Watching Adele giggling foolishly under Eriri's kneading, Crimson Reina couldn't help but roll her eyes internally.
Of course, she wouldn't arrogantly assume her standing in Eriri's heart could compare to Adele's, so expecting her to behave just like Adele was absolutely impossible.
Still, Eriri's words had a positive effect—at the very least, Crimson Reina's inner tension eased quite a bit.
"Whew... Thank you for your kindness, Lady Eriri. We're feeling much better now. Also..."
As she spoke, Crimson Reina suddenly took a deep breath to calm herself, then respectfully bowed toward Eriri.
"Thank you very much for bestowing your power upon us this afternoon. Even though my strength is insignificant compared to yours, Lady Eriri, I want you to know that if you ever need anything from me in the future, I'll do everything I can to fulfill it!"
"Alright, alright, no need to be so formal."
Seeing the serious expression on Crimson Reina's face, Eriri instinctively reached out and gently patted her head.
The sudden gesture made Crimson Reina blush slightly and lower her head, nervously clutching the hem of her skirt.
Standing beside her, Mavis and Pauline also expressed their thanks to Eriri after seeing Crimson Reina do so.
However, this time Eriri didn't respond to them the same way she had with Crimson Reina, which left them feeling slightly disappointed.
Eriri didn't stay with them long. After learning that Adele wanted to keep her friends company a bit longer, she left to mingle with others.
...
Unlike previous banquets that focused mainly on food, this one emphasized interaction and bonding, so it lasted longer than usual.
By the time it officially ended, it was already past 7 p.m., having run for nearly two hours.
After the banquet, most of the guests who had come from other worlds didn't linger in the Saekano world—aside from a few exceptions like Pecora—and gradually returned to their respective worlds.
Though "return" might be too strong a word, as it was more akin to going home from a neighbor's place.
Thanks to the World Gates, they could pop over at any time.
As for Antilene, who had been temporarily pulled from the Reincarnation World, she spent two more days at Eriri's home before asking to be sent back to the time-frozen world.
...
Time flew quickly, and before long it was December in the Saekano world, with winter break at Toyogasaki Academy just around the corner.
Over a month had passed since the last gathering.
During this month, Eriri had properly fulfilled her role as a high school student, attending school regularly.
Outside of class, she spent her time gaming, creating new manga, and illustrating for the novels written by Utaha Kasumigaoka, Yuzuru Hanyu, and Emily.
She also occasionally visited other members' worlds, but never stayed for more than a brief visit.
No new members had joined the chat group recently.
Though Eriri could have asked the system to proactively invite new members, she chose not to—believing it best to let things unfold naturally.
She wasn't in any rush to discover new worlds. After all, with her omniscient power, she already had full knowledge of all worlds in the multiverse.
If she wanted, she could open a portal to any world at any time—no need for the blind-box randomness of old.
While no unfamiliar newcomers had joined recently, two individuals already well-known to the group members were invited in.
After Alice had been brought in via Erina's invitation, the system had issued two more designated invitations in succession.
The two invitation letters had been obtained by Lala and Fumino Furuhashi, respectively. The two people they invited were Nana and Mafuyu Kirisu.
Of course, even with the addition of two new members, the shining image of the chat group having all members above Level 7 remained intact.
However, that impressive record was only going to last until today.
Because just moments ago, the chat group finally welcomed a large batch of new members.
...
[Naoka Ueno has joined the chat group.]
[Pandora has joined the chat group.]
[Ellen Mira Mathers has joined the chat group.]
[Kyoko has joined the chat group.]
"Uh... what the..."
After listening to Little Skirt's basic information rundown on the new members and seeing their names displayed on the chat group interface, Eriri, who was currently attending class, was momentarily stunned.
"No way, Little Skirt, did you pull the wrong people? This is supposed to be a warm and loving family group, yet none of these newcomers are decent people!" Eriri complained to the Little Skirt inside her mind.
"Ah, well..."
Hearing Eriri's complaint, the white-haired loli-form Little Skirt inside her mind also seemed a bit bewildered.
Then, waving her little arms, she shouted, "Onee-chan! Listen to my justi—no, explanation!"
"Alright, go ahead. I'm listening."
"Because I didn't actively invite new members this time, the chat group's invitation mechanism was random, so I have no control over who gets pulled in!"
"I know."
"So—wait, you knew?!"
"Of course I did. You told me before, remember? I didn't forget~"
"..."
By this point, if Little Skirt didn't realize Eriri was teasing her, she wouldn't be worthy of being a chat group assistant.
In fact, thinking back, she clearly remembered explaining it to Eriri before. She had simply panicked for no reason, worried about being scolded.
Realizing this, Little Skirt puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms over her chest with a pout.
"Geez, Onee-chan, don't scare me like that."
Seeing the adorably sulky Little Skirt in her mind, Eriri immediately turned her mental will into a hand to ruffle her hair.
"Alright, alright. I just can't resist teasing our cute Little Skirt~"
As for the four new additions, Eriri was anything but unfamiliar with them.
Rather than joining this group, they honestly seemed more suited for a villain chat group.
After all, none of them were exactly model citizens.
Naoka Ueno, from A Silent Voice, was technically the only ordinary person among the newcomers, but also arguably the most detestable—a school bully who tormented an innocent, hearing-impaired girl.
The victim in question was Shouko Nishimiya, the female lead of the story.
Back in her previous life, Eriri had loved this anime film and felt immense sympathy for the sweet but unfortunate Nishimiya.
She had simply encountered too many people lately and hadn't thought of Nishimiya right away. Otherwise, she definitely would have visited that world already.
Still, it wasn't too late.
Looking at the age field on Naoka Ueno's profile card, Eriri fell into contemplation.
Twelve years old—that was her current age.
Under normal circumstances, Ueno should currently be in sixth grade.
In the original story, Nishimiya transferred into Ueno's class during this same grade level, and the bullying began that very year. The only uncertainty was whether the bullying had already started at this point.
With that, Eriri instantly activated her vast awareness and locked onto Naoka Ueno's location across the universe.
Appearing within her perception was a primary school classroom filled with dozens of students.
At the moment Ueno Naoka joined the chat group, the timelines of the two worlds synchronized, so she too was attending class at that time.
Eriri spotted Ueno Naoka in the classroom, but her gaze quickly shifted to Nishimiya Shouko, who sat in the front-right seat. Seeing Nishimiya quietly seated, Eriri's face lit up with a satisfied smile.
Now that she understood the current point in that world's timeline, Eriri realized that Nishimiya had just transferred to the class, and the bullying hadn't yet begun.
So there was no immediate need for her to visit Nishimiya's world.
However, that smile quickly faded as her gaze landed on Shoya Ishida, seated behind Nishimiya—and, in Eriri's opinion, the most detestable character in the entire series.
Looking at the boy who would soon spearhead the bullying of Nishimiya, Eriri felt a strong urge to erase him from existence.
Erasing someone across universes would be an easy task for Eriri now.
But ultimately, she refrained.
It wasn't because she had softened. Words like "soft-hearted" didn't exist in Eriri's dictionary. Rather, she thought that simply erasing him would be too easy.
In the original work, Ishida did come to regret his actions and sought to atone during high school.
But in Eriri's eyes, past wrongdoings weren't erased by regret.
Worse still, the only reason he regretted his actions was because he became the target of bullying himself once the incident was exposed. He faced the consequences alone after his classmates and teachers pushed all the blame on him.
Even so, the gentle Nishimiya never took joy in his suffering. She even helped him clean graffiti off his desk.
But rather than showing gratitude, Ishida misunderstood her intentions and lashed out violently, eventually causing her to transfer schools again.
Only after her departure did he come to understand her kindness and feel remorse.
Without that, Eriri doubted he would've ever felt guilty.
Rather than ending him outright, she thought it more fitting that Ishida go through everything he did in the original timeline—the isolation, the guilt, even the suicidal thoughts he experienced in high school.
To that, Eriri could only clap and cheer.
However, she remained deeply dissatisfied with how things resolved in the original story.
In her view, someone like Ishida didn't deserve forgiveness. The best ending for him would've been a quiet disappearance.
Withdrawing her awareness, Eriri shifted her attention to the other three new members.
Pandora—from the world of Re:Zero, one of the Witch of Sin and the Witch of Vainglory. The greatest antagonist in that world.
Ellen Mira Mathers—from Date A Live, one of the three founders of DEM Corporation, and another major villain.
Kyouko—from Is This a Zombie?, a Masou Shoujo and an outright psychopathic serial killer.
Though Eriri had killed far more people than Kyouko, she never did so for entertainment. Kyouko killed for fun.
Under normal circumstances, Eriri wouldn't have harbored much bias against the four newcomers.
After all, as long as they didn't provoke her, she had no reason to care.
But due to the context and her initial impressions, she couldn't help but feel aversion toward them.
...
Meanwhile, the group chat had erupted into lively chatter thanks to the new arrivals.
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 2 / Group Leader): Welcome to the new members! confetti.jpg]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Welcome, welcome!]
[Asuna Yuuki (Level 7, Stage 2): Welcome!]
[Ruri Gokou (Level 7, Stage 2): Ara, it's been a while since we had newcomers. I see Little Skirt is finally doing her job again.]
[Miko Yotsuya (Level 7, Stage 1): Welcome to the group.]
[Maple (Level 7, Stage 2): Welcome~ confetti.jpg]
[...]
[Kanae Kocho (Level 7, Stage 2): Welcome to our big happy family~]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 2 / Group Leader): Hold up, Kanae. That might be a bit premature. We don't know if these newcomers will stick around.]
[Kanae Kocho (Level 7, Stage 2): Eh? What do you mean? Is something wrong with the new members? curious.jpg]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Curious +1]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 2 / Group Leader): Hmm… this batch is a bit intense.]
[Rin Tohsaka (Level 7, Stage 2): ???]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 2 / Group Leader): Eriri, I'll let you decide what to do. @Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9)]
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