"Shirone, hold on tight. We're heading out to catch a certain stray cat."
It had to be Patchouli, the all-purpose Patchi!
Even in a world with such overwhelming power levels and countless systems, even when the target to be tracked was a teammate of the White Dragon Emperor, Patchouli handled it with ease.
She directly pinpointed Kuroka's location, and Kuroka didn't notice a thing.
"W-wait a minute—"
A trace of panic appeared on Shirone's little face.
She was both nervous about meeting her sister and troubled by something else.
"President Rias... shouldn't we tell her and the others before we go?"
"Mm... there's no need for that."
Zeroy thought for a moment and shook her head.
"It may sound rude, but if we bring them along, they'll just become a burden. I can't guarantee I'll be able to protect them in such a chaotic situation."
In Vali's team, Kuroka was the weakest one. Anyhow, even Kuroka was a high-class devil on Rias's level, and if they fought, the outcome wouldn't be certain.
"Then... at least let's inform the President, otherwise they might misunderstand..."
"Hmm... that's something to consider. Even though we'll be back soon, and they probably won't even realize we were gone for a bit, if they did find out, it wouldn't be good if it caused a misunderstanding..."
After pondering for a while, Zeroy reluctantly admitted she really couldn't just take Shirone and run off to find Kuroka.
No matter what, they had to let Rias know.
After all, Rias cherished her followers deeply. For her family line, followers were treated as family.
In a sense, Rias was Shirone's guardian now.
Taking someone's child away on a dangerous trip meant, of course, telling the guardian first.
"Alright then, let's go find Rias and the others."
Of course, she didn't absolutely need to take Shirone with her. If Rias truly didn't trust her, she could just go find Kuroka and Vali's team alone.
Zeroy was only hoping that while finding sparring partners, she could also help the two sisters reunite.
Oh, and hopefully Kuroka hadn't harmed any innocents.
Rias Gremory's mansion in Kuoh Town—
Zeroy brought Shirone and explained her intentions.
After thinking it through, Rias chose to believe her, but expressed that she wanted to accompany them with her followers.
Zeroy gave her answer.
"No. I can't protect that many people."
If Patchouli came along, then maybe.
Patchouli could help protect the others.
Albeit Patchouli was currently at the hotel studying Sacred Gears, and Zeroy didn't want to bother her over something so minor.
"If you really can't feel at ease, I can leave Shirone here. I'll bring Kuroka back, and the result will be the same."
"..."
Rias thought silently, staring into Zeroy's eyes.
Zeroy, without pretense or mystery, only blinked at her helplessly.
As if to say, [What are you looking at me for? I don't care, just choose however you like.]
Rias then turned her gaze to Shirone, who had her head lowered.
"Kitten, what do you think?"
"President..."
Toujou Koneko bit her lip and made a difficult choice.
"We... shouldn't go together."
No one knew if this was a trap, or what might happen once they arrived.
If it meant Rias had to risk herself, if it meant choosing between Rias and her sister—
Then Toujou Koneko... she chose Rias. She would only choose Rias.
It was Rias who had saved her after her sister abandoned her, who had always cared for her, giving her the warmth of family.
She couldn't let Rias face this risk.
She wanted to go with Zeroy herself. If anything happened to her, it was fine.
Anyway, she knew, with Rias's nature of treating her followers like family, if there was any risk, Rias would never let her go alone.
If she insisted on going, that would only force Rias into danger as well.
"..."
Rias thought for a bit more, then quickly made her decision.
"I'll go with Koneko. Is that acceptable, Miss Zeroy?"
"Two people is fine."
After the decision was made, no one tried to dissuade Rias.
Not because they weren't worried about her, but because Rias exchanged a few looks with them that said enough.
And Rias's choice wasn't a rash one. She had weighed it carefully, bringing along powerful tools her brother had given her, and making sure her followers were prepared.
It wasn't just for Koneko's sake, either. Part of it was a gamble.
If she won, she'd earn the trust of this powerful stranger, Zeroy, and resolve her follower's emotional turmoil.
If she lost, if it turned out to be a trap for her, then instead of waiting helplessly, she'd take the initiative and step into the game herself.
Simply refusing would only make things awkward and more complicated.
"Hold on tight. We're jumping."
Vali and his team were currently in Europe, quite a distance from Japan.
But Zeroy didn't need Patchouli's help. She could use her own Drop Machine—that is, a multipurpose combat aircraft teleportation device.
Once the two clung tightly to her, Zeroy opened the portal beneath her feet.
The three of them fell together.
When they reappeared, they were high above somewhere in Europe.
Falling through the sky, Zeroy quickly noticed a black figure below, lying on the grass under the moonlight.
"That's... sister!"
Toujou Shirone immediately recognized her.
Down below, Kuroka also sensed the anomaly above her.
At the same time, several of her teammates raised their heads as well.
After spotting Kuroka, Zeroy immediately scanned the surroundings.
Besides Kuroka, there were several figures present. They weren't right at her side; that said, even the nearest was only a few hundred meters away, the farthest about two kilometers.
In any case, for fighters of their level, that distance meant nothing.
It might as well be right beside her.
"Looks like luck isn't on our side."
If Kuroka had been alone, Zeroy planned to knock her out immediately, then send her away with Shirone and the others.
With her teammates gone, Zeroy could have stayed behind to fight Vali and the rest.
Regardless, now, that was impossible.
They had already been spotted before even landing. They'd probably be attacked before touching the ground.
Still, it didn't make much difference.
Beating everyone present, then taking Kuroka, worked just as well—and it would let Shirone and Kuroka clear things up on the spot.
...
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