"We will be landing shortly. Everyone, please prepare yourselves."

Huh? What? Wait, we're landing already? I feel like I missed something.

"Onii-chan woke up desu."

"Jeez, Yuuto-kun, you sleepy head."

"Yuuto just suddenly 'zzz' fell asleep on us."

Oh, I guess that explains it. I must have fallen asleep.

The last thing I remember was checking the view with Reina and Ruki while Miyabi wanted to grab something to eat. I was probably more tired than I thought and ended up sleeping after that.

It feels like it was a bit of a waste of my first time on a plane, but I suppose there's always the return trip.

In any case, we finally landed a while after that. While we were still on the air, I took a look around to try and figure out where we were, not that there was any real hope of me figuring that out without a GPS, I just wanted to see the view.

Yup, I have no idea where we are. It's a city alright, but no idea which. But I see a lot of what I guess are tourist attractions that remind me of Egypt, stuff like pyramids and sphinxes, so maybe we're somewhere there?

"We have arrived at Luxor airport."

Now I know the name of the place. A quick search on the internet told me we really were in Egypt.

Wait, why are we in Egypt? I hope that Lizel-senpai didn't mean we're going to the desert when she said she'd be going for a summer training camp.

It was the start of the night here. I have to admit I was a little worried, since I didn't immediately see Lizel-senpai, but that worry soon went away.

That's because I soon saw a flag with "Welcome, Yuuto-kun and co" written on it. It felt a little embarrassing, but at least we knew we were in the right place. The person holding the flag was a beautiful girl with tanned skin, Neith.

"W-welcome to Luxor…"

"Neith. What are you doing here?"

"This place is part of my family's territory… Lizel asked to borrow it for your training camp…"

Eh?! I didn't know that. I wonder why Lizel-senpai asked to borrow someone else's territory. Well, she probably had her reasons.

People wearing native clothes started taking out bags and loading them into a car. It seems those are the servants of Neith's family and the car also belongs to her.

You know, after all this time, you'd think I'd be used to seeing these things that are common for noble devils, but it still feels so strange for me every time.

Anyway, once that was done, we entered the car with Neith. Apparently, we'd be heading for a hotel, which is where Lizel-senpai currently is. Oh, by the way, the hotel is also owned by Neith's family.

Since it was a bit late, there wasn't much to see on the ride there, but still this was quite something. It was my first time outside Japan after all.

It wasn't long before we reached the hotel. To avoid repeating all the surprised bit, I'll just say it's as luxurious as you'd expect and leave it at that.

We entered the garage. Neith took out her phone and called Lizel-senpai. After a few minutes, she showed up and entered the car while her bags were being loaded.

"Hello, Yuuto, everyone. Did you enjoy the flight?"

"A-aha, I slept in the middle of it."

"You really can't beat senpai when it comes to extravagant things."

"It was amazing desu!"

"Right? Really, thanks for inviting me."

"Mm, I'm glad everything went well."

Lizel-senpai let out a sigh. Was she the type to worry about flights or something? It seems like a big weight just came off her shoulders.

Also, this hotel stop was just to pick Lizel-senpai up. Apparently, now we're going to head to where our real training camp will be. Once again, I enjoyed the city's sights while we were on our way.

We arrived at some ruins. Once we entered, there was a stairway that seemed to lead to some bottomless pit.

"It's dark, so everyone please be careful…"

Despite saying that, Neith went right on ahead. Since this place is part of her territory, I guess she must know it like the back of her hand.

"Ooh, let's go tomb raiding!"

No fair, Miyabi. I was about to make that joke.

Anyway, with Miyabi following behind Neith, there wasn't really any reason to stay behind, so I just began walking ahead. Or rather down might be a better way to put it.

But, before I noticed, I felt someone grab my arm. I wondered who it could be for a second and then noticed it was Lizel-senpai.

Come to think of it, wasn't there something like Lizel-senpai being afraid of the dark? It's my first time seeing it for myself, so I'd almost forgotten.

"I-it's very dark, so we should stick close so we don't slip and fall. Right, Yuuto?!"

"Y-yeah, sure."

I mean, I'm willing to take any excuse for this. It's hardly an unenjoyable situation. In fact, the only reason I don't try to kiss Lizel-senpai is because it would be a bit embarrassing to have Ruki, Neith and her servants watching.

"R-Reina too. Reina also wants to hold onii-chan's arm."

Reina then took my other arm. Of course, she also pressed it to her chest like Lizel-senpai, though there was a clear difference between them.

"No fair! I also want in!"

"W-wait, watch out."

Then it was Miyabi's turn. But since I only have 2 arms she just hugged my chest. But there's no way I can walk down the stairs like this.

"Ahaha, Yuuto-kun sure is popular."

"Please be careful you don't fall…"

Since we were blocking the way, Miyabi had to give in and let me go. But she made it clear that I should reserve a spot for her on the way back.

I kept going down with Lizel-senpai and Reina holding my arms. Eventually, we reached a place with a stone wall with what looked like hieroglyphs carved on it. Neith stopped there and then said:

"This is our destination."

Neith touched the wall and I felt her mana. Was it like some kind of magic lock? Once she was done, the wall opened up and we continued moving through it. After a while, the scenery changed completely.

Blue sky and blue sea, green forests… and is that a beach I see? Huh? Weren't we underground? Was the wall some kind of teleportation device?

"Oh, it must be Yuuto's first time seeing it. Welcome to the Devil World."

"The Devil World?"

This is the Devil World? It looks more like a high class resort.

"This looks nothing like I imagined."

"There are all kinds of places in the Devil World, even more than in the Human World. The place you were thinking of probably exists, but I thought this would be preferable."

"I see. So that wall really teleported us somewhere."

"It's my family's private Gate… Yuuto-kun and everyone can use it anytime you'd like…"

I remember studying that with Nagasawa-sensei. A Gate is a portal between Human and Devil Worlds. The discovery was lost to time, but it's fair to say it's a fundamental part of devil society, since there wouldn't be any contact between humans and devils if not for them.

I also remember that Nagasawa-sensei told me that the usage of Gates is strictly regulated, so it's not easy to go between worlds like that. But I guess you don't have to worry about that if you own a Gate.

Regardless of all that, we continued walking on ahead. I even touched some of the leaves while walking. It really was amazing.

On the way, I saw a really big mountain in the distance. There seemed like there was some thick fog covering it, but it didn't spread out anywhere outside the mountain.

"That's Gaol Mountain… everyone should be careful to never go there."

"If I recall, didn't that mountain have some Disaster befall it?"

"Yes… you can't leave normally once you enter, and you can easily get lost there…"

That's also another thing I studied with Nagasawa-sensei. The Devil World gets Disasters, like the one that happened on Ginsei Academy, much more frequently than the Human World, and they sometimes just stay there. I guess this Gaol Mountain is an example of that.

It's quite something to imagine though. I mean, imagine if an earthquake never stopped after it started. It's no wonder some devils prefer the Human World, even if they don't see humans as much more than livestock.

That aside, we passed through a beach and then arrived at something I can only call a resort. If I had to make a guess, I'd say this is probably Neith's family's vacation home.

"This is my villa…"

I don't know the difference between a villa to a mansion to a vacation home, so I'll just say I was close enough and leave it at that.

Neith's servants started taking the baggages to the rooms we'd be occupying. I felt a little bad and wanted to help, but Lizel-senpai asked to talk with everyone for a bit.

"As everyone knows, the objective of this trip is both to relax from everything that has happened so far, and also to prepare ourselves for what's to come. We're borrowing Neith's place, and from tomorrow onwards Yuuto is going to begin his training. Of course, everyone else is welcome to join in, so long as you don't disrupt him."

I felt a bit embarrassed having all the focus put on me like this, but I suppose it's for the best. Despite everything, I have to remember I'm here to get stronger. Since the Devil King War has been going slow so far, logic says it's going to pick up speed soon.

"But there's also another point I'd like everyone's cooperation on, that is to get Yuuto a new Card. We can talk in more detail after this, but if you think you know anyone who could be interested, then please let me know."

Right, there's also that. I tried recruiting Rebecca and Maki, Miyabi's friends, a little before the tests, but unfortunately they hadn't recovered enough from the trauma they suffered from Ibiza, so it was impossible to take them as Cards.

Just thinking about Ibiza makes me mad. I didn't really think about it at the time, but now I felt like I went easy on him. If I could go back, I'd probably hurt him a lot more before killing him.

But that's enough about him. Lizel-senpai had told me she wanted to recruit at least 1 new Card during this summer break. I don't personally feel much rush, and I can only imagine it would be awkward to suddenly be thrown into our group, but since Lizel-senpai is basically taking charge of the whole thing I don't think I have much room to complain.

And… well… I'm a guy. The idea of doing perverted things to a girl isn't exactly unpleasant. So if Lizel-senpai finds a girl that wants to join, then why not? Maybe she's even planning to ask Neith to join, and that's why she asked for her cooperation. That's the only reason I can imagine.

Doing perverted things to Neith… d-don't lose yourself in fantasy just yet, Yuuto. Let's see how things go.

"I think that's generally it. Everyone must be tired from the trip, so let's just rest for today."

E-eh? Lizel-senpai already finished? Everyone looks like they just finished hearing something important. Did I space out longer than I thought?

W-well, it probably wasn't that important. The gist of it is: get stronger. That should be good enough.

… Wait, I just realized… did my first international trip become my first interworld trip?