"Is there anyone else we should pay attention to?" Chika casually glanced at the blogs of the two and asked.
Eriri nodded. "Check out Homura's blog homepage. He has a list of members from Another Dimension. Just follow his blog. Though we're all partners from the same circle, we also recommend some other works we like. You should take a look occasionally."
"I understand... Wow! So many people!"
Homura shrugged. "There'll be even more in a few days."
Looking at the crowd, still chatting away, Homura turned to Eriri. "Eriri, how long is this banquet going to last?"
"Three hours."
"Hahh... If it weren't for your family's party, I'd be leaving already. It's just uncomfortable in this setting, and everyone feels the same, right?"
Even Kaguya couldn't help but nod, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it because of the rules of her family.
"Is there anything else we can do on this occasion?" Saori asked while pondering.
"We can only eat and chat, I guess..." Eriri said. "After all, others are watching."
"Then let's talk about our recent experiences." Homura suggested with a smile. "There's not much else to talk about, right?"
Homura said that mainly for Chika and Kaguya, as he wanted to hear about their recent experiences. After all, except for these two, the rest had just come back from the trip together, so they already knew quite a bit about each other.
They all proceeded to share their stories, and the most fun was the one about the Light Music Club, told by Tsumugi. There was always laughter when they talked about that.
This also made Kaguya envious, but she looked at everyone around her—or rather, friends around her, and smiled contentedly, continuing to listen to those heartwarming and amusing everyday stories.
===
Time passed slowly, and the banquet finally came to an end.
Before bidding farewell to the girls, Homura asked Chika and Kaguya.
"By the way, how are you going to take the manga with you? Won't it be discovered?"
Unlike Homura who had inventory from the System, Chika and Kaguya had nowhere to conceal the manga.
"Oh! Almost forgot! If it's found, my family will confiscate it..." Chika said while frowning, trying to come up with a solution.
"Two options..." Homura held up two fingers. "First, leave them at Eriri's place. Chika, find a chance to pick it up and give it to Kaguya."
"Second, give it to me, and I'll find a chance to deliver it to you, but you'll have to wait until this holiday is over."
"I prefer the first option..." Kaguya decided. "Fujiwara-san can come to the Sawamura-san house anytime. It'll be more convenient that way."
Homura suddenly smiled, saying nothing, just nodding in agreement.
He understood that Kaguya couldn't wait for a few days. After all, she hadn't finished reading it earlier, and she was already itching to do so. Making her wait a few days would be torture!
"Um, just leave it with me." Eriri took the two volumes.
After finishing their discussion, they all moved away.
Homura watched them get into their respective cars, said goodbye to Eriri and her parents, and then left.
===
"I'm back!"
As expected, Haru came to greet him first.
"Haha, did everyone have a good meal?" Homura asked Haru, holding her in his arms.
"Yeah! Everyone's fine. How about you?" Haru replied.
"I didn't eat much. I'm planning to make something for myself. How about it, little one? Do you want to eat with me?"
Though tempted, Haru shook her head. "I'm not eating, you go and make something delicious."
Homura set her down and went to his room to change his clothes.
"Nii-san, welcome back."
"Oh~" He ruffled Sagiri's hair. "Did Elf and Muramasa return?"
"They went back after dinner. They said they needed to prepare for tomorrow..." Sagiri blushed slightly, replying softly.
"As I thought, with Elf around, this house won't be this quiet... I will go prepare something to eat. I don't really like the food at the banquet."
"Umm... by the way, can we do a video call tomorrow when Nii-san visits Muramasa-chan's house?"
"Hmm? Sagiri, are you interested?" Homura smiled and replied. "Okay, no problem."
"Um, then I'm good."
Once again, he ruffled Sagiri's little head before heading to the kitchen.
===
The next day.
Homura, Elf, and Muramasa boarded the train to Muramasa's home.
After reaching their designated seats, Elf opened a small gap in the window, and everyone settled down.
"What does Muramasa-chan's house look like? I'm so excited!" Sagiri's voice came from the tablet Homura was holding.
"I guess... maybe it's like a samurai's mansion? After all, Muramasa always dresses in kimono." Elf responded eagerly.
"What about you, Muramasa-chan? How would you describe it?" Sagiri asked her directly.
"I don't know, I haven't paid much attention to these things, but it should be ordinary...?" Muramasa answered hesitantly.
"Eh? That's so boring!" Elf exclaimed. "I even thought there would be traps set up in the house, like arrows shooting out the moment you step inside the foyer."
"Really?!" Sagiri exclaimed. "I can't wait!"
"None of that is true! Who would install traps in their own house?!" Muramasa couldn't help but exclaim, finding it hard to endure Elf's wild imagination.
"But..." Homura stroked his chin. "Even if it were true, wouldn't it turn her house into a ninja mansion? Samurai wouldn't do something like that, right?"
""Tch."" Elf and Sagiri clicked their mouths simultaneously.
"That may be true... but even if the ninja mansion idea is just a joke, Muramasa does give off a very traditional and elegant impression." Elf said while observing Muramasa.
"Just got used to it, my... my father is like that too."
"Well, that's not surprising at all. After all, he's a literary genius from the previous era. It's not strange to give off a traditional vibe." Elf nodded.
"Speaking of which... this time we might finally get to know Muramasa-chan's real name, right?"
Sagiri's words instantly brought a lot of energy to Elf! It seemed like she would go to great lengths to find out Muramasa's true name.
Though Muramasa acted like she didn't hear, her thoughts were unknown.
After a simple transfer to another train, and about an hour's journey, they finally arrived at the train station closest to Muramasa's home.
On the way to Muramasa's home.
"Mountains! Rice fields! Dry fields! Wow~! This is the countryside!" Sagiri exclaimed with excitement.
Muramasa seemed too lazy to share her excitement, so she rolled her eyes and ignored Sagiri.
After walking a bit longer...
"Aren't we there yet? Why don't we take a car?" Elf said lazily.
"Forget about the car... can we take this opportunity to walk a bit and get some exercise?" Homura felt somewhat helpless; it seemed like Elf's laziness was incurable.
"We're here." Muramasa suddenly spoke.
Homura and Elf looked ahead and saw a real samurai mansion-like mansion appear in their view.