From Chapter 57 onward, prepare for a major upgrade—writing, cleaner grammar, and a more immersive story!
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~ Next chapter coming in an hour!
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Time sped by—Wednesday, Thursday, Friday all passed, and Saturday finally arrived.
Scene Shift: Itogami Island
Itogami Island—or so-called Demons Special Zone, a colossal artificial floating isle located over three hundred kilometers out in the Pacific from Tokyo.
Though called a "Demons Special Zone," it was essentially like a port connecting the Underworld with the human world, functioning more like a customs checkpoint.
Every devil traveling to the human world via the Underworld was required to undergo inspection here, providing documented reasons, affiliation, plus an official stamp from whichever faction they belonged to.
It wasn't that such a process forced them to follow laws. The system merely served to hold someone accountable later if they caused trouble—like a bureaucratic fallback for negotiations and disputes.
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Saturday, 10 AM—Itogami Island's "Underworld Port."
While typically a seaport had ships moored, this one had trains—steampunk-style, with retro locomotive engines reminiscent of early 20th-century Britain.
Meanwhile, in other waiting halls you might see a crush of humans and devils crowding together, but Bokue Keikain and company's hall was quiet and deserted. Apart from them, not a soul.
"Feels like all the other waiting halls were so busy, but ours is practically empty..."
Asia, gazing around in wonder, couldn't help commenting as they entered.
"Well, that's normal," came the reply from Shitori Sona—whom they'd met a few days earlier at the old schoolhouse—and the tall, similarly bespectacled black-haired girl, presumably Shinra Tsubaki. Their overall vibe was so similar it was like they were sisters.
Sona pushed up her glasses, turning to Asia: "The train we're taking is the Gremory family's exclusive line. In fact, out of the Seventy-Two Pillars that still have contact with the human world, most keep their own special trains and private waiting halls here."
"What about you, President Shitori?"
The query came from Bokue, leaning casually with arms folded. Today he wore a loose, comfortable short-sleeve training outfit in white, with sleeves just barely closing around his arms.
Sona hesitated a moment. "My house is indeed part of the nobility, but..."
Her tone sounded reluctant, as if not wanting to elaborate. She cast a sideways look, unsure whether to continue.
Rias stepped in before she could waffle any more:
"Jeez, from how lively you two were in the club before, I assumed you'd already met. Let me do a quick intro: Sona's real name is Sona Sitri, from one of the Seventy-Two Pillars too. Her sister, like my own older brother, is one of the Four Great Satans—Serafall Leviathan."
"As for why Sona's coming along... well, Leviathan-sama dotes on her dear sister, so whenever Sona goes home, Serafall insists on greeting her in person, and then as soon as they meet, she'll—"
"RIAS—!!"
Catching wind of the "Embarrassing anecdote," Sona's cheeks tinted pink as she snapped out a warning glare.
Rias waved it off, "All right, all right, won't say any more. It's no big deal anyway~"
"Hmph..."
Seeing her friend relent, Sona exhaled, tension easing. "Anyway, we just have to wait a while until the approvals go through, then we can board the train."
"Right," Rias nodded.
There were plenty of seats in the waiting hall, so they easily settled themselves.
No sooner had Bokue taken a seat than something moved under his kimono-like top.
A moment later, a small black cat's head emerged from within the folds.
"Eek!"
Rias—sitting next to him—never guessed he had a cat hidden inside his clothes. She let out a soft shriek of surprise.
She soon recovered, though, and turned curious. "That cat is...?"
"Oh, I told you I have a cat at home," Bokue said, taking the black cat from under his shirt and placing it on his lap. "Since we'll be gone a couple days in the Underworld, if we left her alone, she'd probably tear the house down. Might as well bring her along."
"Mm, so... does she have a name?" Rias asked.
"Yes—Kuroka."
Bokue's tone was calm, but from another seat, Koneko gave a sudden shiver, dropping her newly opened sea-salt crackers onto her lap. A few grains of salt sprinkled onto her skirt.
"'Kuroka,' huh... mind if I pet her?"
Rias didn't think too deeply, reaching a hand out toward the cat's head.
But the cat slipped away. The very moment Rias's hand neared, that once-comfy black cat hopped up with agility, leaping onto Bokue's shoulder, tilting its head to stare at her.
Rias: "..."
It was only a cat's reaction, so she couldn't be upset—but she could swear the cat's expression conveyed... scorn? Could cats be so expressive?
"Meow~"
While Rias was quietly reeling from having been rebuffed, another soft "meow" came from close by. She turned to see Koneko, who'd been munching crackers, leaning toward Bokue's shoulder, uttering catlike sounds in an attempt to communicate with Kuroka.
Seemingly sensing Koneko's goodwill, Kuroka answered with a gentle meow, then stretched her neck to nibble the proffered sea-salt cracker. In no time, the waiting hall felt more like a cat cafe:
Koneko: "Meow~" (Offering a cracker)
Kuroka: "Meow~" (Taking a careful bite)
Koneko: "Meow~" (Offering more)
Kuroka: "Meow~" (Nibbles again)
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Just then, the hall's entrance door opened. A staff worker in uniform rushed inside with some papers in hand.
"Hello. This is urgent: your documents have all been approved—except for Miss Asia's. She had no official stamp, so hers was rejected."
"Eh?!"
Asia, startled by name, shrank her neck like a spooked rabbit, her blonde hair bouncing slightly.
Bokue glanced at Rias with a look of "Ah, I see," then stepped forward: "Sorry—my fault. She's an Onmyoji of the Keikain family. Please give me the form."
He took up a pen—well, more precisely, conjured a small golden stamp with his spiritual power—and pressed a bold "KEIKAIN" insignia in shimmering lines.
The staff member eyed that seal suspiciously, but soon shrugged. "All right, then there's no issue."
Sure, a blonde-blue-eyed girl as an Onmyoji might be questionable, but it was at least more plausible than some rumored historical black samurai. So, that done, they could finally depart.
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Meanwhile, somewhere else on Itogami Island, inside a dim, quiet computer room in a residential building, about a dozen monitors were arranged in rows. Their faint glow lit up the darkness.
Seated before them was a curvy teenage girl of perhaps fifteen or sixteen, sporting light coffee-colored hair and crimson eyes, wearing a serious look. Her hands rested on a steering wheel, rapidly tapping commands.
Gigabytes of data flashed across the screens with her inputs.
Abruptly, a pixelated "Cyber-pet," resembling some cross between a cat and dog, popped up in the upper-right corner. Its mouth opened and closed, speaking in a synthetic voice, breaking the silence:
[Miss, I just spotted your childhood friend at the 'port' on Itogami Island, along with a few other girls.]
"Childhood friend? Mogwai, what are you talking ab—huh?"
Deep in her work, the blonde girl half responded before abruptly freezing:
"Wait, wait, what did you say?!"
[Your childhood friend, of course! Didn't you say yourself, back before you moved away from Kyoto, you had a childhood friend?]
On the screen, the pixel pet waved its front paws.
[Anyway, I'll show a screenshot~]
With that, a timestamped security feed image—less than a minute old—filled the monitor, showing Bokue and the others preparing to head for the Underworld.
Upon seeing that face, so reminiscent of her recollections from a decade ago, the girl's fingers halted on the keyboard.
Her lips parted slightly.
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