Over the next few days, Leon's group of five returned to their ordinary daily routine. Like typical high school students, they commuted to Sobu High to study, showing no outward sign that their holiday just two days prior had been so perilous and exhilarating.
Rumors about them still circulated within the school, and they remained the most eye-catching presence whenever they walked together. However, habit is a powerful thing; after seeing this group of spotlight-stealing individuals constantly entering and leaving together, the teachers and students gradually stopped being particularly shocked, limiting themselves to a few occasional comments.
Of course, the fact that the Occult Research Department had become a legend within Sobu High was something that was certainly not going to fade away.
To this day, many students remained incredibly curious about this club that had monopolized all four of the school's "unattainable flowers." They were especially interested in what kind of club activities they conducted on a daily basis, to the point where people tried to join the Occult Research Department every single day.
Unfortunately, with the test paper Leon had previously distributed, the entry requirements were clearly laid out. Ordinary people who couldn't pass the test could only gaze at the club with a sigh of despair. Every day as they passed the Occult Research Department's activity room, they would stare at the door with longing eyes, but there was nothing else they could do.
In truth, even if they could see the scene inside the activity room, they wouldn't discover anything unusual.
This was because, since returning from Kuoh Academy, the young ladies of the peerage no longer spent their spare time in the activity room chatting leisurely as they once had. Instead, they were constantly holding books they had unearthed from the manor's study, reading with absolute seriousness.
After school, they would immediately return to the manor. Sometimes they borrowed the basement for sparring, and at other times they practiced in the garden, ensuring that the fluctuations of demonic power and Sacred Gears constantly echoed above the estate.
To facilitate this, Leon and Utaha Kasumigaoka had set up a barrier around the manor. This prevented ordinary people from seeing the true interior of the estate and made it difficult for anyone outside to detect the frequent magical and Sacred Gear fluctuations, which might otherwise draw unwanted attention.
The Devil business was also proceeding quite smoothly. Recently, both Utaha Kasumigaoka and Mahiru Shiina had officially begun accepting contracts, and they quickly gained repeat customers.
It had to be said that the gimmick of a "beautiful girl devil" was quite effective. Even a girl as aloof as Yukino Yukinoshita found people willing to patronize her as long as she worked seriously; after all, Yukino only had a sharp personality, not a lack of competence.
The same applied to Asuna Yuuki, Utaha Kasumigaoka, and Mahiru Shiina. None of those who earned the title of "unattainable flower" were simpletons; at the very least, they were sharp-witted. As long as they had sufficient power, completing simple contracts and fulfilling reasonable wishes was more than within their capabilities.
As for the darker requests, the Eligos peerage maintained its consistent style: they either made the client back down or flatly refused. If a request was truly crossing the line, humanely eliminating the client was not out of the question.
While leafing through books recently, Leon had discovered a few small tricks regarding the use of magic circles for summoning. By adding a few pre-set mechanisms into the flyers or the magic circles at home, the circles would automatically ignore those who did not meet the summoning criteria Leon had established. Even if a person's desire was intense, it would not trigger the magic circle on the flyer to summon Leon or his companions.
With these measures in place, the Eligos peerage found their Devil work proceeding much more smoothly, with no more bizarre incidents occurring.
However, this only applied to ordinary humans.
If a Devil flyer fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, it was a different story entirely.
"So this is a Devil flyer from the Eligos family?"
On a road in Chiba Prefecture, a young man naturally accepted a Devil flyer from a humanoid familiar whose true identity was undetectable to ordinary people. Looking at the magic circle depicted on it, he revealed an interested smile.
"If there isn't a second Devil family stationed in Chiba, then it most likely is."
A young man dressed like a mage—wearing a robe over his uniform and spectacles—had a magic circle deployed in his hand. He released a faint trace of mana, influencing the humanoid familiar and causing it to gradually walk away.
Just moments ago, he had used the same method to influence the familiar, making it willing to hand the flyer to them. Otherwise, someone without desire generally wouldn't receive a flyer distributed by a familiar.
"The magic circle drawn on here looks like it can summon multiple devils at once, doesn't it?" the young man holding the flyer noted thoughtfully.
He was also wearing extra clothes over his school uniform, though it wasn't a robe but a traditional Hanfu. In his other hand, he carried an exceptionally large spear. Despite his appearance being one that should easily attract attention, for some reason, the people around him simply ignored his uniqueness as they brushed past.
"Are you planning to summon the entire Eligos peerage?" the mage-like youth asked in surprise.
"I do have that thought," the youth in Hanfu admitted directly. "After all, they are a group of very rare Sacred Gear users, aren't they?"
"True, they even have two Longinus," the mage youth said, nodding. "Pity they've already been reincarnated as devils."
"Yeah, a real pity," the Hanfu youth said with regret. "If only we had been the ones to find them first. We surely could have raised a few more heroes, couldn't we?"
"Your thirst for talent really is just like your ancestor's," the mage youth said, throwing up his hands. "But what's done is done. Currently, no one can turn a reincarnated devil back into a human. To us, they can no longer be comrades; they can only be enemies."
"That's why it's a pity." The Hanfu youth stopped talking and tossed the flyer to the mage youth, saying, "Forget it. My primary target is still the possessor of 'Zenith Tempest.' Making too much noise will only attract the attention of the Underworld. We'll let the rest of the Eligos peerage go this time."
"I don't mind either way. Even if you can't step in, I can trade a few blows with the Eligos lot," the mage youth said, catching the flyer and smiling. "I'm quite eager to experience the high-level moves of the hosts of 'Incinerate Anthem' and 'Absolute Demise'."
"Hey, hey, even if they are devils, don't bully them too much," the Hanfu youth laughed. "Not to mention they've only been reincarnated for a few months and were ordinary people with no contact with the supernatural world before that—even purely in terms of Sacred Gear level, they are no match for you, right?"
"Is it appropriate for a dignified host of a top-tier Longinus to bully novices with ordinary Longinus?"
"Besides, I thought you'd be more interested in 'Create World'."
Hearing this, the mage youth curled his lip.
"At best, he's just the host of a lower-tier version of my Sacred Gear. Why would I be interested?"
Saying this, the mage youth touched the magic circle on the flyer, triggering its activation and easily deploying it. Once it was open, he began swiping his fingers across it like he was operating a precision instrument, causing the patterns within the magic circle to shift.
"There, the lock is successful. I can summon them directly to the pocket dimension I've created."
So spoke the mage youth.
"Then let's begin," the Hanfu youth added.
A shroud of mist suddenly erupted from the mage youth, completely enveloping the two of them. When the mist cleared, both young men had vanished.
At the same time, in Leon's manor.
"Hmm?"
Leon, who was writing something in his room, suddenly felt a stir in his heart and went to the basement. There, the magic circle in the basement was glowing with a faint light, clearly in an activated state.
"Someone is summoning me?"
Leon sensed the magical fluctuations within the circle and realized someone was using a flyer to summon him specifically. This piqued his interest instantly.
"A desire strong enough to summon a High-class Devil. It looks like a big job."
After promoting to High-class, Leon no longer responded to ordinary summons. Only those with exceptionally intense desires could call upon him.
Leon glanced at the sky outside and noticed it wasn't dark yet; it wasn't even evening. He had only been home from school for a short while. It was roughly four in the afternoon, and it was still broad daylight. It would be an hour or two before the sun set and twilight arrived.
Currently, Yukino Yukinoshita had already gone to the study. Asuna Yuuki and Mahiru Shiina, as if they had become tea masters, were together brewing tea and preparing snacks. Utaha Kasumigaoka hadn't returned home yet; it seemed Eriri, that blonde "loser," had something to discuss and was keeping her at school.
"Since I'm free anyway, I'll go take a look."
With that thought, Leon immediately stepped into the magic circle and initiated the teleportation. But as the transfer began, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
"This feeling—"
Before Leon could react, he had vanished from the magic circle and arrived at the destination. Instantly, a space shrouded in gray, hazy mist filled his vision.
"—Interesting."
Leon remained silent for a moment, then revealed a smile.
"I thought I was taking on a big job, but it turns out I've walked into a group of unwelcome guests."
As soon as he spoke, a rather bright and wild voice rang out immediately.
"Our apologies for being unwelcome guests, Head of the Eligos House."
With the sound of that voice, the mist in front of Leon cleared slightly. Two young men in eccentric clothing appeared within the fog, stepping into Leon's field of vision.