We sat on the counter after Tobio welcomed us. I took a seat before the blonde who wore magician robes and greeted her.

“Nice to meet you. I was expecting to meet a dog today, but I never thought that I will be able to meet a beautiful Princess too.”

Kubinashi and Masaomi took a seat on my right and they greeted Tobio too.

The blonde chuckled cutely with her hand covering her mouth and looked at me.

“You overpraise me. I was here for a drink, but I also never expected to meet a person who recently became a hot topic in supernatural for defeating Kokabiel.”

“Hahaha, I am not that great. Slash/Dog team had made a lot of achievements in Japan, you are more famous than this jokester of a youkai”

“My, you are a funny guy. Can I call you Ri-kun?” Asked the blonde as she tilted her head a little.

“This is my first time getting a nickname. I don’t mind, but can I call you Reni too?”

“Sure! You are Va-kun’s friend, so feel free to call me with whatever you want!” Exclaimed the girl, Lavinia Reni, happily as she clapped her hand.

“Ehem!” Suddenly, Tobio coughed hard as if trying to interrupt our conversation. He looked at me with a smile, but his eyes were not smiling, and said.

“Excuse me, this is a bar but don’t you want to order anything? Oh, I forgot. You are underage.”

“Oh, are you jealous by any chance?” I smirked at Tobio and put my hand on the counter.

“Also, give me a Sake. Is age really a concern when we, youkai, were never following Japan’s law?”

“Well, that’s true. How about the two guys on your right?” Asked Tobio as he looked at Kubinashi and Masaomi.

“Sake for me too.” Answered Kubinashi.

“I will take a glass of wine, please.” Answered Masaomi.

“Alright, two Sakes and a glass of wine.”

Tobio began to prepare our order and I continued to chat with Reni.

“Was Vali visited this place after he lost to me? I bet he wanted to fight me again, right?”

“Yes, he visited me and Tobi right after he had his duel with you. He told us about how he found a rival that was able to beat him even though he dueled a boy who was younger than him.”

“Oh, that seems interesting. He didn’t get mad, but he was happy. What a strange guy.”

“You can’t blame Va-kun. Although he’s reckless, he’s a good boy deep inside. I hope you can become his friend, Ri-kun.”

“I don’t mind, I was about to meet him tomorrow after I am done with my business. I want to ask something if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, feel free to ask.”

As Reni said that, Tobio put our order in front of us.

“Customers, I thought you were asking to meet me. But why did you just talk with my singer and ignore me?”

Tobio said with a low tone, showing his bad mood because I had ignored him all this time.

“It was because the Princess beside me was talking to me. As a gentleman, it’s natural for me to give her company, right? But well, business comes first.”

“So, what’s your business for coming here, oh the great famous youkai who defeated Kokabiel.”

“You can just call me Riku if you want to, Tobi.”

We were glaring at each other for a while. Reni was chuckling beside me while Kubinashi was just drinking his sake as if nothing happened. Masaomi was confused for a second, but when he saw Kubinashi he decided to just enjoy his wine in silence.

After glaring at each other for a while, we were bursting into laughter. I knew that this guy had a sense of humor, that was why I followed along to get a little closer to him. Even though he’s a human, with his mastery over his Sacred Gear, maybe I can get a tip or two to awaken my Balance Breaker. So there was nothing wrong to get closer to Tobio Ikuse.

“Hahahaha, oh damn. It’s been a long time since someone visited us, so I wanted to make the atmosphere lighter.” Said Tobio as he wiped the tears that formed on the edge of his eyes because he laughed too much.

“Hahaha, I don’t mind. I visited this place suddenly, so it’s enough for me if you are willing to talk to us.”

“So, back to business, you want to ask us something?”

“Yep.” I said and took the cup of sake that was in front of me and drank it in one go.

“So there is this terrorist group called Khaos Brigade. It seems that Reni’s beloved Va-kun is about to join that group to fight a strong opponent. So, I wanted Reni’s beloved Va-kun to help me with something in exchange for fighting with me once more time, or maybe we could even spar in my free time.”

Tobio facepalmed at my mention of Vali planned to join Khaos Brigade. As expected from the agent of Grigori, he must’ve collected information about Khaos Brigade even before the other factions noticed its existence.

“That guy, I know that he loves fighting a strong opponent, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“Nah, just allow him to join them. That way he can give you more information from Khaos Brigade.” I said as I raised my index finger.

“The problem is not that.”

Tobio took a glass and wiped it with a cloth that he held with his left hand.

“There is someone that was related to Vali in that organization. Don’t tell Vali that I told you this, but he’s the descendant of the original Lucifer.”

I was rather surprised that Tobio told me this. I knew about it, but that fact was rather sensitive and must not be told to anyone other than the trusted one.

That meant…

“Do you trust me that much?”

Tobio just smiled at my question. He didn’t say anything more and I guess that was enough.

I still wanted to ask about some information, but that could wait. If one of the places that I couldn’t feel was this place, then the other was more suspicious.

It was a bit far from this, but I could reach it in a minute or two if I run at my full speed.

I gulped the leftover sake in one go and stood up from the counter.

“Oh, you are about to leave now? I thought you wanted to ask something?”

Tobio asked me with a confused tone, but it was only a question out of curiosity.

“Well, I wanted to ask something more, but I think I must get satisfied just by getting acquainted with Princess and Dog.”

I smiled at him and walked away. Kubinashi also stood up and followed me from behind after thanking Tobio. Masaomi who held human’s common sense pulled money from his pocket and put it on the table to pay for our drinks before following us.

“Take care of yourself.” Said Tobio.

I replied by waving my hand and we went downstairs while leaving a message.

“Tag along with Azazel to meet us tomorrow!”

We exited the building and I looked in the direction of a certain district of Tokyo. It’s time to check the second place.

---

---