Strike the Blood - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE 

SHE’S CRYING 

1 

The next day, the mysterious explosion that occurred in Itogami City blanketed the news media. 

The newspapers printed photographs of the demolished warehouse district on the front page; television and video sites had interviews with survivors on a continuous loop. 

The sixty or so damaged buildings had all been warehouses belonging to a major food conglomerate. About twenty thousand households had lost power; of those, half had no scheduled date for restoration as of that morning. The monorail track connecting Island East to Island South had been destroyed; direct damage alone was estimated at seven billion yen. When indirect damage was included, the figure climbed to fifty billion yen. The lone saving grace was the complete absence of fatalities. 

“Whoa, scary. And the cause remains unknown, they said.” 

With an apron over her school uniform, Nagisa was casually speaking while cleaning up after breakfast. 

“Well, uh… It could be a warehouse fire started by lightning strikes, you know?” 

Sipping on coffee to wake him up, Kojou replied with nervousness in his voice. His face seemed tired because he hadn’t slept a single wink the night before. 

In the process of escaping the scene of the incident with Yukina, making an anonymous tip to the police, and carrying the Elder vampire on the brink of death to the hospital, night had turned to dawn at some point. 

“No one’s gonna believe it was a lightning strike. Everyone’s saying things, like it was a terrorist bombing or an accident from a cargo of rocket fuel, but I suspect it was a meteor strike. You know, like the Tunguska impact? Sudo said a big incident that happened in Russia a long time ago was a lot like this.” 

“Meteorite, huh… That’s the good version, I suppose…” 

Kojou gazed into the distance as he muttered to himself. Judging from what he saw on the news, the fact last night’s widespread devastation was Kojou’s work remained unexposed. The scale of the damage was so massive that it seemed no one could believe that the incident was brought about by a single vampire. 

However, he couldn’t be optimistic that would continue. 

Surely there had been many witnesses who’d seen the Beast Vassal running wild right there just prior to the incident. It wouldn’t be surprising for someone to deduce Kojou’s existence from that. It was also possible Yukina would expose everything before anyone could; he hadn’t felt like sleeping with that on his mind. 

Fifty billion yen in total damage. No way I can make up for that, thought Kojou. 

Incidentally, this Sudo character Nagisa had mentioned was an actor and radio personality local to Itogami City. Not that it mattered. 

“Well, I have a Cheerleading Club meeting, so I’m going ahead.” 

Nagisa spoke as she ran out of the room with a patter. Kojou tossed a wave her way. 

“’Kay.” 

“Close the door after, okay? And don’t you be late, Kojou. Clean the mag cup and put it away when you’re done drinking coffee. Make sure the lights are out before you go out the door… Ah, right, I put new handkerchiefs and tissues here in the hallway so—” 

“Get going already!” 

“’Kaaaay!” 

After making sure Nagisa, boisterous to the very end, had left, Kojou limply exhaled. 

September first. His first day of school since the end of summer break. 

As Saikai Academy had two semesters, it didn’t engage in any special commencement ceremony. After a long homeroom session, normal classes were scheduled to begin. Even if he felt like he hadn’t gotten a break at all, his homework was nowhere near done, and last night’s incident was guaranteed to add to it. He wanted to just skip class and go on a journey far, far away. 

Just as Kojou began absentmindedly thinking about that, the chime in the entryway suddenly rang. Projected onto the intercom monitor was Yukina, in school uniform with the guitar case on her back. 

“Himeragi…? What are you doing here at a time like this?” Kojou asked, suspecting it was an ill omen. 

Yukina replied in her usual serene tone. 

“I came for you. We’ll be late if we don’t finally get going, Senpai.” 

“For me…? What, you want to go to school together?” 

“I don’t mind if going together is too much, so I’ll just watch you covertly if that is your preference.” 

“So I’m being watched either way, huh…? Fine, just hold on a sec.” 

Kojou cut the intercom and headed for the entrance with his usual schoolbag. 

When he opened the door and went outside, Yukina was standing in the hallway, lowering her head with proper politeness. 

“Good morning, Senpai.” 

“Ah yeah.” 

Even though, like Kojou, she’d probably barely slept at all, he could feel no sense of fatigue from Yukina’s perfectly put-together look. No doubt her well-honed physique at work; that, or it was pure youth. However, even she could not conceal her weary expression. 

“…You were rather extravagant last night, weren’t you?” 

Keeping silent until they boarded the elevator, Yukina spoke with apparent anger included in her tone. 

Ugh, said Kojou, averting his eyes. Apparently, Yukina’s real objective in having come to get him this morning was to chew him out on the way to school. 

“They say the total damage is fifty billion yen.” 

“Ugh…” 

“As you are an immortal vampire, Senpai, you might be able to pay that back in about five centuries or so. You’d still have to repay a hundred million every single year, though. Interest adds up, after all.” 

“…By any chance, you report on last night already to your higher-ups at the Lion King Agency?” 

“I really must report to them about it, but I am somewhat hesitant.” 

“Hesitant?” 

Kojou was surprised to hear that word coming from the overly serious girl’s lips. 

Yukina lowered her face, looking conflicted. 

“Yes. I share responsibility for last night’s incident, after all; I think it was absolutely not your fault alone, Senpai…and you did save me, after all… Um, thank you very much for that.” 

She conveyed the last phrase in a voice so tiny that it seemed like it’d vanish. 

“I—I see. Well…when you think about it, it was legitimate defense and all. I had no choice but to take measures to protect myself, so, self-defense, right?” 

Kojou unintentionally put great firmness into the words he spoke. Yukina made a disappointed shake of her head as she looked at him. 

“However, there is no proof of that.” 

“Proof?” 

“Yes. Of course, I would testify to that effect, but as to whether it would be believed… In the first place, the police and the Lion King Agency are on poor terms. My being on the scene might actually hurt more than it helps.” 

“Is that, ah, so…?” 

Having reconfirmed the difficult situation he was in, Kojou deflated. He didn’t know where the fault lines were exactly, but the departments within the government for demonic countermeasures apparently had various turf wars going on. When he thought about it, Yukina was still just a junior high schooler anyway; he could understand her testimony not carrying much weight. Of course, it wasn’t likely they could get the “Old Guard” man on the verge of death to testify that Kojou engaged in legitimate defense. 

The stifling atmosphere hung over them as they continued to walk, finally boarding the monorail headed toward the academy. 

The devastated warehouse district was very visible from the train window. There was also the stark sight of the fracture midway along the bridge connecting the Gigafloats. 

The greater-than-usual amount of chaos inside the monorail was no doubt due to the messed-up travel routes. This, too, was caused by last night’s incident. As he was the responsible party, Kojou had no right to complain. As they squeezed aboard the tightly packed train, Yukina, too, made a rather sullen face. 

“…The main thing is, you overdid it, Senpai. Certainly it was a dangerous situation, but that was clearly excessive defense. Surely you had no need to go that far.” 

“It’s not like I did that because I wanted to, you know,” Kojou muttered somberly as if sulking. 

Perhaps taking that as him desperately making excuses, Yukina raised her eyebrows and glared at Kojou. 

“So why did you command a Beast Vassal to engage in such excessive destruction?” 

“I didn’t order it to do anything. It’s not like that live wire’s my Beast Vassal anyway.” 

“Why are you telling me such an obvious lie?” 

Yukina sighed, making an expression as if she was dealing with a wayward child. 

“The Fourth Primogenitor, ‘Kaleid Blood,’ is said to possess twelve mighty Beast Vassals, each rivaling the monsters of myth and legend. Surely you are not telling me it is not so, given the damage that actually happened?” 

“No, it’s not like I’m trying to paper it over or something.” 

Kojou’s voice was ragged from aggravation. 

“They don’t listen to any orders of mine. Now, if I could use the things like I want, that’s a totally different story.” 

“…What do you mean by that?” 

She must have sensed Kojou’s words were not simply something made up at random. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Yukina’s expression turned quite sober. Kojou looked like this wasn’t easy for him to talk about. 

“They don’t think of me as their master. Yeah, I did inherit twelve Beast Vassals from Avlora, but they don’t accept that for themselves yet.” 

“Avlora…meaning, the previous Fourth Primogenitor you spoke of before, Senpai?” 

Yukina looked up at Kojou to confirm. Kojou made a sloppy nod. 

“So because of that, I can’t control ’em. Usually I keep ’em under control somehow, but being attacked by other Beast Vassals is a bit much.” 

“And then they’ll…go berserk like last night?” 

“Well, maybe. Just because I come knocking doesn’t mean they’ll come out, I think. It’s not like I’ve put it to the test, though.” 

“That is common sense. Please do not test it.” 

Yukina spoke with what seemed like sullen anger. 

“…But, if what you’re telling me right now is the truth, you are indeed a more dangerous being than I had thought, Senpai. If you do not somehow become able to properly control your familiars…” 

As Yukina murmured, she sank deep into thought. 

Kojou silently gazed at her for a while as she did so. Without thinking, he said what he really thought. 

“You’re quite an oddball, Himeragi.” 

“Eh? …Is that so?” 

Yukina’s eyes widened as if taken completely off guard. 

“Although I do not want to hear that coming from you, Senpai, what is odd about me?” 

“I mean…that’s not what most people would think of if they heard me talking just now. They wouldn’t think further than ‘a vampire who can’t control his Beast Vassals is dangerous; better stay away from him, or maybe destroy him sooner rather than later!’ Stuff like that, I figure.” Kojou spoke with a pained smile mixed in. 

Yukina put a hand on her own chest as if reflecting on it. 

“Is that so? Now that you mention it, I do feel like that, too, but… I mean, it’s you, Senpai.” 

“…What do you mean?” 

“Er, there’s no deep meaning. It’s just, I don’t think you are all that bad a vampire. A little sloppy, occasionally lewd, but that’s all.” 

Yukina’s eyes narrowed as she spoke, as if replaying her memories since the moment they met. She wasn’t speaking in a joking tone whatsoever. Apparently this was truly what she thought of him. 

As any rebuttal would only kick up more trouble, Kojou twisted his lips without a word. 

The monorail arrived in front of the academy; students wearing the same uniforms as Kojou and Yukina got off the train. Yukina took out her train pass case. 

“But, if you inherited the power of the Fourth Primogenitor, Senpai, why can’t you control the Beast Vassals, I wonder?” 

“That’s probably ’cause I’m a blood-drinking virgin.” 

Yukina tilted her head and looked at Kojou. 

“Blood-drinking…virgin? What do you mean by virgin?” 

Did she seriously just ask me that? Kojou thought, looking sharply at Yukina. However, Yukina simply blinked her eyes with a mystified look. Kojou remembered that she’d been raised at an all-girls school somewhere, and on top of that, she’d been training as a Sword Shaman from dawn to dusk. 

“In other words, I have no experience. I’ve never drunk another person’s blood before.” 

Kojou explained, picking the least offensive words he could find. 

Actually, the fact that beside the Beast Vassals, Kojou couldn’t use a single proper vampiric power was no doubt connected to that. Not that this had particularly bothered him until now. 

“Ah, so that’s what you meant by virgin…eh? You haven’t done it?” 

Yukina asked back in apparent surprise. Kojou’s confession that he’d never experienced drinking blood was apparently hard for her to connect to her image of a vampiric Primogenitor. 

“No ‘experience,’ Senpai…? Is that so…?” 

“Come on, it can’t be that strange. I mean, I was a normal human being till just lately.” 

“Well…that may be so…but…” 

While perplexed, Yukina seemed vaguely pleased for some reason. For his part, Kojou’s expression twisted in displeasure. 

“Anyway, could you stop saying how I have ‘no experience’ and ‘haven’t done it’ so loud in a place like this?” 

“Eh, why? You said those things yourself, Senpai…” 

“Er, well, that’s because, um…” 

As he made anguished thoughts about how he should explain this, Kojou drew his face close to Yukina’s ear. A moment later… 

“Heya, Kojou.” 

A sudden impact assaulted Kojou from the rear. A very familiar arm wrapped around Kojou’s neck as an equally familiar voice spoke. 

“Don’t go sayin’ suggestive words to a girl first thing in the morning like this, man.” 

“Y-Yaze?” 

The voice speaking this cheerful, energetic tone first thing in the morning belonged to a male student with short-cropped hair and headphones down around his neck. He seemed to have been riding the same monorail. 

Yaze went through the turnstile, still grappling with Kojou’s shoulders. 

“Heya… Wait, that’s not Nagisa-chan. Who is that? We had a girl like this in our junior high?” 

Noticing Yukina walking beside them, he looked at Kojou’s face in what seemed a bit of surprise. Kojou gloomily thrust Yaze away. 

“Transfer student. She’s in Nagisa’s class.” 

“Ohh, I see, I see. …So, Kojou, why are you going to school together with the little transfer here?” 

“I just bumped into her on the way ’cause she lives close to us. A bit of talking’s normal, geez,” Kojou replied while keeping his cool. It’s not like he was lying. He might’ve met her when leaving the entrance to his apartment, but that was still on the way to school, technically. 

“I am Yukina Himeragi. And you are Yaze Motoki, right?” 

Yukina spoke while lowering her head in perfect courtesy. Yaze suddenly made a very pleasant expression. 

“Oh, what’s this? So he’s been talkin’ about me?” 

“No, there was information on you in Akatsuki-senpai’s file.” 

“Ah? File?” 

Looking at the question mark that came over Yaze’s expression, Yukina apparently realized her mistake. Her blank expression twitched faintly as she shook her head. 

“No, it’s nothing at all. I’m kidding.” 

“R-right. Well, nice to meet ya.” 

Yaze made a friendly, smiling face while giving her a thumbs-up. 

“Hey, so you’re a musician girl? What kind of genres do you do?” 

“Musician… Ah yes. Er, actually I’m not very knowledgeable about music.” 

“Eh? Ah, I mean, that’s a guitar on your back, right? Maybe a bass?” 

“Ah…yes. You’re right.” 

Remembering she had a “guitar case” on her back, Yukina hurriedly tried to gloss over it. 

And, when Yaze suspiciously raised an eyebrow, she awkwardly averted her eyes. 

“Um, I’m sorry, Senpais. I have to go now.” 

“R-right. Later, Himeragi.” 

Kojou waved in recognition as Yukina ran off like that to the junior high school campus. 

Yaze silently gazed, watching her for a while like that. 

“Hey, Kojou. That girl, she’s kinda mysterious, ain’t she?” 

“Nah, she just transferred, she’s just a bit scrambled about stuff still.” 

“Is that so… Hmm. If this doesn’t become trouble of some kind, then great,” Yaze murmured in an oddly serious tone. Kojou shot his friend a doubtful look back. 

“Trouble?” 

“Yeah. Make sure you pull this off right, Kojou, for your sake and the sake of not messing up my peaceful, lively school life. I mean, you are kind of my precious childhood friend and stuff.” 

What’s he talkin’ about? thought Kojou, shifting his gaze to Yaze with a perplexed look. 

Yaze was looking at the high school campus, at Kojou and Yaze’s classroom on the second floor. Asagi, sitting right at the window, was waving her hand, having just noticed them arriving at school. 

2 

“Good morning, Kojou. You’re really looking laid-back here first thing in the morning. Well, you always do.” 

Homeroom, right before classes began. As Kojou sat in his own seat, Asagi, sitting just ahead, spoke to him. 

As usual, she was dressed in a gorgeous way with a hairstyle to match, but today, her usual liveliness served to conceal a shadow, as if an aura of ennui hung over her somehow. 

Kojou waved back with the same listless expression. 

“Gee, thanks. Hey, you look sleepy yourself.” 

“I am. Thanks to that, my makeup isn’t sitting well… You saw about yesterday’s explosion on the news, right?” 

Asagi spoke while fussing over imperfections under her eyes with a hand mirror. 

Gulp. Kojou was somewhat suspicious as he responded. 

“Y-yeah. A little bit.” 

“Right after that, a big shot from the Gigafloat Management Corp was crying to me over the phone. Their mainframe for disaster countermeasures got blown away, and they had to put together a replacement system from scratch. That’s what happens when you buy your hardware from the lowest bidder. It’s not tuned at all, and its inbound filtering is like a sieve.” 

“I don’t really follow, but…sounds like a big mess… Sorry.” 

As Kojou appropriately ignored Asagi’s technobabble, he was tortured by a guilty conscience. To think that even people this close to him had been harmed by yesterday’s incident. 

Asagi shot Kojou a dubious look as he sunk into silence. 

“Why are you apologizing?” 

“Uh…no reason. So anyway, you’re helping people across the whole island, then, Asagi?” 

“It—It’s not that huge a deal, though.” 

Asagi spoke quickly, seeming to blush a little. Then her usual leering grin emerged. 

“But, maybe you should be thanking me all the same. There’s a restaurant at Keystone Gate that has a cake buffet…” 

“Yeah, sometime, sure. I’ll think about it once I get my summer break homework settled.” 

Kojou tried to paper it all over. Keystone Gate was the section where the four Gigafloats connected—the giant building literally at the center of Itogami Island. It was the island’s most fashionable spot, brimming with high-end brands and specialty stores. And this restaurant was right there. An expensive one, no doubt. 

“Homework, huh.” 

As Asagi rested her chin on her hands, she muttered in an indifferent tone, seemingly on purpose. For some reason, she was glancing sideways at Kojou intermittently. 

“B-by the way Kojou, I thought I’d ask… Whatever happened after that?” 

“After that?” 

“You know, yesterday, the girl you were at the station with. Nagisa-chan’s classmate, you said? 

“I mean, not that it matters to me either way.” 

“Oh yeah.” 

Something like that happened, too, didn’t it? Kojou recalled. Thanks to the intensity of the disturbance that followed, he felt like it was already something in the distant past. 

“Oh, we just went home like normal.” 

“Is that…so?” 

“Yeah, I was just helping her carry back the stuff she bought.” 

“Th-that so? Hmm… I see.” 

Asagi’s expression seemed to brighten as she lifted her face. 

Right around then, in a corner of the classroom, there was a small commotion punctuated by oohs. Several boys had gathered in the corner around a single raised cell phone. 

“What’s that all about?” 

Kojou watched his worked-up classmates looking as if he’d spotted something unpleasant in a train station washroom. 

Asagi called out to Rin Tsukishima, a friend of hers who just happened to be passing by. 

“Hey, Rin. What’s up? What are the guys getting all worked up about?” 

“Ah, that? Seems some girl transferred into junior high.” 

Rin Tsukishima was the class representative. She was a student whose height and style made her seem very adult. 

She had meager social graces and was a girl of few words, but there were surprisingly many boys who went for that. Among first-year high school boys, she was number one in the Girls I Wanna Be Walked All Over By rankings by a rather glowing margin; she had apparently been rather shocked to learn of that result. 

“A junior high school transfer student…?” 

Kojou’s face grimaced a bit as he made a low murmur. “Good grief,” Rin murmured, watching the boys in exasperation. 

“Apparently the rumor is that she’s extremely cute, so they’ve ordered the juniors in their clubs to send them pictures.” 

As Asagi’s brow furled, she drew her face close to Kojou. 

“Hey, this transfer student, is that the one in Nagisa-chan’s class?” 

“Yeah, probably.” 

Kojou nodded with a pained expression. It was a pretty safe bet it was Yukina. 

Rin watched the exchange between Kojou and Asagi with mild amusement. 

“Not going to go and look, Akatsuki?” 

“Nah, not interested.” 

As Kojou tossed his reply, Rin said, “I see,” nodding with apparent satisfaction. 

“I suppose. You have Asagi, after all, Akatsuki.” 

“Huh?” 

Kojou looked up in surprise. He met the very close Asagi’s eyes, and both hurriedly separated simultaneously. 

Asagi, even with her cheeks reddening, maintained her cool attitude as she looked up at Rin. 

“There you go again, Rin… Kojou and I aren’t like that. We’re just friends from back in junior high. Right?” 

“R-right. Asagi hangs out with me and Yaze a lot. It’s just natural.” 

Kojou, too, conveyed it as the plain truth. For some reason, Rin made a disappointed-looking face as she listened. 

“So, in the end, no progress this summer, either? Even though Yaze seems to be making out fine with an older girlfriend?” 

“That’s ’cause Yaze and his girlfriend are both weirdos.” Kojou nonchalantly asserted it like it was inconvenient to be compared to either. 

Certainly, in spite of appearances, it was a fact that Yaze had a girlfriend. As soon as he’d graduated to high school in April, he’d fallen in love at first sight with a third-year senior. After a number of passionate approaches straight out of a romantic comedy, they’d finally become a couple just before summer vacation. 

“I suppose so,” Rin agreed, looking at Kojou with a meaningful expression. 

“Certainly I think she is a bit eccentric, too, but, Akatsuki-kun, I don’t think I want to hear you calling anyone odd. I have the feeling you have some very interesting secrets yourself.” 

“No idea what you’re talkin’ about, Tsukishima.” 

“Heh-heh.” As Rin watched Kojou feign ignorance, seemingly sulking, she narrowed her eyes and laughed. 

Her grandfather was a famous scholar of demonic ecology. Perhaps due to that, Rin was very learned about the characteristics of various demons; sometimes she acted as if she realized Kojou was not a normal human being. 

However, Rin did not regard Kojou with enmity; she seemed disinclined to raise any special fuss in any case. It seemed like she was observing Kojou simply because she found him interesting. Here in Itogami City, where there were more demons, etc., than foreign residents, it wasn’t a big deal. 

Saikai Academy had a number of demonic students, after all; they weren’t looked at in any special way, enough that a beautiful girl transferring into junior high attracted far more attention. 

That said, even Rin would surely be surprised to know that Kojou was actually the Fourth Primogenitor. 

“Oh yeah, Kojou. I brought that World History report I mentioned yesterday… You wanna look?” Asagi, whose mood had improved slightly at some point, spoke as she fished a pile of copying paper out of her bag. 

Kojou nodded in a flash. “Yeah. Of course.” 

“So! Cake buffet at Keystone Gate!” 

“Ugh… All right already…” 

Heartbroken, Kojou nodded. It was a matter of priorities; he was more worried about how he was going to do the homework in front of his face than the condition of his wallet. 

“Good, good,” Asagi replied, nodding with a smiling face as she handed the copying paper to Kojou. 

“Ah? I wonder what’s with Natsuki-chan?” 

That moment, Rin quietly muttered. It was too early for the homeroom session, but the class’s homeroom teacher, wearing a stifling, jet-black dress, entered the classroom with an expression of displeasure. 

“Kojou Akatsuki, are you here?” 

The charismatic homeroom teacher, small enough she looked like a little girl, called for Kojou at the classroom entrance with the aura of a ferocious deity. Kojou had a bad feeling about it as he sluggishly waved back. 

“…’Sup?” 

“Come to the student guidance room at noon. I need a word with you.” 

Natsuki made a frigid declaration. Incidentally, her outfit on this day was a miniskirted, goth loli–style dress and socks with black-and-white borders. It was completely stifling as per usual, but it looked nice and cool compared to most of what she usually wore. 

The frostiness and bloodlust of Natsuki’s implied threat sent a small shudder through Kojou. 

“Eh? Er, you said I had until the first class of the last day of the week to turn in that English homework…” 

“Also, bring that junior high transfer student with you.” 

“Himeragi…? Why?” 

Kojou’s voice unwittingly slipped. 

The murmurs among the students broadened as the name of the much-rumored transfer student emerged from his lips. 

“Would you understand if I said, last night’s incident?” 

“Er, ah… No idea what you’re talkin’ ab—” 

“Don’t play dumb with me. I’m going to speak to you very thoroughly about what the two of you were doing after running out of the game center late at night.” 

Natsuki left that monologue behind her before departing without waiting for Kojou’s reply. After that, Kojou was sweating bullets while bloodlust-filled glares from the male students poured upon him. And then… 

“Akatsuki… What was she speaking of just now? Could you explain, in detail?” 

The tall Rin stood beside the seated Kojou, leering down at him as she asked. She was so quiet normally, but at times like this, she was impressively intimidating. 

“T-Tsukishima… Er, Asagi?” 

Kojou spontaneously called for an assist. However, Asagi, who should have been sitting right there, had vanished at some point. 

“If you want Asagi, she’s over there.” 

Rin pointed to the back of the class with a straight face. 

For some reason, Asagi was standing right by the garbage bin, innocently ripping to shreds the pile of paper in her hands over and over. 

Geh! As the sheets turned into shreds, Kojou sucked in his breath as he realized what the pile of paper was. 

“W-wait. That wouldn’t be the World History report I asked you for, would it…” 

As Kojou hurried to his feet, Asagi glared at him, eyes half-closed and filled with silent rage. Without saying a word… 

“Hmph!” 

…she made a hard snort, tossing the thoroughly destroyed paper into the garbage bin. 

3 

As soon as lunch break began, Kojou darted out of the classroom and rendezvoused with Yukina in the corridor in front of the staff room. 

By the end of morning classes Kojou was tired enough to keel over, but Yukina looked considerably weakened as well, enough that she’d actually forgotten to bring that guitar case with her. Having seen his own classmates’ excitement, Kojou could largely picture what had happened, but being the center of the school’s attention seemed to have been quite an ordeal for her. 

Since Yukina didn’t have a cell phone, Kojou had to go through Nagisa to call her over. Thanks to that, Nagisa had insistently grilled them about this and that, adding one more reason for them to be exhausted. 

Somehow, Kojou and Yukina finally arrived at the student guidance room together. 

When Kojou and Yukina knocked and entered, Natsuki was already sitting on the sofa, waiting for them. 

“So you came, Akatsuki.” 

Natsuki spoke as she reclined with her legs crossed like she was some sort of princess. Huh. And, as she noticed that Yukina was standing behind Kojou, the corners of her lips curled upward. 

“So you’re the transfer student in Misaki’s class.” 

“Yes… Himeragi, junior high, third year.” 

Speechless for a moment as she beheld Natsuki’s beautiful, doll-like looks, she replied in an overly serious tone. Natsuki, her behavior filled with an air of charisma, seemed satisfied as she looked back at Yukina. 

“Welcome to Saikai Academy. It’s a pleasure to have you, particularly if you do not stir up any unnecessary trouble.” 

“Y-yes.” 

Yukina’s faltering reply was likely due to remembering the top class trouble that had stirred up just the day before. The warehouse district destroyed; fifty billion yen in damage. It wasn’t the level of problem you got called in by your homeroom teacher for. And so… 

“Now then, both of you. You know about the fireworks that occurred on Island East yesterday, yes?” 

“Well, uh, yeah, sure.” 

Kojou nodded with an uneasy feeling as Natsuki’s question got right to the point. The cold sweat moistening his back made his uniform shirt cling uncomfortably. 

“Actually, an Elder vampire was secured near the scene. He was gravely wounded and on the verge of death, but someone apparently made an anonymous tip to the fire department. This information hasn’t been released to the public yet. Does any of this ring a bell with either of you?” 

Shudder. Kojou heavily shook his head. Beside him, Yukina was like a statue, paralyzed. 

“That Elder was a trading company executive on the surface but police seem to have long suspected he’s part of the leadership of a smuggling ring. It would seem yesterday he was in the warehouse district in a place where he’d done many deals in the past. The underlings apparently say they don’t know anything about the other party for this deal.” 

“…Oookay.” 

Kojou watched Natsuki with a guarded expression. He was pretty interested in this information, but he didn’t know what Natsuki was telling Yukina and him all this for. 

“Witnesses saw a Beast Vassal on a rampage in the area a short time before the explosion. In other words, the nearly dead man who was found had been fighting someone, an enemy who could push an ‘Old Guard’ vampire to a comatose state. I believe it is extremely likely that this person was involved in the explosion… I wonder who?” 

“Wh-who knows?” 

As Kojou twisted his neck, seemingly on purpose, he remembered “Eustach,” the Lotharingian Armed Apostle, and the homunculus he had with him. Who they were, why they were fighting, and what it was they desired remained mysteries to Kojou and Yukina. 

Seemingly finding both of their reactions interesting to watch, Natsuki continued in a blunt tone, “Indeed… Actually, yesterday was not the first time a vampire was found on this island on the brink of death.” 

“Eh…?” 

“In the last two months, the police have ascertained that at least six similar incidents have occurred. That makes this the seventh, though, of course, this is the first time an Elder was involved.” 

As Natsuki said all that, she roughly tossed a thick pile of files onto the table. 

He didn’t want to know how she obtained all that, but they seemed to be copies of police investigation files. There was a jagged photograph attached, an enlarged image from city surveillance camera footage. 

“Wai…! Natsuki, what is this?” 

Kojou’s expression hardened as he looked at the men depicted in the photo. The charismatic homeroom teacher glared at Kojou, looking displeased at being addressed by her first name. 

“This is the list of demons assaulted to date. The ones displayed here are victims of the sixth incident. They were found two days ago, but… Do you know them, Kojou Akatsuki?” 

“No, I don’t know them…but…” 

Kojou’s lips twisted unpleasantly. When he stole a glance at Yukina beside him, Yukina’s face was pale as she clenched her fists without a word. 

The men depicted in the photo were the beast-man-and-vampire team. The men Yukina had sent flying for flirting with her the day he and she had first met. At some point after they’d fled Kojou and Yukina’s presence, someone had assaulted them and inflicted nearly fatal wounds. 

If this was somehow related to the combat in the warehouse district the night before, chances were very high that Eustach was the one who’d assaulted the two of them. Either way, Kojou and Yukina had become more deeply involved in this incident without ever realizing it. 

“So what…happened to all of these people?” 

“Hospitalized. They’re in no danger of dying, but none have regained consciousness as of yet. Not that I know what could do that to a dog with a powerful life force and a nonaging bat.” 

Natsuki elegantly rested her chin on her hands as she glared at Kojou with sharp eyes. 

“This is why I called both of you here.” 

“Eh?” 

“I don’t know the purpose is, but whoever’s been indiscriminately hunting demons remains at large. In other words, Kojou Akatsuki, it is possible that you, too, may be assaulted.” 

“A-ah… I see. Suppose so.” 

Having little self-awareness of his being a vampire, he hadn’t realized it until Natsuki said it, but she had a point. 

Eustach already knew Kojou was the Fourth Primogenitor. If his objective really was to hunt demons indiscriminately, Kojou might well be his next target. 

In fact, when Eustach had encountered Kojou, he’d said as much. 

That it was not yet time to fight a Primogenitor— 

“Corporation-raised demons and their families have apparently already been warned to beware of demon hunting. I’m sure you don’t know anyone that high up, so I’m warning you instead. You should thank me.” 

“Uh-huh. Well, thanks.” 

“So for that reason, no more playing around at night like you did yesterday. At least until this matter is resolved.” 

“R…” 

Natsuki’s tone had been so nonchalant that Kojou had almost unwittingly replied, Right, and was on the verge of nodding. However, just before he did, he noticed Yukina’s reproachful glare and caught himself. 

“Er, ah, what do you mean, playing around at night?” 

“…Hmph, very well. Anyway, you have been warned.” 

Natsuki, speaking like she was bored with it all, dismissed them with a wave of her hand. 

Kojou and Yukina did as she indicated, rising up and leaving the student guidance room together. 

“Ah, right. Wait a moment, transfer student.” 

That moment, Natsuki suddenly called out to Yukina. 

Huh? Yukina turned around and looked at Natuski, seemingly on her guard. 

Natsuki pulled something out of the breast of her black dress and lightly tossed it over to Yukina. 

It was a tiny mascot doll, small enough to fit in the palm of Yukina’s hand. She caught it by reflex, unwittingly speaking the doll’s name. 

“…Nekoma-tan…” 

Gasp! Looking up at how Yukina covered her mouth, Natuski made a broad, leering smile. 

“You forgot this. It is yours, isn’t it?” 

Yukina said nothing in response to Natsuki’s question. A puzzled expression came over Kojou as he watched Natsuki and Yukina glare at each other, tension hanging in the air for some unfathomable reason. 

Finally, Yukina made a polite nod and left the room. 

Watching Yukina as she left until the very end, Natsuki seemed quite pleased with herself for some reason. 

4 

“So Ms. Minamiya knew.” 

Yukina spoke as she walked along a corner of a passageway, as if to hide from prying eyes. The oddly happy way she gazed at the doll she’d received from Natsuki made her truly look like a regular female junior high school student. 

“Guess so… We really slipped up, leaving the doll behind like that.” 

Kojou replied with a serious expression. He’d meant to make a clean getaway the night before, but Natsuki seemed to have indeed known it was him from the start. Now she has something else on me, he thought, deflating somewhat. Yukina made a somewhat exasperated sigh as she looked at Kojou. 

“No. Not that. About the opponent we fought last night.” 

“Eh? That old man, Eustach or something?” 

“Yes. And that homunculus girl, too… Apparently the police already knew about their engaging in demon hunting.” 

Kojou nodded as he remembered the photograph Natsuki possessed. If the assaulted demons had been caught on camera, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the same surveillance camera had filmed Eustach and the girl. So the police no doubt knew about them. 

“However, it seems they do not as yet know their identities.” 

“Identities?” 

“That the perpetrator is a Lotharingian Armed Apostle.” 

“I see… She said the guys who’d been attacked are still unconscious…” 

“Yes. It would seem that we are the only ones to have directly fought them unscathed.” 

Yukina calmly pointed it out. At the time, Eustach had readily exposed his name and title because he was confident in the certainty he would defeat Yukina then and there. When one considered the combat capability of the girl called Astarte, it couldn’t be dismissed as overconfidence. However, Kojou intruded, and consequently, Yukina made it back safe and sound. To them it was no doubt a grave miscalculation. 

“Why didn’t you say that to Natsuki earlier? Appearances aside, she is a C-card holder. She has her Counter-Demon Attack Mage license. She seems to know the police pretty well, too.” 

“Senpai…are you serious?” 

“Huh?” 

Yukina glared at him eyes half-closed, throwing Kojou off. She seemed angry for some reason. 

“I have a C-card, too. Why does someone from the Lion King Agency need to go crying to the police?” 

“Er, it’s not really a ‘why’ thing, but…” 

Come to think of it, Natsuki said the Lion King Agency and the cops don’t get along, Kojou recalled. Perhaps that accounted for the odd tension in the air between Yukina and Natsuki. 

“Geez,” Yukina exhaled. 

“A simple serial killer case is a job for the police, but since this was someone from the Lotharingian Orthodox Church, an Armed Apostle–class man no less, it is very much an international sorcerous crime. That’s in our jurisdiction.” 

“O-oh. So it’s not just a turf thing.” 

“Of course it isn’t. Also, Senpai, have you forgotten?” 

“Eh? Forgotten what?” 

“About how to get what you did recognized as legitimate defense.” 

“Ah… And about there being no proof. Huh. And you said your testimony won’t be enough, Himeragi… Ah!” 

That’s when Kojou finally grasped what Yukina had in mind. 

“Himeragi, you can’t mean…” 

“Yes. This opponent has been indiscriminately hunting demons and even defeated an ‘Old Guard’ vampire. Anyone would recognize the danger he poses, so if you can prove he attacked you, I think something can be done about your own crime, Senpai. You are technically a Primogenitor, after all.” 

“The gist being, if we can catch the Armed Apostle geezer and his girl, it’s all good…?” 

Oh boy. Kojou made a sigh. So capturing Eustach would cancel out his own crime. The opposite was also true: Until they were captured, he couldn’t go to the police for help. 

If Kojou explained about last night to the police, the chances were high he’d be detained on the spot, no longer able to move freely. It would also expose to Nagisa the fact he was a vampire. 

“Either way, the police are not equipped to deal with that Lotharingian Armed Apostle. I believe it would only add more casualties.” 

Yukina, who held the trump card called “Schneewalzer,” conveyed that plainly, with no elation whatsoever. Her tone conveyed that it was simply her calm analysis of the facts as a Counter-Demon Attack Mage. 

Fed up with it all, Kojou scrutinized her eyes. 

“Bottom line is, if we don’t find the old man and the girl before the cops, nothin’ we can do, huh?” 

“I do not believe this is impossible. We are the only ones who know the perpetrator is a Lotharingian Armed Apostle. And given their distinctive appearance, the places he can hide in are limited.” 

“Well, you’re right about that… Imagine walkin’ around the city dressed like that.” 

And that’s another thing, Kojou grasped. 

He was a middle-aged man almost two meters tall going around with a half-naked girl. That was almost a crime by itself. You could get arrested at any moment like that. 

“Actually, thinking along those lines, I sent for data this morning.” 

“Data?” 

“A list of Western European Church facilities on this island.” 

As Yukina spoke, she fished a notepad out of her pocket. It was a fancy notepad with Nekoma-tan drawn on it. However, it had a dreary list of church names and street addresses written on it. 

“There is a single Lotharingian Orthodox church. There are also seven facilities belonging to other sects. No doubt he is hiding in one of them with his associate.” 

“…I wonder,” Kojou muttered offhand. 

Yukina blinked in apparent surprise. No doubt she never imagined he’d contradict her. 

“Is there something mistaken?” 

“No, it’s not that, but just wondering if we should be going about it so simply.” 

“Hmm?” 

Yukina’s lips tapered in what looked like a small pout. Kojou’s face grimaced. 

“I mean, even if they don’t know they’re Lotharingian, I think they at least know what those two look like. That includes the old man wearing that vestment.” 

“I see… You might be right…” 

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t the police have investigated the Western European Church already?” 

“Ah…” 

Yukina inhaled slightly. She shook her head, seemingly mildly confused. 

“B-but if that’s so, where are they now?” 

“Yeah… Hmm, maybe a foreign branch company?” 

As he tried to think of where Eustach could walk in broad daylight without anyone being suspicious, he said the first thing he could think of. 

“What?” 

“I mean, just ’cause he’s an Armed Apostle doesn’t mean he can’t be somewhere other than a church. In the first place, we don’t know that the old man’s an actual Armed Apostle. He might just have claimed to be one.” 

“I—I see…” 

A perplexed expression came over Yukina as she politely conceded the point. 

No matter how great her combat capability, she was still an inexperienced, apprentice Attack Mage. Having such a frank personality to begin with, she might well have been particularly vulnerable to maliciously spread misinformation. 

“Having said that, I don’t think he can really hide with looks like that. I think he’s gotta have some kind of trick. The easiest place for a Lotharingian to avoid suspicion is in the middle of other Lotharingians, so somewhere like a Lotharingian embassy… Well, there probably isn’t one in the city, though.” 

“So a branch company headquartered in Lotharingia…or such?” 

“Right, right. That’s what I mean.” 

Kojou nodded without a conscience. He did feel like it made sense, but the idea lacked even one shred of evidence supporting it. If anybody asked, he wasn’t confident enough to say he was absolutely sure. 

But Yukina had a serious expression as she thought about something. 

“Senpai…I’m impressed.” 

“Eh?” 

“I’m quite surprised. To think that even you are capable of logical thought like this, Senpai.” 

She looked up at Kojou with sparkles in her eyes. Without thinking, Kojou averted his face from her radiant gaze. 

“Is—is that so… Kind of doesn’t feel like much of a compliment, but…” 

“However, if it is a branch company inside Itogami City headquartered elsewhere, how should we investigate, I wonder?” Yukina spoke as she immediately snapped back to a serious expression. 

“Yeah, that has me stumped, too… The Gigafloat Management Corp must have data on all the corps, but they won’t hand that out to just anyone, after all…” 

“Wait,” Kojou muttered as he remembered something. “The Gigafloat Management Corp, huh?” 

From the back of Kojou’s mind emerged the face of a very familiar classmate. 

5 

It was just before the end of lunch break. Kojou, his breath ragged as he returned to the classroom, rushed over to Asagi’s seat. 

Ever since the incident that morning, Asagi had clearly been in a foul mood for some reason, but noticing that Kojou seemed serious for once, she reluctantly raised her face. Apparently they were at least on speaking terms. And then… 

“—Lotharingian-based corporations? Why do you want to know about that?” 

When Asagi finished listening to Kojou laying out the bare essentials, she asked back rather dubiously. 

“Er, that’s… It’s not a really big deal, but…” 

Kojou hemmed and hawed rather than saying, I’m looking for a guy indiscriminately hunting demons. Asagi glared with annoyance at Kojou’s halfhearted posture. 

“This isn’t…something that Himeragi girl put you up to, is it?” 

“Wha? No, that’d be ridiculous. No, no.” 

“…” 

“It’s really not that! Right, I’m doing personal research on Lotharingia for summer break homework.” 

“Ah? Personal research?” 

Is there such a thing? Asagi wondered, tilting her head, but it was a fact that Kojou, serial skipper, had a huge pile of extra homework dumped on him. As if giving up on pressing the point further, Asagi fished out her smartphone and started it up with a sigh. 

“I guess I have to. Yes. Yes, I’ll look it up.” 

“Oh, thanks a ton, Asagi.” 

“You’re gonna have to show your gratitude. Lotharingian corporations, huh? …There are none. Not on the island.” Tapping the keyboard like a first-class pianist, Asagi easily extracted the confidential information. Her answer threw Kojou off. 

“None? Not even one?” 

“There’s a bunch of companies that do business with Lotharingian corporations under subcontracting agreements, but all the workers are Japanese. I mean, there’s no reason for European corporations to have branches on Itogami Island in the first place. They have Demon Sanctuaries over there, too, and with the yen’s value being high lately, wouldn’t most have pulled out?” 

“…Pulled out?” 

A light went off in the back of Kojou’s mind. Eustach was lying low; he didn’t need a corporation that was actually in business. The opposite was no doubt all the better. 

“I see… Asagi, can you look into ones that pulled out, ones that have shut-down offices still here?” 

“Hmm, I feel like if it’s within five years in the past, there should still be records, but…” 

Asagi operated her keyboard once more. This time there was a short wait. It apparently took time to squeeze the data out. Finally the screen switched, with detailed data now filling it. 

“Here we are. There’s just one, though: the Sfelde Pharmaceutical Lab. The head office is in Lotharingia. It was mainly researching new, experimental drugs used for homunculi. Two years ago the lab was closed; looks as if the building’s been seized by creditors.” 

“…That’s it, Asagi! Where is it?” 

Kojou leaned over to peek at the screen of the smartphone. Asagi blushed a little at Kojou’s innocently getting so close, they were practically touching. 

“Err, Island North, second level, section B. It’s a corporate lab district.” 

“Got it. Thanks.” 

As Kojou spoke, he turned his back on Asagi all of a sudden like he was brushing her off. 

“H-hold on, Kojou. Where do you think you’re going?” 

“Something just came up. I’m headin’ out!” 

“Huh?! What are you talking about? What about afternoon classes?!” 

“Make a good excuse for me. Please!” 

Kojou made a pose like a pleading bow, leaving behind only those words as he really did leave the classroom this time. Realizing that Yukina was waiting for Kojou in the hallway, Asagi kicked her chair back as she rose up. 

“H-hey you…! What the hell is this?! I’m really going to kill you! You jerk—!” 

As Asagi yelled in the direction of the corridor, her fearful classmates hurriedly averted their eyes. So that is how it is, Yaze’s face seemed to say, having watched the whole thing from start to finish. 

And, without anyone noticing, Rin Tsukishima, the class representative, gave a gentle sigh. 

6 

Island North—Itogami Island’s northern R&D district, with corporate labs lined up one after another. The abandoned laboratory site remained standing here, in a corner of the futuristic district that felt the most artificial of the entire man-made island. 

It was a four-story building largely shaped like a box. 

It had no windows, perhaps to protect trade secrets. For that reason, it didn’t really feel like the place had been shut down. It was an ideal environment for a criminal hideout. 

“So that is the pharmaceutical company laboratory?” 

Peeking out from behind the shadow of a roadside tree, Yukina asked with a guarded expression, “Probably,” said Kojou with an uncertain nod. 

“The parent company pulled out, and the lab was apparently close. But since the word is that the place was seized, I think the facilities in it are still intact. The one for homunculus adjustment included.” 

“A homunculus adjustment facility… That’s just what they’d need, isn’t it?” Yukina murmured with a serious expression. 

Homunculus was a title given to an artificial life-form constructed via biotechnology. 

Though completely artificially designed down to the genetic level, there were fundamental differences between them and chimera. 

The technological difficulty was higher, but the level of freedom in design was larger as well. 

The first methods for producing homunculi were supposedly established by the sixteenth century. Research had long continued at the hands of a wide variety of people, either to produce a cheap labor force or to develop a partner for mankind. 

However, in the end, widespread use of homunculi never happened. 

There were two rather large reasons people cited for that. 

The first was the ethical problem. 

There was deep-seated opposition centered on religious institutions against creating life, viewing such behavior as humans intruding upon the realm of the divine. Furthermore, a fierce debate raged as to whether homunculi should be granted human rights; the debate remained unsettled to this day. 

And the other reason was a simple matter of construction cost. 

The methods for producing homunculi simply cost too much to use them for labor or sending them onto the battlefield as soldiers. Cloning technology, etc., using genuine human beings, was decisively cheaper. 

For that reason, homunculi production was now rarely undertaken, and the number of scientists researching it had greatly dwindled. 

However, even now, there was one exception: a field that incorporated homunculus research. That was using homunculus technology in the development of pharmaceuticals. Homunculi, whose genetic construction could be artificially altered, were optimal for clinical trials and researching immune responses and so on; criticism had been blunted to a degree because it was for the just cause of the advancement of medicine. For that reason, most large pharmaceutical firms had their own facilities for the construction and research of homunculi. 

The Sfelde Pharmaceutical Laboratory had apparently once been one such medical research facility. 

“—We’ll never be able to tell what’s inside from here, will we…” 

As Yukina spoke, she lowered the guitar case from her back. She gently withdrew the silver spear, deploying the blades of the spear tip. 

“I’ll go look. Please wait right here, Senpai.” 

“Eh? Hold on, Himeragi. You don’t plan on going in there alone?” 

“Yes. I intend to do just that.” 

Of course I do, Yukina’s gaze seemed to say as she looked up at Kojou. 

“Why?!” 

Oh dear. As Kojou’s eyes widened in surprise, Yukina made a loud sigh and shook her head. 

“And what will you do if you come with me, Senpai? You’d only be in the way, so please behave.” 

“Er, in the way…? What if you bump into the old man and the girl inside? You gonna fight them alone, Himeragi?” 

“Of course. And what would you intend to do if you came with me, Senpai?” 

“Stop talkin’ like I’m thinking of doing something dirty. Geez.” 

Kojou spoke with a tone of displeasure. However, unlike Yukina, who had a considerable amount of training as a Counter-Demon Attack Mage, Kojou was only a rank amateur who’d obtained vampire powers. Even if he was called the Fourth Primogenitor, he wasn’t even able to control a single Beast Vassal as he pleased. Given that, he couldn’t help being called “in the way.” 

“And what could you do as a vampire in the first place, Senpai? You cannot use a Beast Vassal; you cannot fly through the sky; you cannot even turn into mist or the like.” 

“H-hey, only a few vampires have special powers like that. It’s not like I can’t do anything.” 

“Certainly your raw strength is considerable, but you cannot use it in actual combat with moves like an amateur. Also, you lack caution and presence of mind.” 

“U…gh…” 

“If you truly understand, then please behave. Do not do anything rash.” 

Yukina spoke with a tone like she was brushing him off. 

What she’d said was pretty harsh, but she was in no way being deliberately malicious. To her, she was just pointing out the obvious so that Kojou would not place himself in danger. 

“But I’ll be worried about you, Himeragi!” 

Kojou spoke in a rough, nervous tone. 

Those words made Yukina’s eyes go wide. Her cheeks reddened a little. 

“Wh-what are you saying…?! I’m the one worried about you, Senpai! If your Beast Vassal runs wild like last night in the middle of the city like this, how much damage do you think will occur then?” 

“You do have a point there, but it’s not right for everything to fall on just your shoulders, Himeragi! I don’t like that one bit. In the first place, it’s not like I’ve got nothin’ to do with this whole thing.” 

Kojou watched Yukina with a serious look. That vigor awed Yukina into silence. 

“I… I understand. I do think you have a point there, Senpai.” 

Ahem. With a small clearing of her throat, Yukina made a serious expression. “Well, yeah,” said Kojou as he nodded. 

“So long as it is possible you will be hunted as a vampire, you certainly have something to do with this, Senpai.” 

“Wait, you think that’s the point I have?” 

“In the first place, my original mission is to watch over you; I really should not take my eyes off you, Senpai. Let’s act together as much as we can. However, if we encounter the Armed Apostle—” 

“Yeah. I’ll run to safer ground right away. I don’t wanna get in your way, Himeragi.” 

“Good. Please do.” 

After sighing those words, Yukina went silent as she looked up at Kojou. After a bit of hesitation, she spoke in a voice so faint as to barely be audible. 

“Um, Senpai…” 

“Mm?” 

“Thank you very much.” 

“Eh? What for?” 

Kojou asked back with a dubious face. However, Yukina gently smiled and shook her head. 

“No. It is nothing at all. Let us be off.” 

Whoosh. Swinging her spear, seemingly severing all doubt with it, she walked toward the building. 

7 

It went without saying, but the shut-down lab building was locked. Of course that went for the glass doors of the front entrance, but the service entrance was also sealed with a padlock and chains. 

The cheap padlock was red with rust, indicating it hadn’t been used in a long time. 

“Isn’t this the place the old man and the girl are hiding…?” 

Kojou spoke in a discouraged tone. 

From what they could see, this was the only way into the building. It wasn’t the kind of building you could access from the roof or from underground, either. Even the homunculus girl couldn’t have made it in through the vents, let alone Eustach, with his huge frame. 

That would mean that Kojou and Yukina’s hypothesis that they’d been using the lab as their hideout had been mistaken. Whew. However, Yukina made a satisfied smile. 

“No, Senpai. We were right.” 

The silver spear suddenly thrust through the service entrance’s door. 

Chingg! That instant, with a high-pitched metallic ring, Kojou felt like glass was shattering before his eyes. The chain and padlock that should have been locking the service entrance vanished; the door slowly opened. 

“Himeragi? What just…?” 

“A novice-level illusion spell. Senpai…falling for magic this simple makes you a failure of a Primogenitor.” 

Yukina made an exasperated-seeming sigh. Kojou was silent. His heart murmured as if excusing him, It’s not like I want a passing grade for that! 

The building interior was dark. However, Yukina seemed untroubled as she walked within. 

Somehow she seemed to have better night vision than the vampiric Kojou. Perhaps this, too, was the special Sword Shaman power Yukina had referred to as spiritual sight. 

Certainly, with that much power at Yukina’s disposal, Kojou could understand why she felt he was in the way. 

However, that very thing made Kojou vaguely nervous. It was the truth that Kojou was an untalented vampire, but he thought that even so, Yukina was just too perfect. 

He didn’t think Yukina’s abundance of combat power and intellect was something a girl fourteen to fifteen years of age could acquire by any sane method. 

“…” 

While Kojou walked, thinking absentmindedly about that, Yukina suddenly came to a halt. Kojou inadvertently bumped into Yukina, drawing a silent glare from her. 

“What is it, Himeragi?” 

“Senpai… This is…” 

Yukina pointed to the scene spread before their eyes. 

It was a room with a high ceiling, like the chapel of a church. 

Instead of stained glass, the walls were lined with cylindrical vats. 

Each was about a meter in diameter. They were probably just under two meters tall. A total of twenty were arrayed from left to right at regular intervals. 

The vats were filled with a slimy, amber-colored solution. 

Light emitted from illuminated panels made the liquid shine faintly, but the sight was far from what one could call beautiful. 

This was a simple lab room. Abandoned vats for homunculus adjustment. But… 

“This is…a homunculus…? This…?” 

Kojou exclaimed as he looked up at the vats. His voice shook slightly in anger. 

Suspended within the amber-colored solution were bizarre life-forms about the size of a puppy. Some, one might guess, were like demonic beasts; others, like beautiful faeries. Either way, these were life-forms that did not exist in nature. 

“Senpai…?” 

A surprised expression came over Yukina as she watched Kojou display fierce anger. Yukina wanted to ask him the reason for that anger, but she turned her back on him instead. She poised her silver spear and lowered her posture. 

She’d noticed someone’s presence emerge from the shadows of a vat. 

She was a petite girl with indigo hair. She had splendid, pale blue eyes, but they gazed expressionlessly at the spear Yukina pointed toward her. She was the homunculus girl called Astarte. 

“That’s…” 

Noticing Astarte’s presence, Kojou turned as well. Gasp! However, Yukina spread her left palm before Kojou’s eyes. 

“Don’t look, Senpai!” 

“Eh? Uh, but…” 

“Do not look. Don’t turn this way, please!” 

“Himeragi? What are you ta—” 

“Uhh!” Kojou exclaimed in a low voice as he looked at Astarte’s appearance past Yukina’s palm. 

The first thing his gaze fell upon was skin so white, it was almost transparent. 

Transparent drops fell at Astarte’s feet. The homunculus girl seemed to have just emerged from a vat, her adjustment complete. 

The only thing she had over her body was a thin cloth, like a surgical gown. That cloth was equally soaked, clinging right to her bare flesh. She was as good as naked. 

“Senpai…” 

As Kojou continued to stare dumbfounded at Astarte, Yukina glared at him, speaking in a low voice. Kojou’s expression stiffened as he shook his head. 

“No, you’re wrong…! I’m not, Himeragi!” 

“Wrong about what? Goodness… You truly are indecent.” 

Letting out a single, ragged sigh, Yukina seemed angry as she looked the other way. 

However, Kojou did not shift his gaze away from the sight of Astarte’s flesh, easily visible through the cloth. For under her white, transparent-like flesh, a rainbow-colored shadow flickered. 

Abruptly, Astarte calmly opened her mouth. 

“…Warning. Please leave this place immediately.” 

“Eh?” 

The girl’s somewhat unexpected words shook Kojou back to his senses. In the meantime, Yukina altered how she poised her spear, shifting to a posture from which she could preemptively attack without warning. 

However, Astarte continued to speak, still appearing completely defenseless. 

“This island will soon sink. Before this occurs, please flee as far as you can…” 

“The island… Sink?! The heck does that mean…?!” 

Shudder. Kojou exclaimed as he felt a chill run up his spine. Perhaps the low-inflection, robotic voice made Astarte’s words more trustworthy. A homunculus like her had no reason to lie to Kojou or Yukina. 

“‘This island is a transient land floating where the dragon lines cross the southern sea. Without its nucleus it shall simply collapse…’” 

“Eh?” 

Yukina let out a surprised voice at the homunculus’s recited words. Kojou couldn’t follow, but the dialogue with Astarte apparently included information that seemed to shock Yukina. 

Then, behind Astarte, a huge shadow slowly emerged. 

He was a huge man wearing a solemn vestment over his armored augmentation suit. The Lotharingian Armed Apostle Rudolf Eustach. 

As he coldly gazed down at the homunculus girl, she turned around, seeming fearful. 

“—Indeed. We desire the most valuable, immutable treasure that is the nucleus. And it is thanks to you, Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency, that we have the power to achieve our long-wished aspiration.” 

He turned the blade of his bardiche toward the spear-poising Yukina as he spoke. 

The Armed Apostle’s riddling words brought a look of confusion over Yukina. 

However, it was not she who replied to Eustach, but Kojou. 

“Gained the power…you said…? You mean, you stuffed it into that girl’s body?” 

“Senpai?” 

The smothered anger in Kojou’s voice clearly unnerved Yukina. 

Kojou stepped in front of Yukina, glaring at Eustach with anger-filled eyes. The Lotharingian Armed Apostle stared indifferently at Kojou. 

“So you noticed. As expected of the Fourth Primogenitor, I should say. However, even you are no longer any threat to us. We are invincible.” 

“Don’t toy with me—!” 

Kojou’s thunderous roar shook the air in the tranquil lab. 

“Old man, why, you, you planted a Beast Vassal into this girl, didn’t you?” 

“Eh…?!” 

Listening to Kojou’s angry voice, Yukina looked at Astarte’s slender body in apparent surprise. Then she looked at the bizarre life-forms in the cultivation vats to the left and right of Astarte. 

They resembled demonic beasts and faeries, distorted life-forms that should not exist in this world. But could an artificial life-form become host to a Beast Vassal—? 

“It is just as you say.” 

Eustach conveyed pride with his words. 

“The only blood that flows through her veins is that of vampires who make vassals of these beasts. Through implantation of Beast Vassals before they hatch, I have succeeded in creating a homunculus that is host to a Beast Vassal—although Astarte here is my lone success.” 

“Shut up!!” Kojou interrupted the bishop’s words. “Don’t tell me you don’t know why no demons other than vampires can use Beast Vassals!! You knew that and still did this—?!” 

“Of course I do. When a Beast Vassal materializes, it consumes its host’s life force at an incredible rate. You wish to say that only vampires with an infinite ‘negative’ life force may tame them?” 

“Then this girl—” 

“No doubt, so long as Rhodaktylos resides in her, her remaining life span shall not be long. She might hold on for another two weeks or so. And that was lengthened greatly via the consuming of the demons we defeated… However, it is sufficient to fulfill our objective.” 

Eustach spoke in a tone that lacked a single shred of anguish or guilt. 

Kojou was so angry, he was at a loss for words. 

Yukina opened her mouth in his place. She gripped her spear as if shaken by the image. 

“Consumed the…demons…? You don’t mean, were attacking demons on this island to…” 

“Yes. First, their magical energy served as live bait for the Beast Vassal. And the second reason, to complete the technique infused into Astarte… Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency, the battle with you and the spear you hold provided splendid, precious data for this purpose.” 

Yukina’s shoulders shook as he addressed her by her title. 

“For this…did you raise that girl for the sake of this alone—?! It’s like you’re using her as a tool!” 

Eustach watched Yukina’s display of anger with what seemed like amusement. 

“Why are you indignant, Sword Shaman? Did the Lion King Agency not raise you to be a tool as well?” 

“…That’s…!” 

“Purchased as an unwanted child, instilled solely with skills to oppose demons, and sent into combat like a disposable tool—that is the way of the Lion King Agency, is it not? Sword Shaman, to obtain counter-demon techniques of such proficiency, surely you had to sacrifice something?” 

As Eustach calmly pointed it out, Yukina’s entire body froze. She wordlessly bit her lip as her cheeks lost their color, becoming pale. 

“Shut up, old man…” 

Kojou murmured as if to shield Yukina. However, Eustach’s expression was unmoved. 

“I use as a tool that which I created to be a tool; you take those born with the blessing of God and degrade them into tools. I wonder whose sin is the graver?” 

“I told you to shut up, you rotten priest—!” 

As Kojou roared, his entire body was shrouded in pale lightning. Dazzling lightning emanated from Kojou’s right fist. Kojou should have appeared no more than an average high schooler, but thanks to the dense magical energy he was giving off, his Beast Vassal had partially materialized, using his own flesh as a medium. 

“Senpai…?!” 

Yukina made a weak exclamation, as if completely overwhelmed by the density of the magical energy he was giving off. 

His battle-axe poised, Eustach’s face scowled a little in surprise. 

“My. So a Beast Vassal’s magical energy responds to the anger of its host… So this is the Fourth Primogenitor’s power. Very well—Astarte! Grant them mercy!” 

“—Accept.” 

Obeying the command of her master and creator, the homunculus girl blocked Kojou’s path. 

From her small body, a giant, haze-like Beast Vassal emerged. 

It was a translucent giant, glittering with the colors of the rainbow. It was no longer just arms, but a nearly complete body that emerged. It was a giant between four and five meters in height. It was faceless golem with a thick armor of flesh all over its body. 

The humanoid Beast Vassal took the girl that was its host within it as it howled. 

“Don’t just do whatever the hell he says—!” 

Kojou moved to pound the golem with his lightning-infused fist. 

Even if it was but a little leaking out, this lightning attack was the power of a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor. Surely its might surpassed that of an ordinary vampire’s Beast Vassal. However— 

“Senpai, don’t!” 

The moment Yukina beheld the scene, she spontaneously cried out. 

The next moment, it was Kojou, wrapped in light, who was sent flying. 

“Gu…aa!!” 

As Kojou let out a loud scream, his body flew back like a piece of tattered cloth. 

The moment Kojou appeared to have punched Astarte’s Beast Vassal, a fierce explosion erupted, blowing him back nearly ten meters. 

The fallen Kojou’s entire body was shrouded in a white vapor that carried the stench of burn flesh. 

It was as if he’d been struck by lightning—as if the magical energy in Kojou’s body had backlashed against him. 

“Senpai!!” 

Yukina poised her spear and charged toward Astarte, seemingly to shield Kojou. 

In concert with Yukina’s ritual energy, the silver-colored spear tip was enveloped in a pale white flash. 

It was the holy, purifying light that could destroy even a Primogenitor’s Beast Vassal. No abilities that demons possessed could withstand a single blow. It should not have been withstood. However… 

“Snowdrift Wolf’s…been stopped?!” Yukina exclaimed in response to the strange resistance she felt through the spear. 

Snowdrift Wolf’s blade halted just a tiny bit short of touching the Beast Vassal that enveloped Astarte. The spear, able to penetrate any demonic ward, had been stopped cold. 

In their previous battle Yukina had felt a similar resistance, but now she completely understood the reason why. 

The surface of Astarte’s Beast Vassal, “Rhododactylos,” was surrounded in the same white light as Snowdrift Wolf. Indeed, by the exact same holy, purifying radiance. 

“Resonance…?! This power is…!” 

“You are correct, Sword Shaman. ‘Divine Oscillation Effect’—the power to neutralize magical energy and tear apart any ward, successfully implemented solely by the Lion King Agency, its trump card for antidemon combat. Using your combat data as a reference, I was finally able to complete my own.” 

Eustach made a satisfied smile. 

Severely shaken, Yukina barely managed to continue to fend off Astarte’s counterattacks. 

Eustach had said that he’d engaged in repeated combat with demons to perfect the incomplete technique. 

It was the “Divine Oscillation Effect,” the power to completely neutralize any attack by magical energy, the secret ritual said to be the ultimate counter-demon combat technique, which he had sought. 

And then they encountered Yukina. 

A Sword Shaman who had come to the island bearing a Schneewalzer—the Lion King Agency’s secret weapons, the world’s only successful implementation of the “Divine Oscillation Effect.” 

“No… It’s my fault that…” 

Yukina, having lost her will to fight, was being overwhelmed by Astarte. 

Even if incomplete, Astarte’s DOE used very similar technology; by combining data obtained from Snowdrift Wolf, it had finally become complete—enough to make the magical energy of Kojou Akatsuki, the Fourth Primogenitor, bounce off. Yukina’s actions had consequently helped them complete it. 

Eustach had obtained the power he desired. Kojou was wounded and on the ground. All because Yukina had come to Itogami Island— 

As a hollow expression came over Yukina, Eustach hoisted his battle-axe before her. 

“…!” 

Yukina, her mental concentration disturbed, noticed the Armed Apostle’s attack too late. By the time she reacted, the battle-axe’s massive blade was already right before her eyes. 

Perceiving that it was not possible for her to either evade or block the attack, Yukina instantly resigned herself. An impact rocked Yukina; her entire body was drenched in lukewarm blood. 

However, it had not hurt as she had expected. 

Instead, Yukina felt warmth envelop her all over, along with a gentle heaviness. 

“Koff…!” 

Kojou made a small cough into Yukina’s ear. There was a great deal of fresh blood pouring from his lips. 

Already heavily wounded in battle with Astarte, Kojou had thrust Yukina back to shield her, sustaining Eustach’s attack in her place. 

“S…Senpai…?!” 

Yukina’s voice shook. She supported Kojou as he collapsed. 

Kojou’s body was unusually light. From his arm, seemingly desperately embracing Yukina, his shredded torso slipped downward. 

A single blow of the massive battle-axe had smashed Kojou’s ribs and spine, turning Kojou’s torso into small pieces of meat. The shattered bones fell to the floor as bloody fragments. 

With a dry ripping sound, his damaged blood vessels and muscles tore apart. 

The spurting, fresh blood formed a blood pool at Yukina’s feet. 

The final skin connecting Kojou’s head to his torso, unable to bear the weight of the body, tore apart with a sound like thin paper ripping. All that remained in Yukina’s hands was Kojou’s severed head, his eyes open and vacant. 

Kojou’s body rolled onto the floor, his spine, his lungs, his heart, everything smashed and torn into unrecognizable pieces. 

Vampires were unaging immortals. However, a single blow from the Armed Apostle had destroyed his heart, the source of that power; his blood, the foundation of his magical energy, now merely poured out in vain… 

“Senpai… Why… Oh no…no… Aaaaaaaah…!” 

The spear fell from Yukina’s hands. She desperately embraced Kojou, reduced to his head alone, with both arms. However, Kojou of course made no reply. 

Eustach gazed at the scene with a neutral expression, lowering his battle-axe. 

No doubt he had judged that Yukina no longer had the strength to continue combat. Having now perfected the DOE, Eustach no longer had any reason to fight Yukina. 

“Let us go, Astarte… We shall take back our most valued treasure.” 

“—Accept ,” Astarte murmured with a neutral expression, enveloped by the humanoid Beast Vassal. 

The Beast Vassal’s giant arms let loose a pale light, blowing apart the laboratory’s outer wall with an explosion. Yukina turned her back to shield Kojou’s severed head from the dust and debris dancing in the fierce blast wind, bent over him like the Virgin Mary. 

For a single, final moment, the faceless golem that served the Armed Apostle remained crouched, watching Yukina. 

Appearing sad somehow, her look seemed to desperately convey, Run, quickly.