Tokyo, Nerima Ward, inside a villa.
The midday sun filtered through opaque curtains, casting scattered rays of light into the villa's living room.
The sound of friction echoed through the space.
A beautiful blonde nun in a dark blue habit meticulously wiped the bloodstains from the soles of her brown leather boots using a rug spread beside the sofa.
On the other side of the sofa, a headless corpse lay in a dried pool of blood, its twisted form reminiscent of withered branches.
Sharon continued cleaning her boots with detached calm.
Just then, the sound of footsteps approached, and an elf in a form-fitting black leather outfit emerged from the hallway, smiling at Sharon:
"Though I expected someone impressive to be assigned, I never imagined it would be you~"
"Who would have thought that Sharon Holygrail, a high-ranking officer of the Demon Hunters, was working for him?"
Sharon turned her head, expressionlessly eyeing Enigma blocking the doorway:
"You're unusually talkative today, intermediary."
"After all, there were many interesting events today," Enigma said with a smile.
"Oh?"
Sharon slightly raised her tone before continuing:
"You mean the part where you used clones to impersonate your wife and daughter, then held a funeral for your own cremated corpse?"
"That was indeed an amusing affair."
Enigma maintained her smile but quickly changed the subject: "So, has the cleanup been completed? The informed personnel in this house?"
"They're already corpses."
Sharon turned her head, giving a dispassionate glance at the headless—or rather, upper-body-less—corpse on the floor:
"Though I didn't expect the Hell Sect's Tokyo representative to be disguised as a city councillor. Where's the real councillor?"
"The real councillor..."
Enigma wiggled her fingers before smiling and pointing at herself:
"...is right here, isn't she?"
Sharon narrowed her eyes slightly. "I see. Planning to use that tedious disguise ability of yours again?"
"But then again, the only one who could properly maintain this disguise would be you—his direct superior within the Hell Sect."
"Having me kill him was also to prevent leaks about your meeting with Luo Shu, wasn't it?"
"Not just that. When I was disguised as Robert, he was also an informant, and..."
Enigma's expression gradually turned eerie:
"He was working for Jealousy and the Onmyou Agency, too."
Sharon showed mild surprise at this:
"Oh? So the subordinate of a middleman is also a middleman? Birds of a feather, I suppose?"
"In other words, the 'channel' you mentioned earlier—the one you planned to use to deliver Luo Shu's arranged Spirit Medium to that Greed—was this man's network?"
"Correct."
Enigma smiled at this point:
"If we only informed Jealousy, she'd grow suspicious. To be safe, it's best to drag both the Onmyou Agency and the Bujin-shū into this."
"The Aldegia Royal Family's lost descendant should be tempting enough for them."
"Tedious scheming," Sharon remarked flatly. "If you ask me to do something like this again, I'll kill you directly."
Enigma tilted her head at this, smiling cheerfully:
"Eh? But aren't we companions of the same Familia now?"
Sharon remained unfazed: "No matter. You have plenty of clones to spare—you can afford to die a few more times."
As she spoke, she stood up, walked over to the television, and violently ripped it off the wall. Then, staring at the exposed wall behind it, she kicked straight through.
Boom.
The wall shattered under Sharon's kick, revealing a deep blue metallic interior.
Through the breached metal wall, Enigma glimpsed dozens of gold bars and a small mountain of 10,000-yen bills.
Surprised, Enigma asked:
"How did you find the money hidden here?"
"Instinct."
Sharon replied indifferently, then casually pulled a sack from her spatial ring. She pried open the metal wall with her bare hands and began collecting the cash.
Enigma glanced at the finger marks left on the metal wall, having no doubt that those same hands could crack her skull open with ease.
But seeing Sharon in her pure nun's habit picking up money, she couldn't help but remark with some surprise:
"Are you that short on cash lately?"
Sharon shook her head while continuing to gather the money: "No, Luo Shu gives me a monthly living allowance and funding."
"Then why are you...?" Enigma asked curiously.
"Don't you know?"
Sharon looked up at Enigma:
"There's a scientist in the Familia called Tabane Shinonono. If you pay her enough, she'll develop all sorts of custom equipment for you."
"I've recently taken a liking to a pair of flying leather boots made from mystic materials. I'm saving up for them."
"If you have any equipment needs, you can contact her directly. Oh, and remember to mention my name."
"So there are benefits like this..." Enigma thought with rather peculiar feelings.
Flying leather boots made by scientists? That sounded utterly unscientific... But since she'd been chosen as a deity's vassal, there must be some credibility to it, right?
As Enigma was thinking this, Sharon calmly tossed her a stack of 10,000-yen notes and a mobile phone, saying:
"Oh, and remember to settle the corpse cleaning fees with the cleanup crew afterwards..."
"Although the SDS Logistics Department handles cleanup for free, it's best to maintain good relations with them. You might need their cooperation when you're impersonating the councillor later."
"Is this the advantage of being in a major organisation?" Enigma chuckled at this.
Sharon merely glanced at her before replying: "Think what you will, just remember to complete the mission."
With that, she immersed herself in her money-collecting task without another word.
Seeing this, Enigma picked up the phone and began dialling the logistics team's number.
...
Tokyo, Ashiya Ward.
Near an old three-storey wooden apartment building.
On the rooftop of a six-storey building.
Chisato Nishikigi peered through her specialised binoculars at the three-storey wooden apartment and couldn't help but complain:
"Has the support from HQ arrived yet? I can already see government agents nearby! If we delay any longer, the Bujin-shū might come to make arrests!!"
"Ahhh!! I really want to just charge in there and gun down all those cultists right now!!"
"Even if you say that, without orders, all we can do is maintain surveillance."
Takina Inoue, sitting beside Chisato, replied while packing up last night's sleeping bag.
Chisato scratched her head in frustration: "Ugh~~ Why is the Hidden Management Department's support so slow?! Long-term surveillance isn't my strong suit!"
"It's probably because they're a newly established department. Be patient - Luo Shu has only just become Director, after all."
As Takina said this, she suddenly noticed something unusual and retrieved a specialised phone from a nearby bag.
Hearing the movement, Chisato immediately turned around with a delighted expression:
"What is it? Have the attack orders come through? Or has support finally arrived?"
"...Support has arrived."
Takina glanced at the message before replying quietly.
"Who's the support? Is it a cute new teammate? I've heard all about it - Luo Shu's department is full of super cute girls. Well, including me."
Listening to Chisato's self-praise, Takina's eyes flickered slightly before she said:
"Luo Shu is coming personally."
"Eh?!"
At these words, Chisato froze.
"Eh!!"