The Next Day————
Today, the students of Sobu High learned of a piece of tragic news.
"The Spring Flower of the first-year class, the Angel herself, Shiina Mahiru, submitted an application to the Department of Occult Research this morning and has become a member of the club."
Upon hearing this devastating news, countless students—who already knew that Sobu High's "High Flowers" had collectively boarded Leon's private car yesterday and left school with him—fell silent.
After the silence came a wave of people clutching their heads in agony.
"No! This has to be a lie!"
"Why did even the Angel join that Department of Occult Research?!"
"What exactly is going on with that club? How can it make so many High Flowers join?"
"Could Senpai Eligos really possess some kind of mysterious power and hypnotize the High Flowers?"
"I can't accept this!"
The students' reaction was massive, truly massive.
After all, the five High Flowers of Sobu High each had their own unique charm—some gentle, some dignified, some elegant, some cold. While they didn't cover every single possible preference, they encompassed the tastes of the vast majority of the student body. There was always one that appealed to you.
Therefore, with few exceptions, the rest of the students were essentially members of various High Flower fan clubs. These fan clubs even included many female students, effectively spanning the entire school.
Now, as the High Flowers joined the Department of Occult Research one after another, nearly being swept up in one go, the members of these fan clubs could finally no longer sit still.
Thus, early in the morning, a crowd began to gather outside the clubroom of the Department of Occult Research. Some came to dig for info, some to observe the situation, and some with crooked ideas of trying to join the club, clogging the hallway outside until it was impassable.
The situation even startled the faculty, causing teachers to rush over in an attempt to control the scene.
Leon and the members of the Department of Occult Research naturally faced inquiries from those around them once again. Shiina Mahiru, in particular, was surrounded all day and couldn't escape at all.
"I was just invited by Senpai Eligos. I thought the Department of Occult Research seemed interesting, so I decided to join."
Shiina Mahiru didn't know how many times she had explained it this way to the outside world, but the people around her simply didn't believe it.
The Department of Occult Research is interesting?
What's interesting about it?
What exactly is in there that attracts you High Flowers one by one?
That was what people wanted to know, but whether it was Leon or the other club members, they all chose to give perfunctory answers.
This drove many people to the brink of madness. Some even complained to the teachers, but the result was the same as before—it ended without any resolution, leaving the students helpless.
"We just want to know what the club activities are. Even that's not allowed?"
"If it's not something shameful, why are you unwilling to say?"
"Is the so-called 'mystery' of the Department of Occult Research actually just this?"
"No, I can't take it anymore. My curiosity is killing me. Is anyone willing to go back to the clubroom with me after school to scout things out?"
"Me, me, me! I'll go!"
"Count me in too!"
"Add me!"
"It's just too intriguing!"
It must be said that with things reaching this point, Leon's Department of Occult Research had truly piqued everyone's curiosity. Students and teachers alike wanted to peel back its mysterious veil and see what incredible things lay within.
This caused the Department of Occult Research—a club that didn't sound like a popular one by name—to directly overshadow many of Sobu High's popular clubs, becoming the most discussed and attractive club in school.
Many people began asking the members about the requirements for joining, forcing Shiina Mahiru and the others to shift the burden onto Leon.
"To join our club, you must have the department head's approval."
This sentence instantly turned Leon into the biggest focus of Sobu High, receiving countless inquiries.
In response, Leon very casually tossed out a questionnaire to the crowd.
"There are a hundred questions in here. If you can answer half of them correctly, you can join our club."
Hearing this, everyone curiously took the questionnaires, only to be instantly petrified.
"Do you believe in the existence of demons?"
"What do you think 'mystery' is like?"
"What kind of place do you think the Underworld is?"
"If a beautiful girl appeared before you, would you choose to fall in love with her, or choose to make her your servant?"
Questions of this nature were concentrated on the questionnaire, leaving everyone who saw them bewildered.
What kind of ridiculous questions are these?
Can a human even answer them?
Is there even a standard answer key?
The person who wrote this can't be serious, right?
Is this Eighth-Grader Syndrome? Or a delusional disorder?
Probably only someone from the 2D world could answer these, right?
People complained internally, but after some thought, they decided to try the test anyway.
It was the Department of Occult Research, after all. They must be researching ghosts and gods and looking for people with common interests to discuss them.
Even though we are all people who believe in science, if we don't know the answer, can't we just make it up?
Living in this era, who hasn't seen legends or anime about ghosts and spirits?
It's just fifty questions, right? Guaranteed correct answers!
And then————these people were, without a doubt, completely wiped out.
"Wait————why?!"
"I thought I answered very well!"
"I've seen this question in fairy tales; there's no way I got it wrong!"
"I think you're just messing with us!"
They were naturally indignant, but Leon really wasn't fooling them.
These were all questions based on facts, with only a few of Leon's personal preferences mixed in. How could that be considered fooling them?
If someone could answer half the questions correctly, it would prove they were from the Underworld, making them naturally qualified to join the Department of Occult Research.
At the very least, Eriri, who had received the questionnaire, felt she could answer more than half.
She had learned the answers to these questions last night from the memories Leon had transmitted; she could answer them perfectly.
Because of this, Eriri couldn't help but speak up.
"Just forget it. It's impossible for you to get them right. Give up on joining the Department of Occult Research.
"The people in there are all demons; they won't associate with ordinary humans like us."
However, Eriri's persuasion only served to make the people around her nervous.
"Sawamura-san, you don't want to join the Department of Occult Research too, do you?"
"Please don't, Sawamura-san! You're the last High Flower!"
"Don't let Senpai Eligos sweep up all the High Flowers in our school!"
"You even got in his car yesterday, could it be that————"
The people around her chirped one after another, nearly forcing Eriri's true personality out.
Clearly, these people were trying to dissuade her, but she felt no comfort at all. Instead, she couldn't help but think of the term "Losing Dog"————
Every other High Flower had joined the Department of Occult Research, and only she was left behind in solitude————wasn't that a form of being a "Losing Dog"?
"No! I'm not a losing dog! I'm a winner in life!"
Eriri roared in her heart. On the surface, she maintained a strained smile and said a few words.
"Rest assured, I've already joined the Art Club. I won't be joining any other clubs."
Hearing her say this, the people around her finally relaxed.
Little did they know, seeing the matter grow larger and larger, Leon had long ago given up on her.
"Might as well leave the last seedling for the public. They... well, they're quite pitiable."
In any case, he had already gained the unexpected boon of Shiina Mahiru, and Kasumigaoka Utaha had said Eriri had no intention of abandoning her humanity, so he might as well let this High Flower be.
She was just a doujin artist anyway. If he recruited her, he'd have to worry about whether she'd ruin the Eligos family's reputation————
"I've pretty much sheared all the wool I can from Sobu High. It's time to turn my gaze outside the school."
Leon thought so, but he wasn't in a hurry.
Currently, he had resolved his most pressing needs. He didn't need to be so anxious about pursuing strength and peerages anymore.
The number of subordinates under him had increased rapidly enough. They needed time to grow, and he needed to pay more attention to them, digesting their internal potential before continuing to develop. Otherwise, problems might arise in the future.
"It's also time to speed up the growth of Yukino and the others."
Thinking of the chaos that might appear in the future, Leon decided to take some action.
However, before that, he had to complete his trip to Kuoh Academy.
With this thought in mind, for a long time afterward, Leon stopped taking any obvious actions, allowing the matter of the Department of Occult Research to gradually quiet down at Sobu High.
But just because he wasn't taking action didn't mean others weren't.
In the shadows where no one could peer, certain unknown existences were beginning to stir.
Outside the Human Realm, within a separate dimension————
This was a space independent of the world, one that no human could discover.
In the very center of this space, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood currently sat.
The corpses were those of monsters.
The blood was the blood of monsters.
Countless monster corpses were piled into mountains here, and blood had accumulated into a sea, turning this space into a hellish landscape.
In the dead center of this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, a figure drenched in blood slowly walked out.
————
"Congratulations, you have successfully mastered a new power."
Someone greeted her, saying these words with a smile.
"————Now, I can leave, right?"
The blood-stained nun looked at the newcomer, her face expressionless.
"Of course. We never intended to imprison you." The newcomer said with a smile, "However, are you sure you want to go and trouble those people right now?"
"We are currently still in hiding. None of the major powers know of our existence yet. If you go out, you might expose something, you know?"
The newcomer's words were not taken to heart by the blood-stained nun.
"This is what we agreed upon from the start. Do not stop me."
The blood-stained nun was bent on her course, leaving the newcomer somewhat helpless.
"In that case, just follow behind those fellows who also can't help but want to do something." That person said, "But don't lay a hand on them just because they're demons, okay?"
"At least, not for the time being."
Hearing this, the blood-stained nun said nothing and left the place directly————
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