Claire led the group into the small but rather comfortable house that had been gathering dust. They immediately went to Claire's room and the owner impatiently went under the wooden bed frame and grabbed a foot-long and half-a-foot wide wooden box.
Claire placed the box in the middle of the room and opened it with everyone gathered around it. Inside of it was Claire's treasure which was composed of small toys and a collection of saved candies and snacks.
Seeing the variety of different things inside, everyone became excited at the colorful sight that's akin to a box of gems and jewels for adults.
Even Ophis and Lilith's eyes were shining, but partly because everyone else was excited too.
"Good thing I was able to save them until now." Due to abruptly moving, Claire forgot to carry her treasure chest with her and she had always been thinking about it since then, but couldn't really ask her parents because she could see how busy they were.
At that point, Claire carefully took out the contents of the box and with everyone, they inspected it one by one.
It was only about half an hour later that everyone finished the candies and snacks despite going about it slowly. But although most of her treasure was gone, Claire was thinking that the use of her ticket was worth it and she'd do it again if she could, "Let's do it again later~!"
With no adults watching, the normally mature Kunou also lost herself to the excitement, "I will also save my favorite snacks and toys. Let's do it again!"
"I'll save too!" Tanis raised her hand.
"Hmmm... If we just save normally, then we'll only get something normal too..." Claire started thinking of ways to earn some allowance and go around hunting for rare snacks.
Ophis and Lilith, on the other hand, didn't join their conversation as both of them don't have any confidence in saving anything. For now, they only looked forward to their offerings.
Since they still had plenty of time before the sun sets, Claire led the group again to go outside and play and maybe also meet the old folks that gave her snacks whenever she passed by with her father or mother.
But before they go out of their way, Kunou suddenly remembered something and took out the charm that she'd received from her mother, "Claire-chan, I almost forgot. Please send this to Aunty Sakura."
Claire looked at it curiously and asked, "This is?"
Kunou, however, shook her head, "I don't know. Mother asked me to secretly pass it to you to be sent to Aunty."
Claire was confused why she just couldn't give it herself directly but didn't think about it deeply and passed the charm to Ophis, "Ophis-chan, please~!"
As the group's transporter, Ophis nodded and the charm in her hand disappeared without a sound, "...Done."
"Alright, ~ Let's go~!"
.
.
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Sakura had just gotten back to the mansion and was resting before she assisted her sister in her work. But just as she was about to move, a familiar charm suddenly appeared in front of her through a Magic Circle with the 'Infinity' symbol on it, "Ophis? And this charm... It's the one that Kunou-chan received earlier if I'm not wrong."
Sakura carefully inspected it and saw that it was actually a communication charm disguised as a protective charm, "A way to avoid the spies, huh..."
Sakura stood up and went straight to Cleria's office, 'For her to initiate contact like this, I wonder what sort of deal she wants that warranted her to avoid the Alliance's eyes.'
"Nee-sama, could I have some of your time?"
Cleria and a few of her trusted aides were in the room buried in paperwork, "Sarah? Is there a problem on Claire's side?"
Sakura immediately shook her head to ease her worries, "There's none, but I want a secured room."
Cleria stared at her for a few moments before signaling everyone else to leave. It only took a few seconds for them to be left alone and Cleria promptly activated a barrier that stops information from flowing out. Since Sakura didn't just want to talk and also wanted a 'secured' room, Cleria also opened some channels in the barrier so that Magic communication could be possible.
Sakura didn't have to explain herself and placed the charm on Cleria's table before activating it.
The charm lit up in golden light for a few seconds before an image of the current leader of Youkai appeared, "Greetings, ladies of the Belial House. I apologize for contacting you like this."
Cleria looked at Sakura for a split second before turning her attention back to their guest, "Good day to you too, Lady Yasaka. As much as I want to, we aren't really in a situation where we can just chat nonchalantly, so I apologize too but we would really appreciate it if you could get straight to the point."
"Don't worry about it since I also can't afford to stay in communication like this for long. I presume this room is well guarded?"
Cleria nodded, "It's well guarded enough that I can assure you that no information will get out of here."
"Thank you for your consideration. Well then, the reason I'm contacting you like this is that I want to place my bet on your Household... More specifically, Kisuke Urahara."
Claire and Sakura frowned and the former asked, "May I know why and how?"
"I won't keep you guessing. I'm here to tell you that the Alliance knows more about our otherworldly enemies than they let on. In fact, the leaders even know the names of these mechanical-like lifeforms that wanted to invade Earth and the spirit-like lifeforms that oppose them."
The ladies couldn't help but shudder and Claire stood up while slapping her hand on the table, "What!? How!?"
While the two of them are shocked, they were actually angrier, 'How could they actually keep such a vital piece of information!? Especially from Kisuke who's one of the forefront people who's making an effort to prepare against these invaders!'
"I understand how you feel." Yasaka continued, "But I also ask you to keep listening as this information came from a Super Devil called Gasper Vladi."