When Rozen returned to the Minamiya household, Nagisa and Avrora had already come back.
"Nichiyo!"
The moment Rozen stepped through the door, Avrora leapt into his arms, clinging to him tightly.
Her body trembled slightly, as if she were holding onto Rozen like a lifeline—helpless, fragile, and pitiful.
"There, there. I'm here now. Everything's fine."
Rozen naturally understood how Avrora must be feeling in that moment. Embracing her, he gently stroked her head and spoke softly in comfort.
His tenderness caused even Yukina and Nagisa, who were watching from the side, to feel a tinge of jealousy.
Meanwhile, the four familiar girls residing in Rozen's body seemed to have reached some sort of agreement or understanding with the Beast Vassals also dwelling in his blood. They remained silent, as if they had discovered something significant.
During this time, Kanon also returned. Upon seeing the state of everyone, she quickly grasped the situation and quietly sat with Nagisa, whispering softly between them.
Then, Natsuki returned as well, accompanied by Astarte, appearing before everyone.
And the moment she appeared, Natsuki immediately declared:
"The Eight Trigram Formation that covered Itogami Island has been lifted. From just a short while ago, scheduled ships have already begun arriving at the island. However, the Security Team didn't find the mastermind behind this incident in that collapsed abandoned building. They likely escaped."
Although Rozen hadn't said anything yet, Natsuki seemed to have already grasped the entire situation and had taken action accordingly.
This wasn't surprising at all.
After being warned by Rozen, Natsuki had mobilized the Special Zone's Security Team and conducted a large-scale search across Itogami Island.
She even witnessed the appearance of the Eight Trigram Formation firsthand and saw it shrink above the abandoned building.
Given her intelligence, it was only natural that she could deduce what was going on and immediately headed there with Astarte.
Unfortunately, by the time she arrived, all she found was a destroyed building—nothing else remained.
"After disabling the Eight Trigram Formation, the enemy must have retreated immediately. Their speed and response were sharp—they're likely seasoned professionals, not some simple foes."
Natsuki didn't waste time and, unlike before, didn't attempt to exclude Rozen from the incident. She laid out the situation plainly and directly.
Clearly, Natsuki had realized that even if she tried to keep Rozen out of things, if he wasn't convinced, she wouldn't be able to stop him anyway. Rather than fight it, cooperating from the start might lead to unexpected advantages.
Besides, this time was different from last time.
It was still unclear how dangerous the enemy was or whether they posed a threat to Rozen. Under those circumstances, Natsuki had no reason to push him away.
Just as Rozen once said—Natsuki only wanted to protect him, not cage him at home. Unless the danger was extreme, she wouldn't interfere with his actions.
In fact, even if the danger was extreme, if Rozen was determined to intervene, Natsuki likely couldn't stop him.
Whether it was during the Blazing Banquet or at Shinjin Lake, she had tried to hold Rozen back—yet she failed both times. By now, she understood clearly: her little brother had already grown up.
Thus, this time, Natsuki chose to say no more.
Rather than let Rozen go alone into battle, it was safer to be by his side from the beginning.
That was her thinking.
This left Rozen somewhat surprised, though he quickly understood as he looked at Natsuki.
"This time, the opponent is indeed no simple character. In fact, it's not even just one person."
Rozen stated this clearly.
"Not just one person?" Natsuki looked at him, asking, "You've figured something out?"
"Yeah." Rozen nodded, his response crisp and decisive. "Though it's still speculation, I believe it's at least a two-person team."
That was the one thing he could be certain of.
"One is a Feng Shui practitioner who set up the Eight Trigram Formation—a master of the Kimon school. The other is a vampire capable of controlling Beast Vassals on the level of a Primogenitor."
The air in the room instantly grew heavy at Rozen's words.
"A vampire who can control a Primogenitor-class Beast Vassal...?"
Nagisa and Kanon were visibly shocked.
"A master of the Kimon school... huh?"
Natsuki, on the other hand, suddenly fell into a grim silence.
"..."
Yukina and Astarte watched on quietly.
In that tense atmosphere, Rozen, still holding the frightened and trembling Avrora who refused to let go, spoke.
"Natsuki-nee, do you know of any Feng Shui master in this world who could silently and skillfully manipulate the ley lines of Itogami Island and set up such a massive formation?"
Rozen asked calmly.
Just as he had thought earlier, anyone possessing such refined skills in the Kimon school would not be an unknown. Even if they operated in secret, any nation witnessing such techniques would surely take notice, and the user would become famous.
Therefore, Rozen believed that it would be possible to identify someone fitting that profile.
And indeed, that was the case.
"...There are only two individuals in recent times with such mastery in Feng Shui."
Natsuki was silent for a long while before speaking, as if suppressing her emotions.
"One is Itogami Senra, the designer of Itogami Island. But he's already passed away, leaving behind a single heir who isn't a Feng Shui practitioner and didn't inherit his skills."
"The other is the world's foremost Kimon expert, once employed as a military advisor by the Neustria region of Europe, who had great influence on the European magical community. He was known as the Treasure of the East. The military techniques he deployed were said to completely annihilate even the demon legions of the Empire of the Night."
"So, the one who set up the Eight Trigram Formation must be the latter."
Everyone turned their attention to Natsuki upon hearing this.
"Who is this person?" Yukina couldn't help but ask.
Natsuki answered with a voice that gave away no emotion.
"His name is Senga Takehito. He's around forty years old, an artistic-looking middle-aged man with very distinct features—you'd recognize him at a glance."
Her cold tone left everyone exchanging glances.
Especially Rozen—he was surprised by Natsuki's demeanor.
Because Rozen knew very well—this was how Natsuki looked when she was emotionally disturbed.
She had faced difficult enemies before. She had dealt with countless magical criminals. But never had she let her emotions show like this.
This time...
"You know him, don't you, Natsuki-nee?"
Rozen asked, almost instinctively.
Natsuki was silent once again.
Then—
"Of course I do."
She replied, expressionless.
"Because... he was my teacher."