The fusion of worlds was the thing Izumi cared about most.
It was also the very thing he needed to focus on right now.
Only by merging more worlds into his own could his strength continue to grow.
The opening of the Dimensional City had allowed more and more people to arrive here.
At the same time, it had also given their worlds the coordinates of Izumi's world.
Perhaps after countless years, those worlds would eventually become fully integrated into his own.
It was merely a matter of time.
Hearing Izumi say this, Asia Argento revealed a look of anticipation.
If even more worlds merged together, then things would surely become even more exciting.
She had truly come to love this world.
Recently, she had spent most of her time traveling all over Izumi's world and sightseeing.
And she wasn't the only one.
Even Megumi Katou and Eriri Spencer Sawamura had been running around exploring the newly merged worlds.
That was also why Izumi rarely saw them these days.
As for them wandering everywhere, Izumi didn't really care.
After all, in this world, they would never encounter any real danger.
Not to mention that both Alaya and Gaia were constantly watching over the entire world.
Nothing would happen.
And besides—
Megumi and the others were already considered fairly powerful existences within Izumi's world now.
...
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
Soon, the next day arrived.
From the very moment dawn broke over the Dimensional City, the entire place exploded with activity.
Everyone participating in the Gourmet Festival had already begun preparing at their stalls.
Shirou Emiya, the so-called Hero of Justice, worked together with several close Spirit companions as they continuously prepared dishes.
Meanwhile, Izumi's own loli squad had grouped together and produced a huge variety of food.
At the same time, Erina Nakiri and the Tōtsuki students occupied stall after stall throughout the streets.
The newcomers arriving at the festival could already smell the rich fragrance of countless dishes from far away.
The aroma even drifted beyond the Dimensional City itself.
Many people in Academy City below caught the scent as well.
Those who knew about the event immediately headed over to wander around the festival.
Megumi Katou and Eriri had also finally returned.
After all these years, they had already matured into beautiful young women.
Looking at Izumi's Dimensional City, they couldn't help but feel amazed.
Thinking about it carefully—
This was actually their first time truly strolling around the place leisurely.
Following behind them were Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama.
These girls had also settled down within Izumi's world and had become extremely close friends with Megumi and the others.
Now, the group of girls happily wandered around the city together.
Of course, the happiest people here were undoubtedly the gluttons like Yuyuko Saigyouji.
After Yuyuko had started following Izumi, he directly gave her a special card loaded with more points than she could ever spend in a lifetime.
Because of that, Youmu Konpaku could finally relax.
At the very least, now that Hakugyokurou had a son-in-law, she no longer had to worry about operating at a deficit.
Back when Yuyuko constantly hung around with Yukari Yakumo, Hakugyokurou practically had to borrow money nonstop.
Now Youmu felt that Yuyuko should have followed Izumi much earlier.
Only this way could they truly live a life of full stomachs and comfort.
If Yuyuko continued hanging around Yukari, they'd eventually starve to death.
Just look at Reimu Hakurei.
Ever since becoming a shrine maiden in Gensokyo, she'd practically been starving nine days out of ten, surviving on plain rice porridge.
But after Gensokyo merged into this world, Reimu had completely stopped listening to Yukari.
She'd rather go work for Mystia Lorelei than even talk to Yukari.
That alone showed just how unreliable Yukari truly was.
Thinking about this, Youmu felt incredibly satisfied.
At the same time, she silently used the card Izumi had given them to pay Yuyuko's food bill before leisurely following behind her mistress.
This life was truly wonderful.
Maybe she really should encourage Yuyuko-sama to spend more time with Izumi-sama.
Yes.
That was an important issue.
After all, Yuyuko-sama couldn't just spend every single day eating.
Now that she was technically married, she should at least fulfill some of her duties as a wife.
And most importantly—
She needed to spend less time around that woman Yukari.
Although Yukari had also become one of Izumi-sama's women, her status clearly didn't seem as high as Yuyuko-sama's.
Youmu found that deeply satisfying.
Now that they had money, she no longer needed to worry about Yuyuko eating all her mochi either.
Life was great.
At this point, Youmu fully supported Izumi-sama.
...
Meanwhile, Artoria Pendragon and the others were also incredibly happy.
There was simply too much delicious food.
As gluttons, this was paradise for them.
The moment they arrived, they immediately began buying food nonstop.
The chefs running the stalls were equally thrilled as they watched their point totals rise higher and higher.
Everyone was suffering and happy at the same time.
Because business was too good.
They were utterly exhausted.
The food at the stalls sold out almost instantly.
Izumi's world was simply enormous now.
Too many worlds had merged into it.
And almost all the people here were massive eaters.
Naturally, the amount of food consumed became terrifying.
Everything they made still wasn't enough to satisfy demand.
...
While working nonstop, Erina also secretly observed the competition.
Although Liu Maoxing's group only operated a single stall, their cooking speed was absurdly fast.
Fortunately, Tōtsuki's advantage was manpower.
The food made by the other stalls might not taste as incredible as Maoxing's—
But it was still extremely delicious.
Many newcomers willingly spent money there.
Especially couples.
After discovering that the dishes had special effects, many of them seemed to awaken strange new interests.
For example—
A certain tuna-headed girl loved dragging Mei over to eat at their stalls constantly.
Watching the booming business, Erina felt absolutely delighted.
This time…
She should finally be able to pay off her debt, right?
However—
Just as she was thinking that—
Hisako Arato suddenly rushed over in panic.
"Erina-sama, this is bad!"
"The unenhanced staff have already collapsed from exhaustion!"
Hearing this, Erina nearly lost her mind.
"You've got to be kidding me!?"
"It's only just started and they're already collapsing?!"
What kind of joke was this?
The Gourmet Festival had barely begun!
How were they supposed to continue business at this rate?
Seeing Erina's reaction, Hisako hurriedly explained.
"But everyone started processing ingredients last night!"
"They've been working nonstop until now without any rest at all!"
"Erina-sama, please think of something quickly!"
Those who hadn't taken enhancement potions were still ordinary humans, after all.
And because the event preparation had been so rushed, everyone had spent all their time either studying or preparing ingredients.
The fact that they had lasted this long was already impressive.
Hearing Hisako's explanation, Erina finally understood.
After thinking for a moment, she stopped hesitating.
Directly, she purchased a batch of enhancement serums and handed them over for Hisako to distribute among the exhausted workers.
And just like that—
The points they had painstakingly earned vanished all at once.