D-Class Champion, First Half

D-Class number one, huh. Apparently the title of "champion" didn't actually exist as an official label.

"Up through D-Class, fighting enough times and winning pushes your win rate and total wins up automatically, which raises your rank, but… In my current state, even if I keep fighting other D-Class Masters, my rank won't go up?"

I asked Leone-san about the Garumon Battle ranking system.

"C-Class and above is in a completely different league.

"C-Class and up are real heavyweights, formally incorporated into the world's class system.

"You've heard the talk that B-Class and above are nobility, and C-Class are knight-rank, right?

"They sometimes have to fight monsters too, taking on the role of guardians of humanity.

"That's why C-Class Masters and up are granted the blessing of slowed aging, so they don't easily die outside of combat.

"C-Class Masters age at half speed.

"B-Class, A-Class, and S-Class Masters and above stop aging entirely.

"The fact that the world goes that far for them tells you how necessary they are. That's what a C-Class Master is.

"Which is why you have to properly meet the promotion conditions.

"The promotion conditions from D-Class to C-Class vary by block, but in most blocks, the D-Class number one challenges someone in C-Class who has earned a demotion point in a swap match, and if they win, they're promoted.

"But in this region, if the champion successfully defends twice, they can swap with the lowest-ranked C-Class Master and get promoted without a swap match.

"Since you don't need a swap match, this region is said to be especially easy for C-Class promotions, even by world standards."

Leone-san explained.

That said, I'd torn through F-Class to D-Class in about a month, so spending two months stalled here felt way too leisurely.

Wouldn't it be better to take on C-Class directly in a region where you could swap right in? Although I had no idea how strong C-Class Masters actually were…

Around then, Lyuka came by, so I talked it over with her too.

"They say there's a tremendous gap in actual strength between C-Class and D-Class Masters. Almost every C-Class Master holds Garumon at SR or above, LV 50. Once Kanan-san and Adelia-san have caught up to Maika-san's level, maybe, but as things stand right now, taking them on would have to be called reckless."

"Every one of them SR class, LV 50, huh…"

Yeah, that did sound rough at our current level.

"In D-Class I fought a fair amount, but in the end not a single one had an SR-class Garumon. None worth more than 3,000. And yet C-Class is suddenly SR at minimum?"

The drop-off really was too steep.

"There's another difference between D-Class-and-below Garumon Battles and C-Class-and-above ones.

"In C-Class and above, if the conditions of a Garumon Battle aren't acceptable, you're allowed to refuse without it counting as a forced loss.

"This is said to be because, at C-Class and above, raising your Garumon takes priority.

"Up through D-Class, the flow is for both sides to take each other's high-rarity Garumon, and the Master who manages to assemble high-rarity Garumon gets promoted.

"A Master who reaches C-Class then trains those Garumon up to make them stronger.

"That's the progression.

"Of course, with mutual consent, even C-Class and up can have battles where Garumon are at stake.

"… If Naoto-san were to challenge a C-Class Master, the C-Class Master would absolutely make a Garumon swap a condition.

"If you refuse, you can't be promoted to C-Class, so you'd have no choice but to accept."

"… I see."

So in C-Class, depending on conditions, even when you lost your Garumon might not be taken, but when you couldn't refuse, the trading still happened after all.

That aside, it meant C-Class players had properly trained, fully leveled Garumon all around.

Which was why beating a C-Class as a D-Class was a Herculean task.

If SR was the baseline even in C-Class, then UR-class Kanan and Adelia would be Garumon they'd kill to get their hands on.

In other words, if I tried to push up to C-Class from another block, there was a high chance I'd fail to climb up and lose my precious companions instead.

But if I rose into C-Class from here, then aside from battles I absolutely couldn't avoid, as long as I steered clear of fights with Garumon at stake, I wouldn't have to worry about losing Kanan or Adelia.

"That means without rushing it, defending twice is the smart play, huh. If nothing else, you do get 200,000G for two successful defenses…"

That much I understood. I got it, but…

"Fufu… feeling impatient?"

"No, it's just… I'm so glad I got to find Maika, but for that very reason, part of me feels rushed… My little sister might be in this world too, after all. If Maika went through what she did, then there's a high chance my sister, Setsuna, has been put through something just as terrible… So I'm a little restless about it."

"Ah… I see… You have a precious little sister, after all."

Leone took it in stride.

"In that case, conversely, wouldn't it be a good idea to settle down right here and focus on gathering information? Should I try working my mage network?"

There, Lyuka offered a proposal that was exactly what I needed.

"! That'd be a godsend, but… is that really okay, Lyuka?"

"Trading information is one of the duties of a mage. There's no problem. So, do you have any details about Setsuna-san that we can work with?"

"… Yeah. Setsuna Akai, sixteen years old. First and foremost, she's incredibly cute. I think when it comes to beauty, she's no less than Kanan and Adelia. Which is why, without question, I'm sure she'd be a UR-class Garumon."

"Information on a UR-class Garumon is going to come at a high price. But it'd absolutely be traded around, I'm sure."

"Other things… music. She has a talent for the violin, so if there's a skill in that direction, it might have awakened."

"There are Garumon types like bards who buff with sound, so the chances of that are high. Understood."

"Other than that, her elements and so on, I'm not sure. In this world, attributes often seem to be decided based on a person's name, right? Like Kazami-san being wind-element, and Yukishiro-san being ice-element. In Setsuna Akai's case, what would it be?"

"Attributes determined by name aren't all that reliable, you know? There are plenty of exceptions."

That was true, but I had nothing else to go on.

"Red is the image color of fire, so I think there's a high chance she'd be fire-element, but…"

"Is that so? Red… rakshasa… going by the imagery alone, that's pretty grim. Maybe like a bloody serial killer?"

"Honestly, Kanan. Setsuna's a kind girl…!?"

"You don't actually know. She might have changed since coming to this world."

"Honestly… are you, jealous of my little sister?"

I couldn't help needling her since she'd said something weird about my sister.

"! D-Don't say something so stupid. Why would I ever be jealous! I-I most certainly do not feel envious about you searching for her so desperately! Not even a little bit! Because right now, the one beside you is me. There's no need to envy her, is there? … If anything, I'm just throwing in my opinion so she can be found sooner!"

That was, no matter how you looked at it, a deredere line.

"… Adelia, did I just say something to the effect of being happy that I'm with Naoto right now?"

"Ya did, nya."

"Wha, that's null and void! F-Forget I said that!"

Kanan flustered and tried to retract her words… I found her flustered side endearing.

"No, sorry. You're right, I was getting tunnel vision because it was Setsuna we're talking about. Thanks, Kanan. I'll keep in mind that there's a chance Setsuna's turned into something like an assassin too. The character for setsuna does have a violent edge."

"… R-Right…"

I passed along the information above and entrusted things to Lyuka's mage network.

So, even though I'd been racing forward up until now, it suddenly turned into a slow, mellow waiting period.

"… For now, let's head to the D-Class battleground. We need money, after all."

Murmur…!

"… No way, the D-Class champion is at the battleground…!?"

"Hey, hey, lose even one battle and you forfeit the champion title, you know? Are you saying you're that confident…?"

"… Land one win here, and I'm the champion… C-Class!"

"Like you'd hold up at C-Class."

"Once you're up, you can manage somehow! At C-Class, money, credit, fame, all of it's on a different level! Use that as a foundation to buy up powerful Garumon and…!"

"… You're right…!"

I'd worried no one would come near me, intimidated by the D-Class champion's reputation, but that worry had turned out to be unfounded.

If anything, challengers had lined up. Going to the battleground had been exactly the right call.

I'd built up some name recognition through these battles too.

What helped was the reputation that had spread, that I was a Master who didn't take his opponents' Garumon.

Even if you lost, all you'd lose was the value of your highest-priced Garumon.

For most D-Class Masters, that wasn't too painful.

So I'd ended up pretty popular as a tough challenge you could take on without much risk.

"All right, then… starting today, Maika, I'll have you fight too."

"Yes."

"Got it."

"Understood, nya!"

And with that, we'd finally graduated from a disadvantageous 2-on-3 to an even 3-on-3 lineup.

"G-gulp… seriously…? Values of 6,400, 6,100, and 5,600! That's a fully C-Class-or-above lineup, B-Class wouldn't even be weird…!"

"There's no way to win! But we're aiming for that level too, someday! … There's no harm in seeing the world up above!"

"Let's go…! If we win, I'm the champion!"

And so, the D-Class Masters came challenging.

"Dance of Frost…!"

"… Funya!"

Adelia got frozen.

I saw, so the freeze hit allies too. Unless you had ice resistance…

I saw, so that was why Maika had been the only one fighting from behind earlier.

It seemed Noda hadn't been being completely thoughtless and just goofing around.

Items with resistance started at tens of thousands of G even on the cheap end.

Of course, I'd hesitate to buy enough for everyone just to block friendly fire.

Especially when you could adjust by timing the technique.

Well, on our end, resistance gear was currently in the works.

If Adelia wore Maika's Spirit Garb, ice resistance would no longer be an issue.

I was looking forward to it being finished.

"Sword Dance!"

I also had her test out moves whose effects I didn't know.

… This one was also strong: it dealt damage while raising Attack, like an attack-based version of Accel Mirage.

This one might be good to use, but…

Maika used ice and dance-based skills, fitting her name's imagery.

Apparently it wasn't just her name. She actually had ballet experience and was already confident in dance to begin with.

Ice Shot and Ice Missile were standard single-target ice attack spells.

… Her core skill set was pretty similar to Kanan's.

Maybe otherworld Garumon, despite their elemental differences, shared some common patterns.

In that respect, giving Maika commands wasn't particularly inconvenient.

If giving each one orders individually wasn't a problem, the only thing left was teamwork, but on that front there were no problems either.

Of course, at first there was timing and other things to adjust, but each of them read each other's rhythm, and before we knew it, they were chaining together magnificent combos.

About a month went by like this.

Frankly speaking, those days were pretty grueling again. We racked up 10 to 15 fights a day, every day, up to the limit of their technique uses, with almost no rest.

What kind of black sweatshop was I running, I felt sorry about it.

But in my defense, I never forced them to go out and fight on a day they didn't want to.

"I'm thinking of heading out today too, but are you all right? Aren't you tired? If your fatigue isn't fully gone, or if there's any sign your condition's off, I want you to tell me without hiding it. There's no point pushing yourself and ruining your health. It's totally fine to take a day off."

I made sure to ask.

"… Just to confirm, if we do take a rest, the nighttime reward is…?"

"… Well, since it's a reward, there isn't one."

"Going."

That was instant.

"Hah, I'd like you not to underestimate us so much. I'd rather you not think we'd throw in the towel after just ten or so battles at this level."

"Like Kanan said, nya! Adelia's totally fine, nya!"

"Me too… I'm so fulfilled right now. For the first time since coming to this world, I feel like I'm having fun…! I want to fight more and more. Under Naoto-kun's command… so please, I don't need any rest. Let me fight, even more!"

So, with all three earnestly volunteering, we kept fighting hard every day.

But thanks to that, our tactical level rose considerably, and so did our levels.

It was very smooth sailing.

So smooth that I forgot one important thing…

Now, since everyone gave it their all during the day, on my end, I had to put my heart into the reward at night.

I gave each of them a thorough massage, head to toe.

I held strictly to not touching between their legs or their breasts, but for everywhere else, I'd basically gotten over my hesitation and was touching them freely.

Squish… squeeeze…

"Hau, mn, ahh, ahh…"

"Nyau, mnyaa…"

I kneaded Kanan's and Adelia's butts.

Hmm, breasts no good but butts okay, when had I made that rule again?

But to knead their butts I'd take down their pajama bottoms, and neither Adelia nor Maika had a single complaint about it.

Kanan was in her Spirit Garb, so her butt was pretty much fully exposed. Free for the kneading.

Squish, squelch…

When I kneaded the firm, soft butts of those two, Kanan and Adelia clung to me completely, writhing.

Doing that pressed their breasts against my chest, squish, squish, and it felt amazing.

"… Now, Maika, you too…"

"Y-Yeah…"

Once the three of them started fighting together, reward time also became a shared affair.

Maika clung to me too. I gently stroked from her hair down her back, and eventually grabbed her butt over her panties, kneading it squish squish.

"Ah, ahhh… Naoto-kuuun…"

Squish, squelch…

Maika rubbed her breasts against me harder.

Maika's breasts. Since then, they'd stroked my penis many times every day, those breasts…

So I thought my guard was a little down.

"Mmh."

The moment Maika arched her back with a jolt at the pleasure of the butt massage, I got pushed over.

"Ahaha… I lost my balance there."

I said that and reached out to her, when…

"Ah, ahh… gh"

Squish.

For the first time, my hand touched Maika's breast on my own.

"…"

Squish, squish…

The kneading-feel was so good, I lingered a bit longer.

"… Ahh… I'm so happy… Naoto-kun finally kneaded my breast…"

"Eh, ah, s-sorry, Maika!"

I hurriedly pulled my hand back.

"… Why? You really, don't want to touch them after all? Because my breasts are dirty…?"

"N-No way! Not at all… I-I want to touch them so badly. But breasts are a girl's important parts, so I can't just go ahead and…"

"I… I want you to touch them. Every inch of my body. I want you to touch me, Naoto-kun. Because I feel like I'll be purified by it…"

Click, click… pop.

Maika undid the hooks of her bra and exposed her white, beautiful breasts.

Beautiful breasts as snowy white as snow, with pink nipples… no good, I couldn't hold back anymore.

"… A-All right…"

I reached for Maika's breasts. Then, squish, I touched.

Ahh… Maika… squish, squelch… what softness, what wonderful firmness. Even when I grabbed firmly with my whole palm, her bountifulness overflowed past it.

What a wonderful kneading-feel…

"Ahh, ahhh… mnhaaaah! No, I-I'm cumming!"

Twitch, jolt.

Thud.

Maika had cum just from breast stimulation, and collapsed unconscious.

"… Hahh…"

That felt amazing… I found myself staring at my own hand, and then I remembered that Kanan and Adelia had been watching the whole scene.

"E-Erm…"

"Gh… ghhh…"

Kanan gritted her teeth as if she wanted to say something.

"Kanan, this is the perfect chance, nya. Be honest, ask him, nya."

"S-Such, such a thing, I can't ask for…!"

Kanan and Adelia argued about something.

"Nyuu… Adelia is holding back out of consideration for Kanan, nya. If Kanan keeps not saying anything, Adelia can't act spoiled with Naoto either, nya…"

Adelia looked lonely.

"U-Uu… Adelia…"

Kanan looked at Adelia, made up her mind, and…

"… Naoto. You kneaded Maika's breasts."

She came at me with that.

"Uh… s-sorry."

"I-I'm not blaming you. Maika's the one who asked, so you just granted her wish, didn't you? That's fine, but, um…"

I-Is that so?

"I-Isn't it unfair?"

She protested.

"M-Me too, and Adelia, we're in the same position as Maika, so y-you have to do the same thing for us, or I'd be put out."

"E-Erm… y-you'd be put out, would you…?"

"I-I'd be put out!"

Put out… certainly, Maika had been wounded in all sorts of ways. At unguarded moments, her concerns about her past as Noda's slave bubbled up.

To keep Maika from feeling that way, it'd be best to make her feel like she was together with Kanan and Adelia.

For that, treating the three of them the same way might be better…

I felt like I'd been talked into something a bit, but I, too, did want to touch from the bottom of my heart. And if Kanan was wishing for it as well, then there was no longer any reason to hold back. No, the reason that I'd lose all restraint was still there, but.

But since Maika and Leone did at least the bare minimum for me, I could stop at just breasts.

"R-Right. Then… I-I'll touch."

And so, I crawled closer to Kanan. Kanan stiffened slightly, but didn't try to refuse.

Kanan's Spirit Garb didn't hide the swell of her large breasts at all. They were fully out.

I reached straight for Kanan's large breasts, and just like that, I touched.

"Ahh…!"

How long, since coming to this world… no, even before that, had I yearned to touch these breasts?

I finally understood it.

These were Kanan Kazami's breasts. Kanan, the one who used to dominate me, used to bully me…

Right now, I was kneading her breasts!

What softness, that finger-clinging top-grade skin. They were fluffy soft, but with proper firmness… squishy-squishy breasts!

I kneaded, squish, squish, lost in it.

Easily, her Spirit Garb came undone, and her beautiful pink nipples were exposed.

"Hah, ahh, Naoto, na-o, ahh, ahhh… b-breasts, my breasts are aaah, ahhh…"

Kanan moaned, her hair tossed about.

I pushed her down and leaned over her, kneading her breasts even harder. Kneading!

Ahh… how wonderful, why had I worked so hard not to touch something this amazing for so long?

… Well, I thought it was because I'd known that once I touched, restraint would fly out the window.

I couldn't stop anymore. Lost in it, I kneaded, and then squeezed her nipples tight.

"Hahiiii! Yes, it's so goooood!"

Twitch, jolt! Splash.

With a watery sound, Kanan went limp, energy spent.

… It looked like she'd cum.

Her crotch was completely soaked. Thicker in viscosity than urine. Love juice had spurted out.

"Hah, hah, hah…"

I'd kneaded her so frantically I'd forgotten to breathe, so I was worn out too. But…

Adelia, with her beautiful big eyes glittering in expectation, was looking at me.

Adelia's breasts too. I couldn't go without touching them anymore.

"Adelia… here we go."

"Nyaa… Goshujin-samaaa…"

I pushed Adelia down and impatiently undid the buttons of her pajamas. And then…

Bounce…

Big, beautifully wheat-colored breasts, a shade darker than Kanan's, came into view. Well-balanced pink areolas wobbled.

"Funya, ahhh… Goshujin-sama, ahhh…"

Adelia looked embarrassed but happy.

"Hah, hah… Adelia…"

I, too… only excitement and joy welled up in my heart.

I touched those large breasts.

Squish, squelch.

… Strong firmness. Soft, yet pushing my fingers back with definite force.

"Ahh… Adelia's breasts, so soft… they feel so good, Adelia, ahh…"

Like a rubber ball, I'd say, except no rubber ball could feel this good. I didn't know what to compare them to, but the kneading-feel was so strong, kneading them was super fun!

I lost myself in continuing to knead Adelia's breasts.

"Ahh, nyaa, Goshujin-samaa, Adelia is so happy, nya, Goshujin-samaa… I love you, nyaaa…!"

Adelia hit me with that pure affection. Really, how cute could she be?

Right after coming to this world, getting Adelia as a companion was truly wonderful luck, real happiness.

"I love you too, Adelia…! Ahh…"

I kneaded, kneaded her breasts, and finally squeezed her nipples tight.

"Anyaaaah!"

Splash, splash!

Adelia squirted, too.

… Ahh, oops, since I hadn't taken her panties off, it was like she totally wet herself.

Kanan was in her Spirit Garb, so no matter how dirty she got it was fine, but Adelia's wet panties had gone completely see-through.

Adelia's still-sparse pubic hair and pink crotch faintly visible through them…

… n-no good. I couldn't stand it.

The three of them were satisfied, but I was at my limit. That night I had Leone go at it many times, fiercely, and ended up exhausting her completely.

And so, the day of the defense match arrived.

"Now then, the first defense match for champion Naoto Akai. Though I'm sure there isn't a single D-Class Master who hasn't seen this champion's battles up close. Why? Because he is the lord of the D-Class battleground! Even though a single loss would cost him his championship, he kept fighting day after day, defeating countless Masters who came to claim his head, and arrived here with an unbroken record! Now, how will you take on this strongest of kings, challenger… at last, the champion enters!"

"… See? Even the announcer is saying that."

"U-Uu… maybe I should've at least worn a gown out and pulled it off all at once on the ring… wouldn't that have been less embarrassing…"

"Honestly… what are you saying. You've already fought once in this getup."

"Nya, Adelia is embarrassed too, but the happy feeling is bigger, nya!"

"Same for me. I was so happy it was finally finished yesterday. We all decided together that we'd wear these for today's match, didn't we?"

"… R-Right… I've made up my mind. Let's go, everyone!"

"Yes!"

"Yes, nya!"

And then…

Whoooaaaaaa…

Explosive, tremendous cheers.

"Whoaaaa! This is so erotic! All three of them! All three super-rare top-grade beautiful girls in matching string bikinis! Their bouncy mounds, jiggling and bouncing! This Master is too enviable! If jealousy were a laser beam, by now he'd be ash! You lucky guy!"

"Ahaha… they're saying some intense things, aren't they?"

"Unyaaa… they're staring, nya…"

"Fufufu… we're actually showing less than before. Why is that, I wonder? If anything I feel more embarrassed…"

"And there! Everyone, look at the three's crotch areas! … Last time, you could see pubic hair, but this time it's invisible! It seems they've shaved to match this outfit!"

Whoaaaa!

He sure noticed. Well, it wasn't so much that we deliberately shaved as that we shaved in order to make these in the first place.

The regrowth speed for Maika's and Kanan's hair was about half of Adelia's, around two weeks.

I didn't know how fast Earthlings' hair grew, but figuring it grew about as fast as head hair, I thought it had been sped up. In this world, it was probably part of the general boost to physical capacity.

Thanks to that, in a month we just barely made it to enough for three sets.

"Now, Maika. How does my outfit feel?"

"Yes, the best, Kanan! Adelia, how about my outfit?"

"The best, nya! Kanan, how about it again, nya?"

"Of course, the best! For Lyuka and Leone, who made these outfits for us… today, we won't just win, we'll win beautifully, gracefully, overwhelmingly!"

"Yeah!"

The three of them thrust their fists toward the sky.

"Now then, 3-versus-3, the match begins… start!"

"Dance of Frost!"

"Funya… not cold, nya! I'm protected by Maika's hair, so it's all good now, nya!"

Maika's Spirit Garb had an ice-resistance defense effect.

"And I'm fine thanks to Adelia's hair. Today, dance with everything you've got, Maika!"

"Yes, leave it to me…! Now, behold my dance…!"

Shara, sharara…!

Her dance was so beautiful, it was as if it stole the hearts of those who watched and froze them.

"Now, here we go, nya! Buster Hand!"

"Bind Whip!"

The opposing three, hit with cold air plus Adelia's new technique that dealt damage and stunned, plus Kanan's interference, only one of them could move. And even that movement, perhaps from intimidation, only ended in mistakes.

The next turn, Dance of Frost activated, way too quickly. Its effects cut through too sharply.

Kanan's Spirit Garb had a wind-attribute enchantment effect. Maybe with wind boosting the freeze technique, the effect had been amplified.

"Let's go all in, nya, Flame Claw!"

Slash! A blow against the opponent's tank role. Of course, without Boost Power active, taking them out in one hit wasn't possible.

But it shaved off plenty of HP.

"Blizzard!"

And down rained the strongest cold-element spell.

"…!"

"…!"

The three opponents raised voiceless screams and froze over.

… But they were tournament winners. Nothing to scoff at.

Plus their HP had been at full to start with. That was tournament winners for you. Just barely, by mere pixels, their HP remained.

There…

"Tornado!"

Down rained the strongest wind-element spell.

A merciless blow shattering frozen bodies, the three were easily smashed.

YOU WIN

"Strong! Too strong! Beautiful, and strong! With overwhelming force, they showed us a near-one-turn-kill! Is it really okay to have a champion this strong! Get to C-Class, and B-Class, fast!"

Whoaaaa…

And then, after I received the first prize of 100,000G, I suddenly remembered.

Wait, how much did I have in savings right now?

"… Eh, 400,000G…"

Adding today's prize, 500,000G!?

Of course. Saving 7,000G a day for a month. With the previous tournament prize, plus the proceeds from selling the Fire-Resistant Lewd Garb…

Already… no, half a month ago, I had 250,000G saved up…

Holding out 250,000G, I dogeza'd to Lyuka.

"…"

Lyuka looked very displeased.

… Come to think of it, for the past 15 days or so, Lyuka had seemed somehow displeased.

Lyuka was always a poker-faced expressionless type. Just somehow, so I'd written it off as my imagination…

Lyuka had to have known how much money I had…

"U-Um… I'm sorry…"

"… I'm not particularly angry. If you'd saved up that much, please, go ahead and make Leone-san your companion first. I can come after, that's fine… Since I'm just going to be forgotten anyway."

"T-That's not it at all… Lyuka… s-sorry… I'm really sorry…"

Up until then, I'd been counting up the saved money on my fingers, but with all the chaos after Maika joined, I just…

"Lyuka, please become my companion. The first one to say it was okay to be my companion, Lyuka… Please."

I pressed my forehead deep into the floor in dogeza and pleaded.

"… P-Please don't apologize that much. It's all right now. I forgive you."

But Lyuka quickly stopped sulking and helped me up.

… Huh? That easily?

"… Honestly. I was being mean, too. I knew Naoto-san had been thrown off by all sorts of things and forgot about the money… I just couldn't help sulking a bit. So with this we're even."

So saying, Lyuka smiled at me.

My heart skipped, thump.

Ahh… so cute. I wasn't a lolicon. I loved big breasts. That should have been the case, but…

Just with Lyuka, I found her tremendously attractive.

"In exchange… actually, there's one thing I'm going to make you angry about… You'll find out soon enough, but when you do, I'd like you to please not be too angry…"

… Conversely, Lyuka made herself small.

"…? I, get angry at Lyuka…?"

What on earth could it be? I couldn't even imagine. Could there really be anything that would make me angry at Lyuka, who'd been such a help?

But since she wouldn't explain what it was,

"All right, I promise."

I made an easy commitment.

… What could it be? Like, it turns out the mastermind who brought you all to this world was actually me! kind of thing?

Hmm, even if so, I wouldn't be angry. If anything, I'd be grateful.

… Thinking that, I felt a little jolt. I had really started to enjoy being in this world, and had begun not wanting to go back.

Ahh, no, no, no. If they found out I was starting to feel like I wanted to stay in this world, Lyuka and Kanan would…

How disappointed would they be?

Anyway, in order to return to the original world too…

"Lyuka, once again… please, become my companion."

I said it again and held out the money.

"… Yes, understood. Then, I accept."

And so, Lyuka took the money with a smile and started the procedure with beep, beep. Then…

Beep… shun!

The procedure ended easily. The 250,000G vanished, and in exchange…

The gray dot on the map transformed into a brightly glowing green dot.

"With this, I have become a free Garumon. Do you know how to contract with a free Garumon?"

"E-Erm… a kiss…?"

"Yes, exactly so."

And then, Lyuka closed her eyes.

… Eh, is this okay? Kissing a loli-type girl like Lyuka…

… But for the contract…

I held Lyuka's shoulder.

And then, I softly brought my mouth close.

… Wow… up close, she really was a fairy-like beautiful girl.

Kissing a girl like this… was this really okay?

Guilt bubbled up. But oh well! This was something I'd won fair and square!

Oh well!

…chu…

Lips met.

Sweet… soft, melt-in-the-mouth-snow-like, soft lips.

Bashu, pikaa!

And in the next instant, what looked like a collar appeared around Lyuka's neck.

… It quickly became invisible, but it was certainly there. The proof of the contract.

She, Lyuka, had become my Garumon.

"With this, I am now formally your companion. Naoto."

Lyuka opened her eyes and smiled.

"Yeah…! Welcome. Welcome to my team!"

"Welcome, Lyuka."

"Welcome, Lyuka…! I'm probably the newest one, but…"

"Not at all, please look after me kindly… Also, I can join the Smooth Alliance any time you want, too."

Pft.

I couldn't help spit-taking.

"Welcome on that side too, nya!"

"… D-Don't tease me…!"

I covered my face in embarrassment and curled up small…