Truthfully, every friend of Kaguya, including herself, owed a big thanks to Ai and Chika.
It was because of these two that Kaguya was the way she was now. Otherwise, she might have gone further down the path of the 'Ice Princess', long assimilated by the absurd rules of the Shinomiya family.
"...Minamiya-kun, can you tell me why?" Kaguya's voice carried a hint of curiosity.
Hearing the question, Homura smirked and answered.
"You remember Mugi's band, right? Well, the thing is, this time they finally have their own song, so tomorrow they want to perform for everyone at my place. Since that's the case, everyone needs to be there, don't you think?"
"Kotobuki-san and her friends..."
Kaguya sighed regretfully.
"I'm sorry... I probably can't make it—"
"We haven't given up! Why did you give up so early?"
Homura suddenly interrupted Kaguya.
"Chika is thinking of not going out today and then using the excuse of celebrating Children's Day with you tomorrow, y'know."
Listening to his words, Kaguya felt moved and grateful to Chika, but why did she have a mixed feeling of laughter and tears?
"Flimsy excuses, right? Still, she hasn't given up yet and is still figuring things out." Homura continued. "You know, I gave her an idea before, though I don't know if it'll work."
"What?" Kaguya asked curiously.
"Let her invite you to her home for a study session or something, then sneak you out."
Upon hearing this, Kaguya fell silent for a moment before sighing.
"Maybe... but the time can't be too long... and if it gets exposed, Fujiwara-san will be implicated."
"Yeah..." Homura agreed. "But if we can't think of another way, Chika will definitely use that method tomorrow."
Kaguya smiled bitterly and didn't respond.
Seeing Ai returned, Kaguya immediately gave the phone to her.
"Minamiya-sama, I'm back."
"Oh, you've worked hard." Homura praised and then asked, "So, how's it going? Did you find some useful information?"
"Yes, but there is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first, Minamiya-sama?"
"Good news."
"The good news is that, because the old fa—the master hasn't been at home for a while and has taken some servants with him, no one will come to check the house for the next few days."
Upon hearing this, Homura chuckled.
Ai must have wanted to call Kaguya's father an old fart just now.
"What's the bad news?"
"I found out that the surveillance system is impenetrable. The last time I managed to let Kaguya-sama out was because I messed up the backup power supply, causing it to trip. However, that led them to prepare an extra set of backup power supplies later on."
At this point, Ai sighed a little.
"I mean, if both backup supplies go down at the same time and trip again, it will be obvious deception, and they will definitely investigate thoroughly."
*BANG!*
Homura slammed his fist on the sofa!
"Dammit!"
Homura growled, making Eriri and the others feel that things were really getting serious.
"Unfortunately, that's all the information I know." Ai calmly added.
"I just don't believe it..." Homura muttered to himself. "Think, Homura, think... There must be a way..."
After pondering for a moment, Homura spoke again.
"Ai, can we do something about the surveillance room?"
"Unfortunately, to prevent the surveillance room from being tampered with and causing a series of dire consequences, the surveillance room does not exist in the main residence and is solely controlled by the old fa—the master himself."
'Is that a fucking fortress?!'
Homura couldn't help but roar angrily in his mind.
Elf, who was leaning in Homura's ear to listen, was also confused after hearing Ai's words.
When she told Eriri and the others, no one knew what to say.
Because of Homura's earlier actions of slamming his fist on the sofa, Elf wanted to hear more. Although it was not very polite, she still wanted more detailed information.
"Think again..."
Homura continued muttering to himself, contemplating everything he could do.
Before long, his gaze focused on the dropdown arrow that only he could see.
...
[Level]: 80 (74,390/65,000,000)
[Title]: Intermediate Mangaka (Increases the appeal of manga works by 5%)
[Life Skill]: Programming LV9 (To view other skills, concentrate your mind here)
[Skill Points]: 74
...
[Main Mission]: Increase Fame (Part 1)
[Mission Objective]: Achieve a 10% fame rate among the population of Japan.
[Mission Status]: Completed.
[Mission Reward]: Unlock Mentor-Disciple System. (By using this, you can establish a one-sided mentor-disciple relationship with others, where the disciple's skill level limit is the mentor's taught skill level minus one. Note: Disciples will not realize or feel any abnormality.)
...
[Main Mission]: Increase Fame (Part 2)
[Mission Description]: With your greatly increased fame, you need to further enhance your reputation. Do your best to make more people know the name of Minamiya Homura!
[Mission Objective]: Achieve a 30% fame rate among the population of Japan.
[Mission Status]: Incomplete.
[Mission Reward]: Unknown.
...
'The part one of fame mission is completed?'
Homura was lost in thought.
'The Mentor-Disciple System seems to enhance the effectiveness of my Teaching skill, right?'
'So, it means I can teach my Level 9 skills to my disciples up to Level 8 without them noticing. In other words, my teaching won't make them feel like knowledge is magically popping into their heads, but will feel like genuine learning, just at an accelerated pace.'
'A pretty good reward, but truly useless given the current situation!'
In the end, Homura had to focus on Programming.
In his mind, he concentrated on another skill he hadn't used before but mastered through Programming.
In the next moment, the skill appeared.
[Life Skill]: Hacking LV7
While casually upgrading Hacking to level 9, Homura spoke to the phone.
"Tomorrow morning at seven, make sure Kaguya is ready... I'll be there on time to pick her up."
"...Minamiya-sama, have you figured something out?" Ai asked confusedly.
"Yeah, but I won't say it out loud to avoid any surprises—oh, and tell her to wear something easy to move in."
Ai raised her eyebrows in surprise.
'Figured out a solution, but it couldn't be spoken aloud? He can't be thinking of breaking in directly with force, right?'
Ai thought inwardly, feeling a little speechless.
'It can't be, right?'
Her impression of Minamiya Homura wasn't of someone reckless.
Breaking in directly with force wouldn't benefit the Shinomiya or Minamiya families either, so it was simply impossible.
"I understand... Kaguya-sama will be ready on time, and I hope you'll also be on time, Minamiya-sama."
"Rest assured..."
Homura hung up the phone and sighed.
"Since I've promised, there's no way I won't follow through..."