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Two minutes later, as twin white contrails tore across the sky, Bokue descended from above alongside Serafall—who held Yume's hand—both landing steadily on the coastal beach of a deserted island roughly ten-plus kilometers from Itogami Island.
By now it was approaching noon. Even autumn sunlight blazed increasingly bright.
The Satan girl's feet pressed into the soft sand as she raised one hand to shade her eyes, surveying their surroundings. As far as the eye could see, the island's forests and vegetation grew lush and verdant, showing zero trace of human development.
"Mm~ so Bokue-kun, where exactly is this place? Doesn't look inhabited at all?"
"...You followed me here without knowing where we were going?"
Bokue had been about to walk forward when these words made him stop and turn back, staring at her with astonishment.
"Well, I mean, once I saw Bokue-kun heading out, Yume-chan and I couldn't just stand around waiting, right?"
Serafall tucked both hands behind her back, puffing out her cheeks with a small huff.
"So come on, tell us—where exactly are we?"
"This place is... forget it, explaining would be troublesome. Better to just show you."
"Eh?"
The moment his words fell, Bokue raised his hand, extending his index finger to tap lightly at empty air.
Ding.
Accompanying that crisp sound, ripples instantly spread through the atmosphere like water.
The next second, the barrier covering the island's exterior rapidly dispersed, revealing the island's true appearance.
Of course, nothing changed too dramatically.
It remained that uninhabited wasteland that didn't look particularly livable—except now several severely weathered fortifications dotted the beach.
Along with a standalone small villa standing right on the sand.
As expected, this deserted island was precisely where Bokue had first encountered Sayaka and La Folia back then. And that standalone villa before them was where they'd once resided together.
"Ah? So it was an illusion barrier? And that little villa is..."
Noticing the environmental changes, Serafall asked curiously while examining their surroundings.
"Something I made myself before."
Bokue stepped across the beach toward the villa ahead.
"Back then, Itogami Island wasn't my territory yet. Even if I brought it back, I'd have nowhere to put it. So I just left it here temporarily, using a barrier for light camouflage."
"I see..."
Serafall nodded with understanding.
"So we're here now to bring this villa back?"
"Exactly."
Bokue arrived at the villa's entrance. With a light gesture from his raised hand, the villa—previously sitting steady as a mountain on the beach—immediately loosened, slowly rising into the air like that house from Up.
"Ah, wait wait wait!"
Just then, Serafall suddenly pulled the nightmare girl beside her forward, approaching the young man.
"...What is it?"
Bokue paused his actions, glancing at her with confusion.
Serafall smiled sweetly, pointing at the villa that had already risen twenty centimeters off the ground.
"So the plan is to just air-freight it directly back like this?"
"...Unless you have some better alternative?"
"No, what I mean is—"
The Satan girl clasped her small hands before her, smiling even more happily.
"Can Yume-chan and I go inside first? After all, we flew the whole way here, and Bokue-kun, you flew so fast—big sister is quite exhausted, you know~"
"?"
Bokue raised a small question mark.
Setting everything else aside, a high-ranking Satan complaining about being tired after two minutes of flight—seriously?
"...Don't tell me you actually want to live inside?"
"Ehehe~ figured it out?"
Serafall blinked, attempting to pass things off with cuteness.
"But there's no helping it! After all, as the demon realm's Foreign Affairs Satan stationed on Itogami Island, I've been staying in hotels this whole time. Mm... not that hotels are bad—I've been quite comfortable actually. But still, having a diplomatic office set up in a hotel room is a bit strange no matter how you look at it. I need a proper place! Please, Bokue-oniisan~ Serafall can do anything"
By the end, even her voice turned syrupy sweet.
Bokue pressed his palm to his forehead speechlessly. "Arranging accommodations for you isn't a problem, but the issue is I'm planning to place this villa on the resort island for our use. Later I'll connect the villa's location with the space above Keystone Gate. Plus this villa is too small—I'll need to expand it later, just like Rias's old schoolhouse."
"Oh, that's even better then!"
Serafall nodded her small head rapidly, her twin pigtails undulating like waves behind her, her eyes practically glowing.
"If you're expanding it, that means not just Yume-chan and me—even Sona-chan can move in together! When that happens, we sisters can do anything!"
Bokue: "..."
With the conversation having reached this point, what more could he say?
No choice—Bokue could only wave dismissively.
"Whatever. Go ahead and get in for now. Remember to come down once we arrive—I need to handle the expansion."
"Yay~"
Having received the young man's personal approval, Serafall executed a nimble spin before throwing up a big scissor-hand victory sign toward the nightmare girl beside her.
"Alright then, Yume-chan, let's head inside!"
"Mm... okay."
Ten minutes later, a fully expanded seaside villa settled steadily atop Keystone Gate.
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Daytime passed just like that.
As sunset descended and dusk painted the sky, the twice-daily routine spatial fluctuation rippled across Itogami Island's airspace. The many girls who'd spent the day at school—including Rias—finally got out of class.
Scene transition to the old schoolhouse interior.
"Huh? Serafall-sama is moving in here too??"
Inside the familiar first-floor parlor, the red-haired girl who'd been feeling slightly relaxed after school stared in shock at the Satan girl before her, then at the seaside villa visible through the window that definitely hadn't existed this morning.
"Well, basically it comes down to that~"
Serafall, meanwhile, wore nothing but smiles.
"After all, I'll probably be stationed long-term on Itogami Island from now on. Always staying at hotels just feels kind of weird, so I asked Bokue-oni... Bokue-kun to help arrange accommodations."
Bokue raised both hands. "Just to clarify upfront—I was originally planning to use this as our vacation villa. Serafall's the one who took a liking to it..."
'Mm~' So it's not that Serafall-sama has also been claimed by Bokue?
Rias hesitated momentarily.
"Though speaking of which, always making Serafall-sama stay at hotels really isn't ideal. She definitely should have proper accommodations..."
"Ufufu~ I knew Rias-chan would think so too!"
Serafall happily threw up a scissor-hand sign, smiling brightly.
"But don't worry—under normal circumstances I won't go out much anyway. So Bokue-kun, you all just do whatever you normally do. I won't cause trouble in your daily lives."
Mm...
Now there seemed to be absolutely no grounds for refusal.
"Then that settles it."
Bokue glanced through the window at the seaside villa bathed in sunset light.
"I'll test the villa's teleportation array again tomorrow. Barring any issues, we can head to my new resort island for vacation this weekend when you're off school."
"Roger~"
Serafall was first to raise her hand high in agreement.
"Big sister will go pick up Sona-chan in a bit!"
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