Asakura was cleaning the Club House alone.

After the discussion regarding the uniforms concluded, he had sent the girls home first—thanks to the vintage car’s built-in Undetectable Extension Charm, even a "van full of bread" (a whole crowd) could be stuffed into the back seat without it feeling crowded.

Only after that did he return to Sobu High to begin cleaning up.

Although he knew the girls would have proactively stayed to help if he had simply asked for a general cleanup, Asakura occasionally felt the need for some solitude.

Staring blankly into space while alone was a bit too lonely, so moving his body and completely emptying his mind felt more grounding. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Speaking of which, I didn’t originally plan on taking these things home..."

He looked at the various piles of junk in the Club House: a small portion were miscellaneous items previously obtained from the System, a large portion were personal belongings brought to the hut by the Magic Club members, and the remaining part consisted of by-products from Asakura’s spell research.

Seeing that pile of junk and by-products now, he felt a bit sentimental.

Although the frequency of her "respawns" had decreased lately, Hiroi Kikuri would still occasionally drop by his place to leech food and drinks. If he brought these things back, it would likely cause some kind of chaos, so Asakura ultimately decided to leave them at the Club House.

"This... is no longer needed."

After sorting out the items that were no longer valuable and possessed no supernatural power, Asakura stuffed them all into black trash bags, intending to take them to the school’s incinerator.

However, as he passed the school gate, he noticed a figure standing there.

"?"

Asakura furrowed his brows. It was already quite late and the sky had long since darkened. Most Sobu High students had already left the school, leaving only a few members of athletic clubs doing extra practice—likely cramming for some competition during the summer break.

He found it hard to imagine someone just hanging around the gate at this hour.

So, Asakura stepped forward to see who it was.

If it’s not even a person, that’ll be even more interesting.

As he drew closer, the first thing that caught Asakura’s eye was a pair of golden twin-tails.

"...Oh, it’s just you."

Asakura’s expression immediately slumped.

"Why are you making such a disappointed face!" the girl with golden twin-tails snapped in anger.

"Because you’re too human-like?"

"Well, sorry for being a human!" The girl narrowed her eyes, then suddenly asked suspiciously, "You haven’t forgotten my name, have you?"

"How could I~" Asakura’s eyes drifted.

"Then say it!"

"Broken Throat."

"Huh?"

"Don’t worry about it, just a joke. Rest assured, I remember."

Asakura pondered for a moment and then said with great certainty: "You’re called Tamura Churchill Apple-fruit, right?"

"Everything except the ’mura’ is wrong!"

Sawamura Spencer Eriri roared.

"Didn’t I get one character right, then?" Asakura picked at his ear nonchalantly.

"Why are you looking so proud! There’s practically no difference between that and being completely wrong! Are you a fish with a seven-second memory!" The girl flashed her cute little canine teeth and shouted rowdily.

"That’s a rumor; a fish’s memory isn’t actually that short..." Asakura said seriously.

"I’m venting here! Don’t give me a science lesson so calmly! Doesn’t that make me look like the weird one!" The girl was so angry her twin-tails almost stood on end.

The so-called "hair standing up in anger" probably looked exactly like this.

"Ah, despite how I look, I actually ranked first in the year-end academic tests..." Asakura said proudly.

"Doesn’t that make getting my name wrong even more irritating!"

"It’s just that I don’t spend extra energy on things I’m not interested in."

"Has anyone ever told you that you’re really good at making people angry?" Perhaps having moved past peak rage, the twin-tailed girl ground her teeth and asked with feigned calmness.

"There was one yesterday." Asakura puffed out his chest.

"They have good eyes."

"I think so too."

"..."

"..."

The girl stared intently at Asakura, and Asakura met her gaze without a hint of guilt.

In the end, it was the girl who backed down first.

"Fine... I came here today because I have something to discuss..."

"You came looking for me?" Asakura was somewhat surprised.

"Who else?" Eriri bared her little canines again.

"Ah, I see..."

Asakura smacked his palm as if remembering something: "You specifically came to get that lewd little book—"

"Waaaah! Idiot, don’t say that so loudly in a place like this!"

Eriri’s expression instantly turned frantic. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to cover Asakura’s mouth, but he easily dodged her.

Fortunately, there were no other students near the Sobu High gate. Only a security guard in the distance glanced over curiously, but after seeing their seemingly intimate behavior, he looked away in annoyance, not wanting to deal with public displays of affection.

"You don’t want it? That little booklet?" Asakura asked again.

"I... I want it." The girl replied in a small voice.

"Louder, I can’t hear you."

"I want it, I want it!"

The girl looked up at Asakura with teary eyes, a reluctant and humiliated gaze—like a female knight who had been "broken"—and spoke through gritted teeth.

"Mm, good, very energetic."

Asakura nodded, then pulled a small booklet marked with the word "Eromanga" from the black trash bag. "You came at just the right time. Since this thing was in the club room, it was easy for new members to misunderstand and think I’m someone who likes this stuff. I was already planning to burn it."

"Ha? What are you talking about? This is an out-of-print work by the legendary first-generation Eromanga-sensei! It’s a one-of-a-kind treasure! If you burn it, humanity’s spiritual and cultural heritage will suffer irreparable damage!"

While snatching the booklet, Eriri knitted her elegant brows and protested with extreme dissatisfaction.

"If humanity’s spiritual and cultural heritage can be irreparably damaged by this, then it’s a bit too fragile and filthy, don’t you think?"

Asakura couldn’t help but roast her.

"Whatever, there’s no talking sense into a guy like you..." Eriri muttered dejectedly.

"If there’s nothing else, move aside. I need to go burn the rest of this useless junk."

Asakura spoke to the girl blocking him: "I haven’t even had dinner yet, and I’m waiting to get home and eat."

"I haven’t had dinner either! For that matter, why did you come out so late..."

"What time I come out has nothing to do with you, right? Anyway, if there’s nothing else..."

"There is."

"Eh?" Asakura blinked.

The girl gazed at Asakura, hesitated for a long time, and then continued: "I have something else I want to ask of you."