"Big brother, did you… um, 'pick up' these two as well?"
Nao looked at Violet and Beatrice with curiosity, her expression a little complicated.
After all, when it came to 'picking up'… or rather, taking in people, it seemed like most of the girls in the house had been brought back by Haruto.
At that moment, hearing the voices, Tohru, who had been doing housework, ran out and pounced on Haruto.
Ram and Rem also popped their heads out.
Haruto quickly caught the dragon maid.
Tohru's tail thumped against the ground twice, making a loud thump thump sound, her joy evident.
Violet, who was the closest to them, watched their embrace, and a faint light flickered in her eyes.
She didn't quite understand human emotions and had rarely seen such warm interactions between people.
After putting Tohru down, Haruto introduced the two new girls to everyone.
"This is Beatrice, my contracted spirit. She's from the Re:Zero world."
Upon hearing this, Nao immediately understood.
She had already heard that Haruto had contracted a spirit during one of his previous world-retrieval missions.
However, she had been busy with site management and the 'God's Eye Project,' so this was her first time seeing the contracted spirit.
Beatrice, on the other hand, seemed uncomfortable seeing all the girls in Haruto's house and hid behind him.
Then, Haruto gestured toward Violet.
For a moment, he hesitated, unsure how to introduce her.
Just then, Violet's stomach growled.
She looked slightly embarrassed but made no effort to hide it, standing upright beside Haruto.
She hadn't eaten in nearly a day.
While on the train heading to the front lines, she had suddenly been transported to the main world. After that, she had wandered around looking for a way back to the battlefield.
However, finding a familiar place in an unfamiliar Chiba was nearly impossible. In the end, she had squatted in an alley in confusion, until Haruto found her.
"Anyway, let's eat dinner first. Her situation is a bit special, so we'll talk while eating."
Haruto quickly stepped in to relieve Violet from the awkwardness.
Upon hearing this, Tohru immediately rushed to the kitchen to bring out the food.
Meanwhile, Annie had been staring at Violet the entire time.
There was a strange sense of familiarity she felt from her.
As everyone sat down, Ram and Rem went to assist Tohru.
Haruto guided Violet to a chair and had her sit down.
"This is Violet, and she—"
Haruto briefly explained Violet's situation to the other girls.
After hearing his explanation, Annie immediately understood why she felt that strange sense of familiarity.
Violet's past was very similar to her own.
Both had been taken in as children and trained as weapons of war. The difference was that Annie, at least, had a 'father' in her past. Even though that 'father' was far from competent, he was still someone she could hold onto as an attachment.
Violet, on the other hand, had nothing.
She was purely a weapon, following orders—nothing more.
Annie could easily imagine how lost and aimless Violet would feel after leaving the battlefield.
After all, when she herself had been freed from war, she had nearly been swallowed by that same confusion.
Thinking of this, Annie glanced at Haruto.
Thank goodness for Haruto.
She couldn't even begin to imagine what would have happened otherwise.
Nao and Shiro also looked at Violet with concern and worry.
Feeling everyone's intense gaze, Violet became visibly uneasy.
"Report. Did I do something wrong?"
She asked stiffly.
Haruto sighed and reached out, gently ruffling her golden hair.
"You didn't do anything wrong. They're just worried about you—that's a normal emotion between people."
Violet's body stiffened slightly at the affectionate gesture, but she found the sensation strangely pleasant.
Not long after, Tohru brought out the dishes.
The other girls started eating as usual.
Haruto had already eaten earlier, but having another meal wasn't a problem.
As he picked up his chopsticks, he noticed that Violet had once again frozen, waiting for a command.
This time, Haruto didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up a small piece of fish and brought it to her lips.
Violet's eyes widened slightly, unsure how to react.
"Ahh," Haruto prompted.
Violet instinctively imitated him and opened her mouth.
The small piece of fish entered.
She was stunned.
The other girls, seeing Violet being fed, surprisingly didn't get jealous.
After swallowing the fish, Violet looked at Haruto, who was grinning playfully. Only then did she remember what he had said earlier at the entrance.
If she didn't eat on her own, he would feed her.
Violet hesitated, then picked up a fork and scooped a small bite of rice into her mouth.
Seeing this, Haruto was quite pleased.
This was practically a proper 'raising-a-girlfriend' scenario.
Seeing Violet make progress made Haruto feel incredibly gratified.
Once she got a little more used to things, he would teach her how to use chopsticks!
Just then, Tohru picked up a piece of meat and held it to Haruto's mouth.
Haruto was about to take a bite but suddenly felt something was off.
This meat…
Why did it look so strange?
Upon closer inspection, the cross-section of the meat had an incredibly bizarre muscle texture, and its colors were unusually vibrant.
It didn't match any kind of meat from Earth.
Instead of eating it, Haruto lifted Tohru's skirt.
"Haruto! It's dinner time! If you want to do that kind of thing, I wouldn't refuse, but at least wait until nighttime—"
Tohru, flustered, spewed out bold words while blushing furiously. Haruto, however, simply flicked her forehead.
"So, this is your tail, isn't it?"
At his words, Tohru immediately deflated.
Haruto sighed.
Tohru seemed to have some kind of obsession with making him eat her tail meat.
Sure, gaining a dragon's genes sounded good, but the act of eating Tohru just felt…
Too weird!
Besides, from what he knew, if he ate Tohru's tail, her power would be weakened to some extent.
Unlike injuries sustained in battle, cutting off her tail voluntarily was more like sacrificing a part of her strength.
Seeing Haruto refuse once again, Tohru sulked, poking her fingers together.
"Humans are just too weak..."
Haruto immediately understood Tohru's thoughts.
Compared to dragons, humans were indeed fragile beings.
More importantly, dragons lived for tens of thousands of years, while most humans only had a few decades.
But that had nothing to do with Haruto.
His body, modified by the Blacklight Virus, would likely outlast Earth itself.
He knocked Tohru on the head again and carefully explained his situation, reassuring her. Hearing that Haruto had an extremely long lifespan, Tohru immediately beamed with joy.
Ever since he took her in, her greatest fear was that he would leave her due to his limited lifespan.
She wanted to be with him forever, so this news delighted her.
That was something Haruto had overlooked.
Tohru quickly ate her own tail meat, and a new tail popped out from under her skirt, happily thumping against the floor.
After dinner, Haruto found himself facing a problem.
He used to think his apartment was spacious.
But after constantly picking up more people...
Damn, it was starting to feel cramped!
How ridiculous!
This was a detached apartment!
Through the window, Haruto glanced at the apartment next door.
Gabriel lived alone…
Maybe…
Haruto nodded in deep agreement with himself. Tomorrow, he would go reclaim that fallen angel's place.
That huge apartment was just going to waste under Gabriel's lifestyle.
As Haruto stared out the window, Annie walked over and leaned quietly against him.
He was a bit surprised.
Annie was usually the cold type. Even though she liked him, she rarely sought affection.
Raising his hand, he pulled her into a hug and asked softly,
"What's wrong? Bad mood?"
Annie shook her head.
"I was just thinking… Meeting you was the luckiest thing in my life."
Seeing Violet had made her realize how fortunate she had been.
Haruto ruffled her hair.
"I'm the lucky one."
They locked eyes before sharing a kiss.
After a long moment, they pulled apart.
Annie, slightly flushed, took a few deep breaths before whispering,
"Help her. That girl... she shouldn't be like this."
Haruto nodded, already planning to do so.
Violet's situation was heartbreaking.
War… sigh.
"Where is she, by the way?"
He looked around, realizing Violet was missing.
Annie pointed toward the bathroom.
"Nao took her to take a bath."