The One-Week Deadline Has Come!

Not long after Mikado Ryouko and Tearju returned to the infirmary, Eriri also came back—this time with Murasame Shizu, who now had a physical body thanks to Eriri's resurrection.

Seeing the girl in a white yukata quietly following at Eriri's side, Tearju's face lit up with curiosity.

"Eriri, did you go out just now for this girl?"

"That's right. Let me introduce her—this is Shizu. She'll be living with us from now on."

Eriri gently pushed Murasame Shizu forward with a smile as she made the introduction.

Hearing this, Tearju immediately nodded in understanding, then gave Shizu a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Tearju Lunatique."

"Mhm, nice to meet you too! I'm Shizu, a ghost for four hundred years. I used to live in the old school building, but now Eriri has brought me back to life and made me human again!"

Murasame Shizu showed no timidity when facing Tearju—instead, she introduced herself openly and cheerfully.

"Oh, and to repay Eriri for reviving me, I'll be working as a maid in the Sawamura household from now on. If you need help with anything, feel free to come to me~"

As she spoke, Shizu lifted her slender right arm in a flexing pose, her face beaming with a sunny smile.

When she first learned that Eriri had brought her back to life, Shizu had been overwhelmed with joy.

The reason she had maintained such an optimistic outlook over those four hundred years wasn't because she was satisfied with her ghostly existence—she simply had no other choice.

If there had been a better option, she certainly wouldn't have chosen to remain a ghost trapped in that gloomy old school building.

She felt deep gratitude toward Eriri and immediately expressed her desire to repay her.

Eriri didn't stand on ceremony. She directly had Shizu move into her mansion in this world as a maid.

To Eriri, the idea of being a "maid" was just another form of roleplay.

Next, Mikado Ryouko also introduced herself to Murasame Shizu.

The lively and adorable Shizu left a good impression on Mikado.

In the original work, it was Mikado who provided Shizu with a physical body. To repay her, Shizu later worked as a nurse at both the school infirmary and Mikado's private clinic.

Out of all the characters in the original story, Mikado had the closest relationship with Shizu.

Mikado had given her a man-made body, which came with some flaws—so in the original, Shizu's revival wasn't a complete one.

The biggest issue with the artificial body was that it didn't fully synchronize with her soul. For instance, when startled, her soul would easily pop out of the body.

That said, there was one benefit: in her spirit form, she could possess others or sneak into their mental depths to peek into their thoughts.

But in comparison, Eriri's resurrection was a true revival.

Not only were the defects of artificial bodies absent, but she also awakened Shizu's psychic abilities—allowing her to dive into other people's mental worlds.

Moreover, the telekinesis Shizu had possessed as a ghost remained fully intact.

While her psychokinesis wasn't very strong, it had great potential for growth.

Especially with the energy seed Eriri planted in her body—getting stronger in the future would be a breeze.

...

"By the way, Eriri, there's something I want to ask you."

After getting acquainted with Shizu, Mikado Ryouko turned her attention to Eriri.

"Sure, ask away," Eriri replied casually with a nod.

After a brief moment of consideration, Mikado began explaining the situation with the principal.

"Hmm... so here's the thing—just a while ago, I encountered a very strange patient. There were no visible injuries on his body, but he was clearly experiencing extreme pain. Do you know what might cause that?"

"Oh, you're talking about that perverted principal."

Since Eriri didn't keep her perception abilities active at all times, she hadn't known what had happened at the school during that period.

But the moment Mikado Ryouko described the situation, she immediately understood.

"So it really was your doing. Looks like my guess was right," Mikado said with a smile.

"Eriri, can you tell me how you did it? I'm very curious."

"It's simple. I just cast three verbal spells on him."

Eriri proceeded to recount everything that had happened when she encountered the principal, including the three verbal spells she had used. After hearing her explanation, Mikado finally got the answer she was looking for.

"I see… So it really is beyond the realm of medicine."

Mikado nodded in realization. With that, she also understood how to resolve the condition.

As the universe's greatest doctor, if she knew the root cause of someone's suffering, solving it was easy.

All she would need to do was target the principal's brain and nervous system and remove all his desires toward girls. Then, Eriri's verbal spells would lose their effect.

However, despite knowing the solution, Mikado had absolutely no intention of helping the principal.

She didn't think Eriri's punishment was excessive at all. In fact, both Tearju and Murasame Shizu felt a little sympathy at first—but after learning what kind of person the principal truly was, even that sympathy vanished without a trace.

...

11:30 a.m.

After sharing lunch with Mikado Ryouko, Eriri left Sainan High School with Tearju and Murasame Shizu.

What followed was a stretch of time where Murasame Shizu was in a constant state of amazement.

The towering skyscrapers, the cars zipping by on the streets—everything filled her with wonder.

To help her better understand the modern era, Eriri took a car out of her storage space and let Shizu experience firsthand the difference between riding in a car and a horse-drawn carriage.

When they returned to the mansion, Shizu was even more astonished by the household electronics.

Just like that, three days passed in the blink of an eye.

During those three days, aside from some struggles with using electronic devices, Shizu quickly adapted to modern life.

Thanks to her cheerful personality, she soon bonded with Lala, Haruna, and the others.

And because of Eriri's presence, the relationships among them turned out even better than in the original story.

Although her designated role in the mansion was that of a maid—and her white yukata had been replaced with a black-and-white maid outfit—no one actually treated her as just a servant.

On the second day after Shizu's revival, which was Tuesday, Eriri even arranged for her to attend Sainan High School with Haruna and Yui.

Not just Shizu—Nemesis and Eve also enrolled at Sainan High as first-year students.

As for Tearju, thanks to Mikado Ryouko's invitation, she became an honorable teacher.

She spent her days teaching at Sainan High, and her nights in the mansion's lab continuing work on creating Mea Kurosaki.

Because of that, the mansion became noticeably quieter during the day.

Still, Eriri didn't remain in the To LOVE-Ru world. After building a World Gate in the mansion that connected to the Saekano world, she took Lala and her two sisters back to Saekano.

Now that the two worlds were connected, Nemesis and the others could freely travel between the Saekano world and the To LOVE-Ru world after school, choosing whichever world they preferred to live in.

As a result, aside from gaining more family members, their daily lives remained mostly unchanged.

...

Time quickly passed, and the day of the gathering Eriri had scheduled with the group members finally arrived.

Early in the morning, Aoi Kujou began preparing breakfast with Momo and the culinary apprentices Remia and Lilliana.

With more and more people in the household, making breakfast had become a major daily task.

But for the head maid and head chef Aoi Kujou, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Once Erina and Alice arrived, they'd have two more helping hands for the evening banquet preparations.

It remained to be seen whether they would also bring along Rindo Kobayashi, Momo Akanegakubo, and Nene Kinokuni—the three chefs Eriri had previously roped into the Martial Arts Tournament.

Even though their culinary skills no longer matched up to Erina and Alice's current level, they were still among the top chefs in the world.

Back during the tournament, Momo Akanegakubo's desserts were especially popular.

Thanks to the existence of the World Gate, this time's gathering didn't require Little Skirt to open world channels for every member like last time.

Although the banquet was officially scheduled for around 5 p.m., many group members arrived well ahead of time.

For example, Miko Yotsuya, Nodoka Haramura, and Azusa all arrived as early as 8 a.m.

Miko was joined by Hana Yurikawa and Yuria Niguredou, while Nodoka came with four members of her mahjong club, including Saki Miyanaga and Hisa Takei.

As for Azusa, she came from the DanMachi world, accompanied not only by her own familia members but also by Hestia and the rescued renard girl, Sanjouno Haruhime.

When she first watched the memory recordings of the DanMachi world, Azusa had been deeply moved by Haruhime's plight.

After becoming an adventurer, she made time to rescue Haruhime and brought her into the Hestia Familia.

Aside from Ais, Azusa was nearly invincible in that world, so Ishtar had no way to resist her.

In fact, during Haruhime's rescue, Ishtar had been personally sent back to the heavens by Azusa.

Pecora had arrived the night before and was still sleeping in Eriri's bed.

Ais and Riveria hadn't arrived yet, but it was likely they'd bring Tiona, Tione, and the yellow fairy Lefiya with them.

Loki was practically guaranteed not to show up—Eriri had never given her permission to use the World Gate.

By noon, most of the group members had arrived, and the accompanying guests hadn't changed much.

However, several new faces did appear: Kureha and Flare, Honami Ichinose and Kei Karuizawa, Hancock and Shirahoshi from the Martial Arts Tournament world, the Izumi mother-daughter duo and Emily brought by Ruri Gokou, and the Blue Rose members invited by Evileye.

When Eriri had set up the World Gate in the Overlord world, she created one not only in Arche's home but also inside the Blue Rose base for Evileye's convenience—allowing her to visit every week during her time off.

The solitary Beelzebub also arrived through the World Gate connected to Pecora's room.

Additionally, Antilene, who had been a reincarnator for roughly half a year, was pulled back by Eriri from a reincarnation world.

To avoid disrupting her mission timeline, Eriri even paused the time of that world for her.

As for Rindo Kobayashi, Momo Akanegakubo, and Nene Kinokuni—they ultimately did not accompany Erina to the gathering.

This reunion, the first in half a year, was far larger in scale than the one during the Martial Arts Tournament. The number of attendees had increased significantly.

Rather than the previous tournament-style meetup, this gathering resembled the birthday party for Sakura held over six months ago.

Despite the crowd, the mansion—vast as it was—had more than enough space.

Even with ten times the guests, it could still accommodate everyone, though room availability might become tight.

The mansion was equipped with countless entertainment facilities, so no one ever felt bored.

They could play games in the game room, watch movies in the theater, play mahjong in the parlor, sing in the music hall, engage in sports in the outdoor area, or relax in the hot springs.

And if anyone got the itch, they could have a real battle in the combat zone.

Still, what the group members were most excited for was the piano performance Eriri had promised a week ago.

They had been eagerly anticipating it for the past seven days...

...

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