Chapter 92
Ellen was not surprised by his expression.
"Ha ha."
Soon, Wescott laughed, finally understanding why Schicksal had suddenly shifted its focus to this tiny place.
A girl who looks exactly like Mao Takamiya, whom he killed years ago, and whose younger sister is the person in charge of the cooperation between Ratatoskr and Schicksal, and a survivor of the Amemiya City fire. Others might not think much of it, but whether it's Wescott, Ellen, or Eliot, they can't help but connect these keywords together.
"Bring Shiori Itsuka over here. This matter absolutely cannot go wrong."
Without much hesitation, Wescott gave the order, "Don't make too much of a commotion. Can I leave this to you, Ellen?"
"Of course, but I don't think Schicksal will be completely unprepared for this."
Ellen raised a reasonable concern. "In this matter, Mana Takamiya might also become an obstacle."
"She's still emotionally overwhelmed these days."
Previously, Wescott didn't know why Mana had become withdrawn after returning, but now he could guess a little. "This operation doesn't need her to take the lead; let's treat it as a covert operation."
"I see."
Ellen nodded.
She didn't think the mission would fail. After all, apart from Yulande, Ellen didn't think anyone in the world could defeat her, not even Rita had fully mastered the Imaginary Domain. Although Rita's Imaginary Domain was stronger than hers, she was still Valkyrie, not Magician, and couldn't possibly use it as efficiently as she could.
Besides, Ellen didn't think it was worth sending Shiori Itsuka and Rita to protect Yulande. First of all, none of them were idle people, and secondly, would sending Shiori to protect her be any different from exposing Yulande to everyone's eyes?
Yulande doesn't go, others will only think that as a family member of Kotori Itsuka, she might know something about the cooperation between Ratatoskr and Schicksal, and at most try to coerce or entice her. But Yulande goes, then those with ulterior motives will inevitably overthink things and take more radical actions.
This is why, although Kotori Itsuka was troubled, she didn't treat the matter as a dead end and forbade Shiori from going out.
From Kotori Itsuka's perspective, Shiori would only be targeted and interrogated because of her, and at most, some ignorant people would grab Shiori for interrogation. There would be no danger to her life, so Kotori's attitude was that she could protect Shiori from these people. With someone specifically looking after her, those guys would restrain themselves.
However, no matter how comprehensive Kotori's thinking was, she still failed to realize, due to the information gap, that DEM would use the world's Strongest Magician against a 'high-ranking family member'.
"The School Trip to Raizen High School is about to begin, which will be a great opportunity for us."
With a goal in mind, Wescott regained his composure. He knew that even if he captured Shiori Itsuka, there was a high chance that he wouldn't be able to make any progress on his side, but it didn't matter. As long as he could delay the development of Schicksal, that would be considered a success.
Feeling confident that he had won back a point, Wescott was unaware that in Möbius's (Black Amber's ) eyes, Shiori's existence was utterly insignificant.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Shiori experienced a long-lost sense of healing.
Exchanging lunch with her new friend, Shiori felt as if she were in another world when she saw the black-haired girl's sweet and lovely smile. What she used to love most was the cozy mealtime with her sister. At that time, Shiori could receive her sister's admiring gaze and affirmation of her cooking skills, and appreciate her sister's incredibly healing smile.
However, now... Kotori's sister mode is becoming less and less frequent, and these days it has even completely lost its healing aspect. As for Tohka, it's even more of a problem; it's already a testament to Tohka's efforts to avoid increasing her blood pressure.
Shiori was so moved by the meat cutlet the other person handed her that she even shed tears.
"Shier... could she be an angel...?"
Black Amber:... I want to kill someone.
Chapter 58 Tohka is cornered.
"Shiori, let's switch places!"
Feeling neglected, Tohka spoke up in dissatisfaction.
Not every family has the means to prepare lunchboxes. Some parents leave for work earlier than their children, and in such cases, they usually give their children some pocket money to go to a convenience store or have lunch at the cafeteria.
That being said, most students in this classroom prepare their own lunches.
At this moment, because of Tohka's shouting, many people openly or secretly turned their attention to this side.
"Here we go again, the jealousy and rivalry. Sure enough, that Itsuka guy has some kind of attraction for the transfer student that no one else can see, right?"
"It happens almost every day, but these past few days have been the first time, and I actually feel a sense of nostalgia."
"I can't stand it."
Hearing the surrounding chatter, Shiori's blood pressure subconsciously rose, but the shame lessened considerably when she thought about Tohka's unfamiliarity with human society.
Taking a deep breath, Shiori looked at Tohka helplessly. "Our bento boxes are the same, there's no need to exchange them, right?"
After all, she prepared them herself.
"Ugh! Shiori always says things like that!"
Tohka pursed her lips, then looked at the short-haired girl opposite her with a wary expression, as if she had transformed into a fierce beast guarding its territory.
Black Amber's smile remained unchanged, "In that case, Tohka can switch with Shier."
As she spoke, she picked up a slightly runny braised egg with her chopsticks and handed it to Tohka.
"What... what is this?"
Tohka had seen eggs before, but she had never seen one this brown with golden juice flowing out. Its soft, smooth appearance instantly caught her attention.
"It's a braised egg."
Originally, Shiori hadn't planned to interrupt and wait for the short-haired girl to explain herself, but noticing that the other girl also didn't know her name, Shiori spoke up to explain, "It takes four or five days to prepare this, and the process is a bit complicated, so I've never done it before."
"Yes, but I didn't make it myself. My friend helped me prepare the bento."
Black Amber said.
How can a dish take so long to prepare? It must be an absolutely delicious one!
Tohka grew increasingly curious, but the thought that the other person might snatch Shiori away from her immediately made her suppress her longing expression and turn her head away, saying, "I don't want to!"
Hearing this, Black Amber tilted her head, then put down the braised egg and picked up a pork chop. "What about this?"
"Don't want!"
Tohka's vigilance didn't drop; instead, she became even more wary of this short-haired girl who could easily sway her mind, declaring, "I won't eat a single thing of yours!"
"Huh...?"
Black Amber made a somewhat bewildered expression, looking a little hurt, but quickly put on a not-so-pleasant smile, "Then... Shier, try to get some of Tohka's favorite foods next time, okay?"
"Tohka...!"
Seeing her like this, Shiori couldn't sit still any longer. She quickly tugged at Tohka's clothes, reminding her not to go too far, and then looked apologetically at Black Amber: "I'm sorry, Shier... Tohka's situation is a bit... special..."
But Tohka became even more convinced that Shiori was angry with her because of another human.
Only half a day had passed, and whenever the three of them stayed together, Shiori kept speaking up for this human, making Tohka, who was always the one being favored, feel extremely wronged.
"You idiot Shiori!"
The more Tohka thought about it, the Tohka became. She even lost her appetite. After cursing Shiori, she lowered her head and ran out of the classroom.
"Tohka!? Sorry Shier, I have to go to Tohka's place first! You... don't come over yet!"
Shiori didn't expect Tohka's reaction to be so strong. After apologizing to Black Amber, she immediately chased after her.
Shiori 'Tohka temper tantrum completely unreasonable, but Shiori understands that this reasoning stems from her own perspective as a human. Tohka is Tohka's support, and as the spirit she sealed away, Tohka is also her responsibility.
Now that she has taken on this responsibility, Shiori can teach Tohka and Tohka, but she must never be annoyed or even hate Tohka because of Tohka immaturity in human social interactions.
"Shier understands."
Black Amber nodded with a disappointed expression, but she was very satisfied in her heart, after all, she was the one who had brought about this situation.
Although Amber said she would protect Shiori during this time, the specific implementation still depends on Black Amber. And given Black Amber's understanding of DEM, or rather Wescott, she is very confident that he will make his move as soon as possible.
Therefore, the best opportunity will be the upcoming School Trip.
The reason why the School Trip is the best opportunity is that there will be a large number of unrelated people as camouflage for them to carry out their actions. In addition, the location of the School Trip is outside Amemiya City, so the Valkyrie's support cannot be responded to in time.
On ordinary days, Amemiya City is not only the base of the Blade of Immortality, but the streets on the way to and from school are not as crowded as those on School Trip. If anyone tries to make a move, they will undoubtedly be arrested by Schicksal immediately.
But the situation is different now. Tohka's mind has been explained in the entire anime. Where would she go first after arguing? Of course, it would be the runway halfway up the mountain where the two of them sealed their Spiritual Power. Even Shido knows to go there if something happens.
That place was sparsely populated and undisturbed by outsiders, making it an ideal location to take action.
Black Amber's favorite thing about mice hiding in the shadows is to let them show themselves. However, she also knows that she is not the type to plan everything perfectly. Anyway, this is just a trivial move. Even if DEM is cautious and doesn't take the bait, she can still take the opportunity to get revenge on Tohka for her repeated rude remarks.
You won't lose out no matter what.
Just as Black Amber had thought.
After Tohka ran away, Shiori knew where she was going, but the thought that the place was several kilometers away made Shiori's scalp tingle. She tried to contact Ratatoskr through her earpiece for help, but received no response. She could only guess that Kotori was busy with something.
After all, it was her responsibility. With a sigh, Shiori gritted her teeth and ran over. There was no other way; if she took a car, she might miss Tohka on the way.
However, Tohka, whom Shiori was thinking about, was not on the way. Instead, she was pulled into a small alley halfway through the journey.
Huffing and puffing, Tohka followed the other person's force into the alley, her face still showing obvious anger. Seeing that the other person remained silent, Tohka became even more unhappy. "Why did you follow me? Don't you already hate me?"
Upon hearing this, the blue-haired girl walking in front paused, then turned around and gave apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry. Can you forgive me, Tohka?"
Her eyes held a deep affection that Tohka had never seen before. Facing this 'Shiori,' Tohka felt as if her cheeks were being roasted by fire. Not only that, but 'Shiori,' receiving no response, kept approaching, forcing Tohka back into a corner. The increasingly close distance made Tohka's head feel like it was about to explode.
Why is Shiori suddenly like this?
Chapter 59 Seven Deadly Sins: Can We Reconcile?
"Shi... Shiori!? What are you doing... I won't forgive you so easily!"
Tohka felt a little overwhelmed, but remembering the grievances she had just suffered, she still spoke up loudly.
Don't say that.
'Shiori' didn't pay attention to her tone, but moved even closer to her body. "Don't you want to do something fun, Tohka?"
"Eh...!?"
Tohka subconsciously felt that something was wrong. Shiori had almost never shown her this kind of attitude, except when she was sealing her Spiritual Power. What was going on now...?
As the face drew ever closer, Tohka's anger gradually subsided, and she closed her eyes, appearing ready to be taken.
Shiori was very pleased with how easily she had gained the other party's trust, and her vengeful urges surged like a tidal wave. "See that, Shiori Itsuka! Your girlfriend is acting like this in front of me right now!"
Start ruining your life here!
Thinking this, Shiori stopped dawdling and was about to kiss him, but just as their lips were about to touch, a strange footstep interrupted them.
In reality, Shiori didn't care at all whether she would be discovered, or rather, being discovered would suit her perfectly. However, Tohka was overcome with shame and suddenly pushed Shiori away.
"It seems I have interrupted your enjoyment."
It was a woman's voice, calm and somewhat aloof, making her sound unapproachable. Yet, the approaching footsteps clearly indicated that this difficult woman was there to find her.
Shiori, or rather, Natsumi Kyouno, looked over curiously and saw a woman with long white hair wearing Manifestation Device.
Tohka immediately recognized her as the woman who had been easily defeated by Yulande earlier.
Although that was her first impression, Tohka also knew that Yulande was able to easily defeat her not because she was too weak, but because Yulande was too strong. Not to mention that she herself, who was sealed at this moment, could no longer be described as weak. It could be said that apart from her good physical condition, she had no power to fight back.
Ah~
Seven Deadly Sins also knew this woman.
After all, she made the statement that she would Shiori's life forever, so she naturally did some research on Shiori's background. Therefore, she had seen this woman in the documents. She seemed to be the Strongest Magician in human history.
However, the Seven Deadly Sins do not take humans seriously. In her eyes, humans are easy targets to toy with. So what if they are the strongest?
Oh, right! We can draw aggro from Shiori Itsuka!
"It's you again."
Seven Deadly Sins raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression clearly sarcastic. "Having been dealt with by Yulande in just a few moves, haven't you learned your lesson yet?"
"Hehe, you really don't understand the situation."
A cold smile also appeared on Ellen's face.
Two days ago, Ellen might have been enraged by those words, after all, it was the defeat she least wanted to mention. Everyone knew that battle was a complete failure for Ellen, who was defeated by Yulande in just three rounds and a minute.
In the first round, she was overwhelmed and could only run for her life. In the second round, her Imaginary Domain was shattered and her Manifestation Device overheated, forcing her to rely on her brain for calculations. In the third round, her Manifestation Device was completely destroyed. Yulande's effortless manner suggested that this level of damage was as easy for her as kicking a dog to death on the street.
But...
Just yesterday, Yulande also easily crushed the combined forces of Arutemi and Mana in less time than she had fought.
Only withstood three rounds? You can withstand three rounds!
"You're the one who doesn't understand the situation, aren't you? Be careful, or I'll call Yulande over right now and have her teach you a lesson."
Seven Deadly Sins showed no fear of Ellen's sneer, and with the intention of drawing hatred to Shiori, she was as arrogant as she could be.
Tohka sensed something was off. Yulande wasn't their subordinate, but their friend. Shiori's words made it sound like they could order Yulande around at will.