In the maritime union state of Albadamba, the twice-yearly trade fair with the continent is treated as a major event. This year, due to the misfortune of the maritime caravans, the number of goods is small, but the items brought by the four groups of two years who accompanied the caravans will serve as a replacement.
　The trade fair will take place on the large coast in the northwest of Delph Island. The caravan traders and students are currently in the process of bringing in the goods. In the meantime, the chiefs will meet on Delph Island. Mr. Ryuzaki and Mr. Welkano will also be present there to make detailed arrangements for the trade fair.

　The trade fair would take place in front of a large number of islanders, but the exchange of goods would actually take place here to some extent prior to this. The main reason for this is to show the dignity of each chief and to bring back rare foreign goods to the tribe, if they are delayed in buying them, it will be an abomination.

'Satomi, in the meantime, if someone is lying to you, pull your tail again. Please.
.........

　Satori's Satomi Yamako shows her head in the affirmative.

　Satomi is basically a quiet girl. It's not that she doesn't assert herself, and her emotional expression itself is relatively rich in variation, but it's hard to notice that unless you're watching carefully. It's almost as if Ryuzaki, who observes all of his classmates closely, is able to communicate with them without difficulty like this.

"You have a difficult look on your face, sir.

　Just before I entered Chief Berger's house, I was called upon to do so from behind.

　When I turned around, I saw Welcano, the leader of the maritime caravan, standing there.

'Mr Welcano,'
.........

　Ryuzaki called out the name absentmindedly, while Satomi, in contrast, fled to Ryuzaki's back.
　He was a small, withered-branch old man of small stature, but he had a vigorous impression of vigor. His skin is tanned and healthy. It's not that he's doubting this one, but in front of Welkano, who always tries to draw a line and take safety, Ryuzaki feels that it's hard to do too.

''I was a little concerned about it in the morning's discussion, but it's Satrioni who's over there, isn't it?

　Glancing at Welkano, Welkano glanced at Satomi and said.

'Enlightened demon...?'
''Oh, no, I heard that about 200 years ago, when Shura's army invaded this continent across the Eastern Sea, there was a demon called Satorioni mixed in with them.

　So that was it. Ryuzaki remembered the monster memo that Serena had entrusted to him.

　Among the monsters reincarnated by the students of Year 2 Class 4, there were a few rare species that were rarely seen, and some demons whose names and appearances were only passed down in lore. Among them, there were few Japanese youkai, such as Satomi and Karasuma, that have been found.
　Were the monsters they had reincarnated based on this world or on the lore of the original world? If it was either, it didn't explain much, so he was a bit curious.

I've heard that he can read people's minds. "I hear you can read people's minds," he said. When combined with Ryuzakidono's tactics, it's a terrifying thing.
I'm not really a big fan of politics and gamesmanship, you know?

　Is it because he was unexpectedly tired that he easily spoke his heartbeat at that timing?

''However, if you're leading more than forty demons, you can't just say you're bad at it.
'Yes. It's a tough place to be.

　What in the world does this old man have in mind when he's talking like this?
　Ryuzaki is a little wary, trying to gauge the other man's true intentions.

　Welcano is a person with good intentions, as far as I can tell from the past week or two of association. At the same time, his behavioral philosophy is true to his merchant instincts. He endorses honesty, but he never trusts the other person with his heart. He's a good business partner, but the fact that he can't show our weaknesses makes him stifling in the face.

Chief Berger is suspicious of you.

　Welcano said something like that in a hushed voice.

''Well why would you tell me that?''
"I would like to do you a favor. From my perspective, I can defend you against the chieftain.

　Satomi's grip on his tail remained tight, but he didn't pull it away.

'There were some people in the caravan who suspected that you are part of the Red Moon, but I don't think so. We were promised that you would bring in the materials we designated for the trade fair in exchange for a portion of the sales to us.
Yeah.
I'd appreciate it if you'd increase that percentage of sales a bit.

　After all, Satomi does not pull his tail. Welkano is not trying to deceive us.
　It is very comfortable in psychological warfare to not have to suspect a lie here. It's not stressful.

　Then, the rest of the story is simply about risk.
　The heavy duty detachment is going to head to the Vernetus Kingdom after leaving this Albadamba. It's a peninsula jutting out of the southeastern part of the continent at the edge of the crescent shape, with the Beast King's mountain range, dense forests, and the Adventurer's Autonomous Region to the north, so it's one of the hardest states for the empire to reach.
　I'm thinking of stopping there for a while, and then after the Welcano Chamber of Commerce delivers materials, we'll build the caterpillar unit again and head north. But, presumably, to do that, we'll need funds.

　This trade fair is also for making funds for that purpose. We will have the maritime caravans buy the goods obtained from the trade. They intended to give some of the money back to the caravans as a fee for arranging materials. Welkano has been asking for more of that cash back.

　But this is a wishful thinking proposal.
　As for Ryuzaki, there is no way to proceed without first clarifying the relationship between the vampire lurking on this island and the person called Toki, who is connected to Chief Berger. There could be a battle occurring somewhere on this island right now. The result of this could be the defeat of Toki.
　Defeating Toki without clearing up the misunderstanding would not prevent the relationship from deteriorating. Now that Kyousuke and the others are working hard, all Ryuzaki can do is try to keep the outcome of that fight from going badly.

''In the end, it's politics...''

　Ryuzaki closed his eyes, scratching his forehead.

'I understand. Welkano-san.
You're very quick to help.

　Welkano grinned for the first time there, showing his teeth. There were a lot of missing teeth, but the part that was left was a beautiful white color.

''Actually, we already know where Inugami is. We've sent a rescue squad towards him, but at worst, a battle may have already occurred.
That's not the easiest thing to say.
'So here's the thing, Mr. Welcano. Do you have any idea of someone by the name of Toki? He seems to be a familiar face to the Chief.

　It was the old man's turn to narrow his eyes in response to Ryuzaki's question.

'I've never met you in person, but I've heard your name is Tokihara, and I've heard you're a friend of Chief Berger's who's been living on the island for about ten years now.




''Ooohhhhhhhh!''

　Breathing perfectly with Rin, Kyousuke's fist catches the vampire in front of him.

''Guuoh...!

　Toki's body jumped wildly as he was punched in the face. He slammed into the wall and rolled on the floor without any force as it was.

　Extreme Cross. Kyousuke and Rin have completely become "one" thanks to Soraki Kyousuke's Phase 3 ability after being reincarnated as a skeleton. He takes on the form of a human with light blue hair that looks neither male nor female. This is also the image of Kyousuke's determination, saying that what he lacks, Rin will make up for it.
　Kyousuke's expression is hard. While everyone watches with bated breath, he glares again at the vampire Toki.

　This is the figure that even the Knight's Suou has killed in the blink of an eye. There's no reason if it's just to bury one vampire in front of you.

　What made Kyousuke hesitate with his fist was Toki's bizarre appearance.

''Fufu........ Hahaha.........

　He is laughing. But it is not the powerless laugh that comes from despair, nor is it the kind of big smile that comes from the mouths of the insane. It is the smile of the victor, a smile that can only come from one who is confident and sure of something.
　Everyone present is looking at Toki with a quizzical or creepy look on their faces.

''.......What are you laughing at?''
'Do you think I'll tell you?　Hmm, but it's good. They're going to kill you anyway.

　Toki's tone is extremely good-humored. The face of this uncharacteristically middle-aged man is now twisted with amusement.

I'm sure of it now," he says. It seems that we have won this battle.

　Is it a bluff of sorts, or does he really mean it? At this stage, there's no way to judge. Kyousuke clenches his fists tightly and glares at Toki again.

''.......What's wrong?　You're not going to attack?

　Kyousuke can't grasp the true meaning of Toki's smiling smile.

　But.

　He points his clenched fist at his opponent and slowly takes a Jeet Kune Do stance.
　No matter how much we try to gauge its true intentions, the other party is right any further. No matter how long you wait, the truth will never come out of Toki's mouth. I don't know what's happening now on this island and what has convinced Toki of his own victory, but Kyousuke doesn't have the option of leaving him here, or letting him go.
　It is almost certain that Toki has some kind of connection to Chief Berger. According to Ryuzaki's story, the chief must not have known of the vampire's existence, so perhaps Toki had unilaterally tricked the chief into rounding him up. If they let such a man get away with it here, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't run into the meeting and do some strange scratching. It didn't mean he wouldn't join the five vampires that were attacking the branch school.

　Right here and now, there is no other way than to defeat them.

''Kyousuke-kun!

　Rin shouted.

'Yeah, let's do it!'

　Toki was smiling leisurely, but he unfurled his red wings from his tattered black armor and turned his gaze directly towards Nekomiya and the others. They'll be killed, he said with his mouth, but he's strong and searching for a way to prolong his life.
　Just before Kyousuke was about to run out, Toki moved faster than him. He fleshed out towards Nekomiya and the others with a speed that made one wonder where such power was left in his body. Karasuma and Saruwatari stepped forward, each holding their gains at the ready. However, the vampire's physical strength smashed down on the two of them without any resistance, and reached out to Inugami, who was still in chains.

　He's going to use her as a shield, it was immediately apparent.

　But Kyousuke's legs don't stop. He clenched his fist, swung it, and sprinted straight toward Toki. Seeing Nekomiya standing in front of him to defend Inugami, Kyousuke shouted.

''Nekomiya!　We'll take care of it!
Huh...!

　For a moment, Nekomiya's face contorted to avoid his companion on his back, but he quickly nodded and jumped back.
　Toki's arm grabbed Inugami by the neck. As it was, he used his body as a shield as he held it in. The body of the weakened Inugami was unable to put up a fragile resistance, and was left to do so.

""Extreme blow-oh-oh-oh!"

　Without stopping, Kyousuke slammed his raised fist as hard as he could. The moment the fist was about to pierce the chest of the shielded Inugami, it popped and disappeared like water. Kyousuke's body stopped moving there, and neither Toki nor Inugami moved even slightly.
　The basement fell completely silent, and soon after that

Guhaha!

　The vampire man let go of Inugami's body, spitting blood from his mouth. The tip of the liquefied arm flew out of the liquefied arm, eating through Toki's body. It quickly reassembled back into Kyousuke's body in the form of an arm.
　The left arm catches her as she loses support and collapses.

''Fushuu...!

　Rin gasps. In front of Kyousuke's eyes, the man who spat out blood was thrown directly onto his back and onto the cold stone floor. His armor was completely shattered and there was a gaping hole in his chest. It had eaten through his heart from the inside. As expected, he didn't live.
　Vampires are said to leave no corpses. His body crumbled into a pile of sand, a swirling pile of ashes in an underground cave. The ashes and the copious amounts of blood that flowed out onto the floor were the only traces of his being there.

''(Even if he dies, the blood remains...)''

　Kyousuke thought about that as he looked at the blood left on the floor.

''Ah, hmmm, oh my.''

　Rin clears her throat deliberately.

'How long will Kyousuke-kun be touching Hibiki's body?
Hmm?　Whoa!　I'm sorry!

　He almost unintentionally removed the Inugami who was supporting her shoulders, but once again, he just let her lie on the floor. The chains on her arms and legs had been severed before she knew it. It was probably done by Karasuma and Sarutoyo while Kyousuke and the others were having a go at Toki.
　It wasn't that he had forgotten that Inugami was naked, or that he was naked. Not that he had forgotten....

'And, Utsurogi, you were gazing at me from the front just now...'

　A little further away, Nekomiya crossed her arms.

'That wasn't a good idea,'
'I don't have a choice!　You can't fight without looking forward!

　As much as possible, the lines of Inugami's body, which he was trying to throw out of the pale of consciousness, were clearly recalled in his mind.

"Inugami, I'm sorry........
Yeah, no problem. Do you have any of my clothes?
I'll have them brought to the flower garden. Saruwatari and the others can go get them.

　Instructed by Nekomiya, the boys of the rescue team flew away as if they didn't want to leave behind.

　Once again, I look around in a circle. Apparently, this place is a natural underground cave. Looking at the shelves, desks and other furnishings, as well as lamps and other items, it seems that Toki was working on a variety of tasks here as well. When I shifted my gaze a bit, I saw a pile of small skulls piled up like a mountain at the back of the cave.

...that's a child's bone, I think.

　Rin mumbles to herself.

'I suppose,'

　Sitting down on the ground, Inugami nodded.

'Once a month, I'm a victim of this man's blood sucking. It's disgusting.'
I'm sure we'll find a lot of things here too, but I'll leave the search to Nekomiya and the others.

　Kyousuke said and turned his gaze towards the ground.

'We're heading to the branch school. I'm also curious about what Toki said before he died, 'We've won'.
Yeah, look out for yourself.
"Much ado about nothing.

　Nekomiya nodded with a divine look on her face. Rin stretched out her arm from Kyousuke's direction and fluttered it. Unlike when she was in slime form, her realistic arms sprouted out of her clothes, so it was quite unpleasant to look at.

'If you're heading to the branch school, I'll accompany you.
"Yeah!

　Rin screams at the sound of Ei's voice that she heard before she knew it. If you look, you can see a fireball floating there, still burning cool as ever, wobbling around. Since he was the first boy to come down, Inugami blatantly frowned and backed away, shielding his chest. It seems that once the emergency is over, the shame will return as much as humanly possible.

''Hibiki-chan, don't worry about it. Hino-kun probably isn't interested in the female body.''
'Don't get me wrong. Actually, not much.

　Talk like this makes Kyousuke worry that Ei might be emptier and less greedy than he is.

''Hi, I understand for now. It's nice of you to follow me, though.
Well, there's not much I can do about it now.
No, it's not.

　Kyousuke gives a small smile, but quickly tightens his expression and leaps higher. When he emerges from the hole in the ceiling to the ground, Hanazono is just about to descend the stairs with Inugami's clothes in his arms, and the boys who were trying to follow him are bound by the tentacles of the tentacles of the tentacles, mumbling resentment.

　The next place to aim for was the branch school.
　There were probably five vampires headed there. The forces left in the branch school right now couldn't compete with them.

　They had to hurry.