The following days became very peaceful, with nothing else noteworthy happening.
Leo and Yukinoshita Yukino's lives became very regular; during the day, they attended school as students, and at night, they engaged in activities as demons, making their lives peaceful and fulfilling.
There wasn't much to say about their school life. Although Leo and Yukinoshita Yukino's constant presence together sparked a lot of discussion and rumors, neither of them cared about what others thought. They continued to live their school lives as they pleased.
At night, Leo began his rigorous training, constantly honing his ability to use his Sacred Gear. Yukinoshita Yukino also gradually hit her stride, no longer feeling as uneasy as she did at first, and her progress in her demon work was truly impressive.
Under these circumstances, Leo no longer made Yukinoshita Yukino do basic tasks like handing out flyers, but instead had her start taking on demon requests.
Every night, Yukinoshita Yukino would feel the summons of a client through the Magic Circle, then jump through the Magic Circle to the client's side to help them achieve their wishes.
Initially, this work didn't go very smoothly. Yukinoshita Yukino's social skills were, after all, a major weakness, and her personality was one of blunt, venomous honesty. Asking her to interact with people whose desires triggered a demon summon naturally didn't lead to good results.
If it were just some ordinary desires, it would be fine, but human desires are endless. Some desires are so ugly that even demons find them repulsive. Faced with such people, how could Yukinoshita Yukino's personality endure it?
Therefore, Yukinoshita Yukino's demon work indeed got off to a rough start, and there were even instances where she attacked a summoner, which left Leo feeling both amused and helpless.
Fortunately, Leo himself was not a demon in the traditional sense. In the past, he had encountered situations where he disagreed with summoners. Some summoners indeed had unimaginably ugly desires, and his methods for dealing with these people were far more extreme than Yukinoshita Yukino's; humanitarian destruction was a light punishment.
Thus, he had no intention of blaming Yukinoshita Yukino at all; instead, he encouraged her, telling her not to take such things to heart.
"Don't feel burdened. We are, after all, demons, and our goal is to claim the summoner's soul. You just need to do whatever you feel is right, and don't worry about anything else."
Leo's words made Yukinoshita Yukino begin to feel that becoming a demon wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Of course, the actions of this master and Retainer resulted in their performance in demon-related achievements not being very good. This might affect the evaluation of them by the higher-ups in the demon faction, thereby impacting their future promotions.
But regarding this, let alone Yukinoshita Yukino, even Leo didn't care much.
He had always operated with this style, and hadn't he still successfully been promoted to a High-Class Devil?
Demon work and achievements are indeed one factor influencing promotion, but not the sole factor. As long as one is excellent in other areas, they can still ultimately achieve successful promotion.
Moreover, Leo and Yukinoshita Yukino didn't have completely zero achievements; they could still successfully complete some normal requests.
For example, Yukinoshita Yukino recently seemed to have been summoned by a female Sobu High School student. The other party's wish was very simple: she hoped Yukinoshita Yukino could teach her how to make cookies, as she wanted to use them to express gratitude to someone who had helped her.
"A female Sobu High School student?" Leo asked thoughtfully, "What kind of a person is she?"
"...A very showy girl." Yukinoshita Yukino paused for a moment, then offered her assessment, saying, "And she's very annoying, and her personality is very timid. She tends to give up whenever things don't go smoothly, which makes one feel unpleasant just watching her."
However, Yukinoshita Yukino didn't dislike the other party.
Because even when criticized by her, the other party wouldn't bear a grudge; instead, she even said she liked her straightforward way of expressing her thoughts.
She said that she herself could never do such a thing, always paying too much attention to other people's feelings and overly focusing on the atmosphere.
So, she said she was a little envious of Yukinoshita Yukino.
Recalling the other party's eyes, filled with admiration and a hint of worship, Yukinoshita Yukino pursed her lips.
"Anyway, she's a worrisome fellow, but since I've already received the summon and request, I will help her to the end."
For this, Yukinoshita Yukino had been busy with this inconspicuous request for a while recently, even turning down many other more important requests.
Seeing this, Leo didn't stop her; instead, he said with a smile,
"Be sure to get along well with her~~~"
Of course, during her leisure time outside of demon work, Yukinoshita Yukino also continued to read and never stopped studying her Sacred Gear.
Her talent was indeed remarkable; in less than a month, she was already able to control the power of her Sacred Gear. While it couldn't be called mastery, it was certainly as if it were an extension of her own arm.
If nothing unexpected happened, these days would continue.
At least, Yukinoshita Yukino thought so.
She had completely forgotten that while she had indeed adapted to a demon's life, she had drifted far from a human's life.
For example, she had been living in Leo's mansion for a long time and hadn't returned to her own apartment in ages.
Coupled with the escalating rumors at school, finally, the time for the truth to come out arrived... On this day, Yukinoshita Yukino arrived at the Service Club activity room as usual and sat down in her spot.
The after-school bell had rung a while ago, and the Sobu High School building had become noisy and bustling, with the sounds constantly drifting through the window into Yukinoshita Yukino's ears.
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at the students laughing and playing outside the window, bathed in the sunlight, her delicate face no longer showing the previous weariness.
"It seems I've completely gotten used to daytime and sunlight."
Yukinoshita Yukino propped up a hand to shield her forehead, looking at the clear blue sky and the dazzling sun, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"That guy... isn't he coming yet?"
After waiting for a while, Yukinoshita Yukino began to feel impatient.
She used to not feel bored even when alone here, but she didn't know when it started, that as long as her master didn't arrive at this activity room and return to the mansion with her, Yukinoshita Yukino would feel irritated.
"He's probably chatting excitedly with some pretty senior in class again, isn't he?"
Recalling some rumors she had unintentionally learned earlier, Yukinoshita Yukino felt even more irritated.
"Never mind, I'll read first."
Shaking her head and suppressing the irritation in her heart, Yukinoshita Yukino took out a book and began to flip through it.
The books she was reading now were mostly brought from the mansion's study, no longer the literary works of before.
Leo also allowed her to take books from the study, but only one at a time, and absolutely forbade her from showing them to others; she could only use them herself.
Yukinoshita Yukino also never thought of showing demon books to others, so she wouldn't read them in the classroom, but rather in the Service Club activity room.
Now, she was reading a book about the Underworld. It recorded the customs and conditions of various territories in the Underworld, gradually giving her a preliminary understanding of a world unknown to mortals.
"The territory of the Erigor Family has also been re-categorized under my name since I became a High-Class Devil. When I have time later, I'll take you back to see it."
Leo had once told Yukinoshita Yukino this, even saying he would bestow a part of the territory upon her, which made her feel particularly unreal.
Even Yukinoshita Yukino had never imagined that one day, she would be granted territory by a noble, like people in the Middle Ages, becoming the lord of a piece of land.
Leo, however, told her that bestowing a portion of one's territory to Retainers was something every High-Class Devil did. Whether it was her, or other future Retainers, he would treat them all equally, granting them corresponding lands.
Unfortunately, this conversation was too fantastical. Yukinoshita Yukino still felt it might be a joke, even now, with no sense of reality.
Just as Yukinoshita Yukino was gradually concentrating on the book in her hand, the door of the Service Club opened.
"You're late."
Yukinoshita Yukino threw out this sentence without lifting her head, but she waited a long time without hearing the familiar reply.
Then, she heard an even more familiar, yet also more heart-stopping voice.
"Who is Yukino-chan waiting for? You're not waiting for your big sister, are you?"
When this half-smiling voice reached Yukinoshita Yukino's ears, Yukinoshita Yukino's body froze, and her expression completely stiffened.
She laboriously lifted her head and looked towards the entrance of the Service Club activity room.
There, a figure she absolutely did not want to see at this moment was standing.
It was a young woman in the prime of her life, probably two or three years older than Yukinoshita Yukino.
The other party had a delicate face similar to Yukinoshita Yukino's, but her expression was not as cold as Yukinoshita Yukino's; instead, it gave off a very rich, sunny feeling, turning that face, which originally belonged to a winter flower, into summer, bright and radiant.
The other party's figure, however, was very different from Yukinoshita Yukino's; she was tall and voluptuous, full of mature charm like Shinra Tsubaki.
Looking at this person, Yukinoshita Yukino's hands unconsciously clenched, and she spoke with difficulty.
"Sister..."
Yes, that was her sister.
The sister who had always made her live in her shadow, whom she both admired and detested.
"Long time no see, Yukino."
Yukinoshita Haruno, the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita Family, maintained her half-smiling expression throughout.
That expression made Yukinoshita Yukino's heart sink, and she could no longer speak.
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