[A new Divine Fragment host has been detected!]
[Target Character—Kasumigaoka Utaha.]
[Quest: Make contact with her.]
That was all the mechanical voice said before going silent, leaving Shichen wondering if he'd missed something. There was no detailed objective, no time limit, and no special quest perks.
So did that mean he didn't have to hurry to obtain the fragment from Kasumigaoka Utaha?
Or maybe Tohru's fragment took priority?
No quest perks—could it be that there's only one set of perks per world?
Shichen wasn't too worried about that. If there were no other extraordinary beings besides Tohru in this world, he'd basically be invincible already. Combined with the perks he got from Frieren's world, plus the permanent perks in this world, he could practically tackle anything. The only thing missing was a "Knight Kick" or some special finishing move.
Most importantly, Kasumigaoka Utaha had appeared, so who needed more perks?
"Manager?" Kasumigaoka Utaha saw Shichen staring blankly at her and quietly prompted him.
Was he just another person smitten by her beauty? But this manager looked pretty young…
Kasumigaoka felt he might be around her own age, but still, being a manager at that age was impressive. And maybe it was just her imagination, but he seemed to have some kind of glow around him, like his very presence had a filter. A handsome guy with built-in special effects?
"Uh… Oh, sorry. Did you say something?" Shichen snapped out of it and apologized.
Pressing her lips together, Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't mind his lapse in attention. She asked once more, "Is this café open for business yet?"
"Sorry, not yet."
"I see…" She frowned slightly, looked around the empty shop again, then asked, "So when do you plan to open?"
"Probably tomorrow," Shichen answered without hesitation.
Everything in the shop was set up; all he had to do was decide to open. Plus, Tohru could help out. From the look on Kasumigaoka's face, she seemed to like the place, and there was no way he was letting her slip through his fingers.
"I understand."
She nodded, turned to leave, but at the door, she paused and glanced back.
"Manager… do you know me from somewhere?"
She'd noticed that his odd expression when he first saw her wasn't the usual kind of dazed admiration she got from people who found her pretty—it was more like he recognized her but thought she shouldn't be here. Yet she was certain she'd never met him before. With his looks and aura, there was no way she'd forget him if they had.
"No, I don't," Shichen denied it with a smile, shaking his head.
"All right, then," Kasumigaoka said softly, and left the shop.
As he watched the door slowly close, Shichen finally dropped the polite smile he'd been forcing, looking regretful.
He'd just let Kasumigaoka Utaha slip away!
He really wanted to make her stay just now, but he had no excuse. And opening the shop on the spot would've been awkward, especially since he hadn't settled everything with Tohru yet.
Better not be too greedy—he had to take things slowly. He could only hope Kasumigaoka Utaha would come back tomorrow.
But wow, he never expected Utaha to appear here, and it was such a pleasant surprise.
Tohru and Kasumigaoka Utaha coexisting in the same world… Was this heaven?
And if Utaha was around, then maybe that blond pigtail tsundere he knew might be here too?
If so, was Katou Megumi also in this world?
He just hoped there was still time. If Utaha was already that old, then the blond pigtail tsundere probably wouldn't be far behind—and might have been "captured" by some other guy since childhood. That wouldn't leave him much chance.
He disliked the idea of stealing someone away if she was already taken. He was all for pure and straightforward relationships. Snapping someone up first was fair game, though.
He'd have to figure out the timeline in this world—how old Utaha was and what grade she was in. Hopefully he could make it in time.
That was just how things stood. He considered himself the god of wholesome romance, not into the idea of poaching other people's partners—but he had no problem swooping in before anyone else. He wouldn't feel bad about using his "information advantage." If it was a matter of who came first, well, he hadn't been able to do anything back when they were separated by dimensions. But now that he could meet them in person, he'd take action.
Yeah, maybe he was a little greedy.
Worried that someone else might walk in, Shichen put a "Closed" sign up on the café door and went back upstairs.
The moment he reached his bedroom door, his eyes lit up.
Tohru had finished watching the maid tutorial videos. She'd already conjured a perfect maid outfit on herself: a deep-blue pinafore dress over a white blouse with ruffled shoulders, white gloves, plus an apron long enough that only a tiny bit of her white stockings showed. Brown little shoes completed the look.
Despite the horns on her head and the thick green tail behind her, it didn't feel out of place at all—just made her look even cuter, somehow.
Right now, Tohru was twirling around in the room, admiring her reflection. She had a bright smile on her face, clearly happy with her new attire.
"Shichen-dono!"
She noticed him and bounded over, beaming.
"Heehee~ how does it look?" she asked expectantly.
Shichen gave her an unreserved thumbs-up. "It's amazing!"
"Really?" Tohru couldn't help pressing her hands to her cheeks, looking bashful.
"Of course. I love it," Shichen replied, nodding with a grin. It was exactly as he remembered. Unbelievable.
"That's great! If Shichen-dono loves it, then I'm happy!" Tohru exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms again.
Another full-speed tackle.
Shichen naturally put his arms around her and patted her head. "So, how'd your 'study session' go?"
"Mhm, I understand everything now."
"Yeah? Then do you want to be a maid?"
"Yes!" Tohru nodded firmly. "I want to be Shichen-dono's maid—to serve you personally."
"You know, it's totally fine if you don't want to," Shichen said, unconcerned.
He just had this ingrained image of Tohru as his dragon maid, but if she wanted something else, he'd support her.
"No, I think being a maid is great! I want to serve you, Shichen-dono!" Tohru replied, her tone resolute.
"All right. But if you ever change your mind about it, just let me know, okay?" Shichen couldn't resist ruffling her hair again.
Her golden locks were so smooth and silky, almost addictive.
"That won't happen~" Tohru purred, closing her eyes contentedly as he patted her head.
"All right, since you're cool with that, let's go buy some things for you. Stuff you'll need."
"Stuff I'll need?"
"Toothbrush, towel, a blanket—basics."
"I don't need those, though. And a blanket? Aren't we going to sleep together?"
"No way."
"Ehhh?!"
Despite Tohru's clear disappointment, Shichen took her to a nearby store and picked up all the essentials: toothbrush, towel, etc. Even if Tohru insisted she didn't need them, Shichen couldn't let go of the notion that personal hygiene was important.
He didn't need to stock up on anything for the café yet; it had pretty much everything.
Some mysterious benefactor sure was considerate.
Besides Tohru's items, Shichen also bought some extra clothes for himself, because he couldn't wear his manager's uniform all the time. He considered buying clothes for Tohru, but she said she could just conjure outfits anytime. They did pick up a few "basic undergarments," though, which she had him choose. Shichen had no clue why she couldn't just conjure those, too.
Back at the café, Tohru went to arrange her new bedroom, while Shichen jumped on the computer to figure out what month and year it was in this world.
It turned out to be April—meaning schools had probably just started the new academic year. He also searched online for any info on the light novel Love Metronome or any mention of "Kasumi Utako" as an author, but nothing came up. In fact, there was no record of "Kasumigaoka Utaha" either.
Weirdly enough, though, "Kashiwagi Eri" did appear—a popular, well-known artist of adult comics. Apparently she was quite big in that scene.
No one can resist a bit of lewdness, after all.
Out of curiosity, Shichen also looked up other well-known light novels he remembered, but couldn't find any of them. He almost considered going the "plagiarize famous works" route—but then he realized writing novels took way too much time and energy. He'd rather manage his café or play games. Or just take Tohru out for a walk. Anything beat sitting around typing all day.
Tohru finished setting up her new room pretty quickly, but when she came back to find him, she was clearly pouting. Shichen pretended not to notice and moved on to teaching her about the various tasks in the café. Since they were opening tomorrow, he'd need her help, and she seemed eager enough if it meant helping him.
The day flew by. That night, Shichen cooked dinner—Tohru hadn't started learning how to cook yet—and ate with her. He turned down her suggestion that they share a bed, and also refused her offer to help him bathe. Then he headed to his room alone. He'd gone through a lot that day and needed time to process everything.
But in the middle of the night, he was woken by the sound of his door opening.