Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
{[Dimensional Chat]
Lici: You're devious, Tatsuo
Lici: But I like it
James: seriously
James: Lici is right
James: And I like it, too
Momo: Is it really okay to do something like this?
Momo: What if they start to fight?
Tatsuo (Admin): It's fine
Tatsuo (Admin): If they start fighting, both Tio and I are strong enough to stop them
Alfonzo: Has the mall collapsed yet?
Tatsuo (Admin): Nope
Alfonzo: Then that means Maou shouldn't be at full strength yet
Alfonzo: And Emi was never at full strength from the beginning
Violet: Still, this is kinda mean, isn't it?
Violet: Putting enemies so close together, I mean
Tatsuo (Admin): What are you talking about, Violet?
Tatsuo (Admin): I was just helping out a friend who was in a bad situation
Alfonzo: Besides, it will make things easier on Emi, too
Alfonzo: Now, she won't even have to leave her apartment building to spy on Maou
Zelretch: Indeed, Young Tatsuo is quite generous
Akatsuki: I'm glad you all aren't in my world
Akatsuki: If you were, the round table Shiroe-Sama set up would probably fall apart in less than a week
Momo: I'm still wondering how U.A. is still standing after getting to know Tatsuo-Kun and Alfonzo-San better
Alfonzo: I'll have you know, in the fifteen years since I started working as a wizard, I've never caused any collateral damage
Sakura: But you blew up an entire warehouse in Yokohama last time
Alfonzo: That was completely necessary
Alfonzo: I had to destroy as many of the Nomus in that building as possible
Tatsuo (Admin): As a trained assassin, I only kill what I want to kill
Tatsuo (Admin): Or what I'm paid to kill
James: You've never taken a hit contract, though
Tatsuo (Admin): We're almost at the apartment building
Tatsuo (Admin): I gotta go soon
Aletia: Changing the subject
Tatsuo (Admin): Oh, and Chi-Chan is here
Tatsuo (Admin): Things are about to get even more interesting}
While Tatsuo was chatting with the others from the [Dimensional Chat], Tio was driving him, Sadao, Shirō, and Hanzō to the apartment building where Tatsuo and Tio used to live. Luckily, just as something was mentioned that Tatsuo did not want to respond to, the moving van drew near enough to the building that Tatsuo could see the front door through the windshield.
On top of that, just as Tatsuo mentioned, Chiho was standing outside of the front door, waiting for them to arrive.
"Maou-San, did you call Chi-Chan to come over?" Tatsuo asked while turning his head to the back of the van to address Sadao.
"Huh? Chi-Chan is here?" Sadao said while leaning forward between the two front seats to get a better look. "I thought she had to work today. Why is she here?"
"So, I guess that's a no." Tatsuo muttered. He then continued at a normal volume. "Well, it's not like the MgRonald's is all that far from here. So, I guess she wanted to stop by before heading into work."
"That makes sense.' Sadao muttered while looking at Chiho.
"Is that the human girl who is so enamored by his Majesty?" Shirō as while squeezing in beside Sadao to get a look at Chiho, as well. "Such an audacious human to covet the King of Demons."
"She is." Tio said with a smile from behind the wheel. "Her crush on Maou-San is so cute."
*Cough!* *Cough!*
In response to Tio's comment, Sadao could not help choking on nothing as a slight flush crept onto his cheeks. Meanwhile, Shirō turned an incredulous gaze towards Tio, who just continued to smile.
"Well, it's not so strange or audacious, is it?" Hanzō asked while leaning back and playing a game on a Nintendo Switch. "I mean, I bet she doesn't even know Maou-San is a demon, right?"
"Hey, That's Maou-Sama to you!" Shirō shouted as he turned back to snap at Hanzō. "Show his Majesty the proper respect!"
"Sure… Sure…" Hanzō replied uncaringly.
"And even if she figures it out, I bet it won't affect her feelings at all." Tatsuo added. "Chi-Chan is just that kind of person. She's so pure it's scary."
"Probably…" Sadao muttered under his breath. A moment later, however, his eyes widened, and he pointed towards the apartment building's entrance. "Hey! What the hell is she doing here?"
Hearing Sadao's shout, everyone turned their attention towards the person he was pointing at, a fuchsia-haired young woman, who just stepped through the apartment building's front door.
"Oh, it's Yusa-San." Tatsuo said with a devious grin on his face. "She's one of the tenants in this building. Now that I think about it, you two probably know each other. She did tell me I should stay away from you, after all. Sounded like some kind of scorned lover, or something."
"Pfft!" Hanzō choked out some stifled laughter when he heard that. However, he could not stifle the laughter for long, as he… "Ahahahahahahaha!" eventually started laughing at the top of his lungs.
"*Cough* *Cough* Scorned lover?" Sadao asked after once again choking on nothing. "What the hell are you talking about, Soramoto-Kun?"
"Who is that woman, Sire?" Shirō, the only one who did not know Emi's true identity, asked.
"I told you I ran into the Hero, Emilia the other day, right?" Sadao asked in a serious tone.
"Yes, you d…id." Shirō said, trailing off at the end. "Wait! Are you saying that fuchsia-haired floozie is Emilia?"
As he asked his question, Shirō once again squeezed next to Sadao. Then, he narrowed his eyes at Emi.
"But I thought she had silver hair." Shirō continued while tilting his head in confusion.
"And you were supposed to be one of the Demon Army's generals, yet you don't know something so simple?" Hanzō asked in a disdainful tone.
"Oh, well, if you're so smart, why don't you enlighten me, General Lucifer?" Shirō shot back.
"Of course." Hanzō replied in a smug tone, making Shirō grit his teeth in annoyance. "When Emilia uses her Holy Power, her hair turns silver. That usually only happens in battle. But when she's not using it, her hair is fuchsia, like so."
As he spoke, Hanzō gestured out the windshield towards Emi, who was chatting with Chiho. {Pic}
Around that time, the van pulled up in front of the apartment building. And when Chiho saw it, her face lit up with a smile. Meanwhile, Emi looked at the van with curiosity. Curious to know who her new neighbor was and which apartment they would be moving into.
However, when Emi saw who stepped out of the back of the van, her curious expression turned into one filled with rage, her right hand clenching as if she were about to draw a sword while her Holy Power began to circulate.
Feeling the flaring Holy Power, Sadao, Shirō, and Hanzō tensed slightly while looking at Emi with wariness. Meanwhile, Tatsuo and Tio looked on as if they were about to see a good show.
"Maou-San!" Chiho cheered happily, not even realizing such a tense atmosphere had formed.
"You! Why are you here!" Emi shouted angrily at the same time. "And you, Lucifer! How are you even here? Shouldn't you be dead?"
"Huh?" Chiho exclaimed in confusion after hearing the young woman she had just been chatting with shouting like that.
Meanwhile, Sadao, Shirō, and Hanzō winced at Emi's loud shout. At the same time, the people on the street turned to look at the group with confusion.
"*Sigh* Haven't I told you about causing a seen, Yusa-San?" Tatsuo asked in a tone filled with faux-exasperation. "I mean, what if this ends up on social media and ruins my career?"
This time, however, Emi could not be bothered to listen to Tatsuo, as all of her attention was focused on the three demons in front of her. Especially Sadao and Hanzō, the latter of which she thought she had killed with her own hands back in Ente Isla.
"Well, to answer your first question, we're moving in here." Sadao said in an awkward tone while scratching the back of his head. He then turned to Chiho, his expression turning into a smile. "But Chi-Chan, I thought you had to work today, why are you here?"
"Huh? Oh… Um…" Chiho stammered, the confusion from the situation still affecting her. "Well… I wanted to see when you moved into your new apartment. And since Tatsuo-Kun used to live there, I wanted to see what your reactions would look like."
"What!?" Emi shouted again, a mortified expression on her face. She then gestured to the building behind her as she continued. "You're moving in… here? Impossible! There's no way you could afford to live in any of the apartments in this building with your meager salary from MgRonald's. Hell, even I can barely afford to live here, and I have a much better job than you do."
Once again, Sadao's expression turned awkward. Then, he looked away from Emi and once again scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I did get a raise not too long ago." Sadao said under his breath. "Not like that would make up the difference, though."
"Actually, you can thank me for that." Tatsuo said, answering Emi's question with a smile. "You see, I've seen where Maou-San lived. And to be honest, it was kind of a dump. So, since we were moving out, I asked Mom if we could rent the place to him and his roommates. We offered him the same cost for the rent on his old place, too. That way, we would have someone to keep the place up and Maou-San would get better living conditions. Kills two birds with one stone, really."
"Yeah, that was so~~~ nice of you, Tatsuo-Kun." Chiho said with a gentle smile.
"Indeed." Tio added. "Tatsuo-Sama really is kind-hearted."
"Yes, he really is." Shirō said. "With better amenities, I should be able to cook more nutritious meals for his Majes--- *cough* Sadao-San."
"The internet should be better here, too." Hanzō added. "Now, I just need to go back to that school Olba and I were squatting at and get the rest of my stuff. Then, I can enjoy the life of luxury."
"You'd better find a job and not just freeload." Shirō said sharply.
"Pot, methinks thy name is Ashiya." Hanzō shot back.
"On top of all that, it's closer to work." Sadao said happily. "So, we're winning on all fronts. Hahaha!"
While everyone else seemed happy about the good fortune that fell in Sadao's, Shirō's, and Hanzō's laps, Emi was stewing in anger. For over a week, she had been spying on the demons to figure out what they were up to in this world. Yet, she had found nothing. And now, she was finding out that they would be living under the same roof. Even worse, he had somehow tricked Tatsuo into letting them live in his old home.
"Unforgiveable!" Emi shouted, cutting through the positive atmosphere. "I don't know what you've done, but I will not let you continue to manipulate these people. Satan! I will kill you and set them free from your evil magic!"
*Flash!*
As her words ended, Emi's hair turned from Fuchsia to silver, and her Holy Sword, Better Half, materialized in her hand before it was raised and pointed at Sadao. Meanwhile, Sadao, Shirō, and Hanzō were caught off guard by how quickly she was ready to resort to violence, especially since there were normal people around.
Meanwhile, Chiho, who knew nothing about the supernatural, was thoroughly dumbfounded. Seeing a young woman's hair change colors right in front of her was bad enough. But…
"Wha-What's going on?" Chiho asked as she took a step away from Emi in fear, instinctively moving closer to Sadao. "How did her hair change color? And why is she holding a sword? No, more important than that! Where in the world did that sword come from in the first place?"
"Ara, Ara." Tio said while smiling amusedly. "She is quite decisive, isn't she?"
"*Sigh* She's also quite sure of herself." Tatsuo said while rubbing the spot between his eyebrows. "On top of that, she sucks at sensing [Energy]. I mean, I'm only restraining mine so that it doesn't affect normal people. But if you paid even a little attention, you could feel that I have a crazy amount swirling around inside of me." {Pic}
"Indeed." Tio replied. "She's either not very observant or she really is bad when it comes to sensing [Energy.]"
"Hey! Why the hell are you two so calm about this?" Sadao asked in a frantic tone. "This crazy woman is about to attack! Shouldn't we do something to… Oh, I don't know… Stop her?"
*Snap!*
"Keep your shirt on, Maou-San." Tatsuo said as he snapped his fingers. "I've got that covered."
With the snap of Tatsuo's fingers, a pulse of [Spatial Energy] spread from between them. At first, it seemed as if nothing happened. Though, Tio, Sadao, Emi, Shirō, and Hanzō felt the [Energy] that washed over them and the surroundings. The only one completely in the dark was Chiho.
A moment later, however, everyone realized that something was different.
Namely, all the people on the street and in the apartment building's lobby were gone, and the only people in the area were Tatsuo, Tio, Sadao, Chio, Emi, Shirō, and Hanzō.
"What is this?" Emi asked as she brought her Holy Sword into a defensive position while looking at Tatsuo warily. "Just what did you do, Soramoto-Kun?"
"Tatsuo-Kun?" Chiho, who had been looking around at the empty surroundings, asked while snapping her head in Tatsuo's direction after hearing Emi's accusation.
"*Sigh* If I had my full power, I could have done something like this, too." Sadao muttered.
"Take it easy, Yusa-San." Tatsuo said while waving dismissively. "First, why don't you put that thing away? Talking will feel awkward if you're pointing that thing around the whole time… Actually, wait a second before you put it away. [Trace On]."
As Tatsuo spoke the activation words, his [Energy] spread towards Emi's sword before engulfing it completely. A moment later, a copy of Better Half appeared in Tatsuo's version of [Unlimited Blade Works].
"Okay, you can put it away now." Tatsuo said with a smile. "Then, I can start explaining everything to you and Chi-Chan. Sound good?"
"Just what did you do?" Emi said, her wariness rising to a new level while she discretely checked on her sword for any damage.
"Nothing special." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. He then held his hand out towards Emi.
*Flash!*
In the next instant, a nearly identical copy of Better Half appeared in Tatsuo's hand.
"Yeah, I can understand why you were able to tear through so many demons back in your world, Yusa-San." Tatsuo said while examining the copy of Better Half in his hand. "This sword is a real nasty piece of work for demonic beings. The sacred metal it's made of is basically the bane of any dark creature."
Immediately upon seeing the copy of Better Half appear in Tatsuo's hand, Emi, Sadao, Shirō, Hanzō, and Chiho's jaws fell open while Emi took a defensive posture. Tio, on the other hand, continued to smile in amusement, finding the other's surprised expressions extremely humorous. {Pic}
"If I hadn't brought us to a parallel space, I would have told you all to close your mouths." Tatsuo said with a smile while continuing to examine the sword in his hand. "Otherwise, you might have to worry about flies flying in."