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Scene shift—
"Wait, what? You're heading to the Current Demon Lord Faction this afternoon too?"
Inside the palace hall, Mio Naruse blinked in surprise at the news.
They'd just disbanded the Old Demon Lord Faction that morning, and now they were going straight to the Current Demon Lord Faction?
Was Bokue seriously planning to steamroll the Entire Northern Territory in a single day?
So Miss Kuroka really wasn't joking earlier after all...
"Obviously that's not what this is about."
The response came from above.
Bokue was perched casually atop the grand throne at the far end of the hall, peering down at the spot where he'd kicked Ramusas out of existence just minutes prior. With a snap of his fingers, golden light sparkled over the red-haired man's body before it began to disintegrate like snow melting into thin air.
Then Bokue raised a single hand and pointed toward the massive crack in the palace ceiling, the one his earlier attack had cleaved open. With a casual flick of his finger, the fractured rafters groaned as the building shifted back into place—restoring the throne room's structure like nothing had ever happened.
Job done, he hopped down from the throne in three brisk steps and strolled up to Mio, clapping the dust from his hands.
"Mio, remember when we dealt with that whole Zolgear incident? I crossed paths with that Demon Lord Leohart."
"Right... You let Zolgear escape so you could track him down and kill him in front of Leohart, didn't you?" Mio said, thinking back.
"Exactly. I'm sure that left a pretty deep impression," Bokue grinned, flashing a confident thumbs-up.
"...You say that like you didn't threaten the guy."
"Anyway, point is, he'll definitely agree to my request."
He said it with such conviction that the underlying menace was almost funny.
"So yeah, about lunch—" Bokue paused mid-sentence.
He was going to suggest they eat here, but then realized something... the entire castle felt strangely deserted. After all the chaos, not a single guard had shown up. Had Ramusas really been living in this giant fortress all by himself?
Did this place even have food?
"No need to worry, I already checked on that."
The voice came from the side—Zest, the dark-skinned demon Valkyrie, now back in her very questionable maid outfit. She held an armful of vegetables and meat, like she'd just done a full grocery run through the royal pantry.
When Bokue glanced at her, she lifted the bags proudly.
"I raided the storerooms earlier. There's more than enough food to feed us for a week."
"Nice. That makes things easier."
"I-I'll help with cooking then!" Mio suddenly volunteered.
Huh?
Even Maria looked surprised.
This was the same Mio who never cooked at home. Not that she was totally useless with chores, but when it came to the kitchen, she was the queen of delivery and dining out.
Usually, Maria handled the meals while Zest assisted.
"That's... great," Zest blinked but nodded, clearly surprised.
It was nearly lunchtime. Even though they'd started their day early, by the time they'd met with the Gremory family, traveled to the Northern Capital—and wrapped up this mess, it was almost 11 AM.
And with so many mouths to feed, having more hands in the kitchen would definitely help.
"If Lady Mio's going, then I'm going too!" Maria chimed in.
But Mio seemed weirdly flustered and didn't even respond to her sister. She just grabbed Zest and Maria by the arms and hurried off toward the kitchen—deliberately avoiding eye contact with a certain other redhead still standing in the hall.
As the trio left, Grayfia gave a respectful nod to the brown-haired woman beside her.
"I'll go help as well, Lady Venelana."
"Of course, go ahead~" Venelana smiled warmly, then turned to her daughter to say something—but before she could, Rias stomped across the hall with an unusually puffed expression.
She marched straight up to Bokue, face pink with irritation.
"Bokue. What's the deal?"
"...The deal with what?"
He was genuinely confused.
"With Mio Naruse!"
Back turned to the others, Rias puffed out her cheeks in rare frustration.
"She just called you brother-in-law!"
"Yeah. And?"
Bokue blinked, still not seeing the problem.
"You are her cousin, so calling me that makes sense, doesn't it?"
"But you did sleep with her—!"
She hissed in a low voice, glancing around to make sure no one else heard, her voice equal parts embarrassed and exasperated.
"Ara ara~ So that's what this is about."
A familiar, honeyed voice cut in from the side—Akeno, resting her chin on one hand with a perfectly sweet, teasing smile.
"I was wondering why the President kept glaring daggers at Mio until she ran off. Seems like someone's a little sensitive and needs some... desensitization training."
"De... Desensitization training??" Rias's lips twitched. "What kind of nonsense is that?"
"It's simple~" Akeno beamed. "Since Venelana-sama wanted us to treat each other as sisters, I'll just call Bokue... 'brother-in-law' from now on."
"Huh??"
Rias stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
"Why do you get to be the older sister??"
"Because I'm older than you, of course~" Akeno said matter-of-factly, arms crossed with smug elegance.
"No way! We're the same age! Your birthday is July 21st, mine's April 9th! That makes me older!"
"Ehhh, not necessarily~"
And with a devilish grin, Akeno casually lifted her arms and pressed them upward, making her assets bounce.
"...That doesn't count as a valid metric!!"
Thankfully, Venelana stepped in, placing a gentle hand on both girls' shoulders.
"Alright, alright. Save this argument for later. Rias, your glare really did scare Mio off just now. She's your cousin—maybe it's time for a proper chat between sisters. They're all in the kitchen, right? Why don't you go help out?"
"...Fine."
Rias realized she may have overreacted and turned to leave.
But of course, Akeno followed right behind.
"I'll come too~ As your loyal club member, I can't possibly let my precious President face kitchen duty alone. Let's go, Rias-chan,"
"AKE–NO!!"
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