Before either Akira or Yukari could react, Kurumi reached into her own shadow, drew a flintlock pistol, and shot herself.
The sharp crack of the gunshot hung in the air, eliciting a simultaneous, helpless sigh from both Akira and Yukari. They knew this was coming.
Her action was not suicide; it was activation. Kurumi was unintentionally triggering her Angel of Time, Zafkiel. With impossible precision, she fired the Tenth Bullet (Yud)—which grants a glimpse into the past of the object or person it hits—and then the Fourth Bullet (Dalet)—which reverses time to restore a subject's wound—on herself.
It was a display of time manipulation so convoluted and unnecessary that it cemented her reputation. Kurumi truly was an uncontrollable individual, and her Angel of Time possessed the most ridiculously self-destructive yet powerful abilities among those who wield the fabric of time.
The crack of the pistol shot faded, and the newly awakened Kurumi—her power momentarily refreshed by the Fourth Bullet—turned to face them. Her voice, now saturated with an irresistible, seductive power borne from her command over time, cut through the tense air.
"Tell me, my dear colleagues," she purred, her golden eye spinning with temporal energy, "what exactly has transpired here?"
Before either Akira or the Yukari could open their mouths, a torrent of information slammed into Kurumi. It was the Voice of the World itself, forcibly cramming every detail directly into her consciousness.
Overwhelmed by the raw data, the seductive veneer instantly shattered. Kurumi squeezed the trigger, striking herself with the Fourth Bullet (Dalet) again, using the time reversal to forcefully cleanse her mind of the immediate, staggering influx of information.
She lowered the pistol, breathing heavily. The knowledge was gone, but the impression remained. Her sweet smile was replaced by a dangerous scowl as she fixed both Akira and Yukari with a burning grudge, clearly furious at having her angel bypassed and her mind assaulted by the sheer absurdity.
Akira met Kurumi's furious glare with a weary, helpless smile. There was no use trying to deceive the Time Angel—especially one who could simply shoot herself to rewrite the immediate past.
With that realization, he simply laid out the truth: no lies, only the unvarnished facts. He explained the trial, the ridiculous summons, the need to manage the "liabilities", the formation of the infinite domain, his pragmatic marriage proposal to Yukari to leverage her power, and their current mission to establish a financial front.
As she listened, the hard, burning grudge in Kurumi's eyes softened. Her anger was replaced by a look of profound understanding. She didn't have to like the situation, but she respected the honesty and the sheer scale of the solution.
A familiar, faintly flirtatious smile returned to Kurumi's face. "Truly, Akira," she purred, her golden eye gleaming with approval, "only you could turn an existential crisis into a logistical spreadsheet. Your method of managing things is... quite compelling."
She didn't blame Yukari either. Kurumi, more than anyone, instantly understood the core truth of the Boundary Goddess. In Yukari's presence, the elaborate structure of pretense and control that Kurumi normally maintained was meaningless. She knew, on an instinctual level, that everything about her was bare before the true master of boundaries.
With everything cleared, the powerful trio were finally aligned.