Strike the Blood - Volume 4 - Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE 

FANCY DRESS PARADE 

1 

There was once a girl who lived alone in a small castle deep in a forest. 

The castle had everything she needed. It had clean rooms and an uncountable number of exquisite pieces of clothing. Her diet was completely controlled. Her compulsory education had a tightly packed curriculum. In that castle, the girl felt like even her dreams were being controlled. 

The girl did not know the faces of her parents. She was separated from her mother immediately after birth and was raised by maidservants dispatched by the organization. The girl felt no emotion whatsoever when she was told she would meet her mother in a place far away once she turned sixteen. 

The girl awoke at the appointed time, dressed in the appointed outfit, and went to study at the appointed school. She had no close friends; she did not think any were needed. She had been taught that school was where one learned to deceive others. Even there, the girl’s performance was perfect: Her classmates doted on her, and the teachers recognized her as an excellent, trouble-free pupil. 

Then, at the appointed hour, the girl returned to the castle within the forest. Every day passed like this without a single thing going awry. They were days that passed exactly as planned— 

The small tear in the seam of that plan was formed in the afternoon of a day just before summer. 

A brother and sister had come into the girl’s forest to play. 

They were far from perfect beings. Their skin was sunburned, their hair was disheveled, and the brother’s front teeth were missing. They argued over the smallest things, made each other cry, and then held each other’s hands, laughing as if having more fun than anyone else. 

The young siblings had apparently built a secret base inside the forest. It was a grand cottage built from a discarded cardboard box and tree branches they had gathered together. It wasn’t something that should have existed on private land controlled by the organization. 

However, the girl did not report it to the maidservants who administered the land, for she wanted to watch the siblings at a distance while they played. 

Finally, the girl cropped off the long, beautiful hair she had been granted. It was quite some time later before she realized that she’d done it out of her fondness for the young siblings. 

A short time after that, the girl exchanged words with them. 

Outside the forest, when the girl just happened to be passing close to them, the brother of the two called out to her without warning. 

“Hey, you! Hold my hand and don’t let go!” 

“Ah…?” 

When the bewildered girl firmly gripped his hand, the boy held on as he went right over the edge of a precipice. Without any idea what was going on, the girl desperately supported his body, for if she had not, it was possible she would fall right down with him. The cliff was not so high, but pointy tree branches were sticking out all over it. It was unlikely she’d escape unscathed. 

Finally, the boy clawed his way back up from the precipice. His hand was gripping a small hat that had fallen below, blown away by the wind. 

The boy put the dirty hat right on top of the head of his moist-eyed little sister. 

“Here, Nagisa.” 

A beaming smile came over his little sister’s face. The sight gradually gave the girl a sense of accomplishment. It was the first time she’d been enveloped by emotion . It was the only thing she’d ever obtained that defied the plan. 

The boy tried to talk with a cheerful, smiling face, missing front teeth and all. 

“Thanks, you were a huge help. You’re stronger than I figured, er…” 

Drawn in by that look, the girl’s lips subconsciously formed a smile. 

“—I’m Yuuma. Yuuma Tokoyogi.” 

“Nice to meet you, Yuuma.” 

Even now, the girl had not forgotten the warmth his hand conveyed when pressed to her own. 

However, now that the girl had betrayed that warmth, it continued to torment her soul. 

It was a perfect plan, and it would be executed perfectly, heedless of the girl’s wishes. 

2 

Kojou opened his eyes atop the bed. It was the very familiar sight of his bedroom. 

It was a bit past eight in the morning. He felt like sleeping in late, but he felt fresher than he normally did; perhaps he just felt excited about the morning of the festival. 

“Morning…huh?” 

Kojou remained in bed lying faceup as he murmured absentmindedly. 

He felt like a lot had happened the night before. He’d been caught up in spatial distortions, had a reunion with the Lotharingian Armed Apostle, and he…thought Yuuma had been crawling all over him. 

But his memory was oddly vague right around that point. Kojou hadn’t engaged with Eustach again since his vanishing like an illusion. And Yuuma had been behaving oddly. He’d seen the illusion of a ghastly shadow emerge from her back, too. He didn’t think it had occurred in real life. Indeed, it was far easier to accept as something that he’d thought up in some dream. 

“Guess I saw a…pretty weird dream, huh?” 

So Kojou told himself as he rose up from the bed. 

His sudden sense of unease was likely due to the odd lightness of his body. The chronic morning lethargy and sense of fatigue that had plagued him since becoming a vampire had vanished. It was rare that a morning felt so good. 

“Nagisa’s…still asleep, I guess?” 

Thinking that the apartment was oddly quiet, Kojou went into the living room. But he saw no sight of Nagisa anywhere. He knocked on her bedroom door just to be sure, but no reply came. The bathroom light was off, too. There was only food for one person prepared in the dining room. 

“Did they go out, just the two of ’em…?” Kojou murmured without any special concern. Maybe she’d just gone out for a stroll; it was also possible they’d gone to play in Yukina’s apartment. That surely didn’t merit much thought. 

Since she’d gone through all the trouble, Kojou sat in a chair to help himself to breakfast; that was when he felt something was really off. 

Kojou’s slender, shapely legs stretched beyond the hem of the short skirt. 

“Wha…?” 

What am I wearing girls’ clothes for? thought the shaken Kojou. The little black dress was surely the one Yuuma had worn the night before. 

But Kojou finally realized that it wasn’t just clothes that he’d swapped with her. 

As he raised his hands before him, his fingers were surprisingly thin and delicate. The view down low was obstructed by an unexpected swell of his chest. The curves of his bare legs had baby-like skin, lacking leg hair or any other unsightly marks. He also realized he was ten centimeters or so shorter than he ought to be. 

“Wha…?” 

Kojou flew into the washroom and looked at the mirror within. 

The graceful visage of a girl was reflected by it, paired with somewhat disheveled bobbed hair. 

The eyes displayed within were wide with surprise. The eyelashes were long; the bridge of the nose was delicate. The face within the mirror, reminiscent of what she looked like when she was younger, was that of his old friend, Yuuma Tokoyogi. 

Kojou did pantomime over and over. He confirmed with his own eyes that her body was moving according to his will. He no longer had any room for doubt. Kojou’s mind had been put into Yuuma’s body. 

Kojou and Yuuma had switched bodies. 

And Kojou’s body had vanished somewhere, with Yuuma’s mind in it. 

“What the hellll ?!” 

The shout that came out of Kojou’s mouth was in the clear, high-pitched voice of a girl. 

Rushing into the corridor, Kojou headed straight for the entryway to the apartment next door. The doorplate indicated it was room 705. It was the apartment Yukina had moved into some two months before. He couldn’t think of anyone else he could discuss an emergency situation like this with. 

“…So what happened last night wasn’t a dream, then?!” 

Kojou pushed the buzzer and roughly thrust both his hands against the wall. 

He remembered the sight of the giant shadow that had floated up from Yuuma’s back. It was an ominous blue shadow, its body clad in armor like that of a knight. There was no face under its mysterious, skull-like helmet, only a dark, unfathomable void. Perhaps Yuuma had used the power of the blue shadow to swap bodies with him. 

But Kojou didn’t understand why Yuuma had that kind of power. Nor did he understand why it was necessary for her to do such a thing. 

Yukina opened the door halfway and poked her face out of the gap. 

“…Good morning, Yuuma. Has something…happened?” 

She seemed a bit suspicious as to why Yuuma would suddenly visit her all by herself. That fact rocked Kojou all the more. 

So Kojou really did look like Yuuma, even to Yukina’s eyes. Kojou had entertained the possibility that it was just some sort of hypnotic suggestion affecting him alone, but it was not to be. 

“Himeragi. Sorry, it’s me.” 

Kojou spoke while pointing to “his” face. Yukina blinked her eyes as if finding his behavior odd. 

“Ah yes…?” 

“Er, ah, just calm down and hear me out, okay?” 

“Yuuma, I’m sorry… Can you come inside? Here is a little…” 

Yukina gently extended her hand through the gap of the door and led Kojou in. Kojou followed through the entry door, thinking Yukina’s behavior to be unexpectedly friendly of her. 

His eyes went wide as he saw what Yukina was standing there in. 

“Huh?” 

Yukina made her bashful-seeming apology while wearing nothing but a pajama top. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t really have a conversation through the doorway dressed like this.” 

The hem just barely covered her hips, but everything from the top of her thighs on down was completely bare; she’d apparently let her guard down thinking that they were both girls. 

When he looked harder, Kanon and Astarte were changing clothes in the middle of her living room, too. 

“Everyone was trying to pick what costumes to wear for the festival. Nagisa prepared a whole bunch of them, but they’re all quite exposing, you see…” 

“I-I see…” 

Apparently Nagisa had procured costumes not just for herself, but for Yukina and the others, too. 

No doubt she really wanted her friend to fully enjoy her very first Hollow Eve Festival. It was a very meddlesome, Nagisa-like thought. 

Kanon had picked out a nun outfit. It was a trim, adorable design, with frills adorning the collar and sleeves. But it seemed that her hands couldn’t reach the fastener; her back was fully open, with her bare snow-white skin looking extremely exposed through the gap. It was a mix of the solemn and the erotic. 

Taking great pains to pull his eyes from Kanon’s back, Kojou noticed the presence of the other girl in the room. Her presence stood out so much that he hadn’t consciously registered it. 

If he had to describe it, her silhouette was like that of an oversized Buddhist monk. 

The small girl wore a bodysuit with an orange cape coat and a stupidly huge pumpkin on her head. It certainly was cute , but it was the kind of cute where if you got too close, the girl might start bawling like a child. 

“Are you…Astarte?” 

As Kojou very timidly posed his question, the jack-o’-lantern’s two eyes emitted a glittering light in lieu of a nod. 

“Affirmative. I have come to like this outfit.” 

“That so. Well, I suppose it does suit you pretty nicely…” 

Kanon gently posed a question as she pulled her hips back a little and looked at Kojou. “And you are a witch, Yuuma? Very cute.” 

Those words reminded Kojou of how he currently looked. He was in a one-piece minidress with a ribbon tied over his breasts. It was the same witch cosplay outfit Yuuma had been wearing the night before. 

“Er…that’s not it. I don’t know how to explain this, but…Yuuma’s not here. Nagisa’s gone, too!” 

Yukina’s eyes widened as she saw how tense Kojou’s shoulders were. “Uh?” 

No doubt she had no way to process Yuuma herself saying she was gone. Kojou could sympathize. 

Astarte and Kanon hurried over to Yuuma and looked at her with mystified expressions. 

“I mean, I’m Yuuma, but I’m not Yuuma on the inside!” he tried to explain. 

She’d probably picked up on Kojou’s mannerisms and speaking style. 

“…You don’t mean you’re…Akatsuki-senpai?” Yukina asked with her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Leave it to a shrine maiden to have sharp intuition. 

Kojou, spontaneously filled with deep emotion, gripped Yukina’s hand. “Himeragi!” 

He was indeed overwhelmed with relief to have his existence acknowledged no matter how his appearance had changed. 

But Yukina’s expression was still clouded with doubt. “R-really?” 

Kojou whispered into Yukina’s ear so that Kanon and Astarte could not hear. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m dead serious. Right…! I know all about ‘I’m really the Fourth Primogenitor,’ and you’re a Sword Shaman from the Lion King Agency here to watch over me.” 

Unconvinced, Yukina murmured back with a cautious demeanor. “…You could have easily unearthed that much yourself. You could also have heard it directly from senpai.” 

Perhaps she suspected that Kojou and Yuuma were working together behind her back to play an elaborate prank on her. 

Yukina suddenly pointed to her guitar case. “Right…do you remember what this little one’s called?” 

There was something small and humanoid-shaped tied to the handle. It was a beckoning cat-style mascot. 

“That’s…Manekin-Kong, right? The one I got for you at the game center.” 

Kojou spoke in a tone full of confidence. Besides Natsuki, who happened to show up at the time, the only ones who knew about that were Kojou and Yukina. Surely that proved Kojou was who he said he was. 

“It’s Nekoma .” Yukina’s lips tapered in a fierce, sullen pout. The sight of her in such a foul mood unnerved Kojou. That was when Kanon politely raised her hand. 

“Ah, where did…Akatsuki and I first meet?” 

“The roof of the middle school building. You were, ah, handing an abandoned cat over to Takashimizu from the soccer club, right?” 

Kojou eagerly replied with the feeling that he’d just been rescued. That moment stood out a lot so he remembered it easily. 

Surely it was a question only someone who’d been there at the time could answer. 

The next question was from Astarte the jack-o’-lantern. 

“Question. Which region produces the black tea my master enjoys?” 

“Natsuki’s favorite, huh…? She said it was tea candy from Ceylon, didn’t she? Said it gave the tea an herbal flavor or something…” 

Kojou was able to smoothly field even a question about his homeroom teacher’s idiosyncrasies. Bad-tasting black tea put Natsuki in an exceptionally bad mood; to a serial student guidance offender like Kojou, knowing her tastes was a matter of life or death. 

“Ding-ding-ding.” Astarte emotionlessly announced that his answer was correct. 

“So why didn’t he remember Nekoma,” Yukina murmured in a pout, her cheeks puffed up. 

In spite of that, the exchange appeared to have convinced Yukina and the others of the truth of Kojou’s assertion. 

“Then you really are senpai…?” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying all along!” 

“So senpai’s mind is inside of Yuuma’s body…? Then where is senpai’s body right now?” 

Yukina raised her eyebrows as she asked. Kojou meekly shook his head. 

“I don’t know! You’d think Yuuma’s walking around in my body, but I haven’t seen her anywhere around here…” 

Yukina’s expression grew graver. 

“Perhaps she…left on her own? But to think she could do such a thing without triggering my surveillance shikigami …” 

Seeing the gravity of her look, Kojou, too, realized what a big problem that was. It was the body of Kojou Akatsuki, the Fourth Primogenitor… In other words, that of the World’s Mightiest Vampire. Yuuma had stolen it, and they had no idea where she’d taken it. It was an emergency situation on the same level as, say, a ballistic nuclear missile submarine being stolen. 

“Why would she do such a thing…?” 

“I don’t know that, either. Last night I met old man Eustach, and when I thought I was gonna buy the farm, the old man vanished. Then when I got back to my apartment, Nagisa was asleep, and Yuuma was waiting for me dressed like this… Right, I lost consciousness right around when she kissed me.” 

Listening to Kojou’s explanation, Yukina’s eyes lowered to half-mast in reproach. 

“…You kissed Yuuma?” 

Kojou subconsciously backed up a step from the glacial tone of her voice. 

“No, no, no! That’s not the problem here!” 

He wondered why she’d responded to that ahead of all sorts of other and surely more crucial bits of information. 

“I mean, right now Yuuma’s got my body, and we switched at that exact moment, so like, we should just say it doesn’t count…” 

Yukina murmured as she pressed down on the hem of her pajama top, having realized something exceedingly important. 

“I see…so right now it’s senpai in Yuuma’s body…” 

Her cheeks reddened before his eyes. Thinking that she was among girls, she was in an indecent state before Kojou, having been caught in the middle of changing clothes. It really wasn’t the time for Kojou to point out that her stripped-off pajama bottom and panties drying out after the wash were on full display in her apartment. 

Kanon, with her back wide open, and Astarte the Jack-o’-Lantern both tensed. 

Reproachful glares from all three girls poured onto Kojou as a single flood. Kojou desperately shook his head. 

“Wait, wait, wait, the problem’s that Yukina led me right in here…! And right now we’re all girls , so it’s not a big deal, right…?” 

Yukina’s pronouncement came as a fierce, burning aura enveloped her. 

“No mercy!” 

Once more, but in an excessively cute voice, Kojou’s scream echoed around the apartment building in the morning— 

3 

Around that time, Sayaka Kirasaka froze in shock on top of an ornate double bed. 

A little seabird perched in a small window was chirping in a cute voice. The bright rays of the morning sun passed through a white lace curtain. Cold sweat poured over Sayaka as her long light brown hair remained scattered around the sheet. 

“How…did this happen…?” 

Sayaka was dressed in her undergarments, but that was hardly of major concern. She’d taken off her clothes before sleep so that they wouldn’t crease. She was unnerved for an entirely different reason. 

Lying right beside Sayaka on the bed was another girl, still asleep, close to her as if they’d been snuggling. Her beautiful silver hair seemed to sparkle in the light. Furthermore, she wasn’t wearing a single stitch of clothing. 

“Mm…” 

The silver-haired girl’s eyes opened, perhaps from having heard Sayaka murmur. Her eyelids, adorned with long eyelashes, opened; her aquamarine-like eyes reflected Sayaka in them. She made a smile and a small giggle that somehow seemed mischievous. 

“Good morning, Sayaka. You were wonderful last night.” 

“Gaaaah!” 

Sayaka thrust off the blanket and sat up with great vigor. She gave her hair, all frumpy from sleep, a hard brush and shouted in a shrill voice. 

“What are you saying ?! Would you please not say things that’d give people the wrong idea like that?!” 

The silver-haired girl—La Folia—smiled up at Sayaka, making no move to conceal her beautiful nude body. 

“Oh, my… My maidservants told me that this is how Japanese people greet those sharing the same bed with them… Am I mistaken?” 

“You’re wrong! Er, in one sense, you’re not wrong, but…that’s not a greeting you use for someone who just happened to be sleeping beside… Oh, to hell with it!” 

Sayaka clutched her head as she looked around. She had no way to tell if the princess, who happened to be very fluent in Japanese, was just clueless, or perhaps was trolling her on purpose. At any rate, she thought there was something seriously wrong with how the Aldegian royal family selected its maids. 

“What are you so upset about, I wonder?” 

“Why aren’t you wearing any clothes, princess?!” 

La Folia made a mystified tilt of her head as she replied. 

“I do not have a nightgown with me so it could not be helped.” 

It seemed that Sayaka, of the same gender, was the only one who’d seen her clad in nothing but the bedsheet. 

“At any rate, it is quite fortuitous to have awoken safely on top of the bed. In this circumstance, I was resigned to the possibility I would awaken in a completely unknown place this morning.” 

“…You have a point. We’re very fortunate to be safe after all those random teleports over and over again.” 

Sayaka put on a serious face and nodded at the princess’s unexpectedly sensible words. 

The previous morning, they’d been caught in a spatial distortion, cause as yet unknown, warping them from the airport to the sub-float currently being dismantled. Then, when they’d made it back to the city on foot, they were just about to get into a taxi they’d hailed when they were thrown once more to parts unknown. 

Though they’d been in contact with the princess’s knight escorts, and had even succeeded in meeting up with them a number of times, new teleports invariably intervened, so that experiment had ended in failure. Since the teleports occurred completely randomly, at street curbs, the doors of buildings and vehicles, and even the turnstiles of trains, Sayaka and La Folia had been unable to develop a counterstrategy. 

Apparently Sayaka and La Folia weren’t the only ones affected by the mysterious spatial anomalies. Somewhere along the way, they’d lost contact with the knight escorts and the Island Guard. They, too, had been wrapped up in the phenomenon. 

With their cell phone batteries dry and their wits at an end as the sun set, they were finally warped to this hotel room. Then, La Folia had suggested they spend the night there. Sayaka couldn’t help but notice that the interior design wasn’t likely to exist outside of a gaudy hourly hotel; but given that the princess was oddly in love with the room, Sayaka was hardly in a position to refuse. 

“It’s pleasant to have such a big bed, too. I was surprised how the lighting in the room is pink and how there’s glass around the tub… Is this part of the hot spring culture peculiar to Japan?” 

“No, that’s definitely not the case…” Sayaka decisively rebutted the princess’s words to uphold the good name of hot spring culture. 

“Did your cell phone finish charging?” 

“Ah yes, it did.” Prompted by La Folia’s question, Sayaka picked up the recharged cell phone. 

The suite came equipped with its own cell phone charger. This was another reason Sayaka did not reject the princess staying the night here. 

“There’s an e-mail addressed to you, princess. It seems that we’re able to request aid from the Aldegian knights and the Island Guard using current GPS data, but…” 

La Folia bluntly shook her head. “No, it is no doubt futile to do so. Even if they rendezvoused with us, it is nigh impossible that we could safely depart from Itogami Island. No doubt we alone would be thrown somewhere else yet again. Also, I doubt the Island Guard has any spare personnel to dispatch to come to our aid.” 

Sayaka agreed with the princess’s opinion. “I suppose not. You certainly have a point there.” 

Though nothing had been announced to the general public, the spatial distortions seemed to be occurring across nearly all of Itogami Island. Though no incidents had resulted in actual fatalities, traffic within the city was heavily affected nonetheless. It hadn’t become a public concern thanks to the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s public relations management and the arrival of a large number of guests for the Hollow Eve Festival day, meaning a large amount of congestion was inevitable to begin with. 

“It would seem that these spatial anomalies are not directed specifically at us,” La Folia continued. “After all, if the objective was to capture us, we would have surely come under direct assault long ago.” 

The princess’s calm analysis might have been mistaken for extravagance by some, but appearances notwithstanding, she possessed an incredibly sharp intellect. 

“There’s way too many of them, though,” replied Sayaka. “Enough that we got wrapped up in it and teleported left and right.” 

“Quite correct, Sayaka.” La Folia smiled pleasantly as she fielded Sayaka’s rebuttal. “But I was thinking…perhaps the magical and spiritual power that we possess attracts the phenomenon to us?” 

Sayaka sank into thought with a serious look on her face. 

“In other words, space bends in response to strong spiritual power?” 

The princess’s hypothesis seemed a wild one at first, but certainly, that could explain why Sayaka and La Folia in particular had been heavily affected by it. 

Sayaka the Shamanic War Dancer had the attributes of an excellent shrine maiden, but La Folia, from the Aldegian royal family, was a spiritual medium of even greater, truly exceptional power. In the first place, they had been in the presence of Dimitrie Vattler when the first instance of the phenomenon occurred. He was an aristocrat from the Warlord’s Empire, a pureblood vampire descended from the First Primogenitor; there was no doubting he had enormous magical power. 

“Itogami Island is an artificial island constructed on top of the dragon lines that flow over the ocean’s surface,” the princess continued. “Logically, if spatial distortions are occurring in response to strong magical power, their effects are spread throughout the entire island.” 

Sayaka’s shoulders unconsciously shuddered as she listened. The princess’s statement caused her to recall something unpleasant. 

“If you’ll pardon me, princess… If your hypothesis about the effect of the distortions being stronger in proportion to the power of one’s spiritual or magical power is correct, then…” 

A rare melancholic look came over La Folia as she replied. 

“Yes. There is someone who would be suffering even graver effects than we are. No, rather, it is possible that his very existence is one of the causes of this anomaly…” 

Even on Itogami Island, home to countless demons, neither of them had to think of who possessed the greatest, most titanic magical energy of all. The answer was obvious: the World’s Mightiest Vampire—the Fourth Primogenitor, Kojou Akatsuki. 

“Th…that man… I turn my back for just one second and something like this happens…” 

Sayaka instantly called the number from her cell phone’s “Favorites” list. Fortunately, the call connected instantly. 

“Hello, are you listening?! Kojou Akatsuki?!” 

“Kirasaka? Are you guys all right?” 

“…Huh?” 

Hearing a girl’s voice from the phone, Sayaka was at a loss for words. The tone of voice was very familiar to her, but she’d never heard the voice before. 

“Who are you? Where is Kojou Akatsuki?” 

“Ahh…er, that’s…gonna be a…long story…” 

Sayaka felt great reluctance from the speaker on the other end. She realized that put her in an exceptionally foul mood. Apparently, that man had gotten wrapped up in trouble with yet another girl, somewhere behind Sayaka’s back. 

After a short pause, she heard a very different girl’s voice over the phone. 

“Ah, is this Sayaka?” 

This time, Sayaka knew the speaker. There was no way Sayaka could mistake the sound of her voice. 

“Yukina?” 

“Yes. I’m sorry, for various reasons senpai cannot come to the phone right now, so I…” 

“I-is that so? Is he all right?! Did something happen to that Pervogenitor?” 

“Ah?” 

Hearing the voice of her beloved former roommate, Sayaka became excited to the point of speaking complete gibberish. She always went off the rails when doting on Yukina to excess. 

Seeing this, La Folia took the cell phone from Sayaka’s hand and picked up where things left off with practiced skill. 

“Has something strange occurred on your end, Yukina? Particularly where Kojou is concerned?” 

Yukina conveyed the situation in a roundabout fashion. 

“Th-that’s right. It’s fair to say that a rather unbelievable emergency situation has occurred where senpai is concerned…” 

Apparently things were in a rather chaotic state on their end. Having confirmed this, La Folia smiled to herself. 

“My…” 

“…Why are you so amused by this?” 

“Ah, nothing at all. So that is the reason Kojou cannot come to the phone right now?” 

“Yes. Ah, a variety of troublesome things have occurred so…” 

Having said this, Yukina let out a sigh. The gist seemed to be that he had indeed been involved in some kind of anomaly, but was not in any immediate danger. Knowing that was plenty. 

With a tone of concern, Yukina asked… 

“Incidentally, where are the two of you?” 

La Folia casually conveyed the essential facts. 

“In a hotel. Sayaka and I spent the night together.” 

“Aaaa!” went Sayaka, letting out an anguished cry. “It’s not like that, Yukina! Nothing happened with the princess last night at all!” 

“…Ah?” 

“Please pay no attention to her,” La Folia resumed, rudely fending off Sayaka’s efforts to steal back the phone. “Apparently, this anomaly affects people the greater their magical power. I want to investigate the cause of the phenomenon. It also makes rendezvousing with you and Kojou extremely likely to begin with.” 

La Folia seemed to think a wise shrine maiden did not need any further explanation. She spoke commandingly, avoiding any unnecessary questions. 

“Understood. Please be careful.” 

“Yes, you, too.” 

La Folia hung up with a smile on her face. Sayaka made a small “ooh” as she made a resentful glare from the side over the nonchalant look on the princess’s face. 

“It seems I have support for my hypothesis.” 

Brushing her silver hair from her cheek, La Folia stood up and picked up the underwear she’d stripped off the night before. She proceeded to elegantly put them on piece by piece. 

Sayaka looked like she’d regained her senses. 

“Yes. However, how do you intend to ‘investigate’ the cause of the phenomenon?” 

This was why she was a War Dancer of the Lion King Agency; even when heavily agitated, she never seemed to let a single word slip by her. 

“The timing of the phenomenon’s occurrence…how does it look to you, Sayaka?” 

Sayaka looked out the window as she spoke. 

“The Hollow Eve Festival…you mean?” 

That day was the main event for Itogami Island’s enormous festival. Even from inside a building, it seemed like the entire city was decked out for the occasion. 

The greatest characteristic of the event was the arrival of a large amount of tourists from outside the island. 

Those landing on Itogami Island underwent strict investigation; but while the Island Guard increased its on-duty personnel to compensate, there was no guarantee that they could completely prevent illegal entry. 

“Are you implying this phenomenon was caused by a foreign intruder…?” 

“Surely we should consider the possibility. If so, it means that someone deliberately created the phenomenon. It would be nice if we knew what benefit such a thing might bring, but…” 

There didn’t seem to be any merit in casting an absurd spell to create irregular spatial distortions and random teleports of those with strong magical power. Also, surely there were more reliable methods for conducting indiscriminate terrorism. 

But a spell to control space was far too grand to be used for a mere prank. It was difficult to believe that a person able to use dangerous, high-difficulty spells would use them for such a purpose. 

No… 

Even if the spatial distortions themselves were meaningless, was there some meaning in the result achieved by it…? 

“Maybe the perpetrator’s goal isn’t to produce spatial anomalies at all…?” Sayaka murmured under her breath. The princess, in the middle of combing her hair, gasped as she put the brush down. 

“I see. The spatial anomalies are merely a side effect. The original purpose is something entirely different, then. That is quite plausible. If that is so…” 

The princess’s eyes fiercely glimmered as she reached to the holster she’d left on the side of the bed. Holstered within it was a golden, single-shot pistol. She checked it, confirming that it had a cartridge loaded that was made out of precious stones. 

“Sayaka, contact the Gigafloat Management Corporation and the Knights of the Second Coming on standby at the airport. I must resort to somewhat rough methods. The roots of this anomaly may run far deeper than we think.” 

“P-princess? Just what is it that you’re planning to do…?” 

Sayaka put her long hair in a proper ponytail and stood up as well. She couldn’t hide how La Folia’s uncharacteristic vigor struck her as a bad omen. 

Looking back at Sayaka with amusement, La Folia smiled elegantly. 

“It seems this will be a busy day indeed.” 

4 

The Akatsuki residence living room was eerily quiet. It looked exactly like Kojou had left it. There was no sign of Yuuma or Nagisa having returned. Of course, Kojou’s own body had not returned, either. 

Yukina murmured as she looked all around the apartment interior. 

“…There really isn’t anyone here.” 

Right now, she was wearing an aquamarine apron dress, looking very much the part of the main character in a fairy tale. There was a large, identically colored ribbon on the top of her head. Apparently she meant this to be her Hollow Eve Festival costume. 

However, her right hand was gripping the silver spear with a tip like a swept-wing fighter plane. This was a Schneewaltzer, the secret weapon of the Lion King Agency. The metallic spear was at its full length, breaking the fairy-tale ambiance. 

“Yuuma’s things are gone, too.” 

Kojou made a despondent sigh as he checked the guest room. 

Yuuma’s luggage, her change of clothes, and the various souvenirs she’d bought while touring the island the day before had all been neatly whisked away. The only things left of hers in the apartment were a single miniskirted witch cosplay dress and her physical body. 

Even so, Yukina searched the area for any trace of Yuuma. 

Finally, she made a deep nod to herself, as if having had some sort of revelation. 

“I have a broad grasp of the circumstances. I also have a strong suspicion as to the nature of the blue shadow you saw behind Yuuma.” 

“Huh?” 

For some reason, Kojou felt unease at the certainty in Yukina’s voice. His animal instincts told him that the rest was not something he should hear. If he did listen to her words, he felt like something precious in relation to his old friend would be shattered without a single trace remaining. 

“Princess La Folia is probably thinking the same thing I am. No doubt she called earlier in an effort to confirm her thoughts.” 

“…What do you mean?” Kojou spontaneously replied. La Folia didn’t know Yuuma. Surely she was not yet aware that Yuuma and Kojou had switched bodies. 

Surely the only thing the princess had identified so far was that the spatial anomalies occurring on Itogami Island were related to magical power… 

“Wait, you don’t think the Itogami Island spatial distortions are Yuuma’s work?” 

“In one sense, I do. However, that cannot be Yuuma’s true objective.” 

“…Objective…huh?” 

Kojou stared at his own palms in silence. He’d been so hung up on the whole body switch thing that he hadn’t actually thought that far. 

Regardless of who or what Yuuma really was, there was no way she’d swap bodies with another person for no reason. Of course she had a reason for it—reason enough to deceive Kojou. 

Yukina suddenly changed the subject. “Incidentally, senpai…was it Nagisa who cooked this meal?” 

Thrown for a loop, Kojou nodded. 

“Yeah, probably. It’s the same thing Nagisa always makes.” 

The meal on the dinner table was a huge omelet with fermented soybeans, fried seaweed, and a big helping of white rice. Kojou couldn’t imagine another girl on the entire planet inventing an original recipe like that . 

“If she prepared breakfast and left, that means it is unlikely that Yuuma dragged her along somewhere.” 

“Yeah…I think so, too.” 

Kojou nodded, a small portion of his tension relieved. 

To Kojou, Nagisa running off was a problem every bit on the same scale as his own body being stolen. The existence of breakfast loomed large in his being able to avoid panicking. He figured she’d left of her own free will, unrelated to the Yuuma incident. 

Besides, Kojou still didn’t think Yuuma was capable of hurting Nagisa. 

“What about Nagisa’s cell phone?” 

“No good. I tried several times.” Kojou sighed as he looked at his cell phone’s call history. “She couldn’t have been thrown somewhere else like Kirasaka and the princess, could she?” 

Yukina smiled reassuringly at Kojou. 

“…No, if the princess’s hypothesis is correct that only those of strong magical power are affected, the chances of Nagisa being influenced are low. Besides, no doubt Yuuma would not lay a hand upon Nagisa.” 

“…How can you be so sure?” 

“Because Nagisa has nothing to do with her objective.” 

Kojou looked at her with a bit of surprise as Yukina replied instantly and without hesitation. 

“Do you actually know what her objective is here, Himeragi?” 

“Your body, senpai.” 

“…H-her objective’s my bo… Eh?!” 

For no good reason, Kojou covered his breasts with both arms. Of course, in this situation, the unexpectedly plump, bouncy feeling did not make him happy whatsoever. 

Could it be that Yuuma stole Kojou’s body to use it for some kind of indecent conduct? 

Or did she intend to engage in indecent conduct with Kojou now that he was a girl…? 

Realizing the pale Kojou had misunderstood, Yukina furiously shook her head. 

“N-not like that! What in the world are you imagining?! 

“You truly are indecent,” Yukina said with a reproachful glare, which of course made Kojou pout. 

“Well, you’re the one who said it!” 

“I did not mean it like that, by your body, I meant the body of the Fourth Primogenitor!” 

“…That’s crazy,” went Kojou, seriously sucking in his breath this time. 

The last time he’d met Yuuma was four years prior. At the time, Kojou was an ordinary elementary schooler with no link to vampiric power whatsoever. Surely she had no idea Kojou had gained the power of the Fourth Primogenitor. 

“How the hell does she know about…?!” 

“There simply is no other possibility,” Yukina replied with a serious look. 

“It might be rude of me to say this, but can you think of any other reason a lovely person such as Yuuma would go out of her way to trade bodies with you, senpai?” 

“…Hey, that really is rude.” 

Kojou felt like he’d been kicked in the gut, but he couldn’t refute the correctness of Yukina’s assertion. 

Even at a casual glance, Yuuma’s physical attributes far surpassed the norm. She had great looks, and her athletic ability was top-notch. He could see her getting dates from any age and either sex. In contrast, Kojou had nothing you could call worthy of special mention. Aside from having happened to physically become a vampire, he came off as a very mediocre male high school student. 

Barring special circumstances, there was no reason Yuuma needed a man’s body, let alone to pick Kojou’s body in particular. Surely she had far better men to pick from than an old friend she hadn’t seen in four years. 

Kojou muttered as he suddenly realized that was gnawing at him. 

“But is it really that easy to snatch a vampire primogenitor’s body…?” 

Vampires, in general, were called the strongest of all demonkind. Though there were many caveats, they neither aged, nor died of natural causes. Surely, most people would think that stealing the body meant stealing the power that came with it. But Kojou was unaware of the existence of any human being capable of obtaining a vampire’s power. 

Indeed, the result of trying to consume a higher being than oneself, such as a vampire, ought to be having one’s own existence consumed instead. 

Yukina was dead serious as she gave him a textbook answer. 

“Magically speaking, taking over another person’s body is not particularly difficult. All you need to do is put the other person’s mind to sleep and mentally control them from a distance.” 

Even Kojou could follow that logic. This was controlling another person’s body from a distant location… In other words, the type of curse known as “possession.” 

“Theoretically, switching souls—in other words, mutually possessing the other’s physical body—is hardly impossible, I think. However, there are exceptions.” 

“…Exceptions?” 

“Yes,” said Yukina with a nod before saying something he didn’t expect. “It is not possible for another human being to control a vampire’s body like that.” 

“Why’s that?” wondered Kojou aloud, full of doubt. Why were vampires such a special case? 

“It is because vampires are created via a curse from the gods themselves.” 

Kojou’s lips twisted as she bluntly stated the unpalatable fact: Vampires were beings cursed by the gods themselves. He’d heard the words many times over, but having them said to his face still hurt to no small degree. 

“No one exists who can use a spell that can overwrite a curse cast by a divine being. Such a spell would almost certainly be ineffective, and even if it were, the caster would likely suffer a backlash from the curse, bringing the vampire’s blood into himself. In other words, his ego would be consumed and he would become an empty shell.” 

Kojou felt a sharp chill from the exceedingly simple and heartless analysis. 

“Huh…?! Then how the heck did Yuuma steal my body?” 

Yukina’s voice grew harder. 

“I believe that she has not actually stolen your body, senpai. Yuuma is merely warping space. By swapping your five senses for hers through a spatial link, she can exchange what would normally be your own nerve pulses to your physical body with her own.” 

Kojou murmured while touching his own cheek—or rather, Yuuma’s. “…In other words, you’re saying I’m hallucinating that I’m seeing what Yuuma’s eyes are seeing, and when I try to move my own limbs, I’m controlling hers instead…?” 

Yukina silently nodded. 

“As that does not involve direct interference with a vampire’s physical body, there will be no backlash from the curse. And so, she has achieved an effect superficially identical to swapping one another’s souls.” 

It had been hard for Yukina to explain, but the more he thought about it, the logic was very simple. 

If you can’t take over a vampire’s body magically, take it over using physical means— 

Human beings couldn’t see their own souls. Even if you cracked your own skull open, there was no practical way to confirm whether you actually had one in you or not. Put another way, people had no self-awareness of whether they had souls in them or not. It wasn’t that Kojou’s mind was actually in Yuuma’s body. Even now, it was still in his body; he just didn’t have any perception of it. 

“It’s like switching the wiring of a kitchen appliance, huh? But doesn’t that mean controlling space every waking moment she’s got control of my body? You can do that?” 

“That is beyond human limits,” said Yukina with a shake of her head. 

“Spatial control is top level magic. Even stabilizing a single ‘gate’ requires an enormous amount of magical energy and a ritual performed by a high-level practitioner. It is impossible for a normal human being to connect a countless number of nerves one by one between two people.” 

“Isn’t…that some kind of paradox?” 

If you couldn’t link nervous systems through spatial control, how had Yuuma taken Kojou’s physical body? 

“I am saying it is not possible for a normal human being .” 

Yukina looked just a little torn as she conveyed her words. Kojou, a resident of a Demon Sanctuary, instantly grasped the meaning of those words. 

“So Yuuma’s…not a normal human being?” 

Yukina’s reply made Kojou reel. 

“Senpai…who do you know who is a master of spatial control?” 

An image came into the back of his mind of a small female teacher who wore stifling gothic dresses on an Island of Everlasting Summer—someone who could control space with about the same apparent effort as most people spent breathing. She was called an ominous title by some—the Witch of the Void. 

“You don’t mean, she’s…the same as Natsuki…?” 

Yukina nodded gravely. 

“A witch is a woman who makes a pact with a devil for power to grant an otherwise impossible wish, but the price she pays is her very soul…” 

Kojou recalled the sight of the faceless blue knight that had risen from Yuuma’s back the night before. Was that creepy shadow truly what people called a devil? 

Yukina decisively wove the words with her lips, gripping her silver spear strongly all the while. 

“Yuuma Tokoyogi is a witch…a witch of the same type as Ms. Minamiya.” 

5 

Motoki Yaze was on the high school building’s roof with a donut in one hand and a notebook PC spread before him. His face showed heavy signs of fatigue, which was natural—he hadn’t slept a single wink since the day before. 

Spatial distortions had occurred continuously over the preceding twenty-four hours, covering virtually the entire city even at that moment, causing chaos in a variety of ways. Between using emergency health laws to address problems and shove word of them under the rug, researching the cause, making plans to deal with the hidden danger threatening the Demon Sanctuary, and to top it off, preparing for the opening of the Hollow Eve Festival, the Gigafloat Management Corporation was pretty much operating under wartime conditions. 

Yaze the spy was doing his part, working on his own to try and find out who was pulling the strings behind the ruckus. 

As Yaze was using his notebook screen to check for rumors on the Net, a 3-D hologram of a badly made stuffed bear cut right in. 

“Huh. Looks like things are getting a little rough out there.” 

This was the avatar of the supercomputers that controlled all of Itogami Island’s urban functions. 

Yaze scratched his head as he shot a question to the overly chummy AI. 

“It’s you, Mogwai? What happened to Asagi?” 

Yaze didn’t like Mogwai. The sly artificial intelligence was too smart for everyone else’s own good; even though it was public property, it was a touchy, dangerous thing only Asagi had proved able to master. 

Since Yaze was keeping his own spy activities secret from Asagi, he felt like the creature had blackmail material on him. He really didn’t like dealing with the thing. 

“She just got to sleep. Even for the mistress, rewriting the Gigafloat network’s back end from scratch in one night was a miracle. Her face is so cute and defenseless when she’s asleep. Want a picture?” 

“Don’t need it. Send it to Kojou’s cell phone.” 

“Heh-heh-heh… Sounds like a plan. I’ll set it as his wallpaper while I’m at it.” 

This thing really is something , thought Yaze as he clicked his tongue. For a machine, the AI seemed more human than the real thing. 

“I don’t follow the tech talk much, but I gather the corporation’s systems have been stabilized for now?” 

“We’ve pretty much isolated all the errors caused by spatial distortions. Our revised topographical scans are accurate to within a few millimeters now, and effects on commuters are down to long waits at traffic lights. That doesn’t help pedestrians who get lost, but all we can do ’bout that is bump up staff at lost and found centers.” 

“That so,” Yaze said, exhaling. Apparently, Asagi’s having recreated the traffic control system overnight was the only reason it was operating sanely under insane conditions caused by random spatial distortions. It was typical of her peerless talent. 

“Is the airport operating, too?” 

“Yep. The agents you requested arrived, too.” 

“I’d like to say I’m relieved to hear that, but we’re up against some tough competition this time.” 

“The Meyer Sisters from LCO’s First Branch, Philosophy?” 

“Yeah.” Yaze laughed ruefully as he looked over the data on the screen. 

They were high-level sorceresses, even for a giant criminal organization composed only of witches. The organization was several thousand members strong. They possessed a large number of powerful grimoires, to the point that they were often referred to as the Library. The Meyer Sisters were known as militants even by LCO standards. 

Yaze didn’t think agents from the mainland with little actual combat experience would be of much help against them. No doubt the damage would be severe if it came down to a frontal engagement. It was foolish to try and drown powerful witches with numbers. The only good way to do it was to dispatch practitioners at or above the same level. 

Mogwai lazily pointed out an inconvenient fact. 

“It’s strange, though. Large-scale techniques such as spatial distortions are said to be the methods of Seventh Branch, Arts, and Fifth Branch, Science.” 

Yaze murmured as if blowing him off. “If the Witch of Notalia is the goal of all this, they probably have an alliance or two going. The Black Bible she has is worth it.” 

“So the Gigafloat Management Corporation shares Li’l Miss Asagi’s opinion, I take it? Meaning, the reason the witch sisters are causing spatial distortions all over the area is to…” 

“Yeah. They’re looking for it . Looks like it’s still out of their hands at the moment.” 

Spatial distortions without rhyme or reason across the entire island—indirectly, that made the witches’ objective crystal clear. 

The spatial distortions themselves were beside the point. The witch sisters were using spatial distortions all over Itogami Island to search for something hidden within. At the pace the distortions were spreading, finding it would only be a matter of time. 

“I see. So that’s why Natsuki Minamiya can’t move on this, heh-heh,” said Mogwai with a gossipy tone. 

Yaze scratched his face with an anguished look. “I don’t like admitting it, but thanks to that we’re short on manpower. Someone tough enough to take out the Ashdown Witches would be a vampire noble or a Lion King Agency Sword Shaman, but…” 

Surely, Yukina Himeragi could face the witch sisters on even terms. Her spear, able to rend any barrier and neutralize demonic energy, was pretty much a witch’s mortal enemy. 

But if Yukina got involved, that meant involving Kojou in the incident, too. He had to avoid that at all costs. Bringing out a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor in an area with serious spatial instability was pouring a whole tanker full of oil on the fire. 

The vampire aristocrat was out of the question. If that combat maniac realized what the witches were really after, he’d cheerfully lend them a hand. That was the worst outcome he could think of. 

Mogwai spoke as if to make light of Yaze’s difficulties. “Incidentally, the Knights of the Second Coming bodyguard unit is requesting permission to land.” 

“Escorts for the Aldegian princess, huh? More useful than agents from the mainland, I bet. Makes me jealous,” Yaze said with a heavy sigh. 

The knights of Aldegia, a country sharing a border with the Warlord’s Empire, had a wealth of combat experience against demons. Plus, they had the pseudo–Holy Blades as their trump cards. Even if it wouldn’t be an easy win, they’d still count as a serious factor against witches. 

“The princess said she’s happy to help settle the situation down. It comes with a condition, though.” 

“Condition?” 

Mogwai sent the e-mail from Princess La Folia to the perplexed Yaze’s notebook screen. The silly emoji in the text gave him a bit of a headache, but it was the content that made Yaze’s eyes widen. 

“…Is she sane?” 

“She’s an even wilder mare than the rumors say. Heh-heh. I like.” 

Mogwai smiled, as if pleased from the bottom of his heart. Maybe the fact it had been built to analyze complex problems accounted for how the AI seemed to find the troubles of others very funny. 

In any sane situation, the contents of La Folia’s plan were something to reject out of hand. If things went sour, it’d become an international incident between Japan and her nation. “But,” said Yaze, rubbing his chin. 

“Princess La Folia has a Shamanic War Dancer from the Lion King Agency keeping an eye on her. If we pull this off right, we might settle this much easier than I expected. We should give it a shot.” 

“Heh-heh…” 

Yaze took out his cell phone as he listened to Mogwai’s laughing voice. 

Yes. Against witches, you had to send witches or sorcerers of an equal or greater level. Fortunately, this was a Demon Sanctuary. Even Yaze had at least one person in mind who’d fit the bill— 

6 

There existed a type of book known as a grimoire. 

In the past, these were used to record the processes for spells, magical rituals, recording experiments in controlling spiritual entities, and so forth. However, after accumulating vast knowledge to excess, books resulted that were imbued with powerful magic in their own right. Finally, they became able to grant power beyond the reader’s comprehension, and thus call forth great calamities— 

These were grimoires: books of power. 

Everyone engaged in the pursuit of magic wanted a grimoire for his or her own. However, precious few could actually control the enormous magical power stored within. Over the course of history, researchers beyond counting had lost control of their grimoires to be destroyed by them. In several cases, entire cities had been destroyed, contaminating tens of thousands of people’s souls. Many grimoires had thus been lost in the process. 

Despairing at the situation, a number of sorcerers and witches established LCO—the organization known as the Library. They assembled grimoires from every corner of the earth, strictly classifying them according to their uses and sealing them away. Then, they lent the grimoires out, but only to the selected few. 

They did this not for the development of magic, not to protect the peace of peoples the world over, but strictly to satisfy their own curiosity and avarice— 

The Library was an exceptionally arbitrary and self-righteous organization of sorcerous researchers, well suited to being a criminal organization from the moment of its inception. 

LCO’s Grimoire No. 539 was being unleashed at the top of Keystone Gate, the place at the very center of the Demon Sanctuary. 

An enormous scarlet magic circle had been drawn on the rooftop of the huge building in the shape of an inverted pyramid. This was a ward set up to protect the grimoire. 

The magic circle had been drawn using the blood of the Island Guard’s guardsmen. The fresh blood from the wounds they had sustained while guarding Keystone Gate served as the foundation of the magical ritual. 

The wounded guardsmen moaned in anguish before being discarded without a thought like broken crayons. 

The oldest of the Meyer Sisters, Emma, stood in the center of the magic circle, dressed in black. 

“Do you not think it is beautiful, Octavia? I feel I will be blessed with a life-changing encounter today.” 

She watched as the ancient text absorbed the vitality of the guardsmen sacrificed to it and released a powerful magical surge. The sisters had not killed the guardsmen so that they could serve as fuel for the grimoire. 

The scarlet witch—Octavia Meyer—seemed scornful somehow as she gazed at the bloody magic circle. 

“How marvelous, sister, reading fate from meaningless things just as the ancient Stoics did.” 

She did not partake in her older sister’s hobby of looking at dead humans for amusement. Her interests laid more in the spectacular strewing about of brains and guts, splatter in the pursuit of slaughter. 

“Ah, sister. Are these peons remaining atop the tower not an eyesore?” 

The scarlet witch looked above her head, seemingly pleading to her older sister, Is it all right if I kill them now? 

The witch was looking straight at a steel cell tower and a glass-enveloped viewing hall around it. Thanks to the sisters having taken over the rooftop, the tourists were trapped inside the hall, unable to escape. All they could do in their hall-turned-prison was helplessly gaze dumbfounded down at the unfolding tragedy. 

The black witch reproached her sister. 

“Let them be, Octavia. Their fear and despair shall only make the moment we realize our goal more entertaining.” 

The scarlet witch sighed in apparent disappointment as she replied, “…That is a splendid idea, sister. It is a wonderful test of Deism—there shall be no miracle from God here no matter how much they pray.” 

It had been nearly half the day since they’d occupied the top of the building; it was only natural they were getting bored. 

Emma murmured as she carefully flipped through the grimoire’s pages. 

“It feels good to make space cry out.” 

Though invisible to the eyes of normal human beings, the space all around Itogami Island had countless cracks running through it, making it resemble a spiderweb. The cracks slowly continued to grow, searching for something like the feelers of an ant. 

The cracks chiefly affected those who possessed a high level of magical energy, but this was a simple side effect. Even if people were caught in spatial distortions and flung somewhere, or even if someone was pulled in from another point in time, these were minor trivialities. They barely counted as entertainment to stave off boredom when compared to the great chaos that approached. 

Octavia murmured as a look of envy subconsciously came over her. 

“Yes, truly. I must say, the power of the Blue Witch is great indeed—” 

They’d been lent No. 539 from LCO—but it was not the sisters who were actually controlling it. The Meyer Sisters belonged to First Branch, Philosophy. It was a powerful faction dealing with causality and metaphysics, but it had little interest in spells affecting physics like those for spatial control. 

However, the other witch LCO had dispatched was the actual reader for No. 539. She was the new girl, a specialist in spatial control spells granted the title of Blue Witch . 

Emma smiled as she spoke sourly. 

“Naturally. She’s a witch made and born for this sole purpose, after all. Let us make fine use of her, at least until we find it .” 

Yes—the girl was a disposable tool. She was merely a convenient puppet. A smile came over Octavia as well, like she was flattering her sister. But… 

The next moment, the sisters’ smiles froze like ice. They noticed that cruel bloodlust had been trained upon them. 

Their beautiful eyebrows rose as they turned their heads. 

“Who’s there?!” 

“How dare you sully my work of art with your filthy shoes—!” 

Their previously relaxed demeanor was no longer anywhere to be found. 

An intruder was walking right in, trampling on the ward they had made with a magic circle drawn with fresh blood. He possessed an extraordinary degree of magical power. 

A cloud of miasma arose from the magic circle; a translucent tentacle sprouted out of the cloud. 

It was the Monster of Ashdown they had used to wipe out the Island Guard unit the day before. It was the Meyer Sisters’ Guardian. It had automatically begun to intercept the alien presence it sensed entering past the ward. Countless tentacles rushed toward the intruder, smashing his body flat— 

Or so they thought. That moment, he released an incredible blast that blew the Guardian’s tentacles away. 

The witch sisters’ faces twisted in astonishment. 

“Wha—?!” 

As the ragged pieces of flesh that were once tentacles poured all around, the intruder gave them a frosty glare as he continued walking as if nothing had happened. 

He wore a pure white, three-piece suit. He was a handsome blond, blue-eyed man. Great fangs protruded from his boldly, charmingly smiling mouth. 

“What a pity. I thought I’d let you go if you amused me a little more, but here you are, quietly holed up and buying time. My estimation of the Ashdown Witches has taken quite a hit.” 

“Y-you’re…?!” 

“D-Dimitrie Vattler…?!” 

The witches spoke the man’s name with halting voices. The prestigious name of Dimitrie Vattler, Master of Serpents, an aristocrat of the Warlord’s Empire in Europe, was well-known among LCO operatives, and not only because he was an Old Guard vampire. A lover of conflict, he was a rare breed of combat maniac who would consume even his own vampiric brethren for the sake of his own pleasure. To the demons and witches who operated in Europe, his existence was synonymous with terror. 

Encountering the Master of Serpents in a Demon Sanctuary at the ends of the Earth was the worst digression from the plan imaginable. Easily bored, he might have killed them on the spot out of sheer whim. 

Vattler completely disregarded the existence of the witches as he gave the still-running grimoire a look. But No. 539 only held his interest for a brief moment. 

“So that’s what’s causing spatial anomalies all across Itogami Island…” 

Visibly deflated, Vattler murmured with a simple shrug of his shoulders. 

“Quite some magical power, but you’re using it like a crystal ball, aren’t you? I suppose you’re searching for something precious sealed away inside the Demon Sanctuary. I expected more… What a pity.” 

A wave of dense demonic energy gushed out of his right arm. The interference caused the grimoire to cease functioning. 

Vattler did not do it out of any desire to save Itogami Island. He was merely swatting flies that were annoying him after having flown all that way for nothing. That was all it took for him to smash the Meyer Sisters’ plans there and then. The scarlet witch, quivering in fear until then from the overwhelming irrationality of it all, roared. Emma tried to restrain her sister. 

“Octavia, stop, please!” 

But the scarlet witch had activated her own grimoire the moment she shouted in rage. It was Grimoire No. 193, the abominable text that had brought about the so-called Ashdown Tragedy. 

“Monad has no window, it is only a symbol—!” 

A cloud of miasma gushed out of the magic circle in response to Octavia’s chant. The cloud changed into tentacles once more. However, the color of the tentacles was different from before. This was a repulsive spotted pattern mixing black with scarlet. 

The Guardian’s tentacles were imbued with a special property while receiving magical energy from the grimoire. No. 193’s ability was “Expectant Harmony.” With it, no attack could harm the Guardian, nor could any defense fend off the Guardian’s tentacles. 

Even Dimitrie Vattler had no way to destroy the mottled, now-invincible tentacles. Or so Octavia firmly believed when, a moment later, Vattler’s indifferent voice pierced the scarlet witch’s ear. 

“Takshaka!” 

The next instant, Octavia shuddered at the incredible shock wave the vampire aristocrat unleashed. It was an overwhelming torrent of magical energy that put the output of her grimoire to shame. 

Finally, the torrent took the shape of a giant snake. This was one of the nine Beast Vassals that served Dimitrie Vattler. It was a beast summoned from another world possessing power equal to that of a natural disaster. The great, malevolent serpent, colored green and reaching tens of meters in length, unleashed a beam of light from its eyes, burning the mottled tentacles away. 

It took but an instant. The witch sisters’ Guardian was annihilated; the magic circle drawn with fresh blood was also burned away. Vattler had overcome the ability of Grimoire No. 193 with brute force backed up by his vast demonic power. 

Octavia frailly moaned as Emma supported her from behind. 

“Wha…?” 

She felt like she was watching a nightmare. 

Among all familiars employed by humans engaged in the magical arts, witches’ Guardians were in a class of their own. Put another way, a Guardian was the avatar of a devil, able to fight an ordinary vampire’s Beast Vassals on more than even terms. It was said that support from a grimoire made one able to hold its ground against even an Old Guard vampire. Having seen such a Guardian smashed to pieces before their eyes, the witch sisters completely lost all will to fight. Vattler was simply that much of a monster. 

“I wanted you to struggle a little more, but…ah well. Bye-bye!” 

With a look of obvious disappointment coming over him, Vattler commanded his Beast Vassal to attack. 

To the immortal vampire aristocrat, deadly combat was one of the few pleasures that let him truly feel alive. Vattler preferred that his opponents be powerful. That didn’t mean the mere presence of powerful magical energy; the important part was simple willpower. Vattler highly prized a strong will that would resort to any tactic and any strategy to defy destiny. That was what made the Fourth Primogenitor and the teenage girls around him so exquisite. The Lion King Agency shrine maidens and the princess of Aldegia—what means would they employ to come after Vattler when the time came for him to seriously go after Kojou Akatsuki’s life? Even just the thought of it thrilled him. 

In contrast, these witch sisters had quickly lost their will to fight. Vattler saw no point in letting them live; besides, he wasn’t the type to grant a single shred of mercy to begin with. But— 

Just before the witch sisters were to be swallowed whole, something deflected his Beast Vassal’s attack. 

The corners of Vattler’s lips curled up in apparent delight as he murmured. 

“Oh my.” 

A teenage boy wearing a black suit had emerged out of thin air to shield the witch sisters. He was a high school student with a languid face. 

Vattler kept his Beast Vassal on standby as he provocatively asked… 

“You’re…not Kojou. Who are you?” 

The teenager in the black suit had the same face as Kojou. The scent of the blood flowing through him was the same as Kojou’s. However, the air about him was plainly different. It was like someone else was in the driver’s seat. 

And the technique he’d employed was spatial control—the same skill used by the Witch of the Void. 

The youth in the black suit went down on his knees, bowing toward Vattler with deep respect. 

“If you will excuse the intrusion, Duke of Ardeal, my name is Yuuma Tokoyogi, daughter of Aya Tokoyogi, ‘the Witch of Notalia.’” 

“Really,” remarked Vattler, making a charming smile. “So you’re the daughter of LCO’s leader.” 

The Witch of Notalia was the Great Librarian who governed the criminal organization LCO. She was on a completely different level than the Meyer Sisters, who were mere operatives of First Branch. 

However, if he wasn’t mistaken, she’d been captured and remained imprisoned there on Itogami Island. 

She’d been locked away behind the prison barrier inside the Demon Sanctuary. 

“I have borrowed the body of the Fourth Primogenitor to aid me and my brethren in locating the prison ward hidden in the Demon Sanctuary to breach its seal and free my mother. I would ask you to overlook our efforts.” 

Vattler dismissed his Beast Vassal upon hearing Yuuma’s words. 

“So LCO is doing all this to release those locked away in the prison barrier?” 

A welcoming smile came over him. 

The prison barrier was set up to house fiendish demons and sorcerous criminals no normal prison could hope to contain. LCO’s goal was to rescue the Witch of Notalia, the Great Librarian, being held there. 

But breaching the prison barrier surely meant simultaneously letting loose other legendary criminals as well. It was virtually certain the Demon Sanctuary would become a battleground. 

It was an ideal circumstance for Vattler, who craved fighting powerful opponents. Yuuma was simply asking Vattler to let it happen. Vattler also took a liking to the sheer insolence of her conduct. 

Yuuma raised her pleasantly smiling face and took Grimoire No. 539, which had fallen to her feet, into her hands. 

“With the vast magical power of the Fourth Primogenitor and my specialized skills as a witch, even the impregnable prison barrier shall fall. I trust that Your Excellency shall not be bored even if this proves not to be the case.” 

The grimoire, having returned to the hands of its proper master, emitted a glow as the magical power of the Fourth Primogenitor poured into it. 

Vattler smiled as he looked on, ferociously baring his fangs. 

7 

Around that time, Kojou and the others were at a café in a shopping district on the west side. 

The time was just after midday. The district, full of a festive atmosphere, was brimming with stalls and food carts, with the streets jammed with costume-wearing tourists. 

Up on a stage, a Mr. Pretty Girl contest with cross-dressing teenage boys was apparently being held, broadcast live on the side of a building that served as a giant LED screen. Man, if I entered right now I’d win by a mile , thought Kojou ruefully. 

“This pumpkin pudding is quite tasty,” Yukina remarked. 

“I had some of that earlier. The pumpkin pie here is pretty good, too,” Kanon replied. Yukina and Kanon, sitting at the same table, were divvying up the sweets served in a heap atop a large plate. If four people ordered, you had ninety minutes to have all the cake you could eat. Seeing both cosplay-wearing girls eat their sugary food with uncharacteristic vigor tempted him to smile. 

“Would you like some more, Fourth Primogenitor?” Astarte asked Kojou. 

“Yeah…thanks.” 

Kojou made a melancholic sigh as Astarte went to get black tea from the drinks bar. 

“I suggest we add more sweets. Three more orders are necessary before the cake buffet price ceases to exceed the cost of ordering separately at this store’s normal prices.” 

“R-right. In that case, let’s get some chiffon cake and some scones… Hey!” 

Kojou’s voice turned hoarse as he pounded the table out of the blue. Yukina and the others stopped eating in surprise and lifted their faces. Only Astarte continued drinking her black tea at her own pace, her expression unchanged. 

“Why are we chilling out having a cake buffet in a place like this?! We still don’t have a clue what Yuuma stole my body for!” 

“T-true. But the other stores were all full…,” Kanon pointed out. 

“Supplemental. According to an investigation by the Saikai Academy newspaper club, thirty-seven out of forty-two respondents reported they were satisfied with this store’s cake buffet, a highly positive ranking.” 

“Hey, I never said I was complaining about the taste of the food here…!” 

Kojou, still inside Yuuma’s body, clutched his head and groaned. Yukina slid a new offering of cake before him. 

“For the moment, please eat this and calm down.” 

“Dahh!” 

The desperate Kojou grabbed the cake and wolfed it down in one gulp. 

Even that very moment, Yuuma was using Kojou’s body to prepare for some kind of conspiracy. The increase in the frequency of spatial anomalies in the Itogami Island region was proof enough. They still had no idea where Nagisa was, nor did they have any word from Natsuki. It wasn’t the sort of situation that fostered calmness. 

Despite that, Yukina spoke in a composed tone of voice. 

“Even if we went searching for Yuuma, we don’t have any leads. Besides, if the spatial distortions grow even larger, hasty movements are far too dangerous.” 

“Ugh,” went Kojou, at a loss for words. Yukina’s logic was compelling. 

Setting aside Astarte the homunculus, Yukina, a Sword Shaman, and Kanon, carrying the blood of the Aldegian royal family, were both powerful spirit mediums. Both were beings who attracted the spatial distortions. With the inside of Itogami City turned into a labyrinth, recklessly moving around was dangerous. 

Indeed, Kanon had already caught Kojou in a spatial distortion leading to the bath at the Himeragi residence. There was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. Of course, it was also possible Kojou’s own magical power had been at fault there, but that wasn’t the point. 

“Besides…I already have a way to break Yuuma’s spell, actually.” 

“Huh?” 

Yukina’s sudden confession left Kojou at a bit of a loss. If you had a convenient way like that, why’d you keep quiet ’bout it till now , he pondered…and then he saw it. 

Yukina’s gaze had shifted onto the silver spear standing beside her. 

“Snowdrift Wolf, huh…?” 

“Yes,” Yukina said with a small nod. 

Her spear could negate magical energy, indiscriminately annihilating any spell or ritual. No matter how powerful Yuuma’s spatial control, so long as it was maintained via a spell, Yukina could no doubt wreck it with one blow. As a result, Kojou’s and Yuuma’s minds would return to their own physical bodies. Apparently, Yukina had realized that and had opted for chilling out with all-you-can-eat cake instead. 

“However, a forced end to such a high-intensity spatial control ritual would result in a proportionate backlash to the caster. Irrevocable nervous system damage could well be inflicted.” 

Kojou looked back at Yukina with a shudder as her frightening words sunk in. 

“Huh?” 

One stab to Yuuma’s body from Snowdrift Wolf would stop Yuuma here and now. But that apparently meant frying Yuuma’s entire nervous system in the process. 

Even if Yuuma was a witch, her body was still that of an ordinary girl. She didn’t have a vampire’s regenerative abilities like Kojou did. If she took that much damage, it was pretty much certain she’d die in the process. Even if she did survive, she probably wouldn’t wake up again, ever. 

“W-well, of course we can’t do that!” 

Yukina watched the indignant Kojou as she spoke. 

“Yes. It is a method I wish to avoid if at all possible. If I cannot employ Snowdrift Wolf no matter what, the only option is to target your body with her still inside, senpai. After all, even if you die for a little while you will revive, so that would minimize the backlash to Yuuma’s body.” 

“Hey, wait. Isn’t that predicated on my going through pain enough to kill a guy when I get back to my own body?!” 

Kojou complained while putting his chin in his palms. He didn’t even want to imagine the pain of having his entire nervous system ripped apart, but it couldn’t be helped if they had no other options. 

They were waiting for Yuuma to use Kojou’s body to create an incident. 

When they noticed the incident, they’d rush to the scene. Then Yukina would stab Kojou’s body. 

It was slipshod and unreliable as plans went, but it was equally true that they didn’t have any better ideas. Apparently, eating cake, waiting, and hoping was the best they could do at the moment. 

Yukina haltingly murmured, seemingly in an effort to comfort the sullen Kojou. 

“Um, this is just my feeling, but I don’t think Yuuma will use your body in a destructive manner. After all, Yuuma trusts you, as shown by her leaving her body in your hands.” 

Kojou made a small, pained smile at Yukina’s clumsy attempt to console him. 

“…Suppose so.” Her intuition probably ain’t wrong , he thought. 

Kojou didn’t know why Yuuma had stolen his body. Even so, surely Yuuma had no intention of hurting him. It was a baseless assumption, but even now, Kojou trusted Yuuma at least that much. She was, after all, his friend. 

Kanon, silently listening to the conversation at that point, watched the side of Kojou’s face as she spoke. 

“I don’t really know the circumstances, but I’d like you to return to your normal self…” 

As if somewhat bashful, she lowered her eyes and added in a small voice… 

“Yuuma is very good-looking, but to me, you are…you.” 

“Kanase…” 

A warm and mushy feeling rose in Kojou bit by bit, making him almost shed tears. Even if this body was his good friend’s, being separate from his own definitely made him nervous. But Kojou had people who were waiting for him to get back to his own body. That alone came as a great relief. 

The little homunculus girl spoke, her face hidden under the pumpkin mask. 

“I concur.” 

“Astarte…?” 

“Although it is objectively irrational, after undertaking a comparative analysis I have determined I subjectively desire that the Fourth Primogenitor return to his original body.” 

“Th-that so…” 

That seemed to mean that even though Yuuma’s physical attributes were higher, Astarte personally wanted Kojou to go back to his old self. Kojou didn’t feel all that complimented, but by Astarte’s standards, this was her expressing goodwill with all the strength she could muster. 

His mood having somehow improved, Kojou looked beside him toward Yukina. He was a little anxious over what she might think about that part. 

Sensing Kojou’s expectant gaze, Yukina became a bit flustered. 

“Huh? Wh-what?! I am merely a watcher… I will fulfill my duty no matter what you look like, senpai…” 

Kojou made a strained smile at Yukina’s honor student reply. 

“…Figured.” He decided he ought to be quite grateful her behavior toward him hadn’t changed along with his appearance. 

Kanon suddenly looked at Kojou with a sharp gaze. 

“Akatsuki…setting that aside…” 

It was a rare stern look for her. 

“You should not rest on your elbows during mealtime.” 

Kojou, still slovenly resting his chin on top of his palms, straightened his back in response to Kanon’s scolding. 

“Huh? Ah, er, right.” 

“And you should not spread your legs when you sit.” 

Thrown off by Kanon’s unexpectedly strict guidance, Kojou did as he was told and corrected his posture. 

“Th-that so. Sorry.” 

Kanon had been raised at an abbey when she was younger. No doubt that accounted for her strict upbringing. 

Until now he’d never given the matter much thought, but Kanon and Yukina both had proper posture. Girls have it tough, being judged by appearance so much , thought Kojou as if it didn’t concern him. 

It was the next moment that he learned that his thoughts were still quite naive. 

Astarte spoke up, producing a mirror and brush from under her coat as if by magic. 

“Supplemental. I advise that hair maintenance and grooming is necessary.” 

“Uhh?” At the same time, Yukina raised an “Ah!” and reached toward the side of Kojou’s face. 

“You didn’t put sunblock on, did you? You mustn’t let such pretty skin go to waste!” 

“Please use this. It’s my makeup pouch.” 

“Eh, wait a… What are you guys doing…?!” 

Astarte and Yukina firmly grabbed both Kojou’s arms and marched him off. They were heading for one of the shop’s washroom. Kojou fell into a panic when he realized the wallpaper was pink. 

“Hold on! This is the ladies’ washroom?!” 

“It cannot be helped. Do you intend to go into the men’s washroom looking like Yuuma?” 

“Well, no, but… Ehh…?!” 

The ladies’ washroom was packed full of female customers touching up their makeup after their meals. Seeing a row of pretty ladies busily putting on lipstick and mascara was, truth be told, not something he really wanted to see. 

Furthermore, a bunch of them were trading info about the impressions they’d gotten from their dates like they were hammering out plans for a matchmaking party. The exceedingly frank ratings they dished out made even Kojou feel bad, and he had nothing to do with it. He felt like if he stayed in that place any longer, he’d never be able to recover. 

“…Incidentally, what should I do if I have to go use the john in this body?” 

Kojou muttered, suddenly concerned about the matter. That’s actually a serious problem , he thought. Of course, Kojou had no idea how girls went to the toilet. At that point, Yukina shot Kojou a sharp glare. “You must not.” 

“Y-you can say that all you want, but it’s biological necessity; I don’t have any say in…” 

“You absolutely must not!” 

“Huh…?!” Kojou was a bit despondent at Yukina’s unexpectedly emphatic declaration. Apparently, he had to get his own body back before this body developed the urge to pee. Apparently, Kojou’s time was running out…one way or another. 

Perhaps it really wasn’t time to casually sit back and wait for Yuuma to kick up trouble. If she’s gonna pull something, how ’bout sooner rather than later , Kojou selfishly thought. Then… 

As if granting his wish, a low impact shook the Gigafloat’s surface with a large thump . Even inside of Yuuma’s body, Kojou recognized it as a powerful surge of demonic energy. 

“What’s this feeling?!” 

Yukina was the first to react. 

“It’s coming from Keystone Gate!” 

Pulling her silver spear along, she rushed out of the store; Kojou hurried after her. 

Everyone in the streets looked up at the sky in surprise, eyes wide. 

The building at the center of Itogami Island was shaped like an inverted pyramid. On the roof of the building, the tallest on the island, something was wriggling. It was dozens of meters long, with mottled, creepy-looking tentacles. 

“Himeragi! That’s…?!” 

“Devilkin! A ‘Guardian’ for a witch!” 

“Something like a familiar, then…! But that magic energy’s…?!” 

The overwhelming sense of pressure he felt from Keystone Gate was not being given off by the Guardian. 

In that place was a being with incredible demonic energy, even greater than that of the giant familiar. In one sense, the ominous surge was one Kojou dearly missed… 

“Yes, that surge is senpai’s… The Fourth Primogenitor’s demonic energy.” 

“Yuuma, then!” 

Having confirmed her whereabouts, Kojou started running. 

Keystone Gate was the core of the Demon Sanctuary. It was also the very first place Yuuma had visited upon her arrival on the island. In hindsight, Kojou felt that Yuuma choosing it as the site for a magical ritual was quite natural. 

But. 

“…?!” 

As if to keep Kojou from reaching his destination, people he’d never seen before blocked his path. 

They were men wrapped in black robes as if they were Grim Reapers. He estimated they numbered around ten, minimum. Their faces bore no hostility; nor did they carry anything one could fairly call weapons. However, Kojou certainly felt that they were trying to keep him from approaching Keystone Gate. 

“Senpai, please stand back!” 

Yukina readied her spear and moved out in front. No doubt she thought that now, with people in disguise all over the city, even using Snowdrift Wolf where people could see wouldn’t stand out much. 

“What’s with these guys…?!” 

“I do not know. But I believe their likely purpose is to delay us.” 

“Pals of Yuuma, then… Been watching us the whole time, huh?” 

Kojou ground his teeth at his own obtuseness. If he’d thought about it clearly, he would’ve anticipated Yuuma would have had Kojou’s movements monitored. Of course, she’d be on guard for Kojou trying to take his body back, interfering with her own plan in the process. 

“Astarte, take care of Kanase!” 

“Accept.” 

Kojou instructed the homunculus girl to protect Kanon as she stood there, defenseless. Astarte nodded and summoned her own Beast Vassal. Wings emerged from her back and transformed into a pair of giant arms. 

For whatever reason, the people watching all around them raised an “Ohh!” of admiration. People broke into applause one after another. 

“Looks like they think it’s an attraction for the festival!” 

“Th-that is ideal to prevent a disturbance… But the crowd…!” 

Yukina and Kojou looked at each other’s face, both at a loss. 

At some point, the tourists on the street had opened up a roughly ten-meter radius gap; the black-robed group now surrounded Kojou and the others. Apparently they’d mistaken this for some kind of Hollow Eve Festival street performance. Well, with an openly villainous-looking group set to battle a group of beautiful costumed girls, they couldn’t exactly be faulted for thinking that. 

But thanks to that, Kojou and the others no longer had anywhere to run. 

If it was one-on-one combat, there was no doubt Yukina would clean up, but this time there were simply too many foes. Surrounded by this many people, Astarte couldn’t unleash the full might of her overpowered Beast Vassal, either. Having to cover Kanon and the current Kojou, neither capable of fighting, was simply too great a burden on the other girls. Furthermore, Yuuma would be completing her magical ritual during the time Kojou and the others were delayed. 

Realizing they were completely hemmed in, Kojou clenched his teeth in anguish. The next moment… 

“Wha…?!” 

A “hoaaaaa,” like the shriek of a monstrous bird, echoed in parallel with a dull impact sound, blowing one of the black-robed men flying back with great force. 

When Kojou and the others looked back in shock, they saw a young girl with her red hair in a double bun, long braid style, wearing a China dress. The girl unleashed another waist-level kick, causing another black-robed man to go down in agony. Saikai Academy’s middle school physical education teacher, Misaki Sasasaki, asked in a casual tone… 

“Hiya, kids. Finally caught up to ya. Are you all right?” 

Yukina couldn’t hide her bewilderment that her own homeroom teacher had entered the fray. 

“Ms. Sasasaki! What are you doing here…?!” 

“Natsuki asked me to. She said to help you and the Akatsuki siblings out if she ever went missing. Looks like things got pretty bad while I wasn’t looking?” 

Yukina nodded frankly. 

“…Yes. Quite.” 

Seeing Yukina’s forthright behavior made Misaki break out in a satisfied-looking leer. 

“Roger that. Leave Kanase and the others to me and go.” 

As she said this, the lady teacher adopted a strange pose. This was one of the so-called animal styles of kung fu, emulating the movements of a particular animal. 

She was at once Natsuki Minamiya’s junior and a nationally accredited Attack Mage. She was a female martial artist able to take out gangs single-handedly, split the ground with her bare hand, and release qi wave beams from her palm among other things, giving rise to a number of urban legends. 

“Ms. Sasasaki, these opponents are corpses. There must be a necromancer mixed in controlling them, but…” 

“No problem! I’ll just smack them all down!” As soon as she said it, exactly as promised, Misaki began sending everything wearing a black robe flying. It was a display of amazing brute force, but she was strong in other ways. She beat away the occasional magical attack flying her way with one flash of her qi . 

As gaps opened up in the black-robed human wall surrounding them, Kojou and Yukina slipped through the ring of tourists around them. 

“Ms. Sasasaki, is Natsuki…?!” 

“She’s all right. For now, at least.” 

As Misaki answered Kojou’s final question, she tossed in a wink for good measure. 

After giving her a deep bow of his head, this time Kojou ran forward without looking back. 

“Later, then… Take good care of her is what I’d like to have said.” 

Seeing the students go, Misaki made a small murmur to herself. 

Then, she shot the black-robed men a look that burned with her fighting spirit. 

The corpse soldiers, surely lacking their own wills, backed off, overpowered by her aura. A ferocious smile came over Misaki’s lips, followed by another “Kishaa!” sound, as if from a monstrous bird. Sounds of admiration echoed among the tourists. 

The festival had only just begun.