"Yo~ Lalatina, it's been a whole day. Did you miss me?"
Watching Darkness rush eagerly toward her, Eriri raised her right hand and greeted her with a smile.
Hearing those words, Darkness instinctively recalled last night's scene of being toyed with by Eriri while naked. Her breathing grew unsteady.
But upon seeing Ilina, Lilian, and Eris standing beside Eriri, she forced herself to suppress her inner impulses.
Meanwhile, Eris couldn't help but feel curious about Eriri's words. She hadn't known that Eriri often visited this world. The last time she had seen Eriri was three days ago when she had gone to the Saekano world for dinner.
Now, watching Darkness' sudden perverted reaction, Eris became certain that there must be secrets between Darkness and Eriri she didn't know.
While Eris was lost in thought, Darkness steadied herself and began speaking with Eriri.
"Eriri, did you come here to play?"
Since Eriri hadn't called her over, Darkness knew that her purpose for coming here wasn't to indulge her perverse desires. And seeing her bring Ilina and Lilian along clearly showed she wanted to let them experience this world.
As for Eriri calling her by her real name, Darkness no longer bothered to correct her. There was no point, since Eriri would never change how she addressed her. All she could do was accept it.
Hearing Darkness' question, Eriri nodded without hesitation:
"That's right. We plan to experience what it's like to be adventurers in this world and form an adventurer party. You'll join us too."
Eriri didn't even bother asking Darkness' opinion, simply commanding her to join this yet-to-be-formed party.
Naturally, Darkness had no objections. Even if Eriri hadn't said so, she would have volunteered to join anyway.
She nodded quickly. "Mm, no problem!"
Then she turned her gaze toward Ilina and Lilian, her face softening with a kind smile.
"Ilina, Lilian, it's been a few days. Do you still remember me?"
Although they had only met once, Darkness' impression of the two was still clear.
"Of course we remember!"
Lilian nodded, then tapped her chin with her finger as she recalled their first meeting.
"Lalatina-nee, three days ago you came to Eriri-nee's house for dinner with Sister Eris, right? I think you were wearing a white dress then."
Hearing Lilian call her by her real name made Darkness' expression stiffen. Though she was used to Eriri calling her that, it didn't mean she wanted anyone else to do the same.
"That's right, it seems you really do remember me. But… could you not call me Lalatina?"
"Eh? Why not? Eriri-nee calls you that too."
Lilian tilted her head, her face full of curiosity.
"Eriri is different… I'd prefer it if you called me Darkness instead. Please!"
"Alright then, Sister Darkness."
Although she didn't understand why Darkness insisted on this, Lilian still agreed readily. After all, it was just a name—it didn't matter much.
...
Eriri and the others didn't remain in the center of the Adventurer's Guild for long. After a brief chat, they headed to the counters at the back.
There were four counters in total. By luck, all of them were unoccupied at that moment.
The clerks consisted of two women and two men. When they saw Eriri approach, each was captivated by her beauty, secretly hoping she would come to their counter.
But given Eriri's personality, she naturally ignored the male clerks altogether.
As for the two female clerks, one was rather plain-looking, while the other could be called a beauty—with a very attractive figure as well.
Naturally, Eriri recognized this particular receptionist. After all, she appeared quite often in the original story.
She was none other than Luna, the receptionist who had handled the protagonist's adventurer registration.
Compared to the ordinary receptionist, Eriri preferred to handle her registration with Luna.
So, she led Ilina and Lilian straight to Luna's counter.
Seeing Eriri and the others approaching her, Luna's face lit up with excitement.
"Hello, what can I help you with today?"
Though thrilled to be serving such a beautiful girl, Luna still followed her routine procedures.
"We want to become adventurers. Please register us."
Eriri, acting as the group's representative, stated their purpose directly.
Hearing this, Luna nodded in understanding.
"I see. Then, registration requires a small fee. Is that alright?"
"Of course. How much?"
"The registration fee is one thousand Eris per person."
Instead of answering, Eriri turned her gaze toward Darkness.
Catching Eriri's look, Darkness immediately pulled three thousand Eris from her storage space—three coins of one thousand each—and stepped forward to place them on the counter.
Without saying another word, she stepped back again, leaving the space in front of the counter for Eriri.
Seeing Darkness act like a loyal guardian, Luna's curiosity toward Eriri only deepened.
For someone as strong as Darkness to follow her around, Eriri had to be either a noble of very high status, or an even more powerful existence.
While Luna's imagination was running wild, Eriri pulled Ilina and Lilian forward with a smile.
"Here's three thousand Eris. The ones registering are the three of us."
"Understood. Since you want to become adventurers—and since you already know Darkness-sama—you must already have some knowledge about the adventurer profession. But as part of my duties, I'll explain everything again…"
Luna then carefully explained the details of being an adventurer, giving a thorough introduction to the different classes as well.
Eriri naturally already knew everything, but Ilina and Lilian listened with great interest.
After finishing, Luna pulled out three cards from the counter and handed them to Eriri, Ilina, and Lilian.
As a qualified receptionist, Luna was skilled at reading people. From their expressions, she immediately saw that Ilina and Lilian knew almost nothing about adventurers.
So she took out another card as a sample and began her explanation.
"This is a registration card. It's something all adventurers depend on."
She pointed to a section on the card and continued:
"Please look here. Do you see the entry marked 'Level'?"
"In this world, everything contains a soul. No matter the being, when one consumes or kills another—that is, ends its life—they absorb a portion of that soul's memory."
"This is commonly called 'experience points.' Though invisible to the naked eye…"
Luna's finger slid downward to indicate the section of the card where experience was recorded.
"By holding this card, the experience an adventurer gains is displayed here. Their corresponding level is also shown."
"This level is the standard measure of an adventurer's strength."
Although the writing on the card was in this world's language, it posed no problem for Ilina and Lilian. Before arriving here, Eriri had already granted them the ability to read and write in this world's tongue.
Thanks to Eriri's preparations, Ilina and Lilian could read the text and data on the card without issue.
"In addition, the number of monsters an adventurer has defeated is also recorded on the card…"
Luna continued her thorough explanation without pause. Eriri didn't interrupt her, choosing instead to patiently listen. Since she had promised to let Ilina and Lilian experience the life of adventurers, it was only right to let them go through the entire process properly. These explanations were part of it.
Moreover, Ilina and Lilian seemed genuinely interested, so Eriri saw no reason to cut their curiosity short.
Following Luna's instructions, the three of them completed all the registration steps—recording their personal information, physical features, and finally verifying their abilities to determine suitable classes.
Of course, expecting a card to display Eriri's true stats was nothing more than a dream. If she followed the standard procedure, the card would likely show nothing at all, unable to record her power.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Eriri simply fabricated an impressive set of stats, particularly setting an extraordinarily high value for her magic power—making her appear clearly suited to become a great mage.
As for Ilina and Lilian, Eriri didn't bother falsifying their stats.
A week ago, on the night they first arrived in Tokyo, she had planted energy seeds in both of them. Combined with their original Level 4 and Level 5 strength, they had already grown to early Level 3 in just one week.
While early Level 3 strength was considered top-tier in this world, it was still within the registration card's range of display.
But if others saw their stats, it would certainly cause a sensation.
At that moment, Luna stared in shock at Ilina and Lilian's cards, dumbfounded. It took her a long while to recover.
"All your stats are this ridiculously high… just who in the world are you two?"
She looked at them in disbelief. Compared to their parameters, Eriri's deliberately fabricated stats seemed almost ordinary.
Hearing Luna's exclamation, the nearby adventurers, who had been casually observing, all grew curious. They wanted to know what kind of data could shock Luna so much.
Ilina and Lilian, suddenly embarrassed, turned their eyes toward Eriri.
Eriri only smiled lightly, rubbing Lilian's head before squeezing Ilina's hand. Then she turned to Luna and said:
"As for them, don't ask too much. And remember, keep it a secret~"
She winked at Luna as she spoke.
"…Alright, I understand."
Although Luna didn't understand why Eriri wanted to hide something that could make them instantly famous, she didn't press further. Still, she felt it was a real pity. Normally, discovering such talent would have caused quite a stir in the guild.
...
After finishing their registration, Eriri and the others didn't leave immediately. Instead, they found a table and sat down.
Since it was nearly lunchtime, Eriri decided they would eat at the guild.
Of course, the food here couldn't compare to what Aoi Kujou made. But since they were in another world, it was only right to taste its local specialties.
If the food turned out to be terrible, they could always eat elsewhere.
Fortunately, the dishes didn't disappoint. While nowhere near Aoi's cooking, they were still tasty enough.
As they enjoyed their meal, a petite girl entered the Adventurer's Guild. She wore a magician's robe and a pointed hat, holding a staff taller than herself.
Upon entering, she instinctively placed a hand on her stomach, then glanced at the bustling tables around her.
Without saying a word, she walked to the commission board and studied the postings.
After a short while, she turned away and sat down at the empty table right next to Eriri and the others.
—
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