บท 332: Progress? What Progress?

"I can't help but worry about this place's security since Minamiya-sama could easily enter again..." Ai expressed concern.

"You're overthinking it." Homura chuckled, shaking his head. "Not just anyone can enter a place as secure as this."

In truth, if not for hardware limitations, he could have hacked into the security system directly.

Programming was, after all, the only skill he brought from his previous life, and it had been his first highest-level skill upon transmigrating to this world. While the current him could be considered exceptional in many aspects, the past him had still been exceptional, even if it was only in programming.

"Why did Minamiya-sama's words feel like... bragging about your extraordinariness?" Ai said with a speechless expression.

"Hmm... I won't be modest about this. In this kind of thing, I'm actually among the best in the world." Homura said with a faint smile.

Ai wanted to argue, maybe even show a disdainful expression, but after some thought, perhaps what he said was the truth. Otherwise, how could a prestigious family like the Shinomiya family, who had professional in-house IT staff controlling the entire security system of this residence, not have noticed anything unusual?

Kaguya, on the other hand, was astonished.

Her lack of reaction earlier was due to her unfamiliarity with such a topic, but now, even without much knowledge about it, she knew that anything involving the world's best wasn't something simple!

Besides, she also knew that Homura had another extraordinary, best-in-the-world skill—cooking!

Being exceptionally skilled in two fields, to the point of being the best in the world—was such a thing even possible? And yet, here he was, right in front of her.

With such a thought, Kaguya's heart unexpectedly skipped a beat.

However, what about Homura's other skills?

For other skills, he had enough knowledge, but his control wasn't quite there yet.

In other words, he was more of a theory person.

It was thanks to his extraordinary physical abilities that he could forcibly execute most of those theories.

For example, there was guitar skill.

He knew exactly how to play guitar better, but since the knowledge hadn't yet become second nature to him, he relied on consciously and forcibly commanding his body to meet the requirements.

While the results were the same as those achieved by individuals with countless years of practice, where playing guitar had already become an instinctive movement, his method was clearly far more exhausting.

"In that case, can you leave a backdoor on the CCTVs for me, Minamiya-sama?" Ai requested after thinking for a moment.

"Backdoor? Sure, but since the security system is updated frequently, I'll need to update it regularly." Homura nodded.

With that, he started coding to create a backdoor program.

Ai's request was essentially making Kaguya's room work like a monitoring room, likely to simplify the task of looking after Kaguya more thoroughly.

"I totally don't understand..." Kaguya, watching from behind, felt her eyes spin.

"Oh, right, there are two bentos in my backpack. Can you take them out by yourself, Ai?" Homura said, still focused on his laptop.

Now, he was a bit busy, so he had to let Ai do it on her own.

"Understood."

Ai replied before immediately opening Homura's backpack.

As she opened it, however, the first thing she saw wasn't the two bentos but a water pipe.

She looked at the pipe carefully, then noticed something that looked like a counterweight, causing her to understand how Homura had managed to bring Kaguya out.

Regardless, it still surprised her because the tools he brought were surprisingly few.

With just these few tools, she probably couldn't have done what Homura did, especially with the CCTVs to consider. Yet, he could come and go freely without any trouble.

She had to admit that this Minamiya family's young master was truly modest. Not just his computer skills, but it seemed like his physical abilities were also among the world's best.

Just like that, the more Ai discovered, the less she understood about Homura.

===

"Minamiya-sama, I've already cleaned the two bento boxes and put them back in your backpack."

Ai returned to stand behind Homura and informed him.

"Yeah, all good on my end too."

Homura tapped the final key, and the backdoor program was finally complete.

"Alright, give it a try."

After fiddling with the backdoor program for a while, Ai was quite satisfied with the result. Although the possibility of accidents at the Shinomiya residence was nearly nonexistent, she still trusted herself more.

Now that he was free, only then did Homura have time to look around the room and see that Kaguya's room didn't quite have the girly vibe he had imagined.

Was it because she didn't like it, or maybe her family didn't allow it?

He assumed that it was probably the latter.

For example, the young lady of the Shinomiya family was supposed to be noble and elegant, so how could she possibly like things that little girls would like?

However, he knew that many tomboyish girls out there actually still liked cute plush toys—it was just that they had stronger self-control.

Homura nodded quietly to himself.

Since Kaguya's family was like that, it was probably up to him and the others to make her experience more of what girls her age should normally be exposed to.

In other words, he should take her out to have fun more often.

Looking at the time, Homura spoke up.

"I should get going."

Hearing this, Kaguya paused for a moment before smiling.

"...Thank you, Minamiya-kun. Today was really a great day."

"From now on, days like this will be a lot more." Homura said with a bright grin.

After making all the CCTVs in the courtyard show a loop video once again, he walked to the window.

"See you later, Kaguya, Ai!" Homura waved before jumping out the window.

Kaguya watched the rope retract from the window before sighing softly.

"He's gone..."

"Kaguya-sama, how's the progress?" Ai suddenly asked.

"Progress? What progress?" Kaguya looked confused.

"Your relationship with Minamiya-sama."

*BOOM!*

Kaguya's mind was hit with a mental explosion, with steam practically coming out of her head.

"Uhh, what are you talking about?" Kaguya averted her gaze, pretending not to understand. "I don't get it..."

"I see... looks like there's some big progress..." Ai nodded after watching Kaguya's reaction.

"What?! I didn't say anything!"

"But how..." Ai muttered to herself. "Was Minamiya-sama making a move? Doesn't seem like it... Was it Kaguya-sama? No, that's impossible..."

"Hayasaka!"

"Maybe it's just... a silent understanding? Umu, that seems more likely..."

Ai went on with her little 'self-talk' analysis, completely unfazed by anything Kaguya said, causing her face to turn even redder as she kept trying to interrupt.

If it were any other servant making their master uncomfortable like this, they would have been fired in an instant, but not these two.

Needless to say, although Kaguya and Ai called themselves master and servant, in reality, they were more like sisters.

===

"Yeah, Kaguya is safely home already, so I'll just make a quick turn and head back—what? Saori and the others have already left?"

On the way home, Homura called Sagiri to provide an update to those at home, only to learn that Saori, Kirino, and Kuroneko had already left.

Since Homura couldn't afford any disruptions when bringing Kaguya home, Saori hadn't called to inform him, though she would probably call later to let him know.

"Well, I get it. Knowing they're in Chiba, they should leave early since it's quite far."

"Nii-san, Tsumugi-nee wants to talk to you."

"Hmm? They're not leaving too, are they?" Homura asked curiously.

"Um, Homura-niisan, we should be on our way too."

Tsumugi took the phone from Sagiri and spoke gently.

"Originally, we were planning to wait for you before leaving, but it's getting late. My butler will come to pick me up if we wait any longer, and I don't want to trouble him..."

"Nah, it's okay, I get it." Homura said gently, reassuring Tsumugi. "We'll have plenty of chances to meet again later, like at your school festival, for example. It's starting soon, right?"