[b]“Well,”[/b] Rui-Ling turned, smiling back at Ellie, [b]“After five decades of going here, I’d have to be a hell of a pennypincher not to be one, eh?”[/b] He never really knew what was up with the half-succubus’s intentions in the end, but a couple of butterflies still fluttered in his stomach whenever Ellie did stuff like that. Probably because his body was one that was quite literally frozen in puberty. Even if his mind had matured, his body was still that of a [s]horny[/s] immature teen. Ordering coffee when one of the waitresses came over, the youth settled back and relaxed, watching others come in.

There was the gunner trio, Katherine, Jun, and Lucille, all who carried and concealed firearms in a place like Japan, even though almost all the Youkai the immortal had encountered during his century-and-half of living scoff at those iron-throwing contraptions. Of course, Jun made ice bullets which helped somewhat, and perhaps Katherine and Lucille just like to be pointlessly stylish…but eh, if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d be calling the kettle black, Rui-Ling would have suggested that they stopped carrying guns with them everywhere.

After all, it’s a hell of a headache if one of those policemen who went around on bicycles caught them with it.

Luciel and Kazuki were better, in that regard, even if Kazuki’s crazy eyebrows and Luciel’s accent were both things that amused him greatly. At least the two of them had the right idea of relying on their powers instead of nigh-obsolete firearms. He’d have to try out Claimoh Solais on the flower knight’s plants some time. See if they qualify as magic or living beings.

In the end, however, outside of the exception that was a purple-haired girl with a teddy bear, all the Chasers present could be considered above-average, people that Rui-Ling wouldn’t mind being paired up with. Might imply something about how strong Chasers typically were these days, where merely two or three years of experience meant that one became an elite, but, alas, perhaps it was just his years getting to him, making him a crotchety old man who constantly found fault in youngsters.

Laughing to himself, Rui-Ling accepted a doughnut from the Grand Magister, perhaps the only person in the room who was older than him. [b]“Woulda thought you’d kept all your doughnuts and gave us sugar water, really. But don’t worry about the inconvenience. Not like it was their last concert or whatever.”[/b]

A few large bites caused the doughnut to vanish, leaving Rui-Ling to lick his sugar-covered fingers as the lavender-haired girl circuited the parlour café, before eating one for herself. The blond wasn’t a fan of sweets himself, preferring steaks over cakes, but sometimes, he had to wonder whether there was a special way of eating doughnuts, seeing how an all-powerful being like the Magister of the World appeared to be so innocently blissful from it.

Might be something he should investigate in the future. Maybe spend a couple of months on getting down the proper form and method.

As Aria cut to the heart of the matter, however, Rui-Ling narrowed his eyes, leaning forward on his table. One hundred and forty-two years of being soul-bound to Airgetlam had meant at least a couple of encounters with the Cataloguer, the collector of Treasures and a nuisance who was much too talented in the art of escaping. Bastard didn’t even challenge Rui-Ling to duels before, apparently because even the Cataloguer of Sacred Relics had no method of removing the silver arm of Nuada from its current host. A pain in the ass, but…
[b]
“Gotta ask, Aria, but did the Cataloguer recently pick up a particularly dangerous treasure? Must confess that his previous impressions on me didn’t imply something so dangerous that six Chasers would be required in his detainment.”[/b]

Before the Grand Magister could reply, however, Ellie stepped in onto the stage, and Rui-Ling became more puzzled. It sounded like the Youkai Junction wanted several of the Chasers here to go after the Cataloguer, but now, it appeared that it had been more of a warning of his presence in Sonomachi? Weird.

His coffee came as new missions were announced. None of them sounded particularly interesting, outside of the rebellious kitsune teenager, but Rui-Ling didn’t want to get involved with it either way. After all, while Airgetlam is usually a non-lethal weapon, against incorporeal beings like Raijuu, it was definitely fatal.

Then, the Yellow Jackets were mentioned, and Rui-Ling chugged down the scalding hot coffee in one gulp, ignoring the burn on his tongue and down his throat.
[b]
“Know the whereabouts of those goddamn weeds, Ellie?”[/b]