Because Kurumi had already asked Shiori to show her around the campus, Illya also joined the trio.
From the moment Illya uttered the title [Demon Queen], Shiori's gaze towards her was incredibly expressive.
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Illya wouldn't have believed a human could make such facial changes in such a short time; it was truly amusing.
After class, Shiori took Kurumi and Illya to familiarize themselves with the campus. Kurumi and Illya had different personalities; Kurumi nodded along, while Illya was very curious about everything in the school.
"How is it, Kotori? Do you have any results?"
While Kurumi and Kotori were getting familiar with the cafeteria layout, Shiori quietly spoke into her earpiece.
"Kurumi has been confirmed as a Spirit, identification code Nightmare. I didn't expect her to come to school; this is a good opportunity to capture her."
Kotori's voice came through the earpiece, making Shiori shake her head with a wry smile.
It hadn't been long since the Tohka incident, and now she was being asked to capture another Spirit. Wasn't this putting her in a difficult position?
"What about the other one? Is she a Spirit? Or just a normal person?"
Shiori cautiously looked at Illya, and after realizing she wasn't paying attention to her, she breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a low voice.
She was sure that only her cute younger sister and Inaba Tsukiyo knew about her past dark history. How did Illya know the title [Demon Queen]?
"Based on the name Illyasviel von Einzbern, it can be confirmed that such a person exists abroad, but there's only information, and no other clues can be found besides that. We haven't even found out how she entered Neon."
Whether by plane or ship, there should be records.
But they hadn't found any recent information about Illya entering Neon, and even her own appearance was only in Amamiya City today. This girl was too mysterious.
"I see... Do you think she might know Inaba-san? She knows things only Inaba-san would know."
"Inaba-san? Are you referring to the Twin Spirit who is with the Hermit (The Recluse)? Hmm, it's not impossible, but it's not certain if she's a Spirit."
"If she's also a Spirit, you might have to simultaneously capture two Spirits, making them blush before sealing their powers."
"Capturing two simultaneously... Are you trying to lead your older sister further down the path of crime, Kotori?"
Shiori sighed wearily. Capturing two Spirits simultaneously? That had to be a joke.
If Illya truly belonged to Inaba Tsukiyo, she didn't believe Inaba Tsukiyo would let her seal Illya's powers.
If she really did something like that, she would face retaliation beyond just having her embarrassing past exposed; her life might be ruined then.
"Ahaha~ ruby, did you see that? That idiot Shiori's expression was absolutely hilarious."
"Oh dear~ I never thought I'd encounter a different Illya-san. What a rare experience."
"What does it matter? The current me can't be called Inaba Tsukiyo, nor Illyasviel. I am an existence that has blended Illyasviel and Inaba Tsukiyo."
She merged with the Heroic Spirit's power through the ring's ability, and then, through communication with Illya, got her consent to use her appearance, allowing her to control the body during transformation.
However, in this state, she felt a bit strange, as if influenced by Illya, becoming much more lively.
She hadn't experienced this feeling of letting go for a long time. Although it was just a temporary decision, it was quite interesting.
Anyway, she was often mistaken for a child, so she might as well genuinely act like a young girl this time.
A Magical Girl hiding her identity—wasn't that incredibly fun?
While Illya and ruby were communicating telepathically, Kotori was also skillfully operating things on her end.
Since Illya's existence couldn't be confirmed, she was temporarily treated as a Spirit, and Shiori was tasked with capturing both Kurumi and Illya.
On the Bridge's data display, Illya and Kurumi's affection levels remained stable at a friendly status, showing no change.
"Classmate Shiori, besides the cafeteria, are there any other places to visit?"
"Uh... besides the restaurant, there are other clubs to visit, Tokisaki-san."
Facing Kurumi's face, which was extremely close, Shiori leaned back slightly, speaking with some difficulty.
Although she had successfully captured Tohka, Tohka and Kurumi were two people with completely different personalities.
If Tohka were to interact with Kurumi given her personality, she would undoubtedly suffer a terrible fate.
"By the way, what was that about Spirits that Tokisaki-san mentioned today?"
"It's alright, you don't have to pretend to be ignorant. I'm well aware that Classmate Shiori knows a lot about Spirits."
Kurumi chuckled as she approached Shiori, leaning close to Shiori's ear and blowing a breath.
"Click!"
An unexpected sound came, and Kurumi and Shiori turned around in a daze, finding Illya fiddling with her phone.
"Hmm? Why are you looking at me? Continue on, just pretend I'm invisible."
"...Illya, what did you just do?"
Feeling a sense of unease, Shiori suppressed her inner turmoil and asked.
"Do what... I just wanted to take some interesting photos. But I didn't expect to capture something this amusing."
Saying that, Illya showed Shiori the screen of her phone. It was a 錯位圖 (misalignment photo), with Kurumi standing in front of Shiori.
In the picture, Kurumi and Shiori's bodies were very close, and combined with the perfect angle, it looked as if Kurumi was kissing Shiori.
"Hehe~ This is what you call a coincidence, I didn't expect to be able to take such a photo. If I post this picture on the school website and let everyone know that Classmate Itsuki and the transfer student kissed, it would surely be fun."
"It's not fun! Illya! This could lead to serious trouble!"
Shiori wailed; this was truly no joke.
Previously, the scenes of her with Tohka and Origami at school had already annoyed her classmates, and somehow, later, all the The Boys in the entire school knew about it.
Her situation was already very bad; if this photo were really posted online, then she would be finished.
"Hmm? Oh dear, Classmate Itsuki, why are you kneeling before me? You're making it seem like I did something bad."
'To a certain extent, you did do something bad.'
Though she thought that, Shiori only dared to say such words silently in her heart. If she spoke them aloud, there might be no room for reconciliation.
"Honestly, I'm not some demon, Classmate Itsuki. Don't worry, I was just joking with you. Why would I post the photo online?"
"This kind of photo, once in hand, might be useful someday. Perhaps something even more interesting could happen."
Before Shiori could even sigh in relief, Illya's next sentence plunged her into despair.
Although Illya's smile was very cute right now, in Shiori's eyes, it was simply a devil's smile.
This child, she must be a devil.
Kurumi, the other person involved, did not interrupt them. Instead, she watched Shiori and Illya's interaction with interest, as if unconcerned by the rumors about her and Shiori.
For the rest of the journey, Shiori introduced things to Kurumi and Illya, while cautiously observing them.
Shiori was observing them, and Illya was also secretly looking at a certain corner behind her.
From the beginning, two figures had been secretly following them. Without a doubt, they were Tohka and Origami.
Illya didn't make things difficult for Shiori, smiling as she watched Kurumi continuously tease Shiori. Each of Kurumi's actions made Shiori blush and her heart pound.
Perhaps it was because Kurumi's actions were rather bold, which made the more traditional Shiori a bit uncomfortable.
Time quickly approached dusk. Illya left the school directly, while Kurumi smiled and bid farewell to Shiori and the hostile Tohka beside her.
Shortly after Kurumi left the school, she was accosted by a group of delinquents. Kurumi followed them into an alley.
What happened next was not a heart-pounding scene, but these people being devoured alive by Kurumi, their time stolen by her.
"Too late again. You really need to change your habit of eating everything, Nightmare."
At the dark alley entrance, a blue ponytail girl in casual clothes looked at Kurumi.
"Oh? Are you trying to kill me again?"
She spread her hands to her sides, speaking with a hint of excited redness.
As light flickered, armor from a visualization device appeared on the ponytail girl, and two light sabers materialized on her arms.
As DEM's ace, with her visualization device skills ranked among the top three in the world, she was certain she could kill Kurumi here.
However, she had been relentlessly pursuing Kurumi, repeatedly killing her, yet each time Kurumi would reappear before her.
"Tap, tap."
Just as the girl was about to make her move, footsteps suddenly interrupted her actions.
Kurumi and the girl looked not far away, where Illya stood, watching them with curiosity.
"Tokisaki-san? And a girl who looks five parts like Classmate Itsuki, what are you doing here? And your clothes, they're really daring."
Kurumi's Astral Dress was a revealing Gothic Lolita-style dress; it had to be said that the design of this dress was a bit bold.
The other's visualization device was a swimsuit; although it had high-tech armor, it couldn't hide the girl's exposed skin.
"Get out of here quickly! This person in front of you is very dangerous! Even without counting the Spacequakes, tens of thousands of people have died at her hands!"
"Oh, oh, oh ~ So many people have died, that's quite unexpected information, Tokisaki-san. Are you a dangerous person?"
"If you interpret things as you understand them, then yes, I am a dangerous person. And then? Are you afraid? Afraid of me, whose hands are stained with so much blood?"
Kurumi asked with an excited blush, she was very much looking forward to what kind of answer Illya would give.
Would it be the usual answer? Or an unexpected one?
"Although it's surprising that Tokisaki-san is such a person, those things have nothing to do with me. You want to kill her, right? Since she is someone Tsukiyo-chan values, then I cannot let you harm her."
Waving her hand, a golden card appeared in Illya's right hand.
"Limited Deploy!"
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