"Here, ojou-sama…" I said with a straight face as I gently poured tea into Eriri's cup, steam rising from the fine porcelain set—something I never thought I'd touch in my life.
Eriri froze mid-bite, her fork hovering just above her plate as she stared at me in disbelief. "You're… really taking this seriously, huh?" she muttered, her cheeks puffing slightly as she tried to act unimpressed—but her eyes betrayed a hint of amusement. "And you're surprisingly good at this."
I carefully placed the teapot back on the tray and bowed slightly. "Of course. It's part of my duty as the official Sawamura family maid, right?" I replied with exaggerated politeness.
Before Eriri could even respond, a click-click-click! sound filled the air. Sayuri stood nearby, holding an enormous professional-grade camera that looked straight out of a modeling studio, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Ahhh! Perfect! Adi-kun, look this way! Yes—hold the teapot like that! Beautiful! So elegant!"
"Mrs. Sawamura, I'll be asking for a bonus for every picture you take," I said flatly, holding the teapot with one hand and my pride with the other. At this point, I didn't even have the motivation to reject her antics—might as well use the opportunity to earn some extra cash.
Sayuri, however, was already far too deep in her otaku photographer mode to take my words seriously. She adjusted her massive, professional-grade camera like a battlefield sniper and grinned ear to ear. "I'll give you a big bonus!" she declared enthusiastically, her tone dangerously close to that of an old man in a questionable anime scene.
Meanwhile, Eriri, who had been quietly eating, slammed her fork down in embarrassment. "Mom! Please send that to me later! I can use it for reference material!" she said, trying to sound professional but her flushed cheeks betrayed her.
Sayuri laughed happily, snapping several more shots from different angles. "Of course, Eriri! He's way too cute not to! Just look at him—doesn't he look like one of those elegant butlers from an otome game? The shy yet charming type who secretly takes care of everything behind the scenes!"
I could only sigh, straightening my maid uniform as the camera's shutter clicked nonstop. "At this point, I feel like I'm in the wrong genre," I muttered, watching Sayuri gleefully circle around for another perfect shot while Eriri finished her breakfast.
…
"Do I really have to do this every day?" Eriri muttered, sitting beside the car with her bag on her lap. Her golden twin-tails swayed slightly in the morning breeze, and she wore a faint pout that could only belong to a girl forced into something she didn't want to admit she didn't entirely hate.
"Yeah, pretty much," I replied while opening the car door for her like a proper chauffeur—or maybe more like a loyal maid, considering my current uniform. "It's just part of the job description, you know? So please be patient. I'll pick you up again after school too."
She crossed her arms and looked away, pretending not to care. "You're acting like some kind of butler now."
"Well, me being near you is a good thing," I continued as I got into the driver's seat. "We don't know when we'll be called back to Orario's world."
That name immediately changed her expression. The playful pout vanished, replaced by a look of tension and unease. Her fingers clenched around her skirt. "Orario... huh... I still can't believe that was real. The monsters, the dungeon... and that fear..." she whispered, shivering slightly at the memory.
"Yeah," I said softly, glancing at her through the rearview mirror. "It was real enough to hurt, but at least we survived. Our mission is still the same—to save that world. And honestly," I added with a small grin, "having the heroine and the protagonist together usually means event flags, right?"
Eriri shot me a glare, her cheeks puffing slightly. "You make it sound like I'm some kind of supernatural heroine or something."
"Ahaha, sorry about that," I said, scratching my cheek awkwardly. "But you can relax. After what happened yesterday, I'm more convinced that the Multiverse VR only sends our avatars into those worlds. We might get hurt, but we won't die for real. Still... the pain, fear, and trauma? Those are definitely real. So if anything happens, just leave it to me, okay?"
Eriri looked at me for a moment, her lips trembling as if she wanted to argue. Then, with a small sigh, she turned toward the window. "You really are too confident sometimes, you know that?"
"Rather than confidence... it's more like I'd rather get hurt than let you be," I said with a grin as I started the car. "The system even said I'm thirty-seven percent masochist, after all. I can take it... I think."
Eriri sighed softly, shaking her head as a faint smile curved her lips. "Idiot…" she murmured, but the warmth in her voice betrayed her worry—and maybe, just maybe, a hint of relief.
"It's frustrating… really," Eriri muttered, her voice soft but laced with conflicted emotion. "I feel relieved and happy hearing that, but at the same time, it'll just put you in danger again."
I smiled reassuringly, keeping my eyes on the road. "It's fine. We both got stronger from that dungeon. And I even got a new skill that... kinda fits me, don't you think?"
I opened my status window in front of her, the faint digital glow reflecting in the car's interior.
[ Status: Adicipta Perkasa ]
Race: Human
Level: 1
Basic Abilities:
STR: H 102 → H 126 (+24)
END: I 96 → H 101 (+5)
DEX: H 109 → H 142 (+33)
AGI: H 153 → H 197 (+44)
MAG: H 104 → H 129 (+25)
New Skill — Devotion Link
A manifestation of Adi's unwavering determination and self-sacrificing heart. The stronger his resolve to protect someone dear, the greater his growth and combat potential become. Unlike ordinary skills, Devotion Link responds to emotional bonds rather than logic or training.
"Which basically means," I said, grinning a bit, "I can get stronger by protecting you. So, you see? It's a win-win."
Eriri sighed, her expression a mix of disbelief and concern. "Haa… I don't get any new skills, though. My status only went up a little." She pouted while opening her own window.
[ Status: Eriri Spencer Sawamura ]
Race: Human
Level: 1
Basic Abilities:
STR: H 73 (+6)
END: I 68 (+9)
DEX: H 122 (+7)
AGI: H 90 (+5)
MAG: H 107 (+5)
"Well, that's still pretty good," I said, trying to cheer her up. "We're still on the early floor, after all. It's natural that the growth is slow. Once we go deeper, our status will rise faster. And honestly, we don't want another Minotaur surprise like last time, right?"
Eriri shivered slightly, remembering that brutal fight. "Yeah… let's not repeat that, please."
I chuckled softly. "Yeah, we hopse so."
By then, we had already arrived at Toyogasaki High School, its elegant gate standing tall like something straight out of a romantic comedy. I parked the car and stepped out, moving to open her door like a proper butler—or in my current outfit, a maid.
"Today's your first day back at school," I said with a grin. "Enjoy it. Who knows, you might have some unexpected event waiting for you."
She gave me a look that was half exasperated, half fond. "You really talk like you're in some dating sim event…"
"Maybe I am," I replied lightly. "Anyway, I'll pick you up after class, Ojou-sama."
And with that, she stepped out, brushing her blonde twin tails behind her shoulders as the morning sun caught her hair—an oddly perfect scene that made me forget for a moment that we had just fought monsters in another world the night before.
Well, we will do it again today…
[author]
Each chapter is about 1,000-1,200 words,
Monday to Saturday, every 5.00 AM in my country and maybe 3:00 PM in UTC since my reader lot from US. Thanks for reading!!!
[/author]