The days became unexpectedly peaceful. The vampire hunters who had attacked the blonde vampire seemed to have vanished into thin air, staying out of sight. Keep in mind that Koyomi Araragi was now a full-fledged vampire; at this time and place, it was blindingly obvious whose thrall he was.
Yet, even though Araragi had been wandering the city for days with zero anti-reconnaissance skills, he hadn't been attacked once. Even Sū ěr small house, currently being used as a base by Kiss-shot, hadn't faced any trouble.
Despite this "calm before the storm" lifestyle, neither Sū ěr nor Araragi let their guard down. Well, actually, only Araragi was truly tense; even Kiss-shot herself lacked a sense of urgency.
The intel from Episode clearly indicated that those vampire hunters were incredibly stubborn individuals. Or rather, people don't become vampire hunters unless their lives have been struck by a major catastrophe.
To put it simply: they were Batman, just without Mr. Wayne's money.
And how could Batman ever give up?
He would only be secretly preparing Plan B, Plan C... through Z.
Sū ěr was looking forward to their Plans A through D. In fact, deep down, he didn't harbor much hostility toward these beings who secretly maintained the peace of human society. After all, if not for them, many humans would likely fall prey to the rogue entities hiding in society.
Therefore, Sū ěr hadn't even bothered to finish off Episode after Jibril had casually swatted him into a critical condition. He simply treated his wounds and locked him up for the time being, planning to release him once everything was fully resolved.
Finding them was impossible. Those vampire hunters didn't seem to be simple supernatural beings; on the contrary, they hid their information very well. Sū ěr suddenly remembered the "Oddity Specialists" Nurarihyon had once mentioned. According to the old demon, only those eccentrics—who mastered the art of hiding themselves through hand gestures and the ritualistic placement of everyday objects—could pull such a thing off.
They were weak because their bodies were still flesh and blood, possessing no extraordinary power of their own. Yet they were strong; even a casually tossed stone could become part of a ritual, helping them exorcise yōkai or slay spirits.
These so-called Oddity Specialists were more like the mages of popular perception—rituals were their spells. It was all very mystical. Because they were so rare, even Nurarihyon had only heard of them and never met one in person, which made Sū ěr quite curious.
This meant there had to be an Oddity Specialist among the vampire hunters. That would explain how Kiss-shot's heart could be stolen without her even knowing. After all, according to her own description, as a centuries-old vampire, she was supposed to be quite powerful.
It was just a bit strange... based on what Nurarihyon had said, those few Oddity Specialists shouldn't be doing something with such clear bias.
...I don't get it. I'll just ask them in person when they show up at the door.
With that thought in mind, Sū ěr "waiting for the rabbit to hit the tree" went on for quite a while. When he suddenly remembered it one day, he realized a full month had passed. Those vampire hunters wouldn't really just... give up, right?
Sū ěr began to feel unsure.
"Hey, still dazing off? As the acting manager, I can't just overlook this!"
A rather smug voice. Just from the sheer pride in it, you'd think he wanted "Acting Manager" embroidered across his chest and back. The newcomer clapped Sū ěr on the left shoulder and then popped up on his right side, trying to pull a prank.
"...You're really letting it go to your head," Sū ěr said, eyes glazed as he looked at this guy who acted like he had loudspeakers strapped to his kidneys to broadcast his promotion all day.
Yes, after asking Kagome to turn in his leave of absence, Sū ěr had finally returned to his job at MgRonald's. The kind manager had even held his position for him, which was truly touching.
Sū ěr had returned to his peaceful modern life. And the one who had worked his tail off while Sū ěr was away—even stepping in as acting manager while the boss was away—was the honest country youth, Sadao Maou.
He was the one currently beaming with pride. They had joined MgRonald's at basically the same time, but now Sū ěr had to address him as—Manager.
And the guy was so happy he couldn't stop grinning, not even bothering to correct the "acting" part.
Ambition! It's ambition!
"Hey, you were gone so long because of a family emergency. You still got enough money?" Slinging an arm around Sū ěr shoulder with great familiarity, Sadao Maou said with a grin: "Living in the big city is expensive. If you're short, you can come to the act~ing man~ager for help!"
"...That's the first I've heard of a MgRonald's acting manager doubling as a bank," Sū ěr couldn't help but roast him. "But thanks for the offer. My family isn't exactly starving yet."
Sadao Maou wasn't the type of person to become arrogant with a bit of power; he was just genuinely happy. Sū ěr could understand that.
"You really don't need it?"
"I really don't!"
He was just a little annoying.
"Um, ex-excuse me... Sū-Sū ěr-ge?"
Nervous and clearly trying hard to strike up a conversation, Sū ěr turned to see a young girl who barely reached his chest. She looked like a high schooler working part-time for some pocket money. Based on Sū ěr observations, this young girl seemed to have "impure" designs on Sadao Maou.
Because of that, she tried her best to befriend Sadao's close friends—like Sū ěr.
To be honest, the way her eyebrows were twitching from nerves was pretty comical, but Sū ěr didn't laugh.
"Ah, is something the matter, Sasaki?" Sū ěr said with a smile. It had been a long time since someone called him Sū ěr-ge [Big Brother Sū ěr]. Being called that now gave him a strange sense of warmth.
Chiho Sasaki—that was her name.
"Th-th-th-that, Sū ěr-ge?!" Stuttering in her nervousness, Chiho's eyes kept darting toward Sadao Maou. "Um, well, you're a good friend of Maou-ge, right?"
The girl seemed to have summoned a massive amount of courage.