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'What a beautiful morning. System, sign in!'
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have received: Advanced Dimensional Gate Ticket × 1 (Rainbow).]
'What? The Dimensional Gate can be upgraded?'
[Yes. The Advanced Dimensional Gate can anchor a world directly and fix the gate permanently.]
'Then my sub-gate is useless now.'
'System, you have to compensate me for this...'
[Host, do not fish for sympathy after receiving something good.]
'But the sub-gate really is useless now?'
[Fine. Compensation it is.]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have received: Coke × 9,999,999...]
'System, you...!!! ∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ'
[Hmph. Host, just say whether that counts as compensation or not.]
'You are ruthless. Use the Advanced Dimensional Gate Ticket.'
[Usage successful. System panel opening automatically.]
Kaito
Gender: Male
Age: 23 (Immortal)
Cultivation Realm: Peak Golden Immortal (Peak Eleventh Tier)
Cultivation Method: Basic Cultivation Method
Special Abilities: [Eye of Identification], [Advanced Dimensional Gate], [Space Compression Technique]
Followers: Izayoi Sakuya, Tom
Magic Treasures: Tenkuu, Conqueror's Banner (450,000 souls)
Items: Dragon Ball Space Capsule Technology, Origin Explainer, Coke (enough to choke on)...
Overall Rating: You are already a being whose footstep alone can set a thousand worlds bleeding. Why not try stepping on someone? (￣︶￣)♦
"With this new gate, the Jura-Tempest Federation will become a trans-dimensional empire before long."
"What do you mean before long, Master?"
Kaito looked at the woman beside him with a smile.
"You are awake. You could have slept a little longer."
"I need to get up and make breakfast. I have already overslept as it is."
As Sakuya spoke she moved to rise, and the quilt slipped from her shoulder, offering a brief glimpse of her figure before she caught it.
Kaito felt his nose grow somewhat warm. His eyes did not move.
Sakuya glanced down at herself. A faint blush rose to her cheeks, but there was no shriek, no flustered scramble. She reached for the neatly folded maid uniform at her side and dressed herself with composed, unhurried movements.
"Master, I will go and prepare breakfast. I will call you when it is ready."
She gave him a quiet smile and left the room.
Kaito watched the door close behind her. Then he looked at the bedsheets and muttered to himself with a puzzled expression.
"She does not seem to be in any pain at all. You would not know anything had happened."
After breakfast, Kaito stood at the Dimensional Gate and turned to Sakuya.
"I am heading back for a while. If anything comes up, come and find me directly."
"Understood, Master."
Looking at her standing there like that, Kaito felt, briefly, like something of a scoundrel. After everything last night, to be walking out the door the next morning.
He shook the thought away. It was not as though they were being separated. She could step through any time she chose. It was a door.
He gave her a small smile and walked through.
The atmosphere on the other side hit him the moment he stepped out.
"Wahahahaha! I am a couch potato! No one can move me today!"
Milim, in a potato plushie costume, was rolling back and forth across the carpet with complete dedication.
"Milim, you are not committing to the craft properly. Observe."
Veldora, wearing an identical costume, was spread flat on the floor nearby, eyes empty and fixed on the ceiling, the very picture of a creature that had given up entirely.
"Mmm, mmm... Diablo, these desserts keep getting better."
"They really do. Your skills have genuinely improved."
Ramiris, gripping an oversized spoon with both hands, nodded with great seriousness. A notebook with Eromanga Sensei's signature sat on the cushion beside her.
Kaito took in the scene.
"Good heavens. Without Sakuya here, you have all completely lost any sense of restraint."
"Oh! Kai-chan, you are back!"
"Kai-chan! You are back!"
"Ah, my dear friend, welcome back. And... where is Sakuya?"
Veldora had gone from fully prone to upright via an impressive carp-flip at the sound of Kaito's voice. He was now scanning behind Kaito with an expression of cautious hope.
"Yes, where is she? I have been missing her desserts terribly."
Ramiris peered around him with an expectant look.
"Sakuya has things to take care of. She did not come back with me."
"Oh thank goodness."
The relief on Veldora's face was so obvious it was almost touching. He lowered himself back to the floor with the air of a man who had narrowly avoided something and let his eyes go blank again.
Kaito nudged him twice with his foot. No response.
"You are approximately one afternoon away from becoming a permanent couch potato."
"Kai-chan, did you come back for something specific, or have you had your fill of that world?"
Rimuru took a small bite of cake, eyes closing in contentment, and looked up at him.
"Not yet, but things are wrapping up. I came back to find Benimaru and the others. Come along if you want."
"I am not going. I have not finished my manga."
"I am not going either. I would not be much use, and the manga is more interesting. Heh heh."
"Kai-chan, I want to come!"
"Me too!"
The final outcome was that Rimuru and Milim fell into step behind Kaito all the way to the military department.
"Kaito-sama, you are back!"
"Rimuru-sama, Kaito-sama, Milim-sama!"
The staff of the military department building bowed as the three of them walked in.
"Where is Benimaru?"
Kaito stopped a young woman in a secretary's uniform and asked.
"Hello, Kaito-sama! Hello, Rimuru-sama! The Commander-in-Chief is in the conference room at the moment. I will take you straight there."
"Thank you."
"Not at all. Please follow me." She turned and began leading them down the corridor.
"What is your name?" Kaito asked as they walked.
"Hana, my lords."
She turned and led them down the corridor.
Inside the conference room, Benimaru sat at the head of the table, his expression focused.
"The Germa Kingdom incident has been useful as a reminder. We have cleared out the majority of hostile forces, but there remain a significant number of nations and factions that hold ill will toward us."
Sakazuki, seated at the table, spoke with his usual bluntness.
"Then we hit them hard. They are no different from pirates."
"My view is that we should..."