Inside Lily's bedroom, Saito looked around curiously.
"So..."
"This is a girl's bedroom."
Lily glanced at him while folding her clothes and placing them into the shelves.
"Yeah."
"It's a little messy."
Saito quickly shook his head.
"No, no."
"I don't mind."
Lily nodded.
"Okay."
She finished putting away her clothes and turned toward him.
"Now..."
"About the question I wanted to ask."
Saito sat down.
"Okay."
Lily looked at him seriously.
"You have a God Eye, right?"
Saito paused.
"...That's it?"
Lily nodded.
"That's it."
Saito sighed in relief.
"Well..."
"I thought it was going to be something else."
Lily tilted her head.
"What do you mean by 'something else'?"
Saito immediately looked away.
"Nothing."
Lily narrowed her eyes.
"Uh-huh."
Saito quickly changed the subject.
"So..."
"What about yours?"
Lily blinked.
"Mine?"
Saito nodded.
"You said you have something strange with your eyes too."
Lily nodded.
"Your God Eye is Seraph, right?"
Saito nodded.
"Yep."
Lily hesitated.
"Actually..."
"I think something strange is happening with my eyes too."
Saito became interested.
"What kind of strange?"
"Last night, I looked at myself in the mirror..."
"And I saw something different."
Saito leaned forward.
"Oh?"
"Can I see it?"
Lily looked uncertain.
"I don't know..."
"If it will come out again."
Saito smiled.
"Well..."
"Let's find out."
Lily took a breath and looked toward the mirror.
"Alright."
She stared at her reflection.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A faint glow began to appear in her eyes.
Saito's expression changed.
"Whoa..."
Lily's eyes widened.
"Wait..."
"It's happening again."
Saito stared at Lily's glowing eyes.
"Oh..."
"So this is—"
Suddenly—
WHOOSH!
Lily's sword flew off the nearby rack and shot straight toward Saito.
"Whoa!"
Saito quickly ducked.
SHING!
The sword flew past his head and slammed into the wall.
THUD!
Saito froze.
A cloud of dust fell from the wall.
He slowly looked at the sword.
"...Okay."
He coughed as the dust filled the room.
"Cough... cough..."
Lily immediately covered her mouth.
"Sorry!"
"I can't control it yet!"
Saito waved the dust away.
"It's fine..."
He looked at her glowing eyes again.
"Wait."
"That's Shin-Ken."
Lily blinked.
"Shin-Ken?"
Saito nodded.
"Just like Hashima's."
Lily looked at her reflection.
"But..."
"I thought only Hashima's bloodline could have it."
Saito scratched his head.
"Yeah..."
"That's what I thought too."
He glanced at the sword embedded in the wall.
"But maybe it isn't always about blood."
Lily tilted her head.
"What do you mean?"
Saito thought for a moment.
"Maybe it depends on the situation."
"The way you use your sword..."
"You've probably been connected to Shin-Ken's power for a long time."
He pointed toward her.
"And you're also really close to Hashima."
"Maybe somehow..."
"That power transferred to you."
Lily stared at her glowing eyes.
"So..."
"I somehow inherited Shin-Ken?"
Saito shrugged.
"Something like that."
Lily looked at her sword stuck in the wall.
"...Can you get that out?"
Saito stared at it.
"You threw it."
Lily smiled awkwardly.
"I know."
Saito sighed.
"Alright."
He walked toward the sword.
"But next time..."
"Please warn me before your sword tries to kill me."
Lily laughed.
"I'll try."
Saito pulled the sword free.
"...Good."
"Because I like having my head attached."
The sudden knock on the door made both Saito and Lily freeze.
Knock! Knock!
A maid's voice came from the other side.
"Miss Lily?"
"Is everything alright in there?"
Lily glanced at Saito, then at the sword in his hand.
"Yes! Yes!"
"Everything's fine!"
There was a brief silence.
The maid hesitated.
"Oh, alright."
"But please keep the noise down."
"The guest has already arrived."
Lily's eyes widened.
"Oh!"
"Father's guest?"
She quickly looked at Saito.
"We'll be out there!"
The maid replied from the hallway.
"Alright."
Her footsteps slowly faded away.
Saito looked at Lily.
"...That was close."
Lily sighed in relief.
"Yeah."
She glanced at the sword.
"Maybe we should clean this up before anyone sees it."
Saito looked at the damaged wall.
"Definitely."
He pointed at it.
"Especially that."
Lily gave an awkward smile.
"...I'll deal with that later."
Saito sighed.
"Somehow, I feel like 'later' is going to become 'never.'"
Lily laughed.
"Come on."
"Let's go see who the guest is."
She opened the door, and the two stepped into the hallway.
The moment Saito and Lily stepped back into the main room, the atmosphere immediately felt wrong.
Kaito had already drawn his knife.
Alya stood behind Fanny, keeping a careful eye on the stranger.
Bomb had one hand near his grenade.
Rin looked toward Saito.
"Saito..."
"Looks like we have a little problem here."
Saito blinked.
"What?"
He looked ahead.
A man wearing a crisp white uniform stood in the middle of the room, his expression completely serious.
Lily's eyes widened.
"Wait..."
"Lieutenant Oswald?"
Oswald turned toward her.
"Lily."
The Blue Scarf crew exchanged glances.
Oswald looked around the room.
"Like I said..."
"Where is Hashima, the Blue Fox?"
"He said he wanted to have a conversation with me."
Oswald's expression hardened.
"If he's wasting my time..."
"I'll arrest every one of you."
Saito raised an eyebrow.
"Wait."
"Why is the police here?"
Lily looked confused.
"I don't know."
"Dad just invited him."
Oswald turned toward Lily.
"You're his daughter, correct?"
"Then tell me where your father is."
Lily frowned.
"He left to meet the village mayor."
Oswald sighed.
"Of course."
He then looked toward Saito.
His expression immediately became more serious.
"Oh..."
"Blue Scarf."
Saito pointed at himself.
"Yep."
Oswald narrowed his eyes.
"You know the headquarters has already discussed arresting you."
Saito's smile disappeared slightly.
"For what?"
"Your incident in Feerus City involving Sector X."
Saito crossed his arms.
"Well..."
"You're not going to arrest me that quickly."
Oswald gave him a cold stare.
"We'll see about that."
Rin immediately stepped forward.
"Woah, woah!"
"Stand right there, pal."
Oswald slowly looked toward him.
"Alright then."
The room became completely silent.
Kaito tightened his grip on his knife.
Bomb slowly pulled his grenade free.
Alya remained behind Fanny.
Saito sighed.
"...This vacation is getting complicated."
Lily looked around the room.
"How about we all take a seat until my father returns?"
Oswald considered it briefly.
"Very well."
He took his seat calmly.
Saito glanced at his team and gave a subtle signal.
"Stand down."
Kaito slowly sheathed his knife.
Bomb lowered his grenade.
Rin lowered his scythe.
Alya stepped out from behind Fanny.
The group sat down, though everyone remained vigilant.
Lily took a seat beside Oswald.
"I honestly wasn't aware my father was going to invite the second-highest-ranking official in the police."
Saito looked at her.
"Second?"
Lily nodded.
"Yes."
"A Lieutenant is the second-highest rank in the police force."
"They are responsible for leading operations to apprehend high-risk criminals."
She paused.
"And when a target is classified as high-level, a Lieutenant may personally participate in the operation."
Saito raised an eyebrow.
"So you're essentially an authority figure within the police?"
Oswald glanced at him.
"That is one way to put it."
Lily continued.
"Above the Lieutenants are the Royal Generals."
Saito nodded.
"Understood."
"So you report to a General?"
Oswald nodded.
"Yes."
"But our police force does not serve a single city."
"We serve the kingdoms."
He folded his arms.
"Whenever a king requests assistance, our General can deploy police forces to protect that kingdom or respond to major threats."
Saito nodded slowly.
"I see."
"So the police aren't controlled by individual gangs or cities."
Oswald shook his head.
"No."
"We answer to the kingdoms."
Saito leaned back.
"That explains why someone like you can appear anywhere."
Oswald remained expressionless.
"Exactly."
Bomb whispered to Rin.
"Still sounds like an overlord to me."
Rin quietly nodded.
"Same."
Oswald's eyes shifted toward them.
"I can hear you."
Bomb immediately looked away.
"…I didn't say anything."
Saito sighed.
"This is going to be a long conversation."