Epilogue—Emmymephy’s Perspective

“These feelings are maaagiiiic!”

“MAAAAGIIIC!”

Attack spells and arrows launched in sync with the lyrics of Ichigo’s song, “A Loving Rabbit’s Always Straightforward.” The combination attack sent the army of Skeletons flying in an explosion of bones.

“I take a single step CLOSEEER!!!”

“CLOSEEER!”

There the phalanx advanced forward, pumping their spears to slaughter the group of Gargoyles. Emmymephy watched all this going on from behind.

“I say, we went from a long period of random silence, to suddenly facing one hundred monsters attacking all at once. Surprising, but they still didn’t stand a chance before our wotagei. Truly, wotagei is fearsome.”

“Ahaha. Impressive, right? This is how strong we are working together. Though yeah, this is the first time it’s ever lasted this long.”

Incidentally, the raid event had lasted so long it had become nighttime. But while the plains area was supposed to darken with the outside, it was still retaining the bright light of noon.

Once the enemies were exterminated, the danger period ended and the Safe Zone returned.

“Thank you, everyooone!”

“ICHIGOOOO!”

Ichigo’s voice echoed throughout the plains, magnified by a magic tool. The frontline warriors exchanged their spears for glow sticks and their shields for fans, which they held high in the air.

“Whew. The last wave was pretty big, but we pulled through just like always.”

“Gargoyles don’t pose much of a threat to us at all nowadays. First time we’ve seen Succubi, though.”

The army reflected on the lengthy battle and chatted about it excitedly. Meanwhile, the rabbits were flocking over the frontliners who had fought the hardest, giving them the fluffiest time of their lives. Somehow it seemed like there were more rabbits than normal, but well, no point sweating the small stuff. Several adventurers watched that on with envy while stroking the individual rabbits who were rubbing their legs like a consolation prize.

Then, not long after the Safe Zone returned, night fell across the plains, as if the light had remained only to make it easier for them to fight. Some people shouted in surprise, but everyone calmed down once they remembered that they had been fighting long enough for it to be night, and it was supposed to be that dark anyway.

“I say, that surprised me. To think it’s already nighttime.”

“Yeah...”

It was about as bright as a night with a full moon, so bright that they didn’t need any torches. That too was standard.

Anyway, while Emmymephy and Rinnew were taking a breather, Ichigo the Idol stopped singing and cheering from the stage to walk on over.

“Th-Thank you for your help, Rinnew.”

“Heya, Ichigo. Thanks for the support back there.”

“Y-You’re Ichigo?! The real thing?! The one and only Ichigo?!”

“What, Mephy, didn’t you see her dancing on the stage and directing us a second ago?”

“I-I did see her! Ah, ah, aaaah! Please shake my hand!” Emmymephy said, thrusting out a hand, and Ichigo shook it with both of hers.

“Oh gods above... I’m shaking hands with Ichigo! My heart can barely take it...! Her hands are so soft and smooth! I-I’m looking forward to your new song! I believe in you!”

“Whoa there, Mephy. Aren’t you supposed to be acting like the imperial princess right now? And don’t rub your hands all over hers like that. If you’re gonna go that far, bring a handshake ticket.”

“I-It’s fine. Eheheh, I’m glad to finally meet you, princess!” Ichigo said with a dazzlingly bright smile. Emmymephy thought she was going to melt.

“And y’know, you still start stammering all over the place once you step off the stage, huh?”

“A-Aw. I can’t help it, rabbits are cowardly by nature...! Oh, right. The rabbits brought these to me! They’re for everyone who helped. Could you distribute them, Rinnew?”

“Huh? Whoa, that’s a lotta stuff,” Rinnew said while taking a basket packed with potions from Ichigo. That was probably the reward for today’s raid event. There were so many potions that they had just given them all to Ichigo.

“Also, it seems like there’s a special reward for you, princess. They were saying something about the king coming to see you.”

“Wait, what? A special reward, for me? The king is coming?” Emmymephy asked, tilting her head in confusion since she had done nothing but watch from afar. That was probably something the ones who actually fought deserved. And who in the world was the “king”?

“It seems he wants to thank you for bringing so many strong soldiers.”

“So the king knows what’s going on with us personally, huh...? Oh, Mephy. This is my first time hearing about this ‘king’ too. I won’t be able to tell you who he is.”

“Hrm, well, as a member of the imperial family, it is part of my duties to greet the local king.”

It was then that a hole opened in the night sky—or the ceiling of the environment room, rather—and a basket was lowered down from a string. Inside was an orange-colored rabbit with a small crown on its head.

“Hello! I’m the king of these rabbits!” he declared, and at once all the rabbits bowed before him.

“The rabbit spoke...!”

“Whoa! It’s a real talking rabbit! And his fur is orange!”

Some adventurers copied the rabbits and bowed, some got to their knees, some stood in a daze, and some looked at the talking rabbit with sparkling eyes. As for Emmymephy, she read the room and got to her knees. That was the proper form with which an imperial princess should greet royalty. On the inside, she was mainly thinking that the king rabbit would be pretty huge, instead of just normal-sized.

The king rabbit lowered himself right in front of Emmymephy, still riding in the basket. “You may stand. Ummm... Thanks for your help this time! Those are nasty, evil demons that want to eat us. They came at us really hard this time, so I think we’ll be safe for a bit!”

“Erm, I’m glad to have been of service?”

“Uh-huh! Princess, you brought lots of servants to help! That’s why I’m giving you this rabbit ear headband as a gift!” the Rabbit King said before dexterously grabbing the rabbit ear headband with his front paws and offering it up to Emmymephy, who reverently accepted it... and then put it on her head, because why not. Rabbit ear headbands are incredibly cute, and seeing it on her head sent cheers of approval from the adventurers.

“Too good! An imperial princess and rabbit ears! This is the event of the age!”

“Amazing! Rabbit ears are the best!”

“Is this the birth of an epic new idol?! Th-This might mark a new era of history!”

Clapping echoed across the plains. Only the adventurers could clap, but the rabbits were stomping their front feet happily too.

“By the way, that headband is a magic tool, and the ears move when you put mana into it! I invented it just for you, as a gift! We don’t need them since we have our own ears, but I think a magic tool... might be worth a lot of money in human society, right?” the king asked Emmymephy nervously. A magic tool that did nothing but move wouldn’t be worth that much money, but Emmymephy was not so dense as to say that out loud. Not to mention that the crowd here might just pay a lot of money for it.

“Thank you very much! I will treasure it.”

“Uh-huh!”

Emmymephy gave a bright smile. The rabbit king probably did too.

“Also, Ichigo. Could you lend me your ear for a sec?” the king said.

“Oh, um, right. Uh-huh... uh-huh... Ah, okay. I understand. Thank you!”

“Okay, everyone, thanks for the help! May our union be long and fruitful!”

After telling something to Ichigo, the rabbit king returned to the ceiling in his basket, and as soon as he was inside the hole it closed. Was someone pulling the string to pull him back up? The thought of that made the whole thing seem a bit surreal.

“Ichigo, what did the king say?”

“Oh, um. He said he’s looking forward to me playing my new song! Oh, and by the way, the king’s personal musician made this song.”

“Oooh! Wait, he has a musician?”

“Um? I think him having one is the whole reason music comes out of the stage.”

Now that she mentioned it, people had been curious about who was playing the music that came from the stage. Though they didn’t think about it because their minds had adjusted to not thinking about things that conflicted with their common sense.

Later, Emmymephy safely got the opportunity to listen to Ichigo perform her new song live from the front row. She got to participate in a wotagei phalanx, which was very satisfying. Going out of her way to learn it had paid off. The new song, titled “A Sleepy Rabbit’s Rampage,” was energetic and Emmymephy’s favorite song yet.

Soon enough, the live show was over.

“Everyone! I say, let’s think of a new wotagei formation to match this song! I want to reuse a battle formation from the imperial guard to make something cool, but does anyone else have any ideas?”

“Princess! What about an arrow formation? We could get in the shape of a pointed arrowhead!”

“No, I say we use the wing formation! It’s good for surrounding things!”

“Wait, wait! What if we all hone our own skills and stuff? We could be like a small squadron of elite fighters! We adventurers have made tons of formations like that!”

And so, with Emmymephy in charge, they spent all night discussing the creation of a new wotagei formation.

# Keima’s Perspective

With a single snap from Father, Haku and I were returned to where we had been before Leona summoned us. He even went out of his way to put our normal clothes back on, so we weren’t naked or in a bunny girl suit. Truly service befitting of a god. (And I had already picked up the shattered remains of my Wearable Golem with vines). Once I sat back down in my seat, it was time for the Dungeon Battle to resume... though Core 564 was still unconscious.

“So, all I have to do is finish him off now and we win,” Aidy said.

“Don’t do it, Aidy. Let’s keep Core 564 alive for now.”

“Oh my. I truly do have a kind archenemy, don’t I? Personally, I think killing him now will save us much potential trouble in the future,” Aidy replied, furrowing her brows. She probably thought that Rokuko was shying away from the idea of killing a Core.

Rokuko, however, just gave a laugh. “I mean, we can kill him whenever we want, right? Don’t you want to wait a bit and see him squirm with the pathetic frustration of a worm who lost in every single way?”

His Succubi and Gargoyles had been destroyed by adventurers, and Aidy had burned his mansion to the ground. Then his Dungeon was conquered by a swarm of mere squirrels that not only defeated his Four Heavenly Kings, but led to one of them betraying him. And on top of everything, he was forced to dance on the palm of the one he called for help, Leona, and nearly died... or rather, he was dead for certain until his enemies, of all people, saved his life. He was a Core of the 500 batch, and despite facing off against Cores from the 600 batch, he completely lost what should have been an easy victory!

Aidy instantly grinned at Rokuko’s suggestion. “Yes! Splendid! Oh, that is just perfect. I could not imagine anything more fun than this. You are a genius, Rokuko.”

“Eheh. It’s all thanks to my Dungeon Master’s teachings.”

I don’t remember ever teaching you anything like that... Sheesh, I sure have a partner with a bad personality, huh?

And so, after tossing Core 564 out of the Boss Room, the lock on the other door opened. The Core Room was right behind it. Inside was a bedroom, and we found the Dungeon Core in one of the corners. We thought a Succubus or two might be hiding there, but there was nobody else in the room. Though even if there had been someone, Aidy would have cut them down. The Boss Room Core 564 had been waiting in was apparently the final challenge of the dungeon.

“I think he would make an even more amusing expression if Core 629, Mikan, was the one to touch the Core. Don’t you think that would be just the most delicious irony to end the dungeon battle on?”

“Oh, okay! If you don’t mind, I’ll go ahead and do that.”

Just how far are they gonna take this?

At Aidy’s suggestion, Mikan controlled the squirrels to touch the Dungeon Core.

“Congratulations, Core 629. You win,” Father said. We were all exhausted from what had happened, but in the end we secured victory.

“Yay! Thank you, papa!” Mikan jumped in the air and pumped his fist with his fluffy body. I didn’t really understand why we had to bother touching the Core when Core 564 was unconscious right over there, but it was probably important for some formal reason or something.

Anyway, Mikan hopped to turn and look at me. “By the way, you noticed papa was watching, right? How’d you know?”

“Oh, because Haku wasn’t here with us.”

This Dungeon Battle had been started at the Core gathering. It would make complete sense if Father were involved, just like he had been at last year’s triple threat battle. But what sealed the deal was the audience room. Who would prepare a whole room just to watch a Dungeon Battle? If Haku’s faction and the Demon King Faction were in opposition to each other, it was logical for Haku to be with us and Core 6 to be with Core 564, just like they had been with their team in the triple threat battle. Honestly, something felt off the second two enemies like them were watching from the same room. It was obvious someone above either of them was involved.

“Oooh, so that’s why you said what you did when Haku called you.”

“Yep. Though that was about half a guess to see how she would react.”

“Awww... I didn’t notice at all!”

“I noticed!” Rokuko exclaimed.

“Oh, I noticed as well,” Aidy added.

Really now? I thought, looking at both of them dubiously. But they were both brimming with so much smug confidence I had no way of telling if they were lying or not.

“A lot happened, but good work! Oh, should I return Core 666 to Core 629’s Master Room?”

“Yes, please do... Thank you, Father,” Aidy said, having been teleported to the Master Room before she could finish her response.

“Welcome back, Aidy. Good work out there.”

“Same to you, Rokuko.”

Aidy and Rokuko high-fived each other, a loud slap signifying the strength of their friendship.

“I wanna join too!”

“Okay, okay. Here you go,” Rokuko said, giving Mikan a fluffy high five. The fur dampened the sound, but it was worth it. Aidy gave him one too.

“Wow, you three sure have gotten close, huh?” Father said.

“Father, Rokuko and I are archenemies—it is only natural that we would be close. Though I don’t mind if Mikan and I become enemies of sorts as well.”

“Eek! I don’t wanna fight you, Aidy... Oh, but since I’m in Haku’s faction now, I guess we’re enemies...? I-I wanna be friends!”

“Hahaha! Well then. Anyway, to reward you for winning, I will officially recognize your names as Mikan and Aidy to the full extent of my authority.”

Aidy and Mikan both twitched with surprise when he said he would officially recognize their names.

“Thank you very much, Father. I’m positively overjoyed to have an officially recognized name just like Rokuko.”

“Yay! I did it! It’s always been my dream for papa to recognize my name!”

Yeah, I still don’t really get why this is such a good gift for Cores. At least they’re happy, I guess.

“Ahaha. Well, that’s just a secondary prize. I had a lot of fun with this Dungeon Battle, and I want to sweetly reward the winners of it. Core 564’s still unconscious, so let’s go ahead and start with the gifts.”

Oh, we’re getting gifts? Alright.

“In that case, I’ll ask for one of the pieces of divine bedding that I don’t have.”

“Impressive, Keima. Not many people would tell me what to do like that.”

“K-K-Keima?! What are you saying to Father?! That’s super disrespectful!”

Rokuko was panicking, but I didn’t really think it was anything worth sweating over. He’s your old man, right? Phrasing it like that, the franker I speak with him the better, I think.

“Mmmm, well you already have a Divine Comforter, so that’s out. I’ll throw in an extra one as Rokuko’s gift, that makes sense. You know where a pillow and mattress are, but you don’t have them. Maybe they would still be good, then...”

Whoa, we’re getting two? Now that’s a treat I didn’t expect. Though how does Father know I’ve found where the pillow and mattress are? Is he looking inside my head? Or do I unlock some kind of achievement or title just from figuring out where they are? I hope it’s that.

“Pillow, mattress, nightcap, quilt, pajamas, alarm clock... Oh, the alarm clock was removed from the group. Guess that leaves the underwear for last. So, which do you want? Go ahead and tell me.”

“...Hm, not an easy choice.” Oh man, picking this myself is actually super rough. In a way I want the pillow and mattress the most. After all, with a pillow, mattress, and a comforter, you’ve basically got a whole set right there. But I already know that Maiodore and Haku have those. In other words, as Father said, I know where I can get them myself. Which means I should probably get the nightcap or the underwear first.

“Wh-What do you recommend?”

“Let’s see... The quilt, and the alarm clock, I think.”

I asked to see what happened and he gave me a casual answer. The quilt’s one thing, but didn’t he say the alarm clock was removed from the group?

“...I was pretty proud of the alarm clock, really. It made waking up in the morning feel totally refreshing... Haaah. I never thought it would be beaten to pieces.”

“Oh, it was beaten to pieces, huh? Uh... By who?”

“The creator god. I still don’t know what in the world was wrong with it, but apparently they didn’t like it... and I really was proud of it, too. Haaah.”

The creator god, huh? Sounds like they’re higher in status than even Father.

“Okay, you want the alarm clock for the first one, then. Sounds good to me!”

“Uh.”

“Oh, and I guess you’ll want the underwear for the second one? Do you want a fundoshi, boxers, or a babydoll dress? I’ve got something for men and women of all tastes. They’re what I made the seventh piece of divine bedding to replace the alarm clock.”

“Er, wait. I don’t want the alarm clock, I want th—”

“Keima! KEEEIMA! Come on, that’s just, that’s just going too far! Father, sorry! Could we ask for you to gift us with a quilt, your recommended quilt?!”

Rokuko forcibly covered my mouth with her hand. Mghghgmgm. Well, alright. I don’t want to argue with Father either.

“Oh, really? It looks like Keima wants to say something.”

“...Er, well, I just wanted to check something. I wasn’t going to complain about getting the alarm clock. You recommend it yourself, after all.”

“I see, I see! That’s what I like to hear, ahahaha. So, that covers your gifts. I think I’ll give gifts to Aidy and Mikan too, plus Haku since she was put through a lot of trouble in more ways than one here. Keima got to ask for what he wanted, so well, let’s keep it up. What do you three want?”

“Oh my! I can ask for anything?”

“Wow, really?! Thanks, papa! You’re the best!”

“...Hm, I get a gift as well? I will have to think about this.”

Aidy, Mikan, and Haku all rejoiced through the monitor at being given a gift. Haku’s acting like nothing happened at all, so maybe she’s in a better mood now?

“...In that case, I would like to have easier access to communication with Rokuko. Could you make Dungeon Battle calls usable between us at all times?”

“I want a Dungeon Master! Someone amazing like Keima! I-Is that too much to ask?”

“I would like.........————......... If you wouldn’t mind. Also, if possible, could all video footage of me during this battle be deleted?”

The three of them asked for their gifts. Haku’s first request was cut off in a storm of static. That was probably intentional jamming to hide what she said. The second half, Father agreed to as a bonus. Aidy seemed disappointed that the footage she went out of her way to record was deleted, but well. Let’s all pretend that never happened to Haku, okay? Okay.

“Aha, you all asked for some pretty difficult things, huh? I’m really happy. Okay, leave it to me! Putting aside what Haku wanted, I can get that messaging system set up for you in no time, Aidy. It’ll only take two or three days. Oh, Keima. Can I make that slave girl Mikan’s Dungeon Master?”

“You talkin’ ’bout me, dude?” Ichika said.

“Sorry, she’s off limits.”

“Figured. How about that Rinnew adventurer then, Mikan? She seems pretty good at organizing people.”

“Sounds good to me!”

“Alright! I’ll fiddle with fate and causality a little bit. Oh, and I’ll toss in some support while I’m at it.”

Father just casually talked about controlling fate and causality. I was also curious to know what he meant about support, but I decided to just pretend I hadn’t heard anything.

“Oh, and Keima. Consider this a bonus,” Father said, and a second later a pure white ball fell in front of me—a Dungeon Core.

...Oh yeah, it’s been a year since the last one. I guess I can break another Core now and still be safe. Pretty sure Leona said I needed to wait a year to stop my soul from being corrupted by the God of Light, right?

“Oh, and don’t expect an orichalcum sword this time. You’ll want to break it with one of your own weapons. That spell of yours will work too.”

Er, right. Guess he’s not giving me that many favors.

“Wow! Is that a Dummy Core?” Mikan asked.

“Hm? Uhhh...”

Now that I think about it, I’ve told Mikan and Aidy that I’m from another world, but I haven’t told them I’m a Hero. They might have noticed from me using {Ultra Transformation}, a Hero skill, but I don’t want to run around calling myself a Hero if I can help it. Especially since they live and grow off killing Dungeon Cores... Yeah, I’m just gonna keep this to myself. No real point in me saying it anyway. I can break this and boost my Hero skill’s level once I’m back home.

“Yep. Pretty sure this is a Dummy Core.”

“Wowee, cool. A free bonus! Papa sure is generous.”

“He sure is. Never met a more generous guy in my life. Rokuko, would you store this for me?”

“Oh, right.”

I handed the Dungeon Core to Rokuko. A glance at Father showed that his expression was unchanged. He had probably expected us to do exactly this.

“Okay, I think it’s about time to wake Core 564 up,” Father said with a snap of his fingers. A call with Core 564 connected.

“Wha?! Er, uh... Wha...?! Ah! My left arm! I-It’s still on me! Wait! What happened with the Dungeon Battle?!”

“Mmm! Ahahaha!” Aidy exclaimed giddily.

Core 564 panicked after waking up. Father had probably healed his arm at some point. Meanwhile, Aidy looked pretty excited. She had a nice smile on her face.

“Wh-Wh-What?! I lost? Me? Why?! A 600 Core should never be able to beat a 500 Core! What did you do, you brat?!”

“Oh, what a splendid loser you are! Your barks of defeat are music to my ears! Aaah, yes, losers are best when they are pathetic just like this!”

“GRAAAAH!”

“Ahahaha! Ahahahaha! Oh, this feels too good! Tell me, loser! How do you feel? Frustrated? Sad? Pathetic? Tell me, how does it feel to lose a girl younger than you, to lose to a small rabbit? To lose, to lose, to lose so hard! You called for help only for them to dominate you themselves, requiring your opponents to save your life, then spare it just to mock you! By the way, you were a burden on Father! He had to get involved himself. Are you so embarrassed you might just kill yourself? Well, you can’t! I defeated you. We defeated you! I suppose you know what that means, don’t you?!”

“Curses, curses, CURSEEES! Why, WHYYYY?!” Core 564 roared in frustration at Aidy’s taunting.

“Aaah, pathetic! I love how pathetic you are!” Aidy cackled. She sure was having fun.

“...Wow, Aidy’s sure getting into this, huh?”

“Rokuko. You started this, fix it somehow.”

“...If I hadn’t said anything, she would have killed Core 564 to win, no? I just stepped in since I didn’t think killing him would be necessary. That saved Core 564’s life, and now Aidy’s having fun. Isn’t this a win-win?”

Well, if you call it a win-win after one of the people lost so bad they nearly died.

Core 564 was roaring “GRAAAH! I’ll kill kill kill kill yooou!” through the monitor, while Aidy, with endless amusement, was replying “Ah, the words of a complete weakling! You have a talent for being a small fry!”

Hmmm, this is kinda heating up. Not that I really mind. If they start fighting to the death, all I ask is they do it somewhere far away from me.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough of that for now. Mind if I talk for a second?”

“...F-Father?! S-Sir, yes, sir...!”

“Ah, my apologies, Father. Teasing Core 564 was just so much fun I lost myself in it.”

It was only then that Core 564 realized Father was watching and bowed his head quietly. Though I should note he was bowing so deep he was practically groveling. I couldn’t really blame him, considering he made a total fool out of himself with the boss of all the Dungeon Cores watching him. Tough luck, buddy.

“Yep, sorry to say it, Core 564, but you lost. A lot sure happened at the end there, but do you remember any of it?”

“Sir...! My humblest apologies! I let myself fail, never thinking for a moment you yourself were watching! Just thinking back to it makes me want to explode with anger! To think that woman would betray me at the last moment!”

Is he trying to push his failure on Leona? Honestly, he would have lost even worse if Leona hadn’t been there.

“What do you think, Core 6?” Father asked.

“Sir. I think it’s out of the question. Listen, Core 564. You may not have known Father was watching, but you cannot pretend to have not known I was watching. And yet, you still asked for the help of Chaos.”

“.........”

Core 564 fell silent. Yeah, Core 6 did pop up at the greeting before the battle started. And I’m pretty sure you said you’d offer up this victory to him? No wriggling you way out of this one.

Also, Chaos? That’s probably referring to Leona, but from the sound of it Core 6 the Great Demon King has some kind of bad history with her just like Haku does. Asking for help from someone your boss hates sure is a big-time mistake.

“I-I have no excuse...!”

“Hmph. I wasn’t expecting anything from you to begin with. After all, you were facing Core 666 here—Aidy. And with the Dungeon Master from Haku helping her, not even a 500 Core stood a chance. Even a 400 Core... no, a 300 Core would have had a hard battle. Isn’t that right, Keima?”

“Er, um, well. It’s all thanks to Aidy. Ahahaha.”

“Quite. You have a good head on yourself for a member of the Traitor faction. Thinking back, your leadership during this battle was exemplary. What say you join my faction?”

“Hold it right there, Core 6. What makes you think for a second I would let you steal someone from my faction? It seems you have a death wish.”

“Heheh. I’ll give you Core 564 in return, eh?”

“I don’t need trash like him. Keima, don’t even think about agreeing to leave. Your talents will be best exploited, ahem, best used under my command.”

Haku. You just said “exploited,” right? You’re planning to work me to death? Are you still mad about the whole vine thing? I knew it.

“Anyway. Listen, Core 564. Do you know why you lost?” Father interjected.

“Naturally, because that foolish woman came a—”

“Aah, I’m talking about before your rampage. You already lost before she got involved, didn’t you?”

Core 564 had started to blame Leona, but Father stopped him. He couldn’t keep making excuses after that. All he could do was press his head against the ground like he was digging into it.

“...F-Forgive me! I cannot tell... I thought my dungeon was perfect! Over the past one hundred years, it has a perfect record of defeating proud adventurers of great skill!”

Er, yeah, adventurers are one thing. But this was a Dungeon Battle.

“Keima. Could you tell him why he lost?”

“...For free?”

“Um, Keima?!” Rokuko butted in, but I wasn’t gonna budge on this. I held out a hand to hold her back.

“I just gave you a bonus, didn’t I? Surely you don’t mind scratching my back a little in return.”

“Mmm. But if I tell him why he failed, he’ll be able to fight back better next time. What if he beats me next time just because I went out of my way to explain why he lost? And given where we are, this information is going to spread throughout the entire Demon King faction. With the danger of that in mind this clearly is not a trade in my favor. I don’t mind explaining, but I would like something that would make it worth my while in return.”

“I see. That does make sense.”

If I told him that he lost because his dungeon wasn’t built for Dungeon Battles with Core 6 the Great Demon King watching, this information would spread throughout the entire Demon King faction... or well, that was the excuse I was running with, anyway. Core 6 was surely skilled enough to have identified the weakness here on his own. All I was doing here was trying to jack up the price of my information as high as possible to grab what I could. Especially since I wanted to sell before Core 6 had the chance to tell others and drop the price down to the mud.

“How about a Boss Monster Spawner, then?”

“...A Boss Monster Spawner? I don’t see one of those in my catalog.”

“It lets you spawn the monster registered with it, and it lets you respawn Named monsters for free. Well, it will only spawn one at any given time, and there’s a cooldown timer depending on the strength of the boss. Anyway, I’ll go ahead and give you a special one that lets you freely change which monster is registered to it.”

...Whoa! That’s actually pretty good. I could set our dungeon’s Dragon Golem to it and use it for all sorts of things without worrying about remaking it from hand if it got broken. Or, more practically, I could make a Golem of mythril... no, orichalcum, beat it myself, and have it respawn. It would be the birth of infinite orichalcum ore. Should be safe to say that’d be priceless.

“Errr, and I can swap the monster set to it?”

“That’s right. Oh, but you can’t change it during the cooldown time, and unlike Named resurrection they don’t retain their memories.”

Makes sense. So all the training you gave the monster would be reset. We could probably make up for that by controlling the monster in the Master Room. Either way, we would get as much orichalcum as we wanted. The cooldown timer is kind of concerning, though.

“If I set a Dragon to it, for example, how long would the cooldown timer be?”

“A normal Dragon would be a week, and a Red Dragon would be about two weeks. A Goblin King would only take about eight hours. You probably don’t need to worry about the timer unless you’re using a really special monster. Especially since you can speed it up with DP.”

Alright, sounds pretty good. I think I’ll take it.

“I would like two please, one for a mid-boss and one for a boss monster.”

“Keima, has anyone ever told you that you have a heart of steel?” Father asked, a little exasperated. “That’s fine. But don’t get mad at me even if every Dungeon Core learns of this.”

“...I don’t mind, as long as you don’t go out of your way to spread it.”

And so, I got two Boss Spawners. It’s all in how you negotiate.

“Okay then, can you tell Core 564 what he did wrong?”

Now that I had been paid, I had no reason to refuse. I casually gave him the answer he wanted.

“...Basically, it’s as simple as the fact that dungeons strong against adventurers won’t always be strong in Dungeon Battles. The difference in invaders is just too high.”

“...That’s definitely true. If only Aidy and a few companions had invaded, Core 564 might actually have won this,” Father observed.

“Yup. Your strategy should change completely depending on whether you’re fighting a few enemies in a small team versus when you’re fighting an army. You just didn’t manage that.”

Father nodded in agreement. Core 564 listened silently. I might as well say a bit more. He gave me two Spawners, after all.

“The Demon King faction especially doesn’t seem to have a dungeon building philosophy built for dealing with numbers. But numbers are strength. As you just saw, a group that is weak individually can become strong by working together. Though it does take some time to learn how to manage it. So... was that enough?”

“Plenty. Thanks, Keima. Did you learn anything from that, Core 564?”

“Sir! Yes, Father! I believe he is exactly right!” Core 564 answered with his face on the floor. Feels kinda like he’s just being forced to agree, but whatever. He said I’m right, and Father said I gave plenty of help. That’s the end of the deal. I’ve got nothing more to do with this.

“I was surprised too, Rokuko. To think mere squirrels could prove so useful.”

“Eheheh, this is one of Keima’s best strategies, the human wave tactic. Though they’re not actually humans,” Rokuko explained to Aidy, full of pride. My credit... Eh, fine. She’s my partner anyway.

“Okay, I think I’ll let Core 6 and Haku say what they want to say. You can go first, Haku. Anything on your mind?”

“Father, if I may be honest, I just want to forget this Dungeon Battle ever happened.”

“Nonsense,” Core 6 interjected. “If you insist o—”

“Quiet, Core 6. I’m in the middle of speaking,” Haku said, and she appeared on our monitors. Despite the fact that Father was there Core 6 was annoyed enough at going second that he audibly clicked his tongue. It wasn’t hard to see how hostile their relationship was.

“Mmm, well, first of all. Good work, Keima. I’ll deliver the Lionheart Bracelet to you later. And by the way, Father made it, so it’s of even higher quality than Emmymephy’s.”

“Thanks.”

“Second of all, forget everything you saw in the Boss Room.”

“Huh? I’m not sure what you’re talking about. It’s been so long since I was there I don’t remember anything about what happened.”

“Good. And finally... as promised, I will accept you and Rokuko hugging, but nothing more.”

Oh yeah. I totally forgot that was a thing.

“Sister! Are we not allowed to kiss?”

“You aren’t. But I don’t mind setting up a system where if you kiss me one hundred times, you can kiss him once.”

Dang, since when was Haku so lustful? Oh right, she’s always been like this.

“Rokuko, I too would like to have a tongue sword fight with you,” Aidy said.

“Hm? Sorry, no can do. We’re not sisters, we might make babies if we kiss.”

I feel like something was off about that. Hold up, are duels equivalent to dates in the Demon King faction? Or is Aidy just like that because she’s a Magic Blade-type Core?

“Oh, and Core 629. Mikan. Dedicate yourself to me through serving Keima,” Haku said.

“Y-Yes ma’am! Looking forward to serving you, Keima!”

And suddenly I got a lackey out of nowhere. Uh, what? I’m not going to do anything with him.

“Now you may speak, Core 6.”

Once Haku finished saying everything she wanted to, they changed places.

“Indeed. First, Aidy. You did well. I would expect nothing less from my grandchild.”

“I am honored, Grandfather.”

“As for you, Core 564.” Core 6’s words made Core 564 tremble on the ground where he was. “I never expected anything from you from the start, and while you were facing three Cores at once, I never expected you to lose to a 600 batch Core this magnificently. I won’t take your life since Father saved you and Aidy spared you, but as I said prior to the battle, I will now expel you from my faction.”

“P-Please wait! If you do that, what will become of me?!”

“I do not care. Know well that you are no longer under my protection. Do as you like. Though remember that you are hereby forbidden to name yourself as a member of the Demon King faction, or a practitioner of Demon King style. Break this rule and I will crush you in an instant. Do not forget this,” Core 6 said before leaving abruptly. Core 564 could do nothing but stay frozen in place, dazed. I bet things are gonna be real hard for you, but, well, good luck?

...And that was when Father spoke up, with the corners of his lips lifted in a small grin for some reason. “Okay then, Core 564. I’ll give you two options.”

“F-Father! Wh-What would those two be?”

“One, you keep on living as a Dungeon Core. That’s basically me doing nothing and things just remaining as they are. Or two... You become Mikan’s Support Core. What do you think?”

Oh man, Mikan just frowned like, “I don’t need this guy’s help.” Can’t blame him, either. Who would want the help of an egotistical bully that put you through hell? Nobody, really.

“...What do you mean by that, Father?” Core 564 asked.

“Well, I just said I’d give Mikan a supporter as a gift, so. Mikan’s a rabbit-type Core, and he’s kind of lacking in raw power. That’s where you come in to support him. Both your dungeons are located pretty close to each other, so this is a perfect opportunity to Dual Link, isn’t it?”

What he was saying made sense, but Mikan was shaking his head pretty vigorously. And what’s a Dual Link? Like are they literally linking themselves? Becoming a Dual Core?

“Father. What does it mean to Dual Link?” Core 564 asked.

“Oh, right. You don’t know that. It basically just means two Cores connecting to manage one dungeon. Mikan will be the Main Core, and you’ll be the Support Core.”

“...So you ask me to serve that rabbit,” Core 564 said with a glare through the monitor that sent Mikan hiding behind Aidy.

“My my, Core 564. But won’t that be a perfect fit for you, since you lost to Mikan in this Dungeon Battle? A rabbit and a loser, could there be a better pair?”

“Gr...!”

“Noooo! I don’t wanna pair up with this guuuy!”

“It’ll be fine, Mikan. Support Cores can’t defy Main Cores, and they can’t hurt them either,” Father said in a reassuring tone. So basically, the Support Cores are slaves?

“Help me, Keimaaa!”

“...Can’t you just order him to leave you alone until you call for him? He can be like, someone you only ever call over when you really need help in a fight.”

“Wow! So he can be just like a mercenary? Well, I think that’ll be fine.”

“Grr... V-Very well. This is humiliating, but it is my fault for losing this battle. Father, I will become Core 629’s... Mikan’s Support Core.”

“Alright, that settles that! Now I just need to get the Master in place and everything’s perfect!”

And so, Core 564’s fate was decided. In a way he had technically joined Haku’s faction, and since she had just said she didn’t need trash like him, her expression was a bit conflicted. And wait, if Mikan’s my subordinate now, and Core 564 is his support... Doesn’t that mean Core 564 and I are connected now? Aw man...

“Alright! Good work, everyone!” Father declared. He was probably feeling better than anyone else here.

...Oh, I just remembered, we’ve just left the Adventurers standing around this whole time. Heeey, Mikan, Aidy. And Core 564, I guess. Gimme some help. We need to make a big army of small fry to finish this ooooff.

# Rokuko’s Perspective

The Dungeon Battle ended safely, then the celebratory party ended, or at least, Rokuko left early. It was now her time to shine.

“Okay! It’s finally the big day!”

Do you remember, by chance? The true power that the Divine Comforter blanket has? Exactly one day per year, it lets you sleep in bed with any person you wish. (And due to the manipulation of fate and causality, nobody will interfere before morning.)

It had been a year since she last used it. Soon the power should be returning to it... Right? Rokuko picked up the comforter and patted it. Yeah, it was usable. It felt like it, anyway.

“...Last time went... Well, we had some problems, but this time I know all I need to know. Thank you, Redra. This time for sure, Keima and I will do... um, do the baby thing!” Rokuko declared. Despite talking to the air to pump herself up, she was still too embarrassed to say her plans outright.

Redra was the source of information. She was a Red Dragon, and the Dungeon Master of the neighboring [Flame Caverns]. She had a daughter named Igni. In other words, she was a veteran of love.

According to her, Rokuko just needed to kiss Keima, embrace him, then go with the flow. Kissing was the secret to everything. It was apparently fine for sisters to do, but given that Niku and Maiodore the archduke’s daughter were engaged, it was risky for any two girls to kiss. Rokuko, a very smart girl, was naturally quick-witted enough to figure this out herself.

“...Oh mighty comforter, oh mighty comforter. I want to sleep with Keima!”

She prayed to the Divine Comforter, and it shone brightly. It was the same light she had seen a year ago. In other words, it had activated.

By the way, Rokuko already had on her bedtime babydoll dress, and she was wearing the black thigh-high socks that Keima liked so much. Her underwear, too, was a sexy pair of lucky underwear she had prepared for this day in particular. Whoever coined the term “lucky underwear” must have had real life experience, Rokuko thought, because indeed she felt so nervous it was tempting to rely on luck.

Not too much later, a knock came on the door.

“Eep! I-Is that you, Keima?”

“Yep, it’s me.”

“The door’s unlocked!”

“Oh, really? I’ll go on in, then.”

Keima opened the door and came inside. He was wearing the same jersey he usually did.

“Heh heh. We got some more pieces of the Divine Bedding, huh, Rokuko? Dungeon Battles sure are worth doing.”

“Uh-huh. And since we got one each, you finally have one of your own.”

“That barely matters. You’ve got the comforter and the quilt, while I’ve got nothing but the alarm clock that’s not even part of the official set anymore.”

Indeed, that’s how they ended up getting split. Keima felt more than a little regret over not just immediately picking something he could use to help his sleep. Though it was hard to complain considering how lucky they were to get two.

“So, Keima, let’s show each other what we have.”

“Sure. Come forth, Divine Alarm Clock!” Keima declared while taking out the Divine Alarm Clock. It was round and analog, with a red body and a white clock face. The numbers one through twelve were written on it in black letters, and simple black arrows told what time it was. Beneath it were four sticks that served as legs, and the top had golden bells to make it into an alarm clock.

“And here. This is the Divine Quilt.”

What Rokuko took out was a beige quilt. At a first glance it was just a normal thick quilt covered in fur, but when touched you could feel the immense number of microfibers. Unlike the comforter, it had significant weight, but without being too heavy—it was just heavy enough to envelop the user in a sense of comfort.

“...Man, when you line them up like this, it really feels like the quilt’s the real ‘bedding’ here,” I said.

“True. You only use the alarm clock when you need to wake up, and it’s not actually a part of your bed or anything. It doesn’t touch you directly.”

“Yeah. Feels like that’s part of the reason it was removed from the group.”

As they talked about the Divine Bedding, Rokuko casually made Keima sit next to her on the bed. There she noticed that Keima was wearing a bracelet on his left wrist, which had been hidden by his jersey.

“Oh, neat. Is that the [Lionheart Bracelet] that Haku gave you?”

“Yep. Apparently Father made it.”

“Wow, really? It looks so good on you, Keima.”

“You think so? Well, I’m gonna be hiding it under my sleeve either way. Apparently it blocks any kind of mental influence.”

...It was then that Rokuko realized that Keima was a lot more sane than he had been last year. She had thought that things would go smoothly this time since Keima had a piece of the Divine Bedding himself, but maybe it wouldn’t be so easy.

“.........”

“Hm? What’s up, Rokuko? Do you want it?”

“Er, um, well... I-I do want it! But he gave it to you, so.”

“Oh, nah, it’s just an accessory, I’m not too attached to it. How about you hold onto it for me? I’d be more relaxed if I knew you had it on you anyway.”

“Oh, um. Okay then,” Rokuko said, accepting the silver-colored bracelet from him. She put it on her wrist, her heart thumping from Keima’s body heat... and then noticed that he was staring at her.

“.........”

“K-Keima?”

“Y-Yeah? What’s up?”

“You were kinda dozing off there...”

“Er, well. I was kinda just enraptured by the sight of you.”

“What?! O-Oh, okay! Neat, cooool, uh-huuuuh!”

Rokuko averted her eyes, unable to keep looking at him. Her cheeks were flushed red. Keima had probably lost control of himself a bit after removing the bracelet.

...Rokuko changed the subject to avoid her embarrassment. “B-By the way. What special effect does the alarm clock have? The quilt apparently negates attacks entirely. And it calms you down.”

“It negates attacks? Nutty. That’s a piece of the Divine Bedding for you. The alarm clock cures all sorts of different status ailments.”

If you thought about it, sleepiness was kind of like a status effect that could be blocked with {Sleep Resistance}. It made sense that the Divine Alarm Clock could force you to feel good after waking up if it could “cure” your sleepiness.

“Incidentally, although it has bells on it, if you set it to electric sounds, you can set it to go off after twelve hours too. You can even set it to go off even a century in the future.”

“Wait, the clock face is just for show?”

“Well, you can still use it as a normal clock too. It’s pretty convenient since it automatically keeps the time accurate on its own,” Keima said, but he was staring off into the distance.

“It being a good alarm clock is more than enough, isn’t it? Is there something you don’t like about it?”

“Er, well, the effect happens when it makes a sound, but...”

“Oh, that makes sense. What kind of sound does it make?”

“Uhhhh... Well, have a listen yourself. Ring in ten seconds,” Keima said to the alarm clock. That’s how long it took before some quiet beeping filled the room. He immediately slammed a hand down on the alarm clock to stop the sound. A second later, Rokuko realized the bit of sleepiness she had been feeling was entirely gone.

“I see. It is pretty quiet.”

“Yep. The sound doesn’t matter much since you wake up from the status effect canceling. But as you can probably tell, it clears out your head and makes you feel pretty wide awake. Definitely not something to use right before bed.”

“Now I know why Father was so proud of it,” Rokuko said with a nod and a pleasantly clear head.

“So, you think this will help me sleep?”

“...Oh! Now that you mention it, you definitely can’t sleep with this thing.”

“It’s the one and only flaw of this alarm clock, but it’s fatal. This isn’t bedding at all. It’s a tool for waking up.”

“Wow. Uh-huh, I totally see your point.”

Still, Rokuko thought that since it would help you wake up no matter what when you needed to be awake, it should count as bedding. Though maybe the fact that it made you think of waking up at all disqualified it from being Divine Bedding.

“Anyway, I’m wide awake now, so I’m gonna head back to my room. Thanks for showing me your bedding.”

“Um, you’re welcome?”

“Peace, Rokuko. See you tomorrow,” Keima said before leaving the room with a bright expression.

Rokuko was left sitting in the room alone.

“...Wait, what? Wh-Why? What about the comforter’s effect?”

The Divine Alarm Clock. It cured all sorts of status ailments, even the ailment induced by the Divine Comforter. Upon realizing this, Rokuko exploded and spoke without thinking. “THE ALARM CLOCK ISN’T BEDDING!”

Her words defied the will of Father. And yet, she could not help but speak her mind.

Still, Rokuko wasn’t about to let things end there. She thought for a bit after Keima left the room, then left herself, determined to sleep together no matter the cost. Her mind was set on that and nothing would shake her out of it. But Keima had left. Desire and frustration was boiling within her. What was she to do, then? There was only one answer! Go to him herself! And so, Rokuko went to Keima’s room to launch a nighttime advance.

“I’m coming in, Keima!”

“Whoa! H-Hold on a second!”

Keima’s voice had a bit of panic to it when he told her to wait, so she paused for a good ten seconds before going inside. The room he had been given was mostly empty like a bare storeroom. There wasn’t anything fancy like a bed; there was just a single futon spread out on the ground. The fact that even a room like that had an expensive glass window just went to show how fancy the Ivory Villa was.

And inside was Keima sitting on his futon in his jersey. “Rokuko, huh? What’s up?”

“Um, well...”

Rokuko would have a much easier time of this if she could just honestly say she had come to sleep with him. But she couldn’t, and she had been too reckless coming here without a plan. Still, an idea came to her at just the right moment.

“Thanks to you, I can’t sleep. Take responsibility and use Siesta on me.”

Indeed. If she had been made wide awake from her sleepiness being taken away, then all she needed was to have sleepiness forced back into her. And Keima had a Magic Blade that did just that.

Keima was moved by her idea. “Wow, I totally forgot that was an option. Alright, let’s head back to your room.”

“There’s a futon right here. We can stay.”

“Uh.”

“Got a problem?”

“...This is a weird coincidence, but I don’t have any spares. There’s only one futon here.”

“...Oh! Wooow, huh.”

Suddenly, it hit Rokuko. The effects of the Divine Comforter were still alive. Thus spake the Divine Comforter: Thou shalt sleep together, for it is fate.

“Keima, get Siesta out and lay down.”

“Er, sure.”

Keima set Siesta beside the pillow and laid face up on the futon. Rokuko grinned.

“Oooh no, sorry, I triiipped!”

“Nghuh!”

Rokuko fell toward Keima in what was very obviously a deliberate move. Her elbow perfectly forced its way into his stomach.

By yet another coincidence, Keima was wearing the jersey that Father had fixed after it was broken in the Dungeon Battle, and due to that the Wearable Golem had its support training reverted back to its initial state. And Keima hadn’t re-input the training yet, since he could just do that when he got home. Thanks to that, despite having nimbly dodged the blazing fast attacks of tentacles previously, he couldn’t even react to Rokuko’s lazy elbow and ended up taking it head-on.

“Nguh, ngggh!”

“Oh, sorry, Keima! Does it hurt? It must hurt! That’s a lot of damage! We need to use the Divine Comforter blanket to heal it! Oh, and Siesta, blast out your sleepiness at full power!” Rokuko declared when crawling onto the futon beside Keima and pouring mana into Siesta beside the bed. At the same time, she took out her Divine Comforter blanket and laid it over her and Keima.

“Wait, what’re yo— zzz...”

“Night, Keima... zzz...”

The sleepiness from Siesta hit both Keima and Rokuko. And thus, Rokuko succeeded in sleeping next to Keima.

＊ ＊ ＊

They found themselves in the world of dreams. It was a space made by Rokuko, for Rokuko was using the power of the Divine Comforter.

“Why hello theeere, Keima.”

“Hey, Rokuko. Mind telling me what’s going on here?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Sheesh... Eh, never mind. This is just a dream anyway. I won’t get good answers from you no matter what I ask.”

Incidentally, after much consideration following last time, Rokuko settled on making this dream one where Keima would remember it as a dream, but she would remember it clearly as fact. Thus, this time she wouldn’t be using it as a paradise to change his clothes as much as he wanted. Though if Keima wanted to do that himself, it was totally fair game.

“But you know, Keima, what is this I’m wearing...?”

“.........”

Rokuko was wearing the same thing she had been wearing before bed. It was the babydoll dress she had carefully picked above all other options earlier. Even though this was supposed to appear like Keima’s dream, she was wearing what he wanted her to wear.

“Did you like it that much? Hm, hmmmm?”

“Y-Yeah, I did. So what? Don’t come to my room wearing a dress like that. What if someone saw you?”

“What does it matter to me if someone sees?” Rokuko asked, and Keima looked away.

“...I don’t want anyone else seeing you in that. Sheesh,” he muttered.

Oh my goodness. It was a true shame that she couldn’t use the dungeon’s recording function in the dream world.

“Keima, Keima, what was that? Could you say it again?”

“No way. It’s embarrassing.”

“Awww, what? Come on, do iiiit,” Rokuko said before clinging to Keima. She looked up at him while rubbing her decently sizable chest against him. The sound of a thumping heart could be heard. Whether it was Rokuko’s or Keima’s, nobody knew.

Rokuko steeled her resolved and spoke. “Keimaaa... Kiss me?”

“Your feet?”

In Rokuko’s opinion, it would have been totally fair game for her to punch Keima there.

“Why feet? Come on. I’m talking about my lips. Are you dumb? You have to be dumb.”

“Nah, I mean, if I have a choice, I kinda want to kiss your feet. And I mean, this is my dream, isn’t it?”

“.........”

“.........”

They looked at each other for a bit... or rather, they glared at each other, until Rokuko eventually let out a sigh.

“Oh, fine... This is your dream after all.”

“Yep. I definitely couldn’t do this with the real Rokuko. Might as well enjoy the dream while it lasts,” Keima said, sounding invested. Rokuko realized that maybe when Redra said “go with the flow,” she meant let him kiss her feet. Aaand there he was, going for her feet already.

“Hold on. I don’t mind you kissing my feet, but first... I want a kiss on the lips.”

“Sure,” Keima said, before immediately pressing his lips against Rokuko’s.

“Nmmm...! Nnn, nnn...!”

After some sweet suffocation, their lips parted and Rokuko gasped for air. However...

“...Um, one more time? This time while we hug tightly,” Rokuko asked cutely, and Keima silently replied with his mouth.

...... .........

“Hey, Rokuko.”

Rokuko awoke to the feeling of being poked in the cheek.

“Nnnm, ah... Did I pass out? Nmm...”

“Rokuko? H-Hey, nmggh?!”

Keima’s head was right in front of Rokuko. She wrapped her arms around it, pulled him to her, and kissed him so many times she couldn’t even count how many it was. The sensation of kissing brought a smile to her face. They had gotten carried away by the flow earlier and ended up kissing in all sorts of places beyond just lips and feet, but in the end kissing on the lips was the best in Rokuko’s opinion. Though Keima seemed to want to go after her feet more than anything.

“...Pwaah! Aahh... That tasted so good...” Rokuko sighed with a dreamy smile as she let Keima’s head go.

“U-Uh, Rokuko? Are you half-asleep or something...?”

“...Bwuh?” she said in a cracked voice, now seeing with widened eyes that Keima was blushing bright red. Wow, that’s weird. Keima only blushed like that during the first ten or so kisses. And is it just me, or is the aftertaste more realistic than before? Oh, and when did we move to the futon? Oh, and why is the light from the window so bright?

Oh. Ooooh... THIS. IS. REAL. LIFE?

The moment Rokuko realized what had happened, her own face went bright red.

“K-Keima?! Wh-Whoops, um, I-I thought you were a big melon roll!”

“O-Oh, huh! A melon roll, that makes sense! We definitely ate some of those in the dream!”

“Yep, that’s right! Wooow, those were some amazing melon rolls! Ahaha, what a blunder I’ve just made!”

“Hey, nobody can blame you! Who wouldn’t go after a big melon roll right in front of them!”

Rokuko flung off the comforter and leapt into a sitting position where she proceeded to make excuses. Keima did the same, sitting in front of her and nodding in agreement. Both of their faces were crimson. Rokuko was a bit teary-eyed, too.

Once they had finished their excuses, they awkwardly avoided eye contact and shuffled around so their backs were facing each other.

“...I’ll go kiss Haku a hundred times later.”

“Y-Yeah...”

And so concluded the night after the Dungeon Battle.