While they were waiting in line at the checkout, Natsuki suddenly felt someone watching him.
He turned toward the supermarket entrance and spotted a familiar figure standing there.
Golden twin-tails, a blue-and-white sailor uniform—it was Eriri.
She carried a small shopping basket, so she had clearly come to pick up a few things as well.
The instant their eyes met, Eriri visibly stiffened, and her cheeks turned red at a speed anyone could see.
“N-Natsuki-kun.” She greeted him in a small voice, then noticed Gabriel standing beside him and paused.
‘She’s so cute…’ There was also something about the girl’s presence that Eriri could not quite describe.
“Good morning, Eriri,” Natsuki greeted her naturally.
“This is my neighbor, Gabriel White Tenma.” He then turned to Gabriel.
“Gabriel, this is my classmate, Eriri Spencer Sawamura.” “It’s nice to meet you.” Gabriel gave her a polite nod, and the holy glow surrounding her brightened a little.
Apparently, she had switched into angel mode without even thinking about it.
“N-Nice to meet you too…” Eriri was still rather tense around Natsuki, though her thoughts were already running wild.
‘Shopping with a girl first thing on a weekend morning…
They must be really close.’ ‘Wait, does Natsuki-kun already have a girlfriend?’ ‘No, no!
Why am I even thinking about that?!’ She hurriedly chased the thought from her head.
“Did you come shopping alone?” Natsuki asked.
“Yeah…
I needed some art supplies.” Eriri lifted her basket slightly.
Inside were several pencils and a sketchbook.
“And…
thank you for yesterday.” She lowered her voice for the last part, referring to the demon attack.
“It was no trouble.” Natsuki smiled.
At that moment, it was their turn to pay.
The cashier scanned everything and packed their purchases into bags before the total appeared on the screen.
“That’ll be thirteen thousand eight hundred yen.” Natsuki reached for his wallet.
“I’ll pay half—” Gabriel said hurriedly.
“I already told you this was my treat.” Natsuki finished paying before she could stop him.
“You can treat me next time.” “O-Okay.” Gabriel did not argue any further.
Eriri watched the exchange from the side, and the strange feeling in her chest only grew stronger.
Once everything was paid for, the three of them left the supermarket together.
“Are you heading home now, Eriri?” Natsuki asked.
“You can walk with us.” “Eh?
I-Is that okay?” “We’re going the same way.” “Then…
thanks.” Eriri nodded.
The three of them walked side by side, though the atmosphere soon became a little quiet.
Gabriel appeared to notice something and took the initiative to speak.
“Are you an artist, Eriri?” “Sort of…
I draw illustrations and manga.” Eriri gave a vague answer, not daring to mention that she was actually an adult doujin artist.
“That’s amazing,” Gabriel said sincerely.
“Most art in Hea—” She caught herself just in time.
“Most art where I come from is religious.
People in the human world have much more creative freedom.” “Where you come from?” Eriri looked puzzled.
“Ah…
I only meant that my hometown is rather conservative.” Gabriel corrected herself smoothly.
“Oh, I see.” Eriri did not give it much thought.
Natsuki listened from beside them, quietly amused.
An angel and a hardcore otaku were somehow holding a conversation while operating on entirely different wavelengths, yet the scene was surprisingly harmonious.
When they reached a fork in the road, Eriri stopped.
“My house is this way.” “Then I’ll see you at school the day after tomorrow.” “Yeah.
See you then.” Eriri looked at Natsuki, then at Gabriel.
She seemed to want to say something, but eventually turned and walked away without speaking.
Gabriel waited until she was some distance away before saying, “Eriri seems to have feelings for you.” “Hm?” Natsuki raised an eyebrow.
“Angels can sense fluctuations in human emotions,” Gabriel explained.
“She seems very shy about it, though, so she acts awkward whenever you’re around.” “Is that so?” Natsuki neither agreed nor denied it, and the two continued back toward the apartment building.
When they reached apartment 302, Natsuki helped carry Gabriel’s shopping bags into her room next door.
Apartment 303 was sparsely furnished.
Since she had only moved in two days ago, it was still reasonably clean.
Other than the basic furniture, the most noticeable thing in the room was the pink laptop sitting on the desk.
The screen was still on, displaying the login page for Valhalla Kingdom Online.
“Thank you, Natsuki-kun.” Gabriel took the bags from him.
“I had a lot of fun today.” “So did I.” Natsuki smiled.
“I’ll let you get settled, then.
And don’t stay up all night again.” “I know~” Gabriel stuck out her tongue at him.
…
Another day passed in the blink of an eye.
When Natsuki opened his eyes the following morning, the familiar notification sounded inside his head.
[Ding!] [Today’s superpower, Blessing of the Goddess of Fortune, has been delivered.
Please remember to claim it.
We hope you have a wonderful day.] The corners of Natsuki’s mouth lifted.
Blessing of the Goddess of Fortune?
From the name alone, this had to be a genuinely useful ability!
Luck could affect almost anything.
Would every gacha pull give him an SSR?
Would every guessed answer on an exam turn out to be correct?
Would he find money whenever he went for a walk?
Natsuki could not wait to test it!
He picked up his phone and opened the gacha game he usually played.
A new event was underway, featuring a limited character with an increased drop rate.
His account had enough currency saved for thirty pulls.
Based on his previous experience, he would be lucky to get a single guaranteed SR from that.
“Let’s give it a try.” He tapped the ten-pull button.
A flashy animation swept across the screen, followed by a brilliant golden light.
“I got one!” Natsuki’s eyes widened.
An SSR!
It was not the limited character, but it was still an extremely rare card—and more importantly, it was a crucial support unit he had been missing.
“This actually works!” Suddenly energized, Natsuki continued pulling.
The second ten-pull had no golden light, but it did give him two useful SR cards.
Then came the third.
Golden light appeared once again.
This time, it really was the limited character!
Natsuki stared at the screen, his grin steadily widening.
Two SSRs in thirty pulls, along with two core SR cards.
That kind of luck was absurd!
In the past, even three hundred pulls had not guaranteed him the limited unit.
“This ability is ridiculously useful.” Natsuki put down his phone, thoroughly satisfied.
Then he reconsidered.
Gacha results were ultimately a minor thing.
True luck should have a noticeable effect on his everyday life.
He looked out the window.
The sun was shining beautifully.
‘Maybe I should go for a walk?’ The thought had barely crossed his mind when his phone rang.
It was a LINE message.
Natsuki opened it and found a picture from Gabriel showing two steaming bowls of ramen.
The caption read: [I accidentally ordered too much…
Would you like some, Natsuki-kun?] Natsuki blinked.
Did this count as his luck taking effect?
He replied, [Sure.
I’ll be right over.] When he reached apartment 303, the door was already slightly open.
Gabriel stood inside wearing casual clothes, her hair loosely tied back.
“Come in.” She welcomed him inside.
Sure enough, two bowls of ramen sat on the table.
The broth looked rich, the slices of chashu were thick, and each bowl even came with a soft-boiled egg.
“How did you end up ordering two?” Natsuki asked as he sat down.
“The restaurant was running a promotion.” Gabriel blinked innocently.
“Buy one, get one free.” “That really was lucky.” Natsuki accepted a pair of chopsticks.
The two ate quietly for a while before Gabriel suddenly spoke.
“You seem to be in a very good mood today, Natsuki-kun.” “Is it that obvious?” “Mm.” She pointed at his face.
“You haven’t stopped smiling.” “Something good happened today!” Natsuki did not explain further.
His collection of random superpowers would take far too long to clarify.
“Oh, right.” Gabriel seemed to remember something and picked up a small bag from beside her.
“This is for you.” “What is it?” Natsuki opened the bag and found a boxed pudding from an expensive dessert shop.
“It’s a thank-you gift for yesterday,” Gabriel said earnestly.
“You said I could treat you next time, but I still felt like I should give you something.” Natsuki looked at the pudding, then at Gabriel.
“Did you go out specifically to buy this?” “Mm.” She nodded.
“That shop usually has a really long line, but there happened to be no one there when I went today.” “Thank you.” Natsuki accepted the pudding.
“I love it.” “I’m glad.” Gabriel smiled and lowered her head to continue eating.
After they finished lunch, Natsuki helped clean up the dishes.
Just as he was about to leave, Gabriel called after him.
“Natsuki-kun.” “Yeah?” “Are you free tomorrow?” “Tomorrow’s Sunday, so I probably don’t have anything planned.” “Then…” Gabriel hesitated for a moment.
“Would you like to go to the library with me?” “The library?” “I want to look up some information,” she explained.
“Mostly about the culture and customs of the human world.” “Is that something angels have to study?” “You could call it additional training.” She tilted her head slightly.
“And going alone feels a little…” “I understand.” Natsuki agreed without hesitation.
“What time tomorrow?” “How about ten in the morning?” “Sounds good.”