Seeing Giada manifest technique energy, Takina immediately drew her gun while Chisato discarded what she was holding to reach for her firearm.
Simultaneously, the black-suited bodyguards flanking Giada reached inside their jackets - clearly preparing to draw weapons for a shootout.
At that moment, a vibrant bouquet of white roses burst into bloom with a "pop" in Giada's hand.
"Eh?" Chisato Nishikigi froze at the sight, while Takina Inoue, who had been about to act, also hesitated momentarily.
"Indeed, white roses suit a lovely girl like you best."
Giada smiled as she tossed nine white roses towards Takina Inoue.
Seeing this, Takina paused briefly before realising the flowers could be used by Nia Honjo to track Giada, so she caught them reflexively.
Watching Takina accept the white roses, Giada chuckled and said:
"Since you're with the authorities, we won't disturb you any further."
With those words, Giada stepped forward, passing Takina Inoue under her wary gaze. After flashing a faint smile, she left the alley from the opposite side with her bodyguards in tow.
Only after the woman had walked past her did Takina turn her head slightly to glance at Giada's retreating back.
At that moment, Chisato Nishikigi approached, muttering:
"Who was that? Came out of nowhere and gave me such a fright! I really thought we were about to throw down just now!"
"And what's with Australia releasing all those non-human races? What were those pot-bellied pigs at the Union thinking?"
Takina didn't answer, merely sighing before saying:
"We should report the situation to Secretary Yukinoshita."
"What about here... should we still investigate?" Chisato pointed at the alley, her expression puzzled.
After a moment's consideration, Takina replied: "Let's investigate this too, then file a report."
"Eh?" Chisato's face immediately fell. "Does that mean we'll have to work overtime tonight writing reports?"
The thought of having to stay up late drafting reports after setting up the safehouse turned Chisato's face green:
"Not this again!!!"
...
As Chisato was complaining, Giada - who had just left the alley - heard one of her bodyguards step forward and whisper:
"Your Majesty Kukulkan, please refrain from unnecessary actions."
Another bodyguard added: "Leave those two witnesses to us."
Hearing this, Giada abruptly stopped walking and looked at these two Union-assigned monitors with astonishment:
"Don't tell me... are you actually suggesting we target members of the Hidden Management Department?"
"Aren't you afraid that Demigod director might come after you with his sword?"
The two bodyguards, who had been contemplating action, immediately broke out in cold sweat.
Indeed, the leader of the Hidden Management Department was no pushover. If anything happened to his subordinates, the consequences would likely be even more troublesome than Giada's exposure.
On one hand, there was Giada appearing in the open, risking exposure of America's secret dealings to other Union members. On the other hand, there was the ferocious Demigod of the Hidden Management Department.
The two junior bodyguards' faces turned green.
At this moment, Giada - the spark that had ignited this situation - cheerfully remarked:
"Let me make this clear - it's you who wants to hide your collaboration with me, not me. If anything happens to those two young ladies and that Demigod from the Hidden Management Department comes hunting, I certainly won't protect you~"
With that, the two bodyguards completely settled down, not daring to make any further moves.
Seeing them quieten, Giada maintained her smile while internally sentencing these fools to death.
Are they that desperate for promotion?
The American Union leadership only instructed them not to expose her identity to other Union members - they never ordered the elimination of everyone who saw her.
Moreover, the Hidden Management Department wasn't part of the Union to begin with, so they weren't even within the restriction's scope!
What imbeciles!
If this was how their rank-and-file operated with such extremism, she'd need to reconsider cooperating with the American Union more carefully.
As for these two attendants... Giada narrowed her eyes slightly:
'I'll mention it to that Union executive next time and have her dispose of them.'
'With subordinates like these, one might die in some corner without ever knowing why.'
At this thought, Giada turned her head back, gazing towards the direction of Akihabara:
'The only Demigod affiliated with a semi-official organisation, the Director of the Hidden Management Department... Luo Shu, is it?'
'I'm rather curious, just how strong is a Demigod's power?!'
...
At that very moment, on the streets of Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo...
Kuroka suddenly raised her head, looking towards Ikebukuro's direction with a surprised expression:
"My, my, has the little feline friend I just made been caught already? Such a pretty little she-cat she was, too."
After uttering these regretful words, Kuroka's expression immediately turned cold:
"It seems our presence has been exposed, meow~"
Hearing this, Vali, who was walking ahead, paused his steps and said indifferently:
"Probably because we directly activated the technique within Tokyo."
"Quite resourceful. I thought it would be like when I came last time, completely unnoticed."
At this, Kuroka asked curiously:
"Where did you appear last time you came, Vali?"
Resuming his stride, Vali replied: "In Bharat. Well, just a country with nothing noteworthy besides its vast land."
"Then it seems we'll need to consider the landing point when reinforcements arrive."
As she spoke, Kuroka clasped her hands behind her back and followed Vali's steps, blending into the crowd.
...
The next day, Luo Shu, who had just crawled out of Serafall's bed with a thoroughly lazy expression, yawned as he slumped into his office chair and picked up the prepared documents on his desk.
After skimming through them, he suddenly became wide awake:
"Giarda Kukulkan? A non-human race from the Australian Demon Realm?"
"Isn't this the true name of the Third Primogenitor, the Chaos Princess, from Natsuki's world?"
"And this... a report about detecting high-density spatial teleportation fluctuations in Ikebukuro?"
"Could there be Abyssal visitors infiltrating Tokyo as well?"
Faced with these two reports, Luo Shu suddenly fell into deep contemplation.
Come to think of it... Shouldn't the Bujin-shū be responsible for the security of Tokyo's mystic side, not the Hidden Management Department?
After a moment's silence, Luo Shu picked up the square seal beside him, blew on it, and stamped it onto the documents.
'Reviewed! File retained in archives.'
The tiny line of characters engraved on the round seal stood out clearly on the report at this moment.