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By the time the elevator reached its floor, the three of them were standing in front of the apartment door.
Bokue swiped the security card and unlocked it.
The moment they stepped inside, Yuki Nonaka took a deep breath.
Mm… it smells just like Bokue in here.
But there were other scents too. One clearly belonged to the blue-haired girl beside her. But another? Fainter, but undeniably feminine.
Which meant—he had at least one more girl living with him?
Of course, Bokue could technically read her thoughts if he wanted to—his magnetic field made that easy—but he'd never been the type to eavesdrop on people's inner voices. He had no clue what was going through the young hero's head right now.
"You can sit wherever—sofa, dining table, wherever's comfortable. I'll grab us something to drink."
He walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, rummaged a bit, then pulled out three bottles of milk tea.
By the time he came back into the living room, the two girls had already settled into position on the couch—one on the left, one on the right—with a conspicuously empty space in the middle just for him.
Oh?
Bokue raised a metaphorical eyebrow.
Still holding the drinks, he sat between them and handed out the bottles.
Astarte, as usual, said nothing. She accepted her drink silently, her expression unreadable.
Yuki, on the other hand, didn't even reach for hers. Instead, she reached past the bottle, cupped Bokue's face in both hands, and turned him toward her.
Bokue blinked twice. Giant question marks popped into his brain.
But before he could even think to ask—
Yuki leaned in... and kissed him.
Right on the lips. Then she finally took the milk tea from his hand.
"Thanks."
"..."
"..."
Across from her, Astarte froze.
Her mouth fell open slightly, her eyes wide in silent disbelief—like she was watching an exploit being performed in real-time.
She stared at her own unopened bottle of milk tea.
Then glanced toward Bokue.
Then back at the bottle.
It was obvious she was considering whether to return the drink, reset the play, and try to copy-paste that exact move.
"?!"
And just like that, she froze again.
Because now Yuki was staring straight at her—head slightly tilted, golden eyes calm but intense. Their gazes locked midair, like two snipers in a Western duel.
A moment later, invisible lightning sparked between them.
Stare—
"Alright, enough."
Bokue casually reached out and gave both girls a light slap on the butt.
Just a tap—left and right. The silent showdown ended instantly. The tension fizzled out like a popped balloon.
"More importantly, I want to know, how did your village even find out about Wilbert's daughter?"
Yuki broke eye contact, shrugging slightly.
"I'm not entirely sure myself. The village has its own intel network. But going by what they're saying—"
She stopped mid-sentence and turned toward him, eyes narrowing.
"Bokue... you already knew about Wilbert, didn't you?"
"I've heard a little." Bokue nodded honestly.
He didn't know much, just that Wilbert was the former ruler of the Northern Realm, and that Mio and Maria Naruse were his daughters. After Wilbert's death, the Old Faction's influence plummeted.
"Then..." Yuki paused.
"You also know about Wilbert's daughter, don't you? You've met her, right?"
"Nope. Not ringing any bells." Bokue kept his tone flat. No change in his expression. Flawless delivery.
And yet—
"Liar," Yuki said immediately.
Her golden eyes didn't even blink.
"You wouldn't have asked that question if you didn't already know. In fact, I'm pretty sure you've already met her. Am I wrong?"
"…Yuki, are you solving this case with your gut?"
Bokue internally took a tactical step back.
She saw through it instantly. How does she do that?
"It's not intuition," she replied calmly. "It's just how well I know you."
"If it has nothing to do with the people around you, you never care. Ever."
"…Yeah. Fair point."
He scratched the back of his head.
It was true. Unless someone came knocking on his door with drama, he rarely got involved in anything that didn't affect him directly.
Take the whole Dimitrie Vatler situation, for example. If Vatler had just wanted to take on the Nalakuvera army for fun, Bokue wouldn't have cared in the slightest. Someone else would've handled it. Not his problem.
But the moment Vatler got Asagi involved—kidnapping her, dragging her into it—Bokue got pissed.
So pissed that he turned Vatler into a literal Pokéball and handed him over to the First Progenitor for judgment—because he wanted Vatler to feel despair before dying.
That kind of despair. And when he scanned Vatler's memories with magnetic resonance, there hadn't been a single trace of First Progenitor involvement.
Which meant—Vatler acted entirely on his own.
Had that not been the case, the whole Warlord Domain would've been wiped off the map. No restoration. Just a gaping hole where Eastern Europe used to be.
Same thing with that other lunatic teacher at the industrial district. Bokue wouldn't have intervened at all—except Nagisa's familiar had appeared at the scene.
Otherwise? He wouldn't have given a damn.
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"So... are you going to report this to the village?" Bokue asked. Which, really, was already an admission of guilt.
Yuki didn't blink. "Do you want me to report it?"
"…If I said I'd rather you didn't?"
"Then I won't. I'll keep it quiet." Her answer came instantly.
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Back inside the HQ building on Itogami Island—
Inside the Special Zone Defense HQ, Natsuki Minamiya finally finished her morning reports and wandered next door to her break room.
What she found made her stop cold.
There, on the floor, was a long-dried puddle of pale yellow fluid. It had cooled long ago… but the faint scent still lingered in the air.
Natsuki stood in silence, staring down at it.
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