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Tokyo, Narita Airport
In the VIP waiting lounge, Yukina Himegari—dressed in a women's suit with a short skirt and carrying a big cello case on her back—walked over to Sayaka Kirasaka with two bottles of water.
"Here."
"Thanks."
Sayaka, also wearing a business-style suit, looked at Yukina's baby-faced expression and sighed a little. "It's pretty, but still too early…"
If Yukina were an adult, she'd probably look incredible in office wear. Sayaka couldn't help thinking that.
She suddenly felt grateful toward Endou-Sensei for forcing them to dress this way as a show of respect to Ryo.
Yukina really did pull it off.
Sensei, good job!
"Too early for what?"
Yukina set down her cello case, took a seat next to her, and twisted open the water bottle.
"No, nothing." Sayaka shook her head quickly, cheeks a little red. Then she asked, "How long until the plane arrives?"
Yukina lifted her right hand and checked her watch. "Around ten minutes."
She took a sip, stared at the nearby gate for a moment, then finally said. "Sayaka… do you think we can actually do this mission?"
"Huh? Why would you ask that?" Sayaka blinked, then laughed softly. "Yukina, are you worried Ryo has a bad temper? Impossible. Don't worry, he won't make things hard for us."
"Why do you think I was talking about his temper?" Yukina mumbled, then continued. "I meant the mission, Sayaka."
She paused. "Being bodyguards to the Fourth Primogenitor sounds extremely dangerous."
"We're still students. Can we really pull this off?"
Sayaka froze. Her expression shifted to guilt as she looked at Yukina.
She had been so busy imagining how nice it'd be to stay with Yukina even after graduating that she'd completely ignored the danger of guarding the most powerful being in the world.
And it made sense. Anyone who dared go against the strongest person alive definitely wouldn't be some average weakling.
Yet she and Yukina were only mages still in training at the Lion King Agency, with barely any actual combat experience.
Thinking about it clearly… they were basically like those novel background characters whose only lines were "Aah!" before dying horribly.
Sayaka glanced at Yukina, opened her mouth, struggled a bit, then muttered. "I don't know… maybe that's what missions are like…"
Hearing the heaviness in Sayaka's voice, Yukina quickly forced a smile.
"Sorry, I'm being too negative. His Majesty of the Dawn Empire must have elite guards around him already."
"If you think about it that way, we're outsiders, so we'll probably only handle perimeter security. It won't be that dangerous."
"That makes sense." Sayaka mirrored her smile, matching Yukina's tone.
Just then, an announcement rang through the lounge: "Flight D412 is now boarding. Passengers, please prepare to line up."
It repeated three times.
Yukina was already slinging her cello case onto her back and grabbing the handle of her beige suitcase.
She glanced toward Sayaka, who was now ready as well.
"Let's go, Sayaka."
"Yeah!"
They headed for the gate, walked down a long glass corridor, reached the aircraft door, and boarded with help from a flight attendant.
"Huh?"
Yukina, entering first, stared at the mostly empty cabin. There were only a few sofas.
"Isn't this a Foreign aircraft from Itogami Island?"
Sayaka, who had just stepped in behind her, stopped.
"What's wrong, Yukina?"
"I think we boarded the wrong plane." Yukina turned and looked at the flight attendant in confusion.
The attendant blinked, then smiled politely. "Are you Yukina Himegari and Sayaka Kirasaka?"
The girls exchanged a look and nodded.
The attendant's smile brightened. "Then you're in the right place. This is indeed Flight D412."
"But…"
Yukina pointed at the luxurious cabin: soft leather seats, a steaming cup of tea with sandwiches and diced fruit on a side table, and a huge wall-mounted TV playing the news.
Even if the space was smaller, it was way more luxurious than anything at the Lion King Agency.
This was clearly a private jet. The Lion King Agency arranged this for them?
"You two didn't know?"
The attendant looked puzzled but kept smiling.
"This plane is His Majesty the Fourth Primogenitor's personal plane."
"Personal…" Sayaka and Yukina stared, dumbfounded.
"Then that means…"
Yukina looked toward the table with the tea and sandwiches.
Beside it was a long brown fabric sofa with someone lying on it.
From her angle she could see a blue cushion and black hair.
Someone was asleep there.
And at this moment, the only person allowed to lie on a sofa on this flight could only be…
The strongest vampire alive, Emperor of the Dawn Empire, the Fourth Primogenitor—Ryo Yagami.
They were on his personal plane? Wait, where were the security personnel?
Yukina suddenly realized this and looked at the attendant with a stiff expression.
"Um… what about the security detail?"
The attendant blinked at Yukina, smiling softly, "Aren't you already here?"
"…?"
Yukina's face froze.
"Hold on, we're the only ones for security?" Sayaka's voice shot upward.
"Shh!" The attendant pressed her finger to her lips and pointed at the sofa. "His Majesty is napping."
Sayaka was already being muffled by Yukina's hand. She made a few "mmf mmf" noises before Yukina let go.
Yukina inhaled, her expression complicated, "I think I understand the situation now."
With that, she sighed, grabbed her suitcase, and marched toward the sofa like a soldier walking to her fate.
That was where Ryo was.
.
.
.