Chapter 346: I Want to Pay Attention Next Weekend

The weekend felt short and special for Nagi.

She had arrived on Friday and was already leaving by Sunday.

After all, school resumed on Monday, and since Nagi hadn't brought her school uniform with her, she had to go home after the weekend.

Downstairs in the residential complex, a high-end stretch car was parked, and a charming, professional-looking maid stood beside it.

"Good evening, Miss Maria."

Ren approached Maria, suitcase in one hand and Nagi's hand in the other.

"Good evening, Mr. Amamiya."

Maria glanced at Nagi, who wasn't looking at her, and noticed the hand she continued to hold with Ren. She smiled slightly. This was probably the best way to maintain their bond.

Her previous concerns now seemed completely unnecessary.

"Thank you for taking care of Nagi these past two days."

"Not at all. It was a good experience. I just didn't expect to run into something like that in Shinjuku."

Maria was already aware of the bombing incident. Her expression showed a trace of helplessness.

"Yeah, no one could have imagined a bomber would suddenly act in Shinjuku. And of all places, the site happened to be near Master Wataru Tachibana's video store."

It was quite the misfortune.

Maria had looked into the damage afterward. Fortunately, it wasn't serious. Only the glass at the entrance had shattered.

Still, such a major incident could only worsen the already struggling business of Master Wataru Tachibana.

His luck this year was just bad.

First, Isumi and Nagi transferred schools together. The girl he secretly loved left his world—worse yet, seemingly because of another boy. If he ever found out, it would be easy to imagine how crushed he would be.

Well… better not tell him. Maria made a silent decision.

"Miss Maria has a lot of faith in Nagi."

"Yes, I truly believe that the safest place for her right now is by Mr. Amamiya's side."

That wasn't flattery. Maria genuinely meant it.

She knew that as of now, the only obvious danger Ren had faced was the escape on Tsukikage Island, and only Miss Isumi had witnessed that. But even so, she still believed that Nagi was safest with him.

"Alright, you two have had enough."

Nagi couldn't stand their back-and-forth. She gently pinched Ren's hand, let go, then took the suitcase he had been pulling and walked to the car.

"See you on Monday."

Though her gaze showed some reluctance, she wasn't being clingy or dramatic. She didn't mean this was their last meeting.

"Yeah. See you Monday."

Ren smiled and waved to her.

Maria glanced at Nagi, bowed slightly, then opened the car door and helped her inside before walking around to the other side to get in.

The car started smoothly and quickly disappeared beyond the community gates.

Watching the figures outside the car window gradually fade from view, Nagi slowly withdrew her gaze.

She turned and saw Maria's amused expression.

Nagi frowned and glared at her.

"Maria, what's with that face?"

"Ah~ whatever could you mean?"

Maria smiled sweetly.

"I don't know who it was that, before arriving here, said she definitely wouldn't be able to adapt… So why does she look so reluctant to leave now?"

"I'm not reluctant!"

Nagi tried to refute her, but her blushing face betrayed her denial.

"I just suddenly realized that… maybe I can adapt."

Maria smiled and didn't press the issue.

"So, how was your weekend with Mr. Amamiya?"

"How was it? Pretty much as I expected. He's not bad in terms of personality. He prefers to watch from the sidelines and doesn't interfere too much. But he's also not completely indifferent..."

Nagi remembered how Ren had changed his mind because of her words and decided to act.

It seemed like letting Ren stay with her over the weekend wasn't such a bad idea after all… Maria watched Nagi's subtle shift in attitude and knew she had made the right call.

"Also, Maria… I think I made some progress."

"...Progress?"

Maria was stunned for a moment, but then quickly understood.

"!?"

There was only one kind of "progress" Nagi could be referring to—collecting the seven Dragon Balls to get a wish and resurrect Miss Shiko.

So that's it. Maria finally pieced everything together.

The massive explosion yesterday… she had already read about it in Ren's diary. She also knew it was resolved with Ren's help.

But what she hadn't expected was that Nagi had managed to benefit from that incident.

If collecting all seven Dragon Balls really allowed her to bring back Miss Yukariko… even the old master would probably have a heart attack if he knew.

Maria was certain the old man had never witnessed anything this absurd before.

In that case, I really should tag along with Mr. Amamiya more often in the future… Maria thought to herself. I need to start paying more attention to what we do on weekends.

If we could encounter more major events during outings, that would be ideal.

But there was still one thing to consider. Some things required Nagi's direct participation. Without her involvement, something like a Dragon Ball wouldn't appear.

The diary grants rewards based on what the host desires most. It was only because Nagi held such a strong longing for Miss Yukariko that she was able to receive something as extraordinary as a Dragon Ball.

"Nagi, it seems I'll need to arrange more weekend activities from now on."

"...That's still up to Ren. I always feel like whenever he plans something, strange things happen."

"...True."

Thinking about recent events, Maria found herself unable to argue.

(To be continued.)

Sorry for the repetition.

***

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