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In the blink of an eye, the invading demons from the magical teleportation circles—set up outside the apartment windows from north and south in a pincer attack—were annihilated entirely.
Two minutes later, in the living room, the two girls—who'd initially thought they were about to have an intense battle—obediently sat down at the coffee table, each having dragged a chair from elsewhere in the apartment, now seated side by side with their backs to the TV.
Facing them across the coffee table, Bokue sat leisurely on the sofa, arms confidently crossed.
"Who…exactly are you?" Naruse Mio finally blurted out, unable to contain herself.
"Didn't I just answer that?" Bokue shot back dryly. "I'm Bokue Keikain, acting head of the Kyoto Keikain Clan. Do you need me to say it again?"
As he spoke, he idly spun two walnuts around his palm—having casually produced them from nowhere—as if daring them to say "yes," in which case those walnuts were certainly destined for their foreheads.
Some people just couldn't be cured, he mused silently.
"That's impossible!" the silver-haired succubus—or rather, the young dream demon Maria—shot back incredulously. "I've never seen an onmyōji like you before! Aren't actual onmyōji just old geezers who mutter spells for ages just to cast a tiny fireball?"
In other words—what kind of onmyōji was this ridiculously strong?
"That's exactly why I'm the acting head," Bokue replied flatly. "You know what acting head means? It means successor—think of it like your Demon Realm heirs. Ever seen a weakling chosen as heir? Or have you ever heard of anyone else from the Keikain Clan claiming to be acting head?"
"..."
She hadn't. Not ever.
The Keikain Clan was the premier onmyōji family in all of Japan, frequently featured on media broadcasts—but the only faces ever shown publicly were the elderly head or various branch heads. Never once had she seen an "acting head" appear in any interviews or media coverage.
"So what now?" Naruse Mio remained vigilant. "Planning to capture us and hand us over to the Demon Realm?"
Even though he'd clearly saved their lives moments earlier, Mio couldn't help her suspicion. After all, theoretically, onmyōji clans were typically hostile toward demons.
"I just told you. Those Northern Realm factions don't have enough bargaining chips to negotiate with me," Bokue sighed, rubbing his temples in irritation.
Before he finished speaking, Maria lit up instantly with a bright smile of relief:
"Ah, I see! You're planning to kindly shelter us, right, Bokue-sama?"
"Absolutely not."
Two simple words turned Maria's sunny smile instantly into a frozen mask of despair. Bokue casually tossed the walnuts onto the sofa beside him and nodded toward Naruse Mio.
"But there's something you got right earlier. Certain people in the Demon Realm do indeed want to… Well, the word 'protect' would probably fit better here."
"Protect?" Mio scoffed internally.
"Saying something like that… Have you already allied with the Old Demon Lord faction?"
"I said I have nothing to do with your Northern Realm factions…" Bokue inhaled deeply, feeling his blood pressure rising steadily.
Of course, Bokue understood why Naruse Mio assumed he had ties with the Old Demon Lord faction. Mio was, after all, the direct daughter of Wilbert, the previous Demon Lord of the Northern Realm.
She was thus the biological niece of Ramusas, who now led the Moderate faction. Naturally, Ramusas would want to "protect" her—or, rather, secure her inherited powers from Wilbert to bolster his own faction's strength against the Current Demon Lord faction.
But the key point he'd clearly stated multiple times was he had zero affiliation—none whatsoever—with those Northern factions.
"Wait—just what is this Northern Realm you keep mentioning? Isn't that just the Demon Realm?" Mio asked indignantly.
Bokue: "..."
Five full seconds of silence followed.
His initial confusion morphed gradually into a quiet disbelief, then into incredulous skepticism, and finally into resigned understanding.
"You haven't really lived in the Demon Realm much at all, have you?"
"N-No, I haven't… What's the issue?" Mio immediately softened, her bravado crumbling completely as she was struck dead-center by his question.
So that was it.
Bokue mentally rolled his eyes, then explained patiently:
"Let's get one thing clear. The Demon Realm is massive. The territory your father, Demon Lord Wilbert, ruled was merely a tiny piece of barren land located far to the north—a remote, poverty-stricken backwater compared to the vast, resource-rich lands held by the 72 Noble Demon Families."
"And the one who mentioned protecting you—his name is Sirzechs Lucifer, my girlfriend's elder brother and one of the current Four Great Demon Lords."
"Wait, Sirzechs Lucifer!?" Maria gasped, stunned for a brief moment before quickly nodding. "Ah, that explains everything…"
"Maria, what are you talking about? Explain what exactly?" Mio asked, bewildered.
Maria shook her head with a small smile:
"The current Demon Lord Lucifer is Sirzechs Gremory, eldest son of the Gremory Family—one of the 72 Noble Demon Houses. And the trademark of the Gremory bloodline is their beautiful red hair."
"Eh?" Hearing this, Mio subconsciously touched her own vivid red locks.
Could that mean…
"That's right," Maria nodded seriously. "Technically speaking, though quite distantly related, you and I are blood-related cousins to the current Lucifer, Sirzechs Gremory."
"So that means…" Mio exchanged an astonished glance with Bokue.
Bokue shrugged lightly. "That's why I said it's genuine protection. Besides, your level of Power of Destruction control isn't even close to Rias's yet. Why would anyone bother exploiting you?"
"Ugh…"
Mio puffed out her cheeks slightly in annoyance.
Even though he'd said it to reassure her, the implication that she'd be safe as long as she remained weak felt incredibly frustrating.
Yet oddly enough, Maria, who should've been overjoyed upon learning they had such strong backing in the Demon Realm, instead grew oddly calm. She subtly glanced at Mio, quietly hiding her hand behind her back, fingertips softly glowing a faint purple.
"So, Mio-sama, maybe we should just head to the Demon Realm and seek out the Gremory family?"
"I…" Mio hesitated, suddenly looking slightly dazed, her eyes unfocused. She shook her head decisively. "I don't want to go to the Demon Realm."
"Eh?" Maria feigned surprise. "But…if not the Demon Realm, then where else can we go?"
"I don't know. But I just… I don't want to go to the Demon Realm," Mio repeated firmly.
Now Maria found herself at a loss. She paused, then turned back to Bokue, putting on an adorable, pleading expression.
"Then… Bokue-sama, are you absolutely sure you can't kindly shelter us?"
"Nope," Bokue flatly refused again.
He wasn't entertaining them here simply because they were cute girls. Initially, he'd been slightly lenient because he'd heard young-sounding voices from outside his door, and then—upon seeing them—realized one was clearly Wilbert's daughter, whom Sirzechs had mentioned.
If the intruders had been two middle-aged men occupying his place, he would've already reduced them to ash alongside those invading wolves.
"Then…what should we do?" Maria was completely at a loss now.
Bokue didn't bother mincing words:
"Don't ask me. Staying here is out of the question. Besides, you clearly have the skills to sneak into a high-security apartment building undetected—why not just head out and sneak into a nice hotel nearby? There's plenty around."
…Eh? That actually made sense.
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