Four days passed in the blink of an eye, and Eriri and the others once again returned to Axel.
When they appeared, they were immediately greeted with warm cheers from all the adventurers in Axel.
After all, who in this world didn't know that it was Eriri and her group who had defeated the Demon King?
Inside the Adventurer's Guild, Eriri saw Kazuma Satou. However, Aqua wasn't with him this time—instead, he was mingling with other adventurers.
Since the Demon King had already been defeated, Aqua had returned to Heaven, leaving Kazuma to live alone in this world.
However, without the troublesome Aqua around, Kazuma's life had noticeably improved.
Eriri didn't stay long in Axel. That same afternoon, she led everyone through the World Gate to return to the Saekano world.
That night, a welcome banquet was held in the villa to celebrate Megumin and Iris's arrival.
Everyone warmly welcomed them, and meeting so many friends of similar age made Iris extremely happy.
After the banquet, Eris and Darkness returned to the Konosuba world, while Megumin and Iris stayed behind in the Saekano world.
...
At ten o'clock the next morning, a pink stretch Rolls-Royce sedan drove out of the villa district.
Driving the car was Aoi Kujou, while the passengers were Ilina and Lilian—who were about to board a flight back to England—along with Eriri, Megumin, and Iris, who had come to see them off.
Megumin and Iris were no longer wearing the clothes they had worn in the Konosuba world. Instead, they had changed into modern, fashionable outfits.
Although there were only four seats in the back, the five of them managed comfortably by having two share one seat.
At this moment, Eriri sat on the left seat, holding Iris on her lap.
"Ilina-nee, Lilian, I didn't think you'd be leaving so soon. I still wanted to play with you for a few more days," Iris said with a face full of regret as she looked at Ilina and Lilian sitting across from her.
Hearing that, Ilina smiled softly and reached out to gently pat Iris's head.
"It's alright. We'll come visit again next time. Then we can go out and have fun together again."
"Mhm!" Iris nodded vigorously.
At that moment, Lilian suddenly raised her hand with enthusiasm.
"Iris, Megumin—how about you two come to England with us today? I'll make sure to take you all around the place!"
Hearing Lilian's invitation, both Iris and Megumin were tempted. However, remembering that Eriri had promised to take them around the city for a few days, they quickly gave up on the idea.
"Let's save that for next time," Megumin said straightforwardly, and Iris nodded again in agreement.
"I think so too!"
Although a little disappointed by their refusal, Lilian didn't insist.
"Alright then. But if you ever want to hang out, just give me a call anytime~" she said cheerfully, making a phone gesture with her hand toward Iris and Megumin.
When they had finished subjugating the Demon King and started their travels in the Konosuba world, Eriri had given Iris a smartphone.
Thus, Iris was already quite familiar with how to use it and naturally understood what Lilian meant.
She nodded again in acknowledgment.
Half an hour later, after seeing Ilina and Lilian off at the airport, Eriri and the others left the terminal.
...
At a large shopping mall in Ginza, Tokyo, Eriri strolled casually inside while holding Iris's and Megumin's hands.
Following behind them quietly, dressed in a maid uniform, was Aoi Kujou, acting like a silent bodyguard.
As they looked around at the dazzling array of goods, Iris and Megumin's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
After all, this was their first time seeing the products of the modern world. Naturally, everything they saw filled them with fascination.
Naturally, Eriri could see what the girls were thinking, so without hesitation, she led them straight toward the nearest jewelry store.
Any jewelry shop capable of opening in Ginza's most luxurious mall was, of course, a world-renowned brand—and the prices reflected that.
But to Eriri, money was just a string of numbers; she could have as much of it as she wanted.
So as long as Iris and Megumin liked something, Eriri bought it all for them without a second thought.
Of course, the payment process was handled by Aoi Kujou.
After leaving the jewelry store, their next battlefield was the clothing section.
Compared to jewelry stores, the mall had far more clothing boutiques—countless styles and designs, all dazzling to the eye.
After spending more than an hour, Eriri helped Iris and Megumin pick out many beautiful dresses.
The mall was huge, and just casually wandering through it had already taken them several hours.
"Onee-sama, where are we going next?" Iris asked excitedly, wearing a white princess dress that made her look like a fairytale character.
For girls, shopping was a natural instinct—even a twelve-year-old wasn't an exception.
After hours of shopping and trying on clothes, both Iris and Megumin were overjoyed, their faces brimming with smiles that never once faded.
For Megumin, who had grown up poor, being able to buy whatever she wanted without worrying about money was like a dream come true.
Although she had accumulated plenty of wealth in the Konosuba world, there simply weren't enough things to spend money on there. Even if she wanted to splurge, there weren't many options.
Here, however, in this modern shopping mall, she could finally experience the thrill of living like a rich girl.
Fortunately, in the Saekano world, supernatural abilities were already quite widespread, so when Iris and Megumin stored their purchases in their storage rings, it didn't cause much commotion.
At most, people around them were mildly surprised, assuming they were spatial ability users.
"Next, I'll take you two to watch a movie. Tomorrow, we'll go visit some other fun places," Eriri said, gently patting Iris's head with a fond smile.
"Mhm!" Iris nodded happily. She didn't even ask what a movie was—she'd find out soon enough anyway.
Eriri then easily led Iris, Megumin, and Aoi Kujou to the cinema on the sixth floor of the mall.
A movie was set to start in about ten minutes, so they didn't have to wait long. After buying their tickets, they could go straight in.
The screening wasn't very crowded, so they easily got seats together.
Once inside, they found their seats and sat down. As the movie was about to start, Eriri suddenly noticed two familiar figures entering from the doorway.
They were none other than the two girls she had brought out from that apocalyptic world before—Chito and Yuuri.
Because the theater was dim, the two didn't notice Eriri's presence.
Eriri, on the other hand, had no intention of greeting them. Seeing how they seemed to have adapted well to their new lives, she couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
Two hours later, the movie ended, and the time was already past five in the evening.
Not planning to continue shopping, Eriri and the others went straight to the mall's underground parking lot and took the car back to the villa.
Just like that, another week flew by in the blink of an eye. Megumin and Iris, having thoroughly enjoyed themselves, returned happily to the Konosuba world.
Meanwhile, Toyogasaki Academy welcomed the start of a new semester.
...
Over a month quickly passed, and the calendar turned to mid-October.
In Class 2-E, the teacher stood at the front, teaching diligently from the textbook.
At the back row by the window, Eriri rested her chin on her hand, staring blankly out the window.
A gentle breeze brushed against her face, making her golden hair flutter softly.
Her flawless, radiant beauty—with no dead angle from any perspective—shimmered under the warm noon sunlight, almost as if glowing on its own.
Just then, an excited voice echoed in Eriri's mind—it was Little Skirt, sounding unusually thrilled.
"Onee-sama! Onee-sama!"
"What's wrong, Little Skirt? Why are you so excited?"
"I just received a very interesting message!"
"Oh? What kind of message?"
Little Skirt's words immediately piqued Eriri's curiosity. However, she didn't probe into Little Skirt's thoughts nor use her omniscient powers to directly find out what the message was about.
"Just now, there was a chat group invitation sent to you, but I blocked it."
Little Skirt's voice was full of excitement. After all, her current level hadn't yet advanced to High Advanced. Now that a chat group had taken the initiative to contact Eriri, it was essentially free evolution experience for her.
If she could devour that chat group, she would be able to evolve to the next level.
However, there was a problem—the chat group's level was the same as hers, High Intermediate. On her own, she couldn't devour it to evolve further.
That meant she needed Eriri's help to take control of the chat group.
But there was something strange about this situation.
Normally, two systems or chat groups would never target the same person. After all, systems evolve by devouring each other, and both systems and chat groups can detect whether someone already has one attached to them.
Unless a high-level system forcibly invaded the body of a lower-level host to consume it—but even then, success wasn't guaranteed. If the difference in level wasn't large enough, the weaker system could detect the intrusion and escape beforehand.
But this time, the chat group that sent the invitation was at the same level as Little Skirt—even slightly weaker—yet it somehow failed to notice Little Skirt's existence and directly invited Eriri.
Unless there was an existence within that chat group as powerful as Eriri herself, such a thing should have been impossible.
And yet, here they were—this impossible situation had actually occurred.
"I see. Looks like we've got a fish taking the bait," Eriri said with amusement in her voice.
"Eh? What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I've been hiding your presence for quite a while now. That way, other systems or chat groups can't detect your existence within me or among our members."
Since Little Skirt's level had remained at High Intermediate for some time, and no one in the group had encountered another system recently, Eriri had decided to conduct an experiment.
She concealed the aura of their chat group from all members to see if any unfortunate system would take the bait and approach her or someone else.
After all, if a High Intermediate chat group's aura was detectable, no other systems would ever target them again.
Of course, with her omniscient ability, Eriri could easily capture countless systems across the multiverse for Little Skirt to devour and evolve.
But to her, that would have been far too boring.
"I see! Onee-sama really does think ahead!" Little Skirt said, flattering her immediately.
"Onee-sama, I've already located the core of that chat group! Please help me catch it so I can devour it—then I'll be able to evolve!"
A chat group's core usually resided within its group leader, and the invitation Little Skirt had intercepted was merely a projection—which meant the group already had a leader.
"No need to rush. How could I resist checking out something this interesting first?"
"Little Skirt, release the invitation message."
"Understood, Onee-sama!"
Naturally, Little Skirt obeyed without hesitation, immediately lifting the block and allowing the invitation to pass through. She had complete trust that Eriri would never abandon her for another chat group.
In the next moment, a mechanical notification sounded in Eriri's mind.
[Ding—The Multiverse Chat Group invites you to join the chat.]
[Ding—Welcome to the Multiverse Chat Group!]
...
[Welcome, Kashiwagi Eri, to the chat group.]
[Welcome, Mirror Flower Moon, to the chat group.]
[Welcome, Uchiha Dance King, to the chat group.]
[Welcome, The Village's Only Hope, to the chat group.]
[Welcome, Million-Word Author, to the chat group.]
...
Meanwhile, in a certain universe within the endless multiverse—a world undergoing spiritual awakening—a young man named Adam stared at the newcomer notifications in the chat window, the corner of his lips curling upward with interest.
—
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