"Thanks for the meal."
Eriri put her hands together, her face showing complete satisfaction.
Mio's homemade cooking really was delicious. If she could eat it every day, that'd be perfect.
So then, how could she eat it every day?
Simple—just kidnap Mio and bring her home as a wife.
Eriri smiled as she pinched her own thigh. The pain made her smile twist slightly, but the sharp sensation did temporarily banish that weird thought from her mind.
They'd barely just met, and they were both girls—Eriri couldn't quite understand why she was having such strange thoughts.
Maybe it was because Mio's performance matched her mental image of an ideal girlfriend? Pretty face, nice voice, gentle personality, amazing cooking skills, and most importantly, they shared the same hobbies.
Thinking about all this, Eriri couldn't help imagining some warm scenes of the two of them dating.
Ahem. She definitely didn't have any mental image of a girlfriend.
Seeing Eriri's twisted smile, Mio asked in confusion, "Sawamura-san, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing. I just accidentally kicked the table leg." Eriri rubbed her thigh as she spoke.
"You're not hurt, are you? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?"
Feeling Mio's concerned gaze, Eriri suddenly felt guilty for deceiving someone's feelings.
She instinctively avoided Mio's eyes. "N-no need. It'll be fine in a bit."
Just then, the system's voice suddenly rang out: "Two lonely girls alone in a room—if we don't do something about this, I'd really feel sorry for the host."
Hearing the system's voice, the smile gradually disappeared from Mio's face. She took a deep breath, then said to the system, "Please, by all means, don't feel sorry for me."
"Please have the host make physical contact with Eriri for no less than 15 minutes before lunch break ends. If contact is interrupted during the timer, it will restart. Completing the task may reward Eriri series card packs or item rewards. Failure will require drawing from the punishment card pack."
Mio carefully looked over the task description. Honestly, this task wasn't that difficult, and she didn't even need to figure out how to make Eriri take the initiative. Though thinking about it, that made sense—tasks weren't just based on conquest rating. If this were Yui instead of Eriri, the task probably would've been "deep contact" instead.
Speaking of which, ever since Yui's conquest rating of her had risen to 25 points, she hadn't triggered any Yui-related tasks yet. She wondered how those tasks might change?
Now wasn't the time to think about that though. Mio observed the situation in the activity room, then quietly stood up and moved her chair to sit beside Eriri.
Seeing Mio's action, Eriri asked in confusion, "Shirai, what are you doing?"
Mio yawned, then said, "There's still over half an hour left of lunch break. Can I borrow your shoulder to lean on for a bit?"
Looking at Mio's expectant little eyes, Eriri simply couldn't bring herself to refuse. Besides, just lending her shoulder for Mio to lean on wasn't that big a deal.
Thinking this, Eriri nodded lightly. "Since you treated me to lunch, I guess I can reluctantly let you use my shoulder."
"Thanks."
After sincerely thanking her, Mio gently rested her head on Eriri's shoulder.
Physical contact that wouldn't make Eriri resist and would last fifteen minutes—this was all Mio could think of for now.
All she had to do next was rest with her eyes closed for fifteen minutes and the task would be complete. Knowing Eriri's personality, she wouldn't suddenly back out of something she'd agreed to.
Leaning on Eriri's shoulder, Mio could clearly smell the faint fragrance emanating from her. It was a fresh, elegant scent that felt like lily flowers—a smell Mio liked, one that gave her a sense of reassurance.
What had originally just been meant as resting with her eyes closed actually made Mio feel drowsy.
Compared to Mio's calm inner state—almost wanting to sleep—Eriri was much more nervous. Although her gaze remained on the draft on the desk, her mind wasn't on it at all.
They were both girls, and Mio was just leaning on her shoulder, so why was her heartbeat suddenly speeding up? Feeling inexplicably nervous, even her body had gone stiff.
Eriri wanted to turn her head several times to look at Mio's sleeping face, but worried her movements might disturb Mio's rest. In the end, Eriri gave up and just maintained her upright sitting posture until five minutes before lunch break ended, when she finally woke Mio.
"Shirai, wake up. Class is about to start."
"Mm."
Mio opened her sleepy eyes. Maybe it was because she hadn't slept well the past few days, or maybe it was the reassuring feeling from Eriri that made her fall asleep shortly after leaning on her shoulder.
Though it had only been half an hour, Mio felt like her mental state had improved quite a bit.
Right then, time stopped flowing, and the system's voice rang out: "Task complete. The host's conquest rating with Eriri has increased by 2 points. Because the host felt reassured by Eriri, the conquest rating increased by an additional 1 point."
Mio didn't say much about the extra conquest rating gain—after all, she really had felt reassured by Eriri.
[Eriri's Black-Framed Glasses]
The same black-framed glasses as Eriri's. When worn, they automatically adjust prescription. Part of the Eriri series set.
[Hearing Enhancement]
Can slightly improve the host's hearing. Selecting repeatedly will increase the enhancement magnitude.
[Pocket Money]
The host can randomly receive 100,000-1,000,000 yen in pocket money. One-time card, disappears after use.
Among these three rewards, Mio didn't hesitate much before choosing the pocket money.
Her vision was fine, so she didn't need glasses yet. Her hearing was also fine, so there was no need to enhance it. Most importantly, her piggy bank was almost empty. Until the manga royalties came in, she needed pocket money for support.
She didn't know how her luck would be. She wasn't hoping for seventy or eighty thousand—at least forty or fifty thousand would be nice.
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