"Hmph..."
After learning the ins and outs from Rozen, Natsuki remained silent for a moment, then blatantly displayed a displeased expression, coldly snorting.
"The Lion King Agency, those guys are really ruthless. They actually brought out something like this just for a surveillance opportunity."
Expressing her dissatisfaction, Natsuki tossed the grimoire she held directly to Rozen.
At the same time, the chains on Rozen's body loosened one by one, retracting into ripples of space, disappearing and finally setting him free. Rozen instinctively reached out and took the grimoire named "No.282" into his hands.
In this situation, everyone hiding and eavesdropping in the corner also reacted.
"So, the transfer student was actually an Attack Mage from the Lion King Agency?"
"I knew it, Nichiyo-kun wouldn't just agree to someone's invitation and go to a place like that for no reason, he's not like Kojou-kun."
"Do you think I would do something like that...!?"
Kojou and Nagisa respectively responded, one excited, the other relieved, showing no signs of nervousness.
"Surveillance..."
Avrora also breathed a sigh of relief, but the term "surveillance" still provoked some reaction, leaving her in distress.
Because...
"Since you've accepted the Lion King Agency's conditions, that transfer student will be monitoring you from now on, right?"
Natsuki pointed outside the window with her lace fan.
"I see, so that's what this is for?"
Natsuki referred to a moth attached to the window from outside.
At first glance, it seemed like a rather ordinary moth, but only those sensitive to jutsuryoku would notice that it wasn't a moth at all, but a shikigami created by talisman.
It was the shikigami held by Himeragi Yukina.
That shikigami was monitoring Rozen nearby, reporting his every move to Himeragi Yukina.
If not for this, Himeragi Yukina wouldn't have left Rozen alone with such peace of mind.
Rozen naturally couldn't have failed to notice the shikigami's presence.
However, because he had agreed to the Lion King Agency's deal, Rozen also tacitly accepted the shikigami's presence, allowing it to hover nearby.
As the highest-ranking Witch, Natsuki also couldn't have failed to notice the presence of someone else's shikigami around her.
Since that was the case, Natsuki didn't shoot it down, naturally out of consideration for Rozen's face.
"In terms of the deal, I admit this is a favorable situation for you."
Natsuki said this, but her face still showed displeasure.
As a National Attack Mage belonging to the Police Department's Attack Mage Bureau, Natsuki had a rather strained relationship with the Lion King Agency, a special agency, even as business rivals, in terms of stance and political arena. It was only natural for her to feel unhappy about being monitored by such opponents at her own home.
However, Natsuki chose not to resist.
The reason being, if this could help her brother make progress, or even gain such a large sum of wealth, Natsuki naturally couldn't refuse.
"Besides, we've also obtained some useful intelligence from this side. At least we now know that the Lion King Agency has secretly set up an office on Itogami Island, and that office is located at that kind of place."
Saying this, Natsuki pressed her lace fan against Rozen's forehead.
"But, from now on, don't go over there unless necessary. Do you understand?"
Natsuki issued this warning.
Clearly, this was Natsuki's only requirement.
"I understand, Natsuki-nee."
Rozen could only smile wryly.
Seeing Rozen's reaction, Natsuki seemed somewhat dissatisfied, just about to say something when she was interrupted by a sound.
"Hmm?"
Natsuki stopped, took out the object emitting the sound.
It wasn't a phone, but a communicator.
"It's me."
Natsuki spoke into the communicator, succinctly, as if handling official business.
In fact, Natsuki was indeed handling official business; the communicator could directly contact the Special Zone Defense Force and the Attack Mage Bureau.
Usually, when this communicator rang, it was time for Natsuki to work.
This kind of Natsuki...
"What is it?"
As if hearing bad news suddenly, she frowned.
"I see, I'll be there right away."
Immediately, Natsuki replied like this, then put away the communicator.
"What's wrong, Natsuki-nee?"
Rozen almost reflexively asked.
"Nothing..."
Upon hearing this, Natsuki was about to say it was nothing, but suddenly stopped.
"...By the way, you've already obtained the official license as an Attack Mage, right?"
Natsuki remembered this fact, sighed, then looked at Rozen.
"Do you know about the big fire in the warehouse street in the East District yesterday?"
Rozen had already learned about this from Asagi.
"I heard it was caused by the Beast Vassal of the old generation vampire, right?"
Rozen gave an honest answer.
Could it be that there was some problem discovered in that incident?
Rozen thought so.
However, Natsuki said something different.
"In fact, that wasn't the first accident to happen on Itogami Island."
Natsuki told Rozen this information directly.
"In the past two months, there have been almost seven incidents like this, with Demon or vampire Beast Vassals going berserk on Itogami Island, causing massive damage to the surrounding areas."
Natsuki looked directly at Rozen.
"In each of these accidents, when the security team found the responsible demons and vampires, they were already unconscious, heavily injured, with their magical power almost depleted, and on the brink of death."
With just this sentence, Rozen understood completely.
"So, these accidents might not be caused by the demons and vampires going berserk, but rather by them fighting against some enemy?" Rozen proposed his speculation.
"That's the only possibility. Otherwise, there's no reason for them to be heavily injured, facing death, and even experiencing abnormal depletion of magical power," confirmed Natsuki.
"So... Another similar incident just occurred?" Rozen inquired.
"Exactly," Natsuki nodded, saying, "This time, it's in the northern district of Itogami Island. A vampire from the old generation, just after finishing his research assignment, suddenly summoned his vassal beast and burned everything within hundreds of meters."
In other words, another vampire from the old generation was attacked.
"This is the eighth incident," Natsuki calmly stated. "It's certain that on this island, there's someone targeting demons, especially powerful vampires from the old generation, for some purpose."
That's the information Natsuki received.