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Across the street from the restaurant—
"Eguchi Yume? Sayaka, do you... know this girl?"
Taking shelter under the awnings extending from the storefronts lining both sides of the street, Yukina examined the wine-red-haired little girl before her carefully.
She really was just a little girl. Though her hair showed signs of having been dyed and permed, and she'd applied some makeup and lip gloss in imitation of adults, judging from her height and youthful features, she was undoubtedly still in elementary school—nowhere near old enough for middle school.
Which was precisely why Yukina found it so surprising that Sayaka could identify her by name on sight.
Wait... why would Sayaka know such a young girl?
No, hold on—didn't Sayaka mention something about seeing her on TV news earlier...?
"Well... since you've been at school during the day these past few days, Yukina, you wouldn't really know. I only caught it myself because I've been bored watching the news during the daytime at Lady La Folia's place."
Sayaka scratched her cheek.
"It's about the hospital cases from this past week—over a dozen patients who've fallen into mysterious comas due to some unknown nightmare-inducing power..."
"Wait, didn't you mention that news to Master earlier, Sayaka?"
Yukina suddenly made the connection.
No wonder it had sounded familiar. They'd brought it up when discussing recent news at Master's office.
"Yeah."
Sayaka nodded lightly.
"Since I had nothing better to do during the day at the hotel and was getting bored, I paid a bit more attention to it. The news report mentioned that the coma victims included Eguchi Yume's classmates, Eguchi Yume's teacher, and even Eguchi Yume's parents..."
Huh?
Yukina froze.
At first, she'd assumed Sayaka had merely noticed the girl from a passing mention in the news. But now, looking at the identities of everyone on that coma list... they all had extremely close relationships with this little girl standing before them?
And judging by how the news framed it, the mysterious nightmare power that had put these people to sleep seemed to be—
Yukina pressed her lips together. She was beginning to understand why Sayaka had reacted this way.
"Um..."
Just as the War Dancer finished speaking, the wine-red-haired girl—who'd remained silent until now—suddenly took a delicate half-step backward, her expression showing a hint of fear as she lowered her head slightly.
"Big brother, big sister... you've got the wrong person. I don't know anything about this 'Eguchi Yume' you're talking about..."
"Huh? Really? But you look exactly like the girl from the news."
Hearing the girl deny it herself, Sayaka couldn't help but tilt her head, seeming to lose some confidence.
"Wait a sec, let me check. I'm pretty sure I had it right..."
She pulled out her phone, ready to look up the news right in front of the little girl.
Seeing that they didn't believe her, the wine-red-haired girl hastily added with renewed urgency:
"Please believe me, I'm really not this Eguchi whoever you're—"
Bzzzz—
Before she could finish, a light purple nightmare-inducing magical energy suddenly rippled outward through the air with the girl's body as its epicenter, completely without warning.
Oh no...
Eguchi Yume's mouth opened as she reached out, seemingly trying to stop it, but it was already too late. The nightmare energy expanded like an out-of-control barrier, enveloping all three of them in the blink of an eye.
The entire process—from start to finish—took less than half a second.
When the nightmare energy dissipated, Sayaka remained frozen in her original position, still holding the phone she'd pulled out to verify the news.
She stood there vacantly, her emerald eyes now tinted with faint traces of purple, as though shrouded in a hazy mist.
After about two seconds, Sayaka put away her phone, as if suddenly changing her mind, and turned around.
"Mmm... maybe I really did get it wrong. We should probably just head back..."
Yukina beside her cooperatively nodded.
"Yeah... you're right..."
The two girls turned to leave like mind-controlled NPCs.
Well—everyone except Bokue Keikain, that is.
"Seriously? Mental manipulation..."
The young man shook his head slightly in exasperation, then—under the nightmare girl's gradually shifting expression from disbelief to shock—raised his arms and gave both Yukina and Sayaka a light tap on their shoulders.
"All right, wake up."
"Mmm..."
"Eh...?"
Like having all abnormal status effects suddenly cleansed by Mikaela's Crucible, both girls trembled slightly where they'd been tapped. The purple mist rapidly cleared from their eyes, replaced by the rational clarity of their normal state.
"Wait, what just happened to us—"
"Were we hypnotized?"
"Pretty much."
Bokue moved his hands from their shoulders to their cheeks, giving each a gentle pinch.
"That's why you shouldn't go sticking your noses into random situations. Though the nightmare girl didn't mean you any harm, if I hadn't been here, you'd probably have needed to sleep for two or three days after getting back."
"N-nightmare girl?"
Sayaka blinked in confusion at first, then—as though suddenly connecting the dots—whipped her head around to stare at the nightmare girl still standing in place, now looking far more uncertain than before.
"Wait, so you really are—"
"Enough. This isn't our problem."
Before the War Dancer could finish, Bokue sighed helplessly and pulled her back.
"You just got hypnotized and you've already forgotten the lesson? Besides, Itogami Island is a demon sanctuary—things like this happen practically every day. If you tried to handle every case yourself, you'd never keep up. Remember: mind your own business. Let the hospitals and the island's Management Corporation deal with it. Plus, we should be heading back anyway. Weren't you just complaining about how hot it is today? Let's go back, take a bath, turn on the AC..."
"Taking a b-b-bath in broad daylight?!"
As if imagining something provocative, Sayaka's cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
By this point, Bokue had already started leading her and Yukina away in the opposite direction from Eguchi Yume, though his voice still drifted back clearly:
"Exactly. So save your energy."
"Mmm..."
The wine-red-haired girl remained standing in place, watching the three of them gradually disappear into the distance. Her slightly relieved expression couldn't quite hide a flash of curiosity and confusion.
That older brother just now—he seemed completely immune to her nightmare powers.
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At the same time, inside the newly constructed customs hall connecting Itogami Island to Kyoto following the island's relocation—
A long, straight-haired girl emerged from the security checkpoint dragging her luggage through the dense crowd, phone pressed to her ear mid-conversation.
"Kisaki, remember that your trip to Itogami Island has two objectives. The secondary objective—or rather, the official one—is investigating the giant dragon that appeared above the island two days ago. Your primary objective is recovering Eguchi Yume. She's a valuable asset of our Kusuki Happiness Enterprises and the key to activating Leviathan."
"Understood."
Ending the call with those two brief words, Kisaki Kiriha put away her phone and let out a soft breath.
"Kusuki Happiness Enterprises, huh? Sure, they're our Bureau of Astrology partners. But this trip to Itogami Island... I've got a far more challenging mission."
After all, based on intelligence reports, it seemed quite likely that those little sluts from the Lion King Organization had already gotten here first.
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