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"Hello? Yukina, are you still there... Hey, is the signal bad?"
Meanwhile, hearing the sudden silence on the phone, Sayaka Kirasaka raised her voice slightly from the other end, apparently checking her own phone.
The Sword Shaman hurriedly spoke up again.
"Ah no, Sayaka, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."
"And about what you just asked..."
Yukina paused briefly, taking a deep breath to steady herself before continuing.
"Actually, Bokue-senpai hasn't been on Itogami Island these past few days."
After saying this, she snuck a glance at both Bokue and Nagisa.
She wasn't lying—Bokue really hadn't been on Itogami Island these past two days. He'd been in the demon realm the whole time.
She'd stated the facts, but to Sayaka, it sounded like she and Bokue barely knew each other.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Hearing that Bokue hadn't been on Itogami Island at all, the War Dancer's voice immediately gained several degrees of relief.
"I see, phew~ That's good, that's good. Otherwise I'd really worry he might do something inappropriate to you, Yukina. After all, our Yukina is so cute that any man would find it hard not to have wicked thoughts..."
"Wait wait wait!"
Seeing that a certain War Dancer was about to launch into another endless tirade, Yukina quickly cut her off.
"More importantly... Sayaka, about the Aldegyr Kingdom's eldest princess visiting Itogami Island—when will you arrive? I can pick you up at the airport."
"Mmm, no need."
Eh?
Quite surprisingly, Sayaka on the phone actually refused Yukina's offer to pick her up.
"I should arrive tomorrow morning, possibly afternoon. But the Aldegyr Kingdom's eldest princess... her situation might be a bit complicated."
"Complicated?"
Yukina didn't understand what she meant.
But for some reason, Sayaka didn't seem inclined to explain, just giving a soft acknowledgment.
"Anyway, I'll come find you after I land. I'll explain the specifics then... Oh right, you're still living in the same place, right Yukina?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Then no problem. In that case, I'll leave it at that for now. See you tomorrow, Yukina."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
With those final words, the call ended.
Looking at the "Call Ended" display on her phone screen, Yukina remained somewhat dazed.
Nagisa asked with concern from beside her: "What's wrong, Yukina? Everything okay?"
"No... I'm fine."
The Sword Shaman came back to her senses and shook her head.
"I was just thinking about what Sayaka said on the phone. From what she implied, something seems to have happened with that Aldegyr Kingdom princess. I'm not sure what the situation is."
"So what kingdom is that again? Sounds European—is it from Eastern Europe too?"
Bokue raised an eyebrow slightly.
After the Dimitrie Vatler incident, he'd developed quite a negative impression of Eastern European countries, since basically all of Eastern Europe fell under the Warlord's Domain.
There's a saying about how corruption starts from the top. He'd already let the Warlord's Domain off once during that snake-playing blonde's incident. If they still weren't satisfied and wanted to send people to irritate him again, then Bokue felt he could seriously consider wiping all of Eastern Europe off the world map.
"That's not it at all~"
However, Nagisa immediately refuted him.
The girl with her still-developing curves straddled his thigh, leaning forward to repeatedly poke Bokue's cheek with her finger.
"The Aldegyr Kingdom is a Northern European country! And that eldest princess has been on the news before. She gives a completely different impression from that snake guy—she's a really gentle and beautiful big sister with super pretty silver hair. She looks a lot like one of Nagisa's classmates... Speaking of which, Big Brother doesn't even know this? Don't you ever watch TV?"
"I rarely do, actually..."
Bokue admitted honestly.
Besides, even if he did watch the news, it wouldn't have helped—he'd been in the demon realm these past few days. What TV was there to watch?
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In any case, the topic of the Aldegyr Kingdom's eldest princess ended there for now.
After all, only Sayaka knew the specific situation. Until they learned the truth, further discussion would just be wild speculation.
Of course, the main point was that it was almost time for Bokue's promised meeting with Asagi.
Scene shift—
Outside the luxury apartment building on the west side of Itogami Island's city center.
When Bokue teleported there, a certain genius computer girl had already changed into her going-out clothes and was waiting downstairs.
"Sorry for the wait—"
"Oh, you know you're late?"
Before he could finish, Asagi caught sight of her boyfriend's appearance and marched up in three quick steps, delivering a kick to his shin.
Though the force was more like pouting than an actual attack.
Then Asagi crossed her arms, leaning forward slightly as she huffed in dissatisfaction.
"You always appear and disappear like a ghost in an instant, yet you still made me wait here for nearly five minutes. Be honest, Bokue—did you mute my messages?"
"Mute? No, I was just in the shower when you messaged me."
Bokue explained.
Shower?
Asagi made a curious sound, then leaned in close, her nose twitching as she sniffed around.
There was indeed a faint scent of body wash.
"Oh, so you were showering. Fine then. Alright, alright, we should get going. Let's get dinner first~"
"Mm..."
"'Mm' nothing."
Coming to his side and somewhat forcefully linking arms with her boyfriend, Asagi leaned against him on tiptoes, pouting slightly.
"Is eating all you think about? After so many days away, didn't you think to ask how your dear girlfriend has been?"
...Was that necessary?
Bokue slowly formed a question mark.
"You look like you're doing great."
After all, it was summer vacation. This homebody girl was definitely sleeping in every day. Apart from weekly maintenance at the Keystone Gate, she basically had nothing to do.
Though the weather was hot for commuting, with her income plus being from an official's family, taking a taxi to and from work was nothing.
How could she not be doing well under these conditions?
"Who says I'm fine~"
Asagi complained while holding his arm and walking forward.
"I've been super busy these past two days."
"...Doesn't look like it."
Bokue shook his head.
He really couldn't see it.
"It's true!"
Asagi emphasized slightly, looking toward the city center ahead and pointing at one half-finished commercial building among the many high-rises.
"See that building? A few days ago, for some reason, it was suddenly attacked. Now it's just half a building like you see."
"Attacked? What happened?"
"Not sure. It seems to have been hit by some strange power, or maybe pure physical force. Anyway, even the island's Special Security Force hasn't figured out the specifics yet."
Special Security Force, huh...
At that name, Bokue automatically pictured a certain gothic lolita.
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Meanwhile, in the Special Security Force building—
A petite blue-haired emotionless maid pushed open the director's office door carrying coffee, her eyes reflecting the black-haired gothic girl reviewing documents at her desk as she spoke flatly.
"[Report]. The [Master]—the Director has been searching for has returned to the island and is currently with Asagi Aiba."
"Oh?"
Natsuki Minamiya paused in her document review and looked up.
"Got it. I'll go find him after I finish here."
"[Acknowledged]"
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