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From nine in the morning until six in the evening—nearly the entire day—as the crimson sunset gradually sank below the horizon, five new buildings had appeared atop the Keystone Gate.
Bokue's own apartment, Nagisa and Yukina's apartment, Asagi's penthouse, the hotel suite for Mio and Maria, and the old school building where Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Asia were staying.
Scene shift to Bokue's apartment—
As twilight fell and night descended, the aroma of dinner filled the living room air.
Bokue sat at the dining table, the evening meal and three sets of chopsticks already laid out before him.
Beside him, Kuroka wore her usual black kimono, two cat tails swaying gently from beneath the hem—clearly in a good mood today.
Through the kitchen window, the lights were on in Asagi's modern mansion-like home, also situated atop the Keystone Gate.
Though no one was living there yet. Asagi was still at her luxury apartment on the west side of Itogami Island's city center.
After all, she'd spent the entire afternoon either reaching peaks or on the way to them—eventually just staying at the summit without coming down. Mountain climbing was aerobic exercise that consumed tremendous stamina.
From ten-thirty in the morning to two in the afternoon, then from two-thirty straight through to five in the evening—six hours of intense peak experiences in a single day was enough to make Asagi want nothing more than to rest at home tonight.
"Alright, let's eat."
Drawing his gaze back from the kitchen window, Bokue casually announced.
But before he could pick up his chopsticks, Kuroka suddenly leaned in, nuzzling his cheek with her delicate nose.
"Hey darling, though I'm just guessing here, but Miss Ravel isn't planning to stay at our place tonight, is she?"
Indeed, normally there would only be two sets of chopsticks at dinner. But with Ravel here today, they'd had to add a third.
The lady in question sat across from Bokue and Kuroka, bowl in her left hand, chopsticks in her right, tilting her head with a gentle smile on her refined features.
"What else could we do?"
Bokue didn't see any issue, simply placing a chicken drumstick in the cat-eared girl's bowl to occupy her mouth.
"Miss Ravel just arrived from the Underworld yesterday, spent all day running around with us, and hasn't even found a place to stay yet. We're all acquaintances and we have a spare room—what's wrong with her staying one night?"
"I don't have a problem with Miss Ravel staying here~"
Kuroka's tail movements became increasingly sinuous, golden cat eyes rolling meaningfully.
"I'm just worried Miss Ravel might get 'scared' by the noises from our place at night."
"Noises? Scared?"
Ravel maintained her head tilt, curiosity creeping into her tone.
"Why would Miss Kuroka say that?"
"Oh, it's nothing really."
Bokue casually nipped this potentially horror-story topic in the bud.
"It's just that Kuroka likes watching me play horror games at night, and... anyway, don't worry. I'll set up a soundproofing barrier beforehand."
"I see."
Without pressing the issue, Ravel smiled and nodded.
But then Kuroka suddenly let out a soft "ah."
"Oh right, darling, speaking of horror games—remember that TV and game console we took to Rias's place at the start of summer vacation? I forgot to grab them when I left in a hurry. They should still be at Rias's house."
"Hm? Oh, you're right."
Bokue thought about it and realized she was correct.
"No problem, I'll go get them in a bit."
It had been a while since he'd seen Lady Venelana and Grayfia anyway...
The youth thought to himself.
But the moment this thought crossed his mind, Kuroka seemed to sense something, pressing her chicken-grease-stained cheek against his and narrowing her eyes.
"Just don't chat too long with that Lady Venelana, nya, I'll be waiting at home for you to bring back the TV and game console,"
"Alright, alright, I got it."
Catching the cat-girl's implication, Bokue shook his head with amusement, then smoothly set down his chopsticks and gave Kuroka's round bottom beneath her kimono a pat.
The cat-eared girl instantly straightened her spine.
Ravel watched all this from across the table, raising an eyebrow slightly.
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Scene shift to the Gremory territory in the Underworld—the castle that had been lively for a whole month due to summer vacation had grown quiet again with Rias and the others' departure.
Also dinner time, but the vast dining hall held only two people.
Venelana in the head seat, with a silver-haired maid attending beside her.
"My~ I must say, Rias and the others were barely back for a month, and now they've left again. It's rather hard to adjust."
Venelana set down her knife and fork, wiping her mouth with a napkin as she looked at the empty dining hall and shook her head helplessly.
Grayfia stepped forward to clear the dishes.
"But Young Lady Rias and the others returned to the human world early to set up their new home. Getting the new place ready sooner would be good for you too, Lady Venelana."
"That's true~"
Venelana rested her chin on one hand, her face still as delicate as a young girl's despite being a married woman, showing faint worry.
"Come to think of it, my teleportation device is already complete. Though I still need to find a suitable excuse to send it to Rias and the others."
"Since it's mirror-shaped anyway, why not send it as a housewarming gift?"
Grayfia paused in her work to suggest.
"Hmm~ That won't work."
Venelana thought about it but shook her head.
"Rias would definitely recognize it. After all, that thing is... rather famous."
"True."
Grayfia fell silent.
The Space Mirror—this was Venelana's prepared "gift." It appeared to be a pair of matching full-length mirrors, but was actually a designated teleportation portal that could connect the space between the two mirrors.
Simply put, no matter how far apart the mirrors were, if someone walked into one mirror, they'd emerge from the other.
And since it produced no magical fluctuations during operation, it was difficult to detect. In the Underworld, it was famously known as... essential equipment for affairs.
Once, a head of one of the seventy-two pillar families was exposed for using this device to have an affair with another family head's wife. This transformed the Space Mirror from something tacitly understood to infamously notorious—everyone assumed it was specifically for cheating.
This was precisely why Venelana didn't want Rias handling the Space Mirror.
What to do, what to do...
Just as the beautiful woman was puzzling over how to implement her plan, golden light suddenly appeared beside the silver-haired maid.
The next second, Bokue appeared out of thin air. He opened his eyes to say good evening but found both women staring at him, making him pause.
"Lady Venelana, and Grayfia... what's wrong? Why those expressions?"
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