[Discovered a new Divine Spark Fragment host target!]
[Target: Utaha Kasumigaoka.]
[Mission: Make contact with her.]
The robotic voice only gave three prompts before disappearing, making Shichen wonder if he had missed something.
There was no specific mission, no time limit, and no mission privilege.
Did this mean he wasn't in a hurry to obtain the Divine Spark Fragment from Utaha Kasumigaoka?
Or was it that the fragment on Tohru was the priority?
Was there no mission privilege because there was only one privilege per world?
Shichen didn't care much about privileges. If there were no other extraordinary beings besides Tohru, he was basically invincible.
Combined with the privilege he obtained from Frieren, which wasn't time-limited in this world, he could even become a Kamen Rider.
The only thing missing was the exclusive Rider Kick skill.
Most importantly, with Utaha Kasumigaoka appearing, what more privilege did he need?
"Manager?" Utaha Kasumigaoka saw Shichen staring at her in a daze and couldn't help but remind him.
Was he another person captivated by her beauty?
But wasn't this manager too young?
Utaha Kasumigaoka felt that Shichen wasn't much older than her, possibly around the same age, but being able to be a manager was impressive.
However, she wondered if it was her imagination, but she felt as if this young manager had a natural filter, emitting a faint glow all over.
Do handsome men come with special effects?
"Ah? Oh, I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Shichen snapped back to reality and asked apologetically.
Utaha Kasumigaoka pursed her lips, not minding Shichen's distraction, and asked again, "Is this shop open for business?"
"Sorry, not yet."
"Is that so?" Utaha Kasumigaoka frowned, then couldn't help but glance around the interior of the shop before asking, "When will it open?"
"It should be able to open tomorrow," Shichen replied without hesitation.
Everything in the shop was ready; opening it was basically a thought away for him, and with Tohru also there, she could help.
Seeing Utaha Kasumigaoka's interest, how could he let her get away?
"I see."
Utaha Kasumigaoka nodded and turned to leave, but as she reached the door and pulled it open, she looked back at Shichen.
"Manager... do you know me?"
She had noticed Shichen's strange expression when he saw her earlier; it wasn't like he was lost in her beauty, but rather as if he had seen someone he knew but shouldn't have appeared.
However, she was certain she had never met Shichen. With his looks and demeanor, it would be hard to forget him.
"No, I don't," Shichen shook his head, smiling in denial.
"Alright." Utaha Kasumigaoka nodded lightly and left the shop.
Watching the door slowly close, Shichen finally couldn't maintain his expression, a look of regret on his face.
He had let Utaha Kasumigaoka get away just like that!
He had really wanted to keep her just now, but there was no reason, and opening the shop immediately wasn't appropriate since Tohru's matter hadn't been resolved yet.
He couldn't be too hasty or greedy; he had to take it slow.
Shichen could only hope that Utaha Kasumigaoka would come again tomorrow.
However, he hadn't expected Utaha Kasumigaoka to appear; it was a pleasant surprise.
A world where Utaha Kasumigaoka and Tohru coexist... Is this heaven?
And if there was Utaha Kasumigaoka, wouldn't that golden twin-tailed tsundere also be here?
Then, was Megumi Katou in this world?
It was a pity that Utaha Kasumigaoka was already so grown up, and that golden twin-tailed tsundere was also not young, having been courted by someone since childhood, so he didn't have much of a chance.
He was quite resistant to the idea of stealing someone's girlfriend.
He still had to figure out the timeline of this world and what grade Utaha Kasumigaoka was in now.
He hoped it wasn't too late.
There was no helping it; he was a pure love warrior. Stealing someone's girlfriend wouldn't sit right with him, but getting a head start was fine.
Shichen wouldn't feel guilty or ashamed because of an information asymmetry; that's just how first-come, first-served works. Before, he couldn't do anything across dimensions, but now he could interact with them.
So, naturally, he would take action.
It was just that he might be a bit greedy.
To prevent anyone else from coming in, Shichen first hung a "Closed" sign on the coffee shop and then returned to the second floor.
As he reached the door of his room, Shichen's eyes couldn't help but light up.
Tohru had already finished watching the maid training videos, and she had already conjured a standard maid outfit and was wearing it.
A dark blue halter apron, a white blouse underneath with ruffled shoulders, white lace sleeves on her arms, her lower body almost entirely covered by the apron, revealing only a bit of white stockings, and brown leather shoes on her feet.
Although she had horns on her head and a thick green tail behind her, it didn't look out of place; instead, it made her even cuter and more lively.
She was currently spinning around in the room, admiring herself, her smile very bright, seemingly very satisfied with her attire.
"Shichen-sama!"
Tohru noticed Shichen and happily ran towards him.
"Hehe~ How do I look?" she asked expectantly.
Shichen gave her a thumbs-up without hesitation: "Amazing!"
"Really?" Tohru couldn't help but shyly cover her face with her hands.
"Of course it's true, I really like it," Shichen smiled and nodded. It was exactly as he remembered, which was incredible.
"Shichen-sama likes it? That's great!" Tohru couldn't help but pounce into Shichen's arms.
It was another full-frontal tackle.
Shichen naturally wrapped his arms around her and then ruffled her head: "How was your learning?"
"Hmm, I understand everything now."
"Is that so? Then do you want to be a maid?"
"Mm!" Tohru nodded vigorously: "I want to be Shichen-sama's maid, to specially serve Shichen-sama."
"It's okay if you don't like it," Shichen said indifferently.
His desire for Tohru to become a dragon maid was just his preconceived notion; if Tohru herself wanted to do something else, he would definitely support her.
"No, I think being a maid is great! I want to serve Shichen-sama!" Tohru's tone was firm.
"Alright, but if you don't want to be a maid, just tell me, okay?" Shichen couldn't help but ruffle her little head again.
Her golden hair felt really good, soft and silky, almost addictive.
"Never~" Tohru squinted her eyes, quite enjoying Shichen's head pat.
"Since there are no problems, let's go buy some daily necessities for you first."
"Daily necessities?"
"Toothbrushes, towels, and blankets, and so on."
"I don't need those, and why buy blankets? Aren't I sleeping with Shichen-sama?"
"How is that possible?"
"Eh—?"
Despite Tohru's strong reluctance, Shichen still took her to a nearby supermarket to buy various items, including toothbrushes and towels.
Although she didn't need them, Shichen's ingrained beliefs made him think it was better to brush her teeth.
He didn't need to prepare anything for the coffee shop for now; it had everything it needed, and quite a lot.
It was quite thoughtful of him.
In addition to buying daily necessities for Tohru, Shichen also bought himself a few sets of clothes; he couldn't always wear the manager's uniform.
He wanted to buy Tohru some clothes too, but she truly didn't need them; she could conjure them herself.
However, he did buy a few cute basic outfits, and he even let Shichen choose them for her.
Shichen didn't quite understand the operation; could it be that basic outfits couldn't be conjured?
After returning, Shichen let Tohru tidy her room herself, while he used the computer to check the timeline of this world.
The year didn't matter, but the month was April, meaning that schools in this world had just started.
Then he searched online for information related to the light novel "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend," but found nothing, nor did he find anything about the author name "Kasumigaoka Utaha."
This was good news, actually.
Eri Kashiwagi, however, did exist, and, as expected, she was an eroge artist.
And quite popular too.
No one can refuse lewdness.
Afterward, Shichen searched for other famous light novels he was familiar with, but found none, which almost made him want to become a plagiarist.
But it was just a thought; writing novels was too much effort. He also ran a coffee shop, and with that time, he might as well play games.
Walking with Tohru was better than writing novels.
Tohru quickly tidied her room. When she came to find Shichen, her unhappiness was visibly apparent on her face.
Shichen pretended not to notice and then began teaching her about some of the coffee shop's affairs, as it was opening tomorrow, and he needed her help.
Tohru was very happy to be able to help Shichen.
The day quickly ended. Shichen cooked dinner that night, as Tohru hadn't started learning yet.
After dinner, Shichen rejected Tohru's suggestion to sleep together and also declined her offer to help him bathe, going straight back to his room to sleep.
He had experienced a lot that day and needed to properly digest it.
But in the middle of the night, Shichen was woken up by the sound of his room door opening.