The Tanaka couple looked up and saw a cute little girl with tanned skin and purple hair.
It was Jahy, who had already changed out of her revealing outfit into one of Masao's old shirts from his junior high school days. Though it was a bit small for him now, on Jahy, the shirt fell all the way to her knees.
As for what she was wearing—or rather, not wearing—underneath, Masao didn't have any suitable clothes for her. And our great Jahy didn't seem to mind it, having chosen to go commando.
Seeing Jahy appear so suddenly, Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka were momentarily stunned.
Then, in the next second, they sprang into action.
Mr. Tanaka swiftly closed the front door and turned the lock.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Tanaka grabbed Masao by the ear, her voice a mixture of panic and scolding.
"Masao! How could you do this? This is illegal! Tell me you haven't left any evidence. You must not get caught!"
After a brief scene of domestic chaos, the Tanaka household finally settled down.
The four of them sat on the living room sofa. Mr. Tanaka was the first to speak.
"So, you're saying this young lady is homeless, and you brought her here?"
Masao nodded. "That's right."
This was the story he had decided on—that Jahy was a stray child he'd found. It wasn't even far from the truth.
Mrs. Tanaka let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. I thought you'd done something... irreversible." She then turned her gaze to Jahy, a hint of doubt in her eyes. "But such a lovely child... is she really an orphan? She's not a runaway, is she? Masao, did you check with the police?"
Masao was prepared for this.
"I already checked at the station. There's no record of her."
Hearing this, his parents dropped their suspicions.
While society was stable and there were orphanages and welfare systems, it wasn't unheard of for a child or two to slip through the cracks, living on the streets without any registered identity.
Jahy was undeniably adorable, and combined with her "tragic" circumstances, Mrs. Tanaka's heart melted with pity and affection. She reached out and gently stroked Jahy's head.
"You poor thing, it must have been so hard for you all these years. Your skin's even been tanned by the sun..."
Being patted on the head by a human rubbed Jahy the wrong way. She was the second-in-command of the Demon World! 'How dare this ordinary mortal treat her like a pet!'
Just as she was about to explode, she saw Masao frantically signaling her with his eyes. His expression screamed, "Endure it! Or this whole plan falls apart!"
Gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, Jahy shamefully closed her eyes and bore the humiliation.
[Ding.]
[Congratulations, Host, on obtaining 10+ points of Corruption Value.]
Misinterpreting her reaction, Mrs. Tanaka thought Jahy was fighting back tears, trying to be brave and not cry.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tanaka spoke up again.
"So, Masao, now that you've brought her home, what's your plan?"
"I want her to stay with us," Masao said, delivering his pre-rehearsed line.
Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka exchanged a look and gave each other a slight nod.
Mr. Tanaka: "I have no objections."
Mrs.Tanaka: "I've always wanted a daughter. Jahy, is it? Would you like to stay and live with us?"
Having endured the head-patting and seeing her goal within reach, Jahy finally relaxed.
'Fine. I'll forgive you for touching my head, since you're providing me with a roof.'
She nodded. "I will."
Thrilled to suddenly have a cute daughter, the Tanaka parents became a whirlwind of activity.
Mrs. Tanaka announced, "I'll go prepare dinner!"
Mr.Tanaka said, "I'll get a room ready and look into the paperwork for her residency registration. Masao, you look after Jahy."
With the two adults busy, only Masao and Jahy were left in the living room.
Jahy collapsed onto the sofa with a languid sigh, sprawling out like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
"Phew...Finally, it's over. I'm exhausted."
"Hey, you barely did anything. You hardly even spoke. How could you possibly be tired?" Masao remarked, watching her.
He was becoming more and more convinced that this "second-in-command of the Demon World" title was highly suspect.
"What do you know?!" Jahy retorted, shaking her fist indignantly. "Doing nothing is the most exhausting thing of all! For that little performance, I had to use every ounce of my willpower not to lose my temper. Do you have any idea how hard that was?"
"Not really," Masao replied flatly, not indulging her as he took a seat on the sofa himself. "Well, now that you're settled in, we'll get your ID and everything sorted out in the next few days."
"An ID? Why would I need a human identity?"
"If you're going to move around in the human world, it's more convenient to have one. You'll need it for things like taking public transport or buying certain items. You're looking for your Mana Stones, right? What if they're scattered in faraway places? Are you going to walk there?"
Hearing this, Jahy didn't argue and decided to play along with getting the identification.
If she had her magic, she could just fly to the stones, but in her current state, she didn't even have enough power to maintain her form properly, let alone take to the skies.
Then, Jahy's eyes drifted to Masao's chest.
"I saw you have a suit of powered armor. Lend it to me. I'll give it back once I've recovered the Mana Stones."
Masao swatted away the little hand she extended. "You've got some nerve. That's my treasure. There's no way I'm giving it to you."
Jahy pulled her hand back, blowing on the spot he'd hit, her expression turning sour. "Fine, keep it. No need to get physical."
Though her words were dismissive, her gaze remained fixed on his chest.
Her senses were sharp. She could detect a powerful energy source hidden there. Unfortunately, it wasn't magical energy she could absorb and use.
She guessed it was the power core for his armor. Any suit with that much energy had to be formidable. With that armor, she could probably gather the Mana Stones in no time.
'I need to figure out a way to steal it when he's taking a bath or asleep.'
Jahy began to scheme.
As for what would happen if she failed and got caught... The Great Jahy-sama never considered failure even an option.
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[email protected]/Raven_scroll (30+ Advance Chapters)