"Jhin, are you all right?" The moment Hyoizaburoo and Yuiyui stepped out of the Teleportation Magic circle, they rushed straight to their son-in-law's side, fussing over him.
This flare-gun-like device was something the Village Chief had told Hyoizaburoo to give him, meant to guard their prized benefactor against attack during this tense period — and sure enough, just as he'd feared, Jhin had been ambushed.
"I'm fine. I got a shot of what the one who sabotaged the factories looks like." He opened his personal terminal and pulled up the photo he'd snapped, showing it to the Crimson Demon Clan members who'd rushed over.
"Huh, doesn't this woman look like a Demon King's Army officer?"
"Wasn't she called some kind of Beast?"
"A Wild Beast?"
"No way it's something that plain — she's a Demon King's Army officer, shouldn't her title sound way cooler than that?"
"Fair point. Let's guess her actual title, then!"
Part of the crowd had already gone off on a tangent, while a few Crimson Demon Clan members who hadn't joined the discussion crowded around Jhin instead, hurling curses at the attacker while asking whether he felt unsafe and whether he'd like to stay at their homes for a while.
"My son-in-law is perfectly safe at our house, so there's no need to trouble yourselves." A faint killing intent lurked beneath Yuiyui's smile as she shooed the group away. Then she turned to Jhin with a warning: "Their daughters aren't nearly as sweet and dutiful as Megumin, mind you. Steer clear of them when you see them."
"Ahaha... I will."
Well, look at that — turns out their motives weren't so pure after all. And here he'd been almost touched for a second.
Worried about the girls' safety back home, Jhin took Kyaru's hand and said to Yuiyui, "Mother-in-law, I'll head back first."
"Mm, be careful on the way."
The instant the thought crossed his mind, the same Teleportation Magic he'd used to deflect Sylvia's attack appeared before him, swallowing both their figures whole — a sight that left onlookers thoroughly stunned.
"Hey, did you see the Teleportation Magic our patron just used?"
"The style was so unusual — nothing like normal Teleportation Magic."
Having given the Crimson Demon Clan a small taste of Ancient Mage shock and awe, Jhin brought Kyaru back to the living room at home, where Megumin's mouth fell open — the flower pastry she'd been biting into dropped straight to the floor, her eyes wide with shock and confusion.
What a flashy entrance! When did he learn to do that?
Not two seconds later, she was pouting a little.
Why didn't he take me along first!
Jhin shared with his companions the Teleportation Magic he'd created — or rather, it was more accurate to call it Spatial Exchange, since he genuinely couldn't manage to fold two spaces so they overlapped. Instead, he'd come up with a method better suited to someone from Another World who'd never taken a single magic class: simply swapping positions.
The result of that shift in thinking was Spatial Exchange, and its applications turned out to be even broader than ordinary Teleportation Magic — proof that all the brain cells Jhin had burned researching it hadn't gone to waste.
While things were warm and cheerful at Megumin's family home, Sylvia — having fled in disgrace — was hiding in a shrine in the Crimson Demon Village that enshrined some strange statue, dodging patrols that had once again been reinforced.
She had never felt so humiliated in her life — not only had someone mocked the very body she took such pride in, but now she was reduced to cowering in a corner like a turtle pulling into its shell. Still, when she thought about the walking magic cannons patrolling outside, she figured that retreating once in a while wasn't so shameful after all. At least she was still alive.
Just wait until I find the 'Magic Killer' — I'll kill every last one of you!
A light drizzle began to fall from the sky, matching Sylvia's current situation so well that she almost wanted to hum some mournful little tune to vent her feelings. But that was all she could do — just think about it. If the patrolling Crimson Demon Clan mages ever locked onto her, this whole shrine would probably be blasted to dust in an instant, her along with it.
The next day, Jhin accompanied the girls as they wandered around the Crimson Demon Village. With Spatial Exchange and the Crimson Demon Clan's summoning device on hand, he had nothing to fear from another ambush by the Demon King's Army officer. After showing the photo to Kokkoro, she was able to fill him in on who the woman was.
Synthetic Beast Sylvia — a Demon King's Army officer renowned for her physical prowess and her ability to evolve by devouring monsters.
No wonder a proper Demon King's Army officer had no choice but to resort to a sneak attack — she was a melee brute through and through, and against the Crimson Demon Clan, all she could do was get kited to death.
Marveling to himself that spellcasters got the golden-child treatment no matter what world they were in, Jhin noticed a wooden sign by the road pointing toward the mountaintop. The words "Abode of the Deity" written on it piqued his curiosity.
"Megumin, does the Crimson Demon Clan worship its own deity?"
"Ah..." The corner of her mouth twitched, as if she'd rather not get into it. "It's not really a deity of worship, exactly. Go take a look and you'll see."
Out of respect for the deity, Jhin chose not to use Spatial Exchange to whisk everyone straight up, opting instead to climb to the top step by step.
As he stepped onto the last of the bluish-grey stone steps, the shrine that housed the deity came into view, a plaque hanging from its red torii gate.
Kyaru's eyes went wide. "A... cat-ear shrine?"
Looking utterly done with life, Megumin pointed at the small building in the center with the offering box. "Look inside and you'll see."
II
A cat-eared, twin-tailed doll dressed in a sukumizu swimsuit sat primly enthroned on the altar.
Jhin said, perfectly composed, "Well, this counts as normal for the Crimson Demon Clan, I suppose. Let's head back down."
Once the group made it back down the mountain, he used Spatial Exchange to slip off somewhere unknown, then flashed Kyaru and Megumin a mysterious smile.
The two of them, utterly clueless as to why, shivered in unison, as if a big bad wolf had just set its sights on them.
Hiding in the shrine, Sylvia forced down her killing intent, resisting the urge to charge out and fight that boy who'd mocked her looks to the death. She knew all too well that he had some strange magic tool capable of instantly summoning the Crimson Demon Clan, and she had good reason to suspect that his brazen little stroll around the village was nothing but bait meant to draw her out.
"Just three more days... that's when the Demon King's Army outside launches its attack. I can slip away in the chaos."
Back home, Jhin couldn't wait to pull Kyaru into Megumin's bedroom. Under a look from her that clearly said 'I knew this was coming,' he produced the custom sukumizu he'd had made at the tailor's and said eagerly, "Put this on and let me see."
"Should I do my hair in twin tails too, then?"
"Really!?"
Seeing the gleam light up in his eyes, Kyaru sighed and took the outfit from him. "Just bring out whatever else you've got ready, then."
"Oh my god, this is my favorite episode!"
Snap. The moment her fingers let go of the black stockings, they cinched tight around her thighs, carving out an enticing curve, while the strip of dazzlingly pale skin between the dark-blue sukumizu and the stockings caught the light.
Jhin clenched one fist, something like a glimmer of tears flashing at the corner of his eye. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect — right now you could pass for the cat-eared deity herself!"
"I knew I had a bad feeling coming down that mountain..."
Kyaru rolled her eyes, unable to do a thing about him. But since she liked him, she figured she might as well go along with it where she could.
"This is what love is, Kyaru!"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."
____
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