Seeing Sawamura Eriri's expression change, Tomoya Aki felt completely reassured. Things were gradually developing in the direction he had predicted...
Eriri really couldn't forget him after all. Heh, hadn't she put on quite a convincing act just now? Yet the moment she heard that he had gotten in touch with Utaha Kasumigaoka, a second-year upperclassman, she immediately panicked. That was only natural—when Eriri had first entered Toyogasaki Private High School, people had compared her to Utaha Kasumigaoka.
Eriri must have paid attention to Utaha Kasumigaoka because of that, right? If the number of goddesses at Toyogasaki Private High hadn't increased again, Tomoya Aki believed that, relying on the competitive spirit between beautiful girls, he could have handled both of them with ease. Still, having more had its advantages...
If he could draw the attention of all the other beautiful girls too, then form a club centered around himself, wouldn't he be the perfect light novel protagonist?
Just thinking about girls called goddesses outside fighting over him, while he, Tomoya Aki, could choose whichever one he wanted like some ancient general—the image alone made him tremble with excitement!
Though his heart was surging with emotion, years of pretending allowed Tomoya Aki to suppress his excitement. On the surface, he remained perfectly composed as he said:
"Actually, I've always thought that only Kashiwagi Eri—that is, Eriri's artwork—was worthy of the current Love Metronome. It's just a shame that Eriri isn't interested..." Having confirmed that Eriri still "had feelings" for him, Tomoya Aki deliberately took a step back to advance.
Sawamura Eriri: (￣ˇ￣)
Damn it, he had really hit the nail on the head. Though she hated to admit it, whenever she read the book, she wanted to smash the illustrator with a hammer and take over herself!
"Since we go to the