-2337- Intend to take it?

Since the incident involving Tartarus Lapse, Aiba Asagi and Yaze Motoki hadn't returned in the past two weeks.

Although the school had officially announced a suspension of classes, the main reason seemed to be that both of them were constantly tied up with work at the Management Cooperative, barely returning home at all.

Considering how deeply both of them were connected to the Management Cooperative, it wasn't surprising that things had turned out this way given the current circumstances.

Rozen and the others had attempted to contact Asagi and Motoki, and while the two did answer calls and reply to texts occasionally, they firmly refused whenever anyone suggested visiting them.

"Things are in total chaos here right now, I really don't have time to catch up, let alone take care of you guys."

"Just behave yourselves and wait for us to come back."

That was the kind of response they always gave, much to the frustration of everyone.

Rozen, however, could understand.

After all, even Natsuki was so busy she was almost never seen. She kept Astarte by her side the entire time, and Rozen had only seen them less than five times in the past two weeks. That alone proved how overwhelmed the Management Cooperative was and how desperately they needed manpower.

It was said that many Demons and civilian Attack Mages currently in service had been recruited by the Management Cooperative to carry out various tasks to revitalize Itogami Island. Rozen himself was a licensed Attack Mage, and if it weren't for his current relief efforts—which were essential to the island's survival—he probably would have been called in too.

Given that, it was perfectly reasonable that a computer genius like Asagi and someone from a prominent family like Motoki would be swamped.

The problem was...

"Something just feels off about those two's attitude."

Rozen had a bad feeling.

Normally, no matter how busy she was, Asagi would take time to call Rozen and rant about all her complaints. That was just her personality. She wasn't the kind of person who would change just because Itogami Island was in ruins. So her current uncharacteristic silence was indeed strange.

As for Motoki, he was usually laid-back. Even if he could work seriously, for him to be this dead silent was definitely suspicious.

On top of that, the continued delay of disaster relief from the mainland only added to the suspicion that something deeper was going on.

"Should I just infiltrate the Management Cooperative and find out what's going on?"

Rozen had seriously considered the idea.

If he wanted to, he had more than enough ways to get to the bottom of things.

However, he'd been preoccupied with something else lately, which had prevented him from taking action.

Thinking of that, Rozen turned his head and looked at Kojou.

"By the way, Kojou, you still haven't been able to contact the God of Sin within you?"

Rozen asked this question.

Yes.

For some time now, Rozen had been trying to awaken Cain, the God of Sin, and speak to him through Kojou.

To uncover the true mystery behind the Cleansing, Rozen had decided to start by confronting the prime culprit directly.

If he could figure out the essential truth behind the Cleansing, then everything else would fall into place.

To that end, while organizing relief efforts, Rozen had also been trying to make contact with Cain and even taught Kojou a few techniques for divine communication and spirit channeling to help.

Unfortunately...

"No good. It's like he's completely severed himself from the world. He won't respond to me at all."

Kojou said in frustration.

"I tried the spirit communication methods you taught me, but I can only vaguely sense his emotions. I can't feel his will at all."

It was understandable.

Kojou wasn't a Spirit Medium or Shaman—he was just an ordinary person. The fact that a god would even reside in him was already a miracle. Expecting him to successfully communicate with a deity was almost impossible.

"I even tried helping Kojou-kun with spirit channeling, but it didn't work. It's like our voices aren't the problem—it's that he just refuses to respond."

Nagisa puffed her cheeks in frustration.

She had succeeded in spirit-channeling with Avrora before, and even with the Fourth Primogenitor, only to have her body taken over. So failing to awaken a sleeping god now understandably made her feel discouraged.

"Spirit channeling isn't my strong suit. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

Even Yukina, a Sword Shaman who specialized more in combat than in spiritual arts, bowed her head apologetically.

"I... I can't help either."

Even Kanon looked downcast.

As a royal descendant of the Aldegyr Kingdom, Kanon possessed spiritual potential that surpassed even Nagisa and Yukina, but she lacked the methods to use it. Her affinity was more aligned with communicating with spirits rather than gods, so she couldn't do much either.

"Then... then let me try waking up that God of Sin!"

Avrora spoke out with what little courage she could muster, though her hand trembled.

According to her, Cain deeply resented the Fourth Primogenitor who killed him. If she actively channeled her mana and fed it into Kojou, it might provoke Cain enough to wake up.

But doing so would make Cain lash out at Avrora, possibly taking over Kojou's body and forcing him to kill her.

That's why—

"Forget it. Don't bring that up again."

Rozen rolled his eyes and snapped, "You're obviously scared to death and still trying to act tough."

That said, at this point, Rozen was basically out of options.

If he wanted to take more aggressive measures, he could probably force Cain to respond.

But that risked provoking him into doing something to Kojou's body.

Taking that into account, Rozen held off on any rash actions.

"So, in the end, we'll just have to keep trying to communicate with his will—just keep trying to wake him up."

Rozen turned to Kojou.

"Don't worry. The fact that this god hasn't done anything to you yet means he's not hostile to you—at least not right now. Maybe he just doesn't want to be disturbed. Keep trying—sooner or later he'll respond."

After all, gods were notoriously fickle. Maybe one day he'd just wake up in a good mood.

"If push really comes to shove, though, I won't hold back."

Rozen smirked slightly. "I've already gathered all eleven of the Fourth Primogenitor's Beast Vassals. If it comes down to it, I've got the leverage to provoke him myself."

As soon as he said that, while most of the group didn't react, Avrora quietly lifted her eyes and stared at Rozen, looking hesitant to speak.

"What's wrong? Do you have something to say?"

Rozen noticed and asked curiously.

Avrora fidgeted for a moment, then bit her lip and stared straight at him.

"The last Beast Vassal... is inside me right now."

Avrora pressed her hand to her chest, her expression complicated.

"Do you... intend to take it from me?"