The Eris Familia was no weaker than the Loki Familia in either membership or overall strength.
After all, Eris had recruited quite a few girls connected to Izumi's household, and on top of that, she had gathered numerous talented newcomers with extraordinary potential.
As a result, the Familia had expanded at an astonishing pace.
Its overall power was steadily catching up to Loki's faction.
Hearing Izumi's praise, Eris couldn't help smiling proudly.
"Of course."
"I'm not some amateur, you know."
The corners of her lips curled upward, clearly pleased with herself.
Izumi chuckled and spent some time chatting casually with everyone gathered there.
His main target today, however, was a certain rather lewd princess.
Within just a few minutes, Izumi had effortlessly blended into the conversation and grown closer to the girls present.
Whether it was Stella Vermillion or Mitsuki Nase, he was able to close the distance almost instantly.
Looking at Mitsuki, Izumi suddenly remembered something.
"Mitsuki, you have both an older brother and an older sister, right?"
"Didn't they come today?"
Mitsuki blinked.
"My brother is currently doing missions in another world."
"He needs points to buy something."
"As for my sister, she's at home today."
"She's a member of our Familia too, but she didn't come with us."
A look of surprise crossed Izumi's face.
To be honest, he actually had a fairly favorable impression of Akihito Kanbara.
Sure, the guy was a hopeless pervert.
In fact, he was practically a champion among perverts.
But despite that, he wasn't particularly annoying.
Izumi found him strangely likable.
Besides...
Maybe he'd become his brother-in-law someday?
"..."
No, that was probably thinking too far ahead.
Shaking his head, Izumi pushed those thoughts aside.
Sometimes having too many girls around really was a troublesome thing.
While they continued chatting, Eris suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right, Izumi."
"It seems Aqua-sama has been causing quite a bit of trouble lately."
"The followers she's gathered have become pretty arrogant."
"They've been stirring up chaos in several regions."
"Aren't you going to do something about it?"
As she spoke, her expression became rather strange.
To be honest, Aqua had gone way too far.
The useless goddess had actually gone to several frontier regions where no gods held authority and started spreading her faith.
Before long, she'd managed to gather huge numbers of followers.
And naturally, chaos followed.
Because that church was...
Well.
It was Aqua's church.
That alone explained everything.
Hearing Aqua's name, Izumi's expression became equally strange.
"...Aqua?"
The moment he imagined that blue-haired disaster running around causing trouble, he immediately felt a headache coming on.
After thinking for a moment, he sighed.
"I'll have some angels go talk to her later."
"It's not a major issue."
"She can't make too much of a mess anyway."
His voice carried absolute confidence.
After all—
It was only Aqua.
Suppressing her was as easy as flipping over a hand.
When Eris heard that answer, she silently offered a moment of sympathy.
Poor Aqua-senpai.
Hopefully she wouldn't cry later.
A mischievous smile appeared on Eris's face.
She didn't feel guilty at all.
After all...
That troublesome goddess absolutely deserved it.
After spending some more time with Eris and the others, Izumi finally prepared to leave.
Before departing, he extended an invitation.
"If you all have time, come visit my place."
The moment he said that, both Eris and Asuna Yuuki rolled their eyes.
They knew exactly what he meant.
Anyone with half a brain could tell that Izumi had taken an interest in someone from their Familia.
The two girls shot him identical looks of disapproval.
Izumi, however, simply ignored them.
...
After saying his goodbyes, he left directly.
His original destination was Hakugyokurou in Gensokyo, where he planned to have a leisurely chat with Yuyuko Saigyouji.
But before he got there, he encountered someone unexpected.
A certain infamous flower master.
The moment he spotted her, a smile appeared on his face.
"Yuuka."
"How about treating me to some sunflower seeds?"
The woman immediately frowned.
It was none other than Yuuka Kazami.
"...Are you making fun of me?"
For a moment, she genuinely wanted to punch him.
She had suddenly realized that this man could be incredibly annoying.
Sunflowers were adorable.
Why would anyone eat their seeds?
Izumi rolled his eyes.
"No."
"I'm completely serious."
"So?"
"Will you treat me to some sunflower seeds?"
Yuuka stared at him silently for several seconds.
Then she finally spoke.
"Come with me."
Instead of answering directly, she issued an invitation.
Hearing that, Izumi immediately became interested.
His plans to visit Yuyuko were pushed aside without hesitation.
After all—
Both were "Yuu."
Visiting either one was basically the same thing.
At least, that was his logic.
So he followed Yuuka toward her territory.
Soon, they arrived at her sunflower fields.
The moment he saw them, Izumi couldn't help widening his eyes.
Compared to before, the fields had expanded countless times over.
Almost all of Yuuka's earned points had been spent purchasing additional land.
After Gensokyo merged into the greater dimensional world, the available territory had increased enormously.
However, anyone wanting to expand their personal domain still needed to purchase land using points.
Yuuka was one of the most extreme examples.
Virtually every point she earned went into buying more territory.
As a result, her sunflower fields had become vast beyond imagination.
Standing before the endless sea of golden flowers, Izumi couldn't help sighing.
"What a spectacular sight..."
The sunflowers themselves seemed different from ordinary varieties.
A narrow path stretched through the center of the field, leading toward Yuuka's residence.
The scenery was breathtaking.
As they walked, Yuuka suddenly stopped and turned around.
"Give me permission."
"The authority to kill."
"There are always idiots coming here and causing trouble."
"It's a shame I can't kill them."
"Otherwise I'd turn them all into fertilizer."
Izumi twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"..."
As expected of Yuuka Kazami.
Only she would ask for a murder license as casually as someone asking for a gardening permit.