— — — — — — — —
A sudden rumble erupted from within the nearby shrine.
"Huh? What's going on?" Yui yelped in surprise.
Yukino frowned, hesitating before speaking. "That direction... I think it's Higurashi Shrine?"
She had been there before with Yui, so the place was familiar.
Just as her words fell—BOOM!
The rumbling grew louder, and the trees on the mountainside above the shrine began toppling one after another.
Miko's expression turned serious.
Suddenly, an enormous centipede-like monster burst out from the mountain!
It had the body of a centipede with a hundred legs, but its head bore the twisted face of a woman, making for a truly terrifying sight!
In front of the monster, a girl in a Shuchiin Academy uniform was running frantically, tears streaming down her face.
"H-Help me!!"
Yukino and Yui were both stunned.
"Wait... that's Kagome?!"
The girl was none other than Higurashi Kagome, the one who had welcomed them when they last visited the shrine.
But now… what the hell was going on?
There was no time to hesitate.
Without thinking, Yukino and Yui rushed forward.
Seeing this, Miko followed without hesitation. Using her magical perception, she could tell that the centipede creature wasn't that strong.
They could handle it.
"Kagome!" Yui called out, catching Kagome's attention.
Kagome paused for a split second upon seeing them, but then she shouted, "Don't come any closer! There's a monster!!"
Even in her panic, she didn't want to drag anyone else into danger.
This thing was obviously after her!
Yui blinked, then was unexpectedly touched. "Kagome... you're such a good person!"
Feeling the disgusting, rancid breath of the monster behind her, Kagome felt absolute despair.
Seriously?I'm about to die, and you're giving me a compliment?!
Goodbye, Mom!
Goodbye, world!
Just why!
I haven't even had my first romance yet!
Was she really going to die without ever experiencing love?!
At that moment, Yukino suddenly stepped in front of her.
Kagome's eyes widened in shock. "Wai—!"
Before she could finish speaking, she saw Yukino raise her hand, conjuring ice-blue snowflakes out of thin air.
With a graceful swing of her arm.
BOOM!
The monstrous centipede crashed onto the ground, frozen in place!
"Huh?" Kagome stared in shock.
Yukino frowned. "Let's move away from here first."
"O-okay!" Kagome quickly obeyed, putting as much distance as possible between herself and the immobilized monster.
Yukino kept her eyes locked onto the centipede monster, still struggling on the ground.
Her current power wasn't enough to freeze it completely in an instant, but putting it in a paralyzed state was no problem.
"Miko!" Yukino called out.
"On it, on it!"
"Wait, let me buff you guys first!" Yui quickly activated her skill, Harmonizer.
Miko didn't hesitate—she gathered her magic and unleashed a decisive attack.
For a mid-level Devil like her, dealing with this kind of monster was a piece of cake.
In no time, the centipede monster let out its final breath and collapsed.
Seeing this, Yui sighed in relief.
Among the three of them, she was the only one who wasn't a Special-Type Devil.
But at least she could support her teammates with buffs.
Meanwhile, Kagome stood frozen, staring at the scene before her.
What... just happened?
A monster had crawled out of the well, and now she had just witnessed a group of high school girls with supernatural powers take it down like it was nothing.
Mom... is this really the same world I knew?
"Who... who are you guys?" Kagome asked cautiously, now that the danger had passed.
Yukino glanced at Miko and Yui, but seeing that they had no intention of explaining, she sighed and stepped forward.
"Shuchiin Academy's Supernatural Research Club."
"Wait, what?" Kagome looked completely dumbfounded.
She had heard of the Supernatural Research Club before.
Because… It was a club full of beautiful girls!
And their only male member was the club president!
The club was practically famous among the students at Shuchiin.
Especially among the boys, who were filled with jealousy and resentment!
"So the Supernatural Research Club... actually deals with real supernatural phenomena?!" Kagome asked in disbelief.
"Something like that," Yukino replied vaguely before cutting to the point. "What about you? What exactly happened?"
At the mention of this, Kagome couldn't hold back her frustration.
"It's that weird well!"
"It's been making strange noises every day, and today, they got even louder. So I opened it to take a look, and then..."
She paused, shuddering at the memory. "Well, you saw what happened. That monster crawled out of it!"
She hesitated before asking, "Can your Supernatural Research Club do something about the well?"
Yukino hesitated. "This is our first time encountering something like this, so we're not entirely sure."
Kagome's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"But..."
"Our club president will definitely be able to handle it."
"Really?!" Kagome's eyes lit up, and she quickly grabbed Yukino's arm, practically begging. "Please, you have to ask your president for help!"
Yukino opened her mouth, hesitating before saying, "But..."
"Our president doesn't work for free. He's expensive."
"Expensive?"
Kagome was stunned.
Yukino nodded and said, "Our Supernatural Research Club charges for exorcisms outside the school."
"Just so you know, having one of us take action starts at five million yen."
"Five million?!"
Kagome's eyes widened in shock before she collapsed to the ground, her face void of all hope.
It was over.
Her one glimmer of hope had been crushed… by something as simple as being broke.
Seeing her reaction, Yukino, Yui, and Miko understood she probably couldn't afford it.
After thinking for a moment, Miko stepped forward and handed Kagome a flyer, something modified by Lynn.
Previously, there had been an issue where cross-world summoning didn't work, so Lynn had taken it upon himself to fix that by modifying the Devil's Contract.
Now, even if he was in another world, he could still sense when he was being summoned.
"What's this?"
Kagome looked at the flyer in confusion.
"Next time you're in danger, just shout, 'Devil Lord Lynn, please help me!' and one of our Supernatural Research Club members will show up."
"Of course, you might have to pay an unexpected price…"
Kagome quickly stored the flyer away and nodded gratefully. "Got it!"
Wait, why 'Devil Lord'?
She found it a bit strange but chalked it up to the club's sense of humor.
With Kagome's immediate crisis resolved, the trio turned their attention to the massive centipede's corpse.
"So… what do we do with this?"
"Just leave it here?"
"Hmm… Should we ask the president?"
---
After receiving their message, Lynn instructed, "Send it to the Black Bullet world and hand it over to Muroto Sumire for research."
Might as well make use of it.
Who knows? Maybe they'd discover something useful.
But…
"Higurashi Shrine? Kagome?"
Lynn narrowed his eyes.
"Didn't expect to run into an Inuyasha character in this world."
Kagome's appearance was certainly unexpected.
"That means the Bone-Eater's Well exists too, huh?"
A thought struck him.
If he remembered correctly, the well connected to 500 years in the past.
That timeline… Would've been right around the underworld's civil war.
Curious, Lynn took a single step—and in the blink of an eye, he was at Higurashi Shrine.
Behind the shrine, a worn-out well stood quietly.
Lynn approached and studied it carefully.
"There's definitely some kind of energy here…"
But since he lacked time-space manipulation, he couldn't tell if it was actually related to time travel.
After some thought, he simply jumped in.
Thud.
Lynn landed lightly at the bottom of the well, deep in thought.
No feeling of a time tunnel.
So…He looked up at the night sky above.
"I didn't go back 500 years."
Lynn frowned.
Was it not the right time? Did it require the Shikon Jewel?
Or maybe…It needed a specific person?
Pondering this, Lynn's figure vanished.
---
A second later - Kagome's bedroom.
Lynn materialized in the room, glancing around.
A pink, girly setup.
On the bed, a girl in pajamas…
"Huh!"
Kagome suddenly froze, her eyes widening in shock.
"Y-you… How did you get in here?!"
Lynn thought for a moment. "I walked in?"
Why did that sound like a question?!
Kagome internally screamed.
More importantly—
"Who the hell are you?!"
She clutched her blanket and scooted to the far end of her bed, eyes full of caution.
This guy was dangerous.
He had just appeared out of thin air!
Completely unnatural!
And after encountering supernatural events today, she was convinced of it.
"President of the Supernatural Research Club."
Lynn introduced himself casually.
"Huh?"
Kagome blinked, then stammered, "B-but… I didn't summon you!"
She glanced at the flyer on her desk.
Yup.
She definitely hadn't summoned him.
"Just think of it as if you did."
"...Huh?"
Was he forcing a sale?!
Lynn asked, "Don't you want to solve the well's problem?"
"Of course!"
Kagome nodded without hesitation.
"Then it's settled."
Lynn nodded, then effortlessly picked her up and walked toward the well.
"W-wait, wait, wait!"
Kagome yelped, "I haven't even changed my clothes yet!"
"Not important."
Halfway there, Lynn suddenly said, "Don't forget my payment."
"After all, the well isn't mine."
"And you're the one who wants it fixed, aren't you?"
Kagome: "..."
Her spirit deflated, and she mumbled weakly, "But… you saw it yourself. Our shrine is poor…"
Lynn grinned. "Don't worry, the price I want… you can definitely afford."
Kagome: "!!!"
.
.
.