"Twenty-five," Shichen replied.
Frieren; Minamiya Natsuki and the others; Yatogami Tohka and the others; Kasumigaoka Utaha and Tohru and the others; Megumin and friends; Lala and Yami; Illya and company; Emilia and Rem.
By now, without even noticing, Shichen had already gathered twenty-five Divine Fragments—just past one quarter of the whole. Of course, among the people around him—the ones he'd met—there were still fragments he hadn't taken. Counting all of those, he was already close to half.
"Only twenty-five?" Beatrice frowned under her breath when she heard his answer.
"Is there a problem?" Shichen picked Beatrice up and looked at her delicate little face.
"Shichen, try to reach fifty as soon as you can. Then Big Sis can wake up, and you'll become even stronger." Beatrice met his eyes seriously as she spoke.
"Fifty, huh? Got it. But this sort of thing takes time—you know it isn't that simple, right?" Shichen soothed her.
He wasn't surprised Beatrice knew about the fragments; anything tied to "her" would naturally let Beatrice learn plenty about him—after all, the one who set him to collect the fragments was "her." Est also knew a lot; Beatrice wasn't any different from her.
"I know… but I want to see Big Sis soon."
"Do you? I'm going to get jealous," Shichen said, pretending to pout as he ruffled her hair.
"As if you would~" Beatrice smiled triumphantly.
"So clever." Shichen pinched her cheeks, gently tugging.
"Mmph—mmph—"
"Shichen-nii, what are you two talking about?" Nishikigi Chisato finally couldn't help asking.
It wasn't just her—Emilia and the others all stared, curious.
"Heh—don't mind it. Just a task of mine—the task of meeting all of you," Shichen said.
"That so." Chisato nodded and didn't pry.
"All right, help set up rooms for Emilia and the others first—they're still not used to things."
"Leave it to me—today I'll be the one to help Emilia get familiar with the place!" Megumin patted her very flat chest.
"Seriously? I'll be happy if you don't lead her astray."
"You actually don't trust me!" Megumin glared.
"…Fine, I'll let you, okay?" Shichen shook his head but agreed.
He also wanted to see what Emilia would become after tagging along with Megumin. He was actually looking forward to Emilia getting a little as flamboyant and chunni as Megumin—the thought of that was pretty entertaining. Besides, Emilia's personality did need a little shifting; confident Megumin might be her best coach. Their voices even matched.
"Shichen, can I go with Tohru?" Rem asked.
"You want to go with Tohru?" Shichen looked at her, surprised.
"Mm. Tohru and I hit it off right away. I want her to show me around," Rem nodded.
"Shichen-dono, leave it to me," Tohru said, thumping her very full chest.
"All right—get to know each other first. Tonight I'll do a proper round of introductions."
With Emilia and Rem sorted, Shichen went upstairs to check on everyone else.
Beatrice didn't need arranging—like Est, she knew everything already. As if she'd lived it once before.
There weren't many at home—some were at school, some out and about.
Irisviel had taken Artoria shopping; Darkness and Yunyun tagged along.
Yami was likely holed up in some library; Frieren, unexpectedly, was with her.
Minamiya Natsuki and company were still sightseeing in this world.
At home, only Aqua was in the game room.
When Shichen entered, he found Aqua in loungewear, sprawled on the sofa with a controller in hand, a lollipop in her mouth, eyes glued to the screen—pure shut-in. No one seeing her would ever think she was a goddess. To be honest, even when she wasn't like this, nobody would dare assume she was a goddess.
"Aqua," Shichen said as he walked up.
Aqua ignored him, focused on the game. Shichen shook his head, scooped her up onto his lap, and sat down in her spot. She kept playing until the match ended, then set the controller down, popped out the lollipop, and turned back with a cheeky smile.
"Shichen, you're back~"
"Is gaming that fun? You didn't even look at me." One arm around her waist, Shichen's other hand naturally drifted up to feel her heartbeat through her chest.
"Mmm~ I'm looking now, aren't I~" Aqua wriggled coquettishly.
"That won't do. I'm very unhappy." Shichen's expression turned solemn as his fingers moved.
"Mmh~" Aqua couldn't help a little sound; color rose in her flawless face.
"Then… I'll make it up to you tonight, okay?"
"How so?"
"Whatever you want to do…"
"Really?" He studied her eyes.
"M-mm… you've already done everything you should anyway…"
"Right."
Aqua's body was incredibly supple, practically made of water—fitting for a water goddess—and her face was flawless. Silly as she was, Shichen still couldn't help wanting to mess with her a bit. Though there probably wouldn't be an opportunity tonight.
"I'll play with you for a while."
"Yay! I was just getting bored alone." Aqua perked up, swaying happily, not minding his hand in the least.
"Is that so? I thought you weren't bored at all."
"Oh, I was just being serious."
"…Since you're bored, why not go out with Iri and the others?"
"No way! Going out is exhausting. Gaming at home is better."
"Can't argue with that…"
He gamed with Aqua until afternoon; Kanna and the others trickled back from school.
Hoshino Ai didn't return with Yoshino and the rest; not knowing Shichen was back, she went straight to the agency to practice.
She didn't really need to keep working so hard to be a star at her age, but she was raised by Saitō Ichigo and wanted to be responsible.
Since it was her choice, Shichen would support her—she'd be safe with him protecting her. Not seeing her yet meant Emilia wouldn't run into a second voice twin—for now. She'd be back before dinner anyway.
Eriri and Tohka came by to hang out; not knowing he'd returned, Eriri was overjoyed on seeing him and immediately decided to stay the night—even with school tomorrow, grabbing a change of clothes was easy with Shichen around.
At dinner, everyone gathered around the big round table to meet the new family members—a regular ritual whenever Shichen came back. Rem was fine; Emilia was awkward at first, but the girls were all kind and soon put her at ease—especially once she got to know them.
Shichen didn't join the chatter, instead mulling changing the kitchen layout. One big round table was a hassle; better to switch to several smaller ones so girls who were close could sit together. As for him—he could rotate seats during the meal.
The next day he did exactly that: the dining area got a "small table" makeover like a cozy inn, easier for little groups.
Shichen's return drew a surge of female customers to the café—white-collars, homemakers, students—dropping in "just to have coffee"… mostly to sneak a look at the handsome guy.
But he wasn't a permanent mascot; having just come back, he made rounds to calm everyone's excitement: shopping for ingredients with Tohru (and inevitably spending half the day in the sky), revisiting old haunts with Chisato, skipping class with Utaha to go out on the water.
The sweetest was Irisviel, who wanted to drag Artoria along—sadly declined, but there would be other chances. The most troublesome was Darkness—ever seeking more "stimulating" experiences—and learning far too much of that sort from modern media. Even Shichen struggled to keep up with her—too pervy.
Soothing everyone was exhausting, but he was a responsible man—no matter how tough, he did his best to satisfy them. It was what he should do; a little hardship didn't count.
This time, he stayed only a month before leaving again—because of what Beatrice said. Once he gathered fifty fragments, "she" could appear. That gave him something to drive toward.