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Yuuji, Yuna, and Nina's morning walk to school went peacefully as usual.

Sandwiched in between his beautiful step-twin-sisters with his arms pressed against their soft, extra-large marshmallow chest, Yuuji had long since accepted this as the norm, at least when they were still far out from school.

When they neared their school, and students began to appear around them, only then would they let go of his arm, though they'd still be walking shoulder to shoulder with him, enough to be brushing hands.

"Ah~ I'm so excited for the Hanami Festival~!"

"It is still a week from now, Yuna."

"Geez~ Nina-chan, you're no fun! It's the first Hanami Festival in high school, you know? It's exciting! Ah, let's go for a picnic with the whole family~! I'm sure it'll be fun!"

Yuna suggested with a brilliant smile on her face and turned towards Yuuji and Nina.

"...That's a good idea. We can ask mom and aunty later on."

Nina nodded in agreement. Her aloof expression belying her own excitement of the prospect.

"I agree. We can ask mom and aunty after school and find some private place so we can have Alice, Aria, and Est with us."

'Yes~! We're so excited, master! Our first Hanami~!'

'Hanami... I've read about it before... I'm interested, master...'

'Master, will you make us plenty of snacks?'

Yuuji smiled softly at the twin slimes and spirit sword sovereign's voices in his mind.

Having now gained the ability to converse with Yuuji through words telepathically after their evolution, the twin slimes, especially Alice, often talked to him in his mind when they're in their necklace form. And because of her, the more quiet Est and Aria also began talking more.

'Of course. I'll make you girls your favorite strawberry cakes.'

The three cheered in his mind.

"But actually, my friend and I are also planning to celebrate hanami too. Do you guys want to join?" Yuuji said, reminded of the promise he made with his friends before the Overlord mission.

Yuuji asked, and his twin sisters immediately turned to him with shock and excitement in their eyes.

"Eh?! Are you serious, Yuu-kun?"

"Of course. There's still a few of us, but we plan on inviting more."

"We'll definitely go! Let's meet up and plan it together as soon as possible!"

Nina nodded a few times, agreeing with her twin sisters.

"Sure. We can set a time and place to meet up later. Maybe, we can do it in aunty's cafe afterschool."

""Agreed~/Agreed.""

Soon, the three arrived at their school and immediately went to their classes.

Upon arriving, Yuuji quickly went to his seat and brought up the topic he discussed with his twin sisters this morning to Ai, raku, Shuu, Viktoriya, and Erya.

"Hey, about our plan for Hanami, do you guys want to discuss it this afternoon?"

"Let's go! Let's definitely go! We should start planning as soon as possible!" Shuu responded in excitement.

"Sure, I'm free this afternoon." Raku nodded.

"The swimming club is having a rest day today, so I'm free. But where are we going to gather?" Ai asked, tilting her head.

"I can ask my aunt to reserve a place for us in her cafe."

"Eh? But wouldn't aunt Aika's cafe be busy? Rose Cafe is very popular... I'm afraid we'll bother her if we have so many people come over so suddenly."

Viktoriya said with concern. Rose Cafe was extremely popular with girls of all ages because of its perfect atmosphere, amazing drinks, and an array of picturesque and delicious desserts. It's difficult to even buy their desserts if they come a bit late during the weekends, much less getting a seat.

"Ah, that's right. And it became even more popular once this guy started working there." Ai said and pointed at Yuuji accusingly.

"Oh~ I definitely saw a lot of posts in social media about that~ Fufu, I wonder when I can see you wearing that uniform again~" Erya smiled mischievously, to which Yuuji simply sighed helplessly.

"Well... I can try asking my aunt for a favor. And your wish might come sooner than you think."

"Oh~ I can't wait~" Erya smiled widely, and glanced at Viktoriya, who was now looking at Yuuji in a daze with an obvious blush on her face.

She was sure that her best friend was already imagining Yuuji serving her with his devastatingly handsome smile while wearing Rose Cafe's uniform.

Meanwhile, Yuuji began doing a rough headcount on who will most likely join the event.

'Yotsuba might be bringing her sisters... Oh, I should also invite Haruka-senpai and Hibiki-senpai. That would bring it to... around 15 people? That's quite a lot... I should call aunty now to ask.'

He took out his phone and immediately called Aika.

"Hello, Aika-nee? I'm sorry to bother you."

["Y-Yuuji?! What's wrong?"]

"Sorry for bothering you. My friends and I wanted to discuss our plans to celebrate Hanami. Can I reserve seats for around 15 people in the cafe for this afternoon?"

["15? Well... I think that's fine. It's weekday, so it's a bit slower than on the weekends. I can get you a few tables."]

"Great! Thank you, Aika-nee!"

["S-Sure. By the way, nee-san is also planning to celebrate Hanami together with you kids. We should plan it soon too."]

"Sure, let's talk about it when we return home tonight."

["Alright, I'll tell nee-san about it."]

"Mm. Good luck with your work, Aika-nee. I'll be going now."

["Wait!"] Aika shouted in a panic, stopping him from hanging up.

["W-When are you planning on coming here to help out?! You know, I've been pestered daily by my customers, especially girls, about when you'll come! They'd even send emails and messages to my cafe for this! Take responsibility, you brat!"]

"A-Ahahaha, sorry. I'll come and help out this weekend."

["R-Really? Then, that's good. Don't you dare forget about it, okay? Or I'll beat you up!"]

"Of course, I won't. I'll never forget about a promise to you."

["T-That's good. Alright, you go and study well. I still need to do my morning prep! I'll hang up! Bye!"]

The line was immediately cut off, leaving Yuuji grinning on the other end, amused by her antics.

Although he couldn't see her, he could imagine how much she's blushing now.

'She's so cute...'

He then turned towards Visha and the others, who were awaiting the results of his call.

"My aunt has agreed."

"Great~!"

"Then, we'll go and invite the rest!"

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"Once again, it's fine, brother... I just wanted to ask for your advice.

No, there's no need to send Grayfia-neesama here!

Hah... Yes, I told you she's not hostile at the moment. We're on friendly terms...

Alright... I'll try to learn more about her group. Thank you, brother. Good bye."

Rias let out a heavy sigh and leaned back to her chair behind her desk in the clubroom.

"How did it go?"

Sona said with a hint of amusement and schadenfreude as she smirked at Rias. She was sitting on the couch in Rias's clubroom. Her vice president, Tsubaki, was sitting by her side.

Two porcelain tea cup filled with steaming hot jasmine rested on the table before them, served by Rias's Queen, Akeno, who now sat on the opposite side of the table.

"Hah... At this point, I'm just glad he didn't make this too big of a deal. He almost sent Grayfia-neesama here to investigate..."

"Well, in my opinion, that would be the quickest way to gain more information on her. Perhaps, we could even locate their base and learn of the other members who were "stronger" than her."

"Yes, but if we act rashly, we might receive their enmity instead..."

Sona said, looking at the frowning Rias. She appeared to be in thought, and Sona could easily guess what she was deliberating now.

"Are you hoping she'd help you with your... problem?"

Rias's eyebrows knotted, her teeth clenched tight as her eyes narrowed in both frustration and worry.

Time was ticking, and it wouldn't be far off until it ran out. That's why she was growing more and more restless by the day.

She had thought of doing a Rating Game against her "fiance" to break this engagement off. But although she had grown her peerage over the years, she was still lacking a lot of members. She would be at a disadvantage against that man's full peerage. While she believed that her peerage wins in terms of individual strength, she didn't know if it'd be enough to overcome the disparity they had in numbers.

Even with Issei, who was this generation's Red Dragon Emperor, she doubted he'd be able to do much, given how he just awakened to his power.

But even so, she knew that the Rating Game would be her only way out of this arranged marriage...

"...At first, I was hoping she'd join my peerage. But after feeling her aura, I knew I wouldn't be able to reincarnate her."

The overflowing and powerful magic aura Aika displayed to her was still vivid in her mind. It was enough to overpower her and her entire peerage at once.

Moreover, she could also move fast enough to beat her knight, Kiba, who should be unparalleled in speed.

And if that still wasn't the extent of her full power, she would be on a whole different level.

"Now, I just hope she could at least help us train..."

Sona took a sip of her tea and nodded.

"That's a good idea. Well, you should've started training with your peerage long ago, but I guess this is a good start."

Akeno smiled helplessly at Sona's words and glanced at her now pouting king.

As the one closest to Rias since she first joined her peerage, she was the most familiar with Rias's daily life.

Rias had spent her years in Kuoh indulging in her hobbies, doing only the bare minimum required of her duties as one of the two governors of the city.

While Akeno and the rest of her peerage dedicated themselves to training and improving their strength, she relied solely on the inherited powers of her bloodline without any effort to refine or enhance them. She barely studied battle strategies—the fundamental responsibility of a King—choosing instead to let her peerage handle stray devils without any tactical planning, intervening only when necessary by using her Power of Destruction.

'This would be a good wake up call for her.'

Akeno thought, and smiled inwardly.

"Alright, I get it! I'll train my magic and learn some strategies!"

Rias huffed, crossing her arms underneath her breasts.

She hated the thought that she would have to study and train, and decrease the time she'd be able to spend on her anime and mangas. But Sona was right. At this point, she needed to improve herself...

"Akeno, we'll be coming up with a training plan for everyone! And as my Queen, you'll also help me train with magic and strategy!"

"Fufu~ I understand, pres. I'll prepare the strategy books for you~" Akeno giggled softly when a message notification on her phone rang.

"That said, you should still try to ask Aika to train you. With her prowess in magic, she should be of help."

Sona said before standing up from her seat and walking towards the door with Tsubaki in tow.

"...I'll try contacting her again."

Rias said as Sona and Tsubaki exited the Occult Research Club Room and shut the door behind her.

She would be very busy soon, with her plans to train and study strategy, as well as practicing cooperation between the members of her peerage.

Rias couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose at the upcoming hardship ahead of her, when just then, she noticed Akeno staring at her phone.

"Hm? Akeno, what are you looking at so seriously?"

"Rias... Koneko just sent me a message."

"Hm? What is it? Is it about Aika?"

Akeno nodded and slowly turned to her.

"She said she became more beautiful..."

"...Okay?"

"And her aura was incomparable to how it felt previously."

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