"What strange thing did Belfast make you drink?! Dressed like this, you look like you're about to have afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace..."
"Miss Eriri said last month that Qiuqiu would definitely look good in a long coat."
Belfast, who had slipped away without a sound, appeared beside the dining table, carrying a tray of black tea.
Her fingers beneath the lace cuffs of her Maid Outfit lightly tapped her lips. Watching Eriri's face flush from the tips of her ears all the way down to her collarbone, she elegantly blinked her violet eyes. "Although I designed the style myself, it was based on Miss Eriri's sketch from half a month ago."
In truth, it was not merely the design. Everything Jiang Lianqiu wore, from head to toe, had been personally arranged by Belfast.
Beneath that gorgeous exterior lay technological elements combining Ship Girls and Mech Servants, enough to propel humanity's current technological level forward by centuries, perhaps nearly a millennium.
"Belfast!!"
The girl's embarrassed shriek startled the sparrows from the cherry blossom tree outside the window.
From the 1940s to the 1980s, Japan's electrical appliance industry enjoyed its golden age. Back then, Akihabara was truly an electrical appliance district.
Then, beginning in the 1990s, as all kinds of digital products rose to prominence, camera and computer stores appeared as well. Comprehensive malls such as Yodobashi Camera became local landmarks.
The invasion of two-dimensional culture began in 2005.
By today, anime and game stores accounted for more than 65% of the area, making it the world's largest otaku sanctuary.
Of course, the digital-product elements that had once belonged to Akihabara had not been abandoned. So unlike what many people imagined, not everyone in Akihabara's bustling crowds was an otaku.
Even so—
"Brother Qiu, you're still way too conspicuous!"
After baring her cute little canine teeth and scaring off yet another wave of Girls who had come to strike up a conversation, like a kitten guarding her food, Eriri rolled her eyes in exhaustion and glared at the youth beside her.
"Why didn't you change before coming out?"
"I didn't want Belfast's good intentions to go to waste." Jiang Lianqiu lifted his chin. "Besides, I'm not afraid of being recognized by people I know."
The Island Nation's systematic discrimination against otaku culture meant that most otaku chose to disguise themselves discreetly when going out to buy otaku merchandise. Jiang Lianqiu would make reasonable concessions for others' feelings, but there was no way he would inconvenience himself over something like this, worrying about being recognized just to go out and buy something.
He absolutely could not do what Eriri beside him was doing—wearing a hat to cover her distinctive blonde hair, along with a mask and black-rimmed glasses as a disguise.
"Well, anyway, I need to buy something at the mall next door. Brother Qiu, could you wait here for me first?"
Eriri was used to Jiang Lianqiu's ways too. She immediately changed the subject, while a faint blush showed through her cheeks even beneath the mask.
Jiang Lianqiu did not pry. He merely nodded and stepped into a bookstore nearby.
Seeing that Jiang Lianqiu had not asked, Eriri, who had been on edge the whole time, finally let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly ran toward the mall beside them.
"That girl..."
Jiang Lianqiu shook his head as he entered the bookstore.
Even if she did not say it aloud, everything Eriri was thinking was written all over her face. Besides, today was March 19th, and tomorrow would be March 20th.
It was his and Eriri's shared birthday. Aside from going on a date, the young girl had called him out today because she wanted to buy him a birthday present.
Compared to Eriri, was having Belfast prepare Eriri's gift for him a little too perfunctory?
Thinking this, Jiang Lianqiu ignored the gazes constantly falling on him inside the bookstore. Then, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly spotted a pile of books in one corner.
The title on the cover caught his attention.
"Love Beat, Volume One... Kasumiko?"
His brows furrowed for an instant before relaxing. Jiang Lianqiu suddenly remembered that Toyosaki Academy would begin its term in a few days.
April 4th.
By then, Eriri would be entering her first year of high school, while Utaha Kasumigaoka would naturally advance into her second year.
In other words, this was exactly when a certain Black Stockings Senior had just debuted, and the first volume of her novel had hit the shelves.
Before you continue