"..."
Ian, who was still warming up, hesitated for a moment. After making sure he hadn't misheard, he began to answer Tamamo-no-Mae. "Tama... a girlfriend conference? Are you serious?"
"Yes," Tamamo-no-Mae nodded very seriously in front of Ian. "Lord Abe, I am not joking—I truly hope you can hold a girlfriend conference in Chaldea. It has a very important meaning."
Seeing that Tamamo-no-Mae was not joking, the man paused for a moment and focused his gaze on her. "A very important meaning? How important—can you be more specific, Tama?"
"Lord Abe," Tamamo-no-Mae felt his warmth and then, with a slightly red face, began to explain. "You... must know that there are many girls in Chaldea who have feelings for you, right?"
"Yes," the man nodded. "Of course, I know."
"Mm... actually, I have proactively approached them in private," Tamamo-no-Mae's tone became even more shy. "The answer I got was—everyone is actually waiting to go on a date with you."
"A date with me?!" The man had never heard this before. But knowing Tamamo-no-Mae's nature, he understood that this fox demon who had come from so far away would never say something so absurd without reason.
"Tama... how do you know?"
"Well," Tamamo-no-Mae looked at the man's hand in her own, her throat moving slightly. "Lord Abe, you must have tried to go on a date with Little Ritsuka, Little Mash, and Little Marie at the same time one night, right?"
"..." Ian was stunned for a moment. "No way?! They even told you about that?"
"No," Tamamo-no-Mae shook her head. "They would never tell me something like that on their own—but, Lord Abe, you staying in the director's office with them, you can't say that was just a coincidence, can you? I don't think you are such a boring person."
"..." Ian once again marveled at Tamamo-no-Mae's carefulness. Having lived for five lifetimes, she was indeed better at understanding details than the average girl. This was a means of self-preservation for her, and in the current peaceful times, it had become a formidable power of observation. However, the man didn't dislike her cleverness. After all, he knew she would never harm him—she was a true, virtuous wife-fox.
"Mmm," Ian nodded. "That's what happened. So, Tama, what do you..."
"Lord Abe," Tamamo-no-Mae continued to ask, "Since my assumption is correct—you must have fulfilled your responsibilities as a boyfriend that night, right?"
"Isn't that a given?" Ian said with a laugh, answering the question. "They were all willing to come that day. If I didn't do anything, wouldn't that be completely dashing their hopes?"
"The key to the problem is right there," the teapot Tamamo-no-Mae's eyes became even more worried. "Although Lord Abe was trying to fulfill your responsibilities all night—the actual time spent with each of them was only a short while. The rest was an agonizing wait. Lord Abe, do you understand what I mean?"
"..." Ian pondered for a moment and quickly understood Tamamo-no-Mae's meaning. "Tama, you're saying—that while I'm taking care of one, I'll be leaving out the other two?"
"Something like that," Tamamo-no-Mae said, looking very happy that Ian had understood her so quickly. "That's what I mean. Although Lord Abe's intentions were not malicious, and you didn't show favoritism, for every girl who participated, there was a large amount of blank time. I feel sorry for the girlfriends who weren't being satisfied by Lord Abe all the time."
"..." Ian felt his heart being touched by Tamamo-no-Mae's words once again. This fox demon was truly doing everything she could to maintain the relationships between all these girls. She genuinely wanted to achieve a harmonious sharing of her system in Chaldea.
"I understand." Ian reached out and gently brushed away Tamamo-no-Mae's cherry-pink hair, then kissed her flushed cheek to show his approval of her idea. "Then, Tama—since you've said this, I'm sure you have a solution. Tell me—I need your opinion."
"Mmm..." Tamamo-no-Mae nodded. "Actually, I don't have a solution so much as a direction for Lord Abe to think in. Lord Abe." The fox demon looked at the bandage on her treasure, her eyes filled with a bit of shame, but even more with the happiness of being used by him. "Since you know how to make a girl feel that a date is wonderful—then, Lord Abe, can you find a way to make everyone go on a date at the same time? If every girl can go on a date together at the same time, there would be no 'blank time,' and you wouldn't have to worry about anyone being left out, would you?"
"..." A silent Ian's eyes were filled with surprise. And when Tamamo-no-Mae saw his expression, she became a little worried. "Lord Abe... did I suggest something too outrageous?"
"No," Ian smiled slightly. "I just didn't expect you to come up with such a solution, Tama—it was a little unexpected." Hearing this, the fox demon's two fluffy ears perked up.
"Then what does Lord Abe mean?"
"Let's do what you said," Ian said, rubbing Tamamo-no-Mae's head. "After all, your solution sounds really good, Tama. But... I'll have to think a little about how to make it a 'together' date. So how about we start tomorrow night?"
"Mm~" Tamamo-no-Mae nodded. "That's perfect—I will inform them for you, Lord Abe. This way, Chaldea will definitely become a paradise just for you!"
"..." Speaking of paradise, Ian suddenly remembered a certain super AI in his phone. "Tama, I want you to meet someone."
"Eh..." Tamamo-no-Mae, though confused, still nodded. "Mmm, okay."
With the fox demon's permission, Ian took out his phone and called out to the super AI inside—a Grail-class girl named BB. "BB, are you there?"
"It's the middle of the night, you pig, so no."
"Oh... I'll find you later, then—I was just about to introduce you to a girl."
"Eh eh eh—!" Ian's phone screen lit up, and BB appeared inside. She was pressed up against the screen, her whole face shoved up against it like a flattened piece of dough. "Who? Who are you going to introduce me to?! Hurry up and tell BB!"
Although she was sharp-tongued, BB was actually very lonely inside—after all, to maintain her service status for Ian, she had to stay in that virtual space. Now, hearing that she could meet a new girl, this super AI was naturally overjoyed.
After a moment of thought, Ian leaned close to Tamamo-no-Mae's ear and whispered, "Tama... can I take a picture of you right now?"
"This..." Hearing Ian's words, Tamamo-no-Mae's face flushed with shame. After all, it didn't matter what he did to her in front of him—it would all be a beautiful memory for the two of them. But if it involved other people, the situation was completely different. This was... a very embarrassing photo shoot!
However, looking into Ian's eyes, Tamamo-no-Mae still nodded without hesitation. She believed that he must have a reason for choosing this method. The fox demon had already sworn in her heart—no matter what, she would absolutely trust his judgment. After all, everything about her, including her body, had belonged to him since their wedding night.
"I understand. Please, Lord Abe, take the picture."
"Thank you, Tama." After Ian thanked her, he aimed his phone at Tamamo-no-Mae, who was serving as his teapot. And even though she didn't know what was happening, seeing Ian taking her picture, she very proactively looked at the camera and smiled. It was a smile that showed the fox demon was completely into it, and even looked a little happy.
"You—!" BB's voice came out of the phone in surprise. "You pig... why are you playing this again! Don't forget, you pig—I also have an Olga Marie here!"
"Of course, I know." The man explained calmly. "That's why I'm coming to you now. BB, stop controlling that thing for now—come over and meet a new friend."
"..." Although she sounded tough, in the face of the Master who had all her permissions, the super AI chose to obediently comply. Soon, she recognized Tamamo-no-Mae.
"BB has seen her before... Tamamo-no-Mae, one of your wives in Chaldea, right?"
"You knew that?" Ian was a little surprised.
"Of course I knew!" BB put her hands on her hips. "BB used to observe the monitors 24/7..."
She stopped talking halfway through, as the super AI suddenly realized she had said something she shouldn't have and shut up quickly. But Ian had heard her.
"Monitors? BB, why were you watching those?"
"This, that..." BB started to stutter.
"Tell me now—!" Ian's tone became much more serious, a tone he only used when he was pressuring BB as her Master. "Otherwise, I won't play your evil games anymore."
"No, don't!" BB quickly shook her head. "BB just came up with the Level 3 evil game—if you don't play it, wouldn't all my effort be wasted?"
"Then tell me why you were watching the Chaldea monitors." The man looked at BB, his tone sounding like he was scolding a pet. "Even though many of them were broken, right?"
The explosion caused by Lev had been powerful, and Chaldea's monitoring system had been severely damaged. But for BB, as long as there was still a little bit that worked, she could easily control it.
"..." BB lowered her head and grumbled a little. "BB wanted to help you turn Chaldea into a paradise... that way, you would praise BB, wouldn't you?"
"..." Ian was stunned for a moment, then he started to laugh. "I see—that's why when Tama said 'paradise,' I thought of you. It's because your ideas give me a very similar feeling."
"What?!" BB looked at Tamamo-no-Mae, Ian's wife, with a sense of surprise that was hard to describe. As a super AI, she had never expected there to be someone else besides her who wanted to build a paradise for Ian in Chaldea.
"You... also want to build this place into a paradise for the pig?" she asked in a low voice.
"Mmm," Tamamo-no-Mae nodded. "Little BB... is your idea so similar to mine? It seems that Lord Abe is not surrounded only by those who want to monopolize him—that's wonderful."
"Y-yeah," BB, feeling that her "paradise project" was being approved, looked much happier. "To have the same idea as BB, you're a very insightful fox demon!"
"BB, how can you call Tama that?" Ian was a little angry.
"It's okay," Tamamo-no-Mae stopped the man. "The name doesn't matter—what's important is the intention. Lord Abe should praise BB for having such an idea."
"Then—" The fox demon's gaze returned to the super AI. "Please help us with what's to come, BB."
"You don't even have to ask," the super AI replied. "BB will definitely help." "But speaking of which, what are you and the pig doing right now?"
"We're making tea."
"Making tea?"
"Yes," Tamamo-no-Mae nodded, then looked at Ian beside her. "Lord Abe, the time is just about right—should we let BB see?"
"Mmm, sure."
And so—under BB's watchful eye, Ian opened Tamamo-no-Mae's treasured dowry and began to taste the carefully brewed, slightly cherry-blossom-scented honey snow tea. It was a very special and incredibly immersive way of tasting tea—especially when the man was so engrossed in it. All of this made BB's heart race inside the phone screen. It was her first time seeing such a new and innovative way of making and tasting tea—this was a great boon for the innovation of her evil games.
Feeling that the time was right, Tamamo-no-Mae, who was looking at Ian in front of her, asked with a flushed face, "BB, do you want to participate in the girlfriend conference that Master will be holding later?"
"A girlfriend conference?" The super AI's face turned red. "Does BB have the right?"
"Of course."
"Then will BB also be able to be so intimate with the pig?"
"Not necessarily... but there might be other ways of being together."
"Then BB will help too!"