While the restaurant waited for more customers to arrive, a message came through on Yuto's phone instead.
He had only opened his phone casually, but then he saw a LINE notification.
When he saw the sender's name, he felt rather surprised.
He could imagine Utaha messaging him.
He could also imagine Hayasaka, or even Kaguya, sending him a message.
But this girl, of all people...
That felt a little strange!
Megumi Kato.
Just seeing that name made Yuto think of that quiet girl.
That calm, gentle girl whose presence was strangely faint...what could she need from him?
Aside from that one trip to the shopping mall, Yuto had not really interacted with her.
And even that shopping mall trip had been suggested by her grandmother.
Yuto understood that much, so he did not have any unnecessary thoughts in his heart.
He certainly would not flatter himself.
Because of that, even though he and Megumi had added each other as friends, they had never really chatted.
With curiosity in his heart, Yuto opened the message.
When he saw the contents, his expression could not help turning a little strange.
[Megumi Kato: Kamisaka-kun, about going to see a movie, would this Saturday work?]
This message honestly surprised Yuto.
Over the past two days, Grandma had indeed mentioned going to see a movie to him several times.
However, Yuto understood in his heart that the old lady's excuse of watching a movie carried a bit of "personal intention."
He did not think the movie outing had been Megumi Kato's idea.
So he had never thought too deeply about it.
Whenever he went shopping for ingredients, he had only casually gone along with Grandma's words.
And now...
Megumi Kato had unexpectedly sent him a message herself, completely going against what he had assumed.
This made him wonder whether his previous thoughts had been wrong.
Yuto hesitated for a moment, then pressed the keys on his phone and sent a reply.
[Kamisaka Yuto: You mean you and me?]
[Megumi Kato: Mm... yes.]
Yuto clicked his tongue softly in surprise.
[Kamisaka Yuto: Saturday... If it's during the day, I should have time.]
[Megumi Kato: Mm, okay. We can contact each other by phone when the time comes.]
Yuto looked at the phone screen and fell silent for a moment.
His state caught the attention of the others.
"Kamisaka, what's wrong?" Ainz asked curiously.
Rimuru, beside him, also turned his gaze toward Yuto.
Yuto smiled faintly.
"It's nothing major. Someone asked me to go see a movie with them."
The moment he said that, many eyes immediately turned toward him.
"Is it a girl?" Ainz asked in a somewhat strange tone.
"Mm."
Yuto nodded.
"Ah~~ Ah~~~ It's a girl, huh~~~~ A girl actually took the initiative to ask you out... Damn it! I'm so jealous!"
As someone who had been single since birth, Rimuru immediately expressed fierce indignation toward Yuto.
"Boss, Boss, I want to watch a movie too! You promised me before!"
The innocent dragon girl did not understand the hidden meaning behind human interactions.
She had simply heard the words "watch a movie" and gotten excited.
As a dragon with an extremely strong curiosity, Tohru had previously asked Yuto to take her to see a movie.
Now that she heard someone had invited Yuto to watch one, she naturally wanted to go too.
Otherwise, her curiosity could not possibly be satisfied.
Looking at his excited employee, Yuto felt a little awkward inside.
He had originally planned to take Tohru to see a movie alone.
After all, two people would be much easier than three...
"Tohru, don't worry. I'll definitely take you to see a movie."
Yuto first soothed the dragon girl.
The simple and adorable Tohru had always been easy to handle. Once Yuto said that, she immediately quieted down.
As for Rimuru and Ainz...
After learning that it was a girl who had asked Yuto out, the two of them began questioning him one after another.
Although this movie matter had nothing to do with either of them, their reactions were even more excited than Yuto's, despite him being the person directly involved.
That made Yuto feel deeply helpless.
...
While Yuto dealt with Ainz and Rimuru, Megumi Kato, several blocks away in a certain house, was also dealing with her grandmother.
"Megumi, how did it go? Did Yuto-chan agree?"
Grandma looked at the girl in front of her with a hint of anxiety and expectation.
Because Megumi was at home, she was dressed very simply and casually.
It was only an ordinary light-pink set of loungewear.
Even so, the girl's own quiet radiance made that completely ordinary outfit look pleasant and charming.
Listening to her grandmother's words, the girl secretly sighed helplessly.
"He agreed."
The girl nodded.
Grandma's eyes immediately relaxed a great deal.
"Mm, that's good~~~"
Grandma looked at the girl with a smile.
Her heart was filled with both relief and a bit of pride!
Sure enough, this kind of thing required her to personally give a little push!
Otherwise...
Maybe the whole thing would have fallen through!
That would not do!
"Grandma, are you not going back tonight?"
Megumi Kato tilted her head slightly. Her clear, beautiful eyes were like the surface of a calm lake.
But.... in the depths beneath that calm was there a trace of helplessness.
"I'm not going back." Grandma laughed brightly.
"What about your business tomorrow morning?"
"Don't worry. I already arranged everything before I came here today. The vegetable stall will open as usual tomorrow morning. Nothing will be delayed."
The girl opened her mouth slightly, looking as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she could only let out a helpless sigh.
"All right..."
Megumi Kato's voice carried the faintest trace of helplessness, but her grandmother, currently caught up in her own excitement, did not notice it at all.
"Megumi, listen to me. On Saturday, after you and Yuto-chan finish watching the movie, remember to have a meal together too. After that, you can go somewhere else and have some fun..."
Just like last time, Grandma began giving the girl one long reminder after another.
Right now, she looked exactly like a matchmaker trying to pass on her experience about how to bring two people closer together.
That made the girl feel deeply helpless inside, but on the surface, she could only go along with the old lady's words!
...
Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, customers finally arrived.
However, this particular group of customers gave Yuto a bit of a headache.
He truly had not expected Kanna's parents to actually agree to let her attend school in the human world...
Weren't dragons supposed to look down on humans?
How had they agreed to this?
"Kami~~~saka~~~ I want to go to school."
Kanna sat in front of the counter, acting spoiled toward Yuto in an extremely adorable, dazed way.
Her deliberately drawn-out tone was especially cute, and when paired with her already adorable appearance, along with those soft little chubby hands she occasionally raised, the destructive power was astonishing.
At the very least, Rimuru had once again fallen into a "healed" state.
Yuto rubbed his brow in distress.
Emotionally speaking, he was perfectly willing to fulfill Kanna's wish.
But rationally, he was very clear about one thing.
No matter how cute Kanna looked, she was still a dragon.
Yuto had personally seen her put one of the restaurant's plates into her mouth and crunch it down like a normal person eating chocolate.
It had gone down very smoothly too.
If he really placed a dragon like this inside a human kindergarten...
Yuto always felt that something unusual would happen.
For example...
The kindergarten getting eaten.
His gaze shifted again to the paper in his hand, which looked like some kind of written proof.
[Kamisaka-kun, Kanna's mother and I are already aware of Kanna's wishes. If she will be under your care, then Kanna's mother and I are willing to let her attend school in the human world. Please look after her well. —by Kanna's father]
He had clearly never met Kanna's parents before, so why did they trust him this much?
Also, was it really all right to send such a young daughter to another world for school?
"Kanna, how did you convince your mom and dad?"
Yuto did not directly answer the young dragon loli's request. Instead, he asked her a question.
Kanna blinked her large eyes in that dazed, adorable way.
"I just told them Kamisaka's name last night. Then, after one night, they agreed." Kanna spoke innocently.
Looking at the little loli's dazed and adorable expression, Yuto could not help but bitterly smile.
Was convincing two adult dragons really that simple?
He could not help turning toward Tohru on the other side.
The dragon girl was giving off a completely unaware, silly and adorable aura.
That made Yuto begin to doubt the entire dragon race.
Could it be that most dragons were actually easy to deal with, just like Tohru?
"Speaking of which, Kanna's parents actually went to see the Emperor of Demise last night."
Lucoa, who sat on the other side, smiled as she revealed a piece of information.
That immediately gave Yuto some guesses.
"Eh? Is that true?"
Kanna looked at Lucoa in a dazed way and asked.
"Mm. I happened to see it last night."
Lucoa chuckled.
"Mm... Could it be that Father convinced Kanna's parents?"
Tohru crossed her arms and guessed aloud.
"Maybe."
Lucoa rested her arm against the counter and spoke with a faint smile.
Her figure was truly something that could not be helped.
Even the smallest movement from her easily drew people's eyes.
Listening to Lucoa and Tohru's words, Yuto also formed his own conclusion.
No matter what, Kanna coming to the human world for school was definitely being pushed from behind by the Emperor of Demise.
Yuto was not interested in the Emperor of Demise's thoughts.
He just felt rather troubled right now.
Especially with Kanna staring at him with that dazed, expectant gaze, he felt even more helpless!