From the Warlord's Empire

by Gakuto Mikumo

  Based on facial looks alone, Asagi could only be classified as a straight-up beauty, but she wasn’t the type to be courteous to boys, whether by accident or design. She was moody, paid no attention to the opposite sex, and demanded no special concern in return. If Kojou had to describe her, he’d have to categorize her as closest to “one of the guys.” Though it’d be awkward to say it out loud, Kojou considered that one of her selling points. Having someone like that suddenly act all cute toward him only made him wary.

  Asagi herself seemed to realize that it was indeed hopeless, returning to her usual cynical tone of voice.

  “I did not. Guys like this kind of thing… Er…that’s what they say on the Net and stuff.”

  “I’m not really sure, but I think there’s probably a few flaws in that info.”

  “Ah…you think so, too? It seemed a little odd to me.”

  “Geez,” Asagi went, looking at the ceiling, sighing as if finding it all troublesome.

  Looking at her behavior, Kojou was now sure of it. Asagi had invaded Kojou’s bed with some other objective in mind. No doubt that objective was nothing good…

  “By the way, could you move already? You’re heavy.”

  “You sure don’t mind saying rude things loud and clear, do you? I was moving whether you said it or… Er, what’s this, it’s hard…?”

  With a small sound of effort, Asagi, sitting astride Kojou, who was lying faceup, moved to get off the bed when she inclined her head as she casually touched something unfamiliar near Kojou’s lower abdomen. Asagi’s slender hand had gripped with ease a part of his flesh that became lively as a normal physiological reaction in the morning.

  “K-K-K-K-Kojou!”

  Realizing the true nature of what she was touching, Asagi let out a yell mixed with a shriek.

  Asagi, who had sisters but no brothers, had an unwitting fear of that. Kojou felt slighted as she leaped off the bed.

  “What’re you getting mad at me for?! You’re the one who decided to crawl all over me!”

  “Oh God…how could you make me touch it. That hard fleshy feeling…ughh, gross!”

  “Well, don’t blame me!!”

  Hurt by Asagi’s reaction, Kojou objected as well. As he tried to calm the worked-up girl down, they both ended up flopping onto the bed together.

  “…Asagi, sorry for pushing this on you. I have to go to cheerleading club, but did you manage to wake up Kojou?”

  At that moment, Nagisa roughly opened the door, barging in with a rapid patter. Her smiling face froze stiff when she saw Kojou and Asagi entwined on top of the bed.

  Kojou and Asagi, too, froze in their current entangled position. A stifling silence came over the middle of the room.

  “…What are you two doing?”

  It was Nagisa’s dignified question that broke the silence.

  “N-Nagisa?! I see, you’re the one who let Asagi into the house on your own…!”

  Kojou somehow or other grasped the situation. Taking a moment to think, of course that was it.

  Even Asagi wouldn’t be audacious enough to enter Kojou’s private room on her own. Not unless there was someone who’d invited her into the house.

  But her coconspirator, Nagisa, had surely not imagined that Kojou and Asagi would engage in behavior quite like this.

  “I don’t remember asking her to get in bed with you, though. What part did Asagi grab, Kojou…!”

  “What, this is my fault…?!”

  Taking the blame for a clear act of God, Kojou felt like crying. And, as if to kick him while he was down, from behind Nagisa’s ferocious visage, a small silhouette unexpectedly poked its face in.

  “…Senpai? What are you doing?”

  “Ah, don’t! If you look at these impure people, it’ll stain you, too, Yukina!”

  “…Eh?”

  The moment Yukina peered into the room, eyes blinking with a puzzled look, her eyes instantly lost all emotion. Both of their faces, side by side, had doll-like, expressionless eyes, instilling all the more terror for it.

  “Wait a minute! Why’s Himeragi in the house, too…!”

  “It’s because you were bad for sleeping so long! I couldn’t make her wait in the heat outside so I thought I’d let her in so she could be cooler!”

  Kojou was silent as she made her rapid-fire rant.

  So that was it. It wasn’t that Nagisa was trying to ensnare Kojou out of malice, apparently.

  But what was the atmosphere enveloping Kojou’s room, then, that made him want to flee?

  Asagi, who remained in what looked like a partially pinned-down position, put the ready-to-run Kojou in a headlock, as she shot Yukina a defiant look. In contrast, Yukina’s expression was unreadable.

  “I’m sorry, Yukina… Are you…upset?”

  “No, not particularly.”

  The Lion King Agency’s Sword Shaman replied to Nagisa’s nervous, concerned-sounding question with a gentle shake of her head.

  Then, Yukina nodded to Kojou and Asagi as if nothing at all had happened.

  “I believe I will wait outside after all. Senpais, please take your time.”

  She slowly departed the room, leaving those words behind her. Her attitude was absolutely cool and ordinary.

  But about thirty seconds after Kojou sensed the entryway door being closed…

  He heard a thunderclap-like thud sound that made the entire building tremble.

  It was like the impact of a karate master slamming his foot into the wall before him out of pique. Kojou trembled from the nonsensical chilly sensation he felt run down his spine.

  Asagi looked between Kojou’s reaction and the direction Yukina had departed in with deep interest.

  “I wonder if that’s jealousy talking?”

  “Not likely. It’s not like we’re dating or anything.” Kojou replied without any particularly deep thought. For some reason, Asagi’s eyes were wide as she looked at Kojou.

  “…Right. It’s not like you’re dating or anything.”

  After that murmur, seemingly storing the thought in her memory, Asagi pointed in the direction Yukina had left in as she asked. “What kind of girl is she, anyway?”

  “What kind? She’s what she looks like. She’s not a bad person. She can be trouble sometimes, though.”

  Kojou made a light sigh as memories concerning his being watched passed before his eyes.

  “Kojou, does that girl have something on you?”

  “S-something on me?”

  “Yeah, a secret you can’t tell anyone else.”

  Asagi crept closer to Kojou’s face as she asked.

  “N-no…i-it’s nothing like…that.”

  Kojou subconsciously averted his eyes from Asagi as sweat dampened his back.

  Now that she mentioned it, way too much came to mind: His being the vampire called the Fourth Primogenitor, those abilities scorching the city but a short time ago, the millions of yen worth of damage caused, the fact he’d sucked her blood—he had the feeling Yukina held any number of secrets that could completely mess up his life.

  “Hmmm. I see…even Motoki’s on the money sometimes.”

  Watching Kojou’s suspicious behavior, Asagi made a satisfied nod.

  “Yaze? He said something to you?”

  Kojou bounced the question back to her with fierce unease. Apparently that guy had put Asagi up to all her eccentric behavior that morning. But regardless…

  “Sorry, but I really do have to go.”

  Asagi, speaking with a strangely bright smile on her face, trampled over Kojou and hopped off the bed.

  “Make sure you get to school on time, too. Nagisa, let’s go to school together!”

  “H-hey, Asagi?”

  As Asagi warmly embraced the still somewhat astonished Nagisa’s shoulder, she went “See ya!” and waved to Kojou. Kojou scratched his disheveled hair as he watched the two leave the room.

  “What’d you really come for, anyway…?”

  Seemingly talking to himself ou
t loud, Asagi turned back for a single moment and answered. “Mm…I wonder. A declaration of war…perhaps?”

  Suddenly left by his lonesome, Kojou went, “What was that all about?” as he tilted his head.

  By the window, a single bird had stopped, watching Kojou.

  The bird, its dark gray feathers seemingly constructed out of metal, stared at Kojou amid the dazzling rays of the morning sun.

  Meanwhile…

  A lone teenage girl stood atop a building in Island South—Itogami Island’s southern district.

  She was a teenage girl with long hair. There was a large black instrument case lying at the girl’s feet.

  The girl’s gaze was aimed at the ninth floor of an apartment building standing on the opposite shore, with a street interposed between them.

  A single bird was stopped near the window of the room. The girl was borrowing the bird’s eyes to look at what was happening within the building.

  “How…how indecent…”

  A low murmur escaped the girl’s lips. The girl’s white cheeks were tinged with a hint of red—perhaps out of anger she could not be hidden, perhaps from embarrassment.

  “It seems that man indeed requires a suitable punishment…”

  Her lightly chestnut-pigmented hair danced and fluttered in the strong breeze blowing in from the sea.

  Leaning down, she retrived from her instrument case a single sword…

  It was a two-handed, silver-colored sword with a smooth, curved metallic surface.

  3

  “Hey, Himeragi.” Kojou called out to Yukina inside the monorail they used to commute to school.

  Yukina, holding onto a metallic-colored handrail, slowly turned to look at Kojou. Her eyes, like deep lakes, had the cold light floating in them he’d seen when they’d first met.

  “What is it, Akatsuki-senpai, who made me wait outside while with a female classmate?” Yukina casually replied in a robotic voice. Kojou audibly cleared his throat.

  “I can clearly hear the ill will in that clinical tone of voice, you know.”

  “I am sorry. Excuse me, Akatsuki-senpai, who gets along very well with female classmates in his bed in the morning.”

  “Gaaah! That’s all Asagi deciding to climb into my bed while I was asleep! She’s always playing pranks. It’s probably ’cause she got annoyed yesterday,” Kojou clamored as he clutched his own head with both hands. In his opinion, it was a very convincing theory. Holding a small grudge for skipping out on sports festival practice to be with Yukina was very plausible where Asagi was concerned.

  “So Aiba did that all on her own…did she?”

  Yukina let out an exhale that sounded like a sigh.

  “I thought as much. Though I am not so sure it was a ‘prank.’”

  “Wha—You mean it wasn’t just a misunderstanding?”

  Kojou watched Yukina while breathing a sigh of relief now that she’d returned to her usual tone of voice. As he did so, she glared at him with narrowed eyes.

  “No matter how indecent you might be, senpai, I at least trust that you are not a person who would immerse himself in unseemly conduct with Nagisa close by.”

  “So you’re saying I’m indecent, anyway?”

  Kojou curled his lips in dissatisfaction. But based on what he’d been told so far, even he was not too dense to pick it up: Yukina really wasn’t angry with Kojou out of petty jealousy.

  “So, if you know all that, why are you so angry?”

  “Though I trust that Aiba’s lewd behavior was not out of any purposeful behavior of yours, senpai, I do not think that means you could have resisted her seductions.”

  “Seductions?”

  “What would you have done if you’d been assaulted by vampiric urges?”

  Kojou’s breath instantly caught at Yukina’s serene question.

  Yukina was firmly gripping the handle of the guitar case on her back as she silently stared at Kojou.

  It was the abominable characteristic possessed by the vampire species. Rooted in the deepest recesses of their instincts rested a craving for blood, easily robbing a vampire of his reason and turning him into a violent monster.

  It was a powerful urge even primogenitors could not control. And lust was what called it forth.

  If, in that place, he’d been assaulted by vampiric urges, Kojou might well have assaulted Asagi. And then Nagisa would have seen his fangs sunk into Asagi’s neck. In a single moment, he might have hurt and lost his precious friend and his only little sister.

  “…Suppose you’re right. Sorry,” Kojou murmured in a hushed voice. It burned him that he’d been so careless that Yukina had to point it out to him. One way or another, Yukina had been worried for Kojou. Of course she was angry.

  “Please reflect so that you do not befall such a dangerous situation again.”

  Yukina spoke in a tone like what one used to scold a puppy.

  “Well, yeah, but,” said Kojou, his lips tapering in what seemed a bit of displeasure. “Er, but I think this morning really was an act of God…”

  “No, I think it is best you be more resolute, senpai. Please consider this.”

  “Er, but what should I do if someone decides on her own to come into my room while I’m asleep…?”

  “I believe it is best you always remain on your guard so that does not occur. Please reflect.”

  “Ah, come to think of it, if that’s why you were angry, why’d you leave, Himeragi? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay there, so you could stop me if…”

  “Uunh…”

  “…I’ll be careful in the future.”

  As Yukina began making a low sound, Kojou bowed his head deeply.

  “Goodness,” Yukina said, making an exhale that seemed full of exasperation.

  “At any rate, if you suck on anyone’s blood beside mine, I will be truly angry, then.”

  “R-right.”

  It was like she was saying she was fine if it was her blood he was sucking on. As Kojou thought of that, he was deeply grateful for Yukina’s concern. By rights, Yukina was just a watcher: a Counter-Demon Attack Mage granted the authority to eliminate Kojou. Even so, she was looking out for him like this. Even if her lectures were ever so slightly irrational, that was no cause for him to complain.

  “Anyway, Himeragi, what do you intend to do now?” Kojou asked, his expression turning rather serious.

  “You mean searching for the Black Death Emperor Front?”

  Perceptively, Yukina immediately bounced the question back. “Yeah,” said Kojou with a nod.

  “It’s a different situation from before with that old man Eustach. Not really able to find terrorists without any leads, are you?”

  “I suppose not. However, I meant to go speak to someone first, someone who should have information.”

  “…What, you know an info broker?”

  Sounds like somethin’ out of a police drama, Kojou thought, oddly interested.

  But Yukina went, “Not at all,” shaking her head with a chiding look.

  “However, Duke Ardeal said Itogami Island’s Counter-Demon Agents are trying to catch the Black Death Emperor Front, did he not?”

  “Counter-Demon Agents?”

  “Yes. Counter-Demon Agents.”

  Yukina nodded as Kojou watched her. Kojou thought a little, murmured “ohh,” and clapped his hands together as if just remembering something.

  4

  Sakai Academy, high school building, staff section…

  For some reason, Natsuki Minamiya’s office, located on the top floor—even higher up than the principal’s office—had an extravagant, commanding view.

  The thick carpet was velvet. The furniture was all antiques. It had a bed with a canopy. The room had an elegance around it that made one want to ask what palace she’d robbed blind.

  “Sorry, Natsuki. There’s a little something I hoped you could help us with…”

  Kojou opened the thick, wooden door and brusquely entered the room. And the next moment…r />
  “Guoo?!”

  Kojou’s skull sustained a sudden impact, rolling him onto his back.

  “S-senpai?!”

  Yukina, entering immediately after Kojou, rushed to pull Kojou up as he groaned in pain.

  From the center of the room, Natsuki Minamiya, wearing a black dress, stared coldly at both of them.

  She was a small, baby-faced woman who looked like a little girl, but she was actually an English teacher who claimed to be twenty-six. She was also an actively serving National Counter-Demon Attack Mage. A set number of Counter-Demon Agents were tasked with the safety of the students in Itogami Island’s educational facilities.

  Natsuki was one of them.

  Sitting very deeply in an expensive antique chair, she opened a folding fan with black frills.

  “I told you to not call me Natsuki. Learn already, Kojou Akatsuki.”

  As she spoke, she shifted her glare to Yukina.

  “Oh, you’re here, too, middle school transfer student. So, what is your question? Did you want to ask how to make babies?”

  “E-excuse me?”

  For a moment, Yukina was in mild shock, unable to comprehend the words spoken to her, after which Yukina quickly shook her head. Kojou, pressing a hand to his forehead, leaped up with great vigor.

  “Like hell it is! What are you talkin’ about, out of the blue like that?!”

  “…Ah, it’s not? What do you want then?”

  Natsuki made a bored-seeming exhale. Wonder how much she really wanted to talk about how to make babies, Kojou thought as his shocked face turned serious.

  “We’re looking for a man called Kristof Gardos. We’d like you to share any leads you have with us.”

  That moment, Natsuki’s aura completely changed. Her small body, not even 150 centimeters in height, exuded an air of oppressiveness so thick, it was hard to breathe.

  “Where did you hear that name?”

  Natsuki asked, narrowing her eyes like a beautiful Western doll.

  So she does know about him, thought Kojou. Regardless of her day job, Natsuki was apparently one of the top five Counter-Demon Agents on Itogami Island. Kojou and Yukina had expected that she’d be fully informed about the appearance of a big-time criminal of Gardos’s level.