After hearing Momo's complaint, Izumi thought for a moment before answering seriously,
"Then why not grow flowers?"
Momo instantly rolled her eyes.
"I'm already tired of gardening."
"Come on, find something for me to do."
She wrapped her arms around him and whispered directly into his ear.
Hearing that, Izumi considered it briefly before speaking with complete sincerity.
"Then let's go sightseeing."
"I'll take you around some of the other districts."
The moment he finished speaking, Izumi grabbed Momo's hand and vanished from the spot.
Momo blinked in confusion.
...Wasn't she being obvious enough already?
Honestly…
Left with no choice, she allowed Izumi to drag her around the world.
...
Their first stop was Academy City.
There, Izumi showed her countless espers and modern magicians.
At the same time, they happened to run into Miyuki Shiba and her group.
These people practically treated Academy City like a second home now.
At this point, the city had completely transformed into the headquarters of modern magic and esper development.
Anyone studying either system eventually came here to broaden their horizons.
Level 4 espers were now everywhere.
Even Level 5 espers had surpassed three digits in number.
There were already dozens of Level 6s—
And Accelerator had even reached Level 7.
Espers and modern magicians had become absurdly common.
All kinds of bizarre abilities existed now.
And among them were plenty of truly powerful individuals.
The moment Miyuki saw Izumi, she naturally joined him and Momo without hesitation.
Looking at her, Izumi asked curiously,
"So you've been staying here lately?"
Miyuki nodded.
"Mm."
"I enrolled in a school here to study modern magic."
"The magic system here is even deeper than the one from our world."
"And I was even able to develop an esper ability."
As she spoke, she demonstrated her power.
Ice Manipulation.
And it had already reached Level 5.
Seeing this, Izumi clicked his tongue in amazement.
"You really spent a lot of points on that, huh?"
It was obvious this ability had not been purchased directly.
She had awakened it naturally through development.
After all, Aleister Crowley had opened an esper development institute inside the Dimensional City specifically for newcomers.
Miyuki's ability had clearly been developed there.
And honestly—
It suited her perfectly.
Hearing Izumi's words, Miyuki smiled sheepishly.
"Well… all the points Onee-sama earned ended up being used on me."
"Otherwise, there's no way I could've developed my own ability."
"And definitely not directly to Level 5."
If one purchased an esper ability directly from Izumi's system, growth was locked unless additional upgrades were purchased.
Natural development, however, allowed limitless improvement.
But a naturally developed Level 5 required an outrageous amount of points.
For people like Miyuki, earning that many points through quests alone was unrealistic.
After all, they did not run businesses like others did.
Questing was their only source of income.
Izumi nodded in understanding.
"I see."
"But that guy really is ruthless."
"His prices are ridiculous."
He could not help complaining.
Aleister charged an absurd amount for esper development.
While still cheaper than outright buying powers, ordinary people still struggled to afford it.
And there were restrictions too.
For example:
- Those deeply involved with mystery-based magic could not undergo development.
- Those possessing incompatible energies were rejected.
Even so, countless people still wanted to try.
Most newcomers arriving in Izumi's world were willing to spend points gambling on the chance of awakening an esper ability.
If they succeeded, it was absolutely worth it.
Then they could pay additional fees to study in Academy City and rapidly improve their levels.
Honestly, Aleister had become terrifyingly good at business.
He was now one of the richest people in Izumi's entire world.
Izumi had even heard rumors that the man had married several divorced women after finally achieving his life's ambitions.
Apparently once his goals were fulfilled—
Aleister had completely abandoned restraint.
...
After touring Academy City with the girls, Izumi brought them to St. Freya Academy.
This place had changed enormously as well.
Many people from other worlds now attended school here.
For example—
The members of μ's.
Apparently all nine of them possessed aptitude to become Valkyries.
As a result, Theresa Apocalypse had personally accepted them through special admission.
Tuition-free, no less.
Izumi honestly did not know how to react to that decision.
At this point, St. Freya Academy had become a full-fledged Valkyrie training base.
Even though the Honkai no longer existed as a threat, the combat ability of the Valkyries trained here remained impressive.
Well—
At least compared to ordinary worlds.
Izumi's universe basically functioned like an RPG now.
Students trained here, then entered dangerous zones to fight monsters and gain experience.
Their strength skyrocketed rapidly.
It was honestly absurd.
The moment Izumi arrived, Cecilia Schariac immediately noticed him.
The look in her eyes became extremely resentful.
"I thought you weren't going to come here."
"So why did you suddenly show up?"
She walked straight into his arms.
It had also been quite a while since she had last seen him.
Though she knew Izumi had returned, she herself had not gone looking for him.
Hearing her words, Izumi looked slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry."
But just as the two were enjoying their reunion—
An extremely untimely voice interrupted them.
"Scumbag!"
"Hmph!"
The moment he heard that voice, Izumi already knew who it was.
Sure enough—
Kiana Kaslana stood nearby alongside Raiden Mei and Bronya Zaychik.
Kiana's face was filled with dissatisfaction.
It was obvious she disliked Izumi immensely.
Hearing her insult, Izumi merely raised an eyebrow.
Then he crooked a finger toward Mei.
The next second, Mei helplessly flew directly into his arms.
Now Izumi held Cecilia on one side and Mei on the other while smiling cheerfully at Kiana.
"What was that you said?"
Kiana exploded instantly.
"Dammit!!"
"Let go of Mei!"
"You bastard!!"
Kiana was furious.
Sure enough, whenever this guy appeared, nothing good ever happened.
Meanwhile, Mei sighed helplessly inside Izumi's embrace.
"Stop teasing her."
She knew perfectly well that Kiana disliked Izumi.
And right now, Izumi was obviously provoking her on purpose.
Watching Kiana frozen in place, only capable of impotent rage, Mei genuinely did not know whether to laugh or cry.
At that moment, Bronya calmly spoke up.
"Kiana is an idiot."
"A complete idiot."
Then she ignored Kiana entirely and walked over to Izumi as well.
And immediately afterward—
Something even more devastating happened.
Seele Vollerei and the others suddenly appeared from somewhere and crowded around Izumi too.
At that moment—
Kiana truly felt like she had become the outsider.