Chapter 97 – Preparations are steadily advancing

Тhe city is in uttеr сhaos duе to the Lаbуrinth Мinistrу’s trаnsfоrmation.

Аt the samе timе, it seеms Dirесtоr-Gеnerаl Nakаbayаshi оf thе Lаbyrinth Ministrу has it оut for that Kirаbоshi Hazuki…

He’s bеgun tаrgeting Ikaruga Entertаinmеnt, where she belongs, tightеning thе screws with рreсisiоn strikеs.

…Оr so I thought, but apрarentlу sоmе Labyrinth Мinistrу оfficials gоt hit with a sorсery countеrаttack, sо thеy сan’t laу a hand on hеr now.

“Тhе world is descending into fаr toо muсh сonfusiоn. To think shе саn countеr statе intеrvеntiоn with brutе forсе…”

‘Shе’s spесial, isn’t she?’

This is me talking with Mr. Daikyo through Zakko.

Inside the house, Mashiro is bustling about with a perfectly natural expression, cleaning and such.

Since weekdays are busy with work, she uses her days off to help out with various things, she says.

I wish she’d use that time for herself instead.

‘Speaking of that Kiraboshi Hazuki, she actually came to my house earlier.’

“What?!”

‘We discussed future plans in detail. My kids were thrilled since they’re fans of hers. What do you think? A designer who remains unbowed by any pressure, free from all authority and constraints.’

“Hmm, you’re right. Things have gotten pretty insane…”

As for me, since I’ve luckily become friends with that Kiraboshi Hazuki, I’ve sent her a message asking if she’d like to do a collab stream.

Her reply was:

‘A-ah, u-um, o-okay! I’ll work out a schedule once I finish up my current tasks!’

Well, she must be busy.

She’s one of the world’s top streamers, after all.

Maybe I’ll try approaching her in public next time.

Ikaruga Entertainment was also founded by Ikaruga, Kiraboshi Hazuki’s older brother and a former streamer.

He even created a company to produce and manage his sister.

What a siscon.

And that Ikaruga is Yatagarasu’s former partner.

After contacting Mr. Daikyo, I brought it up with Yatagarasu too.

‘Ah, Mr. Daikyo’s new avatar, right? I just found out from the Zakko message. I heard he was planning to ask Little Hazuki for a favor, but I never thought he’d actually go through with it…! That’s some impressive initiative. Maybe this could be a chance for Ikaruga to start working with me again.’

“Still miss your old partner?”

‘I do…! He was the only man who could stand by my side. Ah, those were good times…’

I could tell from Zakko’s audio alone that Yatagarasu had a distant look in his eyes.

According to Charaway, his best friend, Yatagarasu usually tackles everything with less than half his effort, having lost any major life goals.

Lately, since getting involved with me, his days seem to have become more enjoyable…

‘And that’s why this is also a project to cheer him up, Four Guys!’

“I see!”

Finally, I got in touch with Charaway.

He’s really light on his feet, so we decided to meet up and grab a meal while we were at it.

‘Little Mashiro? Sure, bring her along. She’s basically family now.’

“Glad to hear you say that~!”

“? Senpai, where are we going?”

“Just heading out to grab some food with Charaway. Come along.”

“I’m coming!! Thanks for inviting me—I’m so happy!”

Mashiro hopped up and down, expressing her joy.

She’s a working adult, but she acts like a high school girl when she’s happy!

As for Shino, who usually freeloads at my place, he’s been out lately investigating the Labyrinth Ministry’s recent erratic behavior.

He’s been gathering various intel and working behind the scenes to keep the Ministry’s eyes off us.

I should prepare some premium fried tofu for him when he gets back.

“The Grimoires will stay home. Just one of you come along as a guard.”

‘Understood—! Then I’ll—’

‘Nah, me, me, me!!’

‘Little Floppy is going too, right? Then we don’t need to go. I’ve taught it some combat magic!’

Whoa, Mentaris really trusts Floppy!

‘But I’d worry about sending Little Floppy alone…!! I’m coming too—!!’

The Grimoires roared and started creating illusions with their Magic Power.

Wondering what they were up to, I saw they’d begun playing rock-paper-scissors using the illusions.

Normally, Mentaris, who can read minds, would have the advantage, but its opponents were Flota, who doesn’t think about anything, and Ignite, whose mind is just a swirling vortex of flames and completely unreadable.

It lost at plain rock-paper-scissors and was sulking.

‘Yah-ha! A natural victory. It’s me, it’s me.’

“Alright, I’m counting on you for guard duty, Flota!”

‘Leave it to me! When it comes to our Master, I’m the one. I’ll scatter any sudden Dungeon Emergence that comes our way!’

Truly the most combat-oriented of the Grimoires.

Reliable.

A Grimoire of Levitation, yet combat-oriented…?

I’ll refrain from thinking too deeply about it.

With Mashiro in tow, we head into the city by train.

Mashiro is chatting about all sorts of things with Flota, mostly about me.

She seems curious about the behind-the-scenes of my past streams.

It’s nothing that impressive, though…

“Wow! Senpai, you’ve been through a lot…! I had no idea. Being a streamer is that tough?”

“If you treat it as a job to put food on the table, you can obsess over it as much as you want. Refusing to compromise on stream quality is what builds that listener count. Interesting streams spread by word of mouth and bring in new subscribers. There’s nothing wrong with being obsessive.”

“Whoa…! I-I’ll do my best to help out too, even if it’s just a little!”

“Mashiro, you’re the type who pushes yourself too hard, so don’t overdo it.”

“No, no! This is about our household finances…!”

Mashiro seems determined to give her all in supporting our home.

Arriving at the station where I’m meeting Charaway, there’s a tanned, flashy-looking guy outside the ticket gates.

It’s Charaway.

“Yo. Got tanned again?”

“I tan easily and turn dark quick. Mr. Shogo doesn’t seem to get much sun, huh.”

“I’m always in that form when I go out…”

“I see, full UV protection. Handy. Hey there, Little Mashiro! You’re basically family now, so feel free to ask anything. Questions are totally fine.”

“A-ah, y-yes!!”

Mashiro seems kind of nervous.

‘W-well, if you don’t understand something, I’ll explain it! Ask anything!’

Oh? Flota’s acting all senior-like with Mashiro.

And so, to discuss the current situation and what comes next…

We head to our usual private-room yakiniku place.

We always come here when we eat out!