The next morning, just like the day before, Nagisa Himekawa left for work right after preparing breakfast.
Meanwhile, Eriri, Yoshino, and Mio remained in bed until after 9 a.m., enjoying a leisurely start to the day.
Although the villa had many rooms, both Yoshino and Mio wanted to sleep with Eriri, so the three of them ended up sharing a large blanket for the night.
Originally, Eriri had planned to return to the Saekano world with Yoshino and Mio as soon as they woke up, so they could enjoy a delicious breakfast made by Aoi Kujou there.
But since Nagisa Himekawa had already prepared breakfast, Eriri decided not to waste her kind gesture and chose to eat at home instead.
That said, while Nagisa Himekawa's cooking couldn't compare to Aoi Kujou's, it was still decent by ordinary home-cooking standards.
After breakfast, Eriri didn't immediately take Yoshino and Mio back to the Saekano world. Instead, she brought up an idea with Yoshino.
"Yoshino-chan, do you want to become a Spirit?"
Looking at the girl beside her, Eriri smiled with anticipation.
Yoshino was momentarily stunned upon hearing Eriri's words.
"A Spirit... you mean like the ones from the memory projection in the chat group?"
Recalling the images she'd seen in the memory playback a few days earlier, Yoshino's expression turned slightly hesitant.
After all, in those memories, Spirits were synonymous with disaster. They frequently triggered spacequakes and posed great danger, often losing control of their powers.
Eriri instantly understood Yoshino's thoughts and concerns from her expression. She gently patted Yoshino's small head and chuckled softly.
"That's right. But you don't need to worry about side effects. After becoming a Spirit, you won't experience power surges or unintentionally cause spacequakes."
"You can think of it as gaining a fully controllable power and a beautiful Astral Dress that you can summon at will."
Eriri naturally wouldn't use the original method to transform Yoshino into a Spirit. She never planned to split Mio's power. Instead, she intended to directly create a fully optimized version of the Fourth Spirit's power and implant it into Yoshino.
For Eriri, this was a trivial task.
And Yoshino wasn't the only one—Eriri intended to transform all the Spirits who appeared in the original story, using optimized Spirit powers for each.
However, at this point in the timeline, only the Second and Third Spirits had been born. The others hadn't yet appeared.
Of the two existing Spirits, Miku Izayoi was about the same age as Eriri, fifteen this year, while Kurumi Tokisaki was still a six-year-old child.
Eriri didn't plan to force the timeline forward to track down those who would become Spirits later. She had all the time in the world and was content to meet them at the right moment, even if that meant waiting years or decades.
As for Miku Izayoi, Eriri had already formulated a plan to entice her into coming to her voluntarily.
Upon hearing Eriri's words, Yoshino's hesitation instantly vanished.
"Then... Eriri-nee, do you want me to become a Spirit?"
Though her fear had subsided, Yoshino didn't agree immediately. Instead, she asked for Eriri's opinion.
Without a moment's pause, Eriri nodded.
"Of course! Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought it up."
She reached out to pinch Yoshino's soft cheek, her face full of tenderness.
"But Yoshino-chan, don't feel pressured. If you don't want to become a Spirit, you can say no. I won't force you to do anything~"
Just as she had said, although she intended to gather all the Spirits from the original story, she would never force them.
Not only Yoshino, but also Miku Izayoi, Kurumi Tokisaki, and the not-yet-born Spirits like Tohka Yatogami would be treated the same.
As for the only one among the ten Spirits who wasn't originally human—the Tenth Spirit—Eriri had already made the appropriate arrangements.
To ensure her birth would not deviate from plan, Eriri had deliberately copied all of Mio's powers in full before leaving the neighboring realm yesterday.
Then she created the Ten Spirit Crystals capable of birthing the ten Spirits. The one representing "Kingdom" was placed in the neighboring realm, while the remaining nine Spirit Crystals were directly destroyed by Eriri.
There was no need to worry whether the Tenth Spirit would be born like in the original story.
Because during the creation of the Spirit Crystal, Eriri had already sensed a budding life force. With time, that life force would awaken into consciousness and be reborn as a Spirit.
Moreover, Eriri had engraved her own information into that life force, ensuring that once it was born, it would naturally view Eriri as the most important person in its life.
After hearing Eriri's response, Yoshino no longer hesitated.
"If Eriri-nee wants me to, then I would love to become a Spirit!"
"Good girl!"
Seeing the serious expression on Yoshino's face, Eriri couldn't help but pull her into a hug.
Since she had already copied Mio's powers earlier, Eriri easily created a fully optimized Spirit Crystal representing "Charity," the Fourth Spirit's power.
She then infused this power directly into Yoshino, binding it firmly to her body.
From creation to integration, the entire process took only a few seconds.
The fusion process was utterly silent. If not for the powerful force now flowing within her, Yoshino might not have realized she had already become the Ice Spirit.
Her strength instantly rose to the entry level of Level 4 (Continental)—a testament to the quality of Eriri's optimized Spirit power.
Furthermore, the Spirit power created by Eriri functioned like an energy seed, allowing Yoshino's power to grow continuously through training.
And since Eriri had optimized the powers of other Spirits, she naturally wouldn't leave Mio out.
Back on the previous day, Eriri had already performed a comprehensive enhancement on both Mio's power and her very life essence.
Originally, newly-born Mio was at Level 6, but after Eriri's optimization, she was now at Level 7 and was close to breaking into mid-stage.
And that, too, would not be her final stage.
Because she was experiencing this unfamiliar power for the first time, Yoshino instinctively manifested her Astral Dress.
A wide-sleeved green coat covered her body, attached to a hood adorned with rabbit ears.
Beneath the coat was a white, multi-layered silk dress, and on her feet were green boots.
The overall style of the Astral Dress was incredibly cute, without sacrificing elegance or flair.
"This... this outfit is exactly the same as the one from the memory projection."
Looking at her Astral Dress, Yoshino emerged from Eriri's embrace with an expression of amazement.
"So, do you like this look? If not, you can change the style," Eriri said with a smile.
"I love it!" Yoshino quickly nodded, then happily threw herself back into Eriri's arms and said sweetly, "Thank you, Eriri-nee!"
In the original story, when a human transformed into a Spirit, their physical age became fixed. That alone was a tremendous benefit.
After all, eternal youth was a powerful allure for any girl.
But Eriri had modified this aspect slightly—the physical age would be fixed at sixteen.
When someone becomes a Spirit after the age of sixteen, their physical age reverts to sixteen.
If they become a Spirit far younger than sixteen, they don't immediately take on the form of a sixteen-year-old. Instead, they age normally until they reach sixteen, at which point their physical appearance becomes fixed.
So even though Yoshino was only nine now, she wouldn't remain stuck in her child form forever.
...
After turning Yoshino into a Spirit, Eriri didn't stay much longer in the Date A Live world.
She took Mio and Yoshino, who had deactivated her Astral Dress, and passed through the World Gate back to the Saekano world.
Because Eriri had informed Arifureta in advance that she would be bringing Mio and Yoshino over today, no one in the household had gone out despite it being a Saturday. Everyone was waiting for the three of them to arrive.
As soon as Mio and Yoshino showed up, the entire household threw a lively welcome party in their honor.
Even Gabriel, who was deeply addicted to the internet, left her room to attend the festivities.
First came a lively self-introduction session, where everyone took turns introducing themselves to Mio and Yoshino.
The warm welcome moved even the extremely shy Yoshino, and she earnestly memorized everyone's names and faces.
Mio, unsurprisingly, mingled effortlessly with everyone.
Next, they gave Mio and Yoshino a tour of the villa to familiarize them with the layout.
Finally, there was the banquet prepared by Aoi Kujou, scheduled for that evening.
This kind of welcome had become something of a tradition in their large household. They had done it more than ten times already.
Every time a new member joined the family, they would be greeted with a warm welcome like this.
And no one ever tired of it.
Once the first two parts of the ceremony were completed, everyone resumed their regular activities.
Still, most people lingered around Mio and Yoshino, bombarding them with curious questions like they were new transfer students.
As time passed and Mio and Yoshino grew more familiar with everyone, the attention around them gradually faded, and the household returned to its normal rhythm.
The two-day weekend flew by.
In that time, Mio and Yoshino had fully integrated into the family. Yoshino also successfully blended in with the elementary-school-age group, including Reina, Illya, and Enju Aihara.
During this period, Nagisa Himekawa frequently visited through the World Gate after work.
Although she could've stayed overnight, she always returned to her home in the Date A Live world when it was time for bed.
Yoshino, however, stayed at the villa over the weekend. After the weekend, she would return to her own home.
But since the World Gate was installed in the Himekawa residence, it was almost like living together. After all, only a single "door" separated them.
The only one to officially move into the villa was Mio.
Taking advantage of the weekend, Eriri had Yoshino's school enrollment paperwork completed.
Mio enrolled as well and would be attending Toyogasaki Academy, placed in the same class as Eriri and Arifureta.
Though she could learn all the knowledge in the world in a short time, Mio didn't go to school to learn new things.
As more people transferred into Eriri's class, she had the school relocate all the male students in Class 1-E to other classes, leaving only the girls.
As a result, while Class 1-E had the most transfer students, it also had the smallest total headcount in the school.
The male students of the original Class 1-E were extremely displeased with this decision, but faced with pressure from the school, they reluctantly left what had become the most envied class.
After all, Eriri's presence made Class 1-E the dream destination for every student.
After settling matters with Yoshino and Mio, Eriri once again left the Saekano world early the next morning, heading to the world of Is This a Zombie?
...
As per usual, before heading to the Is This a Zombie? world, Eriri informed Kyoko in the chat group.
So when Eriri stepped out of the World Gate, she immediately saw Kyoko standing obediently a short distance away.
Although she had only received a last-minute notice, it was just enough time for Kyoko to prepare.
Yet the Kyoko who appeared before Eriri was still dressed in nothing but a thin and revealing nightgown.
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