That day, Yukinoshita Yukino took her family's private car to Sobu High School.
Since it was just the beginning of the school year, her mother and sister were also in the car besides her.
However, on the way to Sobu High School, a dog suddenly ran out and blocked their car.
Coincidentally, at that moment, a boy also rushed out, hugged the dog, and shielded it in his arms.
At that time, everyone panicked, whether it was the people in the car, the person blocking the car, or the person who failed to hold the dog's leash, causing all this to happen.
If no accident occurred, a car accident would ensue.
The moment she realized this, a strong emotion erupted in Yukinoshita Yukino's heart.
Immediately after... something incredible happened.
Yukinoshita Yukino could never forget what happened on that day, at that moment.
At first, a whistling wind entered her ears, as if a strong, powerful gale was blowing from beyond the sky.
Then, the temperature plummeted, as if suddenly transitioning from a scorching summer to a cold winter, causing white mist to rise.
Following that was a series of jarring 'crunching' sounds, as if something was solidifying.
By the time these strange phenomena disappeared, Yukinoshita Yukino realized that her mother and sister beside her were hugging their arms, sitting there shivering, extremely cold. Her private car had also stopped at some point, less than a meter away from the boy who was blocking the car, making the look of terror on his face particularly obvious.
The other party was also shivering from the cold, with frost on his eyebrows and eyes. It was said that he later missed the opening ceremony, and his reason for absence was a severe cold.
As for the car that suddenly stopped, its tires had fused with the ground, frozen into a solid mass of ice.
In addition, the entire street they were on showed varying degrees of freezing, including the road surface, streetlights, and buildings on both sides of the road, all covered with scattered ice and snow.
As for everyone present, they all fell ill afterward, some even suffering from frostbite. Only Yukinoshita Yukino was unharmed, standing there at a loss.
This strange phenomenon troubled Yukinoshita Yukino for a while, until later, when surveillance footage was retrieved, people discovered that a freezing wind had suddenly blown down from the sky, causing this scene.
This incident was considered a manifestation of the increasingly frequent extreme weather in recent years, a pure accident and coincidence. Only then did Yukinoshita Yukino gradually let go of the matter and stop paying attention to it.
Now, Leo deliberately brought up this matter, making Yukinoshita Yukino instantly think of an incredible possibility.
"Are you saying that everything that happened then was caused by me?"
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Leo with a look of disbelief.
"Don't doubt it, you caused it." Leo didn't allow Yukinoshita Yukino to entertain any illusions, stating bluntly, "I was at Sobu High School at the time, not far from the scene, so I can tell you responsibly that it was a situation you caused."
"Although I didn't witness it firsthand, I truly felt a powerful force emerge at your location at that moment."
"That day, perhaps due to your overly agitated emotions, you awakened the Sacred Gear residing within you for the first time, causing its power to erupt."
"At the same time, it was also on that day that the three major factions noticed the anomaly here and discovered the existence of the Sacred Gear within you."
This is why Leo set Yukinoshita Yukino as his primary target, wanting her to become his first Retainer.
For this, he secretly helped Yukinoshita Yukino resolve some troubles; otherwise, the Church personnel stationed nearby would have already come knocking and begun to approach Yukinoshita Yukino.
Compared to him and the Church, the Fallen Angel's actions were slow. After all, Chiba Prefecture was not the Fallen Angel's territory. Even if they had noticed something and wanted to take action, it would require some time.
Unexpectedly, the other party, who had been inactive, actually moved to directly take Yukinoshita Yukino's life.
"You're also unlucky; you encountered the faction that reacts most strongly to Sacred Gear wielders."
Leo continued to stir the black tea in front of him with a spoon, pouting under Yukinoshita Yukino's dazed gaze.
"The Fallen Angels are the most researched, most concerned, and most valued faction regarding Sacred Gears among the three major forces. They even established a central organization—the 'Child of God Monitors'—whose duty is to specifically research Sacred Gears, find existing Sacred Gear wielders, and monitor or recruit them. If they believe the wielder will cause harmful effects, they will send people to eliminate them."
Upon hearing this, Yukinoshita Yukino's hands involuntarily clenched.
"Is that why I encountered such a thing?" Yukinoshita Yukino said, biting her lip, "By what right do they unilaterally deem others harmful and dangerous?"
"Are you not?" Leo stopped his hand movements, narrowing his eyes, and said, "Think carefully, if the Sacred Gear that awakened within you that day had exerted a little more power, what would have been the result?"
"Would your mother and sister sitting beside you have merely shivered from the cold? Would the people on that street have only caught colds and suffered frostbite?"
"More seriously, if the temperature that day had been even lower, and that freezing wind even stronger, would that street have only developed varying degrees of ice?"
"Would it be possible that the people around you and the street itself would have been frozen solid, beyond salvation?"
At these words, Yukinoshita Yukino's heart suddenly trembled, and her face turned pale.
"Such a thing..."
She really wanted to say, how could such a thing happen?
"It can, you know." Leo, however, ruthlessly shattered her illusion and revealed the reality, saying, "If the Sacred Gear residing within you is indeed the one I know, then I can only tell you that all of this is possible, and the probability is quite high."
"If the true power of that Sacred Gear within you were fully unleashed, pushed to its extreme, then even completely freezing a small country would be achievable, let alone a mere street."
"Now, please tell me, are you truly a dangerous element?"
Leo's words plunged Yukinoshita Yukino into complete silence.
"So, everything I've encountered is just inevitable?"
Yukinoshita Yukino mocked herself with a somber expression.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Leo's tone suddenly shifted.
"No, just as I said, you're just unlucky." Leo spread his hands and said, "Sacred Gears more dangerous than the one within you exist in this world. The three factions—devils, angels, and Fallen Angels—while wary of this power, also crave it to use for themselves to strengthen their own abilities."
"For example, the Child of God Monitors I just mentioned, their regard for Sacred Gear wielders far exceeds your imagination. Their Governor is an avid researcher of Sacred Gears, and for this, he has provided refuge for many dangerous Sacred Gear wielders, consistently teaching them to control their Sacred Gears and master their own power."
"I guess that Lord Governor probably didn't directly issue an order to eliminate you, but rather instructed the operatives sent here to temporarily observe and monitor you, and only eliminate you once signs of you losing control are confirmed, right?"
At this point, Leo let out a mocking laugh.
"Unfortunately, this instruction was passed down layer by layer, and it ended up reaching an idiot who views humans as lowly, inferior creatures, and genuinely despises all races other than Fallen Angels. As a result, this person disdained to secretly observe a human, and even less wanted to stay in a place where Church personnel could appear at any moment. That's why he simply decided to deal with you directly, once and for all, saving time, effort, and worry."
Hearing this, Yukinoshita Yukino remembered an important matter.
"What about that person?" Yukinoshita Yukino quickly asked, "Where is he now?"
"Him?" Leo smiled, a smile utterly devoid of warmth, and said, "He certainly won't be in Heaven, nor in Hell. If there's any of his soul left, he should be waiting for reincarnation, striving to be a good person in his next life, perhaps?"
Yukinoshita Yukino understood what these words meant.
"You... you killed him?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's gaze towards Leo also became complicated.
"Do you think he shouldn't have been killed?" Leo looked directly at Yukinoshita Yukino, smiling meaningfully, "Or do you think I'm too cruel?"
Yukinoshita Yukino remained silent.
Although she was the daughter of a prominent family in Chiba Prefecture, in the world she had lived in before, she had never encountered such a thing where killing could be casually spoken of and acted upon.
Her former self would have certainly thought this was wrong; even if the other party was a murderer, they should be handed over to the law for judgment.
But she wasn't foolish; she knew that the world she was now in was no longer a place where human laws could govern.
So, Yukinoshita Yukino asked another question.
"Are you... really a devil?"
After a day, this question, which she had considered meaningless, was finally posed.
And this time, the smile on Leo's face was no longer devoid of emotion; it became profound and intense.
The next second, three pairs of devil wings unfurled behind Leo, under the trembling gaze of Yukinoshita Yukino's pupils.
"A genuine devil, no less." Leo smiled brilliantly, looking nothing like a dark devil, and added, "Just like you are now."
Yukinoshita Yukino quickly understood the meaning of this sentence.
As if summoned by her king, as Leo spread his own devil wings, Yukinoshita Yukino felt an itch on her back, and then she, too, suddenly unfurled a pair of devil wings.
"Congratulations, Miss Yukinoshita, your operation was a great success."
As Yukinoshita Yukino slowly opened her mouth wide, Leo happily spoke, saying,
"From today onwards, you are my Retainer, a devil reborn from a human. Please take good care of me, alright?"
These words echoed in Yukinoshita Yukino's ears, leaving her speechless for a long time.