Hidden Management Department garrison.
The moment Luo Shu entered his office, he instinctively handed his coat to the side.
At that exact moment, a hand appeared from nowhere to take the offered coat, folding it neatly before holding it against their chest as they asked:
"Director, shall I call Senior Yukinoshita over?"
"Go ahead."
Luo Shu nodded reflexively before heading towards his sofa. It wasn't until he sat down that he realised something, looking startled at the now-departing Megumi Kato.
Only after she'd left did Luo Shu mutter to himself:
"That presence concealment even got me..."
"I should have expected nothing less from Megumi Kato..."
He didn't have to wait long before Yukino Yukinoshita entered the room in her school uniform, her expression somewhat displeased, with Megumi Kato following behind carrying a stack of documents and clothes like an attendant.
Upon entering, Yukinoshita glanced at Luo Shu and immediately said:
"I believe what I said was to call back within an hour, not order you to return within an hour, correct?"
This mild joke made Luo Shu realise that Miss Yukinoshita was in a bit of a mood, though not by much.
"Don't be so resentful, Yukino." Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita's icy expression, Luo Shu awkwardly added, "Did you stay up late last night? You look a bit pale."
"Thanks to you, I still haven't clocked off yet."
Yukino Yukinoshita closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again, her expression softened slightly as she muttered:
"How could I possibly sleep peacefully after such a major incident?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu nodded. "That matter with Eriri's family? It is somewhat complicated."
"But we do need to improve security measures regarding Familia members."
"How about this—I'll prepare more kinship bracelets and have Mukuro enhance them. Ideally, they should instantly transport the wearer to the Divine Kingdom when in danger."
"Of course, the destination can only be their own private space within the Divine Kingdom. And once they leave, Utaha will need to erase their memories to prevent any accidents."
After saying this, Luo Shu smiled at Yukino Yukinoshita and Megumi Kato:
"This should help mitigate some of the dangers, right?"
"..."
Yukino's expression turned slightly awkward upon hearing this.
She wanted to stubbornly insist that she wasn't worried about her own family because of Eriri's situation, but her aversion to lying made it difficult to speak up.
In the end, the girl could only remain silent, neither defending herself nor arguing, as if sulking.
Just then, Megumi Kato, who was by the tea table, gently asked:
"Director, Senior Yukinoshita, would you like coffee or black tea?"
"Coffee, please." Luo Shu smiled and nodded.
"One coffee with three sugars for me." Yukino exhaled in relief, silently thanking Megumi for the timely interruption, then stepped forward and handed a file to Luo Shu.
"This is the investigation report the Intelligence Department worked on overnight."
Taking the file, Luo Shu skimmed through it, his eyes narrowing slightly at the title.
"Spencer Family Investigation Report... Sawamura Family Investigation Report... Hah, did Meer send this over?"
After flipping through the documents for a while, Luo Shu thanked Megumi as she handed him his coffee, then picked up the cup and said:
"As expected, everything seems normal on the surface..."
"Tell Meer to arrange for another investigation into all members of Robert's branch of the Spencer family. Have her conduct it discreetly—try not to be discovered."
He paused before adding, "I've received intel that this entire branch consists of impostors—members of the Hell Sect's Sin Council."
Hearing this, Yukino's eyes widened slightly as she stared at Luo Shu in disbelief.
At that moment, Megumi, who had placed coffee in front of Yukino, calmly asked:
"This kind of information... shouldn't be shared with Eriri-san, right?"
Luo Shu fell silent for a moment, considering whether to explain things to Eriri. After a brief deliberation, he sighed.
"Keep it from her for now. I'll discuss it with Sayuri first."
After speaking, Luo Shu suddenly felt something was amiss. He looked up and noticed Yukino Yukinoshita and Megumi Kato both staring at him, prompting him to ask in confusion:
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, it's nothing," Yukinoshita sighed softly.
Beside her, Megumi simply smiled without a word.
At this moment, their thoughts were surprisingly aligned.
'Calling Mrs. Sawamura by her first name is a bit too intimate, isn't it?' X2
Yukino was well aware that Luo Shu had been very polite when meeting her mother.
Something felt off, a slight suspicion, but overall, she was quite shocked.
Suppressing her thoughts, Yukinoshita voiced her concern:
"Should we explain the source of the intelligence to the Chairwoman?"
Suddenly pinpointing Robert as a suspect, confirming his membership in the Hell Sect, and even identifying him as a core member of the Sin Council...
Submitting such high-level intelligence without context to the Supreme Chairwoman would make it hard for even Chairwoman Lacus to convince other department heads, no matter how much she trusted the Director.
Yukinoshita expressed this worry as she looked at Luo Shu.
In response, Luo Shu joked half-heartedly:
"Just tell Lacus and the others that I sold myself out to a Spirit who controls partial omniscience for this information."
Hearing this, Megumi calmly asked, "Was it the girl who answered the Director's call this morning?"
Before Luo Shu could turn his surprised gaze towards her, Megumi added coolly:
"I was right beside Senior Yukinoshita when she was on the phone with the Director."
"This..." Luo Shu's expression flickered slightly as he glanced at Megumi. This master of emotional control couldn't have guessed the truth, could he?
There wasn't much he could do about it. Compared to Yukinoshita, who was slow to react but wore her emotions on her sleeve, Megumi was practically flawless:
"Anyway, just report it like that. Lacus will understand."
With that, Luo Shu changed the subject:
"Megumi, help me schedule a meeting with Mrs. Sawamura. I'll visit her this afternoon."
"Understood."
After watching Megumi leave to make the call, Luo Shu turned to Yukinoshita:
"Did you notify the person I asked you to contact yesterday evening?"
Yukinoshita checked her watch before replying:
"The American branch handled it last night. They should arrive in about two hours."
"Good."
Luo Shu nodded, then narrowed his eyes with a mix of surprise and emotion: "Then, before Yusaku Kudo and his wife arrive, let's go meet that little friend of ours, Conan."
Muttering to himself with complicated emotions, he added:
"I hope things really are as Nia said they'd be."
...
Meanwhile.
In the Honjo residence in Ikebukuro.
Nia Honjo lay sprawled inelegantly across the sofa, her upper body propped up by a cushion as she flipped through Raziel.
Suddenly, the pages of Raziel began to turn rapidly.
Sacred script flickered across its surface...