This was a good opportunity, so of course she had to encourage Leticia to properly build some feelings with the President.
The great revival of the elves couldn't depend on her alone. It required not only Aegis's and Lumilia's help, but also Leticia and the others' support.
"The seats here aren't enough, Leticia, so you sit here."
Aegis instantly caught on, directly pressing Leticia down to sit in Hachiman's lap.
"...", Leticia.
Just earlier, over there, being lightly hugged by Lord Savior and kissed for a bit already made her lose her composure. Now she was being held by Lord Savior in front of Princess Her Highness and the others?
Actually, she had wanted to go upstairs to find Leona and the others, and also take the chance to change clothes.
But right now... let alone changing clothes, just not losing face again was already a blessing.
Sitting on Hachiman's thigh, Leticia bowed her head deeply, pressing together her long, fair legs under the pure white gauzy dress, not daring to meet Lumilia and the others' gazes.
————
In the living room, the space between the sofa and the TV had been changed into a stage, now covered with a red curtain.
The dining table had been replaced with two intricately carved wooden tables, while the chairs arranged around gave off a faint fragrance.
The originally half-open kitchen, where one could look back and see the sofa and TV, had been turned into a tavern bar counter, with a whole row of barrels of fruit wine placed on the wooden cabinets, and even a spot set up for roasting meat.
Looking carefully, tonight's tavern arrangement hadn't really changed much of the living room's structure. Just cleared away some furniture and clutter, replaced with decorations to fit a tavern atmosphere, then adorned with elven plants, flowers, and fantastical plant-lamps.
It was only because Lala had used a spatial tool to enlarge the living room that it looked so drastically different, allowing it to be turned into an elven tavern with even a stage for performances.
A shame that Marin didn't come. With her strict standards for cosplay and obsession with faithfully restoring a character's traits, Marin would have been very interested.
But today's events had been a bit much for her, so she chose to stay with Yumiko and spend the night at Nijika's house.
Next time he'd have to call Marin over to shoot a few cosplay photo sets at his house, not just elf cosplay. In this otherworldly-themed tavern, many fantasy-style cosplay characters could be shot.
This time he wouldn't let Marin join their cosplay party alone, he'd have to bring Yumiko along too.
"Leticia, relax a bit, don't be nervous. Iris and the others won't mind you."
Pulling himself out of his thoughts of tormenting Yumiko, Hachiman sat on a wooden round stool by the bar counter, gently patted the tense Leticia on his lap, and comforted her with a smile.
Not to mention earlier he hadn't activated the Love Live mode in the corridor or used a soundproofing spell. Even if he acted intimately with Leticia right in front of Iris and the others, it was fine.
After all, Leticia and the other three elves had been brought here by Iris to receive aid. If they'd be unhappy about it, there'd be no need to do this in the first place.
"Mm... I understand..."
Though Leticia said she understood, her flawless white thighs were still tight with tension, and her hands clutched the gauzy skirt on them, terrified that the slit reaching her waist might accidentally be brushed aside by Hachiman.
If that happened, the disgraceful side she always wanted to hide would be exposed to Lord Savior. How awkward, how shameful would that be.
"President, let Leticia calm down a bit. The more you say, the more nervous she gets."
Iris saw Leticia's snow-white skin flush pink under their stares, maybe even sweating nervously so much that her clenched skirt was damp.
She knew that if it went on like this, Leticia might lose control and embarrass herself, which would actually be bad for building feelings between them. So she spoke up, signaling Hachiman not to keep paying special attention to Leticia.
She understood Leticia's feelings at this moment. Knowing was one thing, doing was another. Just because she herself didn't mind didn't mean Leticia could instantly throw away her shyness and tension.
Without truly getting used to being with the President, being held in front of everyone would naturally stir uncontrollable embarrassment. Even Aegis had taken quite some time to get used to everyone's gazes.
Come to think of it, when she herself had first requested the President's aid, she too had only managed by forcing herself to appear calm. Luckily, the President had been so gentle, so that she had never once regretted seeking the elves' Savior.
"Mm-mm!"
Leticia nodded repeatedly, strongly agreeing with Princess Iris's words.
Although sitting in Lord Savior's lap meant she couldn't avoid everyone's eyes, as long as they didn't deliberately stare, she wouldn't need to be so nervous, nor keep restraining herself.
"Mm, that reminds me, where are Elio and the others? Why are she and Ursula nowhere to be seen?"
Seeing Iris had noticed the cause of Leticia's tension, Hachiman nodded with a smile, looked around, and found that aside from the elves, only Lala, the twin sisters Kaede and Suzu, and the sister-like Komachi, Shion were nearby.
Not only Ursula and Elio were missing, even the mermaid princess Melo, who had trouble moving, was absent.
"The others are preparing your show, President. Ursula should be out looking for more helpers again. I saw her at school getting very close with the succubus Amaki triplets and the vampire Tsukishiro. She probably wants to recruit them like Elio and the others."
Iris glanced at the gradually relaxing Leticia, and without exposing her secret, explained to Hachiman with a smile.
"But for some reason, the Amaki sisters don't dare get too close. Each time they only observe the President from afar, with no intention of approaching."
"Tsukishiro is much more well-behaved. Aside from class, she's always in the library reading manga and light novels. Not only does she eat lunch there, she often stays after school too. Recently she's even become good friends with the librarian."
Saying this, even Iris found it strange.
She had thought Ursula was trying to recruit succubi and vampires to once again challenge the elves, to steal away their Savior.
But no matter how ready she was, with Lumilia bringing Leticia, Leona, Melaise, and Sylpha to defend elven honor at any time, Ursula never made a move.
Instead, in front of the President, Ursula was very obedient, doing whatever she was told.
If she didn't know that Ursula was secretly searching for clanless demi-humans and yokai who needed aid, she might really believe Ursula had already fully submitted to the President.
"Observing me from afar, not daring to approach, huh...", Hearing Iris's words, Hachiman, who had long noticed the Amaki sisters' prying eyes, fell into silence.
That vampire, Tsukishiro Sayo, who spent all day in the library with novels and manga, he wasn't too sure about.
But the succubus Amaki sisters, it really might be that they didn't dare approach him.
The special "succubus-attracting constitution" he got from Sakurase Shino's role quest reward not only granted immunity to mind-control, but also gave him an irresistible allure to succubus-type females.
From his daily and nightly experience, this constitution worked not only on weak succubus-blooded Sakurase Shino, but also on Iris and the elves, though less obviously.
Usually, as long as an elf wasn't aroused, and didn't lean on him or get too close, they could resist. The ones who already loved him, Iris, Aegis, Lumilia, had gotten used to it, so it caused no harm. In fact, it made the experience of aid even smoother.
But the Amaki sisters were pure-blood succubi, the kind you couldn't even let touch your fingertip. A single touch would drain a human's energy and spirit; linger too long and it could kill.
So powerful, so pure... For them to be so cautious about approaching him, was it because his constitution's allure was too strong, making him their natural enemy?
Or was it because Iris and the others were by his side, and the Amaki sisters feared something might happen if they got close?
Perhaps next week, he should go find the succubus sisters himself. Though he remembered their abilities were extremely abnormal, not just draining energy with a touch.
But with this mind-control-immune, succubus-attracting constitution, he should be fine.
Weak succubus Sakurase Shino had given him this constitution. Would the succubus sisters' role quest reward let him truly become a succubus's natural enemy?
"Hachiman... you're not seriously thinking about those three succubi, are you?"
Kaede, who hadn't spoken since Hachiman entered, finally lost it. Seeing him ignore her and Suzu, instead hugging Leticia the elf and chatting with Iris about the succubus sisters, plotting how to seduce them, was too much.
She had always been wary of those succubus sisters.
Who would have thought, instead of the succubi seducing Hachiman, now Hachiman wanted to go find them. And when he already had elves more bewitching than succubi at home.
Was he not afraid his body would give out someday?
"Though I won't deny I have some interest in real succubi, isn't it possible they're the ones interested in me first? They've been secretly watching me, after all. Shouldn't I go talk to them too?"
Looking at the sulking Kaede, Hachiman smiled helplessly, pulled her over, and sat her together with Leticia in his lap.
"Hmph! They'll just end up like Makoto-chan and Tsubaki, seduced by you. You're just abusing your strong body, doing whatever you want. But they're succubi, be careful they don't drain you dry."
Kaede glanced at the blushing Leticia sneaking glances her way, snorted with a pout, and wanted to bite Hachiman right then and there for letting his harem grow wilder.
But Hachiman already knew Kaede's personality by heart. Not only did he not stop her, he even leaned toward her.
"Mm..."
Kaede stared straight at Hachiman at point-blank range. She was going to bite his shoulder, but her strength instantly faded, and she could only "ferociously" nibble him with frustration.
'Damn it! Again!'
At some point, she had become unable to resist Hachiman. Not only did she lack the strength, even her heart couldn't summon the will to push him away.
Even worse, the stronger her stamina grew, the more easily she and Suzu were defeated. Worse than at the beginning.
Only Iris, Elio, and other demi-humans with special constitutions could last longer.
If not for the elves holding up, she felt she'd end up like before when Hachiman came to their house, never wanting to get out of bed.
Leticia shyly leaned on Hachiman's shoulder, stealing glances at Kaede, her emotions surging again after barely calming down.
So this was Lord Savior's childhood friend, living next door, serving him every night together with Princess Her Highness.
From now on, she too would serve Lord Savior together with Princess Her Highness and his childhood friend.
"Onii-chan is really... The tavern show hasn't even started yet, and you and Kaede-oneechan are giving us this performance...", Komachi sipped the fruity drink in her wooden cup, side-eyeing Hachiman's table, muttering gloomily.
She had thought tonight was going to be a proper tavern performance, but things were already getting improper before it even began.
If they were going to go this far, they should have let her leave first.
Now she didn't know whether to get up and go or just pretend not to see.
Today was supposed to be a holiday, yet her brother had been busy from morning till night. Hard to imagine how he handled school life every day.
She was starting to doubt whether she even needed to help her brother find a girlfriend.
The number of girls she was close to at school probably didn't even match the number of friends her brother had at Sobu High.
Not to mention, the quiet Tohsaka Sakura, whom she'd only recently befriended. Shion was the one she had managed to "snatch," seizing the chance when Shion's family ran into trouble, bringing the long-haired beauty home to marry her brother. But in the end, Shion had become her good sister.
She didn't feel she was wrong to help Shion escape that family already showing signs of abuse. But if she had known her brother's future didn't need her worrying, she wouldn't have pushed Shion toward him, making her current position at home a little awkward.
Though, to be fair, if she hadn't thought of marrying Shion to her brother, she might not have taken the risk of helping her back then, when they'd only been casual classmates...
"This..."
Shion, noticing Komachi's faintly resentful gaze, blushed, eyes darting, neither agreeing with Komachi nor defending Hachiman.
Because she really didn't have the standing to say anything about the current scene.
It wasn't that she was still hung up on trivialities. By now, Onii-chan and she, and Komachi, were already inseparably intimate, a true family.
It was just... some games they had played when it was only her, Onii-chan, and Komachi in the house, before Iris and the others moved in, she still couldn't bring herself to speak of, too embarrassed to ever tell Komachi.
Now, with Onii-chan just hugging elf-oneechan and Kaede-oneechan and kissing them a little in front of Komachi, even if he went further, it really counted as nothing but a small scene.
"...Alright! Time to watch tonight's tavern performance!"
Feeling the burning stares on her, Kaede, having gradually recovered her strength, pushed away Hachiman, who wanted to continue, slapped her flushed cheeks, and casually slipped off his lap, returning to Suzu's side.
This guy Hachiman... again making her lose face in front of everyone.
Wants to chase succubi, huh... She'd like to see how he planned to seduce them.
The Amaki sisters always wore gloves to class, as if germophobic, never making physical contact with anyone. Not just boys, even girls found it hard to get close enough to chat. Even when she and Tsubaki discussed things with them, they had to keep their distance.
Never mind that they were succubi, their cold aloofness was the most extreme in the whole school. Hachiman, wanting to play househusband and build a harem, would not find it so easy to seduce them.
One look at Kaede's expression and Hachiman knew exactly what she was thinking.
Having grown up together, he knew Kaede's temper and personality like the back of his hand. Otherwise, he and Suzu wouldn't handle her so easily.
But this wasn't the time to fuss with Kaede. Tonight, he should just enjoy the performance Iris and the others had prepared for him.
"Get ready~"
Seeing Kaede stop clinging to Hachiman, Lala took out a remote control and clicked it. The tavern's lighting instantly dimmed, leaving only faint starry lights shining on the stage.
The red curtain on stage slowly dropped, revealing two poles arranged on the platform.
At the same time, two graceful figures appeared.
"Dear guest, p-please enjoy our performance..."
Among the four elves, the one who hadn't yet shown herself, Sylpha, stood at the front of the stage in exotic dancer's attire, nervously stammering as she announced the first show of the night to the Hachiman sitting below with Leticia and Iris.
Tonight, she would be performing a dance.
Although Princess Iris hadn't demanded she dance well, she did insist Sylpha put on the proper costume and accessories for it.
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