After moving to the sink, each with a dish in hand, Lexia-san gave the signal for the contest to begin.
"I wasn't an expert in cooking, but I know how to wash dishes. All I have to do now is to strike with my hands…!"
Using all of her spiritual power, Meiko made the dishes float in the air one after another, grabbed them before they fell, cleaned them one by one, and laid them out in the blink of an eye.
A-amazing… I haven't mastered how to handle spiritual power yet, but Meiko, who has spent so many years with spiritual power, can handle it at will as if it were her own limbs…
"Not bad. But I won't lose to you either…!"
Luna smiles wryly in the face of Meiko's strange technique.
At that moment, she threw a plate into the air, just like Meiko. However, the plate did not fall but was fixed in the air.
"T-that's…"
"I see; the plates are being held in place by Luna's strings."
While everyone was amazed at the sight of so many plates floating in the air, Lexia-san gave a calm commentary. W-what's this strange situation…
"That's not all… [Streamline]!"
Then suddenly, bubbles began to adhere to the plates that had been fixed in mid-air, and they moved dexterously and began to wash the plates!
"W-what in the world is going on?"
"T-that! That's the advanced skill of washing many dishes at the same time by attaching bubbles to different strings and manipulating them!"
"Lexia-san?"
For some reason, Lexia-san's live commentary just wouldn't stop.
"Fufufu… Of course, unlike the strings I usually use, I use a material that is gentle to dishes and is specially designed for dish-washing."
"I-is there such a thing as a dish-washing-specific string…?"
The world of strings is too big.
I could only twitch my cheeks at Luna's words.
Thus, while Luna and Meiko were engaged in a fierce battle, Yuti is…
"Haah!"
Like the two of them, she tossed the dishes into the air and, using her precognition, accurately washes them in the order in which they fall.
And when she finished washing each and every plate…
"[Comet]!"
──She threw the dishes at the drainer rack.
Yuti threw the dishes precisely at the draining rack one after the other. After throwing all the dishes, Yuti finished washing the dishes before the two of them.
"Finished. I win."
"Um… Yuti?"
While Yuti was taking a break from washing the dishes, I called out to her.
"? What's wrong?"
"The dishes… are broken…"
"Ah…"
Naturally, there was no special processing on the draining rack, and all the dishes thrown in were broken.
Seeing this, Yuti froze and turned a fearful glance in my direction.
"…Afraid. Yuuya, are you angry…?"
"N-no, it's not like that, but… for the time being, let's not throw things unless you're in battle. It's dangerous if it hits someone…"
"…Affirmative. I'll be careful…"
I didn't say anything more to the frustrated Yuti. It was unfortunate that the plates broke, but I was relieved that no one was hurt.
Thus, despite a little trouble, the matter was finally settled.
"──I-I'm done!"
It was Meiko who finished washing the dishes first.
"Kuh! I was so close too…!"
Next to her, Luna, who finished washing the dishes by a really close margin, looked frustrated.
When I checked the dishes that had been washed, I found that they had both washed them properly without leaving a single stain, and I had nothing to complain about.
"That's too bad for you, Luna!"
"…I won't lose the next time."
"I-I'll be very committed too."
Luna and Meiko shook hands with each other after saying this.
Seeing the two of them, Lexia-san nodded in satisfaction.
"It has been decided that Meiko is an excellent maid! So from now on, please take care of me, Meiko!"
"Yes, it is my pleasure too!"
"A-ahahaha…"
After all that had happened, Meiko was safely accepted into the house.
＊＊＊
In the real world, Yuuya has returned from the underworld.
In the other world, Iris and Odis were visiting Usagi.
After the incident in the heavenly realm, the three realized that they were still lacking in their own abilities from their experience of fighting observers and the false god, so they had each been working hard on their training──.
"Usagi!"
(Iris? And Odis, too… what in the world has happened?)
Usagi tilted his head when Iris and Odis came to visit, even though they had been training by themselves in different parts of the world.
Iris also opened her mouth, looking somewhat bewildered.
"Actually… we received an invitation."
(Invitation? What is…)
"──[Heavenly Sacred Festival]."
(!)
Usagi was surprised at the unexpected word.
"A festival of the Holy held once every few years… Well, it's a kind of fighting tournament…"
(Why? It hasn't been that long since Iris won the last one, has it?)
"That's why we're confused."
As Usagi had said, Iris had won the title of the strongest among the Holy by winning this [Heavenly Sacred Festival], where all the Holy gathered to compete with each other in a contest of their own martial prowess.
However, due to the nature of the Holy, this tournament could not be easily held repeatedly.
It was obviously strange to receive an invitation to hold the tournament so soon after the last one.
(In the first place… Who started the [Heavenly Sacred Festival] this time?)
"It was the Katana Saint. The Katana Saint… Shu Zakuren."
(That guy, huh…?)
Usagi frowned as he pictured a man's face in his mind.
(I can't read what he's been thinking for a long time. I don't like that.)
"Yeah… he's always got a faint smile on his face… What in the world he's thinking… we were wondering about that as well…"
(…Well, that's alright. Let's put aside for the moment the fact that he has announced the holding of the [Heavenly Sacred Festival]. But more importantly, will the Holy gather?)
What Usagi was thinking about was whether or not the Holy would be able to gather properly.
Because of their role, the Holy are not in a position to move so easily.
Some of them had been invited to the ceremony as important figures in the country, and there had been various difficulties in holding the [Heavenly Sacred Festival].
Then, Odis answered with a difficult expression on his face.
"Regarding that… it seems that all the members will gather."
(What? You mean that guy was able to convince all the Holy to come?)
"That is what I mean."
Usagi was surprised again by Odis's unexpected words.
"What in the world is going on among the Holy…?"
They had no idea what was happening while they were practicing.
"Whatever it is, the only way to find out for sure what's going on is to participate, right?"
(…Yes, that's right. In addition, I've just finished my training. It's not a bad idea to test my skills once in a while at that.)
Having decided to participate in the [Heavenly Sacred Festival] for the time being, Usagi smiled ferociously.
＊＊＊
A few days have passed since Meiko came to my house.
Since she is now living with us in my house, I asked her if she would like to attend school too…
"Thank you for your concern. But it is enough for me to stay in this house. Besides, I will take good care of this house while Master is away."
…And so, she was now staying at home with Night and the others.
In fact, it seemed to be fun for Meiko, and I didn't have anything more to say to her.
Lexia-san and the others seemed a little disappointed… But I wanted to let Meiko do what she wanted to do. If she wanted to stay at home, that's fine.
And also, because of the way she was, it seemed that Meiko didn't age with her appearance, so if she wanted to go to school later, then she could think about it then.
So, after returning from the underworld, I was able to spend relatively peaceful days.
And today, my classes at school ended without incident, and I was about to go home, when──.
"──Tenjou-kun!"
"Ki-Kitaraku-senpai?"
The door to the classroom was opened vigorously, and from there, the student council president of this school, Kitaraku-senpai, appeared.
When everyone in the class was surprised by the sudden situation, Kitaraku-senpai came to me, paying no attention to the surroundings.
"Tenjou-kun, listen to me!"
"W-what is it?"
"The School Idol Project's stage has been decided!"
"…..Eh?"
For a moment, I couldn't understand the meaning of Kitaraku-senpai's words.
W-what did he just say? The School Idol Project's stage… has been decided!?
"Eeehhh!? I-isn't that too soon?"
It was understandable that I was surprised. After all, I had only just heard about School Idol a short while ago.
"Well, I visited the president of Star Productions the other day! We talked about a lot of things there, and the stage was decided right away!"
"When did that happen? Even if that's the case, I think everything happened too fast…!"
Kitaraku-senpai, not caring about my reaction, laughed it off.
"Hahahaha! What are you saying? When I get an idea, I act on it! That's my good point!"
"That may be so, but! In the first place… idol stage, what about the songs and choreography!"
I understood that the stage had been decided. But nothing has been prepared for the stage.
Then, Kitaraku-senpai grinned.
"Don't worry. I've got that all prepared too! By the way, I asked Kanade Utamori-san, who came to the last school festival, to write the song, and the choreography was done by a very famous choreographer who is the pride of Star Productions!"
"Eeehhh!?"
T-that's a lot of information!
"I've also prepared a place for you to practice for the stage, so from today, you can start practicing there right away!"
"Oh, no, wait!"
Kitaraku-senpai ended the conversation almost unilaterally and left happily.
I was appalled at the sight of him.
And thus, the preparation for the school idol stage started without me understanding the reason.
＊＊＊
After the class buzz subsided, I quickly set to work to prepare for the stage.
Then, Ryo and Shingo-kun, who apparently were not in the classroom at the time of the earlier commotion, came up to me and started to talk.
"Yuuya. Wanna go play?"
"T-there is a new game center near here. Do you want to join us?"
"Ah… I'm sorry. The school idol project started today, so…"
"I-I see that you've already started."
Shingo-kun's eyes widened at my words. That surprised me too, you know…
"I see… then it can't be helped. Akira also seemed busy, so we'll do it another time…"
"Huh? Is that so?"
"Y-yeah. But Akira always seems to be busy…"
"That's true if you ask me. I've hardly ever hung out with him after school or anything…"
Heh… Shingo-kun and Ryo had not had much time to play with Akira, either.
What is he doing, that Akira? Is there some reason why he can't play with his friends?
With these thoughts in mind, I parted from them and hurried to the room prepared by Kitaraku-senpai.