After entering the cafeteria, Luo Yu took his time choosing his meal. In the end, he ordered a plate of curry rice topped with pork cutlet, added an extra serving of fried chicken, and grabbed a can of cola before finding a seat to begin lunch.
He had barely taken two bites when Ranni spoke again.
"My king, the girl has taken a seat behind you, slightly to the right. It appears she receives considerable attention at this school."
Luo Yu nodded calmly. "That's only natural. Beautiful girls tend to draw attention."
He bit into the pork cutlet and nodded in satisfaction.
Watching him, Ranni sighed softly.
"You truly enjoy eating."
"It can't be helped," Luo Yu replied with a shrug. "I told you before—The Lands Between didn't exactly offer fine cuisine. If I hadn't saved that prawn-cooking fellow, I wouldn't have even had shrimp."
Ranni fell silent, unsure how to respond to a king whose culinary priorities rivaled his battlefield conquests.
Since she could not assist in crafting her new body, she turned her attention elsewhere—observing.
The humans of this world were fascinating in their own way. And in a lively place like this cafeteria, there was no shortage of things to examine.
Thus, while Luo Yu focused on eating, Ranni quietly studied the surroundings.
Meanwhile, Yukino Yukinoshita had taken a simple set meal and was eating with quiet composure, occasionally glancing in Luo Yu's direction.
When she realized there was nothing particularly strange about him at the moment—and that he wasn't silently moving his lips as he had during class—she reluctantly set aside her curiosity and turned her thoughts elsewhere.
Now that she had entered high school and begun living independently, there were things she had long wanted to attempt.
Establishing her own club was one of them.
Once Ranni noticed that Yukino Yukinoshita had shifted her focus away from Luo Yu and toward her own plans, her gaze drifted elsewhere—to a table even more eye-catching.
The quintuplets.
Five identical sisters—something Ranni had never encountered even during her long existence as a demigod.
How could a human body possibly produce five children at once? The biological mechanics intrigued her.
While Ranni pondered such questions, Luo Yu finished his lunch and returned to the classroom.
During the afternoon lessons, he paid slight attention to Yukino Yukinoshita and confirmed that she no longer seemed focused on him. Satisfied, he resumed refining the design for Ranni's temporary body in his mind.
When school ended, Yukino Yukinoshita glanced once at Luo Yu as he packed his belongings. She finished organizing her own bag and left the classroom—on her way to speak with the homeroom teacher about establishing a club.
After packing up, Luo Yu politely declined several girls who invited him to karaoke. Ignoring their disappointed expressions, he exited the classroom.
"Karaoke?" Ranni asked curiously from his shoulder. "What is that?"
"A place where people gather to sing for fun," Luo Yu explained. "I'm not particularly interested in singing. And I'm even less interested in going out with a group of girls."
Even before transmigrating to The Lands Between, he had been dragged to karaoke sessions by classmates. He never sang—he merely consumed the fruit platters.
"A place for singing," Ranni murmured. "I see."
The Carian royal family had not exactly been known for musical performance.
"So where are we going now?" she asked.
"First, we sell the gold bars and fatten the wallet. After that, we'll buy a few things."
Taking out his phone, Luo Yu searched for gold shops in Chiba, checked the routes, and boarded a bus.
After arriving near one of the shops, he changed into casual clothing in a nearby public restroom before entering the store.
Once inside, he stated plainly that he wished to sell gold bars—startling the clerk.
The transaction proceeded smoothly. Within less than an hour, after testing and signing the necessary documents, Luo Yu's bank balance increased by twenty million yen.
Escorted respectfully by the store manager, he left the shop.
"Next," he said lightly, "we buy a computer."
"A computer?" Ranni asked.
"It's similar to a smartphone," Luo Yu explained as they walked. "A culmination of modern technology. It has countless uses. You'll understand once we bring it home."
At a nearby electronics store, Luo Yu carefully selected components—from the case, motherboard, and graphics card to the monitor, peripherals, computer desk, and gaming chair. He chose the best available options.
Rather than having the store assemble it, he arranged transport and returned home with everything intact.
Back at the house, Luo Yu immediately began assembling the computer.
Though this was another world, the internal structure of a computer remained unchanged. He worked with practiced ease, explaining each component to Ranni as he went.
Once the case was assembled and the monitor and keyboard connected in the bedroom, he powered it on and installed the operating system.
By five o'clock, the system installation was complete.
He opened a browser, downloaded Steam under Ranni's attentive gaze, and registered a new account.
"All right, that's enough for now. Time to cook."
Perched on his shoulder, Ranni asked, "So this computer can access nearly all the knowledge of this world?"
"More or less," Luo Yu replied while retrieving ingredients from the refrigerator. "Aside from classified information, most publicly available knowledge can be found—history, science, nearly everything. It's also for entertainment and work. Once your body is complete, you can learn to use it as well. You won't be bored."
He paused.
"I'll start crafting your body tonight. As for appearance, we'll use your current form rather than your red-haired demigod form, yes?"
Ranni nodded gently. "This form will suffice."
After dinner, Luo Yu finished his homework quickly. Then he retrieved numerous materials collected from The Lands Between and began constructing Ranni's body.
Arranging enchanted branches of the Erdtree carefully before him, he said, "We won't go out tonight. I've finalized the design. One night should be enough to complete it."
"Do not overexert yourself, my king."
Luo Yu smiled.
"Don't worry. Back in The Lands Between, I often traveled for days without sleep. At my current strength, this won't be an issue."
He paused, then added teasingly, "By the way, do you have any preference regarding height?"
"…My king," Ranni replied flatly, "even I am capable of anger."
Luo Yu burst into laughter.