"You okay?" Jun inquired.

"Ah! Eh!? Uhm?" Natsume was left without words.

Jun tilted his head inquisitively.

"Gyu!" Natsume gave a weird sound and passed out.

'Too . . . cute . . .'

Jun immediately caught her while being extra confused about what had just happened.

If he realized Natsume had fainted because his "cuteness" overloaded her already tired mind, he would have probably slapped her awake right then and there. After all, to Jun, being seen as cute was half an insult and a source of displeasure for him.

With his plan messed up, Jun decided to modify the next step of his original plan to compensate. He had originally intended to persuade Natsume of the spot and have on of his familiars send her to the Grigori Dorm he and Valia had rooms in but that had to change.

Letting the girl wake up in an unfamiliar place and him gone was probably not a good idea if he wanted to build trust so he instead sent Nyx to Tobio with his Egg and a special mission.

Doing that, Jun picked up Natsume in a princess carry and moved away through his Imaginary Space Transportation with Nox's assistance, which made it much faster and more reliable.

Back in the dorm, just as he was about to lay Natsume onto a bed in one of the rooms, the girl woke up, her unconsciousness being effectively very short.

'Could've just waited in that place if it was this fast . . .' Jun pondered as he wondered why things were not going according to his plans today.

"Welcome back form the world of dreams." Jun greeted Natsume once again.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

Embarrassed by her previous debacle, Natsume blushingly replied.

"I'm okay. Thanks."

"Great!" Jun responded.

"I imagine you want to hear an explanation now yes?" Jun inquired.

"Yeah. That'd be great! What the hell was that thing!?" Natsume recovered her spunkiness and fire.

"Let's start from there then shall we?" Jun replied and Natsume nodded.

Jun then proceeded to explain to Natsume in detail about the Utsusemi Agency, their goals, their beef with the Five Great Families of Japan, the identity of these families along with how they might approach her in the future and so on. He also gave her her Egg and explained its function.

"I know it's a lot to take in so if you have any doubts, you can always ask." Jun made sure to get across.

"Mhm! Thanks!" Natsume replied.

"What about you Jun-Jun? What's your stake in this mess?" She asked.

"Good question! To be very specific, I'm am an independent contractor, hired by a third party to help you and the other four sacred gear holders in the same situation as you." Jun replied.

"So you work for yourself and are just hired help?" Natsume continued to ask.

"Technically yes but I'm quite familiar with the Grigori, the organization that hired me and trust them for giving me work." Jun replied.

"Why are these people from this Grigori helping us?" Natsume inquired.

"Not people, fallen angels." Jun corrected.

"Fallen angels!?" Natsume asked with shock.

"Yeah, like those from the Bible." Jun clarified.

"They simply want to see you live up to your potential as sacred gear hosts and document your progress for their research on sacred gears. The have that to gain so you can expect them to honestly help you so long as you want to get stronger." He explained.

"What exactly will they do?" Natsume kept asking. For some reason unknown to her, she felt like she could trust the boy in front of her to answer all these questions truthfully and without error.

"Help set up training menus, as well as the various resources needed for training and provide protection until you can stand up on your own feet or for life if you choose to permanently join up with them." Jun shared.

"What if I don't want to?" Natsume questioned.

"You can still keep the Egg but no longer can expect special protection from Grigori against those that wish you harm. They might still help you but it won't be the concentrated effort that would've been if you accepted their help." Jun said.

"Are there any other options?" Natsume still asked.

"I guess you can take the same road as me and I can let into my little group until you become powerful enough to handle yourself but I guess that's about it." Jun casually mentioned.

"Okay . . . Can I think about it?" Natsume requested.

"Of course!" Jun replied.

"I ought to introduce you to the other two residents and see if they managed to bring any of your fellow student in as well." He added.

"Sure!" Natsume replied.

Right on cue, Valia and Lavinia arrived together with no one in tow.

"Vali, Lavi-chan!" Jun called out.

"How did it go?" He inquired.

Lavinia showed a sad expression while Valia showed a pissed off one.

"How about you Juu-Kun?" Lavinia asked.

At this moments, Natsume walked out from behind Jun.

'Juu-kun . . . What a cute nickname but I think it's too high a hurdle for the current me . . .' She thought as she looked at Jun and the arriving girls.

"This is Natsume. I've brought her in but she's still thinking about what to do in the future. As for the other one, I have yet to enter contact with him." Jun explained.

"Mine was an asshole! Kept talking smack like, "Buzz off little girl!" and "I have no time for annoying brats!", so I got pissed off a beat the crap out of him!" Valia said.

"Did you at least give him the Egg?" Jun asked.

"Yeah, made it so he had to carry it because he lost to me. He seemed like the type to keep that kind of promise." Valia explained.

"That was the main goal so its fine." Jun responded.

"How about you Lavi-chan?" He asked again.

"Both of mine were together and I managed to deliver the Eggs but they didn't want to come." Lavinia shared.

"If they didn't want to come that's not your fault. Just let them be, your duty to them is over for now. I'm sure we'll cross paths again so you can ask them again then." Jun responded.

"Mhm!" Lavinia nodded in a better mood than before.

"Well, i need to talk with my other charge so Natsume, these two fine ladies will take care of you while I'm gone alright?" Jun asked both parties.

Valia was happy at being called a "fine lady" so  she extended a thumbs up and said "Leave it to us!" with Lavinia supporting her and Natsume responding positively as well so Jun left to regroup with Nyx who he sent towards Tobio.

'Looks like she has fulfilled her duty splendidly!' Jun thought.

'Nyx and Nox's spiritual intelligence also seems to be rising nicely.' He evaluated.

Nyx mission two pronged, invade Tobio's shadow and find Canis Lykaon sealed within. Jin as he was called by Tobio came out of his shadow when he first appeared and after that as well so it was a good place to look.

Once she found it, leave the Egg in that dimension in order to help it overcome the seal placed by Tobio's grandmother. Finally, using the goodwill created by the act, recover the sword sealed within Canis Lykaon, Ame no Ohabari.

A fair bit of the swords power had already become a part of the sacred gear but most of it was still intact and the performance of the sacred gear wouldn't drop even if it was removed. At most, it would lose the ability to summon the sword that it would have in the future.

After that was done, Nyx awaited her master and regrouped, passing on the Ame no Ohabari to Jun. Now he set up in wait for either Jin to break through the seal or Tobio to be attacked.

It the end, the latter came first by a hair's breadth and, after another bombastic entrance, Jun saved Tobio and asked him the very same question he asked Natsume the first time they met.

"You okay?" Much to his relief, Tobi did not pass out and answered positively.

"Yeah . . . Thanks for the help." He replied.

"Great! I assume you have questions." Jun continued to which Tobio furiously nodded drawing a chuckled out of the Dragon Hybrid.

"Let's move to a more comfortable place then shall we?"

And so, Jun succeeded in bringing home yet another sacred gear holder. Seeing a familiar face in Natsume also helped Tobio calm down a bit and Jun gave him the same explanation he had given to Natsume and, much like her, he requested some time to think about it.

Ultimately, Natsume and Tobio decided to fully cooperate, at least temporarily, in order to both protect themselves and try and save their lost classmates, Tobio in particular being hung on a girl named Toujou Sae.

And so, after a full night of sleep, the entire group began discussing their future plans over what to do next, over a sumptuous breakfast cooked by Jun and Tobio.

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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba  without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.