-982- [ Key ]

"Don't touch it!"

The scream of the female vampire echoed.

Inside, hysteria prevailed.

"Ah!"

Nagisa was startled, causing the box she had just picked up to slip from her hands and fall to the ground again.

Witnessing this, the female vampire struggled desperately.

"Give it back to me! Give it back!"

She shouted while continuously struggling, making the white chains entwined around her produce a rattling sound, echoing the clinking of iron.

Seeing the display, anyone would understand that this metal box was crucial to the female vampire.

Rozen raised an eyebrow and smiled suddenly.

"Swoosh!"

The next moment, the fallen metal box appeared in Rozen's hand as if teleported.

"Your reaction is so honest, it really helped." Rozen casually flipped the metal box in his hand, saying, "Since you've told us this box is important to you, you should know what to do next, right?"

Rozen made a villain-like statement.

"You... just a mere human...!"

The female vampire turned red with anger, her eyes bloodshot, as if she wanted to pounce on Rozen and bite him.

"Alright, answer my question." Rozen, holding the metal box, asked, "First, tell me your name."

"Why should I tell you?"

Before the female vampire could say this, Rozen stopped her with a light statement.

"You know, I can use spatial control magic. If I want this box to suddenly appear over the ocean and sink into the sea, that's quite easy, you know?"

Rozen's casual words made the female vampire hold her breath.

"Come on, answer me." Rozen repeated, "What's your name?"

While asking, Rozen slightly lifted the metal box, indicating to the female vampire that if she didn't answer honestly, he would carry out the threat he just mentioned, sinking it into the sea.

This was something the female vampire absolutely couldn't allow.

So, reluctantly, the female vampire spoke.

"I'm Veldiana Caruana. That's my name."

Veldiana Caruana.

This person indeed was a descendant of the Caruana family.

"What relation does Liana Caruana have to you?"

Rozen continued to inquire.

"... She's my sister."

Veldiana, the female vampire, fell silent for a moment, then answered in a low voice.

"So, you're Miss Liana's sister, huh?"

Nagisa blinked, looking at Veldiana with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"The younger sister of that Miss Liana?"

Kojou also observed Veldiana carefully, from top to bottom, bottom to top, paying quite thorough attention.

This made Veldiana glare at him.

"Don't look at me with those obscene eyes! Pervert!"

Veldiana said so.

"Who looked at you with that kind of eyes? Huh!?"

Kojou almost stumbled, then angrily retorted.

But...

"Just now, Kojou-kun did have a slightly disgusting look."

Nagisa unexpectedly puffed up her cheeks as if not daring to compliment.

"Nagisa...!?"

Kojou, looking as if betrayed unexpectedly, turned his gaze to Nagisa.

Perhaps Kojou hadn't expected that his own sister would say such things about him?

Poor Kojou just thought Veldiana and Liana Caruana looked somewhat alike, so he observed carefully. Little did he expect to be labeled as a pervert by both the female vampire who was just tracking his sister and his sister, who was being tracked by the vampire.

This made Kojou feel like hiding in a corner for a good cry.

Rozen, however, was unfazed.

"Since you're also from the Caruana family, appearing on Itogami Island and secretly tracking Nagisa, your goal should be the Fourth Primogenitor, right?" Rozen continued questioning, "What about your sister? Did she come with you?"

This statement dimmed Veldiana's expression.

"What's wrong?" Nagisa asked with concern, "Miss Liana didn't come?"

Even though the vampire had been tracking her, and potentially had ill intentions, Nagisa showed concern, perhaps because she remembered Liana guiding her in the past and protecting her in the underground tomb.

Unfortunately...

"I... I've been separated from my sister for a long time." Veldiana's eyes became slightly moist, "Because we couldn't bring back the No. 12, my sister and I couldn't execute the plan to revitalize our family. So, she gave me the box and told me to escape to Itogami Island while she acted as bait. Now, I don't know where she is."

"Separated...!?" Kojou was suddenly surprised.

"How could that be...?" Nagisa was equally shocked.

"The box..." Rozen furrowed his brow, looking at the box in his hands. Though he didn't know what was inside, the fact that the Caruana sisters were hunted because of it hinted at its significance.

In that case...

"What are you doing!?" Veldiana's angry voice suddenly resounded.

For no other reason, Rozen had crouched down, placed the metal box in front of him, and opened it.

So, Rozen saw what was inside the box.

A metal rod wrapped in cloth lay inside, appearing in the air.

It was a rod covered with densely engraved magical symbols, giving a futuristic feel. With a diameter of about three to four centimeters and a length of less than fifty centimeters, one end was sharpened like a spearhead or a stake.

"What is this?" Kojou leaned in, puzzled.

"Iron stake? Is this an iron stake for nailing vampires?" Nagisa, with her imaginative mind, suggested, completely ignoring the lack of scientific reasoning behind why a vampire would carry a stake to nail herself.

However, Nagisa's imaginative idea might not be entirely wrong.

At least, Rozen, with his vast knowledge, deciphered the inscriptions on the metal rod and realized its complexity.

After all, any text that stumped Rozen, coupled with the numerous magical and mystical inscriptions, couldn't be simple.

Moreover, Rozen felt an exceptionally ancient aura from it.

So, Rozen was certain.

"This is undoubtedly a magical tool not inferior to 'Lawbinding Shackles' and 'Injunction Shackles.'"

Moreover, the power of this metal rod might surpass 'Lawbinding Shackles' and 'Injunction Shackles.'

Because that ancient aura was divine.

Rozen just touched it lightly, and he felt a fluctuation in his own magical power.

"Is it being hunted because of this thing?"

Perhaps this metal rod did hold such value.

However...

"What exactly is this thing?" Rozen pondered.

In his contemplation, Rozen didn't notice one thing.

Someone was approaching.

And that person answered Rozen's question.

"————'Key.'"

A cold, intellectual voice echoed.

"That is the 'key' that can awaken the Fourth Primogenitor."