Seeing Kanami Mihara looking at her teasingly, Taeko Hiramatsu quickly waved her hands.
"No, no, no, how could I compare to Eriri? Kanami, don't joke around."
Though being complimented on her looks made her a little happy, she still had a sense of self-awareness.
Compared to other classmates, she might be a bit better looking, but when it came to Eriri—she wasn't even in the same league.
"Is she really that beautiful?"
Taeko's serious response made Kanami drop her joking tone, and now she was extremely curious about Eriri's appearance.
Kanami Mihara had never seen beauty at Eriri's level, so she didn't understand just how overwhelming true beauty could be.
To her, Taeko was already beautiful enough to be considered the school idol.
Of course, she had seen girls more beautiful than Taeko—for example, the famously popular Kirara Hoshikawa at Sogyou Academy, who was rumored to be an idol.
But even so, it was only a slight difference—not enough to make someone like Taeko feel so outclassed.
Upon hearing Kanami's doubt, Taeko immediately put on a confident expression.
"Of course. Next time I'll introduce you to Eriri—then you'll see just how absurdly beautiful she is."
Kanami's eyes lit up as she nodded expectantly. "Really? I'm definitely curious to see how amazing this Eriri is."
"You won't be disappointed," Taeko said with complete confidence.
"But seriously, Taeko, you did well! You even got her contact info the first time you met—worthy of praise~"
Kanami leaned over and playfully patted Taeko's head with a look of admiration.
But Taeko suddenly froze at her words.
"Crap, I forgot to ask Eriri for her contact info..." she said in a small panic.
It was only now that she realized she hadn't gotten Eriri's contact information.
Regret immediately filled her heart, but going back to find her now wasn't realistic.
"Sorry, Kanami. Now I don't know when I'll get to see Eriri and Haruka again. I even said I'd introduce them to you..."
Seeing Taeko's gloomy expression, Kanami quickly comforted her. "Don't worry about it, Taeko. Just ask her next time you meet her—and you can introduce them to me then."
"Yeah... guess that's the only way."
Still, Taeko knew just how slim the chances of meeting Eriri again really were.
She could only hope Eriri was a local and lived nearby.
Otherwise, if Eriri left the city, there'd be almost no chance of ever running into her again.
But if fate did give her another chance to see Eriri, she would definitely ask for her contact info right away.
...
Roughly four or five kilometers from Sogyou Academy, outside a convenience store, a silver-haired little girl in Western armor was sitting on the ground, leaning against the store's exterior wall.
She was staring into the eyes of a blonde beauty squatting in front of her—with a white kitten perched on her right shoulder.
That blonde beauty with the kitten, of course, was Eriri.
And the silver-haired little girl was the main reason Eriri had come to this world.
Eucliwood Hellscythe—a necromancer born of the underworld, housing within her body enough magic power to affect the entire world, known as the center of the world. She was also the heroine of the original story.
Though she looked like a little girl, she was actually quite old—as an immortal, her age was at least comparable to the King of the Night.
Eriri had come here specifically to find her. After all, she had once been one of Eriri's "wives."
Speaking of former "wives," there were quite a few of them. But Eriri never made a point of seeking out the worlds they were from.
Even though, with her current capabilities, doing so would be incredibly easy.
However, if she happened to become aware of their world—whether through the chat group or other means—she didn't mind going out of her way to meet with them.
After arriving in this world, Eriri had already sensed Eu's location.
So while she had appeared to be aimlessly walking along the sidewalk, she had actually been heading directly toward where Eu was.
The reason she didn't simply teleport there was because she genuinely wanted to wander around the city a bit.
Who knew what interesting person or event she might stumble upon in the next second? Taeko Hiramatsu had been one such encounter.
Of course, this world didn't have many people who could truly capture Eriri's interest. Meeting two on the same day was highly unlikely.
And indeed, by the time Eriri reached Eu's location, she hadn't met anyone else worth stopping for.
When she saw Eu, Eriri didn't speak right away. She just squatted in front of her in silence and watched.
Naturally, Eriri's arrival caught Eu's attention.
But due to the nature of her magic—where anything she said could become reality—Eu had always refrained from speaking. She typically communicated using a small notepad she kept on her.
And this time, faced with Eriri's rather impolite stare, Eu didn't take out her notepad to speak. She simply stared back silently, hoping her gaze would drive Eriri away.
That's how this mutual staring contest began.
But things didn't go as Eu had hoped.
Even after more than ten minutes had passed, Eriri hadn't left. Even the little cat on her shoulder had remained calm and quiet through it all.
And so, under the curious gazes of passing pedestrians, the two of them continued their silent face-off.
Forget getting Eriri to leave—Eu herself was beginning to feel embarrassed under the intense gaze.
A few more minutes passed, and finally, Eu couldn't hold out any longer. She looked down, broke eye contact, and pulled a small notepad and pen from her pocket.
After quickly writing a sentence, she turned the notepad toward Eriri.
"Could you please stop staring at me..."
Seeing the message, a bright smile instantly lit up Eriri's face.
"You're just too cute—what's the harm in me looking? Besides, I'm super pretty too, so you're not exactly getting the short end of the stick~" Eriri replied cheerfully.
"...What you're doing isn't right. It's called harassment, you know!"
"Huh? Staring is harassment now? What law says I can't look at someone?"
As she spoke, Eriri put on an exaggerated look of mock surprise.
Seeing Eriri's expression—so clearly fake—Eu froze, unsure how to respond.
Nearly ten seconds passed before she picked up her pen and wrote again.
"You're really weird..."
Maybe it was Eriri's unique demeanor, but Eu found herself growing curious about her.
"Oh? What's weird about me? Just because I've been staring at you?" Eriri asked, tilting her head.
"That's definitely part of it."
"No one's ever stared at me like that without saying a word."
"Honestly, I don't even understand why you're here..."
"I don't believe for a second you're doing it just because of how I look."
Because she had a lot to say and the notepad was small, Eu ended up writing across four pages, flipping them one by one to show Eriri.
Even though Eu appeared very talkative at the moment, her facial expression never changed.
This, too, was due to her magical power.
Her words could manifest into reality under the effect of her magic—commonly known as kotodama (word spirits).
Her emotions could also influence her magic and trigger "shifts in fate," causing unpredictable effects on those around her.
Such world-altering power was far too heavy a burden for Eu to bear and came with side effects, such as intense headaches whenever she used her kotodama.
The Western silver armor she wore was a tool designed to suppress her power.
"Aww, I really meant it, y'know! Eu-chan is just super cute~" Eriri said cheerfully.
Just as Eu was about to write a rebuttal, she suddenly realized something, and her writing hand froze.
Then she lifted her head and stared intently at Eriri, as if trying to discover some kind of hidden secret.
"Oh my, looks like Eu-chan is trying to get her curiosity's worth back by staring at me? That's fine—look all you like, I won't mind at all~"
In the face of Eu's inquisitive gaze, Eriri was completely unbothered. She even stood up and spun in a circle, openly showing herself off.
But Eu ignored her words and continued scrutinizing her.
Several seconds later, she finally looked away and began writing in her notebook again.
A string of three questions quickly appeared:
"Who are you?"
"Do you know me?"
"Why did you come to find me?"
Even though Eu possessed power that lingered in her body even after death, making her a target for various factions, she hadn't immediately suspected Eriri of being one of those threats.
That was mainly because she felt no malice from Eriri.
Additionally, she couldn't sense any magical power from Eriri at all—she appeared completely ordinary. Which made it even more puzzling that someone like her would know Eu's name.
Reading the questions Eu had shown her, Eriri didn't answer right away. Instead, she squatted down again.
But this time, she didn't just squat—she sat directly on the ground.
Of course, a faint, invisible barrier kept her from ever actually touching the ground.
She sat extremely close to Eu—less than thirty centimeters between them.
Though Eu was uncomfortable with this proximity and wanted to back away, there was a wall behind her. She had no choice but to accept it.
Once she was settled, Eriri finally spoke.
"So then… Eu-chan, do you want to hear the truth, or a lie?"
"The truth!!!"
Without a hint of hesitation, Eu instantly wrote her answer in the notebook.
To show how serious she was, she even added three big exclamation marks after the word "truth."
"Mmm, if it's the truth you want, then I won't tease you. I'll be honest."
"First question." Eriri raised a finger and smiled. "My name is Eriri Spencer Sawamura. You can just call me Eriri, Eu-chan. Also, I'm not from this world~"
As if suddenly remembering something, she quickly added:
"Oh, and when I say 'not from this world,' I don't mean places like the Underworld or Villiers. I mean a completely different universe."
She raised another finger.
"Second question. Of course I know you, Eu-chan. I know you better than anyone in this world."
As she spoke, Eriri instinctively reached out her left hand toward Eu's head—but before she could touch her, she felt Eu's death glare.
Still, Eriri remained unfazed. The head pat was going to happen.
In the next moment, she ignored the glare and gently placed her hand on Eu's head, stroking her silky silver hair.
As she tenderly patted Eu's head, she answered the third question as well.
"As for the last question—honestly, I just wanted to see you. Though if you're willing to let me whisk you away, that would be even better~"
After hearing Eriri's response, Eu fell completely silent.
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