["Yesterday was the day girls give chocolates to the person they like, right? Doing this… is it really okay?"]
["As a gentleman, I'm a bit concerned…"]
[The black cat lying on the chair in the cafe stood up, stretched, and then, to everyone's surprise, spoke, addressing Ren Amamiya, who was sweeping the floor.]
The black cat's mouth and paws were white, making it look strangely like a white cat wearing a black mask and suit.
However, compared to the fact that this black cat could speak human language, its strange appearance seemed insignificant.
"That black cat… it actually spoke?!" Seele's eyes widened in astonishment as she stared at the black cat talking to Ren Amamiya on the TV screen, disbelief filling her blue eyes.
"Compared to the black cat talking, what it just said seems even more noteworthy… Ren seems to have done something on Valentine's Day that the black cat thinks is inappropriate?"
Bronya, who had initially been indifferent, suddenly became serious after the cat on the screen spoke. Her intuition told her that there must be some crucial information hidden within this video recording.
And in the next moment, the continuing video gave Bronya her answer.
["—What have you done?!" The cafe door was pushed open hurriedly. A middle-aged man, dressed impeccably and looking like a refined gentleman, rushed in with a panicked expression, his voice a low growl as he addressed Ren Amamiya, who was still sweeping the cafe floor.]
["Those people outside the door, could they be…? Whoa!!" Before the old gentleman, whom Bronya found slightly familiar, could finish his sentence, a group of beautiful young women poured into the small cafe from the entrance, roughly pushing the old gentleman blocking their way aside. They then surrounded Ren Amamiya.]
"Hiss—" From mature and voluptuous career women to petite and cute lolitas, Bronya quickly counted a total of seven women pouring into the cafe, surrounding the frozen Ren Amamiya with a menacing aura, like a scene from a confrontation over infidelity.
Regardless of age, every woman in the cafe was exceptionally beautiful. And besides their shared beauty, all seven women had displeased expressions on their pretty faces, each holding a carefully wrapped small package in their hands.
Recalling that yesterday was Valentine's Day, a sensitive holiday, the intelligent Bronya could easily guess what was inside the packages the girls were holding, and why they had come to confront Ren Amamiya on the second day with such a menacing aura.
Realizing what shocking act the Ren Amamiya on the screen had committed, Bronya couldn't help but suck in a long breath, her silver-gray eyes fixed on Ren Amamiya beside her, filled with a strange look.
Seele stared at the scene on the screen, a bewildered look on her cute face.
Hare propped her chin in her hand thoughtfully, silently continuing to watch the recording on the screen.
And the most important, the most impactful reaction, that of Mei-Nee…
Ren Amamiya raised a hand to cover his forehead, closing his eyes, not daring to watch the "nine boats" exposure scene any longer—although the number was only eight because he hadn't followed the game guide and had only formed romantic relationships with eight women, it didn't change the nature of the act. It undoubtedly qualified as "nine-timing."
However, even though Ren Amamiya closed his eyes, the suddenly cold air beside him and the sharp, piercing gaze, as palpable as lightning, still made him break out in a cold sweat. Raiden Mei's gentle hand, which she had originally taken his to comfort him, now suddenly exerted an irresistible force, squeezing his hand until it hurt.
["Even if you wanted to reject me, you should have contacted me, even if it was just a lie… I was worried something happened to you, so I came to… check on you yesterday…"]
["So you had other sweethearts?! I was so worried… When I checked on you yesterday, you were actually with someone else…! Scumbag!"]
["Who… was with you yesterday…?"]
["I was very uneasy yesterday, so I did a fortune reading… The result was 'You are meeting someone'…"]
["Just how depraved can you be, you problem student? I left work early yesterday to visit you, but you were with someone else…"]
["You were with someone else yesterday, right…? Is this… cheating? …Please tell me it's not true."]
["I'm not doubting you, Senpai, but if you've done something behind my back, I hope you can confess…"]
Every female voice that echoed from the TV screen felt like an invisible knife stabbing into Ren Amamiya's back. He felt the force from Raiden Mei's hand grow stronger, as if layers of "Blood Rage" buffs were being stacked.
"Um… Ren, I think… two-timing, dating seven girls at the same time, is wrong…" After the seven women who had gathered menacingly in the cafe finished speaking one after another, even the innocent and pure Seele finally understood the cause and effect of the situation. A complicated, hesitant expression appeared on her slightly flushed face, but in the end, she lowered her small head and softly admonished Ren Amamiya.
"To be precise, it should be eight-timing, or possibly even nine or ten… Those who came to the cafe to confront him were only the girls he didn't spend Valentine's Day with. Judging from their words, Ren should have at least spent Valentine's Day with one girl who isn't here." Hare's expression was as tranquil as ever, but her usually calm blue eyes seemed a few degrees colder than usual.
Bronya remained silent, merely giving Ren Amamiya a pitying look.
"Ren, don't you think you should explain… explain something to me… to everyone?" The force from her hand eased slightly. Ren Amamiya cautiously opened his eyes and glanced at Raiden Mei beside him, finding the purple-haired girl smiling sweetly, a gentle and radiant smile. However, there was no warmth in her eyes, which even began to flicker with a golden light.
"…" Ren Amamiya felt a pang in his stomach. Why did it have to play this specific memory video, the nine-timing one? Why was his own Palace backstabbing him like this?
If he had known this video would be exposed, Ren Amamiya felt that he might as well have only romanced Futaba, leaving all the other female Confidants as friends.
At this point, even if Ren Amamiya wanted to confess that this memory was just a game recording he had played… forget Raiden Mei, Bronya, and the others, even he felt that this explanation of the truth was so pale and weak, like a hastily fabricated lie easily poked through, just to cope with the situation.
If he were to actually voice this explanation, Raiden Mei's anger might escalate further due to his perceived "dismissiveness."
["Chocolate. Take it, before I crush it."]
["Chocolate. Take it, I guess."]
["Chocolate. You can eat it, right?"]
["Would Senpai please try this chocolate…?"]
[…]
[The seven women surrounding Ren Amamiya simultaneously pushed their carefully prepared chocolates towards him. If it weren't for the small distance between the chocolates and Ren Amamiya's body, from the perspective of an uninformed observer, it would look like they were all throwing chocolates at him.]
["Hey, say something…" Seeing Ren Amamiya, completely overwhelmed by the seven women, staring silently at the seven chocolates offered to him, sweating nervously, Sojiro Sakura, who was separated from Ren Amamiya by the wall of women, couldn't help but whisper a reminder.]
[Prompted by Sojiro Sakura, Ren Amamiya gulped hard, the sweat on his forehead flowing even faster. He slowly opened his mouth, his voice trembling slightly.]
["I want… all of these chocolates."] When the Ren Amamiya on the screen choked out these words, equivalent to "I want them all," the atmosphere in the museum Palace suddenly fell silent.
"Saying he wants them all… As expected of you, Ren. Could it be that you don't just want to two-time, but to create a massive harem in modern society?" After a long silence, Bronya's eyes gleamed with a strange light. The corners of her lips curled up slightly as she playfully addressed Ren Amamiya.
Although Bronya's affection for Ren Amamiya had now reached the level of "like," Raiden Mei had, after all, come first.
Although Bronya was very confident in her appearance, her current figure could only be described as "promising." Moreover, she wasn't as caring as Raiden Mei, her cooking skills could only be considered average, and as a former enemy turned teammate, she lacked the solid emotional foundation that Raiden Mei and Ren Amamiya had.
After all, when Bronya first met Ren Amamiya, she had been squatting in his house, attempting to assassinate him. It was already incredibly magnanimous of Ren Amamiya to accept her as a teammate in their adventures and battles.
Therefore, before entering Ren Amamiya's Palace, even though Bronya liked Ren Amamiya, she wasn't confident in surpassing Raiden Mei and truly becoming Ren Amamiya's girlfriend.
However, the situation was different now.
Bronya didn't intend to swoop in and steal Mei-Nee's boyfriend.
She just wanted to… join in.
If Ren Amamiya was very devoted, it would be very difficult for Bronya to have a chance… but since Ren Amamiya wanted to two-time and create a harem, the difficulty for Bronya to be with Ren Amamiya had greatly decreased!!
She wouldn't need to damage her friendly relationship with Mei-Nee, nor would she need to separate from Seele, and she could still be with Ren Amamiya openly—this sounded like having her cake and eating it too, yet there was a high probability of success.
On the TV screen, due to Ren Amamiya's earth-shattering statement to the seven women, Sojiro Sakura and Morgana, the black cat, after confirming that the situation was beyond salvation, sighed and fled the cafe, leaving Ren Amamiya alone to face the passionate fists of the seven beautiful women.
And after the girls vented their anger and left, leaving only Ren Amamiya slumped on the cafe floor, the TV screen gradually dimmed, ending the playback of the memory fragment.
The second Will Seed crystal slowly floated out of the darkened TV screen. The stone skull, emanating a serene blue glow, landed in Ren Amamiya's outstretched hand.
"Seele feels that the Ren-nii-chan on the screen is a little different from the Ren-nii-chan Seele knows. If it were the Ren-nii-chan Seele knows, he wouldn't do something that makes girls sad…" Seele sensed the awkward atmosphere. Although slightly afraid, she still lowered her small head and softly defended Ren Amamiya to Raiden Mei.
This wasn't just to excuse Ren Amamiya; it was also Seele's genuine thought.
Two-timing was one thing, but based on Seele's understanding of Ren Amamiya, there was no way he would two-time and fail to manage his relationships properly by not replying to everyone's messages.
Just sending a message on his phone could have avoided the next day's confrontation scene. There was no way Ren-nii-chan wouldn't have thought of that…
"It's normal for the Ren shown on the TV screen to be different from the Ren we truly know. After all, that was a long, long time ago, probably before Ren knew the cruel truth of the world, his initial and most authentic self." Hare sighed softly, explaining to Seele beside her.
"So, if there wasn't a world-ending crisis, Ren would be eight-timing like in the recording on the screen, and now, because he bears the burden of saving the world, he doesn't have the energy to spend time romancing girls?" Bronya completely understood Hare's meaning. She touched her delicate chin, nodding thoughtfully as she murmured.
"…" Ren Amamiya continued to remain silent. He felt that ever since entering [My Palace], he had become like the Ren Amamiya in the game. Besides making the occasional necessary sound, he had been a silent mute the rest of the time.
"Mei-Nee, you should also calm down a bit. Although Ren did something terrible by two-timing a long time ago, the time he spent with you and the feelings that blossomed between you are definitely not fake. Compared to Ren's teammates before the world restarted, we are actually the latecomers, aren't we?"
"Indeed. In this current generation, the only person who has truly formed a romantic relationship with Ren is you, Miss Mei. Even the one who initiated this relationship… was probably you, Miss Mei."
Under the rational analysis and persuasion from Bronya and Hare, the golden light flickering in Raiden Mei's eyes gradually weakened and finally vanished like a dying candle flame.
Raiden Mei released her tight grip on Ren Amamiya's hand, a slightly weary expression on her face.
"You're right. I just… couldn't accept it for a moment." Hesitantly, she raised her hand and touched the lightning-shaped hair clip on her purple hair, a gift from Ren Amamiya. Raiden Mei's voice finally softened and lowered.
Just as Hare had said, Ren Amamiya devoted himself to the great cause of saving the world, constantly racking his brains to increase his strength. In this still unspoken romantic relationship, it was Raiden Mei herself who, as the initiator, yearned for further development.
Bronya's persuasion was also very fair and reasonable, but Raiden Mei still felt a subtle sense of strangeness… The "latecomers" and "we" that Bronya mentioned earlier didn't seem to refer only to teammates?
"There's still one last Will seed. Ren, how about letting me unlock it this time?" Knowing that Raiden Mei needed some time to accept reality, Hare proactively changed the subject, turning to Ren Amamiya and asking.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Hare possessed the ability to sense the presence of Will Seed crystals, so she could naturally discern which screen in this memory viewing area contained the last Will Seed.
Seeing Hare's enthusiastic volunteering, Ren Amamiya discreetly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nodded in agreement.
Fortunately, he hadn't had time to "nine-time" in this loop and had only reached the romantic stage with Raiden Mei. The other Confidants were still at the friend stage.
If he had truly "nine-timed" in this loop, he would probably be facing another combined assault from his teammates now. How could Bronya and Hare be helping him mediate and soothe the only person who had the right to be angry, Raiden Mei?
As Hare's hand gently touched the TV screen, the memory fragment containing the third Will Seed slowly began to play.
"That is… a prison?! And such a huge prison! The cells are stacked on top of each other like square bird cages, as if imprisoning all of humanity! Where is this place?!" To distract Raiden Mei, Bronya had intended to act surprised, no matter what scene played next, to attract Raiden Mei's attention.
However, when the image on the third screen truly began to play, a genuinely astonished look appeared in Bronya's eyes, and she subconsciously clenched her small, white fists.