The service halo boosts personal strength in every way, from physical ability to mental endurance.
The teaching halo temporarily raises learning aptitude.
Plus the empathy wristbands let them experience and control mana to cast magic as if they were the elves themselves.
With multiple buffs stacking together, learning magic was almost too easy for them.
Although at first last night Hachiman wanted to tutor Ryou and Bocchi, whose grades were bad, so they could pass the test the day after tomorrow.
But once Iris and the others arrived, he switched to studying magic.
Anyway, learning magic firsthand required a higher frequency of empathy, so studying both wouldn't get in the way.
"..."
"..."
Facing the sudden magic displayed by Ijichi Nijika, Gotou Hitori, and Yamada Ryou, not only did Yotsuya Miko not know what to say, even Kita Ikuyo was starting to feel a bit depressed.
What was going on? They were gone for one night and came back as magic experts?
They were supposed to have a party, so why were they secretly learning magic?
"Of course, I only meant that learning magic without special methods is slow, so you can't immediately solve your problem that way."
Seeing that Yotsuya Miko and the others had already realized what kind of shortcut it was, Iris smiled.
"The oni tribe's shrine maiden, Origamine Ouka, is very good at exorcism. She should have protective talisman charms."
Origamine Ouka wasn't from their world but was a native demi-human of this one. What she practiced wasn't magic but jutsu that used curse power.
As a shrine maiden, Origamine Ouka was very skilled at dealing with ghosts.
Actually, aside from learning magic to protect themselves, and asking Origamine Ouka for protective charms, there was another way. If they could boost the life-energy flame around them so much that normal ghosts didn't dare approach, then they wouldn't need to worry about ghosts anymore.
But Yotsuya Miko would definitely not accept that kind of temporary enhancement.
"Yes, Origamine is also the student council vice president. Protecting students is her duty. You don't need to worry about her refusing. I'll go get some protective talismans for you when I get to school."
Kaede also spoke at this moment, comforting the visibly conflicted Yotsuya Miko.
In fact, after learning what happened to Yotsuya Miko and the others last night, she had already thought about asking Origamine Ouka for help.
She had hoped to pull Yotsuya Miko to her side, but since Iris learned about it, never mind.
Since Yotsuya Miko hadn't shown any liking toward Hachiman last night, nor any intention of joining them, Kaede couldn't use talismans to pressure her. She could only treat it as official business.
"So I just go ask the student council vice president for talisman charms? Oh, thank you, thank you!"
Yotsuya Miko listened blankly to their arrangements. Pulling Yukikawa Hana with her, she thanked Iris and Kaede, though her face was still a bit stiff.
Even though her long-standing problem had been solved and she would be going to school with Hikigaya today to get talismans from Vice President Origamine, so she wouldn't need to worry about ghosts anymore.
For some reason, her feelings were complicated.
It wasn't because the terrifying ghosts that had made her lose sleep were nothing in front of Iris and the elf princesses, easily solved with a flick of the wrist.
She had already suspected that much. Otherwise she wouldn't have gone looking for the elf princess at school, though she hadn't been lucky enough to find her yesterday.
It was Ijichi Nijika, Yamada Ryou, and Gotou Hitori... She was the one who could truly see ghosts. Hana was the one who attracted them and suffered. Ijichi and the others only learned about ghosts by coincidence.
Yet now they were already learning magic, while she and Hana still needed to rely on Origamine's talismans for protection.
While Yotsuya Miko was tangled in her complicated emotions, Shion, who had been calling her brother Hachiman upstairs for a long time, finally appeared once everyone had gathered in the living room for breakfast.
Unlike earlier, she had changed out of her loose nightgown and into Komachi's school uniform.
Her delicate and pretty face was rosy and radiant, her sleek black hair falling softly to her waist.
Her youthful figure filled out the school uniform beautifully.
Her slender, fair, elastic legs were wrapped in exquisite over-knee black stockings.
No wonder that while Komachi changed, Shion had still been slowly washing dishes. Once Komachi came downstairs, she went up to call Hikigaya to change clothes.
Seeing Hachiman being escorted down the stairs, arm-in-arm with the long-haired black-haired beauty Shion, and taking a seat among Iris and Kaede while looking toward their side.
Yotsuya Miko and Kita Ikuyo exchanged a glance, finally understanding Hachiman's position.
———
Hachiman noticed the looks from Kita Ikuyo, Yotsuya Miko, and the others.
To be fair, his home situation was incredibly absurd, truly shocking. No one would imagine that the boy who attended classes normally at school had, in private, already gotten involved with so many girls that the living room could hardly fit them.
But on second thought, it wasn't that surprising. Many rich people were the same, right?
It was just that others spent money to get girls, but he spent energy.
He simply had a few more girls, they were simply a bit prettier, and they were all people he had personally gone after one by one.
Unless it was someone like Bocchi or Saki, who couldn't work independently, he rarely even said he would support them.
"Ahem! Eat breakfast. Once we're done, we'll teleport straight to school. We won't take the car today."
Holding the smart, capable, gentle, obedient black-haired beauty Shion in his arms, Hachiman smiled at Kita Ikuyo, Yotsuya Miko, and the others, then began eating breakfast with everyone.
Though he still couldn't teleport with girls whose intimacy level wasn't high enough to be included on his romance list, he had mastered the teleport magic Iris taught him last night, so for regular travel it was no problem to use a fixed-point teleport.
The teaching halo really was amazing. Not only could it help someone master knowledge quickly, it even let people fast-track incredibly mysterious magic.
Especially with the boost from his service halo, plus his subtle absolute taming ability, if he ever became a teacher, the results would be terrifying to imagine.
Unfortunately, the power of the teaching halo was directly related to the number of teachers and their dedication. And now he only had about half a real teacher who was close enough to him.
The strength of the teaching halo depended entirely on the students' wholehearted teaching dedication. So Ijichi and the others could only learn one small spell that wasn't too difficult in one night, each choosing one according to their preferences.
Shion learned a cleaning spell to help him tidy up. Ichinose Honami learned a soundproofing spell so she didn't need to worry about people overhearing.
To increase the effect of the teaching halo's learning buff, he needed more teachers to join.
Aside from Hanamori Kotomi, the airheaded saintly teacher, only Mizuho Kagami, who had once seduced him with black stockings right in front of Kirisu Mafuyu, had a high intimacy with him.
But Mizuho Kagami had been influenced by a succubus at the time and wasn't in control of her actions. Now she would probably die of embarrassment if she saw him.
As for Hiratsuka Shizuka, who saw him the most often, she was like Yukinoshita Yukino, strictly following school rules and maintaining a pure co-ed distance.
Breakfast ended quickly. Nobody was very hungry, and a light meal was enough.
For everyone, eating breakfast together had become a ritual that marked the end of sleepless nights at the Hikigaya home and the return to normal school life.
"Komachi, Honami's little sister should be transferring into your class today. You and Shion take care of her."
Hikigaya set down his chopsticks and gently stroked the absolute territory between Shion's skirt and stockings, then looked around at all the small chatting groups, before his gaze landed on Komachi. He reminded her.
If they were at Sobu High, he wouldn't need to say anything. Sobu was basically his territory. At most the girls there fought for position at night, but otherwise they were peaceful and helped one another.
But Honami's sister was around Komachi's age, so going to school with Komachi would be best.
"Thank you, Komachi, Shion."
Since Hikigaya had brought up her sister, Ichinose Honami, who had been trying to stay invisible and avoid attention, couldn't ignore it anymore. Blushing, she stood and bowed deeply, asking Komachi and Shion to take care of her sister.
Her little sister was a very well-behaved girl. She understood the family's hardship and never asked for toys or prettiness like other girls. The one time she mentioned wanting a birthday present, it was only a pretty hairpin.
But because she was so considerate, Honami worried even more that her sister would get bullied, especially because she hid it to avoid worrying her family.
"Honami, don't worry. Shion and I will be good friends with her. No need to be so formal."
Komachi wanted to complain that her brother was dumping another sister on her to take care of, but when she saw Honami bowing ninety degrees, she quickly reassured her.
Tohsaka Sakura, who had shut down emotionally after losing her father young, and Ichinose Honami's sister, who came from a single-parent home with severe financial stress... neither was much better off than Shion, whose family had collapsed.
All of them were perfect girls for fulfilling her brother's dream of being a homemaker. Too bad that was only true for the old brother.
Now she didn't even need to bring them home. Their older sisters were already sleeping with her brother.
Yes... aside from Tohsaka Sakura, the girl idol group Tres Magia, who she saw at Elio's concert, were also students in their class.
Whether it was future sisters-in-law or idols under her brother's company, Komachi felt like she was already becoming a tyrant of the class, living the Sobu High boss life in advance.
"Mm," Shion, who was sitting in Hachiman's lap and couldn't get up, didn't speak. She only nodded quietly to Honami to show she would help take care of her sister.
She already knew Honami's sister was transferring and had asked Hachiman about her family situation.
Honami's family was a bit better than hers and not broken apart, but a single-parent household that looked cheerful yet lacked money had a heavy burden.
Because both daughters needed schooling, Honami's mother worked extremely hard. To buy a birthday gift for her younger daughter, she forced herself to take extra shifts until she got sick.
Honami's one mistake was stealing a hairpin for her sister. Even though she later apologized with her mother and was forgiven, she still shut herself in.
Only recently had Honami truly come out of that shadow.
Now Honami, like Shion, had found her place in Hachiman's arms. She had escaped her suffering and begun enjoying happiness.
"President, I've already arranged for Tsubaki to handle the Tohsaka and Takamine matters. Miss Touka no longer needs to fulfill her former engagement," Iris also moved on to business. She had returned late last night because she had gone to handle the Tohsaka family situation.
"But President, you don't need to tell Miss Touka yet. I'll arrange for Sylpha to protect her."
"Iris, what are you planning? Touka looks strong, but she's actually fragile."
Seeing that Iris seemed to be plotting something involving Tohsaka Touka, Hachiman looked helpless.
The Tohsaka family still had some assets, but those wouldn't matter at all to Iris, a princess of the elf kingdom.
The main conflict was really between the Rurikawa family and the Ichinose family against the Takamine family. The Tohsaka sisters were only the fuse.
Well... to be precise, under his guidance the Rurikawa and Ichinose families would definitely cooperate against outside threats. The Takamine family had simply crossed his sights because they were tied to the Tohsaka family.
"Sakura has accepted you as her father, President, but Miss Touka hasn't," Iris blinked and smiled with a meaningful, narrow-eyed grin.
"From what I know, Miss Touka has a slight father complex. When she sees Sakura snuggling at your side calling you father, she looks very envious, but she can't show it because of her position."
She didn't have mind-reading, but Tohsaka Touka was inexperienced and easy to read.
"...", Hachiman.
He remembered that Iris hadn't been present when he went to the aquarium with Touka and Sakura.
And when Touka met Iris, he had already been on stage with Leticia, Sylpha, and the mermaid princess Meroune, playing the bubble-blowing diving game.
How did Iris know so much about how he interacted with the Tohsaka sisters... what exactly had she done.
After the concert he had teleported straight to the Ichinose home, so he didn't know what Iris had talked about with the Tohsaka sisters afterward.
"Ahem! Hikigaya, everyone."
Finally, the soft and gentle Asou Miyuri cleared her throat to draw everyone's attention before she slowly spoke.
"Now that I know you don't need me or my friends to fund you, Hikigaya, do you still want me to help you take on their requests?"
She had originally thought Hikigaya simply had extraordinary talent, but after last night she fully and completely understood his power inside and out.
Even without considering the elves, merfolk, and other demi-humans, just the Ichinose daughter and the Rurikawa heiress alone showed enough financial power that he had no need at all for her and her friends' funding.
And a commission paid with funding was meaningless. Most of her friends weren't even in the same industry. Any resources they could offer would be beneath the Rurikawa family. Using that as payment would be an insult.
"I don't help classmates at school for their payment."
Hikigaya smiled and shook his head. The system would ensure the proper reward.
Although tasks rarely came with clear conditions, and some took too long to complete, leaving him with a pile he didn't want to touch.
Still, once triggered, the system tasks couldn't be instantly cleared. He could just leave them for later. One day they would complete. After all, when they ran into danger, he could teleport to them. He didn't need to take initiative; the tasks would remind him.
"I understand. Then I'll help choose suitable requests for you."
Asou Miyuri looked at Hikigaya's carefree attitude toward payment, her eyes growing brighter as she happily agreed to continue acting as the intermediary between him and her friends.
Except this time, she would no longer favor her friends. She would favor Hikigaya, choosing commissions according to his situation first.
Since he didn't need money or resources, then her friends could "pay" in their own way.
Though... he also didn't exactly lack girls, but since they were asking for help, they had to offer something.
Just like now, the Rurikawa heiress and the Ichinose heiress had both deepened their relationship with him, reached an understanding, and were prepared for mutual cooperation and benefit.
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