"79: Kasumigaoka Starts to Regret"

Roughly ten minutes later, Luo Shu arrived at the apartment complex where Kasumigaoka Utaha lived.

Both of them lived in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, and the distance between their homes wasn't very far. That was also why Luo Shu had decided to make a detour here.

Of course, from Kasumigaoka Utaha's perspective, this sudden visit felt like he was trying to send a very specific kind of signal.

"You suddenly messaged me saying you wanted to meet. Could it be that the great God-sama is finally willing to listen to the troubles of his lowly little follower?"

Outside the apartment building, Kasumigaoka Utaha, wearing the Toyosaki school uniform—with thigh-high black stockings that barely stayed within dress code—smiled sweetly at Luo Shu.

It was obvious from her expression that she was in a very good mood after receiving Luo Shu's message early in the morning.

Hearing her teasing remark, Luo Shu, holding his schoolbag, sighed with a speechless look on his face. One hand on his hip, he said, "Sure, I didn't contact you after school yesterday, but do you really have to talk to me like this?"

"My tone depends entirely on your attitude," Kasumigaoka replied, walking quickly toward him, smiling as she looked up at his face. She leaned in a little to sniff around his neck and collar, then said, "Good. Seems like you didn't do anything illegal last night with any of those beautiful SDS female agents."

Teasing him again, she tilted her head, motioning for Luo Shu to follow her.

But just then, Luo Shu grabbed her hand. In response to her surprised look, he said, "This isn't the place to talk. Let's go to your place."

Kasumigaoka was stunned for a moment, then let out a long, drawn-out "Hmmmm~" and said playfully, "Should I call the school and say I can't attend because of leg problems?"

"Okay, that's enough," Luo Shu said, both amused and exasperated.

Still… why "leg problems" of all things? Are you implying something I'm going to do will make you unable to walk?

He inwardly grumbled, but quickly put on a serious face and said, "This is official business."

Hearing that, Kasumigaoka immediately dropped her flirtatious tone, her expression showing a bit of surprise. "Official business?" she repeated under her breath, then nodded and, still holding his hand, said, "Come with me."

With a fingerprint scan, they went up the elevator and arrived at her apartment. As soon as they entered the entryway, Kasumigaoka took out a pair of newly bought blue men's slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them in front of Luo Shu. "If they don't fit, let me know."

Luo Shu glanced at the slippers on the floor, then at Kasumigaoka as she changed into her own indoor slippers. For some reason, the image of Mira Tsubakihara popped into his head.

Do girls… always take the initiative like this?

The last time he visited here, he was sure there were no men's slippers in her home. These were clearly new—probably just bought recently.

Muttering in his heart, Luo Shu took off his shoes, changed into the indoor slippers, and followed Kasumigaoka into the familiar living room.

As she walked into the kitchen to make something warm to drink, she called back, "Do I need to call in sick?"

Luo Shu sat down on the sofa and explained, "Not necessary. You can just consider the extra time we have as equivalent to taking the Shinkansen to Chiyoda, where the school is."

"So, thirty minutes then?"

In the kitchen, Kasumigaoka paused mid-boil and turned her head slightly. "You're talking about using the Astronomy Club's space, aren't you?"

"Smart girl!" Luo Shu clapped lightly, impressed by how fast she caught on.

"That's not 'smart,' it's just the only logical guess. After all, the only method for quick travel to school that I know of is the emergency teleportation link you set up."

Using five system points, one could teleport straight to the Astronomy Club's alternate space, which was connected to their clubroom on campus.

"So now we've got a high-speed commute method—just a bit pricey though."

Kasumigaoka reached up to open the top kitchen cabinet, then asked, "Coffee okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

Luo Shu responded casually. A few moments later, Kasumigaoka walked out with two mugs and a hot water kettle in one hand, and two packets of instant coffee in her mouth.

Seeing her carry coffee that way, Luo Shu froze for a second.

The square-shaped black packets resembled some recent "condom" he'd seen in the shops.

"What is it?" Kasumigaoka asked, noticing Luo Shu staring at her. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she brushed aside a strand of hair behind her ear. "What are you looking at?"

"I was just thinking… about some things concerning the two of us," Luo Shu replied with deliberate vagueness.

Hearing that it was something about the two of them, Kasumigaoka immediately dropped the subject. She was, in a sense, the type to back off at exactly the wrong moment.

"So, what happened?" she asked instead.

Seeing her change the subject, Luo Shu didn't mind. In fact, he was relieved—after all, his earlier thoughts would've been far too disrespectful to share.

"I guess it started last night…" he began and proceeded to tell her everything that had happened—from the moment he left school yesterday to what had transpired this morning.

The cascade of events left Kasumigaoka utterly dumbfounded.

After listening to him for nearly ten minutes, she sat still with a cup of untouched coffee in her hands, dazed.

"So, under the noses of SDS's main members, you recruited Sharon the Pure, one of the Seven-Star Demon Hunters, as your subordinate. You even shot the Yakushiji heiress who offended you?"

"And on top of that, you instructed that Sharon woman to secretly investigate the Yakushiji family to find out more about the sealed demon?"

"And now, Sharon has already captured a key person? All that's left is to extract the information from his mind?"

Luo Shu nodded calmly at her stunned summary. "That's pretty much it."

Kasumigaoka took a long pause before finally taking a sip of her now-lukewarm coffee. Her expression was full of contemplation.

Luo Shu frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

"…Nothing," Kasumigaoka muttered. The truth was, she was just frustrated. She hadn't kept close tabs on Luo Shu for half a day and somehow, all of this had happened. It felt like her boy had suddenly grown up in the blink of an eye.

The real problem, though, was that she hadn't been there to grow alongside him—that was what stung.

And more importantly—that blonde nun, that high-ranking, devout lady who treated Luo Shu as her God—that was clearly a terrifying love rival!

Suddenly, Kasumigaoka felt a strong desire to keep moving forward.

"That Yakshiji guy Sharon caught—he's in the base, right?"

Her tone left no room for doubt. Looking Luo Shu straight in the eye, she gritted her teeth and said, "Take me there. Let me handle it."

"No rush," Luo Shu shook his head, and with a flick of his hand, produced a test tube containing a red liquid.

"Before that, there's one crucial step we need to take care of first."

As his voice fell, the succubus blood in the test tube glimmered with an unusual, eerie glow.