Demi-humans, magical girls, human financial magnates, wives' circles...
Representatives from various major factions, each a beautiful girl with different motives, formed small groups and streamed into the hot spring inn one after another, soaking their bodies in the service hot springs.
And at the center of the whirlpool, Service Club President Hachiman was still upstairs in the room, building rapport with the two poster girls.
"U-um... Master, could you be a little gentler with me later? Teach me slowly... I still haven't quite figured out how Chitose was serving you just now..."
Matsumae Ohana, who had been carried from the corner to the low table by Hachiman, nervously swallowed as she wrapped her arms around his neck, carefully making her request.
"Also, Master, could you take me to the bedroom... and close the door... In case I accidentally disturb the guests in the hot spring downstairs..."
Although she knew that there were certain things between boys and girls, there were still many phenomena she couldn't understand.
Why did Chitose make those sounds? When Chitose said "stop," did she mean stop or not?
When Master didn't move and Chitose held him tightly instead, was that considered an offense against Master?
And also, when exactly was she supposed to turn back and kiss Master... Would it be a bit off for the first time to happen before the first kiss? Should she ask Master to give her their first kiss first before moving on to the next step...
"Even though they probably won't come looking for me right now, and I have soundproofing magic to keep them from hearing you."
Looking down at Matsumae Ohana, who was trying her best to stay calm and pretend to be composed, Hachiman reached up and brushed aside her naturally wavy shoulder-length hair, gently pinching her soft, fair cheek.
"But Ohana, the real thing you should be focusing on is how you're going to serve me later, right?"
"Don't worry, unless you take the initiative, I won't force you."
Tonight was indeed the warm-up phase for tomorrow's hot spring manga convention. Most of the preparatory members would come over to get a feel for the Service Club's atmosphere and meet its members.
However, precisely because there were so many people here tonight, even though it was evening, everyone wasn't as bold and casual as usual.
The newcomers, who were preparatory members, were still observing. Many senior members were also being reserved because they had brought along close friends, not-so-close friends, or other preparatory members with special relationships.
The very few who could ignore everyone else's gazes also had their own reasons for not coming to find him.
For example, the dragon clan leader Ursula, the demon sisters, Amaki Lami and Amaki Lily, the perverted disciplinary committee member Asai Saki.
Normally, Ursula, who had been on the losing end and suppressed, would take advantage of Eirys's absence to stir up trouble. But now that the other world's hero party had come to scout the situation, Ursula hadn't made a move. He suspected she had gone back to the other world to call for reinforcements as well.
"Huh? You don't need me to serve you, Master?"
Matsumae Ohana wasn't very familiar with the current situation. Hearing Hachiman say he didn't need her to serve him like Yukino Chitose had, she was a bit confused and stared blankly at him as he gently caressed her cheek.
She had seen Yukino Chitose serve Hachiman until her bones went limp. Having witnessed the entire process, she was even a little worried that Chitose might become dehydrated and unwell.
Now that Chitose was too weak to continue, she naturally assumed that as a fellow poster girl, she would also have to work hard to serve Hachiman.
Unexpectedly, Hachiman said he didn't need her service. So was the earlier intimate teasing just to mess with her? Or was what he was saying now the lie?
"It's not that I don't need you, it's that I don't want to force you."
Hearing Matsumae Ohana's words, Hachiman smiled and corrected her.
"I'm sure Suzuka and the others have told you about my personality. Don't worry about me forcing you to do things you're unhappy about."
"Rather than having fun that only I enjoy, built on your pain, I prefer a win-win happiness where feelings grow over time and both you and I are immersed in it."
"However, if you take the initiative, I won't refuse either."
Although he had already enjoyed Yukino Chitose, who had offered herself up, their situations clearly couldn't be compared.
Chitose had deep feelings for the hot spring inn Kinpouro and had clear goals. Matsumae Ohana had only just arrived at the hot spring inn Kissuiso, wasn't familiar with anything here, and even if she could redeem Kissuiso through work, becoming its landlady wasn't that attractive to her.
The reason she was staying here, like Chitose, was simply because Matsumae Ohana had nowhere else to go.
"Feelings growing over time... Master, do you mean that even dating you would be okay?"
Matsumae Ohana propped herself up on the low table with one hand and slowly sat up, looking puzzled at Hachiman, who was so close that it seemed she could kiss him just by leaning forward.
She didn't pay much attention to the difference between "not forcing" and "not needing." As long as Hachiman didn't force her, that was all she cared about.
Although Hachiman hadn't said he would let her go, why was he keeping her here without forcing her?
She was being well-fed and well-cared for at the inn. As a poster girl, she only had to receive and serve Hachiman; the other female guests hardly needed her personal service.
When Service Club members came to the inn, they either ate, drank, or soaked in the hot springs. The chefs and maids handled all that. What was there for her, a poster girl, to do for the female guests? At most, she'd chat with everyone.
The work was easy, the pay was generous, and she, a homeless girl with no skills, was enjoying such lavish treatment. It made Matsumae Ohana think of another possibility.
Mm... get on the bus first, buy the ticket later. The kind some female classmates liked to read about.
"You can think of it that way, but I'm quite fickle, Ohana. Are you sure you want to date me?"
Hachiman paused for a moment, then gestured for Yukino Chitose to come over. Chitose immediately took his arm in her arms, pressing her plump, full body tightly against him.
Although Chitose didn't know what her master was playing at, it didn't stop her from being obedient.
"You don't need to have Chitose do that on purpose, Master. Your fickleness is already obvious enough."
Matsumae Ohana rolled her eyes at the deliberate display between Hachiman and Yukino Chitose.
Were all those beautiful, cute female guests at the inn just for show? Besides, she had just watched Chitose go from hesitant and shy to completely submissive.
But hearing that Hachiman wanted to develop feelings with her over time actually made her feel more at ease.
"Miss Hayasaka, let me handle it."
Matsumae Ohana looked down at the low table she was sitting on, which had already been cleaned. She hesitated for a moment, then happened to see Hayasaka Ai, who had left not long ago, returning with tea and snacks. She quickly trotted over and took them.
"..."
Hayasaka Ai watched Matsumae Ohana take the tray bearing tea and snacks, blinked, and said nothing. She just nodded slightly and returned to the door to continue her duties as a personal maid.
Not having to do that, just serving tea and passing snacks, that was fine.
Although Kaguya-sama was waiting for her to come back and share experiences and techniques, she could just make something up for that kind of thing.
Those who had truly experienced it knew that when facing their master, all they had to do was follow their instincts.
The master's overwhelming power would make anyone submit involuntarily.
And the master's help in awakening their magical girl talents... she suspected it was merely a byproduct of submitting to him.
It wasn't that the master had developed their magical girl talents; rather, because they had submitted to him completely, inside and out, they received his blessing.
That would explain why someone without magical girl talent could awaken magical girl abilities, yet after becoming a magical girl, they couldn't improve their strength on their own and still needed the master's training to continue growing.
"Master, ah—"
"Ohana, you're accepting this so quickly?"
Looking at Matsumae Ohana, who was proactively bringing snacks to feed him, Hachiman was a bit surprised.
Although she had come to him, and as one of his favorite female characters from a former anime, he definitely wouldn't let her leave just like that, he had thought she would at least need some time to get to know him before feelings could develop.
After all, they had just met, and his first impression wasn't great. It would have been normal if she didn't like him. He hadn't expected her to accept things so readily.
"Ever since I was little, I've been used to my mom being unreliable. So I've never had very high expectations for these things."
Matsumae Ohana slowly fed the snack into Hachiman's mouth. Seeing him take a bite, she pulled back her pale fingers and then fed a piece to Yukino Chitose as well.
She suddenly turned around, looked at Hayasaka Ai, who was silently watching with an expressionless face, trotted over, and gave her a portion too.
"..."
Hayasaka Ai looked down at the snack in her palm, then looked up at Matsumae Ohana's enthusiastic figure as she ran back. She felt a silent sense of resignation.
Being lively and cheerful wasn't a problem. Kaguya-sama's good friend, Fujiwara Chika, had a flighty personality far more troublesome than the Matsumae Ohana before her.
But she seriously doubted that, with Ohana's warm and outgoing personality, she'd be thinking about saving some for her even when doing that.
"Dating a fickle master is still better than being treated as a tool by one, right? Besides... I think you're actually pretty great, Master. Maybe I really will fall for you."
Matsumae Ohana returned to the low table, finally popped a snack into her own mouth, then cupped a teacup with both hands and brought it to Hachiman's lips. Watching him drink the tea, she smiled and explained why she had suddenly stopped being nervous.
She had always dreamed of finding a stable job. Having a reliable master didn't seem so bad either.
Having seen too much of her overly free-spirited mother and her mother's chaotic social circle, she felt that even a husband she painstakingly found might cheat after marriage.
Although she wasn't giving up on herself, her long-term environment really hadn't made her expectations for love very high.
Now that she knew in advance how fickle her master was, she had a baseline and wasn't panicking.
Mm... just think of it as being played by her master?
Hachiman was called "master," but he was essentially the president of a big company. She just had to call the president "master."
Even the employees at maid cafes had to call customers "master." She only had to call one person "master."
Her role as a poster girl was essentially equivalent to being President Hikigaya's lover. She and Chitose, these lover poster girls, were merely the ones managing the president's external business.
After thinking it over carefully and reinterpreting her position, Matsumae Ohana felt that her role as a "lover" was actually pretty good. She wouldn't even have to worry about the president's legal wife coming to confront her.
If the president's legal wife wanted to cause trouble, she'd go after those powerful, influential, and classy heiresses, right? Why would she bother with a lowly poster girl?
Though the biggest reason was that she had already figured out from the reactions of Kijou Suzuka and Yukino Chitose that she had no chance of leaving this place.
So many heiresses had unclear relationships with the master, and even these hot spring inns had been bought up and merged into secret meeting spots. How could a small-time poster girl like her, knowing all this, stay out of it?
Her mother had to choose to move away and escape when yakuza might come to collect debts, while she, facing the Service Club, which was clearly countless times more powerful than ordinary yakuza organizations, had no choice but to comply, did she?
At least now, even serving Hachiman, she was living better than at home.
Eating delicious food, wearing nice clothes, and being intimate with such a handsome guy...
If it weren't for the fact that the initiative was completely in Hachiman's hands, and that he had so many incredibly beautiful girls around him who might get tired of her, someone without much charm, at any time, she might have thought this was the life her former classmates, or even she herself, had always dreamed of.
"Why would I treat you as a tool? Do you think you and Chitose need to manage the hot spring inn while also helping me handle the relationships among Service Club members?"
"You guessed wrong, Ohana. This hot spring inn is just a place for entertainment and relaxation. You and Chitose are managing it, but you only need to provide normal services to the guests. There's no need to deliberately curry favor with anyone else."
"The Service Club members aren't here for the hot springs. What they really need is my assistance."
Looking at Matsumae Ohana, who seemed to have no expectations and therefore no disappointment, whatever he did was fine, Hachiman smiled and explained.
"But let's not get into all that now. You'll understand slowly over time. For now, Ohana, you and Chitose come soak in the hot spring with me."
He didn't continue along that line of conversation. Empty talk was useless; better to show her through action that being with him meant more than just having food and clothing.
"Uh... Master, when you say hot spring, do you mean the big one outside, or the small one in the courtyard?"
Matsumae Ohana felt a sense of foreboding when she heard Hachiman ask her to accompany him to the hot spring.
Although after thinking it through, she felt that even some intimate contact with him wouldn't be a problem, that was limited to just him.
Would those female guests get jealous seeing her serve Hachiman? What would happen when he wasn't around and guests came to cause trouble for her?
Matsumae Ohana had never truly seen high society before. She could only imagine how these heiresses would behave based on what she knew about her female classmates.
In her mind, with so many girls vying for Hachiman's attention, no matter what their motives were, they wouldn't allow her to be intimate with him in front of everyone.
"You don't want to soak with everyone else? Then let's do the small one."
Seeing this, Hachiman decided on the small hot spring, not forcing Matsumae Ohana to endure overwhelming embarrassment.
It didn't matter to him whether he went to the big or small hot spring.
The large open-air hot spring that looped around the inn was good for parties, letting him hold one person after another. But the small open-air hot spring in the room's courtyard was also nice, the smaller space made it more suitable for cuddling and whispering sweet nothings to build rapport.
Considering that there were indeed many newcomers in the big hot spring tonight, it wouldn't be convenient for him to do much there. It was better to soak in the small one privately. He could always call people over to the room to play.
Mm... tomorrow was the hot spring manga convention, but tonight could still have some warm-up entertainment.
"Really? Thank you, Master!"
Relieved that she wouldn't have to antagonize those heiresses, Matsumae Ohana quickly thanked Hachiman.
However, seeing him smile without speaking as he looked at her, Matsumae Ohana hesitated, then blushed and gently kissed him on the cheek.
"What about the other side?"
"The other side is for Chitose! We're both poster girls, I can't be the only one kissing."
Seeing Hachiman point to his other cheek, still wanting another kiss, Matsumae Ohana's face burned hot and red. She didn't dare lean in for another peck.
"Chitose kissed me so many times just now. Are you sure you want to compare with her?"
Hachiman smiled and shook his head, not teasing her further.
Although he was already battle-hardened, with kissing and doing that being daily occurrences, teasing a pure girl still felt great.
Especially slowly molding a pure, kind girl like Matsumae Ohana into his own, knowing just a light pinch would tell him how she'd respond...
The black-haired poster girl Yukino Chitose, pressed tightly against Hachiman's side, watched Matsumae Ohana interacting so comfortably with him and making bold requests with a hint of envy.
After an in-depth exchange and knowing each other thoroughly, she wasn't worried about being sold off, and she knew she was now one of the managers of the inn. No matter what, nothing bad would happen to her.