Over the next few days, Leo and the other four returned to their ordinary routines, living like normal high school students again. They commuted to Sobu High every day, attended classes, and blended in so well that no one would have guessed how thrilling and dangerous their vacation just days ago had been.
Rumors about them still circulated around Sobu High. Wherever the group went, they naturally drew attention. But habit was a powerful thing. After seeing the same eye-catching group always together, coming and going as one, the teachers and students gradually stopped making a big deal out of it, at most whispering a few comments here and there.
That said, the Department of Mystical Affairs had already become a legend at Sobu High, and that wasn't going away anytime soon.
Even now, plenty of students were endlessly curious about the club that had somehow gathered four untouchable beauties under one banner. What they were most curious about was what kind of activities the club actually did day to day. As a result, someone tried to apply to the Department of Mystical Affairs almost every single day.
Unfortunately, Leo's entrance exam was still firmly in place, and the requirements were clearly laid out. Anyone who failed the test could only sigh in resignation. Whenever they passed by the clubroom, they could only stare longingly at the door. There was nothing else they could do.
In truth, even if they could see inside the Department of Mystical Affairs room, they wouldn't discover anything unusual.
Ever since returning from Kuoh Academy, the servant girls no longer spent their free time chatting leisurely in the clubroom like before. Instead, each of them held books they had dug out of the mansion's library, reading with complete focus.
After school, they would immediately return to the mansion. Sometimes they used the basement for sparring, other times they practiced in the garden. The fluctuations of demonic power and Sacred Gear energy constantly lingered above the estate.
Because of this, Leo even had Utaha set up a barrier around the mansion. Ordinary people couldn't see what was really happening inside, and those outside would have a hard time noticing the frequent surges of demonic power and Sacred Gear activity, keeping unwanted attention away.
On the business side, devil work was going smoothly as well. Recently, both Utaha and Mahiru had officially begun taking contracts, and they quickly gained repeat clients.
It had to be said—the appeal of beautiful girl devils was incredibly effective. Even a withdrawn girl like Yukino attracted clients as long as she worked seriously. After all, Yukino had personality, not a lack of ability.
The same was true for Asuna, Utaha, and Mahiru. Anyone who could be called an untouchable beauty was never ordinary. At the very least, they were sharp-minded. As long as they had the ability, handling simple contracts and granting reasonable wishes was more than manageable.
As for anything too dark, the servants of the Eligos family maintained their usual stance. Either they made the client back off on their own, or they rejected them outright. And if someone crossed the line too far, eliminating them wasn't a big deal.
Recently, while reading through some books, Leo discovered a few useful tricks for using magic circles to summon devils. By adding a few pre-set mechanisms to devil flyers engraved with simple magic circles—or even to magic circles set up at home—the circle would automatically ignore anyone who failed to meet Leo's summoning conditions. No matter how strong their desire was, the magic circle on the flyer wouldn't activate and summon Leo or the others.
With these measures in place, devil work became much smoother for the Eligos servants. Strange incidents stopped happening altogether.
But that only applied to ordinary people.
If a devil flyer fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, that was a completely different matter.
"So this is the Eligos family's devil flyer?"
On a road in Chiba Prefecture, a young man casually accepted a devil flyer from a humanoid familiar whose true nature ordinary people couldn't perceive. Looking at the magic circle engraved on it, he smiled with interest.
"If there isn't a second devil faction stationed in Chiba, then this is probably it."
A second young man, dressed in a robe over his uniform and wearing glasses like a mage, spoke calmly. A magic circle unfolded in his hand, releasing faint demonic power that subtly influenced the humanoid familiar before letting it walk away.
Just moments ago, he had used the same method on that familiar to make it hand over the flyer. Normally, familiars wouldn't distribute flyers to people without desire.
"This magic circle looks like it can summon multiple devils at once," the young man holding the flyer said thoughtfully.
He wore traditional hanfu over his school uniform, and rested an unusually large spear on his shoulder. His appearance should have drawn attention, yet for some reason, passersby completely ignored how out of place he was, brushing past him as if nothing were wrong.
"You're thinking about summoning the entire Eligos servant group?" the mage asked in surprise.
"I am," the man in hanfu admitted frankly. "After all, they have quite a few rare Sacred Gear users among them, don't they?"
"That's true. There are even two Longinus," the mage nodded. "Unfortunately, they're already reincarnated devils."
"Yeah… what a waste," the man in hanfu said with clear regret. "If we'd found them first, we could've raised a few more heroes, right?"
"You really do look desperate for talent, just like your ancestors," the mage shrugged. "But what's done is done. No one can turn reincarnated devils back into humans. To us, they're no longer potential allies—only enemies."
"That's exactly why it's a shame."
The man in hanfu didn't say more. He tossed the devil flyer to the mage and said, "Forget it. My main target is the holder of Zenith Tempest. Making too much noise would draw the Underworld's attention. Let the rest of the Eligos servants go this time."
"I don't really mind," the mage said with a grin as he caught the flyer. "Even if you're busy, I wouldn't mind trading a few moves with the Eligos servants. I'm pretty curious about the hosts of 'Incinerate Anthem' and Absolute Demise."
"Hey, hey. Even if they're devils, don't bully them too badly," the man in hanfu laughed. "They've only been reincarnated for a few months. Before that, they were just ordinary people with no exposure to the supernatural. And as Sacred Gear users, they're not even on your level, are they?"
"Is it really appropriate," he continued, amused, "for the host of a Top-Tier Longinus to bully rookie Sacred Gear users?"
"And besides, I thought you'd be more interested in Create World."
At that, the mage curled his lips.
"At best, its host wields a lower-tier Sacred Gear of mine. What's there to be interested in?"
As he spoke, the mage tapped the magic circle on the devil flyer. The circle activated instantly, unfolding with ease.
His fingers moved as if operating a precision instrument, causing the patterns within the magic circle to shift and rearrange.
Once it fully expanded, the mage said calmly, "Alright. Target locked. I can directly summon him into the separate space I created."
"Then let's begin," the man in hanfu said.
A thick mist erupted around the mage, enveloping both of them completely.
When the mist dissipated, the two young men were gone.
At the same time, at Leo's mansion.
"Hm?"
Leo, who had been writing something in his room, felt a sudden stir in his heart and headed straight to the basement.
The magic circle there was glowing faintly, clearly entering its activation state.
"Someone's summoning me?"
Sensing the demonic power within the magic circle, Leo realized someone was using a devil flyer to summon him.
That immediately piqued his interest.
"A desire strong enough to summon a High-Class Devil… looks like a big job."
Ever since advancing to High-Class Devil, Leo no longer responded to ordinary summons. Only those with exceptionally powerful desires could summon him now.
He glanced outside and noticed it wasn't even evening yet.
He had only just returned from school not long ago. It was around four in the afternoon. Daylight still filled the sky, and it would be another hour or two before sunset ushered in dusk.
At the moment, Yukino had gone to the study. Asuna and Mahiru were practically acting as tea masters, heading off together to brew tea and prepare snacks. Utaha hadn't returned yet—apparently Eriri had something going on and had kept her at school.
"Nothing better to do anyway. Might as well go take a look."
With that thought, Leo stepped into the magic circle and initiated the teleport.
But the instant the transfer began, he sensed something was wrong.
"This feeling…"
Before he could react, Leo vanished from the magic circle, arriving at his destination.
A space shrouded in gray mist immediately filled his vision.
"…Interesting."
After a brief silence, Leo smiled.
"I thought I'd picked up a big job. Turns out it's a group of unwelcome guests."
As soon as he spoke, a bright, unrestrained voice rang out.
"Sorry about being unwelcome, head of the Eligos family."
As the voice sounded, the mist in front of Leo thinned.
Two strangely dressed young men emerged from within, stepping into Leo's view.
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You can read up to chapter 165 on patreon.com/NiaXD.