My daily life in various anime crossovers can't possibly be this sci-fi.

"Ying... Ah, I'm sorry, Sawamura-kun, you seem to know a lot about these things..." Jiang Jinghua quickly corrected himself.

"...What's so strange about it?" Eriri said, puffing out her cheeks. "What's wrong with being interested in cute girls?"

“...That’s true.” Jiang Jinghua nodded.

"Speaking of which, how much does Jinghua-kun know about that child?" Kato Megumi asked.

“Actually, I’m not very familiar with her, so I don’t know much about her.” Jiang Jinghua pondered for a moment. “If I had to say, I think she’s a good person in every sense of the word. She’s beautiful, has a good personality, and is very talented. She’s currently a top figure in an idol group, and she passed the Level 3 spellcaster certificate at a young age. You could say she’s a person without any weaknesses.”

"Is that so?" Eriri Sawamura seemed very interested in Kotori Minami, and looked like she was listening very attentively. "Jinghua-kun, do you think she's a good person without any weaknesses?"

"Yes. Is it that important?"

"Well... fine, it doesn't matter at all. Forget what I just said." Eriri suddenly looked deflated, slumped on the table, and stared blankly at her fingers.

……

What does this mean...? Could this reaction be the legendary tsundere reaction that occurs when their tsundere side kicks in...?

No, no, no, I guess I was just overthinking it.

"The drinks for the three of you are ready! Please enjoy!" Minami Kotori suddenly appeared at the table.

It's only been two or three minutes since I placed the order, and the drink is already ready... Could it be made from concentrated powder?

Well, you'll know if it's true or not after you drink it.

Jiang Jinghua raised the cup in front of him and took a small sip.

Mmm! This bittersweet flavor, sweet but not cloying, and rich, full-bodied taste... it truly is a fine cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea! Even if it were made with powder, it would be worth it!

"How is it, Master?" Nan Qinli bent down, smiling at Jiang Jinghua. Luckily, the maid uniforms in this shop had high necklines, otherwise Jiang would have really worried that he might not be able to control himself.

"Um, although the drink is delicious, you'd better change how you address me... Just call me Jiang, okay? Otherwise, your constant use of 'master' is giving me the wrong impression..."

"It's alright..." A blush appeared on Minami Kotori's face. "Although it wasn't explicitly stated, our line of work is, by its very nature... to create... unpleasant associations for our customers..."

what

Section 27, Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Conversational Approach Combining Militarism and Materialism

It might sound strange coming from Kotori Minami, who works in the industry, but it's true. Maid outfits were invented to appeal to the specific desires of certain groups. Perhaps it's because she understands the nature of her work that Kotori is ashamed to mention to acquaintances that she works at a maid café.

"Oh, by the way, could you sit down and chat with us for a bit?" Jiang Jinghua suddenly made this request.

"Eh... eh?" Minami Kotori paused for a moment before reacting, "Although it's possible..."

“I understand.” Jiang Jinghua waved his hand. “This will be charged separately, right? I understand, after all, you guys are very busy. Money doesn’t matter, just consider it my sponsorship for μ’s. However, I really want to talk to you about the inspection trip next Sunday.”

"Oh, if it's a serious topic, you can do it for free, okay?" Minami Kotori smiled.

"Well, you should still accept the money, so the store manager won't be unhappy," Jiang Jinghua said.

After thanking him, Nan Qinli sat down somewhat awkwardly next to Jiang Jinghua, as this was the only seat left at the four-person table.

"Hmm, this situation is quite peculiar," Kato Megumi laughed. "Jinghua-kun is being attacked from both sides by two beautiful girls."

"I don't think either of them intends to attack me! We're here to discuss serious matters!" Jiang Jinghua declared righteously. Afterward, he turned to Nan Kotori and lowered his voice, saying, "These two are my classmates, and also quite skilled spellcasters. This is Sawamura Eriri, and this is Kato Megumi. Nan-kun, do you have any magic that can block out attention from those around you? After all, what we're about to discuss is, to put it mildly, a sensitive topic."

“That kind of thing only requires a first-level illusion spell, which is more than enough for me.” Minami Kotori closed her eyes, without chanting any spells, striking any shameful poses, or creating any dazzling light effects. She simply remained silent for a moment. “Alright then.”

“Then let’s begin,” Jiang Jinghua said. “According to SCIC’s arrangements, we’re going to a dimension themed around ‘Ship-Mounted Walkers.’ I haven’t been exposed to any related works outside of this circle, so I hope we can take this opportunity to talk about Ship-Mounted Walkers.”

"Eh? That's surprising. Jinghua-kun, you've never even heard of ship girls?" Sawamura Eriri took a big gulp of milk tea. "But it doesn't matter if you haven't watched the anime or played the game. After all, the real ship-equipped walker dimension is quite different from those things."

"Is it big?" Kotori Minami asked. "How big is it?"

"Kotori, you're also going on an expedition to another dimension, right? Then listen carefully: your original impressions of ship girls are basically all wrong." Eriri Sawamura said in a serious tone, "As a very serious anime otaku, I will seriously dig into the three-dimensional information of works that have prototypes in reality. I can say with certainty: the kind of heartwarming daily life scenes that often appear in ship girl anime will absolutely not happen in reality."

"Of course, different planes have different situations, but they are generally the same. Almost all ship-borne walker planes are severely lacking in information technology capabilities, and light industry, except for precision manufacturing and heavy industry, is a mess. Living conditions there are probably worse than in Russia right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Food is generally subject to strict rationing, and both the quantity and variety are very limited. Daily necessities are also extremely scarce, because most of the production capacity must be used for military purposes. In addition, ship-borne walker planes are mostly archipelagic terrain, and the conditions for developing large-scale industry and agriculture are inherently quite lacking... Therefore, living conditions there can only be described as 'terrible'."

Eriri Sawamura explained intently to the two people across the table, using a combination of words and gestures.

"I see." Jiang Jinghua nodded.

"..." Eriri Sawamura stared at Jiang Jinghua with a strange look.

"..." Jiang Jinghua felt a little uneasy under Eriri's gaze. "...Okay, I got it. Sawamura-kun is amazing."

"Hehe, compared to Tomoya, that kind of lazy otaku who only licks paper dolls, my quality is much higher!" Sawamura Eriri revealed a smug smile.

And so, the four of them sat down at the table and started talking about ship girls. They discussed everything from the performance of ship equipment to the "Abyssal Fleet," a hostile species very common in the ship girl world, from the manufacturing process and principles of ship equipment to the development of interdimensional industrial technology…

The four of them talked for a long time until the store manager personally intervened and subtly reminded Minami Kotori that "it's been taking too long."

“…” Jiang Jinghua stared at the number on the bill. “Nan, you’re really popular… This price…”

"That's why I said it was okay not to pay before." Minami Kotori smiled apologetically.

"Ah, never mind, we already agreed on this." Jiang Jinghua obediently paid the money. "Consider it my sponsorship fee."

After thanking them, Minami Kotori left the table where the three of them were sitting.

Kato Megumi suddenly smiled and said to Jiang Jinghua, "I've suddenly realized that you have a magical ability, Jinghua-kun. Every time you chat with a girl, the topic inevitably becomes very strange."

“I think this is fine too.” Jiang Jinghua smiled. “After all, I really don’t have much to talk about with anyone except these strange topics.”

"..." After finishing the last bit of her drink, Eriri Sawamura silently slumped onto the table.

That's strange. When did this child develop the habit of lying on the table?

"What's wrong?" Jiang Jinghua asked.

Eriri's pretty face was clouded with worry, her eyes were downcast, and she looked confused and lost.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?" Jiang Jinghua waved his hand in front of Ying Lili.

"I'm not unhappy at all," Eriri said, puffing out her cheeks.

Although it might seem like a tsundere moment, Eriri's reaction is still abnormal. A true tsundere wouldn't speak in such a soft, timid tone.

No matter how you look at it, she seems unhappy. Jiang Jinghua thought.

"So, where do we go next..."

"Let's just go home, it's getting late," Eriri suggested. "We still have to finish our manuscript. If we're talking about rest, we've rested enough by now."

"What? How can this be called getting enough rest..."

"I said that's enough, and that's it." Eriri made an unquestionable statement. "Let's go back. We need to get something done today, or Aki-kun will be unhappy."

Eriri Sawamura seems to have changed how she addresses Tomoya Aki... Is it just my imagination?

what

Chapter 28, Section 28: Eriri's Thoughts

"..."

Eriri Sawamura didn't want to talk.

Jiang Jinghua was talking to Kato Megumi about something, and seemed quite happy.

Kato-san is always ignored... so why is it that only Jiang Jinghua notices her? Damn it, she should just stand aside and be a nobody...

Eriri Sawamura glanced in Jiang Jinghua's direction. He was currently discussing the recent developments in commercial artificial intelligence with Megumi Kato. "Jiang Jinghua is such an idiot! What's he trying to do, talking about this kind of thing with girls every day?!"

However, even so, when we talked about random topics like "global warming" and "world war" before, weren't I quite interested? And Jiang Jinghua himself felt the same way.

Eriri inevitably thought of her childhood friend, Aki Tomoya. That guy was the same way, enjoying chatting with girls about all sorts of random, irrelevant topics. However, there was a crucial difference between the two.

Aki Tomoya talks about random topics with people because he really wants to talk about these random topics with people, so he grabs anyone he can and talks about these random topics with them.

But what about Jiang Jinghua? He was clearly making conversation, rambling from "The weather's nice today" to "global climate change" and then to world war. This shows that he talks about random topics because he genuinely wants to chat, so he doesn't care what the topic is, as long as they can keep the conversation going.

He's such an idiot... so I feel bad leaving him there unattended.

Eriri Sawamura turned her head to look at Jiang Jinghua's profile.

I noticed this character when I was drawing the character designs. This guy might not look like much at first glance, but if you look closely, he's actually quite cute.

Wow! It turned around!

Eriri Sawamura quickly turned her head away, not wanting Jiang Jinghua to see the expression on her face.

"Why did you suddenly turn your face away?" Jiang Jinghua was a little confused.

"No, it's nothing!" Eriri Sawamura shouted, her face flushed. "You and Kato can continue chatting!"

Jiang Jinghua shrugged, turned his head, and continued to discuss with Kato Megumi the underlying reasons for the slowdown in contemporary Japanese economic development.

Come to think of it, at noon, it seemed to be the first time she had ever been cared for like that by someone her own age. Eriri suddenly thought to herself.

Aki Tomoya had always only considered her a friend who shared a passion for anime, comics, and games (ACG). Once that connection was stripped away, Aki Tomoya stopped seeing her as anything special. Although she didn't want it to be this way, but…

"Drip drip!"

Ah, a text message from Renya.

As for the content, you can probably guess it without even looking at it.

"How's the original artwork coming along today...?"

Okay, that's it. You don't need to read any more.

Eriri Sawamura put her phone back in her pocket, looked up, and gazed at the sky.

Honestly, what good qualities does that guy have? He looks like a sexually apathetic shut-in, he has no talent, no grades, and he doesn't care about anything except anime, comics, and games all day long. What's so good about someone like that?

Perhaps... the reason she fell for him was simply because she was naive when she was young. Eriri Sawamura came to this conclusion.

Compared to this...

Eriri Sawamura turned towards Jiang Jinghua, who was discussing with Megumi Kato a mind-numbing topic: "Does the Chinese Space Force's 'Jiangsu'-class battleship, which has just entered service in recent weeks, have any real combat advantages compared to the American 'Thomas Jefferson'-class?"

Although both of them had a good relationship with Aki Tomoya, the middleman, they weren't exactly close before Aki Tomoya suddenly impulsively created the club to bring everyone together. However, judging from his reactions over the past few days, this seemingly honest Chinese man seemed to genuinely care about them.

Oh, could it be... that guy likes me... or something...?

Then, what should we do?