Evening Salon.
　I came home a little early and was grabbed by Alice, who came back early as well.

　I was alone with Alice in the salon.
　The rest of my friends aren't likely to return for the time being yet, because of the magic cart transfer, with Elsa and Ena still working.

It was -- and it was awesome!

　Small talk with Alice in a break with her friends.
　Alice excitedly explained what she'd seen Celeste do today.

'Heh, that would have been nice to see,'
I'll show you!
Yeah?　How.

　Alice stood up with an excited smile on her face and gave a command to her fellow monsters on her shoulder.
　All of her foodie-sized friends jumped off her shoulders at once.

　Bonbon waved his hands from side to side, gesturing to launch something out, and Honehone and Pru-Pru were pushed into the cunt in response.
　When they are gathered together, Meramela dives underneath and bakes them, and the two roasted bodies frolic comically.

　It's easy to understand when you show it visually.

It's not so much about beating them all together like this, but...
'There is!　Wouldn't it feel better to take them all down together?
You're the one who squeezes them like a rag instead of squishing them one by one.
What?

　He tilts his head with a carefree smile.

'Hang on a minute.'

　I said that to Alice, and went back to my room to get it (,) which was precious to me.

　When I get back to the salon, I show it to Alice.

"What's this?
It was dropped by Takara Bako before.

　Takarabako.
　A monster that looks similar to the Hagremono but is very different.

　As the name suggests, it's a mimic-like monster with jagged edges in the shape of a treasure chest, and if you defeat it, it will drop a "worldly wonder (that doesn't exist in this world)" object.

　I've encountered and defeated them a few times, and each time I've been defeated, unimportant things from the original world have dropped.

　One of them is this petite thing.

'What's the thing for?'
This is how we pass the time.

　I crushed the popsicles and showed them to him.
　I felt a peace of mind, a peace I could do all night long.

'Heh,'
Want to try it?
Yeah!

　Alice took it and began to crush the small bits and pieces.
　A wide sheet was partially spread out on the table, and her fellow monsters gathered around it, teasingly crushing them one by one with their little bodies.

'Ooh, hmmm, heh,'

　Alice sounds impressed as she crushes it.
　She seems to like it, but not until she feels at ease.

　Alice said, "Speaking of which," and grabbed both ends of the sheet and started to do the "rag crushing" thing I mentioned.

'Hahaha, this is so funny!
I knew it.

　There are a lot of people like that in the world.
　They are the type of people who accumulate and accumulate and then dissolve at once just to get rid of the scum.

　Alice seemed to be that type of person.

''By the way, after I had burned all the monsters together, a stranger came along.

　Alice speaks as she squeezes a petite sheet.
　It took me a little while to realize that I was back to the rest of Celeste's story.

'You don't know him?'
Well...
I'm home. Oh, is it just the two of you still alone?

　In the middle of Alice's words, Celeste, the topic of conversation, came back and walked into the salon.

'Welcome back, hey hey, how did it go?'
How did I do it?

　Celeste tilts her head and asks back with a curious look.

'That thing you just did,'
Oh, did you see that?
Yeah, scouts, headhunters.
What?

　My voice leaked out and I looked at Celeste in surprise.

　Celeste chuckled and looked at me with a cliché look on her face.

'The scouts are here?'
Yes. He asked me if I'd like to go out on my own so he could get money and people and everything else he needs.
It's amazing.
That's not what's so great about it.

　Alice stood up, her hands on her hips and her chest heaving as she held the sheet to be squeezed.
　Why was Alice being so dignified?　I thought.

'You're going to give me 500 million a year.
Five hundred million!　Does that mean you can guarantee me a half a billion dollars a year?
Yes, he said that.
Did you have everything ready?
I have everything ready.

　Celeste repeats the same words and nods quietly.

　That's ...... amazing.
　He's the most amazing guy in the story, whether he's a sponsor or a gold owner or something like that.

　To be honest, it's not a very good story unless it's "backed by an oil tycoon".

　Oh yeah, ...... no, that's right.
　That's about as good as Celeste is right now.
　I wouldn't be surprised if a story like that came along.

"Okay, well, I'll ask Emily to celebrate with you today--
I said no.
Party of--whee!

　I was so surprised that I made a barefaced sound.

'Did you say no to this?'
Yeah.
For such a good deal?
Yeah.
No, no, no.

　Alice kept her hand holding the squeezing bubble wrap on her hip while she held up a finger with her other hand and shook it, "Chitty-chitty," she said.

'Of course it is, hey,'
Yeah.

　I don't know what's natural and what's not.
　I don't know what's going on, but Alice comes up to me and gives me a thump on the side with her elbow.

"That's great, honey.
No, no, no. Is it all right?

　Obviously, I think we should get on with the story.

　I didn't think the story was suspicious.

　The friends, especially Emily and Celeste, are so famous and strong that it wouldn't be surprising if they were patrons or oil barons or something like that.

　If Emily tried to do some kind of crowdfunding thing like "making a new Emily hammer", she could raise millions of dollars in an hour.

　So I think it's a good idea.

'No, of course not. I'm not leaving this place, no matter what you put in front of me.
Yeah.

　Alice grinned, though.

'There's that too, though,'

　Celeste smiled back calmly and then looked straight at me.

'I'm not going to go to someone who comes by when I'm strong enough.
...... Oh.

　There were two emotions in Celeste's eyes.
　One I'm not sure about, but one is clear.

　Strong gratitude.
　It's a common look in the eyes of someone who is looking to give back.

　I met Celeste when she was at her lowest point.
　It's only natural that she wouldn't trust anyone who came after her.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere.

　Celeste, who was staring straight at me, looked like she was saying, "I'll always be with you.

I see.

　I was pretty happy about that.