"Didn't we invite that blonde gyaru, Marin, from our master's class over to hang out before? It was just that last time it was themed around the Forest of Elves."
"Recently, Marin has been getting pretty close to Princess Lumilia. They're planning to go to a convention this Saturday to pick up some ideas, then come back and set up a private cosplay-themed event."
"President, should we invite them to hold the cosplay event at the Rurikawa family's mansion?"
Lumilia was the youngest among the elves, yet her figure could be called the best among the elf princesses.
However, unlike Iris, Aegis, Nina, and the others, Lumilia, who was doted on and didn't need to learn combat, liked reading, drinking tea, and researching interesting things.
Even before coming to this world, Lumilia had an interest in otaku culture. After meeting Kitagawa Marin, who loved cosplay, the two quickly became good friends.
If Marin pulled Lumilia and Gabriel along to play eroge together, that would basically form a special little 2D-themed group.
Hmm… this might be another lane besides maids and idols. For Miss Rurikawa, they'd have to get involved in it too.
"Hmm… the Service Club doesn't really have that open-air feeling. We could set up an outdoor convention at Tsubaki's house. The place is big enough, and we have plenty of people. This time we can also take some photos with a western mansion theme."
Kaede thought for a moment, figured Hachiman would like it too, and agreed.
"But we can also go check out the convention ourselves… Hachiman and I both like manga. It's just that we haven't had time to read lately. He doesn't seem to have gone to conventions to buy anything before either, so we can go see how professional cosplayers and doujin artists participate in conventions."
No need to say it, this bunch was definitely trying to win Hachiman's favor, very likely under Iris's direction. Naturally, she couldn't fall behind.
"We can do cosplay too. Hachiman really likes our magical girl outfits."
Suzu looked at her sister Kaede, who had only just realized things and was a step behind everyone else, and reminded her.
"Kitagawa probably knows quite a few cosplayers. We need to be careful too, otherwise this might turn into their home ground."
"Of course. We're Hachiman's childhood friends, and we're twins too. How could Hachiman not like us? Still, we can try finding some twin characters to cosplay."
Kaede rolled her eyes at Suzu, speaking with full confidence.
"As for cosplayers… they all need a lot of makeup to look good, right? How could they compare to us? There are plenty of pretty girls at Sobu High. Hachiman wouldn't be interested in those cosplayers."
"And even if he is, so what? It's not like we'd hand them over to Iris. As long as they all end up on my side, that's enough."
As the childhood friend who had spent the most time with Hachiman and shared the deepest bond with him, she could afford to be this willful.
No one understood Hachiman better than she did.
"..."
Suzu didn't feel like speaking, just silently turning her head to look at Rurikawa Tsubaki.
Hachiman might not care about ordinary cosplayers, but what about exceptionally beautiful ones?
Kitagawa Marin was already working part-time as a model, and her own conditions were excellent. Cosplayers in her circle were very likely clean, with great looks and figures. If they were brought in to join the cosplay-themed service activity, there was a high chance they'd half willingly, half reluctantly become part of their little group, adding a whole new cosplay faction.
But since Kaede's mindset had improved and she wasn't as easily jealous anymore, she didn't bother worrying too much.
With Tsubaki and Kotoine around, even if those cosplayers wanted to climb up, they wouldn't get the chance. When the time came, the Rurikawa family could just provide money and resources to support them playing cosplay.
"Mm…"
Feeling Suzu's meaningful gaze, Rurikawa Tsubaki grew embarrassed and flustered, her legs pressing tightly together, her face slightly red.
She didn't know whether Suzu was hinting at something, because she herself was the kind of bad woman who got happiness by relying on her best friend's boyfriend to climb up.
And now she was going to block others from trying to do the same.
"Do you think Kasumi can finish today's task? She wasn't very proactive before, and she even deliberately used cold air to freeze things just now."
"She should be fine. From how she looks, she doesn't dislike it. Look, she even seems to be savoring it. So what she did earlier was probably just a little game with Lord Hikigaya."
"Compared to Kasumi, Mifuyu's emotions aren't stable enough. Hopefully when she actually receives assistance later, she won't get startled and release cold air that affects Lord Hikigaya's mood."
Among the snow woman group, a pair of twins with full, mature figures, delicate and beautiful faces, and nearly identical appearances, blue-white long hair, watched the big screen with deep concern. On it, Kasumi was licking her fingers, while Yukino Mifuyu's face was flushed red as she didn't dare activate shared sensation again.
In this Barrier of Desire activity, in the upgraded game stages, whether vampires, succubi, elves, or goddess angels, they all went up in pairs. On the snow woman side, it was originally planned for Miyuki and Yukina, the twin snow women, to go.
They belonged to the more proactive faction among the snow women when it came to having children, and were very willing to take the lead for their companions and personally experience Hachiman's strength.
Using their own firsthand experience to verify Lord Hikigaya's true worth, whether after assisting so many demi-humans and magical girls, he still had the energy to assist so many snow women. If not, then the others wouldn't need to struggle with the decision and could just return to the village.
However, because of Kasumi's extremely special inner voice and her past experience of saving Lord Hikigaya, she was chosen to participate in this late-night service activity, pushing the twins' turn further back.
After all, they were twins, twins had to stay together. Splitting them up would make it meaningless.
If they didn't go, another snow woman had to substitute.
And Mizore Shirayuki, who had dropped out and returned home, with an introverted and shy personality, always hiding in corners, refused no matter what to go in such a public setting where many people would watch. So they had no choice but to send Yukino Mifuyu, who was also socially anxious and not good at interacting, but more gentle and easier to persuade.
It was a last resort. After all, only five snow women had come in total. Asking the village for support wasn't really feasible either, the number of snow women there wasn't large to begin with, and there were very few of suitable age left. They couldn't exactly ask Village Chief Mai to come out and assist together with them.
Aoe Kuon, who had joined Sobu High with them, could only provide some convenience to these snow women who had lived deep in the mountains and lacked worldly experience. There was no way she would accompany them to serve Lord Hikigaya.
Fortunately, so far, even though Kasumi wasn't very proactive at first and Mifuyu was extremely shy, worried about doing poorly and angering others, both Kasumi and Mifuyu were progressing quite well with Lord Hikigaya.
Although, in the eyes of those familiar with Kasumi's personality, she seemed more like her foodie nature had been activated by Lord Hikigaya, treating this service activity as a dining experience.
Still, everything was moving in a good direction, so they couldn't really say anything.
From their observations and understanding at Sobu High and the Service Club, they could now fully confirm that Lord Hikigaya's strength was absolutely not an issue. Assisting them would be more than enough, one could even say that if he didn't hold back, it would make them, who should have strong desires and be hard to satisfy, unable to endure it.
Of course, this assistance wasn't without problems.
The biggest issue was that they weren't strong enough and couldn't compete with the other demi-humans.
Even without comparing themselves to the currently largest elf faction or the domineering dragon faction, just compared to other demi-humans or even humans, their group of five snow women wasn't very competitive.
In a five-versus-five situation, they weren't worried about losing to anyone. But other small groups wouldn't play fair, and there were so many of them. Defeating one group only meant facing many more.
If only someone from the Aoe side could help. In the demi-human alliance, this area of Chiba was under the jurisdiction of the Aoe family. They should know quite a bit about snow women and could help find some living alone in different regions or those who hadn't awakened their bloodline yet.
But after Aoe Kuon returned to the family, there had been no news.
"Could it be that Miss Kuon doesn't want to participate in the assistance? After hearing about the demi-human assistance plan from the elf princess, she said she'd go back with Lady Mai to discuss it, but she still hasn't replied to us."
Miyuki, the slightly more lively younger twin, hesitated, making guesses about the long silence.
"That shouldn't be the case. Even if Miss Kuon didn't plan to participate before, everyone knows now that Lord Hikigaya possesses awakened magic essence."
The more steady Yukina shook her head and analyzed seriously.
"Lord Mai is not only the head of the Aoe family, but also one of the four councilors of the International Demi-Human Alliance. She should understand better than us how powerful awakened magic essence is."
Even snow women like them, who had lived deep in the mountains, understood the allure of awakened magic essence, let alone someone like Aoe Mai, who knew the situation of demi-humans in human society.
At present, the demi-humans who had come to Sobu High were only a small number with their own special reasons. Most didn't believe an elf princess from another world could help them. For them, being able to live hidden among humans or find work related to demi-humans was already enough.
But the legendary awakened magic essence, capable of awakening bloodlines and enhancing strength, was different. Even if not for themselves, they could do it for their daughters.
Once other demi-humans learned about it, they would flock here in droves. Even if Sobu High expanded several times over, it still wouldn't be able to accommodate all the transfer students wanting to come.
She even suspected the elf princess had known about awakened magic essence from the start and came specifically for Lord Hikigaya. Otherwise, why would a princess from another world come to study here, and specifically choose Sobu High, just to coincidentally meet Lord Hikigaya who possessed awakened magic essence?
It was only when more and more demi-humans gathered at Sobu High, and the attention of various factions made it impossible to keep the secret any longer, that the elf princess revealed it herself.
At that point, even if other demi-humans couldn't resist the temptation, they would have to face the united forces of elves, dragons, merfolk, and others. Without joining them and accepting their rules, they could only leave, there was no way to take Lord Hikigaya away.
Of course, these were just baseless speculations. The truth didn't matter to the snow women.
All they wanted was for Lord Hikigaya to assist them in having children. If their strength and bloodline could improve along the way, that would be great. If not, it didn't matter.
But others might not think the same way. Perhaps the silent Aoe family was already doing what Ursula once did, seeking out other snow women.
Aoe Kuon's bloodline seemed not fully awakened, but just her joining wasn't enough to significantly increase their group's strength.
The same topic was also being discussed among the vampires.
The six sisters of the Kiriya family and the five-person ghoul group sat on two long sofas facing each other.
The six sisters were Kiriya Nadeshiko, Kiriya Botan, Kiriya Ai, Kiriya Fujino, Kiriya Kurenai, and Kiriya Sumire.
The five ghouls were Yoshimura Eto, Kirishima Touka, Fueguchi Hinami, Yasuhisa Nashiro, and Yasuhisa Kurona.
Kiriya Nadeshiko and Yoshimura Eto sat in the middle representing their respective groups, discussing in low voices, just enough for those nearby to hear, how to handle tonight's faction battle.
Or rather, how to act.
Although the Kiriya sisters belonged to the elf faction and the ghoul group belonged to the dragon faction, everyone wasn't stupid. Ursula and Iris weren't fighting to the death, so there was no need for them to go all out either.
Elves, dragonkin, merfolk, and snow women could all find outside support.
They couldn't.
Even though they and Tsukishiro Sayo were all vampires, most vampires valued pure bloodlines. Just because Sayo didn't discriminate against them didn't mean other vampires would treat them the same.
The Kiriya family's bloodline wasn't fully awakened, so they had long been excluded. The ghouls were even worse, victims of persecution, rejected by both demi-humans and humans.
On the surface, they had accepted recruitment from the elf princess Iris and the dragon leader Ursula, belonging to their respective factions. But in reality, their true backing was Hachiman.
Under these circumstances, while they couldn't betray their factions, their real goal should be to make Hachiman like them, not get dragged into the endless vortex of faction wars.
Still, this couldn't be called letting each other off.
It was mutual support.
"Miss Yoshimura, your group has more people than ours, and you've already been favored by our master. Why don't you go first and share your thoughts?"
Kiriya Nadeshiko, the eldest sister, sat properly on the sofa, gently setting down her teacup, smiling as she looked at the messy-haired, somewhat unkempt petite girl Yoshimura Eto.
She was a bit upset. They hadn't even offered themselves yet, and the later-arriving ghouls had already gotten everything. But there was nothing they could do. After all, they hadn't been that determined at the start.
Back then, she had gone alone to the student council office to meet their master, while her five sisters were still in the school building and hadn't come out. She could only offer herself on the spot, alone.
Meanwhile, the five ghouls met the master together. Aside from the younger Hinami, it seemed all of them had been favored once.
Fortunately, it was only once, they hadn't had their bloodlines awakened yet. Otherwise, they'd regret it to death.
"In truth, our numbers are about the same, just one more than you at most. But since Miss Nadeshiko says so, I'll make a simple arrangement."
Yoshimura Eto smiled, knowing the Kiriya sisters were extremely jealous of them getting there first. In a good mood, she slowly looked at Kirishima Touka, Fueguchi Hinami, and the others beside her, then at the six sisters across from her, making arrangements based on their personalities.
"I'll pair up with Miss Nadeshiko."
"Miss Ai is quiet, Miss Kurenai is lively and tsundere. The contrast works well. Nashiro and Kurona, you twins go with them."
"Touka with Miss Botan should work. Touka doesn't talk much, and Miss Botan is outgoing, they complement each other."
"Hinami, you go with Miss Sumire. Sumire is also delicate and shy, so it shouldn't be too stressful for either of you."
"And Tsukishiro Sayo… Miss Fujino, could I trouble you to pair with Sayo?"
As Yoshimura Eto finished assigning, aside from Nadeshiko, the five Kiriya sisters who hadn't yet experienced Hachiman's favor either remained expressionless, grinned, or blushed deeply, some even with their ears turning red.
This so-called opposing team pairing was basically serving together.
For their first time in life, to do it with their sisters and other vampires, so many people.
Anyone would find it hard to suppress their embarrassment.
Even those like Touka and Nashiro, who had experienced it before, felt uneasy thinking about the whole acting-and-holding-back scenario. They had seen people fake it before, but never like this.
Hinami, who had only sat at the tea table with Kanzaki Moemi and others to perform before Hachiman last time without going further, secretly glanced at her opponent, no, partner, Kiriya Sumire across from her. She found the other girl sneaking a glance at her too. Their eyes met briefly before both quickly looked away, lowering their heads in shy silence.
"No problem. Tsukishiro Sayo shouldn't have much stamina left tonight. Even if I don't understand much, I should be able to keep up with her."
With long, smooth hair reaching her waist, straight bangs, wearing a plain kimono, and carrying a quiet, refined literary aura, Kiriya Fujino smiled and nodded after hearing Eto assign Sayo to her, understanding there was no ill intent.
Whether ghouls or the Kiriya family, neither of their situations was good. Without outside help, they had to stick together to secure their future.
"By the way, where is Miss Riya? She's a very strong vampire."
"As for Miss Riya… don't you have other vampires you can invite to help? Didn't you previously receive protection from a true vampire ancestor?"
"Our master is so popular. This is a good opportunity, you can bring in other vampire forces you've been trying to recruit. That would improve our situation a lot."
"Other vampires…"
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