Sorciera was now the center of attention.

With countless impostors of her suddenly appearing, there was a possibility the situation could be seen as an incident Sorciera herself had caused.

More than that, Sorciera was currently being pursued by the board.

To put it simply, S-Ranks were her enemies.

In other words, showing up here held absolutely no advantage for her.

Despite the risk of being attacked at any moment, Sorciera looked over the faces of the group with a composed expression.

Some looked shocked, some had turned pale, some smiled cheerfully, and some wore expressions of quiet trust.

And then—someone beamed innocently at the feast before them.

“……Ah, it looks so delicious.”

Words slipped out of Tatari’s mouth unconsciously.

What had been an unremarkable shadow now stretched wide, lifting like a snake’s raised head.

Before anyone noticed, the room echoed with the sound of a growling stomach.

Sorciera looked at Tatari’s behavior and made a provocative beckoning gesture.

“Come. I’ll play with you.”

“Let’s work up an appetite with some exercise before we eat~!”

There was no warning.

Neither chairs nor table nor curtain even fluttered—and in the next instant, Tatari was standing before Sorciera.

Terrifyingly, Tatari remained rational even now.

She understood that everything in this conference room, though not edible, still held significant value.

Even monsters can understand human hearts.

As if to say so, Tatari balanced her conflicting urges—considering Daiya’s feelings while attempting to devour Sorciera, both monster and human in one action.

“Itadakimaaaasu!”

“Wait.”

Flames burst between Sorciera and Tatari.

In the next instant, Mizuhi stepped between them.

Mizuhi raised a wall of flame to shield Sorciera.

“Wow! There’s a side dish too!”

To Tatari, flame was nothing more than food.

In truth, such a wall would be devoured in less than a second.

But an S-Rank wouldn’t miss the opening.

“Dragon Rank Inheritance—Gleipnir!”

A voice rang from behind, and chains coiled around Tatari’s legs.

Even her shadow was bound, halting her movement completely.

With great annoyance, Tatari followed the chain back to find a mechanical dragon and Ryuuko desperately holding it.

“Tatari-chan……! You seriously can’t! Calm down!”

“Ryuuko-chan, let gooo~!”

“Tatari, Sorciera’s an ally. Don’t eat her. Please.”

Hearing that from both front and back, Tatari slumped her shoulders in defeat.

Seeing her like that, Sorciera smiled and stepped past Mizuhi to stand before her.

“Fufu, be satisfied with this for today.”

She said this as she popped a grape-flavored candy into Tatari’s mouth.

“T-This is……!”

Infused with Sorciera’s magic, it was more than enough to satisfy Tatari’s hunger.

Losing all will to fight, Tatari pressed her cheeks with both hands and smiled.

“This smooth and tender mouthfeel……what wonderfully crafted magic. The more I lick it, the more flavor seeps out. It’s rich, yet smooth down the throat with a refreshing aftertaste. This is……top grade~!”

“That’s enough, sit down! Baltius, wrap the chains! Wrap them more—tie her to the chair while you can!”

Tatari, still smiling, was dragged away by Baltius and tied to a chair without resistance.

Even then, she continued to mutter reviews of Sorciera’s magic candy like a delirious food critic.

Mizuhi quickly returned to Tatari’s side.

Naturally, to keep watch.

“Hah, I wanted to see them go at it, though.”

“Haa……Rokuhara-san, you were the only one enjoying it. I was seriously freaking out. Thank you, Mizuhi-chan.”

“It’s fine. I’m grateful too. Sorciera, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Really, you worry too much.”

Sorciera replied, her expression softer than usual.

However, she remained leaning against the wall, not making any move to take a seat.

“What’s wrong, not sitting?”

In response to Mizuhi’s question, Sorciera shrugged.

“I told you, I hate getting chummy.”

■

Rokuhara-san was way too perfect with that assist.

Honestly, when Tatari-chan got ahead of me, I nearly just went home.

『Good for you.』

Yeah!

『But there’s no point in you attending this meeting. Rather than teaming up with the people here, it’s more efficient if we act alone.』

Angel-kun, I’m only here to make a mysterious move.

Not attending the meeting.

『Isn’t that annoying?』

Ignoring always-too-serious Angel-kun, I speak:

“One warning. This is the work of the Fourth Angel.”

All the S-Ranks reacted to that.

“Th-The angel!? I don’t wanna fight that…!”

“Angel…… drool”

“Heh, finally get to play properly with an angel, huh~”

“Hmm. I’ll make sure not to drag everyone down this time.”

As expected of S-Ranks.

They were all motivated.

…Compared to that, Ryuuko! What even are you!

You’re an S-Rank with that super strong Baltius ability!

You’re supposed to escort Touraku-kun to the final boss in the fight against the Calamities!

How will you manage like this! You were way cooler in the original!

『You’re really pushing your subjective impression hard.』

『Sometimes the partner becomes a handful, y’know.』

Not a handful.

It’s called love for the original.

I love you all ♥

And because I love you, I’ll spill some info on this incident ♥

“But this incident’s different from usual angels… I suspect Silver Twilight is involved.”

Behold, the omniscience of someone who’s finished the source material!

『Omniscience?』

Don’t question it.

This incident probably connects to the story where a fake Touraku-kun appeared in the original.

Seeing Touraku-kun grow stronger defeating angels, Silver Twilight judged it dangerous.

So they teamed up with the angels to tarnish the image of Demonsgear users.

Thus was born the fake Touraku-kun. The story follows his escape from the students through Chroma’s school district.

That’s the Chroma arc.

The scene with Mihaya-chan and Touraku-kun watching fireworks at the end was so good…

Everyone had their moment to shine—it was the best.

After that, it’s just painful battles, so it hits even harder…

And the one chosen to negotiate with the angel to create the impostor?

The Conductor.

That’s the mastermind this time! (spoiler)

『But the future you know seems very different. Are you sure it’s the same?』

If it’s a fake incident in Chroma, then probably.

『Shouldn’t you be more certain before sharing info based on vague feelings?』

Shut it.

Anyway, the Conductor! The Conductor is the bad guy!

“Silver Twilight, huh… Not hard to believe. Tatari, you’re my successor. What do you think?”

“I think Silver Twilight’s involved too. Plus, they already have the First Angel. Wouldn’t be strange if they’ve secured the Fourth too. Maybe this incident is just a performance test for the angel.”

Good, let the smart people build the theory…

Thank you, smart people!

『But if you’re wrong, you’ll be super embarrassed.』

It’s fine.

Whoever the culprit turns out to be, I’ll just say, “This is Silver Twilight’s Conductor” and hand them over.

I’ll hand them over after killing them.

Dead men tell no tales!

『…I must say, My Lord. You’re not a good person.』

『What a surprise. Their values only overlap with justice by coincidence. They’re driven entirely by desire.』

Call it being true to my dreams.

“I’ve warned you. The rest is up to you all.”

With that, I activated a teleportation magic circle.

Mysterious beautiful girls don’t attend meetings, and they don’t babble any more than necessary.

Time to vanish into the night~

Let’s go hunt fake ones under the moonlight＾＾

『I want to make an emotionless Sorciera out of sand＾＾』

I told you, no.

『My Lord, staying up late is bad for your health.』

Can you please stop being weird in a completely different direction every time?

“W-Wait, Sorciera—won’t you help us?”

Mizuhi-senpai called out to stop me.

She must see me as a reliable ally.

But! A mysterious beautiful girl doesn’t lend her hand so easily.

“Why would I cooperate?”

“……I see.”

Temporary alliance born of shared interests.

That’s the perfect justification for a mysterious beautiful girl to join the fray.

“Fufu, well then. Next time… let’s meet on the battlefield.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s when I get the main course~!”

“Ah, I’ll pass on that… I’ll give you a soup set instead…”

Ryuuko-chan, isn’t that just leftover collab merch?

I want to shout a huge retort, but mysterious beautiful girls don’t do that.

That’s only for character-breaking 4-koma manga spin-offs.

『Soft-drawn Sorciera. So cute＾＾』

『Requesting a loli-episode.』

No, stop.

With magic wings fluttering wastefully, I vanished from the scene.