~ As Usual Every 100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter!
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"Tonight? Looks like I won't get to see that showdown tonight."
Alice Nakiri said, somewhat regretfully.
"Huh? Alice, you have something on tonight? We were thinking of throwing a welcome party for you guys tonight!"
Yoshino Yuki asked with some confusion upon hearing this. It was only their first day moving in—were they already planning to stay out all night?
"I've been abroad all this time, and since coming back, I've been at the resort. So, I really need to go see Grandpa!" Alice Nakiri explained.
Before returning, she had received a call from Senzaemon Nakiri. She definitely had to go back for dinner and a chat tonight.
It might get very late, so she wasn't planning on coming back to the dorm. As for Ryō Kurokiba, although he was her attendant, he didn't follow her around every single moment.
Now that both had moved into Polar Star, Alice only planned to go back by herself and had no intention of bringing Ryō Kurokiba along.
"Grandpa? Alice's grandpa is the Director, right? Indeed, after coming back, you definitely need to see your family!"
Everyone nodded. If Alice didn't go back in this situation, it would be a bit unreasonable.
"In that case, let's postpone the welcome party until tomorrow. School starts tomorrow anyway, and maybe we'll even have other new members, though the probability isn't very high." Ryōko Sakaki suggested.
If Alice wasn't there, then the welcome party would naturally be incomplete.
Besides, there was the issue of new members. Although the chances of new people coming were low, what if there really were some? So, tomorrow night would be most appropriate.
Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. Afterwards, Alice Nakiri headed to the Nakiri family's residential area, while the others waited to watch the match between Ryō Kurokiba and Satoshi Isshiki.
....
With a dedicated car service, Alice Nakiri quickly returned to the Nakiri family's residential area and met her grandfather as well as Erina Nakiri.
"I'm back, Grandpa! Are you doing well?"
Seeing her grandfather, Alice Nakiri went over directly to greet him. As for Erina Nakiri, the moment she saw her, Alice felt a bit annoyed.
And thinking about how she could never catch up to her, Alice Nakiri also felt quite helpless. However, Alice had somewhat come to terms with it now.
Erina Nakiri's advantages were clear—it was basically impossible for Alice to defeat her unless Erina had some major accident.
Although she was annoyed by Erina, she didn't want to see anything happen to her own relative, so she could only change her mindset.
Since she couldn't defeat Erina Nakiri herself, she would just find outside help. Even if she wasn't the one to defeat her, at least it was someone she found.
And this person, naturally, was Yuuki...
As for Ryō Kurokiba, although he was also stronger than her, it was still unlikely he could defeat Erina Nakiri.
"You're back too? And you're planning to study at Tōtsuki!"
Looking at her cousin, although she also found her annoying, Erina Nakiri was quite surprised at this moment.
After all, Alice Nakiri had always been abroad. Though she would return occasionally, she usually wouldn't stay long and would leave again soon.
For her to plan to return to Tōtsuki to study this time was very unexpected.
She knew some of the achievements Alice Nakiri had made over the years. However, Erina Nakiri didn't care. After all, Alice's Culinary skills were what they were; those achievements were merely in a relatively new field.
Her Culinary skills were stronger than Alice's, so she wouldn't care about such things.
"What, is there a problem with me coming back to school?" Alice Nakiri said, somewhat dissatisfied.
Senzaemon Nakiri felt a bit helpless about this.
These two sisters constantly had minor frictions, but there was a good side to it: though there were conflicts, their familial bond was stronger than anything else.
No matter how much they bickered, if one of them got into trouble, the other wouldn't stand idly by.
So, although they seemed like fire and water now, Senzaemon Nakiri didn't say much.
The two continued to butt heads like this, only stopping when it was time for dinner.
"Alice, you've been at the resort all this time and have spent some time with Yuuki. What kind of person do you think he is?" Senzaemon Nakiri asked.
From the information he had gathered, Yuuki seemed like a very good person, but that was just information.
So, he was now asking his granddaughter. Among the people here, Alice Nakiri had spent the most time with Yuuki.
As for whether his granddaughter was too young to understand human nature, Senzaemon Nakiri wasn't worried at all.
As members of the Nakiri family, the environment they grew up in ensured they couldn't be that simple.
Especially Alice Nakiri—because she was always the one overlooked in her childhood. It wasn't that her family didn't care about her, but outsiders did.
When outsiders came to the Nakiri household, they were mostly there for Erina Nakiri—Erina was the one they praised.
As for Alice, although she was also praised, it was mostly just in passing.
So, from a young age, Alice Nakiri had seen through the true faces of these people. She understood human nature quite well.
Even Erina Nakiri, a novice with almost zero common sense about daily life, wasn't weak in terms of interpersonal relationships.
After spending over a month together, one might not be able to see through a person completely, but a basic understanding would definitely be there.
"Yuuki is a very impressive person, and his personality is also very good..."
Alice Nakiri naturally had a very good impression of Yuuki.
After all, Yuuki's personality was like that, coupled with his outstanding abilities. Someone like him was destined to attract the attention of many members of the opposite sex.
Alice Nakiri herself had also reached the age of youthful infatuation. Among her peers, the only one whose abilities were stronger than hers was Ryō Kurokiba.
But Ryō Kurokiba was only strong in Culinary skills. As for other aspects—it was fine when there was no comparison, but when compared to Yuuki, there was really nothing left.
After spending this period together, she had already developed some favorable feelings for Yuuki. However, she also knew that Yuuki had a childhood friend.
Alice Nakiri didn't care about this. As the saying goes, "Childhood friend loses to the newcomer"—that was a classic trope.
Although reality might differ somewhat, as long as they hadn't confirmed their relationship, it wasn't a problem for her.
Alice Nakiri had lived abroad for many years—while her way of thinking wouldn't be completely changed, there would definitely be some influence.
That's why she would fight for it, rather than just watch from the sidelines.
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