-1073- The office in Itogami Island

"Hmm?"

Rozen, walking in the alley, suddenly stopped and looked ahead, his gaze becoming somewhat intriguing.

Seeing Rozen's expression, Yukina also stopped.

"Did you notice it?"

Yukina asked in a somewhat admiring tone.

Rozen shrugged.

"Although it's not very obvious, even a seasoned Attack Mage might overlook it, but unfortunately, I sensed the flow of magic early on."

For Rozen, who possesses Spirit Vision, any magic flow happening in front of him is almost impossible to hide.

So, upon arriving here, Rozen noticed it immediately.

"There's a dispelling barrier here, isn't it?"

Rozen said with certainty.

"Yes."

Yukina didn't hide anything, admitting while speaking softly.

"Please follow me."

Saying so, Yukina walked ahead on her own.

Perhaps this girl wanted to guide Rozen so he wouldn't get lost.

Of course, Yukina wasn't worried that Rozen would get lost because of the dispelling barrier, but she was worried that Rozen might break the barrier instead.

After yesterday's confrontation, Yukina understood that Rozen is a more formidable mage and jujutsu user than she had imagined, so breaking a mere dispelling barrier wouldn't be too difficult for him.

In that case, it's better to guide Rozen to the destination rather than risking him breaking the barrier.

However, Yukina underestimated Rozen after all.

"No need to bother." Rozen shook his head, gazing at the barrier in front of him, sneered, and said, "After seeing this barrier, I deduced the center of the barrier through the flow of magic. The entire barrier exists to protect that place, right? That should be where you want to take me, isn't it?"

Since that's the case...

"We can just go straight there."

Rozen snapped his fingers, causing the space around Rozen and Yukina to ripple.

When the spatial ripples subsided, the two had already arrived in front of a building.

It was a low building made of red bricks, nestled among the love hotels of Hotel Street, like an outsider occupying a piece of land.

"Are... Are we here?"

Yukina couldn't hide her astonishment.

"To sense the destination through the barrier and directly teleport here using spatial manipulation...!?"

Such ability once again refreshed Yukina's understanding of Rozen.

On the contrary, Rozen was indifferent, just raising his head, observing the building in front of him.

Historic stained glass adorned the windows.

A faded old sign hung on the door.

From the storefront, this is probably an antique shop that deals in imported old furniture, a rare brick-and-mortar old building on the modern Itogami Island, looking like an unpopular general store no matter how you look at it.

"Is this where you wanted to take me?"

Rozen turned his head and looked at Yukina.

"Y-Yes."

Yukina finally reacted, took a deep breath, calmed down her astonishment, and then explained.

"This is the Lion King Agency's office on Itogami Island, specifically responsible for coordinating and supplying external personnel."

Yukina's explanation didn't surprise Rozen.

"I see, so that's why it's built in a place like this?"

Rozen nodded.

The special buildings here are quite densely constructed, with many blind spots from a jujutsu perspective.

The Lion King Agency uses this characteristic to set up offices for communication. The appearance resembling a desolate antique shop is to avoid leaving a distinct impression. Combined with the dispelling barrier, even the Management Cooperative might overlook this place and ignore its management and exploration.

"So, this is why you often come here?"

Rozen spoke as if relieved.

"Yes. Is there anything wrong?"

Yukina looked puzzled.

"N-No, nothing."

Rozen quickly averted his gaze to prevent this girl from seeing some of his thoughts.

"So suspicious..."

Yukina frowned, perhaps also concerned about Rozen's strange behavior along the way?

This girl seems to really not know the true purpose of this hotel street.

Frequent visits to such places, one really hopes she has some self-awareness to avoid spreading unnecessary rumors.

"Anyway, please come with me."

Yukina decided not to pursue further, sighing.

Then, Yukina reached out towards the antique shop's door, and amid the creaking of the wooden door and the solemn doorbell, she walked in.

Rozen wasn't particularly cautious, simply following Yukina inside.

The next moment, the panorama of the antique shop appeared before Rozen's eyes.

Just like its exterior, it was filled with various kinds of old antiques inside the shop.

However, Rozen sensed subtle magic, spiritual energy, and jutsuryoku emanating from these antiques, even fluctuations of jutsuryoku.

Clearly, these antiques are not ordinary.

Jujutsu tools, weapons, magical tools, and so on, these antiques are probably similar, or have derived magical and spiritual energy after ages of existence.

Of course, not all of them belong to the Lion King Agency; most are probably dangerous confiscated items reclaimed by the Lion King Agency.

And the person managing them here is not actually here, but somewhere unknown.

"Later than I expected. Can't the young people nowadays show a little respect for the elderly and not keep us waiting?"

This voice, tinged with a hint of complaint, emanated from the shop.

It belonged to someone both casual and unburdened, with a clarity and pleasantness akin to the striking of jade stones.

However, the owner of the voice was not human but a cat.

Inside the shop, towards the direction of the counter, lay a black cat, looking this way with eyes that vividly conveyed intelligence and a sense of the world-weariness.

Seeing the black cat, Rozen immediately raised an eyebrow.

"A shikigami?"

Indeed.

This black cat was the shikigami of someone, its master controlling it remotely through a shared sensation with the cat, using its mouth to speak.

This meant that the actual person in charge wasn't here but was somewhere far away, unknown.

Perhaps the person is in another corner of Itogami Island or not even on Itogami Island, just remotely controlling through a shikigami.

This isn't something particularly difficult to achieve. As long as one can manipulate shikigami, they can more or less accomplish the same thing. The difference lies in how much sensation one can share with the shikigami and how far away one can manipulate the shikigami.

If it were Rozen, even if the shikigami were in another country, he could share all its sensations and control it like a clone.

And the owner of this black cat is probably not as good as Rozen, but not much worse either.

Yukina then put down the guitar case, knelt down with one knee, and bowed her head.

"Master."

Yukina greeted the black cat and addressed it as such.

It seems that the black cat is Yukina's master.

"I have brought the target individual Minamiya Nichiyo. Please give your orders, Master."

Yukina spoke respectfully and politely.

"Mm, you may listen from the side for now."

In contrast, the black cat's tone was casual as it turned its head towards Rozen.

"You are the brother of the Witch of the Void, right?"

The black cat spoke like this.

"I am Endo Yukari, the person in charge of the Itogami Island office, and also the guiding master of the incompetent Sword Shaman over there."

"It's good to finally meet you."

"The Divine Child of Origin."