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Five minutes later, on the familiar downtown shopping street, Bokue Keikain strolled casually with one arm wrapped by Asagi Aiba, while on his other side were two very familiar girls—one a certain Fourth Progenitor, the other a flustered Sword Shaman.
All four of them carried a cup of milk tea in hand, walking in unison like they were on a group date. From an outsider's perspective, it looked just like a couple on a casual outing… dragging along both of their younger sisters.
The visual made sense:
Two of them wore matching yukata and clung to each other's arms like a couple. The other two were clearly younger, but seemed close—maybe even classmates, judging by how naturally they spoke to each other.
As for the Industrial Zone in the west where the fire had broken out—only the faint sound of sirens remained, carried gently by the breeze. The night sky, once painted red with flame, had gone dim again.
The blaze had clearly been brought under control.
"Mo~ Bokue, seriously! You said we were going on a proper date—just the two of us—and then the moment we walk out the door, you drag me off into some industrial zone!"
Asagi sipped from her cup and muttered a soft complaint, though her eyes kept glancing toward the other side of Bokue—specifically, at a certain red-eyed girl.
Bokue gave her a sidelong glance.
"It was just a short detour, wasn't it? We're back now, and we're walking around town like you wanted. So technically, this is a date."
"Tch… easy for you to say…"
Asagi sighed, her eyes flicking again to the two big, glowing light bulbs ruining her atmosphere.
"By the way… I don't think I've seen this girl before. You two know each other?"
"Of course we do!"
Before Bokue could respond, Nagisa immediately jumped in, like a trap had been triggered.
"Big Bro and Yukina-chan live right next door to me! I met them on the day they moved in. He's been coming over to my place for dinner almost every night lately!"
Dinner at another girl's house?
Asagi's brow twitched, her golden gaze snapping toward the boy beside her.
But Bokue didn't even blink. Calmly sipping his milk tea, he offered a perfectly innocent explanation.
"I told you before, right? I came to Itogami Island because the Lion King Organization sent me here. Yukina's technically their representative. So if my client goes to dinner, what kind of bodyguard would I be if I didn't tag along?"
"C-Client…?"
The unfamiliar term made Yukina tilt her head, visibly confused.
"It's just a business term," Bokue explained. "Since the Lion King Organization hired me, they're the client. You're basically the one in charge of overseeing the contract—like quality assurance."
"Ohh… I see…"
Her eyes sparkled faintly with understanding.
"Anyway," Bokue continued, switching topics, "what was up with that mess earlier? How'd you end up in a fight over there?"
"Well… it didn't exactly start as a fight…"
Yukina looked a little sheepish.
"It was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission. The man we encountered was an Apostle from Lotharingia. No idea why he came all the way to Japan to hunt vampires, but he had a girl with him who could summon a familiar. If it had just been me, I might not have been able to hold them off. Thankfully… Nagisa showed up just in time and scared them off."
"And caused even more collateral damage," Bokue finished for her with a nod.
Sure, the initial explosion had been the result of the Apostle-versus-vampire skirmish, but Nagisa summoning the Golden Lion and unleashing a Divine lightning strike?
That had leveled half the damn district.
"S-Sorry… Kitty didn't mean to—" Nagisa said, her head lowered, voice soft. "I'll try to tell him to be more careful next time…"
"It's fine," Bokue waved it off. "As long as no one sees you do it, public property damage isn't real."
"Bokue-senpai…"
Yukina gave him a look.
But then she frowned.
"Actually… someone might've seen."
"…Huh?"
"During our standoff, that Apostle mentioned rumors that the Fourth Progenitor had resurfaced on Itogami Island. I don't know where he got his intel, but… after tonight, the whole world might know."
"—Yeah."
Bokue didn't deny it.
After all, the Golden Lion's descent had been impossible to miss. You could've seen it from downtown.
And it wasn't hard to identify it as one of the Fourth Progenitor's familiars.
But…
"So what?" Bokue thought. "Even if the world finds out, what are they gonna do? It's not like the other countries don't have their own monsters."
As for the other three Progenitors?
If they wanted to try something… they were welcome to come test their luck.
"WAIT—WAIT—WAIT—WAIT—WAIT!"
Asagi suddenly froze in place, eyes wide as saucers. She pointed at Nagisa.
"So what you're saying is… this girl is actually…!!"
She bit her tongue before she could yell "Fourth Progenitor," but the looks on Bokue and Yukina's faces said it all.
"Mmhmm," Bokue nodded. "She only awakened recently—just a few days ago, actually."
"That's why the Lion King Organization asked me to keep an eye on her," He added. "Artificial island or not, Itogami doesn't have a stable enough foundation to handle a full-blown Progenitor without supervision."
"I… I don't even know what to say…"
Asagi was stunned speechless.
And right then—Nagisa looked up at her with those wide, innocent eyes, voice full of curiosity.
"Say, Asagi-oneechan… are you and Big Bro dating?"
"Eh? Uh… um…"
Caught completely off guard by the question, Asagi began to fluster, her face heating up immediately.
Even though they'd done everything two people could possibly do—heck, even things most wouldn't dream of doing—getting asked like this still made her heart skip.
After stammering for several seconds, she finally calmed herself down enough to nod.
"Y-Yeah… I guess you could say that. We've been childhood friends forever. It's only recently that… we made it official."
"Oooooh~"
Nagisa dragged out the sound in mock understanding, though inside her heart she felt… a little disappointed.
After all, she had already done everything with Big Bro too. In fact, she'd done things with him that no one else even dreamed of doing.
But she had promised not to get in the way… so all she could do was sit here and watch quietly.
Ugh—so frustrating!
Oh, right… Big Bro still owed her three more rounds. He didn't finish the promised twenty.
Should she use that as an excuse and add a zero to the end?
Or… maybe push her limit and add two?
Hmm… or maybe three?
As her thoughts wandered back to the afternoon's experience, the True Ancestor girl unconsciously licked her lips and gently pressed a hand against her still slightly full stomach.
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