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Although Yukina wasn't entirely sure why Master had only instructed her and Sayaka to watch out for the Bureau of Astrology personnel, she agreed immediately nonetheless.
After all, these were words coming directly from Master's mouth. Master would never do anything to harm her.
The scene shifted. After chatting for a bit longer, Bokue and the two girls left the Lion King Organization's Itogami Island office.
"Well... I guess we got through that meeting with Master, right?"
Now outside on the street, Sayaka tilted her face upward at a forty-five-degree angle toward the sunlight streaming down from the eastern sky, patting her still-flushed cheeks as she breathed in the fresh morning air with a long sigh of relief.
"Yeah, probably..."
Yukina still seemed somewhat dazed.
After all, this morning at home they'd agreed they absolutely couldn't let Master discover they'd been doing that with Bokue-senpai every single day. But the moment they arrived, before they'd even said anything, Master had caught them completely off-guard with "Will I be holding grandchildren next year?"
Fortunately, Master didn't seem to care much about it and hadn't scolded them for it—just teased them a bit before moving on.
This left Yukina, who'd been mentally preparing to earnestly plead for forgiveness, somewhat caught off-guard.
Master had always been incredibly strict with their training since childhood. Yet she hadn't said a word about them being so "negligent in their duties."
Could it be that Master really did consider this their private life and chose not to interfere?
Just as the sword shaman was thinking along these lines, her friend's voice suddenly interrupted.
"By the way, we left home in such a rush earlier that we haven't even had breakfast yet. Since we're already here, why don't we grab something to eat before heading back?"
"Huh? Oh... sure, that works."
Yukina blinked and snapped back to reality.
Only then did she realize they were actually on a commercial street. While it wasn't as bustling as the area around the Keystone Gate due to being farther from the city center, it still had a decent amount of foot traffic.
Looking around, the entire street had everything from restaurants to snack shops to ramen stands. It reminded her a bit of Kyoto's quieter traditional streets in residential areas away from the major tourist spots.
There was even a missing persons office.
"What do you think, senpai? Anything you're craving?"
The sword shaman girl turned and tugged on the sleeve of the young man beside her.
Bokue didn't particularly care either way.
"I'm fine with anything. Order whatever you want—I'll just grab something quick."
"In that case, Sayaka, what do you—"
"Eh? You're asking me? Then how about..."
The two girls quickly reached a decision.
The scene shifted. Just a few minutes after leaving the office, the trio had already seated themselves at a nearby ramen shop.
Yukina and Sayaka—one a sword shaman, the other a War Dancer—weren't exactly birds who ate like sparrows. Plus, they had no reason to put on airs in front of Bokue, so they each ordered a bowl of ramen without hesitation.
Bokue also ordered ramen, along with a side of oden.
The three sat down at a table by the window. Soon enough, steam rose from their dishes, filling the air with savory aromas.
"Phew~Slurp... gulp."
Sayaka immediately dove in with a huge mouthful of noodles. Feeling her stomach—empty since last night—finally getting some sustenance, she could finally settle down a bit.
At the same time, she recalled what Master had said earlier at the office.
'How far have things progressed between you?'
The familiar words echoed in her mind. The War Dancer girl poked at the remaining noodles in her bowl thoughtfully.
"Hey, Yukina—do you remember when Master asked about our relationship with Bokue back at the office? How did she even know about it?"
"Well..."
Yukina hesitated, unable to say for certain.
After all, she knew full well that their master was incredibly busy, rarely able to spare time for anything. Otherwise, she wouldn't have set up possession-type shikigami at offices all across Japan, including here on Itogami Island.
Logically speaking, there was no way Master could have secretly visited Itogami Island to check on them.
Setting aside the fact that doing something so roundabout would be completely out of character for Master, she simply wouldn't have had the time.
But as the saying went: once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains—however improbable—must be the truth.
After thinking for a moment, the sword shaman girl's face suddenly flushed as she stammered out in a small voice:
"Maybe... Master could tell from our physical condition?"
"Physical condition? But both of us are perfectly health—uh..."
Sayaka's words cut off halfway.
She suddenly realized she'd misunderstood Yukina's meaning. It wasn't that they'd become unhealthy from doing that too much with Bokue.
Rather... they'd both lost something specific.
"E-e-eh?? She could actually tell that?? If that's the case, then... hmm, I guess that actually makes sense..."
The War Dancer's cheeks instantly turned scarlet, and her voice grew softer and softer as she continued.
"A-anyway, let's not worry about it too much!"
Yukina quickly coughed to dispel the awkwardness.
"Since Master didn't criticize us, that means she probably thinks it's fine. In that case, we should just keep doing what we've been doing."
"Mmm... yeah..."
Sayaka had completely lost the ability to speak coherently, and could only lower her head to slurp her noodles vigorously.
Keep doing what we've been doing... somehow that phrasing sounds a bit weird.
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Twenty minutes later, as the three emerged from the restaurant, the sunlight outside had grown increasingly harsh.
Although autumn had arrived, it was still only early autumn. The lingering heat of Indian summer was no joke—the days remained quite hot.
"Ugh, the sun's so bright..."
The moment Sayaka stepped out of the shop, she couldn't help but raise her hand to shade her eyes.
"Well, now that we've had breakfast, we should head back early—huh?"
Before she could finish, the War Dancer let out a soft sound of surprise, her gaze drifting toward the opposite side of the street as though she'd spotted something unexpected.
?
Seeing her reaction, both Bokue and Yukina followed her line of sight.
In the direction Sayaka was looking stood a missing persons office—the same one they'd passed on their way from the agency office to this restaurant. It was typically where lost children were registered, with staff helping to contact their parents.
However, standing at the entrance of the registration office was a young girl with short wine-red hair who appeared to be elementary school age. She seemed to be talking to the staff member inside.
"That girl... I think she's..."
"What's wrong, Sayaka?"
Yukina hadn't caught on yet.
The next second, Sayaka walked directly across the street toward the missing persons office, approaching the wine-red-haired girl.
"Excuse me—are you by any chance the girl from the news these past few days... Eguchi Yume-chan?"
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