In the morning, Ciel would first take Kanon to Tensou Academy, then head to Saikai Academy on her own.
As for what to do with Avrora, after discussing it, Ciel and Natsuki decided to bring her to Saikai Academy as well.
Natsuki's office was located on the top floor, and that entire floor belonged to her. It was larger, higher, and more luxurious than even the principal's office, so Avrora could stay there for the time being.
Natsuki and Ciel were both teachers at Saikai Academy, so even if something really happened, they would be able to respond.
Ciel and the others could not be blamed for being overly cautious. A Beast Vassal summoned by an ordinary vampire could destroy an armored vehicle with a single strike, while the Beast Vassals possessed by a Primogenitor were powerful enough to sink a small island in one blow. They were existences equivalent to natural disasters.
The Beast Vassal inside Avrora was named Alrescha-Glacies, an ice Beast Vassal wreathed in cold air that could lower the surrounding temperature to absolute zero and even freeze space-time.
A terrifying ability, but for Ciel, it was easy to handle... If it was merely a simple contest of "output" and "performance," she had absolute confidence that she would not lose to anyone or anything.
What was hardest to guard against were conceptual abilities. The two star Beast Vassals that had left the deepest impression on Ciel were Minelauva-Iris, which could sever the threads of causality, and Sadalmelik-Albus, which could make a single material object return to its most primitive state as if time were reversing—or directly turn it into nothingness.
There was one thing Ciel very much wanted to comment on. Despite having so many conceptual abilities, Kojou Akatsuki, after becoming the Fourth Primogenitor, had always favored Regulus-Aurum, the Beast Vassal that commanded lightning. Its power was certainly strong, but everything feared comparison. Compared with the abilities of the other Beast Vassals, the power to release and control lightning seemed rather ordinary.
However, according to the data, Regulus-Aurum's ability was not limited to releasing powerful lightning. It could also control electricity for precise electrical and electromagnetic manipulation, which was similar in effect to Mikoto Misaka's ability. Yet Kojou had never displayed that ability in the original plot.
He probably could not do it... In the story, those Beast Vassals never seemed to listen to Kojou very well. They would rampage from time to time. Getting them to attack enemies was probably close to his limit. More precise operation would mean he needed to completely dominate the Beast Vassals inside him... and Kojou himself did not have Mikoto Misaka's brain, either.
Better not make things too difficult for him. He already had a terrifying amount of magical power rivaling a dragon vein, along with twelve different abilities. Whenever he encountered trouble, brute force was enough to solve it.
"Do not casually release your magical power, and absolutely do not summon your Beast Vassal. Stay here quietly. Wait until Ciel and I finish work and come find you. Behave yourself..."
Inside the office that belonged solely to Natsuki, Natsuki left Avrora one instruction after another.
The faerie-like beautiful girl had her brows tightly furrowed, and anyone with eyes could see the unease in her heart.
"Ugh... Ciel, she..."
"She's at school too. If she doesn't have class, she'll come up to keep you company. Honestly, why are you always so attached to Ciel? Shouldn't she be something like your natural enemy? Could it be because your soul stayed in her body for so long, and your physical body was made by Ciel too, so you've started treating her like your mother?"
If Ciel was Avrora's mother, then what was Natsuki? Avrora's aunt?
There was an inexplicable sense of comedy to it.
"That's enough. Or do you really want to cause trouble for Ciel? Do you want Ciel to look disappointed in you the next time you meet?"
Natsuki's face turned stern, and her voice took on authority.
Avrora shrank her shoulders fearfully. Whether she had been frightened by Natsuki or truly did not want to disappoint Ciel, she stopped pestering her so much.
"Thou... wilt thou truly return? Ciel, she... will not abandon me?"
"No. We wouldn't dare leave a walking nuclear bomb like you outside unattended. If a Primogenitor's Beast Vassal went out of control, it would give us a headache."
"Then... then... grant me proof of thine oath!"
Speaking words no one could understand, Avrora timidly extended one hand.
"What's this?" Natsuki asked, baffled.
"This was taught to me by Ciel. The scribe of heaven shall bear witness to the moment our oath is formed, and the breaker shall suffer divine punishment! Those who break their word shall receive the punishment of eating rocks..."
Avrora wanted to pinky swear with Natsuki.
Natsuki curled her lip. But in order to get the vampire girl before her to settle down, she had no choice but to swallow the awkwardness in her heart and complete this childish act with Avrora.
"The contract... the contract is formed! The oracle of the god of contracts has descended. Those who break their word shall suffer the punishment of eating rocks."
"You were created as a god-slaying weapon, yet you're shouting about some god of contracts. How completely incomprehensible... I have no idea what kind of nonsense Ciel has been teaching you."
...
At that moment, Ciel, who was in the middle of teaching, accidentally gave a tiny sneeze.
A cold was impossible. There was no way this body of hers could contract a human illness. A so-called cold or fever was essentially the human immune system's defensive reaction against pathogens. If there really existed a virus in this world capable of giving her a cold, then all life on the surface would have gone extinct long ago.
So, was someone talking about her?
Who was that bored? Avrora?
Ciel had actually guessed correctly. Avrora was indeed very bored.
Even Natsuki had left, and only Avrora remained in the room.
Like students bitterly waiting for the bell to ring, Avrora also waited in torment as time passed second by second.
Students would check the clock every so often, then despairingly discover that less than five minutes had passed.
Avrora would look at the office door every so often, waiting for someone to open that door from the outside.
Compared to students in class, she had it a little better. Natsuki had prepared some snacks for the bored Avrora. Although she very much disliked anyone eating snacks in her office, in order to soothe this part of the strongest vampire, she had no choice but to violate some of the rules she had set in the past.
But that could only slightly ease Avrora's unease.
The process of waiting was like having a spider weave a web beside you. The web stuck to every inch of skin on your body. Sitting still was torture, while moving would only make the web bind you tighter.
"Ah..."
Avrora squeezed out a faint sigh from her throat.
There was another figure in the room. Her abrupt appearance was like suddenly inserting an image into a blank slide.
The office door had not opened, yet another person had appeared inside the room besides Avrora.
"I apologize. I have failed to meet your expectations, for I am not the person you were waiting for."
The girl in Saikai Academy's uniform lowered her gaze slightly.
Even though she knew perfectly well that the other party was only part of a god-slaying weapon and should not have possessed a self to begin with, she was still willing to maintain the most basic respect in her tone.
Hostility and wariness appeared in Avrora's eyes as she stared fixedly at this uninvited guest.
Her emotional fluctuation made her instinctively want to release magical power, but she quickly remembered Natsuki's warning. In order not to disappoint Ciel, Avrora worked very hard to suppress the magical power spilling out of her.
Koyomi Shizuka was also gazing at Avrora, astonishment and confusion rising in her heart.
She wore Saikai Academy's uniform because she was a student at this school, and discovering Avrora's presence had been purely accidental.
What she could not understand was why the twelfth vessel that had been stolen from MAR yesterday was here.
According to the intelligence, that vessel should currently have been beside an Old Guard vampire named Veldiana Caruana.
And it was already awake?
Had the stolen one been a fake? No, that vessel had been studied in MAR's research facility for so long. If it were fake, there was no way MAR's researchers would not have noticed.
Could it be that the Fourth Primogenitor's vessels actually numbered thirteen? She had never heard of such a thing...
Suspicious points were like tightly connected nodes on a spiderweb. The discovery and resolution of one doubt could always lead to even more new doubts.
But Koyomi understood that it was impossible to resolve all those doubts immediately. This was the Witch of the Void's territory.
If she wanted to leave this place safely without alerting anyone else, it had to be now...
"Since you're already here, why not have a cup of black tea before you go? In order to serve Natsuki-oneechan properly, I worked hard to master the skill of brewing black tea. I also know where Natsuki-oneechan keeps her treasured tea in this office... Would you like to try some?"
"!!!"
Ciel's figure stood before the door, blocking Koyomi Shizuka's only escape route... unless she intended to leave through the window.
The instant Ciel's voice rang out, a chill abruptly shot up Koyomi's spine, as if a centipede had wrapped itself around her neck.
There had been no sound of the door opening, no sound of footsteps. She had no idea when the other party had entered the room.
That also meant that if the other party had just driven a short blade into her neck, she would have been unable to react at all.
"Ciel!"
As if she had seen her savior, Avrora cheered loudly.
Stepping across what looked like a very expensive carpet, she went around the sofa and Koyomi, trotting to Ciel's side.
"Uu... Ciel... uu, uu..."
Avrora hid behind Ciel, clutching tightly at the hem of Ciel's clothes and refusing to let go. Broken sobs kept spilling from her mouth, and the tears clinging to the corners of her eyes were as clear and lustrous as pearls.
"Don't grab my clothes... You're the strongest vampire in the world, you know. Aren't you embarrassed, getting scared to tears by one human?"
"But... but..."
Even after Ciel said that, Avrora was still too frightened to speak properly.
She had not a trace of the dignity of the world's strongest vampire.
Ciel was speaking with Avrora, but Koyomi had the feeling that the other party's attention had never once left her.
Should she use this chance to escape?
...No. That would be no different from seeking death.
The person before her was, in a sense, even more troublesome than the "Demon Killer" Natsuki Minamiya.
"Koyomi Hiina-san, are you here to see Natsuki-oneechan? Unfortunately, Natsuki-oneechan is teaching right now. If you have some urgent matter, you can speak directly with me."
Ciel faced Koyomi with a kindly smile on her face. However, there was not the slightest trace of a smile in her eyes.
"If you're a good student here to ask your teacher a question, I'll welcome you with a smile. So, may I ask in what capacity you are standing here? As Koyomi Hiina, student of Saikai Academy, or... as Koyomi Shizuka, one of the Three Saints?
As though resigning herself to her fate, Koyomi closed her eyes.
Her voice was clear and calm, as if all unnecessary emotion had been stripped away.
"I am Koyomi Shizuka, of the Lion King Agency... This is my first time meeting you in this capacity, isn't it, Ciel-sensei?"
The Lion King Agency was a special agency within the National Public Safety Commission, a Japanese government department. It was responsible for handling large-scale artificial magical disasters and intelligence work, and it also represented the Japanese government in receiving important international figures, taking charge of their protection and surveillance. Its headquarters were located on the Japanese mainland, and the organization's leaders were known as the Three Saints.
The Takiguchi warriors who protected the imperial palace from supernatural disturbances during the Heian period were the origin of the Lion King Agency.
When Ciel first heard the name "Lion King Agency," she had thought it was an organization from Britain or America, given the "lion" part. She had not expected it to be a thoroughly Japanese organization.
In order to command the twelve Beast Vassals inside him, Kojou Akatsuki in the original plot needed twelve blood partners. Among them, Yukina Himeragi, Sayaka Kirasaka, Yuiri Haba, and Shio Hikawa all came from the Lion King Agency, so netizens loved calling the Lion King Agency the "Lion King Matchmaking Agency."
"Avrora's special identity was bound to draw the prying and probing of interested parties. I expected that. I was simply too lazy to conceal her... I see. So the first ones unable to sit still were you people from the Lion King Matchmaking Agency? That's easy to understand. After all, as one of the Three Saints, you attend this school."
"...Lion King Matchmaking Agency?"
Koyomi's brow twitched slightly, and a faint ripple appeared in her calm eyes.
She felt confused.
"Could it be that Ciel-sensei is anxious about finding a partner? Although we are not a matchmaking agency, perhaps we could offer you some assistance in that regard?"
This so-called assistance would at most be like arranging for Yukina Himeragi to go to Kojou Akatsuki's side to monitor him—sending members of the organization over.
Moreover, considering Ciel's appearance as a woman, they might even send a few "handsome men" over.
"...I'm more curious whether you would have the courage to use that tone when facing the three Primogenitors."
Her words seemed to carry a tangible pressure, like a massive boulder pressing heavily down on Koyomi's shoulders.
There was no fluctuation of magical power. It was pure presence alone, yet it could shake the surrounding environment and press down on her until she could barely breathe... This discovery left Koyomi's hands and feet ice-cold.
An existence that absolutely could not be opposed by human strength—that was, a monster.
Without a doubt, the person before her was a monster with absolute power... a monster equivalent to a Primogenitor.
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T/N: sooooooooo eeepy