0003 - The pretty crow

"So, do you have a plan to find out who the intruder is, Rias?"

"No, but I'm sure he'll leave his trace again soon."

"And when that happens, I won't let it slip by."

Rias then used magic to erase the memory of the unconscious woman. After cleaning up the location, the two of them left using some kind of teleportation magic.

...

Haruka arrived in front of his apartment. One of his eyebrows raised when he detected someone familiar nearby. He glanced up at a building across the street.

"She is still here."

"This pretty crow is still observing my apartment."

"She's been watching my apartment since morning and doesn't dare to approach."

"Should I initiate contact?"

"Besides, she also has something that should be mine, Haruka."

Haruka then entered his apartment casually, slowly deactivating all the formation techniques in his body, including the one that prevented others from focusing on him.

…

one hour ago.

Fallen Angels, angels who couldn't control their desires and fell. Their once shining white wings turned black with a dark aura. Their bodies also changed; all beautiful female angels, when they fell, transformed into sexy women who were very tempting to the opposite sex.

On top of a building, sitting in a resting place resembling a gazebo, a sexy fallen angel in a black bikini observed the target's house.

"Why isn't he returning home?"

…

Yesterday

Raynare, the fallen angel who killed the original Haruka the previous night, felt a bit uneasy. When she returned to her base in a hurry, disappointed with the sacred gear she obtained, she felt an energy explosion from the location of her target's corpse. She rushed back to the scene only to find an alley strewn with scattered items. There was no sign of Haruka's body, not even a trace of blood from where he had fallen.

Before Raynare could investigate further, the devils who held power in the city approached. She didn't want her presence to be detected by them, so she left.

Without enough clues, Raynare decided to check Haruka's house. How surprised she was when she arrived there. Raynare saw Haruka relaxing on the balcony of his apartment, enjoying cup ramen in his hand. It was as if the incident where Raynare stabbed him with a spear of light never happened.

As she was about to approach, she suddenly stopped because she saw Haruka's eyes focused on her. Haruka then made a hand gesture, causing a barrier to form around his apartment.

Raynare quickly left using teleportation. She could feel that the barrier was strong, even potentially causing severe harm if she touched it.

Raynare was confused about what had just happened. The target she thought was just an ordinary human she could easily handle suddenly became a formidable figure after she killed him.

"Did he intentionally let me kill him, or was he replaced by someone else as a decoy?"

"But the Sacred Gear on my device showed a reaction near him."

In the end, she decided to gather more information by observing Haruka's residence. However, this time, she would use magic to hide and observe from a distance.

Before sunrise, Raynare hid in one of the buildings across from Haruka's apartment, using several layers of hiding magic. There wasn't much movement in Haruka's house for several tens of minutes until the sun finally rose.

Haruka went out to the balcony, holding cup ramen in his hand. He looked at the sky from right to left, suddenly smiled, and nodded.

Raynare, who saw this, panicked a bit, thinking Haruka had noticed her. However, the panic slowly faded as Haruka sat calmly and started eating cup ramen, just like the day before.

"Phew, I thought he noticed me."

"The barrier around his apartment is still as strong as yesterday; I can't approach him discreetly."

"I'll wait until he comes out of the barrier again."

Raynare continued to observe Haruka, who was enjoying cup ramen while looking at the sky.

"What is he doing?"

Of course, she couldn't see the formation techniques Haruka was using. In fact, Raynare shouldn't be able to see Haruka's movements if not permitted by Haruka himself.

"Oh, it seems he's about to move."

Seeing Haruka stretching on the balcony railing, Raynare prepared to follow him from behind. She was a little surprised when Haruka suddenly disappeared from the balcony.

"Eh, where did he go?"

For a moment, Raynare looked around and finally found that Haruka was already in front of his apartment.

"Since when has he been there?"

Haruka started jogging on the pavement. Raynare then tried to follow him. Half an hour passed without realizing it, and the same thing continued.

"Where is he? Oh, there."

Raynare somehow always lost sight of Haruka when something obstructed her view for a moment. Even blinking made Haruka's position seem to change.

"Ugh, this is annoying."

"I'd better proceed with my plan to approach Hyoudou Issei first."

Raynare finally gave up following Haruka and went to execute her plan.

"I'll go back to observe his house at night; he should be home by then."

"I'll intercept him before he enters the barrier again."

...

Day passed, and night came. back to the present just a moment before Haruka comes back.

Raynare returned to her position to observe the movements around Haruka's apartment. However, until eight o'clock at night, there was still no sign of movement.

"Is he already inside the barrier or not?"

As she observed the apartment, suddenly, Haruka's figure appeared, walking leisurely toward the entrance.

"What? When did he get there?"

Raynare became frustrated, seeing her prey slipping away.

"Should I call for help with this?"

After a few moments of contemplation, she thought of calling her subordinates. Taking out a communication device, she called her friends.

"Kalawarna, Mittlet, come to these coordinates; I need assistance."

"Forget about that lecherous guy; we can deal with him tomorrow."

"Yes, come here immediately and don't forget to use concealment magic when you come."

Raynare then put away her communication device. She continued to observe Haruka's apartment until she heard a voice next to her.

"Aren't you cold wearing clothes like that outside in the middle of the night?"

Raynare was startled and wanted to get up to create a safe distance. However, her movements stopped because her body felt pressed by something, as if the air suddenly became heavy, forcing her to kneel. She then tried to look in the direction of the voice next to her. Her eyes widened as she found Haruka sitting next to her, holding cup ramen in both hands.

Haruka offered one cup of ramen in his hand, smiling.

"Here, eat this to warm yourself up."

The smile on Haruka's face should have enchanted a woman, but it made Raynare panic.

Raynare reflexively reached out to accept the cup of ramen with trembling hands. She felt as if she held the hand of death and could only bow down to look at the noodles in the cup.

"Don't hesitate, just eat the ramen."

Without waiting for Raynare's response, Haruka began to eat the ramen he brought. Meanwhile, the sexy woman with two black wings wearing a black bikini beside her remained silent.

Soon, two magic circles formed beside the gazebo where they sat.

Haruka looked to the side and smiled at Raynare.

"It seems I need to prepare two more cups of ramen, huh?"

Raynare began to regret calling her subordinates.