— — — — — —
In the shared space, seven floating islands drifted through the void, as if swimming in space. Each one belonged to a member of the group chat—except Shiroyasha and Esdeath, who didn't have their own.
In Shiroyasha's case, she could easily create one herself, so there was no need for Veyron to make her one.
As for Esdeath, she lived with Merlin and Lily, spending most of her time studying.
---
The Admin's floating island
Compared to the default settings it had just after creation, the shared space now looked far more customized.
Veyron's floating island, like the other six, had undergone its own distinct transformation.
It was now a tranquil bamboo forest, barely a hundred miles across. At its heart stood a simple bamboo house, a design so straightforward you could take in the whole layout at a glance.
The designer was, of course, none other than Kaguya Houraisan, who had gained access to the space just a few days ago.
Apparently, compared to the Moon Palace she'd been living in for the past few months, the princess still preferred the place where she'd first crossed paths with Veyron.
...
After giving Yuuka Kazami a quick rundown of how the shared space worked, Veyron followed her request and carved out a corner of his island far from its central city—an experimental field for growing senzu beans.
Once the Flower Master of the Four Seasons was settled in, he returned to his bamboo house.
"So you are that close with her, Daddy," Kaguya said the moment he arrived, wearing a look that clearly said 'I knew it'.
"…How exactly is that a 'I knew it' situation?" Veyron asked, taking a seat beside her.
"Isn't it obvious?" She raised an eyebrow. "I heard about the 'Flower Master of the Four Seasons' back when I was still in the Lunar Capital—Eirin mentioned her a few times. According to her, Yuuka's on par with the so-called 'Yokai Sage.'
"But let's not even talk about now. A few months ago, during the Lunar War, you told me yourself—back then, how many Yokai Sages could she take on?"
"That depends on how fast Yukari can run," Veyron said with a small laugh.
During the Lunar War, Yuuka had used a blood sample Veyron provided to comprehend his [Photosynthesis], awakening the "sunlight" she'd stored over countless years. On top of her original level as a millennia-old yokai—equal to Yukari Yakumo—she'd undergone a complete evolution in life essence.
After her breakthrough, if Yukari dared to face her head-on, even a hundred of her wouldn't be enough for Yuuka to bother breaking a sweat.
"Anyway, seriously—if there were something going on between us, I wouldn't be hiding it from you, especially after you brought it up yourself. You've seen how upfront I've been about Merlin."
Veyron explained, "With Yuuka, I just needed her abilities. I gave her part of the payment in advance so things would go more smoothly."
"Oh? And that succubus—wasn't that because I caught you red-handed first?"
The moment Merlin's name came up, Kaguya gave him a narrow-eyed smile that was anything but innocent.
A few days ago, after finishing her custom design of the floating island, she and Veyron had been… enjoying the new place naked, when she suddenly sensed a burst of cosmic-level power from a neighboring island.
The familiar sensation had piqued her curiosity, so she extended her senses to check.
Oh. A succubus.
"Oh Daddy~ So while you were using me in the real world, your mind was busy entertaining her?"
Once she put the pieces together, Kaguya had been so amused she ended up laughing out loud—though it was the kind of laugh that spelled trouble.
Veyron: "…That really wasn't my fault. She was the one who—"
...
He coughed lightly, forcing the topic elsewhere. "Anyway… I'm guessing you didn't call me over just to talk about Yuuka?"
"True," the princess said with a small nod.
She might have been irritated, but in truth, she'd already made her peace with the whole matter back when Veyron first started making a mess in Treeborn World.
The only time she'd truly lost her composure afterward was when she learned—through certain details the involved parties didn't even bother hiding—that Eirin, at some point, had also gotten… entangled with him.
If she could accept Eirin, then what was one more—like Yuuka—supposed to matter?
The real reason Kaguya reached out when she sensed Veyron entering the shared space was because she'd just gotten an invitation from Chika Fujiwara, asking her to come visit her world for a bit.
"Then go," Veyron said casually.
The princess said nothing, only fixing him with a steady look.
"…Alright," he said after a pause, "I don't really have anything urgent right now anyway. How about I come with you?"
Veyron took the hint.
World-∞, not counting the original World-0, had already merged with five other worlds.
...
The moment she crossed over, Kaguya's senses swept across the small planet. She raised an eyebrow at the sheer number of beings crouching here.
"Tsk, tsk... Daddy seemed to be living a very "comfortable" life in this world."
Kaguya was then shocked by something else.
Why… why was everyone so big? D-cup was the norm now?
Fuck... Not just the five women who were clearly close to Veyron.
Even the students in this school they were standing in—every single one looked like they were living on a diet of pure luxury and overnutrition.
"Dad, could it be you like my 'substitute' so much because she…"
The princess made a deliberate gesture in front of her chest.
Come to think of it—every woman she knew to have a vague (or not-so-vague) relationship with Veyron, herself included, was… generously built.
Wait.
"Don't overthink it. Just coincidence," he said.
Veyron could more or less guess what was on her mind. He rubbed her head. "Here… let's just call it a local specialty."
In a Highschool of the Dead–type world, it went without saying.
And just from the fact that 'the way to acquire world bonds was bouncing boobs,' you could already imagine what kind of setting this was.
As for Excellent Girls' Academy… well…
This world was H-anime at its core, so here, oppai poverty itself was the rarest resource.
"So, want to tour my school first, or take a look around the city?"
Bending down, Veyron scooped the princess up into his arms.
ack when there was only one world, the presence of Shuchiin Academy—a prestigious school spanning kindergarten through university—had already made the surrounding area quite prosperous, even just to cater to the daily needs of its students.
After several more world mergers, and the inevitable "fate entanglement" between them, the area now hosted other top-tier schools like:
Excellent Girls' Academy, along with Private Sakuragaoka Girls' High School (K-ON!), Sobu High School (Oregairu), Suimei University of the Arts (Sakurasou), and Minegahara High School (Bunny Girl Senpai)…
The sheer number of schools—and the commercial and residential districts that fed off them—had turned the place into something very close to a proper "academy city."
"Let's check out the city first," Kaguya decided.
Compared to the school, where you could see half the campus just by standing at the window of the chairman's office, the urban sprawl outside seemed far more enticing.
.
.
.