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Whether it was perfect compatibility or terrible chemistry, Bokue Keikain had noticed that every single encounter with a certain War Dancer girl immediately triggered her maximum alert mode, her brain overclocking straight into the red zone.

Just like right now.

They'd barely exchanged three sentences before she'd cranked up the hostility, then inexplicably demanded to team up with him.

Even Yukina Himeragi beside them looked completely bewildered, not understanding what was happening.

"Anyway... let's go upstairs and talk this through properly."

Scene shift—

The five of them arrived at the upstairs apartment.

Since Sayaka Kirasaka had immediately demanded Bokue as her teammate upon meeting, Asagi—seeing her boyfriend couldn't leave—had no choice but to follow them upstairs and sit down.

Around the living room coffee table, Sayaka sat with a grave expression in the center of the sofa where Nagisa and Yukina were regularly turned into cream puffs by Bokue. Yesterday afternoon's two heroines flanked her on either side.

Bokue and Asagi took the single-seater sofa opposite.

More precisely, Bokue sat in the sofa while Asagi perched on the armrest.

In this position, Bokue only had to rest his hand on the armrest to naturally pat the girl's bottom.

After organizing her thoughts, Yukina tentatively began:

"So... what exactly happened, Sayaka? What did you mean downstairs about searching for the missing Princess La Folia with Bokue-senpai?"

"Well..."

With her best friend beside her, Sayaka's emotions had calmed somewhat.

Realizing her downstairs outburst had been rather confusing, the War Dancer girl took a deep breath and lowered her head slightly, her bangs falling to obscure her expression.

"Here's the situation. According to the original plan, Princess La Folia of the Aldegyr Kingdom should have been escorted to Japan aboard the Aldegyr royal yacht, with Yukina and me responsible for meeting and protecting her on the Japanese side."

"And something happened to Princess La Folia during the escort?"

Without needing Sayaka to continue, Yukina connected the keywords from downstairs and roughly guessed the outcome.

"Yes..."

Sayaka nodded helplessly.

"I only learned about this after landing today. According to the investigation, the Aldegyr Kingdom's royal yacht was discovered in Japanese waters. There seemed to have been intense combat aboard—all accompanying personnel were dead."

"However, Princess La Folia's body wasn't found."

"And one of the yacht's lifeboats was missing."

With these two key pieces of information, a simple deduction led to an obvious conclusion.

Princess La Folia had likely escaped via lifeboat when the yacht was attacked.

"I see..."

Yukina held her chin, thinking seriously for a moment.

"This is troublesome. Since the yacht was attacked in Japanese waters, and carrying the Aldegyr Kingdom's Crown Princess no less, once word reaches Aldegyr, they definitely won't let this go."

"Yes, that's what Sensei said too."

Sayaka sighed and nodded again.

"Since it happened in Japanese waters, it becomes our Lion King Organization's responsibility. So I've already chartered a boat. I'll be departing with... ugh, with this guy to search for her!"

She pointed viciously at the youth on the single sofa opposite.

Bokue: "...?"

Why was she pointing at him? He wasn't even part of the Lion King Organization.

This sudden declaration made Yukina hold her forehead again.

"Um... Sayaka, Bokue-senpai's family only cooperates with the Lion King Organization. That doesn't mean Bokue-senpai himself belongs to us. If anyone should go, this search and rescue should be our responsibility."

"I know!"

Sayaka gave a loud affirmative response, but her gaze grew even more determined.

"But if Yukina and I go together, Miss Nagisa would essentially be living alone under this guy's wicked clutches during that time. I absolutely cannot allow that to happen!"

"..."

"..."

Perhaps this was the information gap at work. Even with Nagisa's kind nature, she couldn't help showing an awkward yet polite smile at those words.

Honestly speaking, if possible, she'd really love to live under Big Brother's "wicked clutches" every day.

That way she could be filled up completely every day, without even a chance for her toes to touch the ground, ultimately becoming Big Brother's permanent "accessory."

Just thinking about such days made her feel so happy~

Meanwhile, Asagi couldn't stand listening to all this slander anymore. She slapped her thigh and stood up.

"So who exactly are you, woman? What has our Bokue done to wrong you? From the start you've been going on about 'that guy' and 'wicked clutches'—stop acting like you know everything!"

"Ugh...!"

This sudden confrontation made Sayaka pause, but her competitive nature drove her to reflexively counter:

"Then who are you?"

"I'm his girlfriend!"

Asagi's beautiful eyes flared. These words seemed to emanate from her core, projected with inner strength, radiating absolute confidence.

Sayaka stepped back half a pace, her mouth twitching. She hadn't expected this girl who looked about her age to already have a boyfriend—and it was that annoying guy right there.

The two fell into a brief standoff, silence permeating the apartment living room.

As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, Yukina had to interrupt again.

"Anyway, both of you please calm down. Sayaka too—Bokue-senpai hasn't done anything wrong to Nagisa or me, so there's no need for such hostility toward him."

"I know you dislike men in general, Sayaka, but Bokue-senpai isn't the bad person you imagine."

"And regarding the search for the missing Princess La Folia—about this matter—"

The Sword Shaman paused here for some reason, then turned her gaze to Bokue beside them.

"Since Sayaka wants to work with Bokue-senpai, then I'll leave it to you, Bokue-senpai."

???

Bokue immediately formed triple question marks.

Wait, everything had been going fine—why suddenly side with a certain androphobic War Dancer girl?

However, Yukina offered no explanation, just giving him a "please trust me" look.

Sayaka, who'd been thinking about how to counter Asagi, stopped thinking at this and cut straight to the point.

"Exactly! Anyway, I've already booked the boat. We depart first thing tomorrow morning! Give up—I absolutely won't let you lay a hand on Yukina and Nagisa!!"

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