"What's a Demon Incantation?"
While Natsuki and Kirika locked eyes, Luo Shu lowered his voice and asked Takina.
Takina glanced at Luo Shu, considered for a moment, and began to explain:
"The so-called Demon Incantations refer to those special characters that appear as 'written symbols' on various objects. They are a 'textual' form of power used by demons and Demon Warlocks, possessing significant danger."
"Under normal circumstances, items inscribed with demonic text typically carry a danger level of 2 or higher."
After saying this, Takina Inoue suddenly remembered something and turned to Luo Shu to ask:
"Do you know about the danger ratings?"
"I heard Natsuki Minamiya mention it on the way here."
Luo Shu responded, now understanding why Natsuki Minamiya had briefed him earlier about the danger levels of Abyss Artefacts.
'That said, these ratings seem slightly different from the system's tier definitions?'
'The level 2 Abyss Artefact 'Demon Heart' is classified as Elite Rank in the system. Does that mean level 1 Abyss Artefacts cover both Common and Excellent evaluations?'
As Luo Shu pondered how the ratings corresponded, Kirika Tachibana emerged carrying coffee and called out to Mika behind the counter:
"Mika, bring out the items."
"Understood." The dark-skinned Mika retrieved several envelopes from the cabinet and handed them to Kirika.
"Shall we sit over there?" Kirika waved the envelopes at Natsuki Minamiya with a smile.
Natsuki frowned at her before walking towards a long table, remarking, "You're as troublesome as ever."
"May I take that as a compliment?" Kirika followed with a laugh, then called to Luo Shu, Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue: "You three come over too."
Hearing this, Luo Shu and Takina exchanged glances before approaching. Meanwhile, Chisato Nishikigi casually clasped her hands behind her head, looking entirely unsurprised:
"Looks like we've got work again!"
"To be precise, it's a continuation of previous work."
Kirika clarified as she placed the envelopes on the table. After sitting down, she addressed Luo Shu:
"Actually, you're the one who earned most of the credit for this, Luo Shu."
"Me?" Luo Shu raised an eyebrow.
Just as he was wondering what Kirika Tachibana meant, he heard her remind him:
"Because you killed that Demon Hunter's Hound, I managed to extract some intel from its brain, which led me to identify the 'jewellery shop assistant' who was hypnotised by the Demon Warlock."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's expression cleared with realisation.
He remembered now—or rather, it had only happened yesterday, so the memory was still fresh.
From what he understood, the incident began when a Demon Warlock from the secretive organisation Truth Astronomy entered the country illegally and was ambushed by a Seven-Star Demon Hunter from another covert group, 'Demon Hunters'.
After their clash, the Demon Warlock was critically injured. Before dying, they used the 'Demon Heart'—now in Luo Shu's possession—to hypnotise a jewellery shop assistant and transfer all their belongings to her.
The Demon Heart was then sold by this assistant to the shop's owner, Mira Tsubakihara, which led to her being tracked by the Hound sent by the Seven-Star Demon Hunter.
Later, when Mira returned home, she sought help from her neighbour, Luo Shu, resulting in the accidental killing of the Hound by Luo Shu.
At this point, Luo Shu finally grasped the situation: "Among the items transferred by the jewellery shop assistant, there was a Demon Incantation?"
"Exactly. Though not just one—but a whole stack."
As she spoke, Kirika Tachibana laid out the ten envelopes Mika had handed her earlier in a neat row, then propped her chin on one hand, smiling playfully at Natsuki Minamiya:
"Each of these ten letters records the location of a transferred document, any one of which could contain a Demon Incantation."
"So, Natsuki, which one would you like?"
"Quite the achievement, Kirika."
Natsuki Minamiya crossed her arms, her expression far from pleased as she addressed Kirika Tachibana:
"Getting to the hypnotised shop assistant before the Metropolitan Police Department and the Onmyou Agency, then seizing all the surveillance footage from the jewellery shop and her movements, leaving my people empty-handed. And now you're planning to trade these with me?"
"You really are as greedy as ever!"
'So that's how it was...' Luo Shu finally understood why Kirika Tachibana had been grinning so slyly.
From his deductions, the Demon Warlock's illegal entry and the Seven-Star Demon Hunter's pursuit must have been under the Metropolitan Police Department's surveillance from the start.
Through some scheme Luo Shu wasn't privy to, the police had likely used the Seven-Star Demon Hunter to ambush and kill the Demon Warlock, intending to eliminate both in one fell swoop.
However, the Seven-Star Demon Hunter had clearly sensed the police's ill intentions, so they deliberately wounded the Demon Warlock, allowing them to successfully transfer their Abyss Artefacts elsewhere and throw the police off guard.
Now, the police were scrambling, forced to both guard against the Seven-Star Demon Hunter and search for the scattered Abyss Artefacts to prevent the situation from escalating.
And in the midst of this chaos, Kirika Tachibana had swooped in unexpectedly. Capitalising on Luo Shu's accidental involvement, she took advantage of the police and the Seven-Star Demon Hunter's mutual distraction to steal the prize—securing the locations of all the Demon Warlock's loot in one masterstroke, playing the oriole role of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
And now, Natsuki Minamiya, who had expended tremendous effort and even personally intervened to deal with that Demon Hunter, had come knocking. Kirika Tachibana had divided the spoils—excluding the Demon Heart—into ten portions to trade with Natsuki Minamiya, blatantly aiming to take a hefty share.
This move was truly audacious.
'Wait a minute, last night when Kirika Tachibana drove me home, she dropped her Lucky Wallet. Though it wasn't recovered, its location was confirmed because of me.'
'So, was this another instance of 'luck' at play?'
At this thought, Luo Shu immediately understood why Kirika Tachibana could encounter such situations—she was essentially running on a luck cheat!
"The female clerk divided the files containing the Demon Incantation into ten parts, sent them to different addresses, and then committed suicide."
"Fortunately, we managed to track down all the dispatched documents. Out of professional courtesy—"
"Natsuki, I can split them with you 70-30."
Kirika Tachibana smiled at the expressionless Natsuki Minamiya, her tone suggesting she didn't want to push things too far with a friend.
"Seventy for you, thirty for me?" Natsuki Minamiya retorted mockingly.
"If that's what you wish, I wouldn't refuse." Kirika's smile widened.
Natsuki Minamiya narrowed her eyes and said calmly, "Fifty-fifty."
"Sixty-forty, with me taking forty, but I get first pick of the addresses." Kirika's expression turned meaningful as she added:
"Though it's unclear which of the ten contains the suspected Level 3 threat, you should know, Natsuki, that compared to the Metropolitan Police Department, our side is far more suited to sealing Abyss Artefacts."
Natsuki Minamiya studied Kirika for a moment before warning:
"Fine, but you can only randomly select from the ten addresses."
"Deal!"
Kirika agreed readily, gathered the ten envelopes, and swiftly shuffled them.
Then, she turned to Luo Shu and said:
"Luo Shu, you do the picking."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's expression shifted uncomfortably.
Noticing his unease, Kirika Tachibana gave him a look brimming with trust:
"Don't be nervous, just pick freely. After all, you're my lucky charm!"
'I'm not nervous—I just think you're being sneaky, old lady, knowing full well my picks are accurate...' Luo Shu inwardly grumbled.
After a pause, he reached for the envelopes.