An old, shabby rental apartment.
Maou Sadao burst in, quickly locking the door and windows behind him before collapsing onto the floor, panting hard.
Ashiya Shirou, wearing an apron, emerged from another room.
"Demon King, what's gotten into you? Did your job interview go badly? If it's really impossible, I'll go look for another job."
Maou Sadao's expression was grave.
"I ran into that man again!"
"That man?" Ashiya frowned. "Who do you mean, Demon King?"
"Remember how, right after we arrived in this world, we ran into that unbelievably strong guy who threatened us? The one whose name...something Ao?"
Maou Sadao couldn't quite remember.
"Rei Ao," came a sudden prompt, making Maou's eyes light up.
"Right, that's it—Rei Ao!"
The next instant, though, his entire body froze. Because in this cramped, narrow apartment of his, two more people had just appeared: a red-haired woman and a smiling man. Emilia and Rei Ao.
Ashiya instantly darted in front of Maou Sadao, shielding him. No wonder his master was so flustered—it was because this demon of a man was after them again. But no matter who he was, Ashiya had to protect the Demon King.
"Sheesh, we've met before. No need to get so wound up," Rei Ao said with a laugh, seeing how terrified they were.
But Maou Sadao and Ashiya were both silently protesting, "Meeting you that day was all threats—some 'friendship' that was!"
At length, Maou stood up.
"Ashiya, stand down."
"It's fine—if he wanted to take us out, he would've done it already."
Maou saw things quite clearly. If Rei Ao had wanted to attack them, he wouldn't have waited for Maou to run home. Then again, it might also be that he was enjoying the chase—Maou still couldn't be sure.
In the end, Ashiya grudgingly stepped aside, though he remained on guard. Maou Sadao looked at Rei Ao.
"Lord Rei Ao, we've already signed the Three Realms Agreement. We're living here as honest, law-abiding citizens in the human realm. You wouldn't give us trouble over that, right?"
First thing he did was invoke that pact. They were keeping their heads down and living quietly; punishing them anyway would be too harsh.
"I don't recall ever saying I was here to cause trouble for you," Rei Ao said with a shrug. "I only came to see how you've been getting on."
He cast an eye around the cramped quarters. His immediate impression was pity. The place was so bare-bones there wasn't a single superfluous decoration or appliance.
A jar of pickled vegetables sat on the table—clearly no proper dishes. Their lives must be quite rough. Even Emilia, discreetly surveying the room, was stunned to see the great Demon King living in what was practically a kennel. What a joke...
"Oh, right. I also brought along an 'old friend' of yours."
Maou Sadao glanced at Emilia.
He didn't recognize her.
"She..." Ashiya squinted, scrutinizing Emilia's face. She looks vaguely familiar, aside from her hair color... Where have I seen her? Slowly, realization dawned on him. Her features—minus the hair—overlapped exactly with the hero who once defeated the Demon King.
He swallowed hard and whispered to Maou:
"Demon King... doesn't she look an awful lot like that Hero?"
"Hero?" Maou Sadao froze. The moment Ashiya pointed it out, he noticed, too. His eyes went wide, and his trembling finger pointed at Emilia.
"Oh dear, is the powerless Demon King losing his eyesight, too?" Emilia scoffed, arms folded.
Maou Sadao forced down his shock. He stared at her sharply:
"Emilia! Why are you here?!"
"You're asking me?" Emilia bristled. "If it wasn't to finish you off, why else would I have chased you into this godforsaken place?!"
She wouldn't have become what Rei Ao called a... "wage slave" if not for that.
Maou remembered how he'd torn open a dimensional rift and jumped in randomly. Apparently, the Hero had plunged in after him, determined to kill him.
"What do you plan to do now—kill me?" Maou Sadao narrowed his eyes. "Considering I've lost all my demonic power, you likely lost your holy magic, too. Are you sure you can kill me in your current state?"
Emilia didn't answer right away; the truth was she couldn't do it easily. But she refused to show any weakness and sneered,
"I could kill you with no trouble if I wanted to. The only reason I'm not doing it is because of Rei Ao. Consider yourself lucky you're squatting in this peaceful world. The moment you set foot back on the Holy Cross Continent, I'll chase you down and destroy you!"
Spoken with utter righteous confidence. Rei Ao, who'd been watching silently, figured he'd seen enough.
"All right, cut it out, both of you," he interjected. "This world has its own rules. You can't just break them like I can. So let's keep it civil."
All three fell silent. Indeed, Rei Ao was the one person powerful enough to bend any rules. Rei Ao turned to Maou Sadao:
"You recognize this thing?"
He flicked a finger, and thud, a giant bird's head fell onto the floor with a clunk.
Emilia was the first to react:
Ashiya's eyes shrank:
"That's one of the bird demons from the unit...!"
"Seems you know exactly what it is," Rei Ao mused.
Maou Sadao's face was grim.
"Yes, I do. It's a 'bird demon,' one of the beast-type devils in my subordinate Lucifer's regiment."
"Lucifer, hmm..." Rei Ao rubbed his chin. In the story, Lucifer also crosses into Maou Sadao's world. That might be something worth paying attention to.
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