In the days that followed, life on Itogami Island became unusually peaceful for Kaiser.
While ships from all over the world still loitered around the waters beyond the island, scouting and searching in hopes of finding something, none of it affected the island itself. Itogami remained calm, letting Kaiser enjoy a rare stretch of quiet living.
La Folia, on the other hand, was out almost every day—meeting with important figures from the island's government, then with officials from the mainland, sometimes even taking flights back there for diplomatic exchanges. She was busy to the point of seeming to thrive on it.
Kaiser and Kanon Kanase, though, had nothing of the sort to worry about. Unaffected by La Folia's schedule, the two of them went to school with Nagisa Akatsuki every day, the three getting along well. Occasionally, Kojou Akatsuki would insert himself into the group to "keep his little sister company," which only fueled fresh rumors at Saikai Academy.
It had already been eye-catching enough when Kaiser and Nagisa went to and from school together—Nagisa might not be as striking as Kanon, but she was undeniably adorable, the type of beauty in the making who already enjoyed high popularity at school. Seeing such a girl constantly with Kaiser was bound to spark gossip.
Now that Kanon, the middle school division's very own "Saint," had joined them, the attention they drew skyrocketed.
Kaiser didn't care; he was used to it. But Kojou found it… less than pleasant.
All he wanted was to keep his sister from being alone with another guy. Was that so wrong? Yet for his efforts, he earned nothing but murderous glares from nearly every male student in school.
He wasn't like Kaiser, who could just ignore everyone without a second thought. With Yaze Motoki and Asagi Aiba constantly teasing him about it, Kojou's misery only grew.
So, one day, he simply stopped going to and from school with them.
"Well, with Kanase there now, it should be fine, right?" Kojou comforted himself with that thought.
In reality, his absence only brought Kaiser, Nagisa, and Kanon closer.
Kanon was a given—after the incident with the artificial angel, she had no guard up around Kaiser. More than once she had chatted with him in his room until she dozed off right there. If Kaiser didn't have at least some sense of decency, she would've long since lost her claim to being a pure and innocent saint.
Nagisa, for her part, was still her bright, cheerful self, but had grown noticeably more at ease with Kaiser. Now, she could casually grab his hand and pull him along without a second thought.
That was a big step.
Before this, the only person with that privilege was Kojou himself.
So yes—Kaiser and Nagisa had definitely grown closer. Close enough to be called intimate.
The result? Kaiser going to and from school each day with one girl on each arm, leaving the male population itching to burn him alive.
Too bad for them—even if they tried, they wouldn't be able to lay a finger on him.
And so Kaiser enjoyed a rare, stable, and peaceful stretch of school life, blending in like an ordinary student. No one would ever guess that his small body contained the power to alter—or even destroy—the world.
He really had let himself relax, giving up on chasing excitement or deliberately stirring up trouble. Now, his days were filled with chatting and hanging out with beautiful girls, and when at home, he mostly stayed in his room playing PC games. At most, he spared some attention to direct his cats and birds to keep an eye on Nagisa's surroundings—fulfilling his duty as her watcher.
Even Sayaka Kirasaka had stopped coming to bother him. Perhaps she'd finally accepted reality—that she wasn't his match—and realized that pestering him would only earn her humiliation.
Thanks to that, over a full month passed with Kaiser living this calm, easygoing life. He looked more like a normal high schooler than anyone else—relaxed and at peace.
But as time went on, the tranquil atmosphere on Itogami began to change.
It was becoming livelier. Louder.
Because a major festival was about to begin.
The Warlord's Banquet.
Held during the final week of October, this was one of the biggest events in Itogami City.
Itogami was an artificial island with autonomous status—technically under jurisdiction, but functionally independent. Its residents were mostly either staff from international research facilities (and their families) or demons from all over the world. With no single cultural heritage, there were no traditional local customs to speak of.
In other words, the island didn't have the kind of major annual holidays other places did.
Still, to entertain residents and stimulate the economy, some form of special events were needed. Taking inspiration from Halloween, the island's management authority created a grand festival where the whole island could celebrate together.
That festival was the Warlord's Banquet.
It was the largest and most beloved of all Itogami's celebrations, lasting a full week. During the festival, every business and school on the island would close, and visitor restrictions would be eased to allow tourists in. Even outside the island, the Warlord's Banquet was a well-known event.
Normally, as a demon district, Itogami didn't allow visitors outside of authorized business or research-related purposes—much less ordinary tourists or journalists. For those wanting to do business with demon-district companies or get a scoop on the island, this was their rare chance to enter openly.
And it really was a grand affair. Every day brought different events—fireworks shows, outdoor concerts, costume parades, and more. Even the island's schools opened their doors to visitors, with students setting up booths and stalls. Every year, the festival drew an unending flow of tourists.
As the festival approached, the whole island shifted into celebration mode. Advertising and coverage filled the city—TV specials, themed commercials, promotional displays—warming everyone up for the week-long party.
Naturally, Saikai Academy wasn't immune to the atmosphere. For days now, students had been buzzing with talk about the upcoming Warlord's Banquet, the excitement already spilling into the classrooms.
"So… why is the Warlord's Banquet based on Halloween, anyway?"
In First Year Class B's classroom, Kojou asked the question out of nowhere, clearly bored with the ongoing chatter.
"Well, obviously because Halloween started as an exorcism ritual," replied Asagi absently, eyes glued to her phone as she tapped away.
"Really?" Kojou looked skeptical.
"You don't sound like someone who lives in a demon district," Yaze said, shaking his head. "Here's a fun fact—in old Celtic belief, people thought that at the start of winter, the boundary between the living world and the spirit world would open, letting spirits and witches flood in.
"To protect themselves, people wore masks and lit bonfires. That's where Halloween came from.
"And the thing is, the legend's not totally baseless. The space-time continuum really does get unstable around that time of year. There are even reports of visitors from other timelines—or uninvited guests from other worlds—showing up.
"So yeah, it's a special time. And for a demon district like Itogami, it's definitely relevant."
That was why basing the Warlord's Banquet on Halloween made perfect sense.
"This is the kind of thing even middle schoolers know, Kojou. How do you not?" Asagi sighed, looking exasperated.
"I didn't grow up here like you two! I only moved here four years ago," Kojou protested.
"Which means you've been to at least three or four Warlord's Banquets," Yaze shot back without mercy. "You've gone through the festival multiple times and still don't know the basics? Come on, man."
"Shut up! I just never paid attention!" Kojou snapped. "It's not like I'm the only one—Kaiser doesn't know either!"
But he picked the wrong person to throw under the bus.
"Nope. I actually learned about it before you did," Kaiser said without looking up from his light novel. "Nagisa came running to tell me all about it last week. Even asked me to go shopping with her during the festival."
With a crack, Kojou's pen snapped in his grip.
Kaiser ignored him completely, lost in thought.
The Warlord's Banquet… if I remember right, something's supposed to happen then, isn't it?
Should he step in and stop it?
The thought lingered in his mind.