"Oh my, I didn't expect our little cutie to learn how to act spoiled," Eriri chuckled as she looked down at Yoshino nestled in her arms.
Far from being annoyed by Yoshino's behavior, Eriri was actually delighted that the girl had become so dependent on her.
Upon hearing Eriri's laughter, Yoshino, who had just made a bold statement, suddenly seemed to realize what she had done. Her face turned beet red, and she buried her face tightly into Eriri's chest, unable to say a single word in rebuttal.
"Since our little cutie doesn't want to leave big sister's arms, then big sister will just keep holding you and sleep a little longer."
Looking at the adorably shy Yoshino, Eriri immediately gave up on the idea of getting up and instead hugged her back, snuggling back under the covers.
However, before they could stay in bed much longer, a knock came from outside the door. After the knocking stopped, the voice of Nagisa Himekawa followed.
"Eriri, Yoshino, time to get up and have breakfast!"
Since Eriri had locked the door before going to bed, Nagisa, who was outside, couldn't enter the room directly.
Lying in bed, both Eriri and Yoshino clearly heard Nagisa's voice. After all, they were merely cuddling and hadn't actually fallen back asleep.
Seeing that Eriri showed no intention of moving, Yoshino thought she hadn't heard and couldn't help but whisper a reminder:
"Eriri-nee, Mom is calling us for breakfast..."
Hearing Yoshino's soft voice, Eriri nodded without hesitation and said, "Mm, I heard."
"Then... aren't we getting up?" Yoshino asked meekly.
"No need. As long as we pretend not to hear, she'll give up trying to wake us soon enough."
Sure enough, when there was no response from inside the room, Nagisa had no choice but to give up on waking the two.
She hadn't taken the day off today, and it was almost time for her to leave for work.
Back in the dining room, Nagisa quickly finished her breakfast, left a note on the table, and then headed out with her bag for work.
Even though Eriri had left an entire room filled with cash and valuable gold and gemstones in the villa yesterday, which she referred to as the treasury, and hadn't even locked the room...
And even though Eriri had told her she could freely use the funds inside, Nagisa didn't let it go to her head.
She still intended to go out and work to earn her daily living expenses. The funds in the treasury would only be used when absolutely necessary.
Especially now that Yoshino had recovered and no longer needed to spend large sums on hospital stays every year, Nagisa's salary from work would be enough for the two of them to live comfortably.
That said, she didn't plan to overwork herself with multiple jobs as before. Instead, she intended to switch to an easier job in a couple of days, preferably one with earlier hours so she could come home sooner and spend more time with Yoshino.
Still, Nagisa wouldn't expect Yoshino to follow her example in not using the treasury funds.
After all, Eriri had made it clear yesterday: the money in the treasury was meant as activity funds for the group members, and as one of them, Yoshino was rightfully entitled to enjoy those benefits.
...
By the time Eriri and Yoshino finally got out of bed, it was already past 10 a.m.—more than two hours after Nagisa had left for work.
After washing up, the two headed to the dining room on the first floor of the villa.
Nagisa's note had been placed in the most prominent spot on the table, so it was quickly noticed by both Eriri and Yoshino.
"Eriri-nee, Mom left us a note over there," Yoshino said, pointing at the piece of paper on the table.
"Mm, let's go see what it says. Hopefully it's not scolding us for sleeping in too late," Eriri replied with a laugh as she reached out and pinched Yoshino's cheek, nodding knowingly.
"Mm, Auntie Nagisa must be blaming you, Yoshino-chan. It's all your fault for being too cute—you made me want to stay in bed longer!"
Yoshino blushed shyly and shook the right hand Eriri was holding.
"Mom wouldn't say that."
While chatting and laughing, the two quickly reached the table, and Eriri picked up the folded note.
Naturally, the note didn't contain anything like what Eriri had joked about. It simply told them to eat breakfast and mentioned that Nagisa had gone to work.
Eriri handed the note to Yoshino beside her, then looked over at the two breakfast plates on the table.
At this point, the food was long cold—it had been more than two hours, after all.
But this was no trouble for Eriri. She simply waved her hand over the breakfast, and in an instant, the time within that area rewound two hours. Fresh steam began to rise from the dishes once again.
After breakfast, Eriri sat with Yoshino in the living room to watch TV for a while.
All the furniture and electronics in the villa had been created by Eriri. If these advanced appliances, which were decades ahead of this world's technology, were exposed publicly, they would cause quite the sensation.
As for the television signal and internet access for phones and computers, they were all connected to the Saekano world.
So even in the Date A Live world, it was possible to watch anime and movies from the Saekano world and keep up with real-time news.
Yesterday, when Nagisa saw the TV in the living room, she hugged it and watched until after 11 p.m. before reluctantly going to bed.
Of course, the native signals and networks of this world weren't blocked either. To keep things organized, Eriri had separated them into two sections. One could simply choose which world's content to view by entering the corresponding section.
Although Yoshino had often been hospitalized due to her health, that didn't mean she hadn't attended school. At nine years old, she was technically a third grader in elementary school.
However, due to extended hospital stays recently, she hadn't been able to attend, and Nagisa had filed for a leave of absence on her behalf.
Now that Yoshino had fully recovered, Nagisa originally planned to go to the school in a few days to re-enroll her.
But with Eriri's arrival, that plan changed. Eriri intended to have Yoshino attend school in the Saekano world instead.
If Yoshino had close friends at her current school like Yuki did, Eriri wouldn't force her to transfer.
But because she had been in and out of the hospital so often, Yoshino hadn't formed any close friendships at school.
So Eriri thought it would be better to just have her start fresh in the Saekano world.
Both Nagisa and Yoshino agreed to the proposal without much hesitation.
To Nagisa, the Saekano world was more than thirty years ahead of their own in terms of timeline. Naturally, its education system far surpassed what their era could offer.
By any measure, it was a better place to study.
As for Yoshino, she didn't mind where she went to school. In fact, she would be happy to attend with people she already knew.
Just recently, she had met others her age in the chat group, like Tina and Rin Tohsaka, and had learned there were many peers she might soon meet. She looked forward to going to school with them.
Today was Friday in the Saekano world, so Eriri planned to have Yoshino transfer there starting next Monday.
As for the weekend over the next two days, Eriri planned to let Yoshino get familiar with Enju Aihara and the others so that they wouldn't feel awkward around each other when school started.
By noon, shortly after 12 p.m., Eriri had lunch with Yoshino, and then headed out to fulfill the second purpose of her visit to this world.
Originally, she had intended to bring Yoshino along, but the shy girl didn't seem interested in meeting the Spirit of Origin. So Eriri decided to let her stay home.
Yoshino had no objections to this arrangement—in fact, she was quite fond of television, and staying home to watch TV suited her perfectly.
...
Since her creation just over a week ago, the Spirit of Origin had remained in the adjacent dimension where she had been born.
Her sudden emergence had left her with no understanding of the world. Apart from innate knowledge and basic instincts, her mind was as pure as a newborn's.
However, she possessed an exceptional capacity for learning. From the moment of her birth, she immediately acquired knowledge of the world's languages.
As the Spirit's companion space, the adjacent dimension was almost impossible to enter for ordinary people.
To enter, one must be invited by its master—the Spirit of Origin. But such limitations did not apply to Eriri.
When Eriri entered the adjacent dimension, she quickly found the Spirit of Origin asleep in its deepest part.
Even though she was accustomed to her own beauty, Eriri couldn't help but be stunned by the Spirit's appearance.
Her beauty was on par with Arifureta or Shinobu Oshino—qualifying her as part of the top-tier just beneath Eriri herself.
The Spirit of Origin appeared to be around sixteen years old, curled up and sleeping atop a heavenly-like platform.
Long silver-white hair was draped loosely over the floor, and a faint, barely noticeable smile rested on her exquisitely perfect face.
She wore a pure white goddess dress, and her small bare feet resembled a flawless work of art.
Eriri's arrival didn't stir the adjacent realm's mistress—not even when Eriri stood right beside her. The spirit remained fast asleep.
But Eriri had no intention of letting her continue sleeping.
After admiring her beauty for a moment, Eriri crouched down with a mischievous grin and pinched the girl's petite, delicate nose.
Feeling her breathing blocked, the Spirit of Origin abruptly awoke.
But upon seeing Eriri, her first reaction wasn't alarm or hostility toward this unfamiliar intruder—it was to freeze in place.
Her pure blue eyes locked onto Eriri's face, unblinking.
Eriri didn't move, maintaining her grip on the spirit's nose as they stared at each other.
In that moment, time seemed to freeze. It was as if countless pure white lilies bloomed around them.
Several minutes passed before the Spirit of Origin finally reacted.
She sat up suddenly, grasped Eriri's hand, and smiled sweetly.
"Hello. Are you here to see me? Could you tell me your name?"
The pure-hearted spirit girl looked expectantly at the golden-haired girl who had instantly captured her affection.
"My name is Eriri. I did come to see you. Would you like to come with me?"
Eriri gently stroked the left side of her cheek, smiling warmly.
Hearing her words, the Spirit of Origin nodded without hesitation.
"Mm! I want to be with you!"
No more words were needed. Just a few minutes of eye contact had forged their mutual understanding.
Eriri's beauty and overwhelming charm had effortlessly won over the pure-hearted Spirit of Origin.
As the girl clung tightly to Eriri's arm like a regular young maiden, Eriri smiled and poked her elastic cheek.
"Right, you don't have a name yet, do you?"
"That's right. Eriri, can you give me one?"
The Spirit of Origin sat up straight and looked at Eriri with expectant eyes.
Since she was 160 cm tall—nearly the same as Eriri's 159 cm—they were at eye level while seated.
Their flawless faces were mere inches apart. If Eriri simply leaned forward, she could easily initiate intimate contact.
But she didn't. Instead, she tapped her chin thoughtfully with a finger.
"Hmm, let's call you 'Mio.' And you'll use the same last name as me: Mio Sawamura."
Eriri didn't bother coming up with another name—she thought 'Mio' sounded lovely.
"Well? Do you like the name?"
"I love it! No matter what the name is, if you gave it to me, I'll love it!"
...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven