________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Laughter echoed through a spacious luxury apartment, bright and carefree.
"Ahh… finally home. I'm exhausted…"
The girl let out a long sigh of relief as she collapsed face-first onto the sofa.
Standing around her were four other girls.
Strangely enough, they all looked exactly the same.
They were quintuplets.
—
The front door clicked shut. Beside it, a nameplate on the wall clearly read: Nakano.
"Ichika, you're taking up way too much space. Move over a bit," said a girl with two black ribbon bows tied in her hair as she walked over.
She was the second sister, Nino Nakano. The five sisters were named in order of age, and the one sprawled across the sofa was the eldest, Ichika Nakano.
"Haha, sorry, sorry. Go ahead, sit."
Ichika wriggled a little, hugging a cushion as she happily pressed her face into it, letting out a soft, contented little hum.
Nino sat down and glanced at the three sisters across from her: Miku Nakano, Yotsuba Nakano, and Itsuki Nakano.
"So… what do we do now? With scores like that, we're completely done for. Once Dad finds out, he's definitely going to storm back from the company."
Her tone was troubled.
Yotsuba immediately shrank back, scratching her head awkwardly with a sheepish smile. The green ribbon in her hair bounced slightly.
This time, unsurprisingly, she'd come in dead last again… with a glorious zero.
Beside her, Miku leaned casually against the sofa, while Itsuki opened the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk.
"Guess we'll just prepare to get lectured," Miku said quietly, offering no further explanation.
"It should be fine…" Itsuki muttered after taking a sip of milk. "Dad's probably used to it by now."
"..."
"Hehe, then let's just not worry about it," Ichika said lightly, completely unconcerned.
She rolled over and stretched lazily. "I'm so tired. I'm gonna take a bath and then curl up on the sofa and watch the latest movie!"
"Hmph. If none of you care, then I'm definitely not going to bother thinking about it either."
Nino smirked slightly, giving up just as quickly.
Meanwhile, Itsuki walked over with her milk. Her eyes suddenly caught something sticking out of Yotsuba's pocket.
"Hm? Yotsuba, what's that?"
Without waiting, she reached over and pulled out the piece of paper.
The sisters gathered around to look. On it was a complicated design—something that looked like a magic circle.
Itsuki read the text out loud:
"'The most miraculous wish-granting magic. It can fulfill all your desires. Make your wish now…'"
As soon as she finished, Nino made a bored face.
"What is this? I thought it was a love letter from some guy. Yotsuba, why are you still picking up this kind of childish stuff…"
Yotsuba laughed awkwardly.
"N-no, it's not that! On my way home, there was this really pretty lady handing out flyers. She gave me one too, so I just took it…"
"Probably some dumb promotion from a shopping mall," Nino said dismissively. "You're way too bad at saying no, Yotsuba. There's no reason to accept things like this."
"Haha… well, I just felt like her job must be tough…"
The others didn't say anything more. That was just how Yotsuba was.
"There's not even any actual event details on here. What a weird flyer," Itsuki said, tossing it casually onto the table.
Miku, perched on the armrest, glanced down at it briefly, then lost interest.
"Let me see… wish magic… wait, can you really make a wish?" Yotsuba's green ribbon perked up as her eyes lit with excitement.
"Huh? Of course not, you idiot. What do you think this is? And you actually believe it?" Nino rolled her eyes.
"Hehe, I just thought… maybe I could wish for a little more luck. I mean, I got a zero again. That's so unfair. I really did try my best…" Yotsuba mumbled to herself.
Ichika couldn't help but laugh. "Honestly, even guessing randomly should get you a few points. You might actually need to pray to the gods for some luck."
"Right? Right?"
Yotsuba didn't mind the teasing at all. She clasped her hands together and, with surprising seriousness, began to pray.
The other four could only stare, speechless.
If wishing actually worked, they would've already asked for perfect scores.
But while they dismissed it, Yotsuba—the one making the wish—was unexpectedly sincere.
In her heart, she made her wish.
The next moment—
The flyer on the table began to glow.
Light spread across the magic circle, growing brighter and brighter as it lifted into the air.
"Eh!?"
Itsuki was the first to notice. She froze mid-motion, still holding her glass of milk, staring blankly at the floating magic circle.
Soon, Miku and Nino saw it too. Ichika, hearing Itsuki's startled voice, opened her eyes.
Right before their eyes, the magic circle slowly detached from the paper, expanding as it rose into the air. The light intensified.
A soft whoosh sounded.
A figure shot out from the circle and landed lightly in front of them.
Yotsuba, standing closest, froze with her mouth slightly open. She stared at the boy who had appeared out of nowhere, still holding her prayer pose, completely forgetting she had already made her wish.
Jack had answered the summon.
This time, he had activated the teleportation magic himself.
After advancing to a mid-level demon, he could finally use the teleportation magic he had long envied. And for a first attempt, it had gone pretty smoothly.
But when he looked at the ones who summoned him, his eyebrow lifted slightly.
Why did these five girls… all look exactly the same?
What was going on?
Though surprised inside, Jack kept a calm expression as he looked at Yotsuba. Through the contract, he knew she was the one who had summoned him.
"Answering your call, dear lady," he said with a gentle smile. "My name is Jack. I am a demon, here to grant your wish."
Everyone: "..."
"..."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________