I ran into an odd issue on a new playthrough of Atelier Rorona DX. Just starting out on Assignment 1. Everything is going fine, yet I'm getting mostly through Month 2 and I still haven't been asked to do a request by Sterk to open up friend requests. I've completed the assignment (7 stars at the moment), filled the bingo board, been to the forest multiple times and ortega ruins. I loaded up a save at the beginning and just did a lot of sleeping on the couch, but even going past the dates in the various Rorona guides (which say Sterk should ask you to make tea around 1/20 to 1/25), nothing happens.

Am I missing something stupid or did they change something in the DX version?