"Here's the coffee you ordered."
Touka Kirishima, dressed in her Anteiku staff uniform, calmly placed the coffee on the glass table between the sofas.
After setting down the coffee, she brushed aside her bangs and looked at Luo Shu:
"The cake you ordered needs to be made fresh, so it'll take about 10 more minutes."
"Thanks, Touka."
Luo Shu picked up his coffee and asked with a smile:
"How's dinner been tasting these days?"
The question might have sounded odd to others, but Touka Kirishima understood exactly what Luo Shu meant.
He was asking how the Ghouls, who had previously only been able to eat human flesh, were finding normal food.
Realising this, Touka couldn't help but complain:
"The manager's cooking is terrible. Everyone's been ordering takeout these past few days, and we accidentally spent all the shop's profits on food."
Luo Shu paused with his coffee cup, then chuckled:
"Sounds like you've been doing quite well lately."
"Thanks to you, we've all been doing quite well." Touka Kirishima placed the coffees on the table, then collected the trays, saying, "I'll go hurry them with the cakes. You chat first."
With that, Touka Kirishima left the house carrying a tray and returned to Anteiku across the street.
After Touka Kirishima departed, Daichi Fujiwara finally turned to Luo Shu and asked:
"That girl just now..."
"Ghoul," Luo Shu stated directly.
"There are still ones moving freely?" Daichi Fujiwara was genuinely surprised.
After all, it was he who had secretly signed the extermination plan for Ghouls and ordered its execution not long ago.
Of course, Daichi Fujiwara was aware that some Ghouls remained—like those kept by the Bujin-shū and the Onmyou Agency as experimental specimens.
But wild Ghouls like Touka Kirishima, operating independently, were exceedingly rare.
At this, Luo Shu smiled and said, "Mr Fujiwara can consider it preferential treatment for an informant."
"I see." Daichi Fujiwara immediately understood.
So she was a former Ghoul traitor!
No wonder the SDS had managed to gather so much intel on Ghouls during the extermination operation—they'd had an inside source. That explained it.
Just then, Chika Fujiwara, who had been sitting on the sofa to Luo Shu's right, glanced between the two men before puffing her cheeks and demanding:
"Aren't Daddy and Luo Shu going to explain the situation?"
"Ah... Chika, it's complicated right now."
"Daddy doesn't want to explain?" Chika Fujiwara blinked. "Should I call Mummy then?"
"Wait—"
Daichi Fujiwara hastily shot Luo Shu a pleading look.
When it came to his three daughters, Daichi Fujiwara truly held no authority whatsoever.
His eldest daughter Toyomi controlled his pocket money on behalf of his wife. His second daughter, Chika, spoiled by her grandfather, was beyond his reach. Though the youngest was the most obedient, her personality... well, it defied description.
This dynamic left Daichi Fujiwara utterly powerless at home. Frankly, even the family dog, Pes, probably held a higher status.
Seeing Daichi Fujiwara like this, Luo Shu mentally sighed and thought, 'whipped by his daughters,' before shifting his gaze to Chika Fujiwara and Kei Shirogane on the sofa. He explained:
"Chika, Shirogane-san, I assume you're both familiar with manga concepts?"
"Magicians?" Kei Shirogane immediately connected this to the earlier disappearing act.
Meanwhile, Chika Fujiwara seemed to recall something, her eyes widening in excitement:
"Ah! Like the Onmyoji Grandfather mentioned? Those really exist?"
"But Mummy said they were fake..."
'Old man, must you tell them everything?' Daichi Fujiwara adjusted his glasses with a dark expression.
At this, Luo Shu took a sip of coffee and said with a smile:
"Actually, Onmyoji, magicians, espers—all such beings exist in this world."
"Currently, humans with supernatural abilities are generally referred to as sorcerers."
"Their community is called the mystic side, standing in opposition to the reality side inhabited by ordinary people."
"And that so-called criminal gang attempting to kidnap Chika that I explained earlier actually belongs to a yokai organisation from the mystic side."
After speaking, Luo Shu observed Fujiwara Chika's eager expression, her eyes brimming with curiosity and not a trace of fear, then immediately added:
"The Hagoromo Group of Kyoto - that's how they're referred to within the circle."
"They're led by Hagoromo Gitsune, the mother of the Great Onmyoji Abe no Seimei, and have been attempting to resurrect Abe no Seimei."
"Abe no Seimei?!" X2
Kei Shirogane and Fujiwara Chika exclaimed simultaneously.
Among Japan's Onmyoji, the most representative figure would undoubtedly be this child of the white fox from the Heian period - the legendary Great Onmyoji.
Could the Hagoromo Group of Kyoto really be an organisation attempting to resurrect such an illustrious figure?
"Eh... that sounds impressive, but why would the Hagoromo Group target me?"
Fujiwara Chika felt there was something more to this, and nothing good at that.
At this moment, Daichi Fujiwara spoke with an uncomfortable expression:
"Because the ritual to resurrect Abe no Seimei requires the fresh liver of noblewomen."
"Fresh liver?" Fujiwara Chika immediately realised something, fear appearing on her face.
Beside her, Kei Shirogane also understood the implication, asking with an unnatural expression:
"This 'fresh liver'... it wouldn't happen to mean a liver from a living person, would it?"
Luo Shu glanced at Kei Shirogane before replying:
"Not just that. The heart is also preferred."
"Liver and heart..." Cold sweat broke out on Fujiwara Chika's face: "That's just yokai eating people!!"
With a whoosh, Fujiwara Chika clung to Kei Shirogane, wailing:
"Kei-chan, I don't want to be eaten by yokai!!"
"Even if you say that, there's nothing I can do..." Kei Shirogane, tightly embraced, also looked nervous.
Realising this was true, Fujiwara Chika quickly turned to shout at Daichi Fujiwara:
"Dad, save me!"
"Aren't we doing that right now?" Daichi Fujiwara removed his glasses, massaging his brow in exasperation before retorting: "Do you think a current cabinet minister would kidnap his own daughter for no reason? For fun?"
'You seemed to be having plenty of fun earlier,' Luo Shu thought to himself.
At this moment, Daichi Fujiwara said seriously:
"Luo Shu is one of the directors of the mystic side's Special Defence Section, SDS, and an expert specially assigned to assist with this matter."
"I'm working with Luo Shu to find a solution right now!"
"Then what's the solution?" Fujiwara Chika asked curiously.
"In progress," Daichi Fujiwara said irritably. "Don't think about getting involved. Just be good and listen, alright?"
"We've faked another organisation's kidnapping of you. Stay here for a few days until Luo Shu and I handle things, then you can return."
"Oh." Fujiwara Chika nodded, then, shrinking her neck, glanced at Kei Shirogane: "Then can Kei-chan..."
Kei Shirogane immediately realised the problem.
Right - she'd been 'kidnapped' together with Fujiwara Chika. Did that mean she'd have to stay here too these days?
Hearing this, Daichi Fujiwara couldn't help but look at Luo Shu.
At this moment, Luo Shu explained:
"Hagoromo Gitsune requires fresh livers, and besides noblewomen, spiritually gifted maidens are also acceptable—perhaps even more effective."
Kei Shirogane's expression froze upon hearing this, murmuring under her breath:
"No way?!"
"That's exactly the 'no way'."
Luo Shu took a sip of coffee, then calmly looked at Kei and said:
"Shirogane-san, you've been experiencing some peculiar troubles lately, haven't you?"
"For instance, a sudden surge in charm, frequent approaches from strangers..."
"How did you know?" Kei gasped in shock.
At that moment, Luo Shu flicked his wrist, revealing several silver strands of hair in his palm.
"Of course, it was through testing this hair."
Kei instinctively touched her own hair, then stared at Luo Shu in astonishment before finally asking:
"So what exactly am I...?"
"You likely accidentally came into contact with a Race Transformation-type Abyss Artefact, passively transforming you into..."
Luo Shu paused here, lifting his gaze to meet Kei's eyes as he concluded:
"...a Vampire."