The evening saloon, the time of day when my friends gathered.

　I was sitting on the sofa, talking to Erza and Ena, two of them.

'I feel like it's been a very long time since I've had that girl attached to Lyota-san.
We've been attached to each other in our sleep for a while now, haven't we?
'Copying Alice's ability was a big deal. As soon as she could feel my presence, she seemed to be able to stay away for a bit.

　Shortly after I spoke, Emily and Eli came in from outside the salon.
　Emily is pushing a wagon for serving, and there's cake and tea on it.

　Beside Emily, who pushes it lightly, Eli is pushing the wagon as hard as she can with her small body, as if she were helping.

'It's an after-dinner dessert,'
We've been waiting for you!
What's on the cake today?

　The duo of Alice and Aulum were the first to jump on Emily's wagon.
　When I was in elementary school, there was always a boy in my class who would be the first to jump to serve the school lunch, and the Aulum duo looked like those boys.

　Eri, on the other hand, came trotting toward me from the wagon with a cake on a white plate.

'...... (smirk)'
Is this for me?
...... (nationally)

　He doesn't speak, but his body language is bigger for it.
　Eli held out a plate and looked like he wanted me to take it.

　When he took it, Eli smiled very happily.

　He trotted back to the wagon again and took a smaller plate and cake that looked like his own.
　This time, he teleported back.
　He was back on my lap in a flash with his own.

Wow, that's a lot of power. Spirits are really amazing.
'But they're cute. They always are, but when you see them like this, they're really close to each other.

　Ena and Elsa each gave their thoughts.

''I really miss them. Looking at it this way, it's hard to believe it's a spirit.'

　Celeste came behind the sofa, holding a teacup and saucer.

'I can't see you. Maybe it's a disguise, but I think it's more of a disguise, that you don't look like a spirit and you're not attacked in this form. I'm sure there were dungeon-born people like Alice in Erislonium, so they know that this appearance is more .......
So this is where it already started.
On the other hand, I hate the people who killed the last erythronium that made me go that far.

　Just thinking about it makes the pit of my stomach churn.

　The look, the dungeon, and a series of copies of Eli's abilities.
　All of them are consistent with the basic premise of "protect yourself".
　Something happened to me that was so bad that I had to go that far, perhaps something of a traumatic nature.

　I have no idea what exactly was done to me, but I can only imagine the severity of it from Eri's actions, and that's going to make my guts boil over.

'Well ......'
It's the other way around.

　I heard Celeste's and Ena's voices, a bit of fun.
　I tried to return it to them to see what it was all about - and there was a piece of cake in front of me.

　Eli held a piece of cake in front of my mouth, sticking it into the fork.

'Eri?'
...... (nationally)

　He still didn't talk, but I could tell he noticed something wrong with my face and was trying to comfort me, to comfort me.
　I felt a pang in my chest. Good girl.

　I crunch down on my cake and pat Eri's head.

'Thank you, it's delicious,'
...... (smiling)

　Eli returns to his position with his back to my stomach again.
　Her appearance is reassuring.

　Then Alice's monsters arrived.

　Hone hone.
　Pulling.
　Bonbons.
　Prickly...
　Gougougou.
　Melamella.

　The little plush-sized monsters gathered around Eri.
　Eri wasn't intimidated by them.
　Perhaps it was a human who had done something terrible to her. Or do the monsters see her as a kindred spirit?

　The monsters didn't stop the monsters from getting on Eri's lap, but rather poked at him happily, as Eri himself didn't stop them.

'Good for you, Ryota-san.
'Yeah, it's a relief to have this much routine.
What are you going to do now?
'I'm going to go to the dungeon with you for a while. I've copied my abilities from Meeke, and I know you won't feel safe yet without me by your side.

　I looked at Eli, and Celeste, Elsa, and Ena around me nodded at almost the same time.

　It's still the same now.
　They're playing happily with their fellow monsters, but if I look closely, they don't want to move away from me at all.
　Like Eri does with me, Hone Hone grabs Eri's fingers and makes a gesture like "play over there", but Eri pulls and shakes her head and won't respond.

　It looks like they'll have to stay together for a while yet.

'Speaking of which,'

　Suddenly, Celeste said as she remembered.

'But it was good,'
Did you like it?
It's nice to be separated from your parents, but if they did it now, there wouldn't be any room.
...... Oh.

　I'm reminded of this when I was told.
　The layout of this mansion is like a spellbinding 10LLSDK floor plan.
　When we moved in, there were five of us, so the mansion had plenty of room for us.

'Me, Emily, Celeste, Eve and Alice. That's the members you had when you moved in.
And then there's me, Elsa, and the humanoid spirits Aulum and Nifonium, and Sakuya.

　Ena takes over and tells them to count.
　The number of people using the room now is exactly ten.

When did the room fill up?
It was a long time ago.

　Celeste replied with a bitter smile.
　'I didn't notice that at all.

'So, in terms of timing, it was ...... when Sakuya became a housemate?
I see.
I see. ......
Well, I still have my old room, which I'll use when I need it.
We could build an extension.
...... (gui)

　Right after I mumbled, Eri, who was playing with the monsters, tugged at my sleeve.

'Hmm?　What's going on, Eli?

　Eli jumps off my lap.
　Then, using his fingers, he tries to pull and walk away.

'What's the matter, Eli?'
...... (nationally)
You want me to follow you?

　My friends and I exchanged curious looks with each other as we chatted.

　I'm not sure, but I decided to follow them anyway.

　Eri and I walked out into the hallway and out the front door.

　It was bright outside at night.

　Emily House.
　A house that is always warm and bright.
　Its dominant domain (、、、、) extended to the garden as well.

　The lights here and there were bright enough not to be too bright, and it warmed my body and soul.

　I walked through such a garden with Eri.
　I'm going to be able to see the entrance to the dungeon, the one that Eri has brought me to.

　The dungeon that appeared in the garden of the mansion, Eri's dungeon, Erislonium.

'What's wrong with the dungeon?'
...... (nationally)

　Eri doesn't say anything and tries to take me into the dungeon.
　Without understanding, I entered the dungeon with Eri--.

''Eh?''

　I was surprised.
　I don't know how surprised I was, but it was the most surprising thing I've seen all year.

　I entered the Ellislonium, so I was expecting that idyllic, picnic-ready basement level of the Ellislonium.

　But it wasn't.
　That's not it.

　I was standing in the foyer.

　The front door of a mansion.
　The reason it wasn't the mansion itself was because that was just the front door, and there was no hallway or room door leading to it at all.

　But that's as far as it goes.
　As Eri walked away from me, tottering along, the space stretched out, creating a hallway beyond the front door.

　I made the hallway(,) and then Eli comes back to me.

　He grabs my fingers and looks up at me.

'...... Are you saying that maybe we can make this a home?'
...... (nationally)

　Eli looked at me, smiling.
　I was surprised, but on second thought, maybe it wasn't worth the surprise.

　Eli has copied many abilities, compared to that.
　Maybe it's as natural as remodeling your own dungeon.

　Inside the dungeon, at the entrance of the mansion, which has a sense of a secret base.

''It's kind of nice.''

　The excitement grew rapidly.