Strike the Blood - Volume 11 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE 

ESCAPE FROM THE DEMON SANCTUARY 

1 

It was noon when Kojou awoke. 

Surprisingly, he’d slept rather well. Though he hadn’t even been asleep three hours, his head was mysteriously clear. Perhaps it was that he knew what he had to do, and he had resolved to do it. 

Kojou slipped out of bed, took a shower, and changed clothes. He changed into his Saikai Academy winter uniform, something he normally had little opportunity to wear. Rather than his blazer jacket, he wore a somewhat thicker parka in its place. 

He didn’t have much to pack. Aside from his house key, his cell phone and the modified smartphone Asagi had given him were the only devices he was bringing along. He didn’t know what might happen, so it was best to travel as lightly as possible. 

The problem was a lack of funds to buy necessary supplies in the field. The money Kojou kept on hand wasn’t much to rely on. 

Well, I can’t change that, Kojou told himself as he headed to Nagisa’s room. 

Of course, the room was unoccupied. Nagisa was a neat freak, so her room was immaculate. 

Without any hesitation, Kojou approached his little sister’s desk and reached toward it. 

“I was pretty sure she hid it over this way…” 

As he thought, even amid her methodical cleaning, she had still taken the time to stash away a considerable amount of magazines and stickers. Among these, Kojou discovered a single brass key. Ever since she was little, Nagisa maintained a two-step system for retrieving anything important from the desk. 

The diary hidden among the other things he removed tugged at his mind, but Kojou resisted the temptation and headed for a Western-style clothes closet. Nagisa had put a sturdy lock on her favorite closet. To the best of Kojou’s knowledge, the item he was searching for rested within. But: 

“What the heck is this?!” 

When Kojou opened it, his eyes were greeted by assorted pairs of bras and panties stored within. Their designs and fabrics were completely different from the ones Nagisa normally wore. Apparently, this was underwear for “special occasions.” 

“She keeps this in her locked closet…?!” 

Kojou grumbled as he rummaged through the contents. Though it went without saying, Kojou’s objective was not his little sister’s special underwear. He was searching for something else. Finally, after much labor, Kojou found the bank card and bank books he was looking for, hidden under a pair of panties. 

“Well, I can get by as long as I have this, I guess.” 

Kojou selected one of the bank books from the pile and exhaled as he checked the remaining funds. There was 149,289 yen left over. He didn’t know whether that was a lot for a high school student’s life savings, but if he was thrifty, he’d have enough to get by. 

“Sorry, Nagisa. I’m gonna be using this.” 

Giving a mental apology to his absent little sister, Kojou stuffed the bank card into his pocket. The next moment: 

“…What are you doing, senpai?” 

A voice cold enough to give Kojou chills stabbed into his back. 

“Nuoa!” exclaimed Kojou, his body leaping into the air as he shifted his gaze toward the speaker. Yukina, her presence imperceptible, was standing behind Kojou with a scornful expression coming over her. She must have gotten out of bed and rushed over in a hurry; she was dressed in light gray pajamas with a hood. The hood had animal ears sewn onto it. From a distance, she looked like some kind of cartoon character. 

“H-Himeragi… What are you doing here…?!” 

“Nagisa gave me her spare key for times like these.” 

As Yukina said this, she dangled a familiar-looking key holder in front of him. Apparently, Yukina had used the key to let herself in through the front door. 

“What do you mean, times like these?!” 

“I believe you have been caught red-handed. Do you require further explanation? I placed a seal on Nagisa’s drawers that responds when someone opens them.” 

As Kojou stood in front of the drawers, Yukina turned her lens toward him and snapped the camera’s shutter. Certainly, based on that visual evidence alone, it looked like Kojou was rummaging through Nagisa’s underwear. 

Kojou vigorously shook his head and insisted, “No! You’ve got it all wrong! I wasn’t looking for Nagisa’s underwear and stuff, I was looking for my bank card! She confiscated it and said if I kept hold of it, I’d use it too much!” 

Kojou thrust the bank ledger in front of Yukina. The majority of the money in his account was from his part-time job during middle school. The rest was scraps of money he’d received from cleaning Mimori’s lab and running errands for Gajou, compulsory labor that was “helping out” in name only. 

Kojou had meant to use it for club outing expenses, but the money had gone unused after he quit the basketball club. 

“…What do you intend to do with that money?” 

Yukina continued to hold the camera up as she inquired in a suspicious tone. 

“Uh,” went Kojou. His words caught for a moment before he said, “Er, you know, right—it’s New Year’s, so I figured I’d get myself a present. Go wild bargain hunting with the first sales of the New Year.” 

“Bargain hunting in your winter school uniform…?” 

Kojou remained frozen, cold sweat coursing while under Yukina’s half-lidded glare. He’d tried his best to be subtle, paying attention to minute details in preparation for his plan so that Yukina, his watcher, would not notice, but being foiled because he snuck into the place Nagisa kept her special underwear was well beyond his expectations. 

“You intend to go to the mainland, senpai?” 

“Well, yeah.” 

Kojou sighed in resignation and nodded. Yukina’s eyebrows twitched upward in visible displeasure. 

“Secretly, without one word to me?” 

“Well, you’d stop me, Himeragi.” 

Kojou acted like he was starting over as he spoke. Yukina stared at him with a dead serious look and said: 

“I suppose so. After all, you are a vampire primogenitor, senpai. Even if you are tolerated inside a Demon Sanctuary, I believe you walking around doing as you please on the mainland would be a major issue. I could not possibly overlook it.” 

“Er…you can’t, ah, let that slide somehow?” 

“I cannot.” 

“Figures…” Kojou twisted his lips. 

“Good grief.” Yukina sighed as she glared at him. 

“In the first place, how do you intend to get there from Itogami Island? I take it you have not forgotten that a Demon Sanctuary is obliged to conduct strict medical checks on anyone entering or departing? The fact that you are the Fourth Primogenitor would be exposed for certain.” 

“Ah…well, I suppose you’re right about that.” 

Kojou gloomily ran a hand through his hair. The practical means to get off Itogami Island, an isolated isle, were limited to air and sea. On top of that, every airport and harbor was garrisoned by an Island Guard unit protecting the border against unregistered demons. As a resident of a Demon Sanctuary, Kojou knew very well how difficult it would be to slip past their surveillance. 

“That’s why I was hoping Natsuki could deal with that somehow.” 

“Ms. Minamiya…?” 

Yukina blinked in apparent surprise, perhaps finding Kojou’s reply an unexpected one. 

“Would it not be difficult for even Ms. Minamiya to waive your medical check, senpai?” 

“Ahh, er, that’s not really what I meant.” 

As an exceptional federal Attack Mage, Natsuki had a lot of pull with the Gigafloat Management Corporation—but that only mattered within Itogami Island’s borders. Letting Kojou, the Fourth Primogenitor, off the island without prior arrangements was surely beyond even Natsuki’s power. In the first place, he had a hard time imagining the arrogant Natsuki playing politics and pulling strings behind the scenes. 

“Clearing the exit inspection is a lot of trouble, but covering for me if I leave the island should work, right? So I was thinking Natsuki could give me a little teleport inside of an airplane or something.” 

“…In other words, you intended to stow away?” 

Yukina put her hands on her hips in visible exasperation. Kojou gravely nodded. 

“Depending on circumstances, I suppose you could read it like that.” 

“I do not believe there is any other way to read it…” 

“Well, it’s an emergency, so it can’t be helped! I’d use a less suspicious way if I could!” 

Finally, Kojou lost his cool as he shouted. However, Yukina’s follow-up did not relent. 

“Even if you did manage to reach the mainland, what did you plan to do when it was time to come back?” 

Yukina calmly persisted with her questions, almost like she was offering guidance to a young child. Customs inspections when entering Itogami Island were far stricter than those when leaving. 

“I figured I’d work that out as I went along.” Kojou puffed his chest out in obvious desperation. 

Yukina put a hand to her temple as if she was getting a headache and said, “You didn’t think it through at all, did you?” 

“Well, worst case, I thought I could tell them I’m a vampire, and then they’d boot me back to Itogami Island anyway.” 

“Are you really all right with that, senpai? That would expose your true nature to Nagisa.” 

“Th…that so…?” 

Well that’s bad, thought Kojou, clutching his head. Though a resident of a Demon Sanctuary, Nagisa had a severe case of demonophobia. If she knew Kojou was a vampire, it would surely bring her an incredible amount of anguish. That would render Kojou going all the way to the mainland pointless. 

“Goodness… You lost sight of such an important thing because you tried to go to the mainland without one word to me.” 

“Er, I don’t really think the two are related…” 

Kojou weakly rebutted the gnawing irrationality of Yukina’s reasoning. “Ahem,” went Yukina, clearing her throat before she continued. 

“At any rate, I will change clothes and be right back, so please wait right here!” 

“Wait… Why?” 

“You are heading to Ms. Minamiya’s residence to ask her to help you stow away, yes?” 

Yukina, apparently mystified, inclined her head slightly as she posed the question. To Kojou, Yukina’s reaction was the far greater surprise. Hadn’t she come to stop him…? 

“Wait, Himeragi, don’t tell me you plan on coming with me…?” 

“The mission assigned to me by the Lion King Agency is to be your watcher. Naturally, if you go to the mainland, I must go with you, senpai. That is what a watcher is for.” 

“Er, but you said earlier you couldn’t overlook this…” 

“That was in the sense of ‘I cannot allow you to go out of my sight’…” 

Yukina pushed her chest out in pride as she spoke. Now that Kojou calmly thought it over, Yukina hadn’t told him not to go—not once. She’d simply been exasperated at the sloppiness of Kojou’s plan. 

“Himeragi…” 

Kojou subconsciously averted his eyes from Yukina, who had strongly declared Let’s go together. Then he put a hand over his face. He seemed like he was overcome with emotion, desperately holding back tears. 

“P-please do not get so sentimental about it, senpai. This is for Nagisa’s sake, so I am tolerating your illegal conduct because there is no other choice—nothing more! And it was wrong for you to try to leave the island without telling me in the first place!” 

For her part, Yukina was getting nervous from Kojou’s unexpectedly dramatic reaction. Naturally, even she hadn’t expected Kojou would be so overjoyed. 

However, Kojou did not seem quite ready to burst into tears, shaking his head with a conflicted look as he said: 

“Ah, no…it’s not that…” 

“Huh?” 

“No, it’s— Now that I’m thinking clearly, your outfit’s just… Pfft…” 

Kojou, finally reaching the limits of his endurance, burst into laughter that made his shoulders tremble. 

Yukina was wearing hooded pajamas with animal ears. There was a little tail coming out of the back of her pants, too. That they’d been having a serious conversation while she was dressed like that was too much for Kojou to take. 

Then Yukina’s cheeks went crimson with a blush as she realized why Kojou was laughing. 

“…?! No, ah, th-these are pajamas from when Nagisa bought some together for the sleepover we had recently… Th-they’re cute, aren’t they…?!” 

“Yeah, those mouse ears suit you really well, Himeragi.” 

“Wolf ears!!” 

“Pffft…!” 

The design of Yukina’s hood, which looked like a field mouse’s ears no matter how hard he looked, cracked Kojou up once more. Yukina’s cheeks puffed up as she glared at Kojou for laughing at her favorite pair of pajamas. 

“What are you laughing at, stupid senpai?!” 

Such was the lack of tension on the eve of their departure. 

2 

“This will sting a little.” 

At a ticket window smelling of antiseptic, a nurse stuck a needle into Asagi’s arm to draw blood. The nurse immediately put the blood she gathered into an analyzer, and the screen displayed that Asagi’s cells were human. 

“Yes, no problem at all. Now then, please enter your name and Itogami City Citizen ID Number and advance to the blue ticket window.” 

Asagi sighed slightly as she took a form from the nurse. 

She was in the domestic airline departure lobby of Itogami Central Airport. With the paperwork for boarding her flight and her luggage safety check already complete, she was currently undergoing her exit inspection. For a resident of Itogami Island, a Demon Sanctuary, getting off the island required more annoying formalities than what other people typically faced when visiting foreign countries. 

“It’s a big fuss like this every time. I get that we’re a Demon Sanctuary, so that’s just how it is, but…” 

Asagi complained to no one in particular as she headed for the next ticket window. 

A man with a face reminiscent of Buddha sat in the booth on the other side of thick, acrylic glass. The clerk’s eyes perused Asagi’s document, staring at her with an unenthused look as he said, “Asagi Aiba. Boarding alone?” 

“Yes.” 

She managed to swallow the words Isn’t that obvious? and kept them from leaving her throat as she smiled amiably toward him. The clerk didn’t even grin. 

“Destination?” 

“Tokyo. To visit my older sister attending university in the city.” 

“Any symptoms such as fever, nausea, diarrhea?” 

“None whatsoever.” 

Asagi continued her plain replies to the clerk’s businesslike questions. Either way, these questions were standard formalities straight out of the rule book. But… 

“Any cases of a vampire drinking your blood within the last three months?” 

“Huh?!” 

Asagi unwittingly let out an odd voice when the clerk’s words took her by surprise. 

The clerk shifted a cool gaze toward Asagi and said: 

“If something comes to mind, please proceed to ticket window number four for reexamination.” 

“Ah, er, no. None whatsoever!” 

“……” 

Asagi’s oddly nervous denial made the clerk stare at her with a suspicious look. However, he did not particularly pursue the matter, and Asagi made it out with a stamp on her exit permit. 

This meant the annoying formalities were now complete. 

“Ugh… That one really made me sweat.” 

Asagi pulled her carry-on bag along as she headed toward the airport terminal. During that time, she heard an oddly human-sounding synthetic voice from inside her bag. It was Mogwai talking, helping himself to her smartphone’s speaker. 

“Keh-keh. To be blunt, that’s very fortunate, ain’t it? The Fourth Primogenitor’s French-kissed you, but he hasn’t been drinking your blood…yet.” 

“It was not a French kiss!! Wait, how do you know about our kiss?!” 

Asagi’s lips twisted painfully as she groaned aloud. Asagi had kissed Kojou right after being involved in a weird terror incident. At the time, Asagi had no idea Kojou was a vampire; that might be why she felt the true meaning of her kissing Kojou had become muddled. 

“Keh-keh,” Mogwai cackled, seemingly teasing her about that very part. “But it sure is big of you, li’l miss, goin’ all the way to the mainland for that Kojou guy’s sake.” 

“Hey, it’s not like I’m doing this for Kojou. I really haven’t seen my big sister in a while, too.” 

Asagi said it like she was bluffing. Asagi’s older sister used going to university as an opportunity to leave Itogami Island, and she was currently living in the capital. Asagi hadn’t had a chance to meet up with her in almost half a year. 

“Besides, I hate being the only one out of the loop like I’ve been all this time. That idiot Kojou is no doubt agonizing over how to cross over to the mainland right this minute.” 

“Really, now?” Mogwai praised Asagi’s prophetic words. “I see.” 

Given his protectiveness toward his little sister, Kojou would soon be saying I’m going to the mainland to look for Nagisa. When he did, Yukina, his watcher, would of course accompany him. In the name of sensible reasons like not wanting to cause her any trouble, it was guaranteed that they’d leave Asagi behind. To hell with that, thought Asagi. 

She was worried about Nagisa, too, so she also deserved to know the truth. Besides, unlike Kojou, a vampire, Asagi could leave Itogami Island by legitimate means. All things considered, in Asagi’s mind, searching for Nagisa was her responsibility. 

She was well aware that there was significant risk in what she was doing, but since she knew that going in, she could take countermeasures against them. 

“Er…huh? I was boarding on terminal number four, right…?” 

Asagi suddenly stopped when she realized that the airport interior was strangely empty. 

She understood that few people used the airport on New Year’s Day, but this was like a ghost town. That even airport staff were few in number made the sight downright bizarre. 

When she looked up at the electronic board, there was no particular sign of anything amiss, only a number of flight schedules and boarding gates being changed—a sight you would see at any airport. 

In spite of that, Asagi instinctively felt that something was off in a way that only she could discern. Her intuition told her that some kind of hidden process lurked behind the giant system known as “the airport.” 

“Not good, li’l miss. It’s the Island Guard.” 

Mogwai’s laid-back warning came a moment after Asagi noticed the shift. 

“What?!” 

“Sixteen armed guardsmen split into three squads, moving through staff corridors. They’ll surround you in one minute and forty seconds. You’re definitely their target, li’l miss.” 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! Escape route! Now!” 

“Run to the stairway sixty meters straight ahead. Go down, and I’ll lead you out. The rest is up to chance, but it should be better than stickin’ around inside the building.” 

“Ughh! Why does this have to happen on New Year’s morning?!” 

Asagi picked up her carry-on bag and made a dash for the stairs. 

Apparently, her current reality was filled with far more danger than she had imagined. 

3 

Natsuki Minamiya’s residence was an eight-story building in Island West. By all appearances, it was a top-tier apartment building, with no expense spared on its construction. As rumor would have it, the entire building was Natsuki’s private property, and she apparently used the entire topmost floor like her own private penthouse. 

After heading up by elevator to the eighth floor, Kojou and Yukina were finally at the entrance to Natsuki’s personal home. 

“Asagi’s place is pretty huge, but this is pretty up there, too…” 

No longer bothering to be envious, Kojou felt pure admiration as he rang the doorbell. After a while, Astarte appeared in the corridor, apparently all dressed up for New Year’s Day. 

“Happy New Year.” 

The indigo-haired homunculus girl delivered a New Year’s greeting in a voice low on inflection, reminding Kojou and Yukina that it was in fact January 1; they had practically forgotten. 

“H-Happy New Year.” 

“Sorry to drop in on you, Astarte. We came to talk to Natsuki… Can we see her?” 

They hastily bowed their heads, somehow feeling bashful as they replied that way. 

When Kojou took the time to look up, he saw that the place was adorned with pine boughs, kagami mochi: a traditional New Year decoration featuring two mochi stacked atop one another with a bitter orange at the very top, and other decorations. That was something to be praised, but it wrecked his mental image of the residence of one of the world’s few “witches.” 

“Affirmative.” 

Astarte remained emotionless as she turned her back on the pair. Come this way was likely the meaning of the gesture. Kojou and Yukina nodded to each other and stepped into Natsuki’s residence. 

Contrary to their expectations, the interior had simple furnishings. The walls and ceiling made heavy use of glass, which made the place look futuristic. The furniture placed within was small with low backs, perhaps to match the size of Natsuki’s body. Because of this, it all felt like a dollhouse that had been meticulously decorated by a little girl. 

Astarte led Kojou and Yukina to a broad, spacious dining room. 

Atop a long table appropriate for a banquet hall was a line of deep chafing dishes filled with extravagant cooking. A foreign-looking woman in a long-skirted garment was carrying plates over to the table. 

She was a female knight with a gallant face and short silver hair. 

“Huh? Justina?” 

“…Sir Kojou?! And Lady Sword Shaman?!” 

Noticing Kojou and the others entering the room, she pressed her hands together in front of her chest, making a stereotypical ninja pose. 

“Allow me, Interceptor Knight Kataya Justina of the Aldegian Knights of the Second Coming, to humbly state with delight to all of you congratulations upon greeting the New Year.” 

“Y-you, too.” 

Kojou and the others were a bit overwhelmed by Justina’s grandiose greeting. It was typical of her to be oddly well versed in her knowledge about Japan, her favorite subject. 

“Or rather, what are you doing at Natsuki’s place, Justina?” 

“Well you see, Attack Mage Minamiya conveyed a command from my liege, Her Highness the Royal Sister, to report in for New Year’s greetings and to aid in the preparation of Japanese New Year’s cooking.” 

“O-oh.” 

In other words, Natsuki was apparently making her work for free. 

“Royal Sister must mean Kanase. Oh yeah, she’s living at Natsuki’s place, too, isn’t she…?” 

“That is correct.” 

Justina affirmed Kojou’s murmur. 

Kanon, a victim of the Faux-Angel incident, was placed under Natsuki’s guardianship in the aftermath. Appearances aside, Natsuki was quite attentive to the needs of others, perhaps as one might expect of a teacher. 

Additionally, together with Kanon, there was one more resident living at the apartment. 

“Oh, Kojou and Yukina are here?” 

Climbing onto the tablecloth and addressing Kojou and Yukina extremely casually was a beautiful oriental doll not quite thirty centimeters tall. This was what was left of Nina Adelard, the Great Alchemist of Yore, who was more than two hundred and seventy years old. Due to particular circumstances, she had lost the majority of her body, reforming her flesh with what little liquid-metal remained; Kanon was looking after her. 

“What brings you here? Perhaps you come bearing New Year’s gifts for me, your elder?” 

Nina posed the question with a pompous tone, even though her social position was closest to that of pet. 

Kojou flippantly waved a hand to her and said, “No need for a show of vanity. It’s not like I look to you or Natsuki for dignity from my elders.” 

“Wha—?! Why you… You will regret insulting me, the Great Alchemist of Yore. I’ll have you know, with the proper materials, I can create any amount of coinage that I please…!” 

“Ain’t that fool’s gold?! And I can’t trust your alchemy. Don’t make me say it again,” Kojou said, annoyed while Nina had tried to salvage her pride. 

Nina was certainly an excellent alchemist, but because she had lived so long, her grasp on common sense was gradually weakening. The substances she could create via alchemy came at a high cost in materials, and in the first place, there was little need for alchemy in the modern era, making it a fairly useless skill set. 

As Nina sulked from having this pointed out to her, they heard a new, gentle voice from behind Nina. 

“Happy New Year, Yukina. And Akatsuki, too.” 

Entering from the kitchen and carrying a tray of rice cakes cooked with vegetables was a small-statured, silver-haired, blue-eyed girl. It was Kanon Kanase wearing a long-sleeved kimono. The fabric was blue and embroidered with silver flower patterns, matching her hair and eye colors extremely well. 

Yukina rushed over to Kanon, taking the tray that Kanon had been awkwardly carrying. 

“Happy New Year, Kanon… Are you all right?” 

“S-sorry about that. I am not accustomed to these clothes, so it is difficult to move in them.” 

“Yes, but they’re really cute.” 

“Astarte has one of her own. Miss Justina asked us… She said she wanted to see us in them.” 

Kojou gazed at Yukina and Kanon continuing their harmonious conversation when he felt a faint ache in his chest. Nagisa got along well with both of them. He thought that if Nagisa was there, she’d be joining in, making the conversation far more boisterous. 

But that scene wouldn’t become a reality until Nagisa came home safe and sound. 

“…Did Kanase and the others make this?” Kojou asked, staring at the platters of rich food on the table. 

Kanon gave a charming smile as she nodded and said, “Yes. Akatsuki, Yukina, please have some if you’d like.” 

“Really? You’re a lifesaver! Come to think of it, I haven’t had a single bite since the year began.” 

Kojou made a strained smile as he recalled that his own stomach was empty. It might not have been the purpose of their visit, but a guy still had to eat. 

“Please wait a moment. I shall prepare the cutlery at once.” 

With those words, Justina headed toward the kitchen. Yukina watched Justina’s back as she left, seeming a little unable to calm down when she said: 

“Is it really all right? I feel bad imposing all of a sudden like this…” 

Nina, the most useless-seeming person there, replied with a tone that somehow sounded haughty when she said, “There is no need for concern. While we were engaged in trial and error, we cooked a tad too much.” 

“Trial and error…?” 

The alchemist’s nonchalant murmur made Kojou gulp as an instinctive feeling of unease came over him. Besides Nina, a liquid metal life-form, there was a soldier from the Northern European kingdom of Aldegia, a royal girl raised in a convent, and a homunculus girl—not a single one seemed appropriately learned in the art of traditional Japanese cuisine. 

Can anything those girls cooked really be considered proper New Year’s dishes? wondered Kojou, full of doubt. 

Heedless of Kojou’s anxiety, Kanon put the New Year’s dishes onto plates, then offered them to Kojou and the others. Yukina and Astarte were already seated; he couldn’t just say I don’t wanna at that point. Feeling pushed by a wordless, coercive force at his back, Kojou sat at the table as well. 

“Th-this is…” 

Now that he was seriously looking at the food at close range, Kojou felt even more conflicted. Certainly, by appearance, the food resembled a traditional New Year’s meal. However, that which had been served clearly differed in several respects. 

There was an aroma of steamed vegetables and rice cakes wafting around the bowl, and besides that, the scent of consommé. 

Nina spread open a department store New Year’s cookbook as she confessed up front, “I looked at the recipe and followed it as closely as I could. It may differ somewhat from pure Japanese New Year’s cooking, but pay that no heed.” 

When Kojou timidly brought the food to his mouth with chopsticks, he groaned as its powerful spiciness seemed to scorch his throat. 

“Well, I pay it heed! Why the hell did you put chili beans into New Year’s cooking?!” 

“Hm. Originally, beans were considered a very hardy food, so I thought them an indispensable ingredient in New Year’s cuisine. It was my hope that their hardiness might extend to the whole year.” 

“Black soybeans and chili beans are completely different foods, you know! Well, not that it isn’t tasty or anything!” 

As Kojou spoke, he brought a rice cake with a consommé taste to his lips. Meanwhile, Yukina wore an odd expression as she put a food resembling a rolled omelet into her mouth. 

“Is this…roll cake?” she asked. 

“Yes. I learned to make sweets at the abbey, so it became my specialty.” 

“R-right, it’s delicious.” 

A broad smile came over Kanon as Yukina conveyed her impressions with an odd look. 

Kojou continued to eat silently. The New Year’s cooking feint had thrown him off, but if you treated it like creative, slightly oddball cooking, it actually wasn’t half bad. 

“You’ve got Mont Blanc instead of sweet potatoes and chestnuts, but that’s no big d—Gnhh?!” 

Just when he’d gotten used to the mysterious cooking, carelessly lowering his guard, the instant Kojou reached his chopsticks toward a new plate, he covered his mouth and choked. 

“Wh-what’s that smell?!” 

The beautifully decorated plate had food on it closely resembling pickled kohada millet. The fish went by different names as it increased in size, and if it was associated with anything, it certainly was to New Year’s cooking. 

However, the pungent stench intensely permeating Kojou’s nostrils was clearly not from the warm, gentle cooking he was used to. 

“This is salted herring, a traditional food of the Kingdom of Aldegia, my native soil. It is fermented via a strict two-stage process to add to the taste,” Justina explained with a proud expression. 

“Wait a… You’re not telling me this is that pickled herring, considered, like, the smelliest food the world over…” 

Kojou was gasping, tears streaming down his cheeks due to the extreme odor. 

He could perfectly appreciate how Justina, a native of Northern Europe, would think of pickled fish as “cooking,” but the stimulus was just too much for Kojou. Even if that would not have once been the case, becoming a vampire meant Kojou’s senses were sharper than in the past. 

“It is delicious.” 

“I was surprised to learn that there were commonalities between east Asian New Year’s dishes and local Northern European cuisine.” 

Ignoring Kojou’s agonized moans, Justina and Nina dug into the herring, broken apart from fermenting, with broad satisfaction. Though Kojou had his doubts that Nina, a liquid-metal life-form, could properly taste to begin with. 

“Well, if you’re happy with it, that’s just great,” he said, resigned. 

Then Kojou shifted his eyes toward the still-empty seat. Normally, Natsuki would be sitting in that chair, but there was no sign of her in the dining room. 

“Astarte, where’s Natsuki…?” 

“Unclear. I have received a command to the effect of Make the two of them wait—give them dinner or something.” 

“Wait, Natsuki told you to do this?!” 

Kojou exclaimed in shock as he gazed at the feast laid out before him. It wasn’t like she had other guests, so why had Natsuki ordered her to kill time? What’s going on here? thought a bewildered Kojou. 

He then cleared off his plate with great haste, bowing his head to Astarte as he said, “Sorry, but I don’t have a lot of time. Can’t you just show us to Natsuki somehow or other?” 

The atypical seriousness of Kojou’s demeanor made Astarte hesitate. Her pale-blue eyes wavered. 

“…Accepted.” Her voice came slowly and quietly. 

Kojou’s and Yukina’s faces met, and the two simultaneously rose to their feet. 

“…Akatsuki?” 

Kanon, noticing the tense expressions on their faces, murmured with unease. 

“Hmm,” said Nina, narrowing her eyes, her interest apparently piqued. That was when Justina, right next to them at the time, abruptly vanished from the dining room. 

4 

Natsuki received Kojou and others in her so-called reception room, which was actually nothing more than a wide, empty space. 

It was a dimly lit room lacking even a window. The vast interior, larger than a Saikai Academy classroom, contained only a single antique chair. Aside from a solitary light, there were no fixtures of any kind. Glossy walls, seemingly made of obsidian, surrounded the room, lending it a cold, imposing air. 

“What is it, Kojou Akatsuki? Come to give your homeroom teacher a New Year’s gift?” 

Natsuki, who seemed somehow small in the chair, made a wry, sarcastic smile as she spoke. Kojou shook his head and said: 

“Hey, give it a rest. And Nina said that to me just earlier.” 

“What, then? Surely you have not come to continue your extra lessons?” 

“Well, not that exactly, but I did come to ask something of you.” 

“Hmm?” 

Turning back to see a rare look of seriousness on his face, for once, Natsuki rested her chin on her hand and motioned as if to say Out with it already. Kojou quietly steadied his breathing and spoke aloud: 

“I want to go to the mainland. Please help me.” 

“You need a visa from the government for that.” 

Natsuki’s reply was immediate and blunt. 

“The issuance fee is thirty-three hundred yen. However, applicants must be registered as demons. It would expose you as an unregistered demon. You don’t mind?” 

“I’m not talking about that! I came to ask you because there ain’t time for red tape!” 

Kojou replied gruffly. Naturally, Natsuki had seen through his nervousness from the very beginning, and yet, she’d still evaded the question, which made Kojou’s irritation all the greater. 

“For you, waivin’ the inspection and getting us to the mainland is simple, right?” 

“Even if that was the case, I do not believe I have any duty to go that far for the likes of you.” 

“What if someone’s life is at stake?” 

Speaking those words, Kojou thrust his smartphone toward Natsuki. It was the picture Nagisa had taken of the magic circle. 

Natsuki’s delicate, doll-like eyebrows rose a few, precious millimeters. 

But Yukina replied to Natsuki’s question with a question of her own: “What is that?” 

“Do you know of Kannawa Lake?” 

Natsuki indifferently shifted her gaze toward Yukina, seemingly searching for the point of the question. 

“…An artificial lake in Tangiwa of the Kansai region, currently well-known as a tourist destination.” 

“Yes.” 

Yukina took a photocopy of a newspaper story out of her jacket pocket. It was an old story—from more than forty years ago, according to the date. This was what Kiriha Kisaki of the Bureau of Astrology had handed to Yukina. 

“On the current Kamioda Dam site rested a single village—a tiny settlement with a population of less than three hundred.” 

“So the village sank to the bottom of that lake, sacrificed for the dam. Tragic, but a common enough tale,” Natsuki said, her tone calm as she crossed her legs in a show of tedium. 

Yukina nodded vaguely and said, “I suppose it is. However, it was not the construction of the lake that was the demise of the village. The village vanished three years before the dam was completed.” 

“Why is that?” 

“Because all the residents at the time disappeared, not leaving a single trace behind.” 

At Yukina’s emotionally restrained words, Natsuki displayed clear interest for the first time. 

“The cause?” 

“I do not know. Perhaps the cause truly is unknown, or they have simply not divulged it to the public. However, this sunken village—old Kamioda Village—had a research facility from a corporation known as Saiki Shamanics.” 

“Shamanics… So a maker of enchanted devices? I have not heard the name. They went bankrupt?” Natsuki deduced. 

“Yes.” 

In an odd coincidence, Saiki Shamanics went bankrupt the same year that Kamioda Dam was completed. At the time, all records of the proprietors and employees had been erased, without a single hint as to their whereabouts. The reason for it having gone bankrupt remained unknown. 

“But that is odd. Why build a research facility in a backwater place like that?” 

Natsuki prompted in a tone that did not sound particularly pleased. 

“From this point onward is merely conjecture, but Kamioda District has a wreck from a crashed military aircraft. Additionally, I wondered if the cargo it was carrying might have included a powerful enchanted object.” 

“Military aircraft? A plane from the last great war?” 

“Yes.” 

“So they went out of their way to build a facility to research that? These fetishes must have been quite a big deal.” 

“I suppose so. However, would it then be too great a stretch to wonder if that enchanted object was also responsible for the disappearance of the villagers? Or perhaps Kamioda Dam itself was constructed to seal it away?” 

“Not bad as conspiracy theories go, but not a very convincing one. What enchanted object would be so great as to require a man-made reservoir weighing sixty-five thousand tons to seal it?” Natsuki quipped. 

“How about a relic dating back to The Cleansing?” Yukina replied, annoyed. 

“Keh,” went Natsuki, smiling. “These are events over forty years ago in either case.” 

“However, if there was a factor that could activate the relic—” 

“Nagisa Akatsuki?” 

Yukina’s voice, speaking at an increasingly rapid pace, was cut off by Natsuki’s single utterance. The Sword Shaman’s expression twisted into shock. 

“Eh…?!” 

“The Cleansing. Certainly, that field was Gajou Akatsuki’s specialty. Furthermore, Nagisa Akatsuki has opened the seal of a Cleansing-era ruin once before.” 

“Why… Why do you know about that, Natsuki…?!” Kojou was just as surprised as Yukina. 

Natsuki had no reason to suddenly bring up his sister’s name at that particular moment—not unless she’d known the entire circumstances of her situation from the very beginning. 

“So how did you two get information that the Lion King Agency was covering up? Through the Bureau of Astrology?” 

As Kojou and Yukina stood rooted to the spot, Natsuki, as cold as ice, stared at them. 

That was when Kojou finally understood. Someone had leaked information to Natsuki before he and Yukina had arrived. There was only one person Kojou knew who could have done so. 

“Don’t tell me that Kisaki chick came to meet you, too?” 

“Just before the two of you arrived.” 

Natsuki bluntly confirmed his suspicions. In other words, Natsuki had known their objective from the very beginning. 

“Say that first, geez! You didn’t need to make us waste time tryin’ to explain!” Kojou shouted fervently. 

A smile came over Natsuki as she shook her head. “That is not so. Now I know what that little Bureau of Astrology girl whispered into your ears.” 

“Whispered into our ears…?” 

“The interests of the Bureau of Astrology and the Lion King Agency are at odds, yes? Then, what made you want to believe that shady-looking girl? Do you have any proof that what she says is true?” 

“This photo is the proof. I stumbled onto data left from Nagisa’s smartphone, but Asagi’s the one who gathered this evidence. The Bureau of Astrology had nothing to do with it.” 

“Aiba did? Meddling in other people’s business…” 

Kojou felt a slight crack emerge in Natsuki’s expression, triumphant up to that point. 

Natsuki was an excellent Attack Mage. If it was purely a sorcery-related incident, even Yukina would yield to a simple explanation on her part. Yukina, honest to the core, would mentally waver and weaken, for Natsuki’s experience far exceeded her own. 

However, that was not so where electronic data was concerned. On Itogami Island, Asagi was second to none when it came to electronic warfare. With Asagi vouching that it was the real deal, there was no mistake that the image was the literal truth. It was that truth that had underpinned Kojou’s and Yukina’s willingness to take Kiriha’s information at face value. 

“Well, fine. Whether you’re worried or not, your little sister is with Gajou Akatsuki, yes? You heading off will only make things more complicated. Leave this to the adults.” 

Natsuki, giving up on glossing the matter over, shifted to brusquely persuading Kojou and Yukina. 

Though Natsuki’s words were of little comfort to the primogenitor, she did have a point. It was Gajou who’d taken Nagisa off Itogami Island, and he had a solid record earned from wandering through a number of battlefields. Under normal circumstances, trusting Gajou to handle it would be the best plan. 

“It’d be a hell of a lot easier if I could.” 

However, Kojou promptly declined Natsuki’s suggestion. His eyes betrayed his nervousness and fear—the look of someone backed into a corner. 

“Anything else, fine, but a relic from The Cleansing? No. That’s way out of his league. Besides, Dad’s not the one who set things up this time. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” 

Spurred on by unease he could not easily put into words, Kojou fiercely shook his head. 

Kiriha Kisaki hadn’t given Kojou and Yukina all that much information. She’d merely raised the possibility that there was an enchanted object, apparently a legacy from The Cleansing, sunken at the bottom of the lake; and that a number of years prior, the Lion King Agency had expressed interest in that enchanted object. Also, that at the same time as Nagisa’s visit, the Sorcerous Disaster Commission, the Lion King Agency’s window to the government, had gone into motion… 

Apparently, the Bureau of Astrology had yet to learn that Kamioda District had been sealed off by the Self-Defense Forces. However, for Kojou, the words relic of The Cleansing were reason enough. 

In times past, within the ruin of a Demon Sanctuary in the Mediterranean, it was Kojou and Nagisa encountering such a relic of The Cleansing that had resulted in Nagisa being grievously injured, and Kojou and others entwined in checkered fates of their own. 

Now, Nagisa was coming into contact with a relic of The Cleansing once more. 

Just imagining that made Kojou’s fear so great that it seemed sufficient to crush his heart. 

“So please, Natsuki. Lend me your strength.” 

Kojou pleaded with Natsuki with such force, he seemed ready to prostrate himself at any moment. 

However, an even plainer revealed that she had not been swayed in the slightest. 

“I refuse.” 

“Why?!” 

“Do I require a reason to stop a pupil from engaging in illegal activities?” 

Natsuki’s voice, completely bereft of warmth, thoroughly slammed into Kojou. 

Then he instinctively understood. 

No matter how many words Kojou might expend, Natsuki would not budge an inch. It had nothing to do with her being his homeroom teacher; Natsuki had some other reason for stopping Kojou from escaping Itogami Island. 

Perhaps that was not something of Natsuki’s own will. 

Behind Natsuki the Attack Mage loomed the Gigafloat Management Corporation. And the Corporation surely had reasons it did not want Kojou to leave the island. A reason why it did not want to let a precious pawn—a pawn called the World’s Mightiest Vampire—slip through its fingers, just in case it was needed. 

“I see. Understood.” 

“…Senpai?” 

When Kojou spoke, seemingly stifling his emotions, Yukina stared at him in astonishment. She doubtless could not imagine Kojou would back down that easily. 

“It’s fine, Natsuki. It’s my fault for saying selfish stuff without thinking about your position.” 

Kojou gently shook his head and turned his back on Natsuki. 

“Wait, Akatsuki. Where do you think you’re going?” 

Natsuki knitted her brows as she glared at Kojou. However, he did not turn around, raising one hand as he said, “I’ll find another way. Sorry to bother you.” 

“No, you won’t.” 

Her voice was cruel. 

That instant, Kojou’s and Yukina’s fields of vision wavered like ripples, and countless silhouettes appeared inside the broad reception room. 

Kojou stared at them dumbfounded, unable to immediately process what was going on. 

The armed guardsmen who had appeared surrounded Kojou and Yukina, guns trained upon them. 

They were wearing anti-demon protective gear and wielding cutting-edge submachine guns: the gear of Island Guard special forces. 

“Natsuki?!” 

Kojou glared at the small-statured, doll-like witch as he shouted. 

It was unthinkable for anyone save Natsuki to have teleported so many people at once. But that meant Natsuki had completely turned against them. 

“You cannot be permitted to leave. You will behave yourself here, Akatsuki.” 

Natsuki joined the guardsmen as she spoke. 

They were words of despair. 

5 

Eight armed guardsmen had appeared from the void. They were deployed in a pincer, hemming in Kojou and Yukina from the left and the right, and all their gun barrels were trained upon Yukina. 

Realizing this, Kojou stopped in his tracks. Yukina’s expression twisted in humiliation. 

“Do not move, Akatsuki. Even a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency cannot evade submachine guns firing at six hundred rounds per minute. They are rubber bullets, but depending on where they hit, she may not be merely wounded.” Natsuki’s tone was frigid, indifferent. 

Unlike Kojou, who possessed a vampiric body, Yukina was a flesh-and-blood human being. Even a single gunshot might inflict lethal injuries. Natsuki knew that and was using that to take Yukina hostage. 

From Yukina’s point of view, it was akin to an act of contempt—essentially declaring that her presence made the Fourth Primogenitor weak. 

“Did you purposefully drag out the conversation to buy time so we might be surrounded?” Yukina asked, mortified, her voice quivering. 

Having been in contact with Kiriha, Natsuki already knew that their objective was to leave Itogami Island. Therefore, she’d kept Kojou and Yukina trying to convince her while she called the Island Guard to her. Perhaps Kanon and the others’ warm reception had also been to slow the pair down. 

It was, all in all, an underhanded method that suited Natsuki poorly. 

“Natsuki…why are you going this far…?!” 

Kojou lamented, more in fiercely conflicted emotions than in anger. However, Natsuki’s expression remained neutral and doll-like as she gazed at Kojou, raising her right hand. 

“The transfer student on her own is one thing, but I cannot allow you to leave Itogami Island. You can take it easy in my world until things calm down. It is the least I can do.” 

“Ugh…!” 

Kojou’s breath caught as he felt incredible blows over his entire body. Silver chains shot out from the void and coiled around his whole body like sentient snakes. 

“—I’ll return you once winter break is over. Don’t take this personally.” 

Behind Kojou, thin air contorted and shuddered as something like a haze emerged. That thin air became a gate through which one could see the contours of a large, Western-style prison island floating like a mirage. 

This was the prison world constructed within Natsuki Minamiya’s own dream—the Prison Barrier, used to incarcerate fiendish sorcerous criminals. Because it was Natsuki’s dream world, sorcerous criminals sealed within that world had all their abilities sealed away. Even the Fourth Primogenitor, the World’s Mightiest Vampire, would prove no exception. 

The moment Kojou was dragged into the Prison Barrier, escape would be impossible. However, even though he knew this, Kojou could do nothing to stop it. 

“Shit?! What are these chains…?” 

Even his vampiric brute strength operating at full power could not even get the chains Natsuki had unleashed to flinch. Even though they were little thicker than the chain of a necklace, they had incredible strength. Furthermore, they possessed the power to seal demonic energy, leaving Kojou unable to summon his Beast Vassals. 

“Senpai!” 

The sight of Kojou dragged toward the gate, his resistance futile, brought a nervous look over Yukina as she shouted. However, Yukina could not move hand nor foot, either. Even if her Sword Shaman’s Spirit Sight allowed her to see an instant into the future, eight submachine guns were trained upon her; it was impossible to evade them all. 

And if she displayed the slightest resistance, the armed guardsmen would pull the triggers without hesitation. 

Thus, Yukina could not move. If she fell there, no one would be left to liberate Kojou from the Prison Barrier. Furthermore, if Kojou’s time was wasted in the Prison Barrier, Nagisa would fall into even more peril. 

Sensing the magical energy of the gate as it drew nearer behind him, Kojou ground his teeth in agitation. 

The next moment, he heard an odd voice full of confidence from a most unexpected direction. 

“Laeding—chains forged by the gods, is it…? Quite a rare magical object you have there. That’s Natsuki for you.” 

“What?” 

Natsuki’s eyes wavered, showing unease for the first time. 

“Whoa?!” 

The next instant, the silver chains that had bound Kojou suddenly melted like pieces of candy and flew apart. 

While Kojou reeled, his balance thrown off by the recoil, a lump of liquefied metal climbed atop his shoulder. It absorbed the torn chains as it changed shape into a tiny humanoid figure. 

“Transmutation…! Nina Adelard?!” 

“Correct, Witch of the Void.” 

The self-declared Great Alchemist of Yore extended her liquid metal arms like whips, seizing hold of the armed guardsmen’s firearms one after another. Even the Island Guard’s cream of the crop could not respond to the incredibly unconventional attack. Their metallic components eaten away, the submachine guns crumbled in the guardsmen’s hands. 

Yukina, finally freed from the gun barrels trained upon her, poised her spear as she exclaimed, “Nina?! What are you doing here…?!” 

“Kanon was concerned about the two of you, as it were.” 

Nina lifted her chin with pride. Apparently, Kojou and Yukina being in a clearly distressed state had worried Kanon, so she had covertly ordered Nina to spy on them. 

“I see… So this is your doing, Astarte?” Natsuki’s lips curled with displeasure as she glared at the homunculus girl. 

It was Astarte who had snuck Nina in without Kojou or Yukina ever noticing. Nina had been hiding under the apron of Astarte’s maid outfit. 

“Do not scold her so, Witch of the Void. In spite of being a homunculus unable to defy the commands of her master, she desperately exerted herself for Kojou’s sake.” 

Astarte stood still without a word as Nina defended her, the corners of her lips curling up with delight. 

Astarte might well have known from the start that Natsuki intended to capture Kojou. However, she had been unable to convey that to Kojou and Yukina. 

Hence, Astarte had assisted Nina’s espionage. 

As a homunculus, she could not defy Natsuki’s orders. However, Natsuki had not included in her orders a clause stating Don’t bring Nina with you. 

“I heard the entire story. Would it not be better to be courteous and send Kojou and Yukina on their merry way, Witch of the Void?” 

“For a pet, you certainly run your mouth…!” Natsuki spat. Being lectured so casually by Nina, her elder, was a sore spot for her. 

During that time, the Island Guard personnel did not simply stand idly by and watch. Be it with shock batons or barehanded, they attacked Kojou and Yukina one after another. 

“Urk!” 

Yukina engaged immediately, but there were too many of them. Even Yukina, with close-combat ability capable of overwhelming demons, could not put eight armed guardsmen out of commission in a single moment. 

Four guardsmen went after Yukina to slow her down while the other four went after Kojou. They, trained in anti-demonic combat, were not opponents an amateur like Kojou could take on hand to hand. This is bad, he thought, his face stiffening before the triumphant guardsmen. However— 

“Nin!” 

Suddenly, a female knight in a long-skirted garment appeared behind them. Taking the guardsmen completely by surprise, she bowled them over one after another, all in the span of an instant. 

“Justina?!” 

“Are you safe, Sir Kojou? By command of the Royal Sister, I, Kataya Justina, am humbly at your service!” 

As Kojou stood dumbfounded, Justina knelt before him, courteously greeting him. Then she took a metal, grenade-like sphere out of her garment’s sleeve. She slammed the sphere into the floor, causing pure-white smoke to spew forth. 

“A magical energy diffusion screen… You little meddler.” 

Natsuki audibly clenched her teeth. Apparently, the smokescreen Justina spread about had the effect of inhibiting the transmission of magical energy. It only affected sorcery that manipulated things at long range, but against Natsuki, a specialist in teleportation, it was extremely effective. 

“Lady Nina!” 

“Mm-hmm, leave it to me.” 

When Justina called out to her, Nina released a dazzling beam of light from her fingertip. This was a heavy metal particle cannon—in other words, a particle beam. 

The incandescent ray punched through the building’s exterior wall, creating an escape route to the emergency stairs by brute force. 

“Sir Kojou! With Lady Sword Shaman, while you still can!” Justina shouted while holding the rest of the Island Guard off. 

“Sorry! You’re a lifesaver!” 

“Thank you very much!” 

Thanking Justina and the others, Kojou and Yukina headed for the emergency stairs. With Natsuki unable to teleport, she had no way to pursue them. 

Watching them make their escape, Justina turned to face Natsuki. Already, she had taken all the Island Guard guardsmen out of commission. However, that still left the Attack Mage. If Natsuki was serious, there was no proof Justina and Nina put together could stop her. Even with the magical energy diffusion screen interfering with spells, it was unclear how effective that would be against a witch. 

However, in spite of Justina’s and Nina’s wariness, Natsuki showed no sign of making a move. The small-statured witch sullenly raised one cheek, sighing quietly. 

“To think Nina Adelard and that cheerful foreigner would make a spectacular mess of this room so soon after the New Year…” 

Natsuki glanced at the hole punched into the building’s outer wall before giving the pair an exasperated look. 

“Mm-hmm. Though it pains me to draw my bow upon the mistress of the household, try to overlook this, Natsuki. If you insist upon a clash of arms, I shall indulge you, but isn’t your sorcery somewhat poorly matched against mine?” 

Nina sat cross-legged on a fallen guardsman’s back, giving Natsuki a venomous smile. However, Natsuki did not take the bait; she shooed the two off with a hand. 

“No need, Nina Adelard. You having crushed the Island Guard’s special forces was a great service.” 

Then Natsuki slowly rose to her feet. As the armed guardsmen groaned in pain, she gazed indifferently down upon them, speaking with a hint of anger. 

“Tell your superiors at the Gigafloat Management Corporation…, ‘I did it your way, and this is the result.’ From here on, I shall do as I please.” 

The incredible sense of majesty emanating from Natsuki’s entire body made the faces of the guardsmen twist in fear. 

Justina and the others gazed at the unexpected spectacle, bewildered. 

6 

After running from Natsuki’s mansion for over ten minutes, Kojou and Yukina arrived at the shopping district in front of the train station. 

Since shopping malls ran New Year’s bargains, there were a lot of people passing through that day. Even Natsuki was unlikely to engage in combat in such a place. With that in mind, Kojou’s feet came to a halt. He’d just about hit the limit of his endurance. 

“We should be fine now, right?” 

“Yes, most likely. I used every incantation to obstruct pursuit that I have,” Yukina replied, holding a paper scroll for shikigami in her hand. 

Natsuki, able to employ teleportation magic, could instantly catch up to them no matter how far away they might be. However, Kojou and Yukina were probably safe so long as the trail was cold. 

“This sucks, though. I didn’t think Natsuki would be against it to that extent,” Kojou murmured, exhausted, catching his ragged breath. 

He hadn’t been so naive as to think Natsuki would help them stow away without a fuss. However, being nearly stuffed into the Prison Barrier all of a sudden had never crossed his mind. 

“I am also mindful of the fact she called the Island Guard straightaway.” 

“Well there’s that, too… That’s not really like her…” Kojou scowled a little as he agreed with Yukina. 

Natsuki was an independent federal Attack Mage. She wasn’t part of the Island Guard. Also, Natsuki had no reason to seek their assistance. By herself, she had more combat power than the Island Guard’s special forces put together. 

In the first place, Natsuki’s teleportation magic was at its most effective when used to launch a surprise attack from anywhere, anytime. It wasn’t well suited for group combat, the Island Guard’s specialty. If Natsuki had been seriously trying to capture them, doing it herself would surely have been more effective. 

Yet, Natsuki had made Kojou and Yukina face the Island Guard regardless. In other words, Natsuki hadn’t been going all out earlier…? 

Kojou shuddered when that possibility sunk in. 

It had probably been a warning. She’d made them confront the Island Guard to reveal the fact that the Gigafloat Management Corporation was working to stop Kojou from leaving Itogami Island. Additionally, now that they’d broken the Island Guard’s encirclement, the Gigafloat Management Corporation had only Natsuki left to rely upon. Next time, she could capture Kojou without anyone getting in her way. 

What a mess, thought Kojou, unwittingly gazing up at the heavens. He’d meant to ask her to help him slip out, but as a result, he’d only created an incredibly formidable foe. 

“—From the looks of it, negotiations failed, I take it?” 

Kojou and Yukina walked down the sidewalk immersed in a feeling of despair when a voice suddenly called to them. The familiar voice made Kojou gasp and lift his face. 

Away from the pedestrians, a black-haired girl in an old-fashioned sailor uniform stood beside a tree along the roadside. 

“Kiriha Kisaki…!” 

Yukina instantly went into a fighting stance as she shot Kiriha an angry look. Subconsciously, Kojou went on guard against Kiriha as well. Her waiting for them made it abundantly clear she’d watched them run from Natsuki’s mansion with their tails between their legs. 

“You followed us, didn’t you?! For that matter, it’s ’cause you went and blabbed to Natsuki that this got more complicated to begin with!” 

“I merely thought it would minimize the time spent negotiating.” 

However, the Priestess of the Six Blades of the Bureau of Astrology spoke with a composed tone. 

“I anticipated you would rely on Natsuki Minamiya from the very beginning, and I thought the chances of her assisting were fifty-fifty, so…” 

“She ended up tryin’ to stuff me into the Prison Barrier all of a sudden, you know?!” 

Kojou’s outburst at Kiriha was tinged with anger, but Kiriha’s expression was oddly sober as she nodded. 

“Yes. Thanks to that, I know for certain.” 

“You know what?!” 

“That Natsuki Minamiya and the Gigafloat Management Corporation knew of the project being conducted at Kannawa Lake from the very beginning, most likely because the Lion King Agency spoke to them about it beforehand.” 

“What…?” 

Kiriha’s firm declaration rocked Kojou, making him suddenly feel lost at sea. 

Yukina’s expression grew tense and hard. If Kiriha’s words were true, they’d given Natsuki and the Corporation the information, leaving only Yukina in the dark—regardless of her close relationship to Nagisa, the person concerned, and Kojou. 

Simple abdication of responsibility could not explain such a thing. The Lion King Agency had purposefully walled her off from the information. 

“Well, get going. You don’t want Natsuki Minamiya to catch up to you in a place like this, do you?” 

Gazing with satisfaction at Yukina’s distress, Kiriha pointed to a vehicle parked at the rotary: an unobtrusive, navy-blue station wagon. Sitting in the driver’s seat was a man wearing gray work clothes and a hat over his head, not standing out in any way—he was likely a Bureau of Astrology member as well. 

As urged by Kiriha, Kojou and Yukina sat in the back of the station wagon. It wasn’t that they trusted the Bureau of Astrology, but they judged that changing locations by car was an effective way to evade Natsuki’s pursuit. 

Kiriha sat in the back as well, turning to face Kojou and Yukina. Seeing this, the driver got the station wagon going. 

When the station wagon left the train station rotary, Yukina glared at the girl with the traditionally-styled black hair and asked, “You said that the Gigafloat Management Corporation knew from the beginning what was happening at Kannawa Lake?” 

“Yes, I did.” 

Kiriha, still holding her tripod case as she sat, added a smile as she replied. 

“Then,” said Yukina, lowering her eyes as she breathed in, “it was the Lion King Agency’s plan to use Ms. Minamiya to stop senpai from leaving the island?” 

“Is there any other sound explanation?” Kiriha answered, smiling in a charming yet teasing manner. 

“Perhaps she knows more about this incident than we at the Bureau of Astrology do. You could try meeting Natsuki Minamiya again and ask her.” 

Kojou interrupted their conversation and declared, “No need for that. We’ll just go and see for ourselves.” 

At that point, Kojou and Yukina hardly needed to ask what Natsuki and the Lion King Agency intended. Whatever the reasons, they meant to obstruct Kojou’s passage to the mainland. Knowing that was plenty. 

“I see. Sound reasoning.” 

Kiriha raised her eyebrows in an apparent show of praise. She must not have expected Kojou would recover so quickly from the shock of Natsuki’s betrayal. 

“But how do you intend to reach the mainland without Natsuki Minamiya’s cooperation?” 

“No problem. I still have one idea for getting off the island.” 

“The Oceanus Grave II—the cruise ship of Dimitrie Vattler, Duke of Ardeal, yes?” 

Kiriha replied first as if she was reading Kojou’s thoughts. 

Taken by surprise, Kojou’s mouth twisted; then he sighed and nodded. 

Moored at Itogami Harbor, the giant oceanic cruiser Oceanus Grave II was owned by Dimitrie Vattler, a vampire native to the Warlord’s Empire. Vattler bore the title of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, so even Natsuki and the Gigafloat Management Corporation ought to be unable to touch him. 

It took about half a day to travel from Itogami Island to the mainland by ferry. Of course, it wouldn’t be as fast as an airplane, but he wasn’t in any position to complain. 

“The inside of his ship is sovereign territory, so even the Gigafloat Management Corporation can’t touch us there, right? I’ll get him to take us to the mainland some way or other. To be honest, it’s not an option I really wanted to consider.” 

“That method will prove rather…costly.” 

“I know that, but there’s no other way, so we’ve gotta do it!” Kojou ground his teeth in visible anguish as he lamented. 

The first hurdle was whether Vattler would warmly welcome Kojou’s request or not. He’d certainly run his mouth claiming to offer his love to the Fourth Primogenitor, but at heart, Vattler was a simple combat maniac, a man with few hobbies save lethal duels with powerful foes. Kojou couldn’t even imagine what kind of tortuous compensation a man like that would demand in return. 

If it was just picking a fight with Kojou, that’d be one thing, but worst case, the relic of The Cleansing would pique Vattler’s own interest. Kojou didn’t really want to think about it, but the odds of Vattler also landing on the mainland, running rampant any way he pleased, were not zero. 

Perhaps Kiriha also grasped that danger, for she shook her head at his words and said, “There may well be another option.” 

“Huh?” 

Kiriha tendered an envelope right before Kojou’s and Yukina’s surprised eyes. Inside the envelope were documents of various kinds with photos of Kojou’s and Yukina’s faces on them. 

“What’s this?” 

“The Bureau of Astrology has arranged a private business jet. If you use a civilian corporate airstrip rather than Itogami Central Airport, the formalities to leave the island will be minimal. These are fake IDs and the necessary documentation.” 

“…What’s your game here, Kiriha Kisaki? Why are you going this far for us…?” he pressed, more suspicious than he was gracious. 

Certainly, the terms were tempting. The Bureau of Astrology was an organization with a long history. Identification cards provided by them were, in effect, as good as the real deal. If they had these, there would no longer be any need to rely on risky plans like stowing away. 

Besides, if they had a civilian business jet, it would be far easier for them to move on their own. Even the Gigafloat Management Corporation could not do as it pleased with a civilian aircraft. 

However, creating false identity documents and chartering a private jet were undertakings requiring considerable money and resources. Kojou couldn’t come up with a reason why Kiriha and her people would sacrifice so much to get Yukina and him to the mainland. 

However, Kiriha somehow seemed delighted as she turned her eyes to Kojou and said, “Would you be dissatisfied if I said ‘Resentment of the Lion King Agency’ and left it at that?” 

“Resentment?” 

“As you are aware, the Bureau of Astrology and the Lion King Agency have diverging interests. Perhaps it is as they say: Familiarity breeds contempt? But now, the Bureau of Astrology has good reason to confront the Lion King Agency head-on. After all, it still has its tail between its legs from the recent failure at Blue Elysium.” 

“…What does that have to do with giving me a hand?” 

Kojou knit his brows, bewildered by Kiriha’s lack of a direct reply. 

Kiriha sarcastically narrowed her eyes and said, “The Lion King Agency is exceptionally afraid of you paying a visit to Kannawa Lake. How can we not make use of that? It is akin to tossing dirty laundry into the house of a neighbor you do not care for.” 

“So you’re treating me like dirty laundry…?!” Kojou growled. 

Kiriha giggled and broke into a smile. “Surely, Fourth Primogenitor, it is not a poor arrangement for you. Our interests coincide in this matter. Though, I’m sure she has conflicted feelings as a member of the Lion King Agency.” 

Kiriha shook her head a little in a show of pity and shifted her gaze to Yukina. 

“Yukina Himeragi. If you wish it, I do not mind if you bow out here and now. I will take over the duty of watching the Fourth Primogenitor.” 

“That will not be necessary.” 

Yukina easily let the cold, sharp words of the Priestess of the Six Blades wash over her. Oh my, Kiriha seemed to say, with Kojou sensing surprise from her at how Yukina did not hesitate for even a moment. 

“Whatever the Lion King Agency has in mind, there has been no change in my assigned mission. Watching the Fourth Primogenitor is my duty.” 

“I see… But should you not ask if this is what the Fourth Primogenitor wishes? 

“What senpai wishes…?” 

“Perhaps this is a harsh way to put it, but am I, with the full support of the Bureau of Astrology, not more useful to him than you, abandoned by the Lion King Agency? Rescuing Nagisa Akatsuki is his top priority, after all?” 

“Er…” Yukina bit her lip, unable to refute her. 

Setting aside that it was uncertain whether Yukina had been abandoned per se, the fact remained that the Lion King Agency had withheld a great deal of information from her. Of course, Yukina had neither chartered a jet nor arranged false identification for him. 

“Surely you understand who is more suitable to watch over you, Fourth Primogenitor?” 

“Uh, this isn’t really about being more suitable or not…” Kojou, suddenly confronted with the matter, seemed conflicted as he looked from one to the other. 

While Kojou did so, Kiriha gazed at him with upturned eyes and smiled seductively. 

“I forgot to mention this, but appearances notwithstanding, I am actually an F cup.” 

“—What? Seriously?!” 

Without thinking, Kojou fixed his gaze upon the cleavage of Kiriha’s sailor uniform. Kiriha’s physique was slender, so she really didn’t feel like someone with gravure idol-level breast size. 

“Senpai…!” 

As Kojou marveled, wondering if her clothes made her chest look smaller than it really was, Yukina shot him a contemptuous glare. Then Kiriha giggled and smiled in visible delight. 

“I lied.” 

“You were lying?!” 

Kojou wailed, feeling exceptionally wounded. For some reason, Yukina was covering her own breasts with a hand as she breathed a sigh of relief. Kiriha made another teasing smile. 

“I am sorry to get your hopes up, but my breasts are rather disappointing.” 

“Er, it’s not that my hopes were raised, but anyway, I don’t need a babysitter. I can’t trust you very much, for one thing. Besides, this isn’t because Himeragi’s my watcher. She’s cooperating with me ’cause she’s worried about Nagisa.” 

“I see… If that is what you believe, do as you like.” 

Kiriha gazed with amusement as Yukina’s expression changed in the face of Kojou’s words. 

“And for the record, if you had a jet ready to go, you should’ve mentioned that at the start, sheesh. Then we wouldn’t have Natsuki attacking us like that—” 

“In that case, would the two of you have believed what I had to say?” Kiriha’s smile oozed with malice while she pressed the matter further. “You are relying on the Bureau of Astrology because Natsuki Minamiya has turned against you. Am I mistaken?” 

“You might be right…but that’s because—” 

“Yes, a natural judgment. I can understand that much.” Kiriha shrugged as if the matter didn’t concern her. 

The Bureau of Astrology she belonged to had attempted to use the living weapon known as Leviathan to sink Itogami Island not even a month before. That had resulted in the Bureau of Astrology’s plans ending in failure, but that fact didn’t make Kojou trust Kiriha and her people 100 percent, either. 

This time, Natsuki turning against them had backed them into a corner, forcing them to accept Kiriha’s cooperation. Kiriha surely understood that fact for herself. She was not particularly trying to scold them for it. 

“Incidentally, these ID cards… They, uh, list Himeragi and me as husband and wife…?” 

Kojou was checking the contents of the envelope handed to him when he posed the question to Kiriha. 

According to the forged documents, Kojou was an eighteen-year-old employee at an electrical installation company, and Yukina was his twenty-nine-year-old wife. Granted, Yukina had something of an adult air about her, but he wondered if having her pose as someone pushing thirty was a bit excessive. Somehow, he suspected the age notation was Kiriha’s malice showing through. 

“Being treated as an adult is convenient when concealing one’s identity, is it not?” 

“Well, you might have a point, but…did you need to make us husband and wife?” 

“I was unable to acquire any other suitable fake IDs. You will have to use them to the best of your ability.” 

Kiriha had said as much without a hint of ill will, but Kojou still uttered an “Ugh…” and fell into silence. This, too, was no doubt her resentment expressed in a roundabout way, but even so, her Bureau of Astrology was the only thing he could rely on at the moment. 

Yukina unexpectedly refrained from speaking a single dissatisfied word—gazing at the ID card treating her as Kojou’s spouse, she didn’t seem all that put off by it. 

“So where is this business jet your people arranged?” 

Kojou turned his eyes toward the window of the moving station wagon as he asked. 

“Island North’s industrial airport.” 

“There, huh…?” Kojou grimaced. 

The industrial airport in Island North was one of Itogami Island’s five civilian airstrips. Kojou had used it once before, but he didn’t have very good memories of it. At the time, the aircraft he flew on wound up stranding him on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. 

Thus, Kojou wasn’t particularly surprised when he saw Yukina’s face abruptly freeze over. 

He was sure it was the fear of that time coming back to her, but— 

“Stop! Stop the car, quickly—” 

Yukina leaned forward and shouted at the driver, but the eerie presence made Kiriha react immediately as well. The two were staring at the space above the road—a straight coastal road with little in the way of traffic. 

“Huh?!” 

The driver was perplexed. He did as he was told, stepping on the brakes and pulling the station wagon toward the road’s shoulder. His hand was reaching for the hazard light—all natural actions for him to take. 

A moment later, slender silver chains were spat out from thin air, forming a giant net before them. The navy-blue station wagon was unable to reduce its speed enough to avoid plunging straight into the net and being ensnared within. 

“A-aaaagh?!” 

The front window finely cracked. The driver let out a cry as he became buried in a deployed airbag. 

But Kiriha was in motion before that. 

With a single palm strike, she pounded down the station wagon’s hatch behind Kojou and the others with incredible force. The hatch blew off, giving Kojou and the rest an open path to the rear. 

“Th-the hell?!” 

Kojou, frozen in shock, had Yukina firmly gripping his right arm and Kiriha firmly gripping his left. The two dragged Kojou with them as they leaped out of the still-moving vehicle. 

Considering their antagonistic relationship, it was unthinkably splendid teamwork. Even if Kiriha was part of a different organization—a Priestess of the Six Blades, also known as the Black Sword Shaman—Yukina and Kiriha employed the very same martial art. 

“Uooooooo?!” 

In contrast to the steady landings of Yukina and Kiriha, Kojou’s momentum from jumping out of the car sent him rolling on the ground back first. But had they not leaped, Kojou and the others would already have found themselves pulled into the net of silver chains, wagon and all. 

“I told you I could not let you go, Kojou Akatsuki.” 

Kojou and the others trembled when they heard a powerful voice above them. 

As the station wagon was suspended in thin air, a woman with a parasol and an extravagant dress landed on its roof without a sound. She, blessed with a beautiful face reminiscent of a doll, gazed emotionlessly down at Kojou and the others. 

“Natsuki…!” 

Dumbfounded and groaning in pain, Kojou uttered the name of the witch shrouded in black magical energy. 

However, Natsuki no longer had words to spare. 

Instead of warnings, she shot out a barrage of silver chains, raining down like countless spears.