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To understand how Kiriha got Yume so quickly, we need to rewind a few minutes.
~~~
"So... You went through all the trouble of knocking out the guards, and then you just stroll me down to the first floor like it's a casual walk. I honestly have no idea what you're thinking."
The young girl with light brown, short curly hair and a baby-faced look spoke in a teasing tone. Her name was Yume Eguchi.
Walking ahead of her, Kiriha didn't rise to the bait. Instead, she replied with a faintly amused smile, "Just think of it as a sudden burst of kindness. I'm trying to rescue a poor girl who's been locked up."
"Huh?"
Yume froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
"You're my bodyguard, hired by Kusuki-Elysée, right? A bodyguard running off with her client is sketchy no matter how you look at it. Besides, this isn't some romantic elopement. We're both girls."
"Then are you coming or not?"
Kiriha smiled as she casually twirled the silver spear in her hand. It was the divine weapon issued by the Bureau of Astrology, the Richel Carle Spear.
Yume glanced at the weapon, swallowed hard, and forced herself to stay calm.
"Well… since you're technically my bodyguard, I guess I'll go along quietly."
She muttered under her breath, "It's not like things can get any worse than they already are."
Under the blazing sun, the two walked out of the first-floor lobby. Following Kiriha's lead, they slipped into the shade around the right-hand corner of the building.
"Hm?"
As soon as they turned the corner, Yume spotted three people standing there.
"Oh. So there's backup?"
"Backup?" Kiriha glanced at her, her expression subtle. "Think whatever you want."
She walked straight toward Ryo without making any move to restrain Yume, clearly unconcerned about her trying to escape.
"This is supposed to be an escape, but we're so slow…" Yume grumbled, then jogged after her.
Reaching Ryo, Kiriha dropped to one knee, "Your Majesty. Yume Eguchi has been brought here."
"Well done."
Ryo nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to the small girl who had just run up. His eyes lingered as he studied her, the young Succubus before him.
"Your Majesty?"
Yume froze, staring at him in disbelief.
What era is this? People still like being called 'Your Majesty'? Is this some kind of role-play?
She instinctively wanted to laugh, but her face stiffened, and the laughter never came.
Near Itogami Island, the very heart of the Dawn Empire, standing before a man being called "Your Majesty"… This couldn't really be that coincidence, could it?
Her eyes flickered with unease.
At that moment, Sayaka whispered, "That was way too easy. Are we sure she's the right one?"
"Look behind her," Natsuki said flatly, glancing at Sayaka.
Sayaka immediately looked down, focusing on the back of Yume's white dress.
There it was. A long tail swaying behind her, ending in a black spade-shaped tip.
A Succubus's tail.
"So she really is a Succubus…" Sayaka murmured, stunned.
Hearing the surprise in her voice, Yume grinned and deliberately swayed her tail.
"Oh? What else did you think I was?"
The spade-shaped tail swung back and forth in the air, like a cat toy, teasing Sayaka on purpose.
Then, in the next instant—
"Ow!"
Yume's face twisted in pain, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.
She forced her eyes open, only to see her tail firmly gripped in Ryo's hand.
"How rare. I didn't think a demon race could have such an… suggestive tail."
He squeezed it once, even gave it a casual stroke, then handed it over to Natsuki.
"It's pretty lewd," Natsuki agreed, pinching it once with complete composure.
Being treated like a toy, Yume exploded.
"Bastards! What do you think you're doing with someone else's tail?!"
"A toy," Ryo replied matter-of-factly.
Natsuki poked the tail against Ryo's right cheek. "Want to bite it and see?"
"I'll pass. It's a bit too erotic." Ryo hesitated, then refused.
Honestly, if this weren't the wrong world, he would have seriously wondered whether this Succubus's race was actually from Deviluke.
That tail was just way too similar.
He hesitated just now, didn't he…?
Yume shuddered. She slapped Natsuki's hand away, yanked her tail back, and stumbled several steps backward.
"Don't come any closer! If you do, I'm calling the police!"
"Oh? Go ahead," Natsuki said calmly, opening her fan to cover half her face. "If you can even get one guard who'd dare arrest me, I'll admit defeat."
Sayaka twitched at the corner of her mouth. You're basically the head of the Empire security. Of course no one would arrest you.
"Thinking of running?"
Ryo smiled at the retreating girl. "I suggest you wake up the soul inside you and have her summon Leviathan. Otherwise, I don't think you'll get very far."
Yume trembled, biting her lip, too afraid to respond.
"So you figured it out?" Natsuki chuckled, not surprised.
Yume stared at her with fear and said firmly, "The Fourth Primogenitor's queen, Natsuki Minamiya…"
Natsuki clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed. "Tch. I should start charging copyright fees to those trashy reporters. Feels like everyone in the world has my photo by now."
With Natsuki's admission, Yume turned to Ryo, then to Kiriha, her face crumpling like she was about to cry.
"Kiriha, aren't you from the Bureau of Astrology? Why are you setting me up?!"
"Sorry. I'm undercover," Kiriha replied, lips curling into a playful smile.
"How… how did Kusuki manage to hire an undercover agent as my bodyguard…?"
Yume really did start tearing up.
Could that guy be any more unreliable?
Sending her into the Dawn Empire was bad enough, but assigning an undercover agent as her security? Was he trying to ruin her?
"Want to run?" Ryo asked again with a smile.
He found intimidating a young girl like this oddly entertaining.
"I surrender!"
Yume immediately sold out her partner. "It was Kazuomi Kusuki! He wanted to use Leviathan to defeat the Fourth Primogenitor and seize control of the Dawn Empire! I was forced into it!"
"Kazuomi Kusuki? Who's that?" Ryo asked, baffled.
"The founder of Kusuki-Elysée. A capitalist. Just a normal human," Kiriha reported quietly.
"A normal human controlling Lilith, then controlling Leviathan to provoke the Fourth Primogenitor?"
Ryo felt like his brain was tying itself in knots.
Was the Fourth Primogenitor really that unthreatening? Even an ordinary human dared to challenge him?
"Probably has water in his brain," Natsuki said calmly. "The world's big. There are always a few idiots."
"I see…" Ryo fell silent for a moment, decided that trying to understand idiots was pointless, and gave up.
He lifted his head slightly and looked at Yume with a dark, unreadable gaze.
"I'll give you two options. One: you awaken Lilith, and then I take her away and dissect her. Two: I take you away first and dissect you, and we'll see what's going on with Lilith on the table. Which one do you choose?"
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