Looking at Nanami's brilliant smile, Eriri suddenly felt a twinge of guilt. Was it really okay for her to treat Nanami this way?
Shaking her head vigorously, Eriri thought to herself, 'Nanami is the kind of girl that everyone just loves! If I weren't a girl myself, I probably would have fallen for her too, wouldn't I? Why did the mood suddenly become so silly?' Eriri shook her head again.
'But even if it's not that kind of love, Nanami is still my friend! And my fondness for this friend is just as strong! After all, who could truly dislike Nanami?' Eriri thought.
With that in mind, she decided not to dwell on it and focus instead on gathering intelligence with Nanami.
===
On the other side, Homura clenched his palm in frustration.
Shaking his head with a bitter smile, he didn't really have any other intentions at the time, he just pulled Nanami over when he saw her excitement, but he didn't expect Eriri to react so quickly.
Eriri and Utaha seemed to have a clear division of tasks; Eriri kept a close eye on the girls around Homura.
Whenever he interacted with other girls, Utaha would come over and gather intelligence in a roundabout way.
With these two working together, Homura's path to building his harem was indeed long and arduous.
*King called me to patrol the mountain~*
Homura took out his phone and saw that it was Saori. What was going on?
"Saori? What's up?" Homura asked directly.
"Oh~ Homura-shi! From the sound of it, are you also outside?" Homura had already gotten used to Saori's unique way of speaking and catchphrase.
"Yeah! The readers don't even know there's a new manga today, so I'm here to see their live reactions and reviews."
"Oh yeah! Speaking of which, it really should be the debut of Homura-shi's new manga today!" Saori just remembered when they had seen two manga earlier, "Then, I wish Homura-shi's new manga will also sell well!"
"Thank you, Saori. Are you outside too?" Homura heard some noise on the other end of the line.
"That's right! I'm currently queuing up with Kiririn-shi and Kuroneko-shi!" Saori's voice sounded a bit proud? She must be happy for her friend, Homura.
"Kuroneko and Kosaka... Kirino are there?" Homura felt a bit awkward mentioning Kosaka Kirino's name because he remembered that he also knew another girl with the same surname, Kosaka Honoka!
Speaking of which, both of them have the surname Kosaka, could they be related?
Could it really be so cliche? Homura thought of this painful world and the two of them might actually be related!
He'll have to ask Honoka herself if he gets the chance!
"That's right! Kuroneko-shi and Kiririn-shi have already become Homura-shi's manga fans!" Saori happily said, and then she was a bit embarrassed, "It's just that Kiririn-shi said it would be great if Homura-shi's manga was about magical girls or little sisters."
As expected of Kirino! Her love for magical girls and little sisters runs deep...
"Wait a minute! What are you saying, Saori?!" Kirino's frustrated voice echoed in Homura's ears.
"Everyone already knows about your perverted thoughts, so there's no need to hide it," Kuroneko chimed in.
"Ahaha, sorry! I'm just providing some reader feedback for you!"
"You don't need to do that at all! And you, Kuroneko, with your excessive chuunibyou nonsense, stop saying anything more!"
"Chuunibyou?! You actually said something that can't be said!"
Listening to the lively conversation on the other side, Homura was quite amused. He laughed and said, "Saori, tell her that there will definitely be magical girls! And little sisters too, most likely!"
"Really? Hey, Kiririn-shi! Homura-shi said that there will be magical girls and little sisters in the future!"
"Huh? Really? When?" Kirino's excited voice was loud and clear to Homura.
So, he replied, "It's uncertain, as there are already three series, and I have other plans as well."
Saori carefully repeated Homura's words, "Homura-shi said it like that."
"Oh... what a shame." Kirino's enthusiasm vanished instantly.
"By the way, Homura-shi! Did you just mention three series? What are they about?" Saori asked with curiosity.
"You'll find out about the third series later, so it's classified. As for the others, probably next week? At the latest, next weekend, you'll be able to see my other works, so please give me feedback when the time comes." Homura vaguely described, without revealing any further information.
"Eehh~ it really makes me curious!" Saori pouted with a hint of dissatisfaction, but it was more like a tantrum.
Homura chuckled, "The more you anticipate, the more surprises you'll get, right?"
"Okay... Ah! Let's end the talk, the store door will open! I'll hang up now!"
Homura heard the busy tone coming from the phone and shrugged his shoulders, putting his phone away. Just then, the store door here also opened.
"Let's go in too!" Homura clapped his hands as Eriri and Nanami came back. The group followed the queue and entered the store after a while.
===
The crowd stood not far from the door, and Homura looked at Eriri and Nanami.
"By the way, have you heard any information?"
Eriri was quite excited, "You wouldn't believe it! Most of it is about Monthly Girls!"
"Normally, there should be the same number of people as the last time we came since your manga debut is still not long ago. But just look at all these people in line! They're all here because of you, Minamiya-sensei!" Eriri pointed at the crowd.
Nanami nodded eagerly on the side, indicating that she agreed with Eriri.
"Homura-kun, look at this." Megumi reminded everyone, "This time, the promotional poster is still for Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun. Does Manke Bunko not have confidence in The Promised Neverland?"
Before Homura could explain, Utaha spoke up, "No, Megumi. It's not that they lack confidence in The Promised Neverland."
Megumi didn't quite understand this aspect, so she humbly asked, "Can you tell me the reason, Utaha-senpai?"
Utaha raised a finger. "I'll just ask you one question, what are all these people here for today? It was already quite obvious at this point that all these people were here for Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun! To cater to their tastes, using Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun's promotional posters was perfectly normal!"
"Oh, is that so? Thank you, Utaha-senpai. I understand now." Megumi thanked Utaha.
Utaha shook her head slightly and didn't say anything.
"Homura-kun, let's go over there!" Nanami was getting anxious. "If we don't go soon, the place will be packed!"
Everyone looked and saw that the crowd was still streaming into the store, and the number of people was increasing.
Homura shook his head. "We don't need to go inside; we can just stay outside. There are too many people inside, and even if they're eager to read manga, they'll still have to come out eventually!"
"Not to mention..." Homura rubbed Sagiri's head. "If we squeeze in, Sagiri will definitely be uncomfortable."