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“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Alma. I brought Piisuke.”

In Alma’s office, Mira sat down on the couch while telling her that.

Alma had been waiting for that all morning, so she quickly threw her papers aside and ran up to Mira.

“Thank you, Grandpa. So… Where is…Piisuke?”

Once close, Alma tilted her head in confusion.

She knew what Piisuke looked like, a brilliant and elegant suzaku, with a very particular look, which proved just how skilled of an onmyoji master Kagura was. Alma could recognize it instantly, but there was no such bird near Mira.

Her eyes moved around aimlessly, eventually noticing Mira’s head.

“Huh? Wait, is that…”

A small and plump red sparrow was sitting on Mira’s head, which had not been there when Alma saw Mira earlier in the morning. Trying to understand what she was seeing, she moved closer.

‘Alma, it’s nice to see you again!’ a voice suddenly came from Piisuke.

Alma yelped as she jumped back, startled by that voice. The last thing she had been expecting was to hear the bird speak.

“So yes, this is Piisuke, and that was Kagura speaking through Piisuke.”

Smiling teasingly, Mira lowered Piisuke to the sofa, where the shikigami began to shake a little and then grew to its full suzaku appearance.

“Woah, that shocked me… I didn’t know onmyoji masters could do this too.”

There was no doubt left that this was Piisuke, looking like a completely different entity to the small bird from earlier. And that was not the end of the surprises, as Piisuke began to glow.

“Huh? What’s happening now?!”

Alma’s eyes filled with anticipation as she watched. The light became so bright that it blinded them for a moment, and when they could see again, Kagura was standing there, her hands up in the air as she exclaimed, “Ta-da!”

“Ah, Kagura! I’ve missed you so much!”

Seeing an old friend was far more impactful than the transformation, as Alma lunged forward, tackling Kagura.

“Whawe?! Wait!”

That resulted with both of them falling down violently on the couch, which did not bother or stop Alma in the slightest as she tightly embraced Kagura.

It did not take long after that for Kagura to give up on resisting, as there was little she could do with Alma straddling her from above.

“Oh yes…that’s nice, really nice.”

Watching the close relationship between two girls was truly a sight to behold, as Mira grinned watching their reencounter.

***

“…And that’s where your help would come in handy, Kagura. Can you help us?”

Once Alma calmed down, they explained the situation to Kagura.

Alma mentioned the large criminal organization Ira Muerte, as well as Jorg, the member they had captured, and how they had failed to get any usable information out of him no matter what they tried.

“I was wondering what Grandpa’s message was about when I heard it, now it all makes sense. Ira Muerte is a name I’ve heard a few times too, my spies mentioned they had some involvement with Chimera as well.”

With everyone on the same page, Kagura replied with interest, and a bit of intrigue.

“I would’ve never expected that you were looking into them as well, Alma. I had heard that things were getting unstable for them lately, and now I understand why.”

The Fifty Bells were also spread across the continent with a strong information network, so Kagura not only knew about Ira Muerte, but had a grasp on their internal affairs. She knew they had been suffering various losses recently, creating the perfect opening to attack.

“Yes, I’ll happily help out with anything that you need. We’ve also gathered some information that might be of use, so I’ll bring that over when I can.”

Kagura was more than willing to help them, and not just with the interrogation, but with anything else that could be needed. Partly because of her sense of justice, and mostly because Ira Muerte was a known collaborator of Chimera Clauzen.

The Fifty Bells had continued chasing after the remnants of Chimera Clauzen, while investigating all the organizations that had ties to them. Ira Muerte came up time and time again, but they were quite resilient, making it difficult to investigate them.

Almost by a stroke of luck, Alma’s request turned out to be exactly what Kagura needed all that time.

“Thank you, Kagura!”

Regardless of the reasons why, Alma was delighted to hear Kagura’s response and once again tackled her with a hug. Mira once again watched them with a smile.

(And that’s another accomplishment in my name.)

The capture of Jorg and Kagura’s arrival only happened because of Mira, and that had resulted in Nirvana and the Fifty Bells forming an alliance.

Mira realized that Alma owed her a lot now, so she began to think of ways to use that to her advantage, like arranging an intermission during the most exciting moment of the tournament, to perform a demonstration of summoning.

With Kagura there, only one step remained between them and Jorg’s interrogation, for which the three of them visited the palace’s tearoom.

“It’s finally time, Noin.”

They were there to find Noin, who sat with some tea and snacks on a table, reading a comic book. He had been taking it quite easy while he waited for his next mission, after being discharged from being the oracle’s bodyguard.

“Ah, Alma, good job as usual.”

He turned around as he replied, his face contorting quizzically as soon as he noticed Mira was also there, only to be overtaken by surprise when he also saw Kagura there, jumping on his feet as he exclaimed, “Woah! Is that you Kagura?!”

“It’s been a while, Noin.”

Hearing her voice, Noin looked rather reassured as he smiled at her.

“Yes, it has been. I’m glad we could meet again.”

Thirty years had passed since the last time they had seen each other, but seeing that Kagura had not changed in that time filled him with delight and old memories, even as he constantly fought his instincts that drew him to look at Mira.

With Noin joining them, the four of them finally headed to their main destination.