After Rem left, Aihara Enju fixed her gaze on Izumi.
"Izumi-oniisan, you're terrible."
"You've set your sights on someone else again!!"
Hearing that, Izumi laughed.
"You can't say it like that."
"I'm just recruiting maids."
"My maid squad is almost complete, you know?"
Enju rolled her eyes.
"Isn't having Grayfia-san and Rita-san already enough?"
"And yet you still want more… I don't even know what to say about you."
"With so many already, what are we supposed to do if your body can't keep up?"
"We're all adults now, you know."
Izumi rolled his eyes right back at her.
"Yes, yes, you're an adult now."
"But your body is still that of an eight-year-old."
"Anyway, I'm off."
"When Rem brings them here, let me know."
With that, he patted her head and disappeared.
...
Watching his fading figure, Enju pursed her lips, clearly displeased.
They were already adults.
Izumi could easily let them grow up—
but he simply chose not to.
So mean.
And he even had the audacity to say things like "lolis are the best."
What a hopeless guy.
...
Meanwhile, Izumi had no idea what Enju was thinking.
Right now, he was staring at Erina's restaurant with a rather strange expression.
There were barely any customers.
The reason?
Across the street—
Liu Maoxing had finally earned enough points to acquire the Legendary Cooking Utensils.
And with that—
he introduced a new dish:
The Immortality Course.
Eat it once—
and gain eternal life.
The moment it was released, it caused a sensation.
Especially among people from ancient worlds.
How could they possibly resist something like that?
Take, for example, a certain Qin Shi Huang.
In his pursuit of immortality, he had even borrowed a large sum of points from another version of himself—
just to queue up at the restaurant with his trusted retainers.
Because of this—
Erina's business plummeted.
After all, anyone who could afford to eat here already had plenty of points.
And with something like an immortality course available?
Naturally, they all rushed over.
Only Nyarko remained—
along with a few customers who didn't feel like waiting in line and just wanted a quick meal.
Even Mystia's shop had been affected.
Fortunately, Mystia mainly catered to residents of Gensokyo—
and she herself was pretty laid-back.
So the impact wasn't too severe.
...
At that moment, Erina stood by the window on the newly expanded second floor, staring gloomily at Liu Maoxing's bustling restaurant.
"This is… too much…"
Business was harder than she imagined.
She had just finished paying off her debt.
Just managed to expand the shop.
And then—
a crushing blow from across the street.
Opening her item list, she stared at the Legendary Cooking Utensils.
Her expression darkened.
Too expensive.
A full set would cost over a million points.
Where was she supposed to get that?
Ask Nyarko?
That girl seemed completely obsessed with something else lately.
Even though she had invested in the restaurant, she showed no interest in managing it.
Watching Erina's troubled expression, Izumi smiled faintly.
"Looks like Liu Maoxing really crushed her, huh…"
"Man, that's rough."
After all—
Erina's team simply couldn't match them.
A kitchen full of top-tier chefs.
And Liu Maoxing himself—a walking cheat.
He could master any ingredient instantly.
After learning Erina's techniques, his skills had skyrocketed even further.
He was practically a final boss in the culinary world now.
Meanwhile, although Erina had access to his techniques—
she lacked his level of creativity.
Even though his team came from an ancient era—
their exposure to modern cuisine had made them even more terrifying.
On the other hand, Erina's cooking was still closer to Liu Maoxing's earlier level.
Losing was only natural.
Thinking this, Izumi chuckled.
He walked up behind her and gently tapped her shoulder.
Startled, Erina jumped and turned around.
Seeing that it was Izumi, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey! What are you doing?! You scared me!"
"I thought it was someone else!"
She shot him an annoyed glance.
Now that she had repaid her debt, her confidence had clearly returned.
Izumi smiled.
"Miss, interested in borrowing some points?"
"Low interest rates, guaranteed."
Erina blinked in confusion.
"Y-you're… lending me points?"
"That's even possible?"
Izumi nodded cheerfully.
"Of course."
"I believe in you."
"Even if you borrow, I'm sure you'll pay it back."
"And if you don't… I'll just go to your world and absorb it."
"So, what do you say?"
Erina hesitated.
She wanted to borrow.
But the Legendary Utensils were just too expensive.
What if she couldn't repay it?
Seeing her conflicted expression, Izumi continued—
"If you buy the utensils…"
"I'll host a Food Festival."
"I'll invite people from many worlds to participate."
"At an event like that…"
"you should be able to earn a lot of points, right?"
"After all, your world has one big advantage."
"A huge population."
His tone was smooth, persuasive.
Step by step—
he reeled her in.
Erina's eyes lit up.
That's right—
if she had the Legendary Utensils…
and a Food Festival was held…
She could bring in Totsuki graduates.
Even if their dishes weren't as good—
they could rely on volume.
More customers, more profit.
The idea took root.
She looked at Izumi, a bit nervous.
"Then… how much can you lend me?"
Izumi knew—
she had taken the bait.
He smiled kindly.
"I can lend you 1,000,000 points."
"Interest is only 20%."
"So you'll just need to repay 1.2 million."
"The deadline is one year."
"Well?"
"Interested?"