Hachiman had spent more time living here, only going back during vacations. His childhood friend in the countryside couldn't possibly wait for him forever. Maybe she would even be getting married.
'But, this guy Hachiman going back to the countryside would probably be even more popular than he is at Sobu High, right?'
Kaede suddenly thought that the low birthrate problem in the countryside was much more serious than in the city. Young people all rushed to the cities, and schools that couldn't fill their enrollment were everywhere in rural areas.
Girls in the countryside who hadn't seen many handsome boys their age would definitely fall for Hachiman at first sight, groups of girls crowding around him.
"That... Hikigaya kun, I might still need your help from now on. Origamine-san said my constitution tends to attract ghosts, and the protective charm she gave me might not be able to protect me forever."
Yotsuya Miko saw Kaede and the others getting ready to go to class and quickly stood up to leave with them, but before leaving she hesitated, then took the initiative to get close to Hachiman, speaking softly with a very embarrassed blush.
If she ran into ghosts several times in a row again, she would probably have to panic and rush to Hikigaya's house to stay the night again.
Although she knew it was awkward for her and Hana, as outsiders, to mix in with Hachiman's good friends, compared to facing ghosts she felt a little embarrassment was nothing.
Hikigaya was someone who knew her humiliating black history, and she together with Hana and Kita had seen Hikigaya's overwhelming strength when he held Ijichi.
Both she and Hikigaya knew sides of each other that no one else knew. Their relationship couldn't really be considered normal.
"Miko, Hana, come whenever you want. Don't worry about bothering me. The apartment next door is already settled. You won't need to squeeze with Komachi and the others anymore."
Hachiman smiled and nodded. As if remembering something, he reminded her softly.
"But Miko, you might want to leave some clean clothes at my place beforehand. You probably won't like wearing my clothes."
"Uh... I got it, thank you Hikigaya kun, I already prepared them."
Hearing Hachiman's thoughtful reminder, Yotsuya Miko's delicate face instantly turned red. She lowered her head, not daring to meet Hachiman's eyes, dragging the still-confused Yurikawa Hana with her as she hurried away.
'This black history... it is probably going to follow me for life.'
'The only thing worth being grateful for is that only Hikigaya-kun knows about it.'
Maid Shion glanced at the quickly departing Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana, then stayed behind to shut the door.
When she finished closing the door and hurried to catch up with everyone, she followed behind her own young lady, Rurikawa Tsubaki.
'Hm? What is that on the floor? Did the janitor not clean properly?'
Falling to the rear, Maid Shion suddenly noticed a few faint, broken silver strands on the smooth floor next to the red carpet. Without showing anything on her face, she quietly followed the nearly invisible strands with her eyes toward the people walking ahead.
After observing for a while, her gaze finally settled on Origamine Ouka, who walked beside Suzu, with her back straight, hands clenched tight, staring straight ahead with a stiff expression.
'This shrine maiden of the oni clan, with horns on her head...'
'She looks so serious on the outside, and she didn't have much interaction with Young Master Hachiman. How did things suddenly become like this?'
If not for her being the head maid in the Rurikawa household and often inspecting how well the maids cleaned, having the habit of checking for spots left uncleaned, she probably wouldn't have noticed such tiny traces.
Logically speaking, even if Young Master Hachiman and Origamine Ouka really had some kind of intimate relationship, Young Master Hachiman wouldn't need to hide it from them.
Although Origamine Ouka was a demi-human of the oni race, she was unlike the elf princess and the others who had come from another world for assistance. Her mission was to protect the human world, maintain order, and slay demons and monsters.
Now that she was also the student council vice president, even if she joined them, she would definitely stand on their side. Having such a powerful helper to deal with Iris and Elio, even Kaede wouldn't be unhappy.
'So... Is this a one-sided crush? Or love at first sight?'
Maid Shion silently lowered her head, only using her peripheral vision to watch Origamine Ouka, who showed almost no signs of anything unusual, carefully recalling what she saw in the office earlier.
Ever since Young Master Hachiman appeared in the office, this oni clan shrine maiden had been acting strange, keeping her face tense. After finishing lunch quickly, she didn't speak again.
But since everyone's attention was on Young Master Hachiman, no one noticed the change in Origamine Ouka.
"Young lady, I just discovered..."
After Kaede, Suzu, Yotsuya Miko and the others separated to return to their classes, and Origamine Ouka had also walked far away, Maid Shion finally stepped forward and whispered her report into Rurikawa Tsubaki's ear.
"?"
Hearing Maid Shion's report, Rurikawa Tsubaki froze, immediately turning toward the direction where Origamine Ouka had left.
However, Origamine Ouka's figure was already gone.
"Did she go to find Hachiman? Or did she head back alone..."
Looking at the empty hallway, Rurikawa Tsubaki hesitated but did not go after Origamine Ouka to ask about something so awkward.
"Forget it. Shion, go back to class. Whatever intentions Origamine has toward Hachiman, it shouldn't be a problem."
Compared to the high elves, who were rare and needed Hachiman's daily assistance, the mermaid idols who were entering their transformation period and needed Hachiman's life energy to stimulate them, and even the dragon tribe leader who wanted to take Hachiman back to Dragon Island as a dragon knight.
A possibly lovestruck oni shrine maiden wasn't anything special.
Although she didn't know why Origamine Ouka suddenly became like this toward Hachiman, especially since Origamine had interacted with him even less than she originally had, barely saying a few words.
"Understood. But regarding the recruitment of maids at school, do you have any changes?", Maid Shion nodded but didn't leave. Instead, she asked another question.
"Are we still only recruiting from students? Or should we expand it to include teachers?", Because the Rurikawa household's maid group was no longer fitting for their increasingly large influence, it was necessary to expand.
Considering Young Master Hachiman often stayed at school, even when skipping class he was usually at Sobu High, it naturally made sense to recruit maids from Sobu High's students.
If they recruited enough maids, the entire Sobu High would have Rurikawa maids ready to serve Young Master Hachiman at any time. Who could possibly beat the Rurikawa household then? Even Ichinose Ayano wouldn't stand a chance no matter how many sisters she gathered.
Originally, they were only considering economically struggling students with good character who needed support. But now that the teacher Ebihara Urara, who had been harmed by her fiance, was about to work part time at the Rurikawa household, Maid Shion felt the maid recruitment criteria could change a little.
"This... don't set limits. Don't force it and don't restrict it. As long as the girls meet the requirements, it's fine."
Rurikawa Tsubaki's face reddened under Maid Shion's calm gaze. After hesitating, she gave her instructions softly.
"Shion, whether it's students or teachers, observe them first after they join. There's no rush to put them into maid training with Sayo and Akira."
"If they're unwilling, let them leave, or move them to part time maid positions to do simple chores."
She originally didn't want to think about these things. Whenever maid training came up, she remembered that day when she invited everyone over for a cosplay gathering.
Facing the mirror as Kaede, Suzu, Iris and the others were changing clothes behind her, she herself was being put through 'maid training' by Hachiman.
With Shion's mischievous tastes, if they recruited that many maids for training, she would definitely drag her into it too.
But... Kaede had previously thought about bringing teachers into their side as well, combining the strength of all factions to fight Iris and the corrupted elf princesses.
Since Kaede thought so, she had to support her.
After all, according to Iris, as Hachiman helped more and more noble demi-humans, his reputation in a certain field was growing.
Now the abandoned girls' school building behind Sobu High was being renovated to house incoming transfer students. During lunch she had even seen lots of transfer applications.
Although none of them mentioned demi-humans, these exchange students were all either elite daughters from prestigious academies or top-tier girls with excellent grades and beauty.
Arriving at this timing to transfer into Sobu High, Rurikawa Tsubaki had a strong feeling these were all demi-humans hiding their identities, all coming for Hachiman.
Never mind the ones who hadn't transferred yet. They couldn't even handle the demi-humans already in Sobu High.
Like the succubus triplets who were still observing from the sidelines. If even they joined in, she and Kaede wouldn't know what to do.
If the succubus triplets' charm ability couldn't be restrained and affected everyone, then would their carefully prepared maid squad even be useful?
"Understood. I'll carefully screen the maid candidates. Please rest assured."
Maid Shion bowed respectfully, watching her young lady hurry off to class. She looked around the empty hallway and did not rush to class.
Lowering her head, she took out her phone and browsed the data she'd collected on Sobu High students, thinking about which students to recruit first.
She couldn't interfere in the struggle between humans and demi-humans. That was a battlefield between her young lady, President Kaede and Iris. As a personal maid she could only cheer for them and help her lady rest afterward.
But... having more high quality excellent maids to offer Young Master Hachiman the best service was definitely a good thing.
Appearance, figure, personality, family background.
Usually, selecting reliable maids meant choosing those with good conduct.
But training only good mannered maids was too boring.
Turning disobedient maids into obedient ones, now that was maid training. She wondered if Young Master Hachiman liked that...
A maid who failed entrance exams and had to work part time to pay for cram school.
A maid with a hidden black history who disguised her dark side well.
A maid whose family faced disaster and urgently needed money to pay off debts, or else her parents' organs would be sold, already desperate enough to consider selling herself.
Maid Shion marked several suitable girls in the list and showed a satisfied smile.
'These should do for now. After school I will interview them myself.'
Together with the useless maid Akira at home, and the helpful driver maid Sayo, it should be enough.
Although these maids of many different personalities were all just ordinary humans and couldn't compare to elves, mermaids, dragons, or succubi, there was nothing she could do. The Rurikawa household's foundations were still too thin.
Even if they were not lacking in wealth, the Rurikawa household still didn't have channels to find maids skilled in combat or warming the bed.
When Maid Shion also left for class, the area returned to silence.
———
But in a nearby abandoned classroom.
Origamine Ouka, who should have gone to class already, braced both hands on a desk, her face flushed red, her pale forehead covered in sweat as she took deep breaths.
"How could this happen. It was only life energy overflowing as life aura, but the effect on me is even more indecent than corruption."
Feeling the desire surging in her body that she couldn't suppress, Origamine Ouka found it unbelievable.
Shrine maidens who exorcised monsters born from accumulated human negative emotions were easily influenced by foul energies around them, especially lustful impurities.
Usually, maidens with pure bodies and minds were not affected too badly. But oni shrine maidens were different. Their bodies were strong, and their desires strong too.
As the strongest oni shrine maiden, when she exorcised monsters, she was easily affected by these impure energies.
Normally, if too much impurity accumulated, she could release it in time, and even if she couldn't, she could suppress it with willpower.
But she never expected that just staying at normal social distance from Hikigaya, not even touching him, would make her almost lose control.
Even though she could be in an extremely corrupt environment and only be slightly affected, just needing to be a little careful.
But Hikigaya's life energy was so overwhelmingly strong that its influence was worse than impurity. It directly triggered the lustful energy she had kept sealed inside.
"As expected... Hikigaya's essence is too strong. So strong that just getting close will affect me."
"Then doesn't that mean Lily can be friends with Hikigaya, touching his body without worrying that he'll die?"
"We are three people though. Hikigaya alone might not survive the absorption of all three of us."
"Who? You three succubi?"
Hearing unfamiliar voices behind her, Origamine Ouka, still panting, immediately held her breath and leapt back, fingers pinching a talisman as she stared warily at the three silver haired figures who suddenly appeared.
'Hikigaya's influence on me is that strong?'
'These three succubi walked right up to me and I only now sensed them?'
Big sister Amaki Lemi, second sister Amaki Lami, little sister Amaki Lily.
The Amaki triplets varied in height. The tallest, Lemi, was elegant and sexy with a commanding presence. The shortest, Lily, was small, adorable, and doll-like.
Their faces were stunningly beautiful, their snow white long hair seemed like it could let light pass through, and their model-like bodies were perfectly proportioned. The Amaki triplets were campus idol level figures.
They had transferred not long ago. Even though the students didn't know they were demi-humans, the Amaki triplets quickly rose to be the most popular students after the elf princesses and mermaid idols. Wherever they went, they attracted attention.
But even though their unusual beauty and figures were stunning, in a school filled with beautiful girls, they didn't stand out that much.
What truly made them feel sacred and untouchable, like the former ice queen Yukinoshita Yukino, was their refusal to interact with anyone.
They didn't talk to boys, and when girls tried to greet them, they reacted coldly. They always wore gloves and didn't let anyone touch even a finger.
Among so many beautiful girls at Sobu High, no one else was so extremely distant. Even mermaid idols and elf princesses would chat with female students sometimes.
And the colder their attitude, the more the boys liked them. If the Amaki sisters didn't lack special noble status, their popularity might have rivaled the elf princesses or mermaid idols.
But Origamine Ouka knew why they were so cold and kept everyone at a distance.
Because the Amaki triplets were succubi.
Different from other unawakened succubi who had no special abilities, at most a bit of charm that made them pleasing to the eye.
Even though the Amaki triplets were native succubi who had lived on Earth for hundreds of years, all three had awakened their demi-human bloodline and possessed abilities akin to magic.
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