Nymph stared at the little girl who had suddenly appeared before them, utterly confused.
Before she could even ask anything, the girl spoke first.
"Please follow me."
"I'll take you to where you'll be staying."
Nymph blinked in surprise.
The girl was Tina Sprout—better known here as Enju Aihara's friend, Kisara Tendo's junior... no, wait—actually, it was Miyu Edelfelt?
No.
The girl standing before them was Kayo…?
No—rather—
It was Midori Fuse.
…Or at least, that was how everyone addressed her here: Midori.
(And yes, Izumi's naming sense for assistants remained as chaotic as ever.)
Ever since the Dimension World had expanded, anyone new who came to live under Izumi's protection was usually guided around by her.
She led Nymph and the group of Artificial Angels down one of the massive branches of the colossal world tree.
As they walked, the Angels stared speechlessly at the scenery around them.
The sight below was simply overwhelming.
Midori calmly explained the structure of the world as they walked.
The more Nymph listened—
The more she realized just how absurdly magnificent this universe truly was.
Eventually, they arrived at a luxurious residential district filled with elegant villas.
Midori stopped and turned toward them.
"From now on, this area belongs to you."
"If there's anything about the houses you dislike, you can modify it at any time."
"You may also design entirely new homes yourselves."
"As long as you provide the blueprints, someone will build them for you."
Then she pointed toward another nearby section of the giant tree.
"Your neighbors over there are from a place called Gensokyo."
"It's basically a territory occupied almost entirely by women."
"But…"
Midori paused briefly.
"The people there have absolutely no sense of restraint."
"So unless necessary, please avoid wandering in casually."
"If something happens after you go there, don't blame us."
She spoke with a completely expressionless face.
Honestly speaking, Midori was deeply tired of the residents of Gensokyo.
Every single one of them lacked common sense in some horrifying way.
Several of her younger sisters had already started picking up bad habits because of them.
Nymph blinked.
Then nodded seriously.
"Understood."
"We'll be careful."
As she spoke, she pointed toward the gigantic city visible below.
"What is that place?"
"Why are there so many people there?"
"Is it some kind of city district?"
She had been curious about it the entire time.
The sheer number of people there was unbelievable.
Midori answered immediately.
"That's Dimension City."
"A city connected to countless worlds."
"The people there come from many different universes."
"Though naturally, plenty are natives of this world too."
"If you're interested, you can go explore it sometime."
"There are many chefs from all kinds of worlds there as well."
Then she added:
"Izumi-sama probably took your friend there already."
Hearing the explanation, Nymph finally understood.
So that was it.
A city connecting infinite worlds…
Just thinking about it made her curious.
Maybe she would go investigate later.
...
Meanwhile—
Izumi had already brought the idiot Angel, Astraea, into Dimension City.
The blonde Angel walked beside him with her dazzling white wings fully exposed, drawing attention everywhere they went.
If she had a halo floating above her head too, she would have looked absolutely perfect.
Astraea looked around curiously at everything.
Her eyes sparkled nonstop.
Watching her reactions, Izumi found it rather entertaining.
Soon, he brought her toward Erina Nakiri's restaurant.
The moment he stepped inside—
A familiar soft voice called out to him.
"Izumi-sama!"
Izumi turned toward the source of the voice.
At one of the nearby tables sat a familiar group.
Kanna Kamui was there together with her friends.
Not only that—
Ophis and Asia Argento were also seated with them.
Seeing that combination, even Izumi looked slightly surprised.
Kanna.
Lucoa.
Tohru.
Elma.
Kobayashi.
Plus Ophis and Asia.
Aside from Kobayashi and Asia—
This table was practically filled entirely with dragon girls.
And seeing Lucoa smiling warmly at Asia…
Izumi's expression became rather subtle.
As expected of a future dragon tamer.
Asia really became close to dragons incredibly fast.
Thinking that, Izumi walked over with Astraea.
"It's been a while, Izumi-sama."
Kanna looked genuinely happy to see him.
She had visited this place many times recently, hoping to meet him.
Especially after Izumi had gone traveling for a while.
She had originally wanted to introduce her friends to him—
But never got the chance.
Instead, she met Asia, whose presence felt very comforting to her.
Then through Asia, she also met Ophis.
Today's gathering had originally been meant as a meal to treat Ophis and Asia.
But unexpectedly—
Izumi himself appeared.
The moment he approached, Kanna immediately jumped into his arms.
Seeing her soft and adorable expression—
Izumi, being a hopeless lolicon, genuinely felt his heart melting.
"It's good to see you again too, Kanna."
"So you're all having a gathering?"
Kanna nodded enthusiastically.
Then she began introducing everyone one by one.
"This is Tohru-sama."
"This is Lucoa-sama."
"This is Elma."
"And this is Kobayashi-san."
"They're all my friends!"
Then she proudly pointed at Izumi.
"Tohru-sama, this is Izumi-sama!"
"The person I told everyone about before!"
The dragon girls immediately stood and introduced themselves properly.
"Tohru Kobayashi."
"Thank you very much for helping Kanna previously."
"If there's ever anything we can help with, please don't hesitate to ask."
Tohru bowed sincerely.
Back when Kanna accidentally wandered into this world—
If Izumi hadn't helped her, nobody knew what might have happened.
She could have gotten lost between dimensions forever.
Or perhaps never returned home at all.
So the dragons genuinely felt grateful toward him.
Izumi simply smiled.
"It wasn't a big deal."
"Since we're already here, let's eat together."
As he spoke, he casually sat down.
Astraea immediately followed him and sat closely beside him.
Meanwhile, Kanna naturally climbed into Izumi's lap without hesitation.
That caused Ophis to glance at her quietly.
Originally…
That seat belonged to her.
Still, Ophis said nothing.
Though she did look slightly regretful.
As everyone settled down, the dragon girls curiously looked toward Astraea, who was still glancing around excitedly.
Lucoa tilted her head.
"Izumi-san, is this girl an Angel?"
"She doesn't seem to have an Angel's aura at all."
She found Astraea extremely strange.
The wings were definitely angelic—
But her presence felt completely different.
In fact…
She somehow resembled Elma a little.
Especially the part where she looked somewhat airheaded.
Izumi nodded.
"Yep."
"A fake Angel."
"She's artificial."
Lucoa's eyes widened slightly.
An Artificial Angel…
The multiverse truly contained everything imaginable.
Even something like this existed?
Meanwhile, Elma was already staring at Astraea with sparkling eyes.
For some reason—
She felt they would get along very well.
From Astraea, Elma sensed something deeply familiar.
A kindred spirit.
And honestly—
That felt incredibly comforting.