"Sawamura-san, could you hold out your hand for a sec?"
Hearing Mio's words, though Eriri found it strange, she still extended her hand.
Mio quietly grasped Eriri's hand, then took this opportunity to use the [Pocket Money] card.
Eriri was half-British, half-Japanese. Mio was trying to use this method to work some mystical luck magic.
"Congratulations, host. You've received 925,700 yen. The money has been transferred to your account. Please check it yourself."
"Is... is this the power of mysticism?"
Mio could hardly believe it. She, who always hit pity when pulling gacha, never imagined there'd come a day when she'd pull a nearly max reward.
Eriri, who'd been about to ask why Mio was holding her hand, suddenly noticed that Mio was looking at her with strange eyes. In those clear red pupils, a flame called 'fervor' had somehow ignited.
Noticing Mio's odd gaze, Eriri suddenly felt like Mio was a bit dangerous.
But Mio was still Mio. As an actress before transmigrating, she quickly adjusted her excited mood and returned to her usual calm.
Whether or not Eriri had actually helped, Mio decided that from now on, whenever she got similar cards, she'd come find Eriri to try it. What if it worked?
Just then, the class bell suddenly rang.
Mio, who'd originally wanted to find an excuse to explain her weird behavior, could only wait until the afternoon club activities to explain.
Fortunately, the club activity room wasn't far from the classroom. Mio barely made it back to her seat before the teacher entered, though she didn't know how things went for Eriri. When she'd passed by Class A just now, she'd seen the teacher already standing in the classroom. Hopefully Eriri was okay.
Clearly, Mio's prayers hadn't worked—Eriri got lectured by the teacher.
Sitting back down in her seat, Eriri sighed softly. If Mio hadn't suddenly asked her to hold out her hand, she would've already been back in the classroom.
She couldn't quite figure out why Mio had suddenly grabbed her hand, and with that excited, fervent look in her eyes, like she was looking at prey.
Could that silver-haired beauty who shared her hobbies have some improper designs on her? Though Mio was indeed quite wonderful, Eriri was straight.
Hopefully... she was just overthinking things.
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Afternoon, after school.
Eriri gathered her things and headed straight to the art club's activity room.
As soon as she walked into the activity room, she didn't even need to search—she immediately spotted Mio chatting with Mashiro Shiina.
Seeming to notice Eriri's gaze, Mio also blinked at her.
Eriri understood—Mio was greeting her. But why so sneakily? Couldn't she just greet her openly? This made it seem like they had some unspeakable relationship.
Eriri sighed softly, then took her art supplies and sat down on Mio's other side.
Before she could say anything, she saw Mio discreetly lean closer to her. "Sawamura-san, I thought of a way to make the plot flow more smoothly."
Seeing Mio's excited expression, Eriri quickly spoke up to stop her. "There are people around. Let's talk after club activities end."
"It's fine, just keep our voices down. Besides, doesn't Sawamura-san think there's something wonderfully thrilling about discussing indescribable things in a place full of people?" Mio was saying this to maintain her persona in Eriri's eyes. She personally didn't have such weird preferences. She didn't!
Probably didn't. Can't guarantee she won't develop them later.
After all, if tasks failed, all kinds of bizarre punishment cards could appear.
Hearing Mio's words, Eriri didn't even know what to say for a moment. But she was still very interested in what Mio had to say, so she still quietly moved a bit closer to Mio.
Actually, after looking at Eriri's storyboards at lunch, Mio had already figured out how to solve the issue of the female lead's too-rapid transformation. She just hadn't said it then because she didn't want Eriri to think she was too experienced.
Eriri listened to Mio's suggestions while carefully observing their surroundings. It felt both nervous and thrilling, and she even thought what Mio had just said made quite a bit of sense.
No, wait!
Eriri took a deep breath. She'd almost been led astray by this silver-haired beauty again.
"That's about it. These are ideas I came up with during class just now. You can try using them as reference, Sawamura-san."
"What exactly are you thinking about during class?" Eriri couldn't help but complain.
"Ehehe~"
Mio cutely stuck out her little tongue. Just as she was about to return to her seat, Eriri seemed to remember something and grabbed Mio. "By the way, when do you have time to come to my house again? I've already compiled all my works from recent years."
"Um, could I come pick them up this weekend?"
"Anytime works, as long as it's convenient for you."
Of course Eriri knew what Mio was worried about. After all, if those doujins were seen by someone familiar, it'd be social death, so timing was important.
"Thanks."
Returning to her seat, Mio was about to start drawing when she noticed Mashiro silently watching her.
Though Mashiro hadn't said anything, Mio could roughly guess what she wanted to say. She smiled and said, "I was just asking Sawamura-san about some art-related things."
"Mio, just ask me."
"You were focused on drawing just now, so I didn't want to bother you."
Right now, Mio felt like a scumbag juggling two—or maybe more than two—boats. She'd just finished dealing with Eriri, and now she was chatting with Mashiro.
"If it's Mio, it's fine." Mashiro said without hesitation.
"Alright, alright. Next time I don't understand something, I'll come ask you first."
"Mm."
Mashiro nodded, then turned her attention back to drawing. Normally she wouldn't care about these things at all, but when she'd seen Mio and Eriri leaning close together talking about something, she'd felt a bit unhappy, a stuffy feeling in her chest.
She didn't understand what was wrong with her.
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