So far, they had investigated more than twenty of the forty-plus Devils present that day. Although the possibility of false testimony could not be ruled out, under his rigorous interrogation, it probably was not very likely.
"Munch, munch."
After a whole morning of investigation, they could basically eliminate the weaker Devils who had been bullied by the heirs of other factions and come to Rias and the others for protection out of fear.
Cid picked up a piece of char siu and put it in his mouth. Paired with rice, it could only be described as bliss.
Since the culprit was not among those B-rank Devils who had come seeking protection, could the culprit be among the Peerage Members of the three family heirs?
He took a sip of miso soup, and a gentle warmth flowed from his stomach through his limbs.
No. That was not right. Rias and Sona Sitri both knew their own Peerage Members inside and out. Besides, with only a dozen or so people, how could any of them have found time to attack Xenovia and the others?
"Woof, woof, woof."
Once all impossibilities were ruled out, there was only one truth...
Cid opened his eyes. With his left hand, he took out a pair of glasses and put them on. With his right, he picked up another piece of char siu from the table and tossed it down beside him.
In a certain sense, he had been tricked by himself. The culprit was not among Rias and the others at all. The culprit should be another Devil on the island!
The sound of a canine chewing reached his ears, but Cid paid it no mind. He lowered his head and pushed up the frame of his glasses.
Yesterday, when he was mediating between Rias and the Church warriors, he had spoken in riddles nonstop to create the impression that he knew everything.
"Woof, woof, woof."
Speaking in riddles had felt great, but the consequence was that, after he, the mastermind behind the scenes, had hammered it in, Rias and the others now believed the culprit who stole Excalibur and spread the curse was among them.
"Woof, woof, woof."
Because Rias and the others suspected there might be something wrong within their group, they chose to let him, a Human, handle the investigation. And because he thought it would be cool for the mastermind to infiltrate the investigation team as an undercover agent, he had accepted on impulse.
He had completely ignored the possibility that the culprit was not inside their group at all!
"Boss, Boss, Delta wants more!"
At this point, to preserve the dignity of the mastermind behind the scenes, there was only one solution. And that was...
Wait. Was that barking just now?
No, hold on. Where did a dog come from in my private room?
Realizing something was wrong, Cid's thoughts were interrupted. He abruptly turned to look at the floor beside him, then showed an unsurprised, speechless expression.
"Delta, what are you doing?"
Cid narrowed his eyes at Delta, who was crouching on the ground with her tongue out, her tail wagging behind her like a helicopter rotor.
"Delta brought her subordinates here to eat."
When asked, Delta straightened her back, puffed out the two slimes on her chest, and declared it proudly.
"Oh, you brought your subordinates here to eat... subordinates?!"
Cid repeated it instinctively, then finally registered what Delta had said. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at her.
That idiot Delta actually had subordinates now. The world was doomed.
"It seems that with time, even you can grow, Delta."
His expression slipped for only a second before Cid immediately tightened every muscle in his body. With a calm posture, he picked up another piece of char siu.
Calm down, Cid. Think carefully. Hadn't Delta said before that she had subordinates who could join Shadow Garden? With Delta's strength, even if she was an idiot, it was enough to make people follow her. It was perfectly normal...
So why had the image of Delta beating people up and forcing them to become her subordinates just appeared in his mind?
"Boss, why do you keep saying things Delta doesn't understand?"
Delta's expression scrunched up like a sulking child. Her beastly instincts made her feel that this was probably not a good thing.
"It's nothing. I'm praising you for getting stronger."
"Hmph, then Boss should praise Delta more. Delta is super strong now."
A mere beast's intuition was no match for Delta's innocence.
Cid patted Delta on the head, silently roasting her in his heart, while Delta kept wagging her tail smugly.
"So, Delta, where are your subordinates?"
"Over there."
Delta's tail stopped wagging, and she pointed toward the door of the private room.
"Huh?"
At the end of his gaze, a black-haired woman in a black kimono leaned against the doorframe with cat ears on her head. In short, she looked very seductive. She watched them with a smiling expression, and when Cid's gaze turned toward her, she immediately stood up and bowed.
"Hello. I presume you must be the person Delta-sama is always talking about."
"Kuroka, don't interrupt. This is Delta's conversation time with Boss."
Before Cid could react, Delta shouted at the black cat-eared woman as if she had been offended.
"Oh my, oh my. It seems I accidentally offended the Leader. That was my fault."
From Cid's angle, he could clearly see the black cat-eared woman's face stiffen for an instant when Delta scolded her. Then she lowered her head as if obeying Delta's command, though in the split second before she did, the corner of her mouth twisted aside in displeasure.
"Hehehe. What do you think, Boss? Delta's subordinates are really obedient, right?"
Looking at Delta, who had not noticed anything at all and was still grinning foolishly, Cid had to question the value of her so-called title as leader.
"Let's set aside whether your subordinates are obedient for now, Delta. First, tell me about them."
Although Cid strongly suspected that Delta had been tricked into becoming someone's hired muscle, considering Delta's absurdly sharp instincts, he set that possibility aside.
"Her name is Kuroka Toujou. She's Delta's servant."
"That's right. My name is Kuroka Toujou. You may call me Kuroka-nyan, my lord."
"Hmph, and she's also one of the female Therianthropes Delta plans to use in the scheme where Boss has ten thousand children and rules the world. She's one of Boss's hundred concubines. Isn't Delta amazing?"
By the time Delta finished, her nose was practically in the air, and her tail was wagging harder than ever.
So this evil plan still hasn't stopped? Also, Kuroka Toujou may have cat ears, but she should be a Nekomata, right? Don't just call anyone with animal traits a Therianthrope!
"Yes, yes. Delta, you really are amazing."
"Hehe..."
Cid wanted to scold Delta out loud and make her stop this evil plan, but seeing her innocent smile, all he could do was rub her dog head.
"My Delta has caused you a lot of trouble, hasn't she? I apologize on Delta's behalf for what she just said. I hope you won't take it to heart."
While furiously rubbing Delta's dog head, Cid apologized to Kuroka Toujou. He felt he must have been overthinking things. No matter how he looked at it, Delta was the one who had caused trouble for this Nekomata lady.
Being targeted by Delta must be rough, Miss Kuroka Toujou. I truly sympathize. I'm in the same boat. Who could've guessed the dog I raised from childhood would end up wanting to jump me...
He didn't believe Kuroka Toujou had joined Delta's plan willingly. Only Delta, with that malfunctioning brain of hers, could come up with a plan like this. Even among Therianthropes, whose intelligence was generally on the lower side, this was beyond outrageous.
It had to be Delta. Delta must have beaten the innocent Miss Kuroka Toujou to her knees and tried to force her into becoming his star slave!!!
"Not at all. Leader Delta has saved me several times at critical moments. She even arranged food and lodging for me. If anything, I'm the one being looked after by Leader Delta..."
As Kuroka Toujou said this with a smile, her probing, suspicious gaze kept sweeping over Cid.
"Boss, why are you apologizing to Kuroka? Did Kuroka offend Boss? Then Delta will punish foolish Kuroka right now."
No one knew what chain of thought had led Delta there, but she instantly bared her fangs and turned to pounce at Kuroka Toujou.
Her fist sliced through the air with a sharp whoosh, reaching Kuroka Toujou almost instantly.
"Boss?"
The fist stopped just a few centimeters from Kuroka. Delta turned back in confusion to look at Cid, whose hand was pressed against her head, stopping her attack.
"She didn't offend me. You're overthinking it, Delta. On the contrary, I'm quite satisfied with her."
The fact that she's your servant proves she takes good care of you. And for you to call her foolish, Delta... I get the feeling Kuroka Toujou is already cursing you in her heart.
"R-really?"
"Mm."
"Great! Boss approves of Kuroka! Kuroka is Boss's subordinate from now on too. Delta really does have a good eye!"
"Yes, yes. Delta is the best."
Cid lifted Delta high over his head, and Delta raised both hands in a cheer.
"Once again, I apologize for Delta. This child isn't bad by nature. You can ignore that plan she mentioned earlier. I hope you won't mind."
After Cid addressed her, Kuroka Toujou, who had broken into a cold sweat from Delta's sudden attack, wiped her forehead and smiled again. She looked at Cid and licked the corner of her lips, a flash of heat passing through her eyes, though her expression remained shy.
"Actually... I personally have no objection to Leader Delta's plan. If you want me, my lord, I'm ready anytime..."
"Hm?"
Hearing Kuroka Toujou's words, Cid's eyes widened at once. Even the hand petting Delta's dog head froze.
"Though I doubt I could give birth to a hundred children like Leader Delta said, I should be fine with a few."
...I take back what I said. Your head doesn't seem quite right either. I should've known. Anyone that idiot Delta brings along to eat with her couldn't possibly be normal.
"Looks like Delta found herself a pretty good companion..."
Cid sighed as he casually picked up a piece of pork cutlet from the table and fed it to Delta, who had grown visibly unhappy after he stopped petting her. Then he fixed Kuroka Toujou with an extremely cool gaze.
"But... is that really what you want? What you seek, is it the body's instinctive desire, or blind devotion to the strong? Think carefully. What do you truly crave?"
Under Cid's gaze, Kuroka Toujou smiled. She covered her face as if embarrassed, yet her heated eyes made no attempt to hide anything, meeting Cid's gaze openly.
"I'm very certain about what I want. I want to bear powerful offspring for you, my lord. The reason I followed Delta-sama in the first place was because of you, the person in the plan Delta-sama described.
I wanted to know what kind of powerful figure could earn such praise from Delta, who was strong enough to crush Vali in Juggernaut Drive, and who spoke of you day after day..."
Kuroka Toujou spoke with certainty, her yearning eyes locked on Cid. As their gazes met, Cid even felt a faint heat from her.
"And now that I've met you today, I'm certain my waiting wasn't meaningless. The moment I first saw you, I knew you were the one I would follow for the rest of my life. To be honest..."
"What is my name?"
One sentence cut off Kuroka Toujou's flattery. Cid gazed calmly at her, his hand shifting from rubbing Delta to gently stroking her head.
"Uh... because Delta-sama refused to tell me..."
She tried to explain, but faced with Cid's seemingly bottomless eyes, Kuroka Toujou suddenly faltered. The atmosphere grew inexplicably oppressive.
"My lord, I've brought what you asked for."
A cool female voice came from the doorway, breaking the silence. A pink-haired woman with black horns on her head walked in.
"Yo, thanks, Victoria."
"It is my pleasure to serve you, my lord."
No longer paying attention to Kuroka Toujou, Cid smiled as he took the laptop from Victoria and began watching the footage.
He had spent the entire morning investigating the Devils who had come seeking shelter that day. Twenty of them had clear alibis, while the remaining few still needed their evidence confirmed through the footage.
"Boss, Boss, what are you doing?"
Once the dog-petting stopped, Delta finally snapped out of it, having completely missed what had been happening around her.
"This is a computer. Right now, it's playing..."
The gaze on her disappeared, and the oppressive atmosphere in the room vanished with it. Kuroka Toujou immediately began gasping for breath.
Just his pressure alone was enough to leave me unable to breathe. Should I be glad my words were only half true, so he spared my life?
Kuroka Toujou hadn't lied. She had merely hidden part of the truth. For example... what she truly wanted was a child with the genes of a powerful being, and all that frantic flattery earlier had only been meant to lure Cid into bed first.
For example... the "first sight" she mentioned referred to the moment after seeing Cid, when he moved after Delta yet still caught her first, revealing overwhelming power in that instant, along with Qi that felt like the Infinite Dragon God.
A powerhouse like him could probably retreat calmly even if he faced that Infinite Dragon God. Truly... it only made her want his child even more!
The cat-eared older sister, whose mating urges had been suppressed by the empty promises Delta had fed her ever since she reached maturity, released a mating aura toward Cid.
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