“No matter how jealous you are of her, do you think you’ll feel better if you ruin her affection like this?”

“… It’s a misunderstanding. Lara didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all because of my incompetence… … .” “What did you do wrong that you’re so gloomy about?”

If someone saw you, they’d think you were a cold-blooded man who was usually colder than the coldest snow in the north, but in front of Elina1, you were incredibly affectionate. That fucking bastard.

‘If you do this, it’ll seem like I threw it! What the hell are you doing after making her a fucking bad bitch… … !’

Whether he knew Lara was on the verge of grabbing the back of her neck or not, Diches gently grabbed Elina1’s wrist and pulled her toward the door.

“Let’s go out, Elina1.”

“But… … .”

“You might forgive the person who hurt your feelings, but I can’t. I can’t just stand by and watch.”

“Your Majesty, I appreciate your concern, but Lara isn’t that kind of friend… … . It’s only been an hour since we became close, but I can tell… … . Ah.”

Far from a proper explanation, Elina1 was dragged away, saying “Ah… Ah… … .” like a kaonashi. Diches, who had grabbed the doorknob, stopped walking for a moment and looked back at Lara.

“Lara, I’m disappointed in you. But that doesn’t mean I’ve let you go from my heart, so I’ll come back around 3 o’clock to check on your condition.” ‘I wonder if you realise that you’re the biggest piece of trash… … .’

After the two left, Elina2 and Elina3 stared at each other for a moment and focused on other things.

<Oh— My God!! That’s right!! You wanted this kind of cliche!! Let’s keep going like this! Let’s go!>

The god seemed satisfied and stood up to give a standing ovation, but Lara couldn’t just be happy.

Lara could instinctively tell. Elina1 is pure, kind, and pure-hearted, but anyone close to her will inevitably take on the role of a villainess. Even if Elina1 didn’t intend it, the situation would turn out that way.

The absolute authority of the original heroine did not change.

* * *

Two weeks passed. Lara finally got her full-body cast off in the evening and became free. She didn’t know how refreshing it was to take a bath after such a long time. She neatly braided her dried hair and changed into pyjamas, and then Lara took out her carrier from under the bed.

It was the first carrier she had taken out in about half a year. She carefully wiped off the light dust and started to take out the odds and ends inside and organise them.

<You’re diligently preparing to go to work at the Knights’ Office tomorrow.> ‘What are you talking about? I’m not going to work tomorrow.’

<What are you talking about!>

‘I’ve just recovered, so of course I should rest for a week.’

<I wonder what kind of non-cliche happened between Diches and Elina3! Can’t you hurry up and get back to your original mission with a sense of duty?>

‘Really! I also need to rest for the first time in a while. And no way, tomorrow is not possible! Absolutely not!’ Lara firmly nailed it. When Shin came in asking what was more important than world peace, Lara suddenly got up and shouted.

“Tomorrow is the day of the very important Only Exhibition. I can’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

<… So what is that.>

Without answering, Lara quickly lay down on the bed. The corners of her lips curled up, wishing tomorrow would come soon.

The Only Exhibition was held at the capital’s Comic World, or Suko. Lara was very excited as it was the first Only Exhibition in half a year. As she entered the venue with the solemn determination to buy all the new doujinshi, she happened to see the face of an acquaintance.

It was 9 in the morning. As expected, it was a little late. When Lara bit her lips in impatience, her acquaintance recognized Lara first and approached her.

“Hello. You’re here!”

“Hoho, of course! Did you buy Yuri’s new book?”

“Of course. I came here early in the morning and waited in line.”

This… … . Lara apologised and hurriedly ran towards where Yuri’s new book was. She had long since lost the elegance and grace of a noble lady.

<What on earth is this place, and why are you running so fast?>

‘Can’t you tell if you see it? It’s the ‘Magical Girl Lirica’ exclusive exhibition. It’s like an event held by people who were impressed by the manga ‘Magical Girl Lirica’.’

‘Magical Girl Lirica’. It was a magical girl manga that appeared like a new star about 10 years ago, and it was a work that brought great shock to this society where the concept of manga didn’t exist at the time. Of course, it spread to the enthusiast class, and the manga market was still small, but it was highly regarded as the world’s first manga. The author with the unique pen name ‘Takeuri Hinako’, who was the originator of magical girl stories and the object of respect in all secondary worlds, never showed up to the world, but has shown her health by consistently serialising her works to this day.

Although it is a shame that the next volume is not known when it will come out, the story of dreams and hopes of Lily, who was chosen as a magical girl, transforming and fighting against the forces of darkness was still popular with people of all ages. Every time the power of darkness was sealed, a white rose bloomed in that place, which is called the flower of Erodis in the story, and conveniently called the sealing rose among readers.

‘The sealing rose is a precious source of power that saves the magical star, so the magical girl Lily collects it. In the beginning of the manga, the gentleman Rob and Lily are shown as rivals with this sealing rose between them. However, as they say that hate is more scary than information, they gradually open their hearts as they start to help each other. That chemistry has a chewy flavour that you can’t find in most romance novels!’

Lara was completely immersed in their chemistry, and since she was thirteen, she’d been attending gatherings to gather information and expand her network. The acquaintance I mentioned earlier was also someone she met at a gathering.

<Okay… … . I know your tastes. I’ll respect you. So what do you usually do at this event where fans of 『Magical Girl Lily』 gather?>

‘Usually, they sell secondary creations. You can also sell the watermark, so it’s a sacred place for people like me who collect doujinshi.’

Out of all the doujinshi collections, the genre that Lara treasured the most was definitely the Robe Gentleman X Lily genre from 『Magical Girl Lily』. The first doujinshi that introduced Lara to the world of doujinshi was the doujinshi of Yuri that she received as a birthday present. ‘Yuri, who is very well known in the doujinshi world, is popular for her 17+ and 19+ doujinshi.’

There are mail-order sales, but in the case of new doujinshi, the only way is to buy them directly at the event, so Lara was in such a hurry. If she missed this opportunity, she had no idea when she would be able to get them again. Sometimes they sell out as soon as she enters, so she shouldn’t let her guard down, but today she was too relaxed because she was so excited.

It felt like the life-size figures of robed gentlemen passing by were waving at her. When the carrier she was pulling felt cumbersome, Lara simply grabbed the carrier and ran.

She must have been running so breathlessly that she saw a white table not far away, presumably Yuri’s booth. Inside, Yuri, who showed off her mature appearance in her mid-twenties, was sitting cautiously, waiting for a customer to buy the last remaining volume.

“Hello, Yuri! Please give me this… … .”

It was the moment when Lara lightly jumped and grabbed the new doujinshi. A large hand came in silently from the other side. It was a swift movement like a baseball player who shouted “safe” and entered the base.

“I picked it up first.”

Lara raised her head at the low, low-pitched voice from beside her. The first thing she noticed was the faded check shirt and jeans fashion. She was carrying a backpack with a rolled-up poster stuck in it and holding a dakimakura in one arm. She was wearing round glasses so her eyes were not visible, but her chin, nose, and lips were clearly visible.

“Who is it…? I’ve seen it somewhere.”

Judging from the dark purple hair sticking out from under the baseball cap pulled down low and the overall physique, it was definitely a man.

“Sell it to me, Yuri-sama.”

“… Hey!! What are you talking about? I’m still holding it? And I picked it up first!”

“No. It was a close call, but I was faster.” “You’re funny, really! I picked it up first.”

Lara nodded and put all her strength into her fingers pressing down on the smooth surface of the doujinshi.

“… Let go of this.”

The cover of this doujinshi, visible through her fingers, looked much more provocative and higher quality than the ones she had collected so far. With a dark wine-coloured background with a 19-number sticker, thorny vines tying Lily’s wrists and a robed gentleman climbing on top of her body, she was already very curious about the content. “I’ll give you three times more.”

“Why are you being so deadly? Trying to bribe Yuri with money!” “Don’t you know anything? In a materialistic society, money is everything.”

“Then I’ll give you four times more, Yuri!”

She would have to give up four other doujinshi volumes, but for the sake of Yuri’s new book, this was no big deal.

“I’ll give you sixteen times more.” ‘Crazy… … !’

Usually, shouldn’t you jump five times? I don’t know what kind of person you are, who multiplies it by four times. Yuri smiled awkwardly and said, “No. I’ll just charge the original price.”

“Here!”

Lara quickly took out a wad of money from her handbag and put it on the table. Then, she quickly grabbed the man’s forehead and snatched the doujinshi and started running like crazy.

“Stay right there!”

I saw the man grabbing his forehead and running towards me. He was so fast that he was chasing me and was about five steps behind me. ‘Opps …!’

Lara threw the carrier that was getting in the way of her running behind her. She heard a loud thud and turned around, and saw the man tripping on the carrier.

It was pitiful to see him groping for his glasses with his head down so that his bangs were swept down, as if his glasses had come off and he couldn’t see, but the competitive world was a cold law.

‘I’m sorry, but I’ll take the flower of Erodis, or rather, the new doujinshi!’

Lara leisurely left the event hall, muttering the famous line of the gentleman Rob in her mind.