"...Met before?"
Rozen's words not only stunned Yukina but also made Yuiri and Shio's hearts race.
Because they were overwhelmed by the unexpected honor.
"I... I don't think we've met before?"
Yuiri timidly responded.
"I think so too..."
Shio tried to appear calm but couldn't hide her stiffened posture.
Faced with Rozen's puzzled expression and his scrutinizing gaze, the two girls felt somewhat intimidated.
They were certain they had never met Rozen before.
Yet, Rozen spoke as if he recognized them—was there some deeper meaning to this?
Needless to say, both Yuiri and Shio were overthinking it.
No, it wasn't just them—even Yukina seemed to be reading too much into it.
"Senpai." Yukina said with a hint of disdain, "That's a very outdated way of hitting on someone, you know?"
This girl actually thought Rozen was trying to flirt.
"Who's hitting on anyone?" Rozen retorted impatiently. "I genuinely feel like I've heard their names before, and their faces seem familiar too."
But Rozen couldn't quite recall where.
For him, this was quite unusual.
After all, Rozen had immense confidence in his memory, especially after the sublimation of Foreign Mana and acquiring abilities like Virtual Ether, Thought Acceleration, and Thought Partitioning. He could remember even vast amounts of knowledge without a single omission. Forgetting something was truly rare for him.
Yukina voiced the same thought.
"The number of people from the Lion King Agency you've met should be very limited, Senpai. Apart from me, Sayaka, Koyomi-sama, and Master, today is the first time you've met Kuraki-sama, Yuiri, and the others. How could you possibly know—"
Before she could finish, Rozen abruptly cut her off.
"I remember now!"
Rozen suddenly exclaimed, as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head.
"That's right—your mentor, Endo Yukari. Back at the Lion King Agency's branch on Itogami Island, when we first met and she had me choose a watcher, the list she showed me included these two girls."
Exactly.
Not long after Rozen had sealed the Original, he encountered Yukina and uncovered the Lion King Agency's surveillance, resisting their approach. At the time, Yukina took Rozen to the Lion King Agency's branch on Itogami Island, where he met Yukari Endo.
Back then, to persuade Rozen to accept the Lion King Agency's surveillance, Yukari had presented a list of candidates for watchers, allowing Rozen to choose.
That list included Yuiri and Shio.
Rozen vaguely remembered Yukari's words at the time:
"Take a look at this girl, Haba Yuiri. She's a prodigy whose skills rival Yukina's, though she's a bit timid. But she hides a great figure. And this one, Hikawa Shio—she's got a cold personality but is surprisingly easy to trick. Just throw something romantic her way, and she'll be completely fooled. And then there's this one, Kirasaka Sayaka, the one who took Yukina's photos. Her looks and figure are flawless, but her personality's a bit tough. Though if you have particular tastes, she might be the one for you."
Those were Yukari's exact words.
In other words, setting aside Kirasaka Sayaka for now, the Haba Yuiri and Hikawa Shio mentioned back then were standing right in front of him?
The former was a prodigy whose skills rivaled Yukina's, a bit timid but hiding a great figure?
The latter had a cold personality but was surprisingly easy to trick, easily swept off her feet by something romantic?
Were these the two girls in question?
Rozen's gaze turned somewhat peculiar as he looked at Yuiri and Shio.
Yuiri and Shio immediately felt extremely uncomfortable.
(Somehow... it feels like his gaze can see through my clothes...)
Yuiri's face turned bright red.
(Somehow... it feels like his gaze is looking at an idiot...)
Shio was left speechless.
The two girls grew increasingly uneasy.
Honestly, this was a development they had never anticipated.
Yukina, too, seemed to recall that incident, her face flushing as well.
After all, back then, Yukari had also exposed Yukina's embarrassing childhood photos to Rozen.
The photos showed Yukina wearing practically nothing.
(Senpai couldn't possibly be remembering that, right...?)
Yukina stole a glance at Rozen, her mind racing.
Meanwhile, watching the three girls—one blushing, the others silent—Rozen raised an eyebrow, utterly baffled.
(What on earth are these girls thinking about?)
Rozen had a vague sense that something he didn't understand was happening.
But he didn't dwell on it.
"Yuiri and Shio, right?"
Rozen addressed Yuiri and Shio.
"As you can see, Yukina and I are planning to search for that dragon. What are your plans?"
Rozen cut straight to the point.
This made Yuiri and Shio snap back to reality, exchanging glances.
Then, as if reaching a decision, Shio spoke on their behalf.
"We plan to split up—one of us will stay here, while the other will join you in searching for the dragon at the bottom of Shinjin Lake."
This didn't surprise Rozen.
The Lion King Agency undoubtedly had many tasks at hand.
One of them was undoubtedly investigating the dragon at the bottom of Shinjin Lake to uncover the truth.
That was a relic of Holy Annihilation—something even Vatler and Iblisveil Aziz couldn't ignore. Naturally, the nation itself and the Lion King Agency wouldn't let it slip away either.
Moreover, if this relic of Holy Annihilation could bring about a great calamity, then as a national special agency, the Lion King Agency would need to resolve the issue. Logically, they wouldn't abandon the pursuit of the dragon.
Given that, the decision for one girl to stay behind while the other searched for the dragon wasn't hard to predict.
Rozen could even guess what would come next.
For example—
"Then, would you like to come with us?"
Yukina extended an invitation to Yuiri and Shio.
"R-Really? Yukina?"
Yuiri was both surprised and uneasy.
"Of course. Traveling together means we can watch out for each other."
Yukina smiled warmly, her kindness once again overwhelming Yuiri and Shio.
"B-But..."
Yuiri glanced hesitantly at Rozen.
No doubt, she still harbored reservations about him.
Rozen, however, was completely indifferent.
His impression of Yuiri and Shio wasn't particularly negative.
After all, Rozen already understood that girls like Yukina, Sayaka, Yuiri, and Shio were merely tools raised by the Lion King Agency. They were simply following orders, with no fault of their own.
Thus—
"If you want to come along, then come."
Rozen responded nonchalantly.
Yuiri and Shio could only nod meekly, not daring to say more.