Vol. 1 Chapter 3.1 – I Started Visiting the Bookstore Regularly

“Books… O-bocchama?”

The mansion’s maid—Chitose—tilted her head in confusion as she received Issei’s school bag when he returned from school.

Alongside his usual school bag, he was carrying a shopping bag.

O-bocchama had gone shopping.

There was nothing wrong with that per se—but…

The surprising part was what he had bought: books.

“Indeed. I stopped by the bookstore today.”

“I see… But you didn’t have to go out of your way to buy them.”

Gotokuji Issei was a genius.

Once he saw or heard something, he would never forget it.

He could process an entire book’s contents into his mind within a matter of seconds.

In other words, he never needed to reread anything.

Therefore, there was no need to own books at all.

In fact, Issei’s study didn’t contain a single book.

“O-bocchama, you can memorize a book’s content in just a few seconds anyway.”

“My next target is the bookstore clerk.”

At those words, Chitose’s expression piki—froze.

“Another girl, huh…”

She mumbled under her breath in a small voice.

“What was that? I didn’t catch it.”

“Ah—nothing at all.”

Chitose consciously softened her expression.

The desires of her master are her own—she reminded herself of that.

I’m not jealous. I’m not jealous. I’m just exasperated.—she repeated like a spell inside her head.

“You didn’t go and stack up cash again, did you? Starting from minus one billion points is hard work for the support team, you know.”

“No. That tactic failed last time. I do not repeat foolish mistakes.”

“Very wise of you.”

She took his jacket. Accepted the scarf he slipped from around his neck.

It was a task she had done for over ten years, yet for some reason, today, she couldn’t keep her eyes on his back.

To shift the conversation, Chitose asked Issei a question.

“So? You said your next interest is the bookstore clerk?”

“Indeed. The one at the shop near the station.”

“Understood. I’ll begin background checks immediately. —Kurobu.”

“Hai.”

When Chitose called out to the corner of the room, a man in a black suit and black sunglasses appeared there without a sound.

No—rather than appeared, it would be more accurate to say that something which had always been there simply became visible.

“The bookstore near the station.”

“Understood.”

The man in black vanished, as if melting into the air.

A new mission had begun.

Chitose let out a small sigh.

Her master was ignited. Even through his clothes, something like steam seemed to rise from his body.

Chitose forced herself not to think unnecessary thoughts, and simply moved to act.

Everything—for the sake of her master.

◇

“Welcome—! …Ah.”

As she called out upon his entry, the female bookstore clerk seemed to realize right away that the customer who had walked in was Issei—and her face lit up with a smile.

That little『Ah』 in her voice carried a note of happiness, but Issei, who was notoriously bad at reading the room, failed to pick up on that nuance entirely.

Her name was Matsura Shiori.

He had learned her surname quickly thanks to the name tag she wore, but her given name had remained a mystery for a while. He eventually figured it out from a recommendation display in the store that said:『Shiori’s Picks.』

“You came again today.”

“Indeed.”

Issei gave a short nod of affirmation.

After answering her question succinctly, he recalled something from Chitose’s so-called『Lessons on the Female Heart.』

According to Chitose—

『You mustn’t end a conversation with just a short reply. If all you do is give answers, it isn’t a conversation.』

Following that guidance, Issei decided to try saying something completely meaningless.

“Nice weather today, isn’t it?”

“Yes! It really is. On days like this, I’d love to read outside. …Though I can’t, since I’m working. Ahaha.”

Oh! From what he thought was a completely meaningless comment, a new conversation had actually been born!

Issei was genuinely surprised.

Chitose—truly formidable.

And he had also earned a smile from her—Shiori.

If her affection level were high, she would smile. If it were negative, she’d make an unpleasant face.

Judging by this current smile… her affection level must be quite high indeed.

If only he had something like a scouter that could measure affection levels…

Maybe he could have the tech division make one. If he threw 20 billion yen at them, they might be able to develop it.

For the past few days, Issei had been visiting this bookstore religiously.

“What kind of book are you looking for today?”

“Yesterday I covered travel guides. Today I’ll go with handicrafts or cooking.”

If he were to conquer the store section by section in a clockwise pattern, that would be the next category.

“You must really love books!”

“Indeed. I do enjoy gaining knowledge.”

He could almost hear a piron♡ sound.

Lately, Issei had started to recognize the exact moments when affection points increased.

Recently, Nanako had been going around humming a tone-deaf little jingle:『Piron♡ Piron♡¹Piron♡ Kokando~♪ Kōkan-dō~♪』Kokando²The piron♡ was supposedly a sound effect from that.

While walking through the store, Issei recalled something Chitose had told him:『You must never, ever deny being a book lover. Got it?』

Apparently, Shiori had him pegged as a book lover.

He came to the bookstore every day, picked out books, and purchased a dozen or so each time. Just doing that alone was automatically boosting his affection score.

It seemed this bonus time was triggered specifically because she thought he loved books.

Following Chitose’s advice, Issei made sure never to foolishly say things like, 『Actually, I don’t really like books.』

He knew full well that saying so would immediately end the affection bonus time.

As always, he selected about a dozen books.

While selecting them, he had already『read』through dozens more. The books he chose to actually purchase were the ones that contained particularly useful content.

He brought them to the register and stacked them up, and behind Shiori’s glasses, it seemed her eyes lit up.

“As always… your selections are…”

“Is there a problem?”

“Ah—! No, no! That was just me thinking aloud! I didn’t mean anything weird! I’m not one of those people who always mumbles to themselves or anything! It’s just that… the books you choose always overlap with my own recommendations!”

“My apologies.”

“No, not at all! It’s totally fine! Actually, it’s kind of wonderful! I mean, finding someone whose taste in books matches mine so well—ah, no, wait! I didn’t mean it that way!”

Whatever that way was, Issei didn’t understand at all…

But he did hear the piron♡. Multiple times in a row.

“Sorry. That was weird of me. I-I’ll get back to work now…”

After that, Shiori went quiet.

One by one, she scanned the barcodes of the books.

Only the pi, pi sound echoed through the store.

Though to Issei’s inner ear, the piron♡ piron♡ sounds were echoing just as clearly.

Still…

He hadn’t done anything. Why was her affection going up?

…Well, whatever.

Issei’s objective was to see panties. The methods or events along the way—he didn’t really care about the details.

“Your total is 7,323 yen.”

“Indeed.”

He paid in cash.

As he smoothly pulled out a 10,000 yen bill—at that moment, a thought crossed Issei’s mind.

Paying with physical cash like this… was a strangely stimulating experience.

Of course, when dealing in full aluminum cases packed with stacks—amounts like one hundred million or two hundred million—he had used cash before.

But this—pulling out just a single 10,000-yen bill… and even receiving change in return—that was something Issei had never experienced in his entire life.

According to Chitose, using a credit card was not recommended.

Paying in cash was more down-to-earth.

And being down-to-earth… led to increased affection levels.

“Your change is 2,677 yen.”

The so-called change came back to him as a 1,000-yen bill, a 500-yen coin, a 100-yen coin, a 50-yen coin, a 10-yen coin, a 5-yen coin, and a 1-yen coin.

He felt a little dizzy.

Why were there so many kinds? Getting every single denomination as change—was this some kind of punishment game?

He felt like he was partaking in something utterly inefficient.

“…Did I get it wrong?”

Shiori called out to him gently as he stared helplessly at the 1,000-yen bill, the 500, 100, 50, 10, 5, and 1-yen coins in his hand.

“No. It’s exactly correct.”

“Good to hear.”

Piron♡ — he heard it again.

He had no idea why it had just gone up.

…Well, no matter.

He had accomplished today’s goal. He’d heard a considerable number of piron♡’s.

If he kept talking with her now, he felt like he could build up an infinite combo, but according to Chitose, that would actually be a mistake.

Lurking too long inside the store would be a negative factor for affection. A balanced distance—not too close, not too far—was ideal.

Trusting the advice of his tactician, Issei decided to withdraw at the right moment.

“I’ll come again tomorrow.”

“Ah—um, I actually have the day off tomorrow…”

“I see. …Then I’ll come the day after.”

To Issei, that simply meant: If Shiori isn’t there, there’s no point in going.

Piron♡ Piron♡ Piron♡

Okay, what is happening right now?

Hearing the repeated chime of affection gain, he turned to leave the store—when suddenly:

“Ah—umm…!”

Shiori called out with a desperate tone in her voice.

Issei paused and listened.

“Tomorrow… I’ll be off…”

“I already heard that.”

“On my days off… I, um, I usually go to the library, and…”

The library.

A public facility where books are collected, arranged, and lent out for browsing and borrowing.

He’d never been, but he knew what it was—from knowledge alone.

“Um… if you’d like… w-would you… want to… go together? Ah—wait, no! I didn’t mean it like that!”

What exactly did she mean by『not that kind of meaning』?

“That library over there… its book collection is so good…! So, um… I just thought—if I could go with a customer who shares the same tastes in books… it’d probably be… really fun!”

Even though she had finished speaking, she was still mouthing silently, her lips moving without words.

“Issei.”

“Huh?”

Her eyes blinked rapidly behind her glasses.

“Always calling me『customer』feels a bit off, don’t you think?”

“Y-Yeah! T-Then… can I call you Issei-san from now on?”

“Of course.”

“I’m Shiori. Matsura Shiori.”

Yes. He already knew that.