The next morning.
Rei Ao briefly explained Emilia's identity to Tohru and the others.
"A hero from another world?"
Tohru was a little surprised.
Her dragon pupils locked onto Emilia. After a moment, she pursed her lips and commented,
"So weak."
"Weak?"
Emilia couldn't stand being called weak.
"It's just that I can't replenish my holy mana, that's all!"
In response, Rei Ao stated a harsh truth quite plainly.
"Emilia, I don't want to discourage you, but you should know that Tohru is a dragon from the Dragon Realm—she can destroy the surface of an entire world."
"??? Destroy the surface?"
Emilia pictured the Holy Cross Continent being wiped out.
"..."
She was dumbfounded, the little tuft of hair on her head drooping in dismay.
Wasn't that description of Tohru's power a little too straightforward and brutal?
…
[Name]: Emilia
[Level]: 25 (Lacking Holy Mana)
[Abilities]: "Holy Magic," "Holy Sword Technique," "Holy Body Arts," "Holy Fist Arts," "Angel Bloodline"
[Possessions]: "Anti-Evil Holy Garb," "Holy Sword: Better Half"
…
Though Emilia was a hero from another world, capable of defeating a Demon King and carrying angelic blood, she truly wasn't on the same level as Tohru. In fact, no one on the entire Holy Cross Continent could even come close.
"Anyway, since she has nowhere else to go, she'll stay here for now. Futaba, Tohru, Ilia—I'd like you three to look after her and teach her some basic life skills."
"Got it."
The three of them nodded. The only one not named, Sora, raised her hands in protest.
"What about me? What about me?"
"Sora, you can just enjoy life."
Rei Ao had no expectations that Sora—who was even more mischievous—would be able to teach Emilia anything.
"Hmph, don't underestimate me, Master. I'll teach her…teach her…"
Teach her what, exactly?
Sora bowed her head in thought. Aside from magic, she couldn't think of anything else resembling a practical life skill to pass on. Seeing her so earnest, the others couldn't help smiling wryly.
After settling Emilia's arrangement, Rei Ao turned to Mai.
"Mai, let's head to school."
Then the two of them left. As soon as they stepped out, they bumped into the four "lolis" at Gabriel's doorway.
"Master!"
Satania was the first to greet him.
"What a coincidence. Want to go to school together?"
Rei Ao extended an invitation, winking at the listless Gabriel among the four.
"!!!"
Gabriel avoided his gaze, her face flushing slightly—it was only natural, given how many embarrassing things she had experienced around him. Raphiel eyed Rei Ao curiously, as if sensing something out of place, but she merely put aside her doubts for now and smiled.
"Sure."
"Master, I've gotten stronger lately…"
On the way to school, Satania held Rei Ao's hand, chattering about her livestreams. Rei Ao listened kindly, offering occasional words of praise. He actually liked how lively Satania was.
Meanwhile, Vignette didn't quite know how to feel about their closeness. Ever since she saw Satania in the bathroom, using her own hands while muttering "Master," Vignette could no longer view their "ordinary" interactions the same way. It left her feeling strangely sour and uncomfortable.
Raphiel, for her part, kept her eyes on Rei Ao the entire time. Walking shoulder to shoulder with Gabriel, she quietly asked,
"Gab, don't you think Rei Ao has a very familiar feel about him?"
"Huh?"
Half-asleep, Gabriel glanced over and then looked away again.
"No idea."
"..."
Raphiel was speechless. Ever since Gabriel had become addicted to gaming, she had grown lazier by the day. Left with no choice, Raphiel sped up to catch Rei Ao and asked him directly,
"Rei Ao, I have a question for you."
Hearing her speak, Satania fell silent at once.
"What is it?"
After a brief hesitation, Raphiel voiced her thoughts.
"Have you been in contact with any other angels? I sense an angelic aura on you."
"Angel?"
Satania, Vignette, and Mai all turned curious looks his way.
"No."
Aside from Raphiel and Gabriel, Rei Ao hadn't interacted with any other angels.
"Really?"
Just as Raphiel was about to assume she was mistaken, Rei Ao continued,
"However, I did meet a hero from another world who seems to be half-angel, half-human—someone's daughter, apparently."
"Huh?!"
They all gaped at him. An angel-human hybrid from another world—just hearing it put together like that sounded astounding.
"You really should've told us about that earlier," Raphiel complained. Handling otherworldly beings who arrive in the human realm was part of their job as angels, after all.
"Haha. It was the middle of the night, and I didn't want to disturb your sleep. I was planning to tell you today, anyway," Rei Ao said with a shrug.
"...So there are currently three people who've crossed over. All of them come from Ente Isla on the Holy Cross Continent, which we heard about recently."
"That's the world with demons, right?"
Vignette remembered it clearly.
"That's right."
Rei Ao nodded and went on pointedly,
"Besides the hero, the other two are demons: one is the Demon King, and the other is the Demon King's Grand Marshal."
"Huh?!"
From the demons they'd dealt with before, Vignette's first thought was that demons were extremely dangerous. The mere mention of a Demon King made it sound even worse—a threat beyond comprehension. Yet Satania's eyes lit up in excitement for an entirely different reason.
"A Demon King?! Is he really strong? Really awesome?"
After all, it was a Demon King.
With a pat, Rei Ao's large hand came down on her head.
"It's just a Demon King. What's there to be excited about?" he said. "Didn't I tell you that I'm also a Demon King?"
"Huh?"
Satania blinked her big, round eyes.
"You never said that..."
She shook her head, clearly confused. Vignette tentatively raised a hand.
"Um, Rei Ao, I…haven't actually mentioned that to Satania yet."
"Oh," Rei Ao said without a hint of awkwardness. He kept ruffling Satania's hair. "Well, I'm telling you now: I'm also a Demon King. You only need to worship me, Satania."
Why would his little fangirl be interested in some other Demon King, anyway?
"Master is a Demon King?!"
Satania practically squealed, as if this news had blown her mind.
"I'm your student, which means I'm the Demon King successor you chose, Master!"
The more Satania thought about it, the more excited she became.
Rei Ao simply smiled without saying anything. Rather than a successor, he preferred the idea of a Demon Queen. Even if Satania was a bit of an airhead, he figured she could still make a fine addition as one of his Demon King's consorts.
~~~
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