The Time Has Come for the Truth to Come Out

The days that followed became very calm, with nothing else of note occurring.

The lives of Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita became very routine. During the day, they went to school as students, and at night, they carried out activities as devils—peaceful and fulfilling.

There was not much to say about their school life. Although the fact that Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita were always together sparked quite a bit of discussion and rumors, neither of them was the type to care about what others thought, so they continued to live their lives as they pleased while at school.

At night, Leo began rigorous training, constantly honing his ability to use his sacred gear. Yukino Yukinoshita also gradually found her rhythm, no longer feeling as uneasy as she had in the beginning. Her progress in devil work could be described as gratifying.

Under these circumstances, Leo no longer had Yukino Yukinoshita doing entry-level work like handing out flyers; instead, he let her start taking on requests made to devils.

Every night, Yukino Yukinoshita would sense a summoner's call through a magic circle, jump to the summoner's side, and help them fulfill their wishes.

At first, this work did not go very smoothly. Yukino Yukinoshita's interpersonal skills were, after all, a major weakness, and with her blunt, sharp-tongued personality, the results were naturally not great when she had to deal with people who had triggered a devil's summoning due to their own desires.

If the desires were just ordinary, it would be fine, but human desires are boundless. Some desires are so ugly that even devils find them repulsive. Faced with such people, how could someone with Yukino Yukinoshita's personality stand it?

Therefore, in the beginning, Yukino Yukinoshita's devil work really did not go well. There was even an incident where she lashed out at a summoner, leaving Leo feeling both amused and helpless.

Fortunately, Leo was not a devil in the traditional sense either. In the past, there had been situations where he disagreed with summoners. Some summoners truly possessed unimaginably ugly desires. Faced with such people, the methods he took were far more extreme than Yukino Yukinoshita's; humane destruction was the least of it.

Thus, he had no intention of blaming Yukino Yukinoshita at all. Instead, he encouraged her, telling her not to take such things to heart.

"Don't feel burdened. We are devils, after all, aiming to eventually claim the souls of those who summon us. You just need to do what you feel is right as you please; you don't need to pay attention to anything else."

Leo's words made Yukino Yukinoshita start to feel that becoming a devil wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Of course, the approach taken by this master and servant meant that their performance records as devils were not very good. This might affect the evaluation of them by the higher-ups of the devil faction, thereby affecting their future promotions.

But as for that, let alone Yukino Yukinoshita, even Leo didn't really care.

He had always operated with this style, and hadn't he still successfully promoted to a high-class devil?

Devil work and performance were indeed factors that influenced promotion, but they were not the only factors. As long as one was outstanding enough in other areas, one could still successfully promote in the end.

Moreover, Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita were not completely without performance; they were still able to complete some normal requests quite smoothly.

For instance, recently, it seemed Yukino Yukinoshita had been summoned by a female student from Sobu High School. The other party's wish was very simple: she wanted Yukino Yukinoshita to teach her how to bake cookies, as she wanted to use them to express her gratitude to someone who had helped her in the past.

"A female student from Sobu High School?" Leo asked thoughtfully. "What kind of person is she?"

"...A very flashy girl." Yukino Yukinoshita was silent for a moment before giving her assessment. "And she's annoying. Her personality is also timid; she wants to give up as soon as she encounters something that doesn't go smoothly. It's unpleasant to watch."

However, Yukino Yukinoshita did not dislike her.

Because even when criticized, the girl wouldn't hold a grudge. Instead, she said she liked how Yukino Yukinoshita could frankly express her own thoughts.

She said that she herself could never do such a thing, as she was always overly concerned with other people's feelings and overly focused on the atmosphere.

Therefore, she said she was a little envious of Yukino Yukinoshita.

Recalling the look in the other person's eyes—a mix of admiration and a hint of worship—Yukino Yukinoshita pursed her lips.

"In any case, she's someone who makes you worry, but since I've already accepted the summons and the request, I will help her until the end."

Because of this, Yukino Yukinoshita had been busy with this unremarkable request for some time recently, even turning down quite a few other, more important ones.

Seeing this, Leo did not stop her; instead, he smiled and said, "Make sure you get along well with her~~~"

Of course, during her leisure time outside of devil work, Yukino Yukinoshita had also been reading constantly, and she never stopped honing her own sacred gear.

Her talent was truly impressive; in less than a month, she had already gained control over the power of the sacred gear. While she couldn't quite say she had mastered it, she could definitely wield it as if it were an extension of her own arm.

If nothing unexpected happened, these days would continue on.

At least, that was what Yukino Yukinoshita believed.

She had completely forgotten that while she had indeed adapted to the life of a devil, she had become significantly detached from the life of a human.

For instance, she had been living in Leo's manor for a long time now and hadn't returned to her own apartment in ages.

Coupled with the intensifying rumors at school, the moment of reckoning finally arrived...

That day, Yukino Yukinoshita arrived at the service club room as usual and sat down in her seat.

The bell for the end of the school day had rung a while ago, and the Sobu High School campus had become lively and boisterous, with the noisy sounds constantly drifting through the window into Yukino Yukinoshita's ears.

Yukino Yukinoshita watched the students laughing and playing outside the window, bathed in the sunlight. The look of weariness that had previously clouded her delicate face was gone.

"It seems I've completely gotten used to the daytime and the sunlight."

Yukino Yukinoshita propped one hand against her forehead, looking up at the azure sky and the dazzling sun, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"That guy... is he still not coming?"

After waiting for a while, Yukino Yukinoshita began to feel impatient.

Even though she used to never feel bored sitting here alone, she didn't know when it had started, but whenever her master was late to arrive at this activity room to take her back to the manor, Yukino Yukinoshita would feel restless.

"He's probably chatting away with some pretty upperclassman in his class again, right?"

Recalling some rumors she had inadvertently heard earlier, Yukino Yukinoshita felt even more agitated.

"Forget it. I'll just read for now."

Shaking her head to suppress the irritation in her heart, Yukino Yukinoshita took out a book and began to flip through it.

The books she was reading now were mostly brought out from the study in the manor, no longer the literary works she used to read.

Leo allowed her to take books from the study, but only one at a time, and she was strictly forbidden from showing them to others; she could only use them herself.

Yukino Yukinoshita had no intention of showing books about devils to anyone else, so she wouldn't read them in the classroom, but rather in the Service Club activity room.

Right now, she was reading a book about the Underworld. It recorded the customs and conditions of various territories, giving her a preliminary understanding of a world unknown to the rest of humanity.

"The territory of the Eligos clan has also been returned to my name since I became a high-class devil. When there's time later, I'll take you back to see it."

Leo had once said this to Yukino Yukinoshita, even mentioning that he would grant her a portion of the territory, which made her feel incredibly surreal.

Even Yukino Yukinoshita had never imagined that one day, she would be like someone from the Middle Ages, granted a fief by a noble and becoming the lord of a piece of land.

Leo had told her that granting a portion of one's territory to a peerage member was something every high-class devil did. Whether it was her or any future peerage members, he would treat them all equally and grant them corresponding land.

Unfortunately, this conversation was too detached from reality. Even now, Yukino Yukinoshita still felt like it might have been a joke; she had no sense of it being real at all.

Just as Yukino Yukinoshita was gradually focusing her attention on the book in her hands, the door to the Service Club was opened.

"You're late."

Yukino Yukinoshita threw out these words without raising her head, but she waited in vain for the familiar reply.

Then, she heard a voice that was even more familiar, yet one that made her tremble.

"Who is Yukino waiting for? It shouldn't be your big sister, should it?"

When this half-smiling voice reached Yukino Yukinoshita's ears, her body froze, and her expression went completely stiff.

She lifted her head with difficulty and looked toward the entrance of the Service Club activity room.

Standing there was a figure she absolutely did not want to see at this moment.

It was a young woman in her prime, about two or three years older than Yukino Yukinoshita.

The other person had a delicate face similar to Yukino Yukinoshita's, but her expression was not as cold as Yukino's; instead, it gave off a rich, sunny feeling, turning that face—which originally belonged to an ice flower—from winter to summer, bright and radiant.

The other person's figure was quite different from Yukino Yukinoshita's; she was tall and curvaceous, filled with a mature charm just like Tsubaki Shinra.

Looking at this person, Yukino Yukinoshita's hands clenched involuntarily, and she spat out the words with difficulty.

"Sister..."

Yes, it was her sister.

The sister who had kept her living in the shadows, someone she both admired and loathed.

"Long time no see, Yukino."

The eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family, Haruno Yukinoshita, kept that half-smiling expression on her face from beginning to end.

That expression made Yukino Yukinoshita's heart sink, leaving her unable to say another word.