"Not seeing each other for so long, could it be that Nijika-senpai didn't miss me in the slightest?"
Kitahara spoke with an aggrieved tone.
"Bah~"
Spitting softly, Nijika cast an affectionate, blush-tinted glare his way, holding down Kitahara's mischievous right hand:
"Don't get handsy while talking."
"Actually, in Otherworld, I ate the Chop-Chop Fruit just like Buggy the Clown; my hands have a mind of their own, and I often can't control them," Kitahara spouted sheer nonsense with a straight face. "Nijika-senpai still hasn't answered my question from earlier."
Turning her head away, Nijika said the opposite of what she felt:
"Didn't miss you at all."
"Nijika and the Manager truly are sisters," Ryo chimed in sluggishly from the side. "Always being dishonest about your feelings at crucial moments."
Nijika: "..."
Ryo continued leisurely:
"These past few days, Nijika had no appetite for food or tea, losing a whole five kilos."
"Ryo, don't talk nonsense!" Nijika glared over in flushed embarrassment. "I definitely didn't lose that much, alright!"
"No wonder while soaking in the onsen, Nijika-senpai felt different; turns out you lost so much weight..."
Exerting a fraction of strength, Kitahara lifted Nijika high up into the air, his eyes burning bright:
"Let's go to the Onsen Dimension and weigh just how many kilos Nijika-senpai has lost."
"Ngh..."
Letting out a soft cry, Nijika hastily wrapped her arms around Kitahara's neck with a blushing face.
"I want a hug too."
Spreading both arms wide, Ryo looked up at him.
"Naturally, I wouldn't forget Ryo-senpai."
Reaching out with his arm, Kitahara scooped up Ryo with his left arm, then headed into the Onsen Dimension to begin collecting defeat CGs of Ryo and Nijika.
Meanwhile.
Inside the hotel room.
"She's not even pretending anymore, just dumping the wristband straight onto me—looking down on me way too much, isn't she?!"
Walking up to the hotel desk, Seika yanked open the drawer and threw the wristband inside.
Bang.
The drawer was slammed shut with force.
Dusting off her hands, Seika turned toward the bed.
"Put it away!"
"It must stay put away!"
"Before dawn breaks tomorrow, I absolutely will not touch that wristband!"
"..."
Seika quickly lay down in bed, pulling up the blanket, preparing to sleep.
One minute passed...
Two minutes passed...
Before the third minute had ended, Seika sat up with her delicate face flushed crimson; tossing the blanket aside with her right hand, she quietly stepped out of bed.
"Damn it! Stop this instant, ahhh!"
Her face awash with mortification, Seika wanted to make herself lie back down, yet her body seemed to have developed a will of its own, walking uncontrollably up to the desk, pulling open the drawer, and fixing her eyes on the band wristband lying quietly inside.
"Damn it all!"
"Could my willpower really be this fragile?!"
"..."
One minute later.
Looking at the band wristband clutched in her hand, Seika bit her lower lip in sheer embarrassment, wilting completely.
"Sorry... my willpower is truly like soft tofu, completely fragile beyond help..."
Turning into the bathroom, Seika suddenly understood why people always said vice, gambling, and drugs must never be touched—because once you get a taste, there's no turning back...
Moments later.
Manager-san officially joined the shared carpool.
On the other side.
Inside the Onsen Dimension.
Taking a halftime breather, Ryo soon sensed someone joining the carpool on short notice.
"Eh?"
The corners of Ryo's soft lips curled upward slightly; taking off the band wristband from her wrist, she grabbed Nijika's wrist.
The person joining the carpool right now was unquestionably the Manager.
"N-No..."
Seeing Ryo's action, Nijika hastily tried to refuse, but her body had zero strength left, and even her voice came out broken and tearful.
"Good sisters share blessings together," Ryo said with a nonchalant face, slipping the band wristband onto Nijika's wrist. "Nijika wouldn't want the Manager to sleep all alone in a cold bed, would you?"
Nijika: "..."
Having collected a round of defeat CGs, they temporarily entered the halftime intermission.
Kitahara brought over a glass of water to hydrate Ryo and Nijika; after replenishing the fluids the two girls had lost, he quietly slipped out of the Onsen Dimension, expanded his Domain, and located Seika in the adjacent room.
"Hah... hah..."
Seika's breathing was ragged; at this moment, she was lying in the bathtub like an utterly exhausted mermaid.
"Seika-san, good evening," Kitahara smiled as he looked over. "Would you like to soak in the onsen?"
Her face dyed crimson and her gaze brimming with grievance, Seika remained as stubbornly defensive with her words as always:
"Get out, I don't need it in the slightest..."
Yet when Kitahara scooped her into his arms and their skin made contact, Seika could no longer hold back, closing her eyes and kissing him passionately.
Light warped faintly, and both silhouettes vanished into thin air.
With Seika's addition, the unlocked defeat CGs grew even more abundant; unfortunately, none of them could put up a decent fight, leaving Kitahara with a complete, flawless victory in the end, while Ryo, Nijika, and Seika... all surrendered with tearful white flags raised.
"Nijika-senpai, would you like to optimize your hair ribbon?"
While resting in the onsen, Kitahara's gaze fell upon the ribbon hair tie Nijika used to bind her hair.
"Eh...?" Nijika blinked, looking over tearfully. "My hair ribbon... is actually an optimizable item?"
"Yes," Kitahara nodded gently. "I noticed it a long time ago."
After their mother passed away in an accident, Seika took over the duty of looking after Nijika, using a ribbon from a pastry box to tie her hair; that pastry box ribbon became Nijika's most cherished treasure, remaining the hair tie she used no matter how her outfits changed over the years.
Kitahara had discovered long ago that the ribbon hair tie was an optimizable item, but had never brought it up.
The reason was very simple.
The traits rolled from item optimization were entirely randomized; some traits were exceptionally useful, while others rendered the item completely useless... such as a front-loading washing machine that could only trap girls inside.
"Kitahara-san noticed so long ago, so why didn't you ever mention it?"
Tilting her head in confusion, Nijika untied the ribbon hair tie, her long golden hair immediately cascading down over her shoulders.
Kitahara took the ribbon hair tie:
"Three days left... now two days; even if the hair tie gains a bizarre trait, it won't cause trouble for Nijika-senpai anymore."
[You have discovered an optimizable item. Would you like to optimize it now?]
The familiar prompt popped up before his eyes.
Kitahara answered silently in his heart:
"Optimize."
With his vital essence serving as fuel, speckles of fine starlight quietly drifted down, sinking into the ribbon hair tie.
[Item: Maiden's Hair Tie]
[Current State: Optimized]
[New Trait: All Things Have Knots. This ribbon can only be used by females. When you tie a knot in the ribbon, you can seal your current memories and emotions within the knot. This knot can transcend all cause and effect; even with the flow of time and the shift of ages, it will never suffer erosion. You need only untie the knot to reclaim everything treasured within it.]
[Remark: You shall reunite in the end.]
"All things... have knots?"
Looking at the sole trait obtained from optimizing the ribbon, Kitahara fell entirely silent.
"Kitahara, what's wrong?"
Tilting her head, Ryo asked softly, keenly noticing that Kitahara's current mood was off.
Kitahara did not reply; instead, he stood up abruptly from the onsen pool.
Splash.
Water droplets flew.
Quickly turning her delicate face away, Seika covered her chest with both hands:
"Brat, don't just stand up out of the onsen out of nowhere!"
Ryo murmured a complaint: "The Manager clearly had a mouthful just a moment ago..."
Seika exploded with embarrassment right on the spot!
"Forget that right now, ahhh!"
"..."
Kitahara still said nothing, turning around to bring over the Book of Answers.
"Kitahara-san, are you feeling unwell?"
Pushing past her fatigued body, Nijika sat up, looking over in concern.
"There's just a question I suddenly want to clear up..."
Placing his hand on the Book of Answers, Kitahara said softly:
"If the answer is yes, I will tell you everything about the future."
"Eh?"
Rustle, rustle.
Flipping through its pages without wind, the Book of Answers turned rapidly.
Moments later, the book spread open to the exact center, with words quietly surfacing upon the blank page:
[...Yes.]
Looking at the answer given in the book, Kitahara paused in silence for a moment, finally lifting his head to scoop Nijika into his embrace:
"Nijika-senpai, I want to repay your kindness."
"Eh, what kind of repayment?" Sensing Kitahara's wandering hands, Nijika's face flushed crimson instantly, hurriedly pleading pitifully, "I'm really going to break..."
"There's still plenty of time; we can talk about repayment later," Ryo rested her chin on her right hand, looking over inquisitively. "Tell us what happened in the future first."
Carrying Nijika back into the onsen, Kitahara finally disclosed the future he had been unwilling to speak of before:
"To rewrite that despairing future, I will burn myself to ashes..."
Silently listening to Kitahara's plan to the end, a misty haze had quietly welled up in Nijika's eyes, and her soft, rosy lips pressed straight against his:
"Kitahara-san, hurry up and repay me..."
"..."
Ryo's exclusive time quietly ran out.
Kitahara led the three of them out of the Onsen Dimension, placing the utterly exhausted and deeply sleeping Nijika, Ryo, and Seika onto the bed, gently tucking them in with the quilt, and then pulled out his phone to send a message:
"Mai-senpai, are you asleep?"
Indeed, the girl who drew the Two of Diamonds was none other than Mai.
The message was quickly marked as read.
Mai: "Asleep."
Kitahara: "You can still reply to messages while asleep?"
Mai: "Woken up by a certain someone again, you see."
"..."
A moment later.
Inside Mai's room.
"Senpai, sorry to keep you waiting."
Looking at the cool, aloof girl with long straight black hair sitting by the window in her pajamas, Kitahara offered a warm greeting.
"I wasn't waiting for you," Sakurajima Mai crossed her arms over her chest, the side profile of her face looking utterly flawless under the light, her voice as cool and pleasing to the ear as ever. "I just couldn't sleep and was watching the stars, that's all."
"Then I'll watch the stars together with Senpai."
Kitahara walked over and sat down beside Mai, reaching out to clasp Mai's tender, delicate hand.
"Would you like to go to the Dream World to visit Nana?"
Hearing Kitahara bring up their daughter's name, Mai gritted her teeth lightly:
"You actually still remember your daughter?"
"Naturally, I wouldn't forget," Kitahara said softly. "During the adventures in Otherworld, all the materials required for Nana's reincarnation were completely gathered, but I suggest temporarily holding off on letting Nana reincarnate."
"Two days from now, the Lord of Calamity will descend upon the mortal realm. An existence of the divine tier can twist human wills with a mere gaze; furthermore, the Tree of Eden will also appear then, launching a surprise attack during the Lord of Calamity's brief period of vulnerability..."
"Is this the future you saw?" Mai looked over in surprise. "You refused to say it in the Onsen Dimension just now; why are you willing to speak of it now?"
"Because I just obtained Nijika-senpai's hair ribbon..."
Kitahara pulled the red ribbon out from his pocket, upon which three knots were already tied.
"In the future, I will turn back time, but the duration of that rewind remains uncertain. It might even go back to before Senpai and I met. If Senpai doesn't wish to get to know me again, then..."
"Then what?"
Mai crossed her arms over her chest, looking over with a smile.
"Ow, ow, ow," Kitahara raised both hands. "Senpai, have mercy with your kicks."
"Hmph~"
Mai let out a soft snort, raising a hand to seize Kitahara's collar:
"Scumbag-kun, man up and shoulder your responsibilities as a father; don't even think of abandoning Nana and me."
"If I force Senpai to date me, Senpai will surely be unhappy..."
Before the words were finished, Mai had already risen onto her tiptoes, her teeth biting straight down onto Kitahara's lips.
"Whether I'm happy or not is my own business; what you have to do, Scumbag-kun, is take responsibility!"
"..."
Kitahara summoned Hana to weave a dreamscape, and then entered the Dream World together with Mai to spend time with their daughter, not leaving Mai's room until dawn finally broke.
Before departing, another knot had visibly been added to the red ribbon.
"Boyfriend, good morning."
"The weather is quite wonderful today."
Just as Kitahara arrived in the hotel lobby, the crisp, bright calling voices of girls reached his ears—it was Kita, who had drawn the third lot, and beside Kita stood the pink-haired girl Anon.
"Good morning."
Kitahara strode over to Kita and Anon, gazing outside the hotel to see clear skies and brilliant sunshine:
"The weather is indeed very nice."
The time had just hit six in the morning; the vast majority of people in the hotel had not yet woken up, but the sun had already risen as usual.
"Boyfriend, shall we head to the dining hall to eat first?"
"After eating, I want to experience the thrill of flying."
"And then I want to go swimming at the seaside."
"And finally go to the Onsen Dimension to have a proper rest."
"..."
Kita and Anon spoke one after the other, having clearly agreed upon today's schedule the night before.
"My stomach truly is a bit hungry," Kitahara nodded. "Let's go, time to eat."
The three arrived at the dining hall, where guests were few and far between and the varieties of food were scarce, appearing rather desolate and dreary, but that did not dampen Kita and Anon's cheerful moods in the slightest.
"Boyfriend, hurry up and sit down." Anon extended both hands, pressing down on Kitahara's shoulders to seat him onto a chair, saying crisply, "Whatever you want to eat, we'll fetch it for you."
Kitahara sat in the chair: "Then bring me a serving of fried rice."
"Roger that~" Kita raised her hand in a salute. "Anything else?"
"Some fruit too."
"..."
Before long, Kita and Anon returned carrying the dishes and fruit, with Anon holding an entire bucket full of milk in her hands.
"What is that?"
Kitahara's lips twitched slightly as he stared speechlessly at the milk in Anon's hands.
"Ehehe~"
Anon closed her right eye, poking out the tip of her pink tongue, her voice coquettish:
"Boyfriend worked so hard last night, so of course we have to give you a proper nourishment boost; you must have been squeezed dry like sugarcane bagasse by now."
Sugarcane bagasse?
You girls are flat-out looking down on me!
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary," Kitahara refused flatly, his tone full of deep meaning. "On the contrary, it's you two who need to replenish more fluids, lest you can't even shed tears when the time comes."
"Kitahara-kun, don't be lewd." Kita's face flushed slightly. "Hurry up and drink the milk to replenish your nutrients!"
"..."
After having breakfast together, Kitahara took Kita and Anon out of the hotel, starting their date according to the itinerary the two had planned.
Flying airborne straight into the cloud layers, cheering loudly amidst the sea of clouds, and then heading to the sapphire-like seaside to enjoy the ocean and the beach; with everyone fearing for their lives and ordinary people hiding indoors without daring to step outside, the vast beach was entirely reserved by the three of them.
Over an hour flashed past in the blink of an eye.
Only then did Kita and Anon feel like heading to the Onsen Dimension, taking on the role of Saintesses to challenge the Greater Demon King Kitahara; the final outcome was entirely expected, leaving behind all sorts of teary-eyed defeat CGs.
During this time, Kitahara recounted the future scenes he had witnessed to Anon and Kita.
"Although the Tree of Eden will launch an attack, it is no match for the Lord of Calamity. In the future, I will choose to burn myself out to reach the same level of existence as a god, and then utilize Aoi's ability to undergo symbiotic evolution with the Tree of Eden..."
After returning from Otherworld, although Kitahara had grown stronger across all aspects, it was still far from enough.
Entities of the divine tier had already transcended dimensions; much like that famous saying, 'All beneath the Saints are merely ants,' any entity that had not attained the exact same dimension as the adversary would be wiped out in mere minutes.
If Kitahara wanted to take part and turn the tide of battle, he could only rely on that ability, [Are Kings, Dukes, Generals, and Ministers Born to Such Stature?], the price of which was burning away his very life.
Ten o'clock in the morning.
Kitahara left the room where Anon and Kita were staying, took out his phone, and sent a message to Soyo inquiring about her location.
The one who drew the fourth lot was none other than Soyo.
"Kitahara-kun, come to the tea room," Soyo replied quickly. "I just discovered the hotel has a tea room stocked with lots of high-grade black tea; I want to brew tea for Kitahara-kun to drink."
"Heading over right away."
Kitahara pocketed his phone and made his way to the tea room.
Knocking and entering, he found Soyo alone inside.
"Soyo, sorry to keep you waiting."
Kitahara sat down opposite Soyo, taking in the curling wisps of tea aroma that refreshed the mind and soul.
After quietly drinking the black tea Soyo brewed, Kitahara cupped his teacup and softly spoke of what was to come in the future.
"W-Wait a moment...!"
Before he could finish speaking, a misty haze had already welled up in Soyo's eyes, and she rose, throwing herself into Kitahara's embrace:
"Kitahara-kun mentioned earlier that using that ability burns away your life, didn't you?"
"C-Can't we just hide inside the Onsen Dimension?"
"The Onsen Dimension is merely a small pocket dimension; it isn't omnipotent." Kitahara gently patted Soyo's back. "Don't cry, Soyo; I have an Extra Life Coin."
"Eh?"
"During summer vacation when I was learning to drive at the driving school, I obtained an Extra Life Coin..."
"I don't believe it." Soyo bit her lower lip. "Unless you let me verify whether what Kitahara-kun said is true or false using the Book of Answers."
"..."
A moment later.
Having verified the truth without error, Soyo let out a gentle sigh of relief, raised her hand to wipe the moisture from the corners of her eyes, and then picked up her phone:
"I'll call Sakiko over... Let's all go to the Onsen Dimension together..."