EPILOGUE: THE FRUIT OF THIS BELOVED VOW Part 2

PART 5

After thoroughly enjoying himself with Zest and Kurumi on the sofa, Basara

and the rest of the household had breakfast and went off to school after

finishing their preparations.

A clear azure sky spread out across the horizon as sakura petals danced about

, heralding the arrival of spring, and a perfect day for Hijirigasaka Academy

to host two important events for the occasion —the school was to hold a

ceremony to celebrate the forthcoming of the new year along with the annual

school opening ceremony for its new students.

A particular spot within the grounds of Hijirigasaka Academy was crowded

with students—bulletin boards with stands had been placed in front of the

school entrance specifically for this day. The mix of joyful and disappointed

looks that were scattered across the faces of the students who inspected the

board were due to the fact that the students' respectively assigned classes for

the year were posted on it; the matter of which circles and friends the students

would be spending with this year was one of lifeanddeath for them.

However, even amidst the mix of expectant and anxious gazes of the

surrounding students toward the bulletin board—even amidst the cacophony

of their cheer and lamentation—as Toujou Basara kept his gaze upon the

bulletin board, he was calm in every sense of the word.

Much like how both Yuki and Takigawa had infiltrated the school and had

been placed in the same class as Mio with the intention of keeping an eye on

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her last spring, Basara had pulled some strings of his own and had ensured

that he would share the same class as Mio, Yuki and Takigawa this year once

more in preparation for various risks and worst case scenarios.

Basara was thus not looking for his own name on the board; he was instead

ensuring that there were no errors in the outcome that he had expected.

"Year 2 class F…it seems everything went smoothly. That's good." He

murmured, as he confirmed that all of the particular names he was looking

for had been assigned to the same class without flaw.

"Mhm. We have to thank Hasegawa-sensei later." Yuki, who was standing

next to Basara, nodded as she remembered that it was Hasegawa who had

manipulated the assignment of their classes to their liking.

Although they felt rather penitent of having to go so far as to manipulate the

minds of the school faculty, they found it a necessary evil to reduce the risk

of potentially endangering their surroundings, given that it would easier for

enemies to target Basara and the others of they were to be scattered across

different classes; after all, even after the incident concerning Shiba had come

to a close, it did not mean that all their worries and concerns had been

dispelled. Moreover, Hasegawa held a special position in the school as the

school nurse, so allowing her to take on such a task was decided as the best

way to reduce their concerns to a minimum. Considering the fact that Yuki

and Takigawa had each done so once respectively last spring added by

Hasegawa's instance of doing so when Basara had first transferred here

during the second semester, the group had manipulated the minds of the

school faculty up to a total of three times;

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settling everything with this last and single instance of manipulating the

student faculty was done rather lightly as a result, and there seemed to be no

significant ramifications.

"............"

Mio, however, who was standing beside Basara albeit opposite from where

Yuki was standing, refused to look at the bulletin board, her head hung

downward. Her slightly nervous expression betrayed the fact that she was

both expectant and fearful of the results of her assigned class deep down,

much like the rest of the students.

"Ah, I've found them! Chikachan, over here!"

Amidst the hustle and bustle in front of the bulletin board, an especially loud

voice of a girl suddenly resounded amidst the noise. Turning toward the

source of the voice, the three could see Aikawa behind them, waving at them

as she approached with another girl.

"So you did find them! Good morning, you guys." It was Sasaki greeted

Basara and the others with with a smile, seemingly guided to them by

Aikawa.

"Yeah." Good morning."

"Ah…mmm. Good morning to the both of you."

As Basara and Yuki greeted the two girls in return, Mio, who was closest

with Aikawa and Sasaki among their group, somehow greeted them with an

unusual, intricate expression on her face — and Basara understood why.

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— Aikawa Shiho and Sasaki Chika, both of whom were in the same class as

Mio last year, had been inadvertently dragged into the incident where Mio

was being targeted by Zolgear; the incident caused Mio to be torn between

her personal desire to share a class with them and the guilt and fear of

endangering them back then. As much as sharing a class with them would

expose them to potential danger, it would also be easier for Mio to protect the

two girls in case of said danger; both choices had their merits and there was

no right or wrong in this case.

That said, Basara and the others decided to leave Mio to make her own

decision on the matter, given that she was the closest to Aikawa and Sasaki

among the group —t hey would respect her decision regardless of what she

chose.

— Regardless, there was no denying the fact that the two innocent girls had

been dragged into their affairs back then; the fact that Mio also possessed the

trauma of her adoptive parents murdered by Zolgear because of her meant

that she could not make her decision even at the last second, such that in the

end, she would leave it to fate to decide whether or not she would be sharing

the same class with Aikawa and Sasaki without any personal manipulation on

the matter.

It was something that Mio was unsure about as she kept pondering upon

whether or not she had truly chosen for the best —something that she had yet

to find a proper conclusion to, even now.

"Have you seen what class you're going to be assigned to, Mio?" Sasaki

asked.

"Um…"

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Basara and Yuki already knew the answer; Mio herself had yet to confirm it.

And as Mio tried to think of a reply that would not come across as weird —

"It's a relief that we're all in the same class again, huh~ Let's all get along

well this year too, alright?"

Aikawa suddenly rushed up to hug Mio as she said so.

"Eh—…?"

Mio, surprised by the sudden news, first turned to Aikawa, then Sasaki, and

then to Basara; Basara smiled and nodded at her, having known the outcome

beforehand.

"Yeah. I look forward to getting along with you guys this year, as well." He

said.

Mio looked as though she was about to tear up for a moment, but she quickly

changed her expression into a smile immediately after.

"Me too…I'm really happy that we get to share the same class again this

year."

That said —

"Please get along with me this year, as well."

There was a lot of resolution and determination placed within her words —

sentiments that Basara and Yuki shared as well.

Mio wasn't the only one who was a friend of Aikawa and Sasaki — they

were friends with Basara and Yuki too.

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No, they weren't the only ones —they had many other friends and

acquaintances within the school, as well.

This school was an irreplaceable part of their daily life for Basara and the

others—one of many things the group wanted to protect and to keep in their

hands.

And so they would protect it no matter what—they renewed such a resolve

there and then.

Kurumi suddenly approached them, having received the class she would be

placed in from the bulletin board opposite the school entrance surrounded by

second and thirdyears; however, she appeared to be somewhat perplexed.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Kurumi?"

"Is there a problem with your assigned class?"

"…No, I wouldn't call it a problem." As Basara and Yuki asked her what was

going on, Kurumi couldn't help but stroke her cheek with her finger,

appearing to be slightly disturbed at what she'd just found.

"It's just…there appears to be a Naruse Maria among my classmates from the

list."

"Eh...…?" And as Basara and Yuki stood in disbelief by the news —

"Fufufu~ At last, this day has come!" And as they spoke of the devil, a

certain erotic loli succubus suddenly showed herself beside them, a brazen

smile on her face.

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Toujou Basara could not look away from the sight before him; with her hands

on her hips and with her chest puffed with pride as she cleared her throat to

draw the group's attention, Maria was wearing the Hijirigasaka school

uniform.

"Hold on a second, that outfit…are you saying you've…"

What was he going to do with her? Just thinking about it gave Basara a

headache. The fact that it suited her as if it were the most natural thing in the

world only served to anger him more.

"Yeap! Although the three of you can keep an eye out on each other,

Basarasan, it's far too dangerous for Kurumisan to be alone all by herself,

right? That's why I've come along to school with you guys! Oh, how could I

have thought of such an excellent idea, even if I do say so myself~" Maria

said, hugging her body as she wiggled idly in self praise over her decision, a

beaming smile alight on her face as she appeared before the group. "That

said, I'll be under your care from now on, Basara senpai!"

"You should've told us something like that sooner, kouhai!"

If she was doing it to protect Kurumi, it's not as if Basara had any reason to

object; she must've kept quiet about it because she recognized that fact.

Besides, it was quite atypical of the mischievous Maria to plan surprises such

as these.

However, that said, her decision to come to the school left them with another

problem they couldn't ignore.

"We can't let Zest take care of the house all by herself though, can we?" The

school was quite some distance away from the Toujou household, and they

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might not make it in time should something happen to her.

They needed to give her a reason to come to the school .

For the time being, I guess I'll consult Hasegawa about this later. And as

Basara thought of that —

"Ah, about that, you don't have to worry about that anymore, alright? Fufu~"

The erotic loli succubus of a new student said, smiling suggestively.

The meaning behind Maria's words was revealed during the short morning

homeroom period.

Before the school opening ceremony, all currently enrolled students were to

gather at the gymnasium for another important event — the term opening

ceremony. It was a ceremony different from that of the school assembly; after

the students took their seats on the folding chairs prepared for them in the

venue, the prerequisite principal's speech came first, before new additions to

the school staff were introduced.

An approximate of ten or so new staff members went up the stage — and

among them was a familiar, beautiful woman with brown skin.

It was Zest.

"Next is Miss Zest. B . Steward, who will be teaching English for the

secondyear students."

"Um…my name is Zest. B. Steward, and I will be working as a part-time

teacher starting today. I'll be responsible for teaching English, and I hope I

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won't cause any inconveniences during my stay here…one way or another, I

hope you'll all bear with me."

It was a message clearly meant for Basara — it was likely that Maria was

also behind this, so she was apologizing for not saying anything about it.

A part-time teacher was different from a fullfledged teacher of the school in

that the former was not bound by several school duties such as being a

homeroom teacher, acting as advisors for clubs, and counselling and guiding

students; they would only need to come to school to give lessons, and could

leave immediately after finishing them.

With this, Zest would not be left alone at home while still being able to act on

her desire to be responsible for the entirety of the chores and housework in

the Toujou household.

That aside —

Steward, huh.

Zest had chosen such a surname for herself from the word "steward",

meaning a person who serves, such as a maid or butler. She had decided

against using Toujou as her surname due to the fact that it would invite any

unwanted misunderstandings, but also wanted a name that held some

semblance of meaning, at that. Moreover, the middle name of "B" likely

came from the first letter of Basara's name.

There was no particularly special meaning behind the name; Zest had named

herself after her role and duties to Basara as his maid.

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And after she finished her brief introduction, she bowed deeply, inviting a

fervent round of applause that enveloped the gymnasium. Amidst the noise,

Basara's eyes met with Zest's as she slowly raised herself.

" ————"

As Zest gazed at him apologetically, Basara simply smiled back at her and

shook his head lightly, all while giving her a loud applause at her

introduction.

Don't worry about that — it's fine for you to teach here. Mio and the others

likely shared the same thoughts and expressions as Basara did right now.

" ............…!"

Zest's expression lit up upon seeing Basara's response, her smiling eliciting

another round of cheer and applause from the boys, so loud that no traces of

the vice-principal's attempt to calm them could be heard.

Once more, Basara's attention went away from the stage amidst the

obstreperous noise—to the wall right next to the stage.

Among the staff members who were watching the stage just like the students,

his gaze met with a certain female teacher's, her gaze locked only upon him.

" —————"

It was Hasegawa — prominent, all too beautiful, and dressed in her white

doctor's coat, she gave off a smile of satisfaction at Basara. To that, Basara

returned her smile with a wry smile of his own, knowing in his mind that he

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had much more other things to thank her for beyond her involvement in

assigning their classes.

The term opening ceremony ended shortly after the introduction of all new

members of the school faculty;

as Basara and the other currently enrolled students moved from their seats in

the front to the prepared seats in the middle, the school opening ceremony

finally began.

The ceremony began with the entrance of parents and guardians; it was

custom of the Hijirigasaka Academy that they, too, deserved to be

congratulated along with their children of whom they had sent to study in this

new environment, and the students heralded their arrival with a welcoming

applause. After the parents and guardians who had arrived before the

ceremony had taken their seats, it didn't take long before the gymnasium

gradually became silent once again.

"Now for the arrival of our new students. Everyone, please give them a round

of applause."

A thunderous applause followed after that announcement as the freshmen

entered the gymnasium one by one amidst the congratulatory noise.

" — Next, we'd like to welcome Miss Morino Miki, the homeroom teacher

for class 1F."

The young female teacher entered with a bow before she took the

microphone and called out the names of the students that would be in her

class and the numbers of their respective seats, starting with the boys and

then the girls.

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" ———————"

Suddenly, there was a small stir amidst the procedure; two girls appeared to

be standing out among the female students.

It was none other than Maria and Kurumi; as Maria pridefully trod into the

gymnasium, Kurumi followed right behind her, looking somewhat

embarrassed. The two were assigned into the F class as Basara and the

others' classroom was directly above the classroom the two younger girls

would be studying in, making it easier to detect any abnormalities and reach

them within the shortest distance should anything occur.

…I have to thank Hasegawa for that, too. She was the one who planned all

this, didn't she? Basara thought of how he needed to properly and thoroughly

thank Hasegawa later.

And as he gazed at Maria and Kurumi, clapping his hands at their entrance —

I wish I would've invited them all here.

He wished that he could have invited Yuki and Kurumi's parents in the

distant Village, Shuuya and Kaoru.

And in the Demon Realm, there was Maria's mother, Shella, her sister, Lucia,

and Ramusas.

However, he could not invite them all to celebrate with them today.

Between the alarming strength of Shiba's barrier, the manifestation of the

Kouryuu, and the power that he had previously attained, the incident about

Shiba had spread to the other factions of the Hero Clan beyond the Vatican

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and the Village; the other factions had relentlessly bounded the concerning

factions after the incident, particularly the factions from America and China,

such that Fuji, Kumano and Atsutara had to relinquish their titles as the

Village's elders.

If everything proceeded smoothly, perhaps the relationship between Basara's

group and the Village would gradually improve and head toward a better

direction.

That said, if they were to contact Basara and the others now, it would trigger

potential rebellion against Shuuya assuming the role of elder, so they had to

wait for the time being.

On the other hand, Shella and Lucia could disguise themselves as humans or

hide themselves from detection through invisibility magic; Basara had only

known of Maria's decision to enter the school just before the ceremony,

however, and was unable to contact them in time as a result.

Perhaps Maria could have informed them firsthand—but she appeared to not

have done so.

The secret message that was sent by Takigawa from the alliance between the

Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction to the Hero Clan

entailed their request for the Hero Clan to place Basara and the others under

the mantle of sanctuary; the Demon Realm couldn't possibly get close to

them so easily given that request.

And besides—

Given that Kurumi couldn't invite Shuuya and Kaoru to her school opening

ceremony, Maria would be unwilling to invite her own family members,

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Shella and Lucia, over on her own either.

As for Ramusas—no, Wilbert—he wouldn't have come even if he was

invited. He had chosen to live on as Ramusas, and would likely keep certain

distance between them in the future just as he was doing now. However—

…I still really want to invite him, though.

Even if he were to reject his offer, Basara still wanted to show him that he

understood how he felt.

It was an opportunity that Basara would never get, though; that said, he had

asked someone to take pictures and videos of Maria and Kurumi.

He had done so hoping that he could be able to see them this way someday in

the future, loving his two precious family members just as Basara did.

After all the new students had been registered in the gymnasium and the

principal and guests of honor had given their speeches, it was then time for

the representative of the currently enrolled students to give her welcome to

the new students; the representative was the former vice-president now turned

official student council president starting this spring, elected via popularity

vote due to the fact that there was no replacement candidates following the

events of the school sports festival last year.

It was Kajiura Ritsuka—and as she stood on the rostrum of the stage and

oversaw the students gathered in front of her, she began her speech.

"To all new students, I bid you all a very good morning. Similarly, I bid the

same for all parents and guardians present today. Congratulations for being a

part of our school. I am Kajiura Ritsuka, the student council president. I'm

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sure that all our current students are just as excited as I am for this day, and

we all give you a warm welcome for entering this school."

Following that, she then explained the tradition of the school as well as

Hijirigasaka Academy's special characteristics from the perspective of a

student. And then—

"Up next, I would like to introduce several annual events that students can

participate in regardless of what year they're in. We hope that these activities

would not only evoke the students' sense of belonging and pride for the

school, but also inculcate love for the school and cooperation amongst one

another." As she talked up to this point, she began to appear somewhat

embarrassed.

"Even as student council president, I'm still new to all of this much like all of

you are, and had participated in student council affairs as vice-president up

until last year…within this period, I had a lot of aid and assistance from my

fellow friends at school, not just from upperclassman and classmates, but I

also received plenty of help from those younger than me, as well. To all our

new students, I hope that all of you can find your own irreplaceable group of

friends and comrades and add a new spark and something to look forward in

your school lives."

Even so, her eyes held a gaze most sincere, and each word she uttered

reflected how much heart and soul she placed into it.

"And last but not least…I want to give another warm welcome to all of you

to our beloved school. I hope from the bottom of my heart that all of you will

enjoy a wonderful school life for the next three years from here on out."

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And the moment Ritsuka ended her speech—

" ———————"

She was honored with the greatest applause of the day. Between the freshmen

and parents and guardians present, even the currently enrolled students and

school staff, everyone — they were all greatly touched by her words.

And Basara too joined in, unhesitatingly and generously adding to the

surrounding applause.

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PART 6

After the end of the school opening ceremony, the students began to return to

their classrooms according to their respective grades. Basara had secretly

split away from the wave of students, heading toward a certain location.

He was heading toward a particular spot of Higirigasaka Academy that was

closest to the sky —th e rooftop.

And after he walked up the flight of stairs that preceded the door before him,

Basara opened it and went outside to discover a refreshing scenery

welcoming him —it was a sky of spring, an azure canvas decorated with

shades of white from thin clouds.

The combination of the wind that blew past the area, soft as ever, along with

the gentle warmth of the sun's rays, delivered a sensation of openness to

those that arrived here.

— However, someone else appeared to have arrived there earlier than Basara;

it was another male student, his back and elbows resting idly upon the railing,

built to prevent anyone from falling from the rooftop.

It was a certain young man who didn't appear during homeroom, someone

who didn't even attend the school entrance ceremony — Takigawa Yahiro.

"Hey, Basachi…skipping class?" Takigawa smirked, to which he was replied

with a smile from Basara:

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"I guess. I figured I'd find you here, so I came up here to see if I was correct.

What about you?"

"Same here. I thought you'd show up eventually if I lazed about here for a

bit." Takigawa shrugged.

"I see," Basara nodded, approaching Takigawa to stand next to him. "How

long have you been here? Have you gone back to the Demon Realm after that

battle?"

"Yeah, I did. That Shiba guy did end up starting that whole mess at the exact

same time I was instructed to the Hero Clan's Village as a special envoy,

after all. The fact that there was also the matter with Balflear to worry about

meant that I had lot of troublesome reports to settle. It was a real pain in the

ass,"

Takigawa sighed. "Oh well, it's all come to an end, for the most part…and so

I ended up coming here last night. My current orders from the alliance

between the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction remain

keeping an eye on you and your ladies, as usual."

After all —

"Seeing how the incident ended up weakening the Vatican and the Village,

it's not a stretch to assume that the Hero Clan will take up our current

proposal of ceasefire. It doesn't seem as if the Hero Clan intends to

investigate your group in any way, after all, given that the elders have also

retired from their post… it was Nonaka's dad who was in charge of the

ceasefire negotiations, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…"

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After defeating Shiba and returning the Four Gods to the Village, Basara and

his group had promised to keep the all the inconvenient truths of the Village

and the Vatican secret, from the truth about Shiba to the subsequent incident

following his revolt.

They were doing both factions a favour, in other words —a nd the three

elders had resigned from their post as an act of gratitude toward that favour,

apart from the fact that the U.S and Chinese factions of the Hero Clan had

been pressing the three former representatives on the incident.

The incident concerning Shiba along with the defection of Yuki and Kurumi

had caused the management of the Village to be placed under question; as

such, the decision for the Village to be the main window to form the

agreement with the Demon Realm despite that had also received considerable

opposition from the other factions of the Hero Clan, but the Demon Realm

had brushed such disagreement aside with the claim that it was the Village

that understood Basara and his group — now deemed sanctuary as per their

mutual decision — more than anyone else, causing the ordeal to end without

incident.

That aside, there was also a great disturbance in the Vatican — one that

Takigawa came to explain.

"Oh, right. We've had reports saying that Albareos, the holy king of the

Vatican is missing. It's unclear as to whether he's playing chicken after what

he's done or if someone else took care of him, though."

There was a pause.

" — Basachi, you've gotten wind of something, haven't you?"

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"No…I know nothing at all."

Basara's denial of Takigawa's question was a lie.

Just a few hours after Shiba's defeat at the hands of Basara's group, there had

been measurements of a severe earthquake with a magnitude of 7 in the

Vatican. What was peculiar, however, was that the tremor had only occurred

beneath the cathedral as its hypocentre, whereas the structures and

foundations on the surface had no sign of shaking whatsoever — a discovery

that was limited to the knowledge of the Hero Clan alone. They then set out

to investigate the occurrence the next morning, and eventually, a large crater

was discovered in the cathedral's lower ground.

Toujou Basara knew who was responsible for the particular occurrence; the

perpetrator himself had contacted him personally.

"You don't have to worry about the Vatican messing with you guys

anymore."

Jin, who had phoned Basara for the first time in quite a while, had imparted

those words to him during the phone call.

At the same time, he informed Basara that he wouldn't be returning for the

time being; he had finally discovered the whereabouts of Sapphire,

apparently being kept prisoner in the Divine Realm. Jin had presumed that

she had attempted to rescue her on her own because she had been unable to

contain herself upon hearing of Raphealine's sealing when he had heard of

her capture.

"Given the circumstances, I intend to rescue both of them." Surprisingly

enough, Jin sounded rather nonchalant about the matter during the call.

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Basara had offered to give him a hand to rescue Sapphire and Raphealine —

both of whom were his mothers — only to be flatly refused by Jin.

"They're my women. The only thing you need to do is to take care of your

own." He'd said back then. He did apologize, however, over the possibility

that Basara and the others would be inevitably dragged into a conflict with

the Divine Realm if the situation developed to such a point. Basara had only

told his father to pay it no mind, knowing that his father was only doing his

duty as a man, and for his family.

Basara, too, would definitely do what Jin intended to do should Mio and the

others be captured to the Divine Realm.

He didn't mind the level of risk that Jin was placing on them, and he would

readily provide his assistance whenever necessary.

They were all family, after all.

Incidentally, Jin also mentioned that he had been traveling with a young man

of the Demon Realm called Fio after the war of the current Demon Lord

Faction, and intended to take him to the Divine Realm with him. Jin had

laughed while mentioning that Fio had cried while pleading him to take the

young Demon with him which was seemingly responded by a sudden, shrill

cry of objection from the other end of the call, leading Basara to presume that

Jin had exaggerated the scenario somewhat.

Fio, once a child soldier of the current Demon Lord Faction, had been

dragged into the skirmish between Jin and Leohart and was subsequently

relocated to the Moderate Faction by Jin. Although he was still allowed to

live in Wildart Castle as usual, Jin considered the issue of the ill treatment of

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Zest in the Moderate Faction, who was a Demon that once served until the

current Demon Lord Faction just as he did.

…So that's why dad did that.

Jin had enticed Fio to follow him under the pretense that he could play a part

in the rescue of Sapphire, the sister of the previous Demon Lord, Wilbert;

with Fio's involvement in such a significant, meritorious deed as a souvenir

when he would return to the Demon Realm, any concerns and inconveniences

relating to his stay in the Moderate Faction would be nonexistent from there

on out.

That was why Jin had strong armed Fio to come with him.

And as Basara's thoughts lay tenderly on his father —

"Humph…well, I'll leave it at that, then." Takigawa said, deciding not to pry

any further.

— It was possible that Takigawa had already caught wind of more detailed

information regarding the incident, one way or another; even so, even if he

already knew the truth or if Basara's secret had been exposed, Basara

wouldn't admit it so easily.

The revelation of Jin's disposal of the holy king, Albareos, would be quite

inconvenient for them; if the Hero Clan were to expose it, both Jin and

Basara's group would be placed in an immediate dilemma.

Such was why Basara neither informed Takigawa of the truth nor admitted it

when asked about it.

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Of course, the two were in the same boat, so to speak; they had already

shared various secrets between one another, after all, and Basara knew that

Takigawa would likely not report his findings to the Demon Realm even if he

did tell him the truth. The amount of secrets that Takigawa could not tell

anyone would only increase if he were to confide in him, and would make it

impossible for Takigawa to turn his back on Basara.

Even so…

Basara had decided against it; adding more unneeded risks than necessary

onto Takigawa would also add to the risk of his possible betrayal, as well.

— Basara's victory against Shiba was largely due to his superior tactics; the

end of the battle had unfolded through both sides reading the other's trump

cards and attempting to overwhelm the other in one fell swoop.

According to Maria, Leohart had defeated Balflear utilizing the full power

unleashed by his magic sword, Loki; his power back then would've rivaled

that of Basara and Shiba's, though this was primarily due to his

MasterServant contract with his older sister, Liala. It was a level that Basara

achieved only through the combination of his possession of the magic sword,

Byrnhildr, and the Vows he made Mio and the others; a level shared by

Shiba, who had synchronized with Kouryuu and was in possession of

Reginleif, one of the former Ten Gods, his power sealed within a pair of

magic gauntlets.

Takigawa was different, however.

He had defeated Kouryuu through his own abilities alone, without any

possession of a MasterServant contract or any special weapons; although he

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had help from Maria stalling it out and Kurumi and Zest buying time for him,

there was no denying that Takigawa had defeated Kouryuu with his own

hands.

— Basara knew that Takigawa wasn't someone he could ever fully

understand the moment he met him; he was usually unmotivated and

loquacious, and always found it annoying whenever he had to do something

— much like what he was feeling right now.

However, Takigawa Yahiro —t his man called Lars — had casually reached

a level of strength that Basara and the others couldn't possibly have reached

on their own.

The way he was now, it was possible that Basara could defeat Takigawa head

to head; but if they were to face off with no punches pulled and all cards

played, Basara was not confident that he would be able to protect Mio and the

others from the man that stood before him right now.

Losing what was precious to him would be nothing short of defeat to Basara;

and so it came to pass that Takigawa was someone Basara could take down

but never truly win against.

— Even so, Basara was fine with things as they were now; it was exactly

because Takigawa was the way he was that he could trust him with his

secrets, and even entrust his life to him when the situation demanded it.

He also couldn't forget the fact that Basara was able to take down Shiba

because it was Takigawa who had reported the situation to the alliance

between the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction in the

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Demon Realm, and had brought not only Leohart with him, but Takashi and

Celis as well;

although Sheila's dimensional tunnel had acted as their trump card, it was

Takigawa, at the end of the day, who had facilitated the favourable

circumstances.

It was due to his efforts that Basara was able to achieve victory and keep Mio

and the others safe; Basara was very much obliged to return the favour.

And then —

"At any rate, now that you're all officially deemed sanctuary, I have to come

check up on you all to see if everything stays normal. The Hero Clan's also

going to send that Celis girl from before to check up on you guys starting

next week, so as the representative of the Demon Realm, I have to keep my

eyes peeled for any traitors from the Moderate Faction or the Demon Lord

Faction, as well as any possible disturbances from the Hero Clan or some

other external force. Good grief, man, it's just such a drag that I only get

more and more work."

"Now that you mention it…Takigawa, there's something I have to ask of

you." Basara asked after Takigawa finished lamenting over his situation.

"......Hey, hey, you're not asking for me to kneel at you like some

errand boy again, are you?"

Takigawa looked blatantly displeased upon hearing of Basara's request.

"I suppose. It's really not going to be a pain for you though — not all of it, at

least." Basara forced a smile before he revealed something he'd planned ever

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since the end of his battle against Shiba.

"We want to form an alliance with you. I want you to act as my messenger to

Leohart."

"You guys want to form an alliance with us, Basachi…?" Takigawa couldn't

help but knit his eyebrows in response to Basara's proposal; he couldn't

understand what Basara was getting at. "Given that you're asking me to say

this to Leohart…are you saying you only want to ally with current Demon

Lord Faction and not the Moderate Faction?"

"No — I mean to forge an alliance with the alliance between the Current

Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction. It's just that I want to talk

about it with Leohart first."

"What's that all about, dude…? If we do end up forming an alliance with

you, you and your group won't be deemed sanctuary anymore. Even then,

given your relations to the Moderate Faction, if word comes out that you

turned to the Current Demon Lord Faction as a point of contact for an

alliance first, there's no telling what it'd do to your current relationship with

them. Unless you mean to say that…"

Takigawa's eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"You're planning the topple the peace treaty between the Moderate Faction

and the Current Demon Lord Faction?"

"No, I have no such intentions to destroy your alliance at all…it's just that

it's actually quite troublesome for us to be deemed sanctuary, you see."

Basara said.

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"After all, if anything were to happen in the Demon Realm, we wouldn't be

able to give you our assistance, wouldn't we?"

…I see. So that's what you have in mind. Quite naive of you, though.

Takigawa thought, having finally understood what Basara meant after being

confused before his explanation.

Basara and the others had received assistance from the Demon Realm during

the incident with Shiba; that said, they wanted to return the favour by being

there to provide their aid in return whenever Takigawa and the others would

require it.

However —

"I don't know, dude…if that's the case, you don't have to use Leohart as a

window for that, right?

Wouldn't it be better for you to directly discuss it with the Moderate Faction

and open a conference about it?"

"When I said I wanted to talk to Leohart about it, I really only meant to tell

him externally, that's all. Besides, compared to the backlash we'd receive

from the Moderate Faction if we were to talk with the Current Demon Lord

Faction first, don't you think the situation would be worse if we did it the

other way around? Truth is, I intend to let both the Moderate Faction and the

Current Demon Lord Faction know about this beforehand — by talking to

both Ramusassan and Leohart simultaneously." Basara explained,

"After all, the main purpose of the alliance between the two factions is to

bring peace to the Demon Realm, no? With the two main powers of the

Demon Realm bound together by a ceasefire pact and an alliance, there

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would be no bloodshed from sides, and it would also keep other foreign

forces in check."

"Yeah…you got that right, I guess."

"That said — haven't you guys thought about eliminating any further

attempts of direct hostility by adding us into your alliance, at least? I think

we've very much proved ourselves in that regard." Basara subtly hinted at

their performance when they had managed to defeat Chaos.

"Whoah, hang on, there…you haven't really thought this through, have you?

You're forgetting that you and the Nonaka sisters are humans. The fact that

you guys were once from the Hero Clan doesn't do you any favours in the

popularity department either. Sure, you can fashion yourself a threat given

the strength you guys have, but that doesn't deny the risk that you're making

another enemy at heart." Takigawa calmly spoke to him of the potential risks

of his plan.

"We can effectively reduce that risk by exposing the truth of my birth…my

mother, Sapphire, was the younger sister of the former Demon Lord, Wilbert,

after all." Basara's words came without hesitation.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, are you serious right now?"

Takigawa wasn't supposed to know about that fact; however, he hadn't

denied that he didn't know about it, either. Basara had already revealed to

Takigawa that Sapphire was her mother when he told him of his plan to

assassinate Belphegor.

Knowing that he had the power of not only Banishing Shift but also could

attack with gravitational waves, Basara made a wager that both he and

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Takigawa won in the end.

And after Takigawa was appointed with the role of keeping an eye on Basara

and his group once more as the representative of the alliance between the

Moderate Faction and the Current Demon Lord Faction, he'd asked Leohart

to provide him with as much important, albeit classified information as he

could so that he could make the best decision on the spot. The request was

granted, and thus Takigawa had an overall understanding about the plans and

secrets regarding Wilbert and Jin.

"And as for Kurumi and Yuki, as long as I reveal that we're bound by a

MasterServant Vow, they'd know that they couldn't possibly be any risk of

betrayal."

"About that…well, it's not like they could ever betray you anyways,

Basachi." Takigawa agreed. "Well, sure, you could make it work out in the

Demon Realm, all right…but an alliance with the Demon Realm isn't

something the Hero Clan will let slide so easily, I think you know that. Are

you sure it's alright for you to throw away your efforts of calming the waters

between you and the clan?"

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll be discussing this matter with the

Hero Clan, as well." Basara then spoke of the unthinkable. "I have Mio and

the others with me, after all…as much we've done both the Village and the

Vatican a big favour this time, though, there's sure to be other groups that

don't really like us all that much as far as the other factions are concerned.

That said, rather than isolate us with the mantle of sanctuary, I think it'd be

better for us to be included in the ceasefire agreement between the Hero Clan

and the Demon Realm."

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"Hold on. Sure, you might be right, but don't you think that there'd be folks

that would really get pissed off by your relation with the Demon Realm and

ruin our plans for a ceasefire agreement?"

"I'll be discussing that issue with Shuuyasan or Celis to find a solution to

persuade the Hero Clan to accept. They already had initial intentions of

accepting the ceasefire treaty with the Demon Realm, and given that we're

establishing something similar, I don't see any real reason for them to object.

Even then, I don't think the Hero Clan really wants any more trouble to do

with us…especially after we defeated Shiba, who managed to manifest the

Kouryuu."

Besides —

"If we can ensure that there won't be any conflicts with the Demon Realm,

we can reduce the risk of the Hero Clan the Demon Realm terminating the

ceasefire treaty due to any ill winds. Rather than being completely

untouchable, don't you agree that it's better if we maintained a situation

where we had a fixed interval of contact? It should be doable if we manage to

persuade them over the benefits of this plan.

After all, it was the Demon Realm alone that suggested to deem us sanctuary,

so it's not like the Hero Clan would accept wholeheartedly even if they

agreed to it."

Difficult as it sounds, it does kinda make sense, actually.

In short, they weren't going to exclude Basara and the others, but instead use

them as a medium to establish a treaty between them.

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—Relating to that, it was Ramusas who had proposed the notion of deeming

them sanctuary for the sake of Mio and the others in the first place; he had

done so to isolate Mio from the conflicts of the Demon Realm, so it was

possible that Ramusas would disagree to his proposal for an alliance. On the

other hand, he would receive the benefit of having their aid whenever they

would require it.

Even to Leohart, he was positive that he would have no reason to reject the

opportunity to strengthen his forces to keep external forces in check. That

said, there was only one real doubt left.

"I see what you mean by all that…what's in it for me, though?"

"Mio heard about it from Noel…about your past, I mean. That said…"

Basara said with a positive tone,

"If the big forces of the Demon Realm stopped squabbling and formed a

peace treaty with the Hero Clan, we could reduce the amount of innocent

children suffering from similar tragic fates…that doesn't sound bad, doesn't

it?"

" ————"

Takigawa widened his eyes in response to Basara's words.

— Takigawa lost his parents during the previous great war and was raised in

an orphanage; there, he finally found new family members: two people he

looked up to as brother and sister, only for them to be murdered by a man

tainted with disgusting desires. He wished for nothing more than a world as

Basara had described, a world without people like him who had suffered as a

result of war and evil.

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Basara meant that he and his group could offer a far better means of fulfilling

Takigawa's wish over what Ramusas and Leohart could provide.

"…Sorry. I'm not interested in such nonsense." Takigawa said silently in

response to Basara's invitation.

"I see." Basara murmured.

"Well, it's not like it's all that bad, though." He suddenly said again, a wry,

resigned smile on his face.

"Sure, it might be fine to stick with things the dumb way they are now, but if

you refine the main point a bit, perhaps you may be up to something. That

said,"

Takigawa Yahiro — Lars — said,

"Count me in for the time being…into the idea you just proposed, anyway."

"…Thanks."

And the moment Basara returned Takigawa's smile, the school bell rang; the

post ceremony homeroom class had ended, and school was now over for the

day.

"Well then, it's seems it's about time I left. I promised Mio and the others to

go shopping with them after school. We'll continue our conversation

tomorrow…there's a lot of other stuff that I need to talk to you about in

particular."

"Gotcha. I'm expecting highgrade meat the next time we meet, though."

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"Yeah…I'll remember to make a reservation for us." Basara then turned to

leave.

"By the way, Basachi," Takigawa Yahiro suddenly tossed a question at him,

gazing at his back as he saw him off — a question asked out of genuine

curiosity.

"What are your plans from here on out?"

"I don't see anything changing on my end. Obviously, I'll just keep on

appreciating my daily life as usual. However —" Basara turned back toward

Takigawa as he said that last word.

"If anyone even tries to hurt or destroy anything I hold dear, I won't let up

when that happens…I'll fight them to the end."

He took in a breath.

" — No matter who they may be."

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PART 7

Someone was overhearing the conversation between Basara and Takigawa on

the rooftop a certain distance away from them.

It was the school nurse, Hasegawa Chisato, who was returning to the

infirmary after the school opening ceremony.

…Basara…

Her master's declaration had renewed Hasegawa's love for Basara.

"Well, don't you seem in high spirits today, Afureia…oh, I'm supposed to

call you Hasegawa-sensei here instead, am I?" A voice suddenly teased her,

its owner wearing a gentle smile on his face as he addressed Hasegawa. It

was a certain young man with slits as thin as thread for eyes, someone who

had been in the infirmary as Hasegawa had .

Shiba Kyouichi.

"Does it please you so much that Basara's list of 'things he holds dear'

happens to include you?"

"If you're here only to mock me, then get lost…I haven't forgiven you yet for

what you've done."

Hasegawa said, tranquilly expressing her anger toward the smirking Shiba.

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"Now, don't be like that. I am truly grateful to you for saving my life, you

know?" Shiba shrugged, his words genuine.

Before Shiba could be swallowed by the torrent of Basara's Banishing Shift:

Annihilation, Hasegawa had rescued Shiba from the fate of destruction by

transporting him to her imaginary dimension; however, there was a reason

why Hasegawa had performed the unusual deed of rescuing Shiba, who had

been their enemy.

"I've already told you…I had no intention of saving you. I only did so

because Basara asked me to."

— It was something that was planned before Basara's final battle against

Shiba; Basara had told Hasegawa that he would absolutely figure out a way

to defeat Shiba, so he had asked her to secretly restrain Shiba without anyone

knowing about it.

And he'd told her that if he were to attempt to destroy Shiba, Basara wanted

her to save Shiba from death if that were to happen, if possible.

— However, he wasn't forgiving Shiba after he had attempted to kill Mio and

the others; he also didn't think that the two would come to understand each

other if Basara were to defeat him.

Of course he wouldn't; the master of Hasegawa Chisato — Toujou Basara —

was no simple fool.

Why was it, then, that Basara choose to secretly spare Shiba's life?

Shiba then explained the reason why, looking evidently impressed.

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"Still, I have to give Basara credit…I didn't think he'd actually make a

MasterServant contract with me."

That's right —after the battle, Basara had secretly made use of Hasegawa's

power to form a MasterServant contract with Shiba. That said—

"If you know that, think before you act…I'm sure you're not ignorant of the

fact that a few unnecessary words from your mouth could cost you your life."

"But of course. My contract's different from that of yours and the other girls',

after all, being made from Basara's special power instead. One wrong move

and I'd be sent to an empty dimension via the Banishing Shift without a trace.

I'm certainly not about to go against that." In response to Hasegawa's

warning, Shiba let out a wry smile as he described his current circumstances.

"And Albareos seems to be no more, as well…the holy sword Georgius, one

of the ornaments of power owned by the Vatican, has also been destroyed by

Basara's Banishing Shift. The Vatican will either disband or reform at this

rate. Oh well, I guess I'll take that little bit of justice Basara's done for me

and obediently follow the contract. I've already fulfilled his request to record

Kurumi and Maria's video about attending the orientation ceremony, haven't

I?" Shiba said, showing the camera he had in his hand, "And after defeating

me after the trouble I've caused, they've done a great deal for the Village, so

it's safe to say that any problems concerning the Hero Clan on his end have

been solved. And considering the fact that it's likely that he'll be able to

make that nonaggression peace treaty with the Demon Realm…we can all be

relieved for the time being now, no? Though I guess that's what I should

expect from Basara. For him to not feel a thing despite everything...he

knows exactly how difficult it is to protect everything that he loves."

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After all —

"I trust what I've done will draw the attention of the Divine Realm…and

considering Basara's the one who cleaned up my mess, apart from the fact

that he was born from Raphealine, I imagine the Divine Realm's going to

keep a close eye on Basara. Well, Jin-san's probably intending to head there

as well, and I guess the best scenario is that everything goes smoothly on his

end…if things go wrong, an all out conflict against the entire Divine Realm

would be unavoidable. I guess Basara made his MasterServant Contract with

me in preparation for that. However —" Shiba smiled as he turned to

Hasegawa, "It seems he didn't do that just to prepare for that alone. For

instance…apart from Miochan and the others, Basara had also secretly made

the MasterServant Vow with a certain former member of the Ten Gods before

our final battle."

"…When did you realize that?" Hasegawa asked after Shiba pointed that out.

She was confirming that what Shiba had said was indeed the truth.

And then came his answer.

"Let's see…Basara revealed it when he was directly inside me, fighting

against the corruption that could swallow even Reginlief. They shouldn't

have been able to move an inch in the dark abyss, but Basara utilized the

gravitational waves from Miochan to escape from by body, defeating me in

the process. I thought it to be really strange, even after the Vow with

Miochan and the others." Shiba said.

However —

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"As odd as it was, I didn't think it was impossible, either. The most effective

defense against the power of the corruption happens to be the holy elemental

power of a divine being. And the divine power that flows within Basara

comes from his mother, Raphealine, and you, who made a MasterServant

contract with him. Even then, however, I didn't think it would've been

enough."

Unless —

"With the MasterServant Vow meaning that you've given him all your

power, though, it's a completely different story entirely. That's the main

reason why Basara could still fight despite being swallowed by the abyss of

the corruption wasn't it?" As he went on, he suddenly gave off a puzzled

expression.

"There's something I don't understand, though. I didn't think you'd

recommend Basara to tie the knot with you. Sure, I don't intend to deny how

much you love each other…but practically speaking, doing so would mean

the chances of being eyed on by the Divine Realm would only escalate."

If one were to wonder why —

"Even with your restricted power, he's still managed to make you surrender

everything to him — you, a former member of the Ten Gods. I imagine that

the Divine Realm…and the remaining members of the Ten Gods,

particularly, will not turn a blind eye to Basara's existence now. From what I

think of Basara, though, I didn't think him to be the type to ask you to share

his bed just because he needed the power of the Vow to achieve victory.

That's why I initially thought he wouldn't make the Vow with you. As much

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as it's important to be aware of all dangers, being too wary may also result in

crucial errors in judgment in a battle with so much at stake."

And yet —

"You committed to that Vow with Basara nonetheless…why did you do it?"

"...Do you know that your boorish intuition is going to be the death of

you?" Hasegawa narrowed her eyes as she said so.

"And there you go again — am I not allowed to be aware of Basara's

intentions as his secret weapon?"

Shiba smiled, "The fact that I'm still alive is a secret known to only you and

Basara. If word goes out on the street that Basara spared my life after

everything I've done and even contracted with me to increase his battle

prowess, you can imagine what chaos would ensue if it were to be known…

and a secret weapon works best when it is used as per its namesake —

secretly."

That said —

"Given that I'm going to be Basara's personal detective from the shadows

from now on…don't you agree that it's necessary for me to understand

Basara and the things concerning him, regardless of what it may be?"

"If you really think that way, why don't you go ask him instead?"

"I'm not so disrespectful as to ask Basara directly regarding affairs

concerning his women, even if it is for his own good. Isn't it better for me to

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fulfil my responsibility as his servant by learning his intentions from others

that know of them, all the while showing some delicacy while I'm at it?"

Hasegawa gave off a sigh of reluctance in response to Shiba's justification.

"I can't say you're wrong…the idea to make the MasterServant Vow with

Basara wasn't ours."

Then who was it that proposed it? Hasegawa then revealed the answer.

"The one who wanted me to make the Vow with Basara…was Mio."

"Huh…it wasn't Mariachan…but Miochan?" Shiba exclaimed, evidently

surprised at Hasegawa's revelation.

…I'm not surprised you'd react that way. Hasegawa thought. She herself was

quite surprised when Mio proposed it to her, after all.

There were many things to worry about when making that decision, the first

being their current circumstances; there was the risk of being eyed by the

Divine Realm if they were to do that, as Shiba had previously explained.

Then there was the matter of their own feelings: Basara had clearly stated that

they should not force one another to cross the line of making the

MasterServant Vow.

Even while Hasegawa and Basara hesitated over performing the Vow,

however, Mio had refused to give in.

"If anything were to happen to Basara, if he were to die here, even…we are

going to regret it greatly should any of that happen." She'd said back then.

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"We", of course, included Hasegawa herself, as well; Mio emphasized how

they needed to do what they could, and finally:

"If you're willing to give everything to Basara, sensei…then please, live on

with us, walk with us— for Basara."

Hasegawa, of course, could not refuse such a request; after all, Hasegawa

herself desired to offer Basara everything she had, much like Mio and the

others did.

And so she'd offered Basara her virginity, eventually arriving at their

MasterServant Vow after countless sessions in each others' arms, becoming

his and his alone.

" ————"

Hasegawa's body trembled as she recalled the happiness she'd experienced

back then.

And starting tonight, she would be able to revel in more of such happiness.

Basara had asked Hasegawa to come live with them in his household; Zest

had already used her magic to establish Hasegawa's own room in the

basement of the Toujou Household. All that was left was for the movers to

move Hasegawa's luggage into the house before Hasegawa could start living

together with Basara.

And then…

Starting next week, Celis Reinhardt, who had been sent by the Hero Clan to

keep an eye on the Toujou Household, would also be moving in to live with

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them.

— Celis was uninformed of the relationship Basara shared with Hasegawa

and the other girls, however.

They could only imagine her reaction if she were to know of the truth, but

according to Yuki, she'd eventually share the same feelings they did,

considering that Celis herself apparently possessed feelings for Basara as

well.

No one among them could have every imagined that they'd go so far as to

perform the MasterServant Vow with one another; however, neither of them

possessed even the slightest regret whatsoever after doing so.

They only felt scarily proud and euphoric over it all…and Hasegawa and the

others would stay by Basara's side and continue to strengthen the happiness

they shared from now on.

And as Hasegawa's thoughts lay on the future, Shiba took a moment to

ponder upon the truth of her MasterServant Vow with Basara after hearing

her explanation. Eventually, he said:

"Now I see. I never really understood how the fiveelemental power that

Basara had obtained after making his Vows with the five girls didn't become

imbalanced after making his Vow with you as well, but now I understand."

Shiba explained, "The combination of the relationship of the Five Elements

and the YinYang relationship became a YinYang Five Elemental

relationship. Much like the taichi diagram consisting of Yin and Yang,

Miochan, Mariachan and Zestchan of the Demon Realm represented the Yin

element, whereas you, a divine being, and Kurumichan and Yukichan of the

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Hero Clan represented Yang. You utilized the balance between these two

relationships to surpass that of an ordinary FiveElemental relationship."

On the contrary —

"I, on the other hand, did not seek the power of Yang…or perhaps it's more

appropriate to say that I couldn't obtain it. After all, the Yin power of the

Kegare within me couldn't be balanced by absorbing Reginlief alone.

Perhaps this very difference was the factor that decided the outcome of our

little conflict." Shiba said, appearing to have put two and two together.

"So I guess my job now is to make sure no one interferes with your contracts

with Basara from here on out. Things are going to be different from the past

in the future we're dealing with enemies that attempt to lower your strength

apart from enemies that attempt to overwhelm you with sheer strength itself.

Well then —" Shiba murmured as he walked toward the door of the

infirmary, "I've asked what I needed to ask.

I should get going. Given that your fighting strength's going to be affected at

present…I'll stand in for you all for the time being."

"? What do you mean?" Hasegawa asked, finding his words dubious.

"I'm not surprised you guys haven't realized it yet…I only know because I

have the ability to sense and control Ki." Shiba said. "I really don't want to

awkwardly disappear after I tell Basara about this all of a sudden, but…I'd

probably have to do the same thing later on if something were to happen

because I didn't tell him about it anyway, so I might as well spill the beans."

There was a pause, "Maybe it's not something you want to hear firsthand

from me specifically, though."

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And following that preface, Hasegawa Chisato then learned of the most

shocking truth that she'd ever heard in her life from Shiba Kyouichi.

"Basara's sperm is quite strong, all things considered. I'd suggest that you

and Mio and the other girls of course take extra good care of yourselves for

the time being. You'd do well to be look out for yourselves."

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PART 8

After saying what he needed to say, Shiba Kyouichi had promptly left the

infirmary where Hasegawa was. New students and parents alike were present

along the corridor after the school opening ceremony, but none of them

noticed Shiba, who had eliminated all traces of his presence.

"Oh, the look on her face…ah, priceless." As Shiba leisurely strolled along

the hallway, he recalled Hasegawa's reaction when he had revealed the news

of her pregnancy and couldn't resist a chuckle.

Even amidst the happiness of such news, however, there was one fact that

neither of them could overlook.

— Having made the MasterServant Vow with Mio and the others, Basara was

now at a level at a level that could match even the strongest of Divine Realm,

the Ten Gods; Mio and the others had also reached a level of power beyond

what they were capable of until now following their Vows with Basara, and

even Hasegawa had reclaimed her full power from when she was once one of

the Ten Gods, Afureia.

Mio possessed the blood of the strongest Demon Lord in history, Wilbert,

running through her veins.

Maria was heiress to the most powerful succubus in the Demon Realm,

whose father also happened to be Wilbert himself.

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There were Kurumi and Yuki, both of whom now possessed superior strength

over the Hero Clan despite having defected from the very clan itself.

There was also Zest, whose abilities now far surpassed that of Zolgear and

the other high ranking Demons of the council.

Additionally, Hasegawa — once a member of the Ten Gods — and Celis,

currently the most powerful member of the Hero Clan, were now added

assets in their arsenal.

…And then there's me. Shiba felt flabbergasted as he calculated the strength

of their group in his mind.

"And of course, there's Basara, someone born with the mixture of four races

in his veins, and whose father also happens to be Jinsan, possessing the

power of an ancient dragon and historically the strongest of the Hero Clan.

And his two mothers are of the level of one of the Ten Gods and the Demon

Lord respectively, as well." He said those words out loud.

With such strength on their side, surely there would be more people that

would deem them threatening than those would find them trustworthy.

Regardless…

Several of the aforementioned members were currently expectant, and it

would be best if they did not force themselves during this time.

"There's so much worth looking forward to, huh…" Shiba casually went

through his thoughts.

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What Basara had proposed to Takigawa was for his group to become a

cornerstone between the Hero Clan and the Demon Realm, simultaneously

assuming the role of balancer for the two races; such an arrangement would

enable Basara's group to provide aid to not only the Demon Realm, but the

Hero Clan as well if anything were to happen.

A group comprising of several people, a group that could not even be deemed

a significant political power such as theirs —such a single family would act

as the mediator for two worlds, for two races. Such was what Basara had

declared.

If the circumstances allowed it, he would even go as far as to make it so that

the Divine Realm would not reject their freedom and existence.

On one hand, Basara had held strong feelings to protect all that he would not

give up on up until now; on the other, he would crush his enemies that would

attempt to harm those things, no matter how gruesome or cruel he needed to

be.

To his loved ones he would be affectionate; to his enemies he would be

merciless. He would be equal in doing both.

How much new love would such a young man have to cradle after knowing

that he would be having his own children, and what stains of darkness would

he have to harbor on the other side along with it?

It was simply preposterous just thinking about it.

"Jinsan seems to have gone through a lot of compromises to get this far…"

Shiba smiled and muttered, "I wonder how far you'll go — Basara."

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PART 9

After the two ceremonies had come to an end, the students returned to their

respective classes and introduced themselves during the extended homeroom

class.

With that, the first day of school of the new year came to an end.

Basara returned to class 2F to find Mio and Yuki, the both of whom were

apparently still in class along with Maria and Zest, laughing while making

conversation with Aikawa and Sasaki; the two girls had visited the Toujou

household not long ago and had already acquainted with Maria and Zest, the

latter of whom had been introduced as a distant relative from Basara's

maternal family who had come to Japan with the intent of studying there.

Given that she had previously mentioned that she was looking for a part-time

job, as well, Zest's surprise appearance at the academy and her role as a parttime teacher there was also passed off with little excuse.

After Aikawa had called out Basara on skipping homeroom class on the first

day, Basara, along with Mio and the others, went toward the gate to meet up

with Zest, who was waiting for them outside the school building after

dismissal. A welcoming party had been arranged for new teachers and

lecturers for the year, though Zest had politely declined to attend.

Hasegawa would also be returning to her apartment after the mandatory

meeting during this time of year, and would immediately head toward the

Toujou Household as soon as the movers were finished with her luggage.

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As such, the Toujou household was going to be full of unexpected

celebrations today; apart from Kurumi getting into school and Hasegawa

living with them, they also had to celebrate Maria's entrance into school and

Zest getting a job there. Basara, Mio and Yuki advancing into the next year

was also something they would have to celebrate, but the main stars of that

night would be the aforementioned four, after all.

As such, Basara and the others stopped by a supermarket on their way home

to buy ingredients for their celebration tonight.

"Well, let's make our celebration tonight as grand as it can be, alright? We'll

be doing all kinds of splurging today! Let's start with the meat!"

"We'll bake a cake to celebrate! We'll make it so good that we can't possibly

lose to what Maria and Zest will whip up."

"Right. That, and I've also prepared what you call red rice earlier for the

celebration. We'd have to buy some extra ingredients for that, as well."

With excitement glittering in their eyes, Maria and Zest began looking for

their required ingredients.

"They'll be using the oven for their own cooking as well, though, so we'd

probably only be able to make one, at best. What we lack in variety we'd

have to make up for with impact."

"If that's the case, let's make a slightly bigger sponge cake. Should we make

it into something like a pizza with two halves, or would a decoration with

four halves be better? Maybe with the four flavors of shortcake, chocolate,

fruit and cream cheese…"

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Mio and the Nonaka sisters were deep in their own discussion as they headed

toward the confectionery aisle.

"It's going to be quite hard getting everything everyone wants for dinner

now, huh…" Basara smiled, evidently pleased that the five girls were excited

over the celebration.

During the earliest days when Basara was living together with only Mio and

Maria, they would manage with the bicycle basket and handle for such

shopping trips; however, there were now six of them.

— Hasegawa would also be joining them later tonight, and by next week,

Celis would be joining them as well.

Although they weren't particularly worried about the weight of the stuff they

had to carry, the fact remained that the amount of groceries they needed had

now increased. Nevertheless, it was quite the enjoyable experience for the

family to come out together and work on their own shopping.

They couldn't do this all the time at present, though; the Toujou Household

would need a car for that.

Hasegawa already had her driver's license, whereas Zest was fit in both

appearance and age.

He could have never expected this after he had left the Village with his

father, Jin, and when the only the two of them were living together.

Basara reveled in the happiness he held in his hand once more and headed to

the restroom to relieve himself. As he reached the door, a middle-aged man

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dashed out of the restroom, looking rather flustered as he brushed past

Basara.

"? What in the world?"

Puzzled, Basara stepped into the restroom, and then he immediately

understood why what he saw earlier had occurred.

There was an adorable little girl inside.

Although she appeared to be dressed as a male student, she was the splitting

image of a girl, no matter how one looked at her —and she was a girl, one

that Basara was familiar with.

"Nanao — …?" Basara called out the girl's name, recognizing her through

her reflection from the sink mirror.

"Eh — …Toujoukun?"

Upon noticing Basara, Tachibana Nanao immediately became excited and

rushed up to him.

After not seeing her throughout spring break, Nanao now appeared to be

much more feminine, and even her voice had become more high pitched —s

omething that gave Basara quite a shock.

"What are you doing in a place like this…? I didn't see you at the opening

ceremony. That made me kinda worried, you know?" Basara asked,

attempting to hide how surprised he was.

As per Basara's request, Hasegawa had assigned Nanao to be in the same

class as Basara, and true enough, her name was listed to be in the F class;

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however, he had not seen any sign of her in class today.

The homeroom teacher had informed him that she was absent because she

was sick, so Basara had attempted to ask her of her condition through

messaging her on his phone, but there had been no response;

he had initially assumed that she was still asleep due to having a cold or some

such and intended to message her later that night.

"I'm sorry to have made you worry… I had something going on, so I couldn't

go to school today. And something went wrong with my phone, so I couldn't

contact you either." Nanao said, apologetically.

"Come here, Basarakun." Taking Basara's hand, she then dragged Basara

into one of the individual toilets; the toilet she had brought him appeared to

have a white paper bag hanging on the coat hook on the door inside. Nanao

then locked the door before her with her hands behind her back and began to

explain, looking rather embarrassed:

"You see…it's because of you that my body's now taken on the form of a

girl, Toujoukun, right, Toujoukun…?"

"Ah…yeah."

With the way Nanao murmured that with upturned eyes and their close

proximity in the cramped space of the toilet, Basara's face reddened as he

recalled what he had done with the young vampire during the celebration of

completing their course last year.

"And then, well…although I haven't really noticed despite looking at myself

in the mirror every day, my figure's changed completely throughout spring

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break, and now I can't fit into my old uniform anymore.

Look," Nanao said, unfastening the first few buttons of the shirt of her male

school uniform to reveal a modest cleavage that secured her identity as a girl.

Her chest seemed to have grown to such a conspicuous size that it lifted her

small shirt slightly; although her breasts were still not as large as Mio's,

Zest's, or Hasegawa's, they were comparable to that of Yuki's, whose own

breast size had increased significantly through the countless lustful sessions

she shared with him.

And it appeared that…

Nanao's cup size shared the same label as the class they shared together in

school.

She would not be able to hide it without wearing an additional shirt inside

given her current size, evident through the slight traces of white lace that

could be seen through her blouse.

"Is that why you didn't come to school today?" Basara asked, averting his

gaze.

"Mhm. I planned to have my uniform adjusted accordingly, but I discovered

this problem a bit too late, so I couldn't wear it to school this morning. I was

picking it up earlier after getting a call saying that they've already finished

adjusting my uniform…but if I were to say that I was the one who was going

to wear it, it'd invite a lot of unwanted misunderstandings, so I came here to

test it and see if there were any problems. From the looks of it, it can now

cover the curves of my body, so as long as I get myself a shirt that can cover

my underwear, everything should be fine." She said, happily.

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"II see…" Even if she could conceal her body lines, however, Basara thought

that it might not be possible for her to hide her true gender any longer, and

pondered upon whether or not he should be honest with her regarding that

fact. "But Nanao, why are so adamant on portraying yourself as a guy? You

could just use your magic eyes to alter memories and let others think that you

were a girl from the very beginning, no?"

"It's not that I don't have that option…I do prefer to avoid using my magic

eyes to manipulate others for my own convenience, though. And by dressing

as a boy, I can be with you during gym class or events outside of classes,

right? That way we can make and leave memories that you wouldn't even

have with Narusesan and the others." Nanao said, "The truth is, I really

wanted to go the the school opening ceremony today…I thought of just

covering my chest with a cloth and just go to school like that. But you said

that I was a girl, Toujoukun, and you did end up making me a girl, didn't

you? I don't want to hide it or lie about it anymore…this is what I want, after

all."

That said —

"If I'm going to become more and more feminine…I hope to let you see the

real me, Toujoukun."

" ——— !"

After hearing Nanao's true thoughts, Basara's heart thumped wildly; even

after already doing it so many times earliest that morning, he couldn't help

but feel excited again. Perhaps because of his continuous lustful sessions with

Mio and the others, it was getting harder and harder for him to control his

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own sexual urges, and he would respond easily to even the slightest trace of

arousal.

"Ah…Toujoukun…"

Nanao suddenly realized the erection Basara was having on his crotch, and

swallowed hard.

"Uh, this is…" As Basara stuttered in realization of his current state, Nanao's

expression suddenly took on a coquettish hue.

It was the gaze of a woman.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault, isn't it?" Although she was apologizing, she

sounded really happy as she did so. "Toujoukun…if it's alright with you, can

I show you how much more feminine I've grown to be throughout spring

break?" She said teasingly, slowly unfastening the buttons on her shirt. As

the shirt of her uniform fell onto the floor of the individual toilet they were

in, she then undid her belt, the button on her pants and her zipper, causing her

pants to fall off and glide down to her ankles.

The provocative aura and expression she was letting out as she took off her

clothing was quite extreme, and as Basara swallowed hard at the sight before

him, Nanao had already taken off her bra. Her breasts, free from the lace,

appeared as though they were bigger than usual, likely due to the smaller size

of her bra.

"Nanao…"

"Don't worry…I'll have my uniform cleaned up, and I did bring a spare

change of clothes for when I would go home." With how seductive Nanao

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was as she smiled at him and took off her panties, coupled with how wrong

the situation he was now in — he was with a near-naked girl in the individual

toilet of a supermarket — there was no excuse for how increasingly big

Basara's erection was getting.

At that moment, another person had entered the bathroom.

Basara suddenly swallowed hard at the realization, but Nanao didn't seem to

mind, knowing that she was the one had triggered Basara's sexual arousal.

She then hugged Basara and whispered:

"Don't worry…he'll be out soon enough."

And as Nanao had predicted, the person who had just entered left very soon

after; despite being startled by their sudden appearance, however, his

excitement toward Nanao caused Basara's crotch to continue bulging out

nonetheless.

"Now you won't be able to get out…please sit over here." As Nanao smiled

seductively, she asked Basara to sit on the shut toilet seat, before squatting in

front of him, completely naked as she slowly pulled down the zipper of

Basara's pants.

And then she reached into the opening of Basara's zipper with her fair hand.

"Ah..."

The length of Basara's erection caused Nanao to gasp in surprise and

excitement —and then she slowly withdrew it from Basara's pants.

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Her ten fingers gently wrapped around Basara's member, now exposed to the

air.

"I hope you can thoroughly feel that…I'm really a girl right now."

And as Tachibana Nanao said so, she used her fangs and her mouth to

lovingly caress Basara's member.

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PART 10

After thoroughly enjoying Nanao's service and having let everything out in

her mouth, Basara had returned the favour by indulging her pleasure that only

a woman would be able to experience.

Thereafter, Basara had left the toilet they were in earlier, before he then said

something to Nanao, who remained inside to change her clothes.

"Ah, right. Listen, Nanao…about that invitation from Kajiura for me to join

the student council…I've decided to take her up on her offer."

"Eh…really?" A surprised voice resounded behind the door.

"Yeah…although a lot of stuff happened when we were preparing for the

sports festival, I still had a lot of fun. At any rate, me, Mio, Yuki and Kurumi

have agreed to join."

Maria was still uncertain about it, but he assumed that she would join given

her personality. At this rate, they also needed to give Zest a reason to stay

back after school.

…Mmm, we're going to make it work out somehow.

Staying back after school as a part-time teacher was not particularly against

the rules of the school, though she would not receive any added salary for

that, as well; if there were really any problems concerning that in particular,

though, they could always ask Hasegawa to settle it.

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Regardless, it would be best for them to discuss this in particular when they

got home tonight.

However, no matter how much Kajiura would plead them for it, Basara did

not intend to assume any significant duties or posts within the council; after

all, Basara could not deny that the possibility that he would need to be absent

from school without a proper reason someday was not zero.

Nevertheless, he had decided that he would not distance himself from his

surroundings and restrict his everyday life over the fear of negative

possibilities or risks; such was why he had secretly asked Hasegawa to put

Aikawa and Sasaki in the same class Basara would be studying in.

When Basara had to choose between distancing himself from others and

keeping them close for the sake of protecting them, Basara had opted for the

more positive option of the two.

Only loneliness awaited at the end of the path to protecting others out of the

fear of exposing them to potential danger —and the most effective way for

him to reduce such a risk to a minimum would be death.

— Of course, that was what Basara was thinking right now, at least.

Given the circumstances, it might be inevitable that Basara would have to

give up on school one day.

Sacrificing oneself out of the mere fear of a worst case scenario would be

wrong, though.

Toujou Basara would not give up the daily life he had struggled so hard to

maintain that easily.

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"I'll go talk to Kajiurasenpai when I go to school next week." The door of the

toilet suddenly opened to reveal Nanao wearing the sailor uniform of

Hijirigasaka Academy, portraying her fully as a girl.

"I think you're better suited to dressing up like that, after all…" Basara

smiled, still feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Thank you…but it's alright, really. As long as you're the only one that

knows about it, that is." Nanao gave off her sweetest smile. "That aside, it's

great that you and the others will be joining the student council, Basarakun.

I'm sure Kajiurasenpai and the others will be really glad to hear about it."

"Is that so? We're glad to be able to help out, I guess."

"Let's make more memories with everyone from now on, okay?"

"Yeah." Basara nodded in response to the girl smiling before him.

11

After biding farewell to Nanao in front of the toilet, Toujou Basara returned

to Mio and the others; Basara presumed that they had just finished their

shopping, having detected their presence at the parking lot outside.

"It seems I've kept them waiting, have I…"

And as Basara hurried toward them, passing through the wave of people

buying ingredients for dinner and stepping outside the gate of the mall —

"Get lost. If you so much as lay a finger on me, I'll kill you a hundred times

over."

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Startled, Basara hurried toward them. And then —

"Whoah, are you serious right now…?" The first sight that came into view

dumbfounded Basara.

Mio and the others were surrounded by a group of shady people — there

appeared to be around more than ten of them, and Basara could vaguely

remember some of their faces among them.

Those are the guys from back then, right?

He wasn't mistaken — they were the same guys that had harassed Mio back

when they first moved here and were trying to familiarize themselves with

their new vicinity. He didn't expect to meet them here again, of all places;

then again, it would be even more surprising if they hadn't even crossed each

other even once up until now, given that both groups lived in the same

neighbourhood.

The current situation was growing to be very dangerous, though.

"........." "......…"

Mio and Kurumi in particular looked quite displeased and appeared as if they

would explode at any second.

" ——" " ——"

The fact that Yuki and Zest's gazes were now cold with murderous intent

didn't make the situation any better, either.

Things weren't looking good—the group of guys would probably really die a

hundred deaths at this rate, but there was also the fact that the large number

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of people grouping together was attracting the attention of other customers

that were passing by.

What should I do? And as Basara scrambled for a solution to resolve the

situation without fuss—

"Ah, Basarasan!"

A certain perverted loli succubus, apparently the only one that was enjoying

the scene that was unfolding, called out Basara's name in a moderately loud

voice as she noticed him.

All eyes then suddenly gathered on Basara.

"…It appears we didn't manage to get ourselves some pepper today." Basara

said with resignation as he approached the group of girls that were waiting

for him.

—One way or another, Mio and the others could deal with such a group

easily; however, he wasn't about to let anyone else handle the situation.

It didn't matter if he was dealing with random punks on the street or the

strongest of the Demon Lords and the most supreme of the Gods.

The role of protecting his family — protecting Mio and the others —

belonged to Toujou Basara alone and no one else.

And so —

"Excuse me…do you guys happen to have a problem with my companions?"

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And so they were to continue on with their lives day by day, where an

ordinary everyday life would intertwine with the unbelievable and for the

cycle to unendingly repeat itself.

Unable to face his past directly, he could only continue to shoulder the

weight of his sins if only because he was to live on because there was

something worth protecting.

Such thoughts had since become as old as the time that had passed since he

had first acquainted with Mio.

Even if he was to carry an irreversible past and every single ounce of sin that

he had committed, Toujou Basara would only continue to move forward.

— He would do so with the family he had exchanged his vows with.

And he would do so for the sake of that which he cannot yield to anyone —

to protect everything he loves.