Strike the Blood - Volume 9 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO 

VAMPIRE AT WORK 

1 

Countless demon beasts were swimming around in a giant water tank several times the area of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. 

Sleeping near the bottom of the water were monstrous fish from southern Asia known as makara. They had frog-like bodies and wings like a flying fish, probably making them water leapers. Besides those, there were little-known demon beasts resembling octopi and eels frolicking inside the water tank in numbers too great to count. 

This was the giant water tank in Demon Beast Park—Blue Elysium’s most famous sightseeing destination. 

“Wowww…” 

Nagisa Akatsuki’s eyes glittered as she leaned her petite figure over the walkway’s railing. Her long hair, bound up to look like a short bob, swayed to and fro in a regular rhythm. 

“It really is huge. That’s the biggest demon beast aquarium in the world for you… Er, is that a horse? A horse merman?” 

This stated, Nagisa pointed to a mysterious creature with the upper body of a horse and the lower body of a fish. It had a silver fin instead of a mane; wet from the water, it glimmered and sparkled. It was a beautiful demon beast that looked positively divine. 

“That’s a hippocampus, a type of seahorse native to the coasts of the North Sea Empire. It’s the first time I’ve seen one in the flesh, though.” 

Right next to Nagisa, Yukina explained. As a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency, Yukina was well versed in a wide variety of demon beasts, but naturally, even she hadn’t had a chance to see rare marine demon beasts on the verge of extinction up close like that. Though she retained her cool head, she couldn’t conceal her excitement for the extraordinary experience. 

“Those eyes are so cute, huh… I wanna try feeding it, too…,” Nagisa murmured in a wistful tone. 

At the edge of the water tank, demon beast trainers in wet suits were feeding the hippocampus. They were teaching them tricks for when the attraction would open for real in the coming year. 

Rumor had it that Demon Beast Park had been constructed with the aim of using the entry fees for visitors to defray the enormous costs of keeping the demon beasts for research. Apparently, the world’s first Hippocampus Show was expected to be their shining jewel for attracting guests, which would account for the zeal in the trainers’ instructing. 

Like vampires and beast men, demon beasts had sufficient intelligence to come to a mutual understanding with human beings, but unlike demons with rights guaranteed by the Holy Ground Treaty, their protections lagged behind. In the wider world, many demon beasts were still thought of as dangerous monsters, with overhunting and incidents of slaughter never really ending. 

Also, the reality of it was that many demon beasts possessed high combat capabilities, and the species that would attack people were far from few. If facilities such as Demon Beast Park spread, and research into their ecology advanced further, perhaps humankind might be able to peacefully coexist with them, but a path to equality seemed unthinkable. 

As Yukina indulged in such sentiments, Nagisa, right beside her, let out joyful cries as the hippocampus juggled beach balls like street performers juggling beanbags. Yukina looked on in silence. 

“—Yukina? Something wrong?” 

Nagisa, noticing Yukina’s seemingly dubious gaze, hmm’d and cocked her head as she asked. Yukina smiled and shook her head. 

“Nah, I was just wondering…you’re not scared of the hippocampus?” 

“Aw, geez…! Kojou, right? None of his business to go telling you that!” 

Nagisa raised both hands high as if to put her anger on display, exhaling hard. 

“…None of his business?” 

“About my demonophobia. You probably heard I got hospitalized because of an incident, right?” 

“Yeah.” Yukina nodded meekly. 

Nagisa Akatsuki had been gravely injured in a terror incident involving demons; ever since, she’d had an extreme fear of contact with demons. Actually, it had been Asagi who’d told her about it rather than Kojou, but that didn’t matter. 

Several times over, Yukina had herself witnessed the sight of Nagisa going into a panic when encountering demons. It was rather surprising that Nagisa had believed her demonophobia had remained a secret for all that time. 

“I don’t mean to discriminate, but I am still a little scared. Of vampires and beast men and stuff,” Nagisa confessed in a crestfallen, forlorn tone. However, looking back at Yukina’s worried face, she immediately broke into a cheerful smile. 

“But I’m fine with demon beasts. Fear of men doesn’t make you scared of male puppies, right? I like animals. I even like reptiles. But I’m not good with bugs. So if there’s any sea spiders or stuff, I think I’ll pass.” 

“Bugs…?” 

Yukina began to brood over whether she should point out that spiders are not actually insects. Nagisa peered straight at Yukina’s face with deep interest. 

“Hey, hey, do you actually have Kojou and Asagi on your mind?” 

“Well…a little. I feel bad for her and senpai for it to be just us having fun like this.” A thin, pained smile came over Yukina. 

About an hour prior, Kojou and Asagi had run off to part-time work wearing Blue Elysium shirts. With Yaze running off, claiming he had to help with the family business, Yukina and Nagisa, left behind, had no option but to visit Demon Beast Park all by themselves. 

And while that was all in good fun, Yukina did feel fairly guilty about it, particularly from her standpoint as Kojou’s observer. 

“Oh, you mean that…?” 

But Nagisa seemed deflated as she listlessly hung her head. Apparently, Yukina’s reaction hadn’t been quite the one she was looking for. 

“Ah?” 

“Well, I mean, there’s nothing we can do to help with the work. Like Yaze said and all, we’re still in middle school… And anyway, that’s not even what I mean. I mean, you know, Asagi.” 

“What about Aiba?” 

Yukina’s eyes blinked as she inquired. Nagisa’s expression became grave, apparently on purpose. 

“In other words, um, Yukina, what do you think of Asagi, anyway?” 

“Umm… She’s a very good-looking person, she’s very brave, and she’s kind.” 

Those were Yukina’s honest feelings. After all, Asagi had saved Yukina’s life twice over. The first time was when they’d been kidnapped by the Black Death Emperor Front. The second time was during Yukina’s battle with Meiga Itogami. 

Under circumstances that would leave a normal person paralyzed with fear, Asagi had devised a program to destroy the Nalakuvera the first time, hacking a facility’s security pods to save Yukina the second. A Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency had been saved by a high school girl with no combat training whatsoever. After that, Yukina paid Asagi respect and caution in equal measure. 

And then… 

“Yukina, I love you!” 

“…Eh?!” 

Yukina was left bewildered by Nagisa’s sudden hug, having no idea what was going on. Nagisa seemed very excited, somehow, as she strongly squeezed Yukina with both arms. 

“Yukina, you’re incredible. I figured you would feel that way. You get it. Yeah, Asagi’s smart, kind, and really cool. I tell everyone, but they don’t really get it.” 

“…They don’t really get it?” 

“That’s right. No one praises Asagi for anything besides her looks. Especially the boys in our class! Like, ‘She seems so erotic,’ ‘I want her to teach me this move or that move,’ ‘She looks like she dates for money’… Ugh, boys!” 

Nagisa seemed to grow more annoyed the more she remembered, almost as if she was angry on her own behalf. Yukina was beside herself, gazing at Nagisa for a while, but… 

“You really like Aiba, don’t you?” 

The pleasant smile accompanying Yukina’s statement made Nagisa seem to blush as she nodded a little. 

To Nagisa, having been hospitalized for long periods since arriving on Itogami Island, Asagi was a precious friend near to her in age, one of the very few people in the outside world she was truly connected to. If anything, even without that, it was natural for Nagisa to look up to someone with both brains and beauty like Asagi. 

“It’d sure be nice to have Asagi as my real older sister, huh… If you put aside it being a waste for her to pair up with Kojou,” Nagisa murmured in a tone that sounded too serious to dismiss as a joke. 

Yukina nearly went “I suppose so” but thought better of saying such a rude thing about her friend’s older brother. 

“Er…um, that’s…,” the Sword Shaman stuttered. 

“But that goes the same for you!” 

“…It does?” 

Yukina’s thoughts froze for a moment as the conversation suddenly pointed toward her. 

“Well, I definitely like Asagi, but my position is neutral, soooo I’m cheering you on, too, Yukina! That’s why I wanted to ask about your honest feelings and stuff. But maybe it’s better not to ask. Wow, now I’m worried…” 

“Er, I think you are misunderstanding a few things here. You see, I—” Offering a meandering excuse, Yukina began to protest Nagisa, who was clutching her head in anguish. She couldn’t exactly tell her No, I’m only observing your older brother. 

But Nagisa paid no heed to Yukina’s inner conflict. 

“Although, I’m a little reluctant to call you Big Sis, Yukina… You’re a bit flaky…” 

“F-flaky…?” 

Yukina was somewhat struck by her friend’s unexpectedly poor assessment. She never expected that Nagisa, of all people, would see her that way. It was a shock to Yukina, who meant to be an ever-reliable person. 

I really need to refute that, thought Yukina, hastening to open her mouth. The next moment— 

A violent tremor, as if caused by a bomb, shot from beneath their feet to above their heads, loudly shaking the subfloat. 

Feeling as if her footing might fall out from under her, Yukina instantly grasped onto the walkway’s railing. 

“This is…?!” 

“What…was that just now?” 

When Yukina looked, she saw Nagisa clinging to a post much like Yukina was doing. 

But that was the one and only change. 

The surface of the subfloat was not shaking. Nor were there waves on the surface of the water. The other visitors to Demon Beast Park continued their sightseeing with smiles. 

Yukina and Nagisa were the only ones that’d noticed something was wrong. Only they, both powerful spirit mediums, had detected the invisible shock wave. Probably, it was a surge of demonic energy—furthermore, someone was releasing such explosive demonic energy to rock the entirety of Blue Elysium. 

It can’t be, thought Yukina as Kojou immediately came to mind. If one of the Fourth Primogenitor’s Beast Vassals was running amok, as had happened several times before, that would explain such a large-scale outbreak of demonic energy. 

However, Yukina sensed that the demonic energy clearly had different characteristics than Kojou’s. 

Besides that, she had a sense that the source of the demonic energy was not within Blue Elysium itself. It seemed to be coming from somewhere farther away—far away from the subfloat, down at the bottom of the sea. 

Put another way, even from such a distance, the demonic energy felt like it was on the same scale as one of the Fourth Primogenitor’s Beast Vassals. If that was the case— 

Did that make the being giving off that surge of demonic energy an even greater monster than the Fourth Primogenitor…? 

A chill ran up Yukina’s spine as she arrived at that possibility. 

Then, Yukina’s thoughts were dragged back to reality by Nagisa’s frightful shriek. 

“Yukina…the demon beasts are…!” 

Falling into a state of terror, the demon beasts lost their heads and raged under the waves. The monstrous makara fish slammed into the side of the water tank, creating an unnerving crack in the reinforced glass. The hippocampus, near the surface of the water, thrashed about, knocking the hip of a trainer and sending him tumbling. 

But it was not their intention to attack; they were simply afraid. 

The demon beasts, even more sensitive to demonic energy than spirit mediums like Yukina and Nagisa, had sensed that powerful wave of energy, and were now in a hurry to flee the area— 

“Urk…” Yukina uneasily bit her lip. 

Even knowing the circumstances, she had no way to subdue the demon beasts at the moment. Yukina didn’t have Snowdrift Wolf on hand, and either way, it was impossible for her to subdue every demon beast inside the tank single-handedly. Besides, she was reluctant to kill demon beasts just because they were afraid. 

At some point, though, the water tank would break, and the interior of Blue Elysium would doubtless incur immense damage in the process. Likely, it wasn’t just the demon beasts in the marine feeding area; those in open areas on the surface must have also been in a panic. If they rampaged outside of Demon Beast Park, even ordinary visitors would be put in danger. 

What should I do? thought Yukina, stricken with despair. Then… 

“—Calm thyselves.” 

The quiet voice that came out of Nagisa’s lips was haunting. Simultaneously, an explosive wave of demonic energy seemed to chill Yukina’s body to the core. 

Overwhelmed by the vast demonic energy, the raging demon beasts went silent all at once. Prisoners of fear, plunging their hearts into despair instead rendered them tranquil. 

The light filling Nagisa’s eyes was as calm and emotionless as a sheet of ice. The supernatural aura that came with it was far beyond an ordinary human’s. Someone with mighty demonic energy was possessing Nagisa. Someone with power that rivaled a Beast Vassal of the Fourth Primogenitor— 

“You are…?” 

Yukina desperately kept her overpowering sense of awe in check, staring at Nagisa as she posed the question. However, right before Yukina’s eyes, all the strength in Nagisa’s body vanished, like a marionette whose strings had been cut. 

The possession had suddenly been lifted, seemingly out of fear of putting too much strain on Nagisa’s body. 

“Wah…?!” 

Having lost her balance, Nagisa was in danger of falling, but Yukina caught her at the last moment. Nagisa shook her head, apparently unaware of what had just occurred to her. 

“Ow, ow, ow…er? The cute hippocampus and all the others…?” 

“They’ve…?” 

Yukina fell silent, not sure what she ought to tell Nagisa. In her place, they both heard a quiet voice from behind, one neither recognized. It was a refined voice, but one that felt distant, cold, abrupt. 

“It would seem they have already calmed down.” 

Yukina, having sensed no presence prior to hearing the voice, looked back in surprise. 

The voice came from a young woman. She was sitting alone on a bench at the edge of the walkway. 

The girl was pretty, and her long black hair, worn in an old-fashioned style, suited her well. Her uniform had a black foundation; it came from a well-known private school in Itogami City. She was holding a single-lens reflex camera atop her neat lap. A black cylinder, probably a case for carrying a tripod, was propped against the wall. 

“—Am I wrong?” 

With Yukina looking back in surprise, the black-haired girl tilted her head. Even though she’d surely seen the demon beasts in a panic up close, she seemed extremely relaxed—to the point that her calm was unnatural. 

“No…you are correct.” 

Yukina nodded, still at a loss. Though it wasn’t easy to get a read on the girl before her eyes, she wasn’t sensing any hostile intent. She simply seemed to be observing Yukina and Nagisa. Almost like she was observing a diminutive, rare animal that strayed into her garden— 

Seemingly amused by Yukina’s bewilderment, the girl asked, “That was scary just now, wasn’t it?” 

Yukina continued holding Nagisa as she nodded vaguely. “Er, and you are?” 

“A photo.” 

“…Eh?” 

“May I…take your photo?” 

The black-haired girl gently turned her camera lens toward Yukina and Nagisa. Nervous at the girl’s sudden request, Yukina put a hand over her eyes, almost like a celebrity brushing paparazzi aside. 

“No…ah, right now this is…private time, you see…” 

“Is that so? A pity.” 

Hearing Yukina’s ambiguous excuse, the black-haired girl visibly exhaled slightly. She got to her feet, picking up the tripod case in the process. The corners of her lips rose, as if to say Farewell. 

“We shall meet again. Probably, anyway. If possible, I would be happy if it were on amicable terms?” 

Leaving those final words behind, the black-haired girl turned her back to them. Yukina bit her lip at the girl’s words, which seemed to imply something. 

Still being supported by Yukina, Nagisa voiced her feelings of admiration. “That person…she’s so pretty. And older than us, huh…?” 

A spontaneous, strained smile came over Yukina at her friend’s unconcerned demeanor. But Nagisa’s next words caused Yukina’s breath to catch, for Yukina herself had subconsciously realized the same thing… 

“—She comes off a little…well, like you, Yukina.” 

2 

At the corner beside a giant pool under the rays of the scorching sun… 

A beaming smile came over Asagi Aiba, standing at the cash register of a little food cart. She was wearing a white T-shirt that stood out only for the lame logo on it. It was a staff T-shirt for the franchise Radaman Pavillionz. 

“Three yakisoba and two oolong teas, a cola, and a melon soda. That comes to two thousand two hundred fifty yen! Kojou!” 

“Okay, three yakisoba comin’ up!” 

With a practiced rhythm, Kojou accepted Asagi’s order. Kojou wore not only the same T-shirt as she did, but a franchise ball cap as well. He stood in front of a sizzling griddle. 

“Dahh! The griddle’s so hot… Gonna die! Burn to a crisp! Turn to ash!” 

Kojou ceaselessly aired his complaints as he drained grease from the griddle. The steam kicked up from stir-frying bone-in pork and veggies shot up the stall’s discomfort index. 

In the first place, they’d come to a resort to have a good time, so why did he have to sell yakisoba from a poolside food cart? If anything, it was only natural for him to want to vent his frustrations. 

“This wasn’t the deal. Wasn’t this supposed to be a fun resort on the beach?!” 

“Oh, be quiet. You’re not the only one hot here, so shut your trap.” 

Asagi raged at Kojou, grumbling out loud even as he packed the completed yakisoba into a container. As if to underline her words, Asagi was also covered in sweat. The gap left by wearing her hair up to deal with the heat exposed her pale neck, completely drenched with sweat. 

“Yeah, but it is really hot, huh… Kojou, make sure you drink extra water. You’ll collapse if you get dehydrated.” 

“R-right…” 

Kojou audibly gulped as he accepted the drink in a plastic bottle Asagi offered him. 

He didn’t know if she was aware of it, but the T-shirt, drenched with sweat, clung to her skin very tightly, making Asagi’s figure quite visible. For some reason, it oddly tugged at his mind more than if she was wandering around in just a swimsuit. Besides that, her pale thighs poking out under her T-shirt’s hem were hard to ignore. He was all the more aware of them because the cramped quarters of the cart put them in close quarters by necessity. 

“Kojou…what’s wrong?” 

Asagi noticed Kojou’s unusual behavior and suspiciously drew her face closer. He hastily averted his gaze. 

“Ah, no, I just thought, that look is pretty good on you.” 

“By that look, you mean the T-shirt?” 

Asagi gazed down at her shirt and exhaled deeply. From the point of view of someone as fashion-conscious as Asagi, she no doubt had objections to the stupid logo on multiple levels. 

“Somehow, I don’t feel like that’s a compliment at all. Thanks, though.” 

It wasn’t the look of her in the T-shirt that Kojou thought suited her—it was the sight of her working at the food stall. Appearances aside, Asagi was a serious girl deep down, someone who worked hard at whatever she did. In spite of subbing as a rookie, she relied on her inherent quick wit and excellent memory, easily dealing with the customers, even the heavy throngs coming in at lunch hour. Besides, the fact Kojou knew her since way back made working together a smooth affair. 

Thanks to all that, Kojou and Asagi, rank amateurs, somehow handled the food stall so well that they looked like seasoned veterans to the untrained eye. And as if to underline Kojou’s self-assessment, the woman known as chief was in a good mood when she called out to them: 

“Good work. You two were amazing. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d be anywhere near this useful. I really have to thank Moki for this.” 

“Errr, Moki?” 

Kojou and Asagi were on the verge of bursting out laughing at the cute nickname, one not suiting Yaze at all. Somehow, chief was pals with Yaze as if he was a brother to her, but hearing her so easily call him Moki made her seem very fond of him, indeed. We’ve gotta follow up on this, Asagi conveyed to Kojou with a look; Kojou concurred via eye contact and a nod. 

Chief, not knowing Kojou’s and Asagi’s thoughts, smiled fondly. 

“You’re not used to this, so you must be tired. You can take a break one at a time.” 

“Yes, thank you very much. Kojou, you can go first.” 

“Sorry. That’s a big help.” 

Kojou wiped the sweat off his brow as he exhaled in relief. Unsurprisingly, he was at the limit of his endurance from standing behind the stupidly hot griddle. 

“Oh, yes. I’m heading back to the office, so could you make a delivery for me? Bring it to the monitoring station.” 

“Sure thing.” 

Kojou readily accepted chief’s request, already in a lighthearted mood from being given a breather. She handed him a tray with a dozen large drinks. It was fairly heavy for one person to carry. 

“The monitoring room… Huh, there? The lifeguard center… Wait, that’s really far!” 

From the Radaman Pavillionz, he could see the building he was delivering to right on the opposite side of the pools. It was well removed, nearly a kilometer on foot. It seemed to be a monitoring station, a clinic, and a lost-and-found center all at once. 

“Shit… She tricked me. Chief said she was giving me a break, but she just didn’t wanna deliver it herself…!” 

Venting the words like they were an evil curse, Kojou grumbled and made his way toward the lifeguard center. Now that he thought about it, Asagi might have let him go on break first because she’d sniffed out chief’s intentions. 

Even though it was a trial opening, the pool area was still packed. In contrast to Kojou, walking on top of sizzling concrete, the excited people in the water looked very comfortable. 

No small measure of jealousy and envy made the heavy tray weigh more in his arms. Working his way through the labyrinth of pools, Kojou was dead tired by the time he finally made it to his destination. 

“Yo… Radaman Pavillionz! I’ve come with your drinks!” 

Kojou called into the lifeguard center with the loud, unrestrained voice he’d honed in athletic competitions. 

“Ohh, right over here. Been waiting for this.” 

A male lifeguard, his skin thoroughly scorched by the sun, poked his head out of the monitoring station. Physically, he was in superb condition. His ripped chest made the T-shirt bulge near the point of ripping. 

“…Mm?” 

“Wh-what is it?” 

Kojou’s body went rigid upon being thoroughly scrutinized. Mr. Lifeguard was silent as he worked his way around Kojou’s flank. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Kojou! Kojou Akatsuki.” 

“Hmm…your body’s surprisingly nice. Would you like to become a lifeguard? I can introduce you to qualified trainers right here. There’s a fully equipped training studio just for staff.” 

As he spoke, the man gently rubbed Kojou’s back like he was sizing up the state of Kojou’s muscles. 

“N-nah, I’ll pass. I’m already working part-time and all.” 

“That so. Give me a holler if you change your mind. Saving lives is good work!” 

Mr. Lifeguard patted his own hip and laughed out loud in delight. Kojou’s smiling face twitched as he lowered his head and left the monitoring station to make his escape. If he let the guy go on, he’d end up lifting weights with him in short order. It wasn’t that he had a problem with exercising, but there was no way he was interested in pumping iron with an overbearing bodybuilder on a ridiculously hot day. 

“…Geez… All that so-called break time’s gonna be all used up…” 

Kojou weakly sighed as he gazed up at a clock on the lifeguard center’s wall. 

For some reason, the sight of a little girl entering his field of vision that moment tugged at his attention. 

The young girl was wearing a hooded nylon parka over a two-piece blue swimsuit. She was probably eleven or twelve years old. She’d drawn the bulky hood of her parka rather tight as she sat down at the lost-and-found station all alone. 

Realizing that Kojou had set eyes upon her, the girl suddenly turned her head away. The conspicuous hair she wore down to her shoulders swayed gently. 

Then, the girl stood up and walked to the counter and said, “Thank you very much. I’ve found the person I’m with, so I’m all right now. You’ve been a big help.” 

Then she formally bowed her head to the staffer. 

For a girl who’s lost, she’s very well-behaved, thought Kojou with a touch of admiration. It seemed there was no need for him to worry about it. With that judgment in mind, Kojou headed back to the stall once more. 

“—You’re late!” 

Waiting for Kojou on his return to the food cart was a resentful stare from a very peevish Asagi. Apparently, she’d been running the food cart pretty much single-handedly while Kojou was out making the delivery. And right at that time, a group of guests had packed the place, making the area around the kitchen look as desperate as the aftermath of a typhoon. Asagi was completely irate from being so busy. 

“Well, sorry! The delivery destination was far away, so I couldn’t help it!” 

“Hmmm…” 

Asagi fixed her gaze on something as Kojou defended himself. For some reason, her expression was one of open scorn. 

“So what’s with the girl? You’re not going to tell me you’ve been flirting with her, are you?” 

“…Flirting?” 

What are you talking about? thought Kojou, perplexed, as he looked over his shoulder, following Asagi’s gaze. There stood an elementary schooler he recognized instantly: the girl wearing the nylon hooded jacket. Her hair was as brightly colored as cat’s fur; combined with her big eyes, she definitely gave off the impression of a temperamental kitten. 

The girl was standing still behind Kojou, staring at his back without a word. 

“Er? Weren’t you the lost girl back near the lifeguard center…?” 

When Kojou addressed her in surprise, the young girl meekly nodded. Her big eyes seemed full of conflicted emotions: a mix of wariness and hope. 

“Eguchi. Yume Eguchi.” 

The girl named herself in a stiff voice. Kojou was a little perplexed by her reaction. 

“…Yume?” he asked. 

“Yes. Perhaps you think it is a strange, childish name… I’m sorry.” 

“That so? I think it’s a nice, ordinary name. And it’s cute, right?” 

Kojou said exactly what he was thinking. In the first place, he’d met people with far stranger names to date, so one more was no big deal; and if you were going to talk about names, “Kojou” was odd enough. 

However, Kojou’s reply apparently struck the girl as somewhat unexpected. Her big eyes blinked twice, and after that, her cheeks reddened as she lowered her face. 

“Is—is that so. Even if it is just flattery, I’m happy.” 

“—What are you doing, sweet-talking a little girl like that?!” 

The next moment, out of the blue, Asagi smacked Kojou in the back of the head. I didn’t do anything, went Kojou with tearful eyes, glaring back at Asagi over the absurdity of it all. 

“But anyway, Yume, you said? You’re at this stall looking for someone?” 

“No need for concern, you are the one I was looking for. You are Kojou Akatsuki, yes?” 

As Yume spoke those words, she looked up at Kojou and stared. The girl was holding a photo in her hands that had signs of having been torn. 

“How do you know my name? This is the first time we’ve met, right?” 

“Your lover told me about you, Mr. Kojou, and that I could rely on you if I was ever in trouble.” 

“L-lover…?!” Asagi shrieked. Her incredible glare made Kojou hastily shake his head. 

“No, I don’t know anything about that! I don’t have a clue who she means!” 

“Er, this may not be any of my business, but I think cheating is wrong. Two-timing is simply…” 

Yume, watching the exchange between Kojou and Asagi, spoke her admonition in a very chaste, little-girl manner. Kojou groaned, clutching his head. 

“I am not! Who whispered that garbage into your ears?!” he retorted. 

“…A very pretty, tall older girl. She had large breasts, and she wore her hair like this.” 

“…A girl with huge breasts and a ponytail… Couldn’t be…” 

“Kirasaka?” 

Listening to Yume’s explanation, Kojou’s and Asagi’s eyes met. 

Somehow she got the weird idea that I’m that man-hater’s lover, mused Kojou, craning his neck as he puzzled over the outlandish notion. In contrast, Asagi just said, “I see,” believing that to make perfect sense. 

Kojou, regaining his senses, asked, “Wait, if you met Kirasaka, she’s here on Blue Ely, too? What’s your connection to her?” 

Yume’s expression darkened as she haltingly replied, “That person…came to rescue me while I was locked away.” 

“Locked away…?” 

Kojou’s look became grave at the somber words coming from Yume’s mouth. Kidnapping, confinement, or even human trafficking—all kinds of unpleasant implications Kojou didn’t especially want to imagine rose in the back of his mind one after another. With the exception of Kojou’s group, everyone invited to Blue Elysium’s trial opening was a specially invited guest—in other words, wealthy VIPs from high society or their family members. It wouldn’t be strange for one of them to be a kidnapping target. 

Besides, if Yume had been involved in a kidnapping incident, it would explain why Sayaka rescued her. She was a Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency, tasked with countering sorcerous crimes. It was entirely possible they were investigating the organization that had confined Yume. 

“So where is Kirasaka right now?” 

“I do not know…” 

Yume’s frail voice shuddered at Kojou’s impromptu question. As Kojou watched, her eyes grew watery and then erupted in a deluge of tears. Yume’s desperate attempts to hold her emotions back had come crashing down from Kojou’s one careless remark, causing everything to pour out at once. 

“We were running away, and then the people chasing us found us. She said, ‘Yume, go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you soon.’ But no matter how long I waited, she never came, and then—” 

Yume spoke in a weak, faltering voice, sobbing several times. When Kojou saw Yume begin to cry, his nervousness made everything in his head go blank. 

“Ah, w-wait…don’t cry! Er, don’t cry, Yume! Right, yakisoba, here, have some yakisoba! There’s juice, too!” 

“…Seriously, what do you think you’re doing?” 

Asagi limply cupped her cheek as she gazed at Kojou desperately consoling Yume. 

It seemed, once again, they had become involved in some kind of troublesome incident. 

3 

Kojou and Asagi’s shift ended at five PM. Chief was somewhat disappointed to see them go, but she said that they’d be serving alcoholic beverages from that time onward, so they couldn’t make minors work any later. 

Kojou, dead tired from making all that yakisoba, dragged his body along as he left the Radaman Pavillionz office. He was carrying a soundly sleeping Yume on his back. Meeting Kojou and Asagi seemed to cut right through all her tension as if it were frail string; Yume had cried herself straight to sleep. 

Asagi grimaced as she tapped at her beloved smartphone. “…No good. The name Yume Eguchi isn’t in Itogami Island’s residency records.” 

Asagi had apparently infiltrated the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s servers and accessed personal data. She’d no doubt thought she could clear up Yume’s identity, allowing them to contact her guardians, but— 

“I checked demon registration just to see, but no matches. I can’t find any past records of her, either.” 

“…Meaning Yume doesn’t live in Itogami City?” 

“Probably not. I doubt she’s using an alias, after all.” 

“Yeah, that figures.” 

Kojou agreed with Asagi’s hypothesis. Yume’s reaction to Kojou praising her name looked extremely natural; neither thought it was an act. Besides, they couldn’t think of a reason for her to use a fake name with two people she’d met for the first time. 

“Blue Ely’s a tourist trap…so it wouldn’t be strange if she flew in from the mainland.” 

“Looks like it. So what’ll you do? Try bringing her to the police?” Asagi inquired as she watched Yume’s sleeping face. 

If what Yume said was true, she was a kidnapping victim. It was possible that Yume’s parents had already requested the police search for her. Common sense dictated that handing her over to police custody was safest, but… 

“No, I want to have Himeragi meet her before going to the cops.” 

“…Himeragi?” 

“Maybe I’m overthinking this, but Sayaka rescuing this girl kind of bothers me. Maybe the guys who kidnapped Yume are out of the reach of normal cops.” 

That’d make this a lot more trouble, though, thought Kojou with a sigh. 

If the Lion King Agency was involved, odds were high that the kidnappers were demonic or sorcerous criminals. If they came raiding to take Yume back, ordinary police officers would prove little more than speed bumps. 

If that was the case, she was safer in the hands of Kojou’s group. Kojou notwithstanding, Yukina was a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency—an expert in anti-demonic combat. Small doubt Sayaka had handed Yume over to Kojou so he could put her under Yukina’s protection. 

“Hmmm. That’s right… She’s in the same group as that Kirasaka girl, the Lion King Agency?” 

Asagi’s question somehow seemed to have an undertone of dissatisfaction. 

It had only been in very recent days that Asagi had learned of Kojou becoming a vampire and the truth of Yukina being his watcher. Albeit an entirely natural reaction, Asagi seemed to still be holding a grudge at having been the only one not let in on the secret for all that time. 

Well, I understand how she feels…, thought Kojou, shrugging his shoulders with Yume still on his back. 

“She seems to be in a different section than Himeragi, but, hmm, we should at least ask her what the deal is, right?” 

In spite of being part of the same organization, Sword Shaman Yukina and Shamanic War Dancer Sayaka seemed to have completely separate chains of command. There were many things each wasn’t privy to concerning the other’s missions. 

Kojou had wondered if the reason Sayaka called Kojou over the phone once in a while to grill him about how Yukina was doing was because she didn’t have permission to contact Yukina directly. But that made asking Kojou, the target of Yukina’s monitoring, seem wrong somehow. 

“So what kind of organization is the Lion King Agency?” 

“Er, I was told it’s a federal agency established by the, er…National Public Safety Commission. Its main duty is stopping large-scale sorcerous disasters and terrorism, or so I heard.” 

Kojou was voicing the knowledge he remembered from his having asked Yukina a while back. Apparently, a direct line could be traced from the Takiguchi Musha warriors protecting the imperial throne from the supernatural way back in the Heian period. So those charged with directly combatting demons became Sword Shamans; those assigned to suppressing rebellions and protecting VIPs became Shamanic War Dancers. 

The gist was, Sword Shamans dispatched demons and Shamanic War Dancers countered terrorism. Yukina, a Sword Shaman, was watching Kojou because he was somehow viewed no different from a monster himself. 

“Hmmm… So how big is the organization? How many people work for it? How much are they paid? Benefits?” 

“I haven’t asked all that. Besides, you’re the one who specializes in checking things, right?” 

“I investigated, but I have nothing to show for it. It’s like an urban legend. There’s so much disinformation out there that I can’t get anything solid. Plus, a lot of organizations like that have closed networks cut off from the Net, so I don’t have a direct line.” Asagi pouted childishly. Even a genius hacker like her could not pull up information if it wasn’t even on the Net to begin with. 

“Well, if it bothers you, why don’t you just ask Himeragi yourself? I’m not sure how much she actually knows, though.” 

Then he added in a low murmur, “She’s some sort of apprentice and stuff.” 

It wasn’t boasting to say Yukina was top tier when it came to combat ability, but there was no dressing up the fact that her knowledge wasn’t well-rounded. She seemed ill informed about the internal structure and the politics of her organization. 

“…More importantly, why don’t you know at least that much? That girl’s been shadowing you for over three months, right?” the cyber hacker teased. 

“Couldn’t help it, I wasn’t interested. What, is not knowing a problem?” 

“I’d say not knowing is dangerous.” 

“…Dangerous?” 

Kojou was bewildered and lost, but the look Asagi shot him was abnormally serious. 

You know, when she looks like that, she’s pretty beautiful, thought Kojou, the feeling being quite out of place. Asagi seemed to read Kojou’s mind, sighing loudly with an exasperated look. 

“Government agency means it’s just one department in the end. It doesn’t mean they don’t have turf wars with other agencies when their interests don’t align. It also doesn’t mean there aren’t internal disputes.” 

“Yukina and Sayaka get along really well, though. They’re kind of like sisters.” 

“Even if two people get along like that, that doesn’t mean organizations do. You have no idea about the state of relations among the Lion King Agency and the police and other organizations, do you?” 

“…Wait, you’re saying this is related to Yume’s kidnapping?” 

Kojou posed the question in a low voice so as not to rouse Yume from her slumber. He was finally getting a vague idea of just what Asagi was concerned about. 

“I don’t know if it’s related, I just think you shouldn’t trust them unconditionally. I mean, the Lion King Agency as an organization, regardless of what you might think of Yukina and Sayaka personally.” 

“It’s not that I really trust them or anything…” 

After all, Kojou was someone the Lion King Agency had on strict observation. For that matter, it was a standing threat to stab him with a holy spear and slay him outright. 

“But I get what you’re tryin’ to say. It doesn’t mean that what Sayaka’s bunch is doing is real justice. Yume’s not necessarily an ordinary little girl, either.” 

“Well, yeah.” 

Asagi smiled sarcastically, seemingly blushing over her not being the type to have a serious talk like that. 

“Justice and wickedness can easily swap places depending on the place where you stand. Whether it’s people or organizations, there’s always an underside to them.” 

“Yeah, could be,” Kojou said with a vague nod of affirmation. 

Yume had told them she’d been confined and that Sayaka had enabled her to escape. Hence, Kojou had trusted Yume. Kojou had assumed all on his own that Sayaka had entered combat with a criminal organization to save Yume. 

But he’d been wrong. He couldn’t decide that it was so. After all, the Lion King Agency wasn’t an organization of superheroes rescuing people unconditionally. The odds that Yume was a captured criminal, and that Sayaka had knowingly busted her out of jail, were not zero. 

If that was the case, it made Kojou and the others criminal co-conspirators for harboring Yume. 

“That said… First of all, do you really think she could be a bad person?” 

Kojou spoke in a casual voice as he pointed at Yume’s defenseless, sleeping face. 

“Umm.” Asagi faltered, seeming to come to her senses as she made that quiet sound. “…She really doesn’t look it, does she? Even if she was bad to the bone, just abandoning the girl is a little…” 

“Darn right. Anyway, let’s get back to the cottage. We’ll think about what to do later. Yaze said there were beds to spare, right?” 

Then Kojou added, “No point in us worrying about things we can’t know,” suggesting they kick the can down the road. No objections here, the flippant silent wave of Asagi’s hand seemed to say. 

Kojou and the others were headed toward the pool area’s central bus stop. He’d been told that the driverless buses looped around the interior of Blue Elysium, and that riding them would get them back to the cottage free of charge. 

However, just before they crossed an intersection, Asagi noticed something and stopped in her tracks when she said, “Wait. Kojou, do you have money on you at the moment?” 

“Well, I do have my wallet with me… Why?” 

“We’d better buy Yume a change of clothes before we get back to the cottage. We can’t have her wandering around in a swimsuit forever, can we? Gotta buy something for her to wear.” 

“Ahh, you do have a point…” 

She’s sharp, thought Kojou with admiration, fishing his wallet out of the pocket of his swimming trunks. 

“Wait, you mean I’m paying?! You have your wallet, too, don’t you?!” 

“You’re the one who picked her up. Ask for Kirasaka to pay you back later. Have her bill it as an expense. Hmm, that’s right, there was a slightly good-looking boutique up ahead here…” 

“…Maybe it’s my imagination, but I feel like you’re gonna buy something really expensive…” 

“It’s a high-end brand that just hit Japan’s shores for the first time. They say it even supplies the Royal Family of Aldegia.” 

“Whoa?!” 

Brooking no dissent, Asagi snatched Kojou’s wallet from his hands and headed straight for the high-end-brand store. With her mind clearly set on spending a lot more than necessary, Kojou went pale and followed her in a hurry. 

4 

Asagi, returning to the cottage with the large quantity of clothes she purchased, immediately began sorting out the goods. Yume had yet to awaken, sleeping on a bed in the girls’ room. 

Left with nothing to do, Kojou went into the bath. As he used soap to thoroughly wash his body, stinking of salt air and yakisoba sauce, he heard a ruckus around the entrance. Apparently Yukina and Nagisa, off doing other things, had returned to the cottage. 

What somehow struck him as odd was how quiet Nagisa seemed. Notorious for the sheer volume of her words, she was hardly saying anything at all. Instead, he heard Yukina’s voice, speaking with an undertone of concern. 

“…Are you all right, Nagisa? The color of your lips is quite…” 

“Yeah, I’m okay, I’m okay. I’ll bounce back as soon as I rest a bit.” 

He felt like Nagisa was leaning on Yukina’s shoulder, smiling weakly. Her voice sounded frail and shaking, almost like a whisper that threatened to vanish at any moment. 

“…Nagisa?!” 

Kojou got out of the tub in a hurry, not taking the time to dry his hair. Yukina’s eyes widened when she noticed Kojou was still topless. Kojou was in shock as Nagisa limply waved toward him. 

“Ah, Kojou. You got back first. Work wear you out?” 

“This ain’t the time for casual greetings!” 

Kojou was completely beside himself, his voice coming out shrill. Nagisa always acted so lively, but it absolutely wasn’t because she was blessed with endurance. She’d been in and out of the hospital regularly leading up to the last year, and she’d collapsed from anemia only a couple of weeks prior. 

“Himeragi, tell me. Did Nagisa collapse again?” 

“No, that’s…erm…” 

When he pressed the point with Yukina, she somehow seemed conflicted as she averted her eyes. 

“Tee-hee,” Nagisa giggled, smiling like a naughty child, even as Yukina kept her on her feet. 

“Er, well, she rode the roller coaster in the amusement park area three times in a row and ended up…like this.” 

“………Roller coaster?” 

“Yeah well, it’s that ‘Hades’ roller coaster plunging into the water Blue Ely’s famous for, see. It goes up to ninety-seven meters and drops to hit the water at one hundred seventy kilometers per hour. Really packs a punch.” 

“That’d bowl normal people over! Why’d you ride that thing three times in a row?!” 

Nagisa’s unrepentant retelling sent Kojou yelling and staring back at her in shock. Nagisa puffed her cheeks at the scolding. 

“I mean, we got to ride it for free, so I thought it’d be a shame not to ride it a bunch of times. With you and Asagi heading off, even if we went to the pool, we wouldn’t have anyone to show our swimsuits off to, and that’s boring. I’m sure Yukina thought the same thing deep down.” 

“Huh…?!” 

Yukina, taken completely by surprise, immediately froze in place, unable to get a single word in. However, Kojou casually brushed aside Nagisa’s last statement. 

“Never mind that, go rest a while. I’ll wake you up when supper’s ready, all right?” 

“Okay!” 

Still peevish, Nagisa gave a grudging reply and flopped onto the living room sofa. Whatever her protests, she really was exhausted; she was making little sleeping sounds in short order. 

Kojou sighed as he watched all that and turned toward Yukina, standing still in the hallway. 

“Sorry she caused you trouble.” 

“Never mind that, is it…is that…?” 

“Er…Himeragi?” 

“No, never mind.” 

Yukina’s stare conveyed no emotions. 

Kojou, unable to grasp why she was in a sour mood, was a bit thrown off as he said, “Well, anyway, sorry to drop this on you just after you got back, but I want you to meet someone. Could you come with me for a bit?” 

“Ah, yes.” 

Perhaps Kojou had conveyed how serious he was, because Yukina immediately nodded in spite of her dubious expression. 

Kojou led her up the cottage’s staircase, heading toward the girls’ room on the second floor. That was where Asagi and the still-sleeping Yume ought to have been. 

“…Look, Himeragi. Don’t act surprised, and just listen to this Yume girl’s story nice and calmly.” 

“R-right.” 

Kojou scrupulously prepared Yukina beforehand to be as considerate as he could. To Yukina, she and Sayaka were former roommates and practically sisters. That same Sayaka might have faced danger. It wasn’t a given that Yukina would hold it together when she learned that, so Kojou thought it was best to emotionally prepare her as much as possible before meeting Yume. The look Yukina gave Kojou was more suspicious still, but that amount of wariness was a good thing, in his book. 

So with those thoughts, Kojou reached for the doorknob to the girls’ room. 

“Asagi, I’m comin’ in.” 

“—Huh?! W-wait a sec…!” 

As Kojou indiscreetly opened the door, what flew into his field of vision was the sight of Asagi and Yume, sitting half-naked on top of the bed. They were right in the middle of changing clothes. 

Yume was in relatively good shape, her back turned to Kojou while she pulled on a dress from the head down, but Asagi had just a moment ago started to put on her swimsuit. She had her bikini in her right hand, with only her left hand covering her breasts. Kojou, emotionally unprepared for this, froze dumbfounded with both still in his sights. 

“Uh…uhhh?” 

“Don’t uhh me! What are you doing coming into a girl’s room without knocking?!” 

Asagi got up and hurled a bedside alarm clock. It sailed straight and true, slugging Kojou straight in the gut as he stood still and defenseless. 

“Guoah!” 

Kojou groaned in anguish as he was driven out into the hallway. 

Yukina closed the door to the girls’ room without a word. She looked down at Kojou, wilting from agony, and earnestly sighed. 

“Senpai…” 

5 

That day, they had barbecue for supper, both because the cottage came with its own grill, and because Yaze, off doing stuff on his own, had returned with a large amount of meat in tow. 

“Hyaaa! Meat, meat, baby!” 

Amid the faint darkness of evening, Yaze boisterously raised his excited voice. Standing by Kojou, who was babysitting the charcoal fire, Yaze steadily chewed on grilled meat as he said, “Why don’t you have some, Kojou? It’s some gorgeous, high-priced fresh meat provided by yours truly!” 

“Oh, shut up, I’ll eat it! Help me grill it a little more. It’s hot, dammit! And what’s this ‘high-priced fresh-meat’ crap… There’s big ‘for quick sale’ stickers all over the packages, aren’t there?!” 

Is he really the son of a rich family? wondered Kojou suspiciously, fanning the charcoal. 

And if I came here to have fun at resort pools, why’d I have to spend the first day standing in front of a griddle? he asked himself. Being bathed in the heat of the charcoal fire from up close was draining his stamina faster than he’d expected. 

“Come to think of it, Yaze—where did you go off all alone while we were working?” 

“Mm, I told ya. Had to help with the family business,” Yaze answered while nibbling on a freshly grilled rib. 

Kojou shot him a skeptical look. “What kind of help made you have to come to a tourist trap?” 

“Well, inspecting the island interior. I had to see how easy it is for ordinary folks to use the facilities, rate the services provided by staff, then take some photos for the public website…” 

“Photos? Can I have a little look?” 

“Fgnn…?!” 

Before Yaze, in the middle of eating, could give a reply, Kojou took his digital camera and turned the power on. The LCD screen displayed the sight of Kojou and Asagi working harmoniously at the food cart. 

Gwah! went Kojou, unwittingly clearing his throat. 

“Why you—what inspection?! This is just photography!” 

“No, no, you’re wrong, that was just a little bonus. The other part was the real job. There’s pictures of pretty girls playing around in the pool on there, too—” 

“That’s even worse!” 

Kojou chose to delete all the incriminating data without a moment’s hesitation. “Uwaaaaa,” Yaze lamented, half crying as the meat began to overcook. 

“Yahoo, meat!” 

Unrelated to Yaze and Kojou, Nagisa got all fired up with Yume at her side. 

Nagisa, apparently bounced back from the roller coaster rendering her punch-drunk, had apparently taken a liking to Yume, not letting the girl out of her sight since they met. As the youngest sibling, she couldn’t help but be happy from feeling like she had a little sister of her own. 

“But I’m so surprised. Who would’ve expected Kojou to pick up a cute girl like this?” 

Nagisa praised him in apparent admiration. “Hmm,” went Yaze, folding his arms as he solemnly agreed. 

“You’ve restored my faith in you. You’re unusually gifted at sweet-talking elementary schoolers. Man, you’re not a siscon for nothin’.” 

“Siscon has nothing to do with it, geez!” To get his point across further, he offered the rebuttal, “And I don’t like my sister to begin with,” but everyone present silently disregarded him. Even so, Kojou did not give in, straining his voice further. 

“I told you earlier, she’s with a friend of Himeragi’s. I’m just takin’ care of her until she gets in touch and picks her up—” 

Kojou continued making excuses as Nagisa turned her back to him, setting grilled meat aside for Yume’s sake. 

“Yume, have some, too. Don’t hold back.” 

Yume, fully changed into an adorable one-piece dress, lowered her head in proper politeness. 

“Yes, thank you for the food. Also, Nagisa, I think it is best that you eat some more vegetables. Eating only meat is not good for a balanced diet.” 

“Hmm…you have a point there. Yet, Yume, you say that but you still have some carrots left over.” 

Nagisa smiled teasingly as she pointed that out. Yume looked down guiltily. 

“That’s…er, carrots are the only ones I have trouble with. I can eat them when they’re grated and put into curry, though.” 

The glimpse of Yume acting her own age made Nagisa writhe around, eyes sparkling. 

“S-so cute…! Kojou, I’m going to make curry right now!” 

“Calm down. Just make curry for supper tomorrow.” 

Kojou, somehow managing to calm the excited Nagisa, felt weary as he shook his head. Then, Kojou’s eyes shifted to Asagi, who was sitting on the edge of a bench. Since earlier, she hadn’t even touched her food, sullenly gazing at the sea instead. 

Seeing Asagi like that, Kojou got up and said, “Asagi, the…meat’s grilled. Here’s…your chopsticks. For dip, this is the sweet and that’s the medium spicy.” 

He went out of his way to bring her a tray of food. However, Asagi snatched the chopsticks from Kojou without a word, giving him a sidelong wave as if to say Get lost. 

What’s with her? Kojou returned to the others with a disgruntled look. 

Yume asked in a considerate tone, “…You haven’t apologized yet? For earlier.” 

Kojou wearily hung his head. “I have, a whole bunch of times. But she’s still holding a grudge and making a big deal out of it.” 

“I do not believe Asagi is genuinely angry… Rather, you are simply clumsy at following up.” 

Yume’s advice came in a reserved tone. 

Kojou tapered his lips. “I don’t get it. You say follow up… I am sorry for going in without knocking, but she’s the one who forgot to lock the door, and she slugged me in the gut with an alarm clock, right?” 

“I do not believe you should take that attitude. Even though Asagi was wearing a new swimsuit at the time, you did not say one word about it. Even the Western clothes she is wearing now are ones she picked after changing several times.” 

“…Huh? What does that have to do with anything?” 

Not understanding what she meant, Kojou posed the question with a completely serious look. In the first place, what ought he have said to her when she was only wearing the bottom part? 

Yume sighed deeply in apparent resignation. She watched Kojou with a slightly resentful look. 

“Also, it is not only Asagi who was seen changing clothes…” 

“Ah…errr… S-sorry about that. Very sorry.” 

“Understood. I forgive you.” 

Yume smiled teasingly as she watched Kojou lower his head. She was still a little red under the eyes, probably from having cried herself to sleep. Even though her demeanor looked stouthearted, Yume’s position was fundamentally as uncertain as it was before. 

One effect of Kojou’s having muddied the waters by entering the girls’ room during her changing was that he had yet to ask Yume the details about her confinement. Yume herself seemed torn as to how she should explain. 

Even so, Kojou and the others could not simply continue grilling meat forever. 

“—Senpai, thank you very much for the cell phone.” 

Having quietly returned from the cottage, Yukina tendered the cell phone she’d borrowed from Kojou. She’d been calling the Lion King Agency to get a read on the situation. 

“How about it? Could you get in touch with Kirasaka?” Kojou asked in a low voice, meeting Yukina’s gaze. 

She quietly shook her head and said, “No. It is strictly forbidden for Shamanic War Dancers to communicate with others while on a mission. To begin with, they are covert operatives engaged in curses and assassination… Ah, there are rather few assassination missions nowadays, but work protecting VIPs and infiltration and sabotage have increased by equal measure.” 

“I see… Now that you mention it, can’t have info leaking out when you’re doing any of those jobs, huh?” 

Kojou grimaced, accepting her explanation. If even the Lion King Agency HQ had no contact with Sayaka from regular reports, there probably was no way to get in touch with her at all. That explained why Sayaka hadn’t answered Kojou’s own repeated calls. 

“Yes. That is why I could not tell Sayaka about the details of my own mission.” 

Yukina lowered her eyes as she murmured with regret. She was still like that when Kojou said, “Hey,” handing her a plate with grilled meat. 

“Sorry, thank you very much for the food,” Yukina said as she accepted it. “But Master said that no Shamanic War Dancer has been dispatched in Sayaka’s place.” 

“…Master… Ohh, you mean Professor Kitty…” 

Kojou remembered having met Yukina’s teacher at the Lion King Agency branch office. Though, he’d only set eyes on her feline familiar when they’d “met”… 

“In other words, Sayaka’s still on her mission?” 

“At the very least, I believe it is certain she is still alive.” 

Yukina replied in a strong tone of voice, almost like she was saying it for her own benefit. 

They did not know Sayaka’s purpose in coming to Blue Elysium. But if she was unable to continue her mission, the Lion King Agency would surely have immediately dispatched another Shamanic War Dancer. Put another way, the fact a replacement Shamanic War Dancer was not on the way meant they could deduce Sayaka was safe and sound. 

“But if that’s the case, why doesn’t she come for Yume?” 

“I do not know…though it is possible she thinks Yume is safe under your protection. After all, as guardians of elementary schoolers might go, you would be the World’s Mightiest.” 

“Er, that seems wrong, somehow…” 

Kojou was caught off guard by the pun in Yukina’s metaphor, as it could more than likely cause some sort of misunderstanding. The Fourth Primogenitor might be the World’s Mightiest Vampire, but talking about him like the world’s most zealous protector of little girls put him in a bind. 

In the first place, Kojou didn’t think Sayaka trusted him quite that much. Besides, that was the kind of time when Sayaka would come to visit Yukina, making a grand entrance. She, wanting to meet Yukina so badly under normal conditions, would never willingly miss a perfect opportunity like that. 

That being the case, Sayaka really must have had a good reason why she couldn’t rendezvous with Yume. Somehow, she’d apparently landed herself in a more troublesome spot than she’d anticipated. 

“Er…perhaps she might have attempted to meet Riru?” 

Yume haltingly opened her mouth in apparent consideration for Kojou and Yukina, who had fallen silent. Kojou narrowed his eyes in mild surprise. 

“Riru? Who’s that?” 

“My older sister.” 

“Your older sister…?” 

“Yes. She was confined in the Kusuki-Elysée laboratory with me.” 

Yume explained with a minimum of words. Kojou and Yukina made eye contact and silently nodded together. 

That there was another girl besides Yume in similar circumstances was unexpected information; on the other hand, it explained something significant: namely, why Yume was able to remain so mysteriously calm when she had been locked away, and how she was able to behave so firmly at the moment. The hypothesis that Sayaka was searching for this Riru girl the entire time felt like a convincing explanation, setting those doubts aside. 

“Kusuki-Elysée, I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before…” 

“It’s the name of a Blue Elysium investor. I believe he is the chief financier for Demon Beast Park.” 

Yukina immediately answered Kojou’s question. After all, she and Nagisa had visited Demon Beast Park but a few hours before. 

“That so. It was on a Blue Ely pamphlet… Right, it was a corporation that imports, exports, and breeds demon beasts for industrial stuff…” 

After hearing that, Kojou’s expression went rigid. If Yume’s words were the truth, she wasn’t involved in any mere kidnapping incident. This was organized crime involving a major corporation. 

“—Then that’d make the company running Blue Ely the mastermind behind Yume and Riru’s kidnapping?” 

“If so, I can understand why the Lion King Agency would dispatch Sayaka. It is up to Sayaka and those like her to deal with organized international sorcerous crime.” 

Yukina’s expression also went rigid as she made the statement. Kusuki-Elysée was a well-known corporation. Even the Lion King Agency could not lay a finger upon it without solid evidence. That was surely why Sayaka had been sent to covertly investigate. After all, a Shamanic War Dancer with assassination skills was the kind of person you’d send to infiltrate the enemy’s camp. 

“But…I don’t get it.” 

Kojou picked at the vegetables on top of his plate of hot food as he murmured, looking deep in thought. 

“The Lion King Agency knows that Yume’s with us, right? So why didn’t they say anything? Aren’t Yume’s parents worried about her?” 

“…Perhaps they intend to employ us as a decoy.” 

Yukina’s hesitant murmur was in such a quiet voice that Kojou barely heard it. 

“You mean they’re waiting for Kusuki-Elysée to come take Yume back?” 

Kojou watched Yukina with a grave look. Yukina shook her head, almost as if taking back her own opinion. 

“Of course, that is not set in stone.” 

“No, but…now that I think about it, it makes sense.” 

Kojou accepted the thought with a bitter look. 

Certainly, it was difficult for the Lion King Agency to infiltrate the Kusuki-Elysée facility. But if someone from Kusuki-Elysée came of their own will, that was a different story. That went double if it was for the purpose of abducting a little schooler; there’d be nothing to stop an arrest in that case. 

So maybe the Lion King Agency was waiting for Kusuki-Elysée to make a move and try to recapture Yume. That would give them a powerful card to play for squishing Kusuki-Elysée flat. Furthermore, they had a Sword Shaman of the Lion King Agency protecting their decoy, Yume. There was no way they wouldn’t exploit the coincidence. 

“However, there are issues with such an operation. After all, compared to the Kusuki-Elysée company, you are far more dangerous, senpai. To involve you, when you are a source of much more trouble for others and a far greater menace…!” 

Yukina didn’t even realize she was putting Kojou down in an ultra-serious tone. Kojou uttered a low groan. He felt like she’d said something rather rude toward him, but he could not manage a rebuttal. At any rate, Kojou had previously allowed the power of the Fourth Primogenitor to run amok, inflicting grave damage to Itogami Island; a reoccurrence on Blue Elysium would likely cause it to sink into the sea without a trace. Yukina was right to be worried. 

In the first place, Yume being a decoy was a hypothesis, no more than speculation on their part. They couldn’t dismiss the possibility that the Lion King Agency and Kusuki-Elysée were after something completely different. 

“Hey, Yume… What did Kusuki-Elysée want you two locked up for, anyway?” Kojou, still holding serving tongs, turned to Yume. “Ahh, of course you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to answer that. But if your older sister’s in any kind of trouble, it’s best to help her as fast as possible, right? Can you at least tell us if she’s in danger?” 

“—I believe you do not need to worry about Riru.” Yume’s declaration was firm. Her voice was full of certainty, sounding nothing like bluff or bluster. “In the first place, Riru is who the people at Kusuki-Elysée need, not me. They surely will not hurt her. Besides, Riru has been cooperating with their experiment from the beginning.” 

“Experiment?” 

“That is… I’m sorry…I do not want to speak of it right now.” 

“Nah, sorry for asking. I promised you didn’t have to say, right?” 

Kojou lowered his head in a hurry. Even if she spoke like an adult, this was a little girl, an elementary schooler confined by a group for some crazy reason. It wasn’t exactly a shock she didn’t want to think about an unpleasant experiment. Even Kojou understood it was bad to try to push her to talk about it. 

“Ah… All this using my head more than usual is making me hungry. Let me eat up for a bit.” 

Kojou quickly changed the subject before it made Yume depressed. Besides, he really was hungry. He’d been grilling so much meat for everyone else that he hadn’t laid a single finger on it. 

But the meat had already vanished from the cooking pot; there were only scraps of boiled cabbages, quietly simmering away. 

“—Er, wha—? Where’d the beef go? Hey, Yaze, wasn’t there more meat that hadn’t been grilled yet?” 

Kojou questioned Yaze, sitting on a bench and eating ice cream for desert. Kinda late to be asking that was written all over Yaze’s face as he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Oh, that stuff, well… Asagi grilled and ate it all.” 

“A-all of it?!” 

When Kojou examined further, he saw that the meat tray Yaze had bought was completely empty and had been thrust into a garbage bag. And it wasn’t just the meat: All the veggies and various kinds of mushrooms had been wiped out, too. Kojou gaped as he took that in. To begin with, the meat Yaze had bought should have been enough for over ten people. 

“Hmph.” 

With Kojou stunned and speechless, Asagi glared sidelong at him and snorted with satisfaction. In contrast to her slender appearance, she had quite an appetite. Kojou cursed that he’d allowed himself to forget that fact. 

As Kojou put a hand on his empty belly and groaned in agony, Asagi was finally in a better mood. Yume looked between the two and broke into giggles. 

Then Nagisa, having finished eating her own ice cream in silence, hopped to her feet and said, “Whew! …I sure am full. Hey, Yaze. Let’s do some fireworks! You said you bought some earlier. I really like the showy ones that make lots of sparks.” 

“Oh…you have fireworks? Really?” Yume raised her face, her eyes glittering. 

With Yume looking like that, Nagisa turned to her and reached out with a hand. 

“Come on over, Yume. Let’s watch them together.” 

“Yes!” 

The glow of dazzling fireworks shone upon Yume’s face. Kojou absentmindedly stared at the sight of Yume innocently excited, like any ordinary girl. 

And yet somehow, that smile felt exceedingly fleeting, even lonely. 

Night befell Blue Elysium—the “blue paradise” wrought by man. 

6 

Demon Beast Park boasted a vast expanse of land, but the areas of the facility open to the public did not even amount to 40 percent. The remaining 60-odd percent was dedicated to keeping and feeding the demon beasts, and housing a research ward where their abilities were analyzed. 

In this latter section where cutting-edge research was being conducted, access was granted to a precious few, even among Kusuki-Elysée, the financing body behind Demon Beast Park. 

And there, in the deepest part of the research ward, was an unscheduled guest. 

He was an adult man with a tight physique. He wore a sharp-looking, expensive white suit—he was around thirty, give or take a few years. He came across as a man of intellect who lacked human warmth. 

In the office, a black-haired girl wearing a high school uniform came to greet him. 

“We have been awaiting you, Chairman Kusuki.” 

Even the sight of the girl in the out-of-place outfit brought no change in the expression on the man she called Kusuki. 

“You do not seem surprised, Attack Mage Kisaki.” 

“I received word of your arrival.” 

“I’m pleased to have gained such a capable partner. What is the status of the Serpent?” 

After the girl gave a businesslike reply, Kusuki looked back at her with a faintly amused smile. 

Kazuomi Kusuki, founder of Kusuki-Elysée, was known as a man of tremendous capability. Though some criticized him for treating his company employees as disposable tools, he handed prized postings out to capable subordinates without regard to age or career history. From such a man’s point of view, there was no reason to care about the age or gender of one’s business partners. 

The black-haired girl operated the panel at her fingertips, bringing up a map on the office room’s monitor. It displayed the topography of the ocean floor over a wide area, with Itogami Island at the center. 

There was a red indicator flashing in and out on the lower right section of the map. It was drawing closer to Itogami Island, but at a pace so slow that one could almost miss it. 

“Based on the tracking beacon on the sunken Isrus, it is still drifting over a dragon line, approaching from east-southeast. We estimate it will arrive just off Itogami Island sometime between tomorrow afternoon and early morning of the day after.” 

“Is that so. According to plan, more or less,” Kusuki said with a nod. However, his look of satisfaction immediately grew clouded. 

Kusuki’s eyes were fixed upon an old stone statue placed atop the office room desk—a statue of a goddess bearing owl wings. 

“So Her vessel has not yet returned?” 

Kusuki asked in a voice that included a faint whiff of irritation. 

“You need not be concerned—it is inevitable that She shall return of Her own will.” 

The black-haired girl gave an unconcerned reply. But Kusuki seemed displeased as he shook his head. 

“It is not that I doubt your words, but I am uneasy. If we miss this opportunity, it will be another four years, give or take, until the Serpent returns to Itogami Island, yes? I would prefer to be fully prepared beforehand.” 

“Understood. In that case, I shall make a minor move of my own.” 

“I would expect nothing less.” 

The girl’s prompt decision finally made Kusuki’s cheeks slacken. 

“Incidentally, I heard that someone helped the vessel escape?” 

“That is not a concern. We captured a Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency during her infiltration of Kusuki-Elysée. Using her as a bargaining chip, we have ensured the government shall not interfere.” 

For one brief moment, when she voiced the words Shamanic War Dancer, the black-haired girl’s lips formed a smile. 

“I see. So you have transformed injury into great success,” Kusuki muttered in an indifferent tone as he turned his eyes to the map of the monitor once more. 

His expression had not changed. But the girl gazed at Kusuki with great interest as she said, “You seem to be enjoying this, chairman. Am I mistaken?” 

“Of course I enjoy this… I’ve come to the point where the dream I’ve had since I was a little boy is finally within my reach.” 

The corners of Kusuki’s lips curled up as he spoke. He stretched a hand toward the map on the monitor, almost as if he was about to grasp hold of the world itself. 

The girl unemotionally gazed at his smiling face, one that somehow seemed cruel, and murmured, “I see… A dream, is it?” 

The girl, now out of the office room, descended a set of stairs on her way underground. 

It was a Spartan corridor of bare concrete. On either side were rows of small rooms with thick, metal doors. These were medical rooms for isolating wounded demon beasts. 

However, it was not a demon beast confined in this particular room, but a tall girl with a ponytail. 

Sayaka Kirasaka seemed to be sulking as she sat cross-legged on top of a simple, cheap bed, both of her hands still manacled. There were minor scars on her arms and legs, but there were no blatant wounds beyond that. She was simply in a very sour mood. 

The black-haired girl operated a digital panel to unlock the door and let herself in. 

“—You are awake?” 

Then, her brows furrowed as she turned her gaze to the floor. Two men in white gowns were out cold below Sayaka’s bed. 

“…And they are?” the girl asked, bewildered. 

Sayaka’s lips twisted in visible scorn as she said, “No idea. They probably thought they’d feel me up or something while I was knocked out. This is why I hate men…!” 

“I see.” The girl sighed. Apparently, Kusuki-Elysée researchers had found Sayaka while she was asleep and had entered the room without permission. It was her fault for not keeping better watch. 

The researchers didn’t know who or what Sayaka Kirasaka was—not for Sayaka’s safety, but for their own. 

“…Did you kill them?” the dark-haired girl inquired, crouching down beside the collapsed men. 

Sayaka gave a cold shrug of her shoulders. “Of course not. But if you don’t slap a dispel on them soon, it might leave some mental aftereffects.” 

“Setting their wicked acts aside, this was most reckless. To think one would attempt to touch a Shamanic War Dancer of the Lion King Agency, an expert in curses and assassination, even while she has lost consciousness—” The girl stopped to sigh. 

Excellent priestesses, Shamanic War Dancers were also spell casters and assassins. This remained true even when they were sleeping. 

Shamanic War Dancers subconsciously covered themselves in powerful curses as they slept. Anyone touching them with ill intent would find that rebounding upon them, magnified many times over. Only a spell caster of equal or superior rank could touch Sayaka’s body—save perhaps someone for whom Sayaka had opened her heart. 

“Looks like you know all about us, Miss Six Blades of the Bureau of Astrology. Thanks to that, you had me fooled good. 

“Mm-hmm,” continued Sayaka, glaring at the girl with cold eyes full of abuse. 

“You’re an Attack Mage manipulating the flow of yin and yang dealing with sorcerous disasters, huh? That’s why you use the Eight Thundergods’ School. Six Blades of the Bureau of Astrology and Sword Shamans of the Lion King Agency are two peas in a pod, after all.” 

“…Yes, I suppose so.” 

The girl did not deny Sayaka’s assertion. 

Like the Lion King Agency, the Bureau of Astrology was a special government agency. And the girl Sayaka had called Six Blades was a federal Attack Mage, just like Sword Shamans and Shamanic War Dancers. 

However, unlike the Lion King Agency’s objective of halting man-made sorcerous disasters and sorcerous terrorism, the Bureau of Astrology’s mission was to prevent naturally occurring sorcerous disasters. To generalize broadly, Sword Shamans were experts in anti-demonic combat, and Six Blades were experts in anti–demon beast combat, to the point that some called them Black Sword Shamans. 

“I am Kiriha Kisaki.” 

The black-haired girl quietly introduced herself. Then, she pulled out a small remote control and used it to unlock the manacles binding Sayaka. 

“I had not intended to deceive you, but I suppose I should apologize to you, Sayaka Kirasaka.” 

“…What game are you playing here?” 

Sayaka grew suspicious as she rubbed her now-free wrists. Before the doubtful Sayaka, Kiriha tendered a long silver sword—Lustrous Scale. 

“I am not your enemy. Surely you have realized it?” 

“That you’re working under government orders, too?” 

Sayaka grimaced as she accepted the sword, snatching it out of Kiriha’s hand. 

Sayaka was under orders to secure and protect Yume, confined by Kusuki-Elysée. But Kiriha had cooperated with Kusuki-Elysée and impeded Sayaka’s mission. If she was acting according to Bureau of Astrology orders, it meant the Bureau of Astrology and the Lion King Agency were completely at odds with each other. 

“In other words, the government is not monolithic in its opinion. One’s goals change according to one’s standpoint, yes?” 

That said, Kiriha drew something from the black case she carried over her back. It was a long, slender, metallic weapon. The tip rotated as the sliding handle changed form, turning it into a long spear, near two meters in length. Its tip was split in two to produce a forked spear— 

Its beautiful silhouette greatly resembled a tuning fork. 

Sayaka glared at Kiriha’s sudden drawing of the weapon and gripped her own sword. 

“The upper echelon of the Bureau of Astrology has spoken to the Lion King Agency. When this mission is over, you shall be released. But before that, I shall have you serve as Her vessel for but a short time.” 

“Her…?” 

Ting went the sharp reverberation ringing in Sayaka’s ear, making her expression freeze over. Kiriha’s weapon was no simple spear. It was an amplifier for concentrating and releasing ritual spells. 

But this can’t be—! thought Sayaka, bewildered. It was not Kiriha’s ritual energy being released via the forked spear, but rather, something more distant. It was powerful demonic energy, an ancient power, one that probably rivaled a vampire primogenitor’s— 

“This power… Don’t tell me it’s…the Witch of the Night?! You’re saying Yume Eguchi is Her vessel…?!” 

Realizing Kiriha’s true objective, Sayaka swung Lustrous Scale upward. 

But that was where Sayaka’s movement came to a halt. The vast demonic energy unleashed by the forked spear had smashed the Shamanic War Dancer’s mental wall, seizing control of Sayaka’s mind. She had taken over Sayaka’s physical body. 

“Why…are you…doing this…?!” 

Amid her paper-thin consciousness, Sayaka desperately wove the words. Kiriha faintly smiled and shook her head. 

“A foolish question, Sayaka Kirasaka. There is but one reason for the Bureau of Astrology to move. We shall protect this nation… No, the world.” 

Then, Kiriha quietly lowered her eyes, and murmuring so quietly that only she could hear: 

“Even if Itogami Island must sink in the process—”