Returning home and passing through the door connecting to the Astronomy Club's space, Luo Shu saw the crow imprisoned in a birdcage, rendered unconscious by some method of Sharon's.
"Is this what Shu-kun was looking for?"
Kisara, who had followed Luo Shu into the Astronomy Club, glanced curiously at the caged crow before frowning:
"A Small Yokai?"
Yokai in Japan - or more precisely, those who cultivate the power of Fear - share a common trait: they actively emit a psychic wavelength that induces fear in those around them.
This sensation resembles walking alone through deserted factory grounds late at night—an inexplicable, creeping dread.
Because of this characteristic, sorcerers can easily identify a yokai's nature.
Of course, while Small Yokai are easily detected, those with moderate power who've learned to conceal this wavelength - or Great Yokai - present more difficulty.
"According to Sharon's intelligence, this crow should be a yokai from Kyoto's Hagoromo Group."
As he spoke, Luo Shu approached and lifted the birdcage, prudently administering another dose of misfortune to keep the creature from waking.
With the birdcage in hand, Luo Shu drove with Kisara to a small clinic in Ikebukuro and rang the doorbell.
Ding-dong~
With the sound of the doorbell, a gentle female voice rang out:
"Please wait a moment."
Before long, the door opened, revealing a woman in a white lab coat with a name tag on her chest and her hair pinned up with a butterfly clip standing before Luo Shu.
Upon seeing Luo Shu holding a birdcage outside the door with Kisara standing behind him, she exclaimed softly:
"Ah, are you Mr Luo Shu, who made the appointment last night?"
Startled by a sudden system prompt in his mind, Luo Shu gave the violet-eyed female doctor a meaningful look, glancing at the name tag on her chest.
Kanae Kocho.
Seeing that name, Luo Shu had a thousand complaints bubbling up inside.
So the Intelligence Department's base in Ikebukuro was a small clinic – that much he could accept.
But why was the attending physician here Kanae Kocho?
What kind of divine development is this?
Luo Shu, who had ten thousand words stuck in his heart, was utterly speechless at this tattered world.
"Um..." Kanae Kocho, who hadn't received a response from Luo Shu for a while, touched her cheek in confusion and asked in surprise, "Is there something on my face?"
"No, nothing. I just thought you looked somewhat familiar." Luo Shu casually explained before asking, "I'm indeed Luo Shu, who made the appointment yesterday."
"I see... Please come this way."
Kanae Kocho stepped aside to let Luo Shu enter, and after both he and Kisara had come in, she closed the door behind them.
"The reception room is on the second floor. Please follow me."
With that, Kanae Kocho led Luo Shu upstairs and gestured for him to enter by pushing the door open.
When the door swung open, Luo Shu immediately saw Meer, whom he hadn't met in a while.
The pink-haired seductress Intelligence Director was dressed in a nurse outfit this time—a particularly risqué ensemble with a miniskirt and black stockings—and her sitting posture was unusually bold.
At a glance, Kisara could tell this outfit was up to no good and instinctively stepped forward to shield Luo Shu.
"Oh dear, seems like I've been seen!"
Meer, sitting on the wooden chair, quickly pressed her legs together, putting on a shy act.
However, apart from Kisara glaring at her, the most important person—Luo Shu—only looked at her with disdain:
"What's your situation now?"
"What do you mean, 'situation'?" Meer blinked, feigning confusion.
At this, Luo Shu sighed and said, "The tools for creating clones should only be in Kirika Tachibana's possession. Oh, right—Lacus's Kusanagi Sword can also create clones, but that shouldn't include you, right?"
"So, care to explain why you, who should be stationed in Europe, are here instead? Miss~ Mee~er~ "
Hearing this, Meer stuck out her tongue, then raised her right hand to grab her left and gave it a gentle pull.
Click, click.
The clear mechanical structure came into Luo Shu's view.
Beside him, Kisara's eyes widened in disbelief:
"A robot?"
"To be precise, Autonomous Security Unit No. 002—the latest achievement from the R&D Department. It's quite a useful tool as a stand-in."
As she spoke, Meer smiled and explained:
"By the way, I'm currently on a plane to France, keeping an eye on things here through a brain-machine interface."
Luo Shu scratched his head at this. "...Just how much black technology has Verde developed?!"
Meer's smile froze at the question, and she sighed helplessly:
"Compared to that, I'm more concerned about the budget being burned through."
"How many intelligence deals would it take to earn enough funding to cover all these research projects..."
Luo Shu had no answer to that. He could only turn to Kanae Kocho behind him and say:
"Leave this to us for now."
"Understood."
Kanae Kocho tactfully closed the door and left, her footsteps clearly descending the stairs.
Once she was gone, Meer said cheerfully:
"So, isn't Kanae adorable?"
Luo Shu didn't respond, but Kisara shot Meer an angry glare, clearly thinking Meer was trying to corrupt the innocent Luo Shu.
At this point, Luo Shu looked at Meer without surprise and asked:
"...You know?"
"Of course." Meer puffed out her chest, speaking with evident pride: "After learning about your situation, Luo Shu, I secretly conducted an internal review within the intelligence department and indeed found several children who could become Familia members."
"Like Kanae, and her younger sister Shinobu - both are children who could become Familia."
Luo Shu wasn't surprised by Meer's mention of internal reviews. He set down the birdcage he was holding, stepped forward, pulled out a chair and asked directly:
"Are their backgrounds clean?"
If Luo Shu remembered correctly, Kanae Kocho and her sister Shinobu Kocho should both be characters from Demon Slayer.
Yet now they were both intelligence personnel in the SDS.
This discrepancy left Luo Shu somewhat puzzled.
Seeing Luo Shu's question, Meer seemed surprised: "That child's records from birth until now are completely clean. Is there some problem?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu used the Mysticism Encyclopaedia to search for information on Kanae Kocho and breathing techniques, but found no answers.
Another search for the demon king Muzan also yielded nothing, leaving Luo Shu to sigh at the world's inconsistencies.
Of course, it was impossible that Kanae Kocho had no issues, but the probability that she was currently just an ordinary person was indeed high.
"No problems, just curiosity."
Luo Shu moved past the topic, then looked at Meer and pointed at the birdcage he'd just set down:
"Let's talk about this crow!"
Meer glanced at the crow in the cage, blinked and said:
"The Hagoromo Group?"
"No wonder you had me contact the Nura Clan."
"They are indeed experts at dealing with Kyoto's Hagoromo Group."
Luo Shu shook his head:
"Whether they're experts or not, I'll visit them myself later. What I want to know now is your understanding of Hagoromo Gitsune."
Here, Luo Shu narrowed his eyes seriously:
"How powerful is that thousand-year-old fox?"