"Over here is Sayuri from the Spencer family."
"And over here are Saya from the Kamishiro family, Yuriko from the Kuraki family, Aoi from the Tohsaka family, Irisviel from the Einzbern family..."
"..."
Looking at the ladies smiling and nodding to her, some dignified and elegant, some youthful and alluring, some as exquisitely beautiful as dolls, Sawamura Sayuri felt so conflicted that she didn't even know how to respond.
She usually stayed out of the power struggles between the major families, but she had no less free time than Asou Miyuri and knew exactly who these women were.
Even if she rarely met them in person, hearing their family names was enough.
Kamishiro Saya, Kuraki Yuriko, Tohsaka Aoi, Irisviel.
[T/N: Browse the names, see the images, take a goon break and come back to read.]
They all had different circumstances. Some lived in seclusion deep in the mountains, some spent most of the year overseas, and among them, the Tohsaka family was the one that had fallen the furthest.
But they all shared one undeniable trait, every one of them had two or more beautiful daughters.
She really hadn't expected Asou Miyuri to drag all of them into this.
"Sayuri, what's with that expression? Surprised to see us here?"
The white-haired, red-eyed Irisviel, whose snow-white skin and delicate features made her look like a doll, laughed softly when she saw that Sayuri only stared at them instead of greeting them, then gave her a playful wink.
They were about the same age, both had rather unserious personalities, and both enjoyed teasing younger people, so they got along well.
Still, Irisviel was always traveling, and their daughters were different ages, so they weren't especially close.
"I really am surprised. Weren't you overseas, Irisviel?"
Sayuri didn't explain what she had been thinking. As she spoke, she looked toward the youthful, alluring black-haired beauty Kuraki Yuriko, the elegant blonde beauty Kamishiro Saya, and the classic Yamato Nadeshiko-like beauty Tohsaka Aoi.
"And aside from the Tohsakas, weren't the Kamishiros and Kurakis both living deep in the mountains?"
"Have you already found successors for your families, so you've been able to step down as acting heads?"
As far as she knew, the Yukinoshita family had never contacted either the Kamishiro or Kuraki families. And because Irisviel's two daughters were still too young, they hadn't considered inviting her into the club either.
She had thought Asou Miyuri was simply someone with plenty of free time who liked having tea and chatting, with a wide social circle among married women.
She hadn't expected her to bring in so many people all at once.
She had underestimated that landlady who loved acting younger than she was.
"My daughters missed me, so I came back."
Irisviel showed none of the reserved dignity expected of a married woman. Grinning, she scooped up some warm water and splashed it toward Sayuri's chest while chatting playfully.
"Now that the Service Club, which can awaken magical girl talents, has appeared, people from all over the world have been coming here. How could I possibly not hear about it? Saya and Yuriko came here for the Service Club too."
"That's right. We still haven't solved the issue of family succession, but that's exactly why we've come to the Service Club."
The elegant, tall, full-figured blonde Kamishiro Saya was much more composed than Irisviel. She merely nodded and wiped the water droplets from her face.
"You mean... you're looking for Club President Hikigaya to..."
Sayuri froze, staring at Kamishiro Saya and Kuraki Yuriko.
For reasons she had never investigated, those two families had built enormous estates in remote areas while remaining secluded despite having so few family members. She didn't know the details, but if they had come to the Service Club over a succession issue, what other purpose could they have?
At most, they wanted Hachiman to father an heir.
Or they simply wanted him to become the head of their family.
With Hachiman's protection, whatever problems their families had faced would be solved.
"Sayuri, isn't your purpose the same as ours? After all, you're here too."
Kuraki Yuriko smiled meaningfully at her.
Their family problems had originally been difficult to solve, but in front of today's Service Club, they were almost trivial. They didn't even have to worry about Hachiman taking over their family businesses.
The Service Club had no interest in their assets.
Instead, their families would likely prosper even more with the Service Club's support.
Provided that their daughters could win the affection of Club President Hachiman and bear him many children.
"Sayuri only has one daughter, so she doesn't have nearly the advantage you do. Of course, Sayuri, you could always find a few more daughters. If I remember right, Reina has five daughters. Borrowing one from her temporarily wouldn't be a bad idea."
Seeing that Yuriko and the others had all assumed Sayuri's motives weren't so innocent either, Asou Miyuri blinked and teased her with a grin.
At present, hardly anyone in the Service Club specifically recruited married women. If Yuriko hadn't brought them in, then it must have been the Yukinoshita family.
Sayuri had already appeared in the grand bath together with so many girls. What happened next hardly needed any explanation.
"I'm not like you. I originally went to the convention today to help my daughter sell her doujinshi. I just happened to run into Club President Hikigaya there, and the Yukinoshita family's younger daughter, Yukino, recognized me and introduced me to him."
"After Club President Hikigaya finished touring the convention, I followed Yukino and the others back to the Service Club. I only wanted to see what the Service Club was like. I didn't expect to run into all of you here."
All four women, including Irisviel, smiled at her knowingly. Sayuri shook her head and explained helplessly, though she doubted they would believe her so easily.
She really didn't have that kind of intention.
Otherwise, she would have accepted the Yukinoshita family's alliance proposal from the beginning.
Still, what she had seen at the convention today had made her realize that the current situation was becoming increasingly serious.
Leaving aside the evil forces that magical girls and exorcist shrine maidens regularly fought, and the increasing activity of the demon race, there were already numerous forces from the other world where the Elf Princess lived that had taken an interest in Hachiman and crossed between worlds to come here. Competition among the major families and conglomerates would only become fiercer.
It was impossible to ignore that competition completely unless the Sawamura family was willing to leave its fate in someone else's hands and hope another family would show mercy.
Fortunately, she had come today...
Otherwise, she never would have known that so many families had already become members of the Service Club.
What she knew now certainly wasn't the whole picture. Who knew how many families had secretly joined without revealing themselves, or how many were still waiting for a chance?
Although awakening magical girl talents and demi-human bloodlines required Hachiman personally, anyone who thought that alone would discourage the major families had greatly overestimated their sense of decency.
She had heard that the six vampire sisters of the Kiriya family had joined the Service Club for much the same reason, and that many snow women from the Yuki-onna clan had joined as well.
If even demi-humans were like this, then the daughters of wealthy families and noble houses, who had always been raised for political marriages, family prosperity, and continuing the bloodline, had no way of refusing such a request now.
The Kamishiro and Kuraki families were both sparsely populated, with only two daughters in this generation. Having those daughters earn Hachiman's affection would be the best possible outcome. The Einzbern family's two daughters might very well end up the same way once they grew older.
If not for the fact that the true core of the Service Club, Hachiman, only liked young, beautiful girls, and that each of them returned home only after completing the magical girl talent awakening ritual at the Service Club, these younger generations who hadn't yet inherited their families wouldn't have been the ones benefiting.
Sayuri sighed inwardly, pushed aside her tangled thoughts, and maintained a faint smile as she chatted happily with Asou Miyuri, Irisviel, Kuraki Yuriko, and Kamishiro Saya.
All of them were either family heads or acting heads. They could talk about hobbies, their daughters, or, if nothing else, the development of their families.
The only thing they avoided discussing was Hachiman, the reason they had come.
On one hand, they didn't know him well enough, and saying the wrong thing might expose something.
On the other, they worried that if the others learned about their plans, someone might beat them to the opportunity.
Yet under such a harmonious atmosphere, their previously distant relationship quietly grew much closer.
No matter how much Sayuri insisted otherwise, she couldn't deny that she wasn't all that different from them.
Her methods and goals were simply a little gentler and less aggressive.
For Eriri's future happiness, she had worried herself sick.
While the atmosphere among the group was lively, Tohsaka Aoi remained silent the entire time, quietly watching them. None of them took the initiative to include her in the conversation.
It wasn't that they wanted to exclude her.
In fact, if possible, they would have preferred talking with Aoi, whose three daughters all had fairly good relationships with Hachiman.
Unfortunately, while they weren't as familiar with Aoi as Irisviel was, they had been paying attention to the Yukinoshita family, Hachiman, and by extension the Tohsaka family. They all knew that this elegant black-haired beauty, who resembled the ideal Yamato Nadeshiko, was not only unsuited to leading a family but also had... a few mental issues.
To avoid accidentally saying something that might upset Aoi's sensitive emotional state, they kept their conversations with her to a minimum.
Only Asou Miyuri, whose intentions were less than pure, kept watching Aoi closely, observing her reactions after entering the Service Club while considering her next move.
"Rin, Sakura, Mommy's over here."
The supposedly mentally unstable Tohsaka Aoi looked perfectly normal. Instead of joining the married women's conversation, she kept looking around the mist-filled grand bath until she finally spotted two familiar slender figures. Since she wasn't a strong swimmer, she waved to them and called softly.
"Mom... why are you here..."
Now that she had been spotted and couldn't keep hiding, Rin awkwardly pulled her younger sister Sakura over with her and swam to Aoi's side, each sister supporting one side of their mother's body in the water.
"Aunt Irisviel and the others had business at the Service Club today, so I came along to meet the Hachiman-nii you've been talking about."
Aoi looked gently at her two daughters, the black twin-tailed Rin and the black bob-haired Sakura.
Like the others, she had joined the Service Club for her daughters' sake.
But today, her main goal was simply to see Hachiman with her own eyes.
"Uh... hello, Aunt Irisviel."
Rin immediately glanced at Sakura, whom she had dragged over. Seeing her sister's darting eyes, as though she were plotting something again, Rin's expression became subtle. Afraid Aoi might notice something, she hurriedly greeted Irisviel instead.
The fact that Touka-nee's engagement to the Takamine family's third son had been broken off, and that they had even stayed overnight at Hachiman-nii's house, naturally couldn't be completely hidden from their mother.
However, both Rin and Touka had kept Sakura's real way of addressing Hachiman a secret, instead explaining their current relationship with him in gentler terms.
For example, Touka-nee's magical girl talent awakening ritual had become a story where she fell in love with Hachiman-nii at first sight despite his already having a fiancée. After he helped resolve her engagement, she was so moved that she willingly became his lover.
And the previously quiet Sakura, who had rarely spoken for years, had become much more cheerful and smiled far more often under Hachiman-nii's guidance. (Though she had also become much more devilish.)
Their mother was a very traditional woman. Once she learned that Touka had already given herself to Hachiman, she no longer objected. Seeing that Sakura was also willing to accept him, and that she herself didn't dislike him either, their mother had even begun supporting Touka's relationship with Hachiman.
After all, they had also told her about the Yukinoshita sisters' relationship with him.
Haruno-nee and Yukino-nee were both among Hachiman's lovers. What right did the declining Tohsaka family have to ask for more?
Their mother could only hope that Touka and Hachiman would be happy together and never regret it.
Originally, that should have been the end of it.
But there was still one huge problem.
A fatal one.
Because Sakura liked calling Hachiman-nii "Father."
Normally, their mother was wonderful.
Elegant on the outside, gentle on the inside, and wholeheartedly devoted to maintaining their family every day.
She was the perfect mother.
But whenever their father was involved... something about her changed.
Admiration.
Understanding.
Obsession.
Blind devotion.
Distortion...
Rin didn't know which word described it best.
None of them quite captured the strange nature of her mother's feelings toward their father.
But if Sakura called Hachiman-nii "Father" in front of their mother...
Something very bad would definitely happen.
Noticing Rin watching her vigilantly the entire time, Sakura simply pouted and said nothing. She only affectionately hugged Aoi's arm and quietly waited for the moment her mother met Hachiman.
What was the point of staring at her now?
If she wanted to do something, she would have done it already.
Did Rin really think she would wait until now?
Didn't want to call him Father?
Rin was just being hypocritical.
Later on, she'd probably be the one calling him Father the most enthusiastically.
"Hehe! Let's go meet Hachiman-kun, the president of the Service Club. Illya and Chloe are still waiting at home for my good news."
Irisviel blinked in confusion, unable to understand the strange atmosphere between Rin and Sakura. Still, she didn't dwell on it. Smiling, she pinched both girls' cheeks, then excitedly led everyone out of the grand bath. After changing clothes in the locker room, they went to find Hachiman.
"Huh? Good news?"
Rin stared blankly at Irisviel walking ahead of them, her silver-white hair swaying over her fair shoulders, looking even more like a young girl than an actual girl.
She had no idea why Aunt Irisviel had come here, or what this "good news" referred to.
Her own mother had come for their sake.
The other married women had joined the Service Club for the happiness of their daughters as well.
But Aunt Irisviel's daughters...
No matter how she thought about it, there was no way it could be Illya and Chloe, those twin sisters... right?
———
"The expansion and renovation of Sobu High has completed one-fifth of the overall plan. The pace will speed up from here."
"Lycoris has already established a branch near Sobu High to ensure construction proceeds smoothly. Besides Nishikigi Chisato and Inoue Takina, there are also quite a few attractive new Lycoris recruits. They'll be joining Sobu High for training in the future as well."
"Aside from the planned supernatural students, there are also many exchange student applications from girls' academies. President, would you like them managed separately from Sobu High's original students, or should they be distributed among different grades and classes according to their respective factions?"
In the central lounge, on one of the sofas, vice President Haruno and her close friend Touka Tohsaka sat on either side of Hachiman.
As they fed him lunch, they reported on the recent developments within the Service Club and Sobu High.
Student Council President Kaede had handled the exchange student applications from schools like Sakuraharu Girls' Academy, Angel Academy, and Excellent Girls' Academy. The transfer of eligible idols from the idol agencies to Sobu High was thanks to the mermaid princess Meroune and the Rurikawa family.
But it had been the Yukinoshita family that proposed integrating the idol training school First Star Academy into Sobu High, and Haruno had no intention of giving up credit for that.
As club president, Hachiman could spend every day fooling around with women without worrying about how the Service Club developed.
But Haruno, as vice president, couldn't actually act as though there were no need to report anything and simply make decisions on her own.
Although, judging from her authority as vice president, she could manage most affairs except for the personal matters of Iris, the Kaede and Suzu sisters, Lala, and a few others, acting recklessly would simply be foolish.
After reporting several of the Service Club's major projects, Haruno also mentioned the Yukinoshita family's current allies and those they might ally with in the future.
These small factions could be considered either public business or private affairs.
None of them were particularly important to Hachiman.
Still, Haruno felt it was better to report them first.
What if one of those girls happened to be someone Hachiman disliked?
Or someone he particularly liked?
In short, frequent reporting and consultation were the safest approach.
The Yukinoshita family had few members and limited influence.
The only thing they could demonstrate was their loyalty.
"There are a lot of exchange students from girls' academies... Just distribute them among the different classes. They'll coordinate things themselves."
Hachiman showed no surprise after hearing the report. He simply nodded thoughtfully.
"As for the Yukinoshita family's alliance... just handle it yourselves. You don't need to report everything to me."
Others had already mentioned some of these matters to him. For example, the Yukinoshita family's current allies already included the Nakano, Katsura, and Tachibana families.
The list of exchange students from the girls' academies, however, was indeed much larger than the handful of heirs sent by each family alliance.
If the family alliance represented cooperation between families and conglomerates, then the students from the girls' academies represented coalitions centered around individual schools and led by major financial groups.
It was precisely because they were accepting so many exchange students and transfer students that Sobu High required such a massive expansion.
Otherwise, there would have been no need to enlarge the school at all.
However, besides these ordinary transfer students, there were also many students and teachers who already possessed supernatural abilities.
If they were managed separately, it wouldn't be as simple as dividing them into one or two different factions.
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