Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 1 - Chapter 7

There’s No Spirit of Cooperation!

Thursday, April 9th

“Phew.”

Koutarou was able to calm down after drinking the cup of tea Kiriha had poured for him.

“Problems just keep piling up and I can’t help feeling like I’m starting to lose my mind.”

“When that happens, just have another cup of tea. Although, sadly, I wasn’t able to find any good tea leaves.”

Sanae was clinging on to Koutarou’s back and playing with the now empty cup using her Poltergeist powers.

Now that I think about it, I used to fight with Sanae when we first met too...

Having remembered that, Koutarou looked at Theia who was currently sitting at the tea table across from him. Being as stubborn as she was, she blatantly looked away from him, determined not to look him in the eyes. Koutarou felt that the current situation was quite similar to when he had first met Sanae.

“Hey, Tulip.”

“...Don’t call me by that strange name! I have a splendid name! It’s Theia!”

Theia glared at Koutarou. Although she was more bullish and selfish than Sanae, her puffed up cheeks still gave her a childlike charm.

I have no intention of handing over this room, but I’m being a bit immature. She’s only a child...

“All right then, Theia.”

“Call me Theia-sama or Your Highness.”

“I’m not a citizen of your country, and I don’t intend to become one. Think about it. Right now, we are enemies.”

“...Well, fine. So what do you want?”

“We may be enemies, but let’s not do anything that won’t benefit either of us.”

“Such as?”

“Such as punching, kicking, or firing lasers. You’d be in trouble if I died too, right? Besides, I can’t imagine using violence to force someone into submission would help prove your leadership potential.”

“...”

Theia furrowed her brow and fell silent. She understood that Koutarou was correct, but her emotions couldn’t accept it.

“And I’ll restrain myself from throwing you out right now too. So let’s tolerate each other to a certain degree, okay?”

“...”

Theia stared at Koutarou’s face. Two intense feelings were fighting within her small chest.

“Your Highness, bargaining is required from time to time.”

“...I understand. It’s true that I have nothing to gain from fighting you.”

In the end, Ruth was the one that pushed Theia in the right direction.

“If you’re open to negotiations, I will stop resorting to violence.”

Theia looked reluctant, but she agreed to Koutarou’s proposal.

“I’m fine with that.”

Hmm... As long as she doesn’t get emotional, it looks like she can be somewhat reasonable...

The reality of the situation was that Theia could simply use her weapons to take the entire planet hostage and then threaten Koutarou. However, as long as she wasn’t losing it, she knew that wasn’t how she should handle things.

“Well, with that settled, I’d like to define the situation we’re in. How about it?”

Waiting for the struggle between Koutarou and Theia to die down, Kiriha made her proposal.

“No objections.”

“I understand.”

Sanae and Yurika agreed right away.

“Let’s do that. I’m starting to lose track myself.”

At first, Koutarou had been the only one in the room. But in just four days, the number had increased to six. Anyone would get confused.

“I don’t mind. I’d like to hear everyone’s intentions once more.”

Theia obediently agreed as well. However, the last one, Ruth, didn’t say anything. She was only there are Theia’s helper.

“Then let’s begin with Koutarou. He is currently the legal master of this room.”

“What about me? I’ve lived here since before Koutarou.”

“Koutarou is the one who has a contract with the landlord. I have no intention of neglecting you, Sanae, but let’s start by hearing what Koutarou has to say.”

“Ugh, fine. I guess we have to.”

Sanae was dissatisfied, but she held it in for now. That was because her feelings for Koutarou had started to change, although she herself was still unaware of this development. If this were happening the day they had first met, Sanae never would have backed down.

“Go ahead, Koutarou.”

“Okay... It’s simple for me. This is where I’m living while going to school. That’s why I won’t leave. The monthly rent of just 5,000 yen makes it ideal.”

“Pleb, how long will it take for you to finish school?”

“...Three years.”

Although slightly irritated by being called a pleb, Koutarou answered Theia.

“I can’t wait for that long.”

“But I have no intention of leaving. I’m also friends with Landlord-san. If I hand this room over to you, it would just cause her trouble instead.”

Koutarou had two reasons for not moving out. The first was strictly financial. The second was Shizuka.

While they had only known each other for a few days, Shizuka had treated him well, and he felt indebted to her. They were also becoming friends, so he didn’t want to haphazardly hand over the room and dump these problems on her. Koutarou knew how much the building meant to Shizuka, which was why he couldn’t simply leave.

“That’s about it for me.”

“With your lifestyle on the line, you can’t withdraw easily, huh?”

“But I need you to leave.”

“Yurika, save that until it’s your turn, if you please. Next is Sanae.”

“Me?”

“I was thinking of doing this in the order of appearance.”

“Okay. But my story isn’t all that complicated. I’ve been living here this whole time, so I don’t want to be chased out.” Sanae smiled indifferently as she spoke. “I currently have a truce with Koutarou, but I plan on throwing out anyone that gets in my way.”

“B-By possessing and killing them?”

“If I have too... Heh heh. I might just put a curse on you!”

“Aaaaaaaiieee!”

Sanae flashed a grim smile, leaving Yurika frozen with fear. Amused, Sanae slowly approached her.

“N-Nooooo!”

“Stop! Wait! Don’t run away, Yurika!”

Yurika was about to jump into wardrobe as per her usual, but Koutarou grabbed ahold of her foot and stopped her.

“L-Let go! You’re the only one that has to get possessed, Satomi-san!”

“Hey, stop kicking! Stop running! At least tell us your story first!”

“But the ghost! The ghost will attack!”

“I might eat you up!”

“Kyaaaaah! Noooooooo!”

“Sanae, you cut it out! We’re not going to get anywhere if you keep this up!”

“Teehee, sorry.”

Sanae stuck her tongue out and returned to her seat.

“Nooooo!”

“Yurika, calm down! Sanae isn’t coming after you anymore!”

“Let gooo!”

However, seemingly blind to her environment, Yurika continued to struggle. As she kicked Koutarou repeatedly, his rage began welling up from within.

“Gah! This is why I hate cosplayers with spring fever!”

“If we don’t put a stop to this kind of behavior, the reputation of cosplayers worldwide will just keep getting worse. Even though they’re all good people...”

“I’m not a cosplayer!”

Yurika shouted reflexively, but it finally snapped her back to reality. Realizing everyone was staring at her coldly, her face turned red with shame.

“Ah, um...”

“Phew. Jeez...”

Koutarou let out a sigh and let go of Yurika’s leg before returning to his seat.

“Good work, Koutarou.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Sanae!”

“Oh my. Just relax.”

“Sheesh.”

“Teehee.”

Sanae didn’t so much as flinch when Koutarou shouted at her.

“I’m sorry for making such a commotion.”

An apologetic Yurika returned to her seat too.

“Well it is your turn now, Yurika. Tell us why you came here.”

“She came here to hold a cosplay party with her friends, right?”

“I think that was it. The cheap rent must have caught her eye.”

“You’re wrong! There will be people who come here wanting to claim the magical power that’s overflowing in this room. I need everyone to escape from here before that happens!”

“Okay, okay. So that’s the backstory for your party, right?”

“The way you stick to your story is worthy of praise, but could you please not try to take over this room for something like that?”

“Honestly, even I’m struggling to handle Yurika.”

“That’s not it! Why won’t you ever listen to what I have to say?!”

Yurika desperately tried to appeal, but Koutarou and the others didn’t believe her at all.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Yeah. Nobody really believes in magic. It’s just unrealistic.”

“And despite calling yourself a magical girl of love and justice, you constantly run away, leaving behind Koutarou as a sacrifice. That’s totally not something a heroine of justice would do.”

Common sense, reality, and cowardice. There was just far too much working against Yurika for anyone to believe her story.

“A-Auuugh! I’m not lying!”

“Don’t worry, Yurika.” Theia leaned over to pat her on the shoulder. “I believe in you.”

“Really?!” The gloomy expression on Yurika brightened up at Theia’s words. “You believe in magic?!”

“Of course.”

“And that I’m a magical girl? And that enemies are coming?”

“Yes. Of course I do.”

“Thank you so much! I always thought someone who believed in me would appear!”

Yurika grabbed Theia’s hand and shook it intensely. She was crying tears of joy.

“There’s no need to thank me. If you leave in return, that is.”

But Theia’s next words made Yurika’s expression freeze in place.

“Huh?” Yurika was visibly flustered now. “Wh-What do you mean by that?”

“I’m simply saying I believe your story. That’s why you can leave without any regrets. I will deal with your enemies, so there is no need to worry.”

“W-Wait just a minute! You mean—”

“You’re trying to use diplomacy to get rid of her. Even though you don’t believe her one bit, you’ll say you do so you can bargain with her... You’re a clever one, alien princess.”

Kiriha cut in on Yurika’s behalf.

“Heh heh, royalty can do more than just use force.”

And Kiriha got it spot on.

“Th-This is just too cruel! You all just keep picking on me! Why?! You’re fine with ghosts, underground people, and aliens!”

Yurika started crying again.

“This is discrimination! It’s unfair! I demand a correction in the balance!”

Yurika got up and jumped into the wardrobe, slamming the sliding door shut.

“Waaaaah...”

Her crying voice could be heard coming through the wardrobe.

“Well then, I’m next.”

“Kiriha, why did you come here?”

Everyone else quickly moved on.

“Waaah! I’m still right here.”

It only made Yurika sadder.

“I came here to rebuild the altar where my ancestors were enshrined.”

“Oh, so this is sacred ground to you?”

“But you’re only rebuilding it so you can invade the surface, right?”

“That’s right. By rebuilding the altar, we can efficiently gather spiritual energy. By mass producing spiritual energy weapons, we will be able to regain our lost glory.”

“So in a political sense, your goal is similar to mine.” Theia smiled contentedly.

So this is my enemy. She seems sharp, too... This’ll be interesting.

Theia was secretly happy that a worthy rival had appeared.

“Finally, it’s your turn, Theia-dono.”

“Yes, my reasons are as I mentioned before. I came here as part of a ceremony to prove myself. I demand ownership of this room in addition to the loyalty of its resident pleb.”

Theia pointed at Koutarou as she spoke. There was plenty Koutarou wanted to say in return, but he decided to hold it in for now.

“Which means, in the end, we’re all after this room.”

“So it seems.”

Koutarou and Sanae wanted to live there, Yurika wanted to hold a party, Kiriha wanted to rebuild an altar, and Theia wanted to rule it.

“In other words, you all came here to invade my room.”

“Simply put, that would be the case,” Ruth chimed in.

Five girls were after Koutarou’s room. They each had their own goals, but they all wanted to take the room from him.

“But what do we do? None of us have any intention of fighting or leaving. Are we going to play games again?”

Another thing they all had in common was that none of them wanted to fight Koutarou. Because of that, they had previously agreed to settle things with games. But that was before Theia had arrived.

“Ohoho, games don’t sound bad. That is how wars of old used to be.”

“Then you’ll agree on settling things with games, Theia-dono?”

“On one condition.” Theia nodded confidently.

“Condition? What condition?”

“Hehehe, I will only play against that pleb.”

“What do you mean, Theia-dono?” Kiriha’s expression turned serious.

“It’s simple. If I play a game now, I have a one in five chance of winning. However, after I have eliminated the other invaders, my chances are one in two. The pleb aside, I have no reason to play games with the rest of you!”

“So that’s your plan...!”

“Do you really think you can win?!”

Tension in the room rose as Theia stood up with a fearless smile.

“Of course! In truth, I was just about to last time.”

“I wonder about that. I have already prepared weapons that will work on you. Karama, Korama!”

“Ho!”

“Yes, ho!”

Responding to Kiriha’s voice, the two haniwas appeared before her. Their designs had changed slightly from before. One had a sword hanging off its waist, while the other had something resembling a beard near its mouth.

“The Spiritual Energy Katana and Spiritual Wave Cannon have been prepared! Ho!”

“Ane-go, just leave this to us! Ho!”

“This means neither of us can block the other’s attacks.”

Kiriha slowly stood up and made her declaration, wearing the same fearless grin as Theia. The Spiritual Energy Katana and Spiritual Wave Cannon were similar to Sanae’s psychic powers. Since Sanae could supernaturally slip past Theia’s barrier, these weapons would work on Theia too.

“You impudent...”

“Which means victory for me and Kiriha. You can’t hurt me since I’m a ghost.”

Sanae floated up and created a will-o’-wisp. As she discharged electricity, the will-o’-wisp grew larger.

“Blue Knight, activate the Anti-Personnel Weapons System’s Mind Pulse and Motor Cannon.”

Obeying Theia’s orders, the two small disks reappeared above her shoulders once more.

“Those things won’t work on me.”

“We’ll see about that.” Theia remained confident. “Even if you are a ghost, you still have a mind. So as long as I use a weapon that targets your mind, I can defeat you!”

“Damn it, is there anything aliens can’t do?!”

Sanae stomped her feet in frustration as Koutarou and Ruth raised their voices.

“H-Hey, wait! Are you going to fight here?!”

“Please stop, Your Highness!”

“Back off, Koutarou! It seems we need to eliminate this alien princess no matter what!”

“If you get in the way, you’ll just get hurt!”

“Just stand back, pleb! I’ll show you how powerful your master is!”

“S-Stop it! God knows what will happen if you guys fight for real!”

“Your Highness! Please stop it, Your Highness!”

But the three girls refused to listen to Koutarou’s and Ruth’s desperate pleas. They just continued to stare each other down as the tension grew thicker.

“Wh-What’s going on?!”

As Yurika—who was unaware of the situation—opened the sliding door, the battle finally began.

“Victory to the attacker!”

“Gooooo!”

“Korama, the Spiritual Wave Cannon!”

What ensued was a disaster.

“Look out, Ruth-san!”

“Wha... What?!”

One of the stray bullets that shot out from the black disks above Theia’s shoulders flew directly towards Ruth, who wasn’t paying attention. Koutarou instinctively reacted and tackled her into the hall leading to the front door.

“Kyaaaaah!”

Being thrown to the floor hurt a little, but fortunately, the bullet passed over them.

“Th-Thank you, Satomi-sama...”

“Don’t space out, Ruth-san!”

“I’m sorry. Even though I’m a guard, I’m no good at combat...”

Koutarou helped Ruth back to her feet as Yurika came to hide in the hall as well.

“Wh-What is going on?! The futon in the wardrobe was just charred!”

“Tulip is planning on reducing the number of people in this room before she settles things with me!”

“Wait, so we’re not playing games then?!”

“She wants to single me out to increase her chances of winning!”

“B-But that’s terrible! That means I’ll be targeted too, doesn’t it?”

“Don’t worry. You’re probably not on her radar.”

“Waaaaah! I don’t want that either!”

Several minutes had already passed since the other girls had begun fighting.

“Fuahahaha! What’s the matter, you two? Do you think you can beat me like that?”

“What do we do, Kiriha?! She’s just ridiculous!”

“We will not lose either. Just calm down and look for an opening!”

Sanae and Kiriha were working together to fight off Theia, but her superior firepower meant the playing field was practically level.

“But what do we do? The room will be destroyed at this rate!”

Realizing that himself, Koutarou began panicking. Since no one had the decisive upper hand in this battle, the room was taking most of the damage. There were scorch marks and bullet holes all over the apartment. It was a small miracle that there weren’t any fires yet.

“Satomi-sama, look out!”

“Huh?!”

As Koutarou peeked into the inner room to get a handle on the situation, a fireball launched by one of the haniwas came straight for him. Another stray bullet.

“Waaaaah! I’m going to die!”

“Quick Cast Fireball! Targeting Option: Auto Homing!”

Koutarou heard Yurika’s voice as he ducked to cover his head.

“What?!”

The next instant, the broom in Yurika’s hand began glowing red, and a second fireball appeared from its tip. The new fireball flew towards the first one.

“Hyaaaah!”

The two fireballs collided mid-air and exploded. While that prevented a direct hit, the flames from the explosions assailed Koutarou.

“I’m gonna die! I’m gonna burn to death!”

“Flame Shield!”

But for some reason, the flames didn’t hurt Koutarou.

“Huh? It’s not hot?”

Curiously enough, the flames vanished some ten centimeters or so away from him. A yellow light surrounded Koutarou. When the flames touched the light, they were extinguished.

“What’s this...?”

“Satomi-sama!”

“Are you okay, Satomi-san?!”

Ruth and Yurika pulled the surprised Koutarou back into the hallway.

“That’s dangerous, Satomi-san! Don’t poke your head out like that in a fight! If my spell hadn’t made it in time, what do you think would’ve happened?”

“What?! Was that thing your doing, Yurika?”

Koutarou’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

“Yes! The fireball and the light protecting you now were both spells I cast.”

Yurika smiled triumphantly as she looked at Koutarou’s surprised expression.

“You, you really are...!”

“Yes, I really am a magical girl!”

Yurika’s eyes beamed with anticipation as she waited for Koutarou’s next words.

“You really are an idiot!”

“...Huh?”

Yurika’s smile froze. What came out of Koutarou’s mouth was the exact opposite of what she had expected.

“This place is already at risk of going up in flames, so why the hell would you use fire to fight fire?!”

“Whaaaaa?! That’s what caught your attention?!”

Yurika was deeply disappointed. She had truly believed that this time Koutarou would have to accept that she was a magical girl. This time, this time for sure... But reality is cruel.

“What else?! You idiot!”

“Auuugh... Please be surprised that I’m actually a magical girl!”

“I don’t care about that! My life is on the line here! Or are you trying to burn me to death?!”

“No, I used my spell to keep that from happening!”

“Good grief... I can’t waste time on this”

Koutarou gave up on arguing with Yurika and ran towards the front door.

“Aahhh... I’m starting to hate everything...” As Yurika watched him go, she squatted down, depressed. “My precious stuffed animals burned up too... Maybe I should stop protecting this room and everyone in it...”

The only reason that the room hadn’t already been destroyed was thanks to Yurika’s protective spell. It was also the reason the three girls fighting weren’t hurt. If it weren’t for Yurika, they would have been seriously injured fighting in a small room like this with nowhere to run. Not to mention the massive fire that would have started by now.

“This is painful... I thought being a magical girl would be more rewarding than this...”

Yet her efforts remained unacknowledged. In the end, the biggest contributor to protecting room 106 was sulking.

“Ruth-san, I’ll leave Yurika to you!”

Leaving the moping Yurika behind, Koutarou grabbed his bat from the umbrella stand by the door and marched to the inner room now embroiled in a fierce battle.

“Satomi-sama, just what are you—?!”

“I’m going to stop Tulip—I mean Theia!”

“Please stop, Satomi-sama! If you run in there now, your life will be in danger!”

“It’ll be too late if I don’t go now! I don’t even want to imagine what will happen if this fight breaks out of the apartment!”

Koutarou was well aware of the danger of jumping into the fight, but if he didn’t stop it now, it would get out of control. They would eventually move outside. And if that happened, there would really be no stopping them. Right now, fighting inside the cramped apartment was forcing each of them to hold back. It was keeping the damage to a minimum. But once they broke outside, they would be able to go all out.

“Now’s the only time we can stop them! There’s no time to spare!”

Koutarou had no confidence that he’d be able to stop them if they went outside.

“Satomi-sama...”

“Don’t worry. She can’t attack me, right?”

“Well, that’s true, but...”

Ruth anxiously looked back towards the inner room. She could hear the girls’ voices and she could see mysterious flashes.

“If I can restrain her, the other two will stop fighting too. Ruth-san, this is the best way to protect your princess.”

“Satomi-sama... You...”

Ruth looked surprised, but eventually nodded.

“I understand. I will support you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. This is for Her Highness’s sake”

Ruth nodded with a smile. It was the kind of smile that made Koutarou feel close to her.

“I’ll charge in and grab her.”

“Then I will intrude into the Blue Knight’s main system and lower Her Highness’s barrier. Capture Her Highness when it’s down!”

“Please do. Let’s get to work, Ruth-san. We’re running out of time.”

Quick to action, Koutarou rushed down the hall.

“Yes!”

Ruth followed his lead and took action.

“I’m off, Ruth-san!”

“Leave the barrier to me, Satomi-sama!”

Koutarou leaped into the inner room.

When Koutarou entered, the three girls were in the middle of a firefight. However, as Theia had more firepower, the other two were being pushed back.

“It’s no use! I have seen through all of your attacks!”

“Then how about me?!”

Koutarou jumped at the loudly laughing girl as she shot the room full of holes.

“What?!”

“Koutarou! Why?!”

“Get back, Koutarou! You’ll be killed!”

“All of you! Stop this stupid fighting right now!” As Koutarou shouted, he grabbed ahold of Theia’s right wrist. “I got you!”

“What?! The barrier isn’t working?!”

The barrier that had been protecting the girl proved ineffective as it allowed Koutarou to catch her. That was thanks to Ruth who had lowered the barrier as promised, but Theia was caught off guard by the situation.

“I won’t just let you do as you please!”

Koutarou pulled on Theia’s arm and glared at her.

“You fool! I told you that I wouldn’t fight you!”

“But if I just let this fight go on, it’s going to turn into a giant mess!”

“So what? Blue Knight, use only non-lethal weapons! I can’t afford to accidentally kill the pleb!”

“As you wish, my princess.”

Obeying her orders, the weapons that could be seen from within the holes above her shoulders were changed. Since Theia couldn’t kill Koutarou, she switched to non-lethal weapons in case of friendly fire.

“Not good.”

However, that just showed that Theia still intended to fight. Upon realizing this, Koutarou threw his bat to the side and forcibly embraced her.

“L-Let go of me, you fool! Don’t touch me so casually!”

“Like hell I’d let go! You’ll just keep attacking if I do, right?!”

“Of course!”

Theia struggled to break free, but Koutarou wasn’t going to let go that easily. It was clear that she would attack if she got free.

“All right, Koutarou! Just keep holding her like that!”

“Sanae?!”

As Koutarou turned his head to look at Sanae, he saw her floating his TV into the air.

“Stop it, Sanae!”

She was going to throw the TV at Theia. Koutarou desperately tried to stop her. It was the Satomi family TV from before Koutarou moved out, so it was quite large. A direct hit wouldn’t just hit Theia. Koutarou was in danger too.

“Hyaaah! Sanae-chan Drop!”

But sadly, Sanae ignored Koutarou and threw the TV anyway.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Uwaaah?!”

Koutarou threw himself to the floor while still holding on to Theia.

The TV flew past where they had just been standing and rolled across the floor before crashing into the wall and breaking apart.

“You idiot! Are you trying to kill both of us?!”

“I-I’m sorry! I just went with the flow!”

“You have my gratitude, ghost! Thanks to you, the tables have turned!”

Using the opening when they fell to the floor, Theia escaped from Koutarou’s grasp and turned her weapons on him. The guns inside the black disks were shining eerily.

“Oh no!”

“Karama, Korama! Block up those holes!”

“Leave it to us! Ho!”

“Got it!”

“Fire!”

As the weapons were fired, the haniwas blocked a hole each. Theia’s attack hit them directly, but as she had only fired non-lethal weapons, the haniwas remained unharmed.

“You again?! Ugh, how annoying!”

Theia’s expression distorted in anger as she swung her left fist. She was wearing a metallic glove that had the power to blow away her opponents, but the haniwas saw the attack coming and easily dodged it as they returned to Kiriha.

“Thanks, Kiriha-san.” Koutarou thanked Kiriha while getting some distance from Theia.

“Don’t thank me.”

“Huh?”

For some reason, Kiriha grabbed ahold of Koutarou and pushed her large breasts against his back.

“With this, I can’t lose.”

“What are you doing?!”

Koutarou shouted at the girl before he could take the time to confirm the sensation of her chest.

“Koutarou, as long as you’re with me, that girl can’t defeat me. However, I can still attack her.”

“Ho!”

“Ho, ho!”

Moving simultaneously as Kiriha spoke, the two haniwas floated before Koutarou and Kiriha.

“Kiriha-san, let go! There’s no reason to continue fighting!”

“With this, I win, alien princess!”

“You put some thought into this, Person of the Earth or whatever!”

Theia grit her teeth and stopped moving. Like Kiriha said, Theia couldn’t attack her in this predicament. With Kiriha using Koutarou as a shield, Theia couldn’t use any powerful weapons, and any non-lethal weapons would just be blocked by the haniwas.

“Hey! Kiriha! Get away from Koutarou!”

“Sanae?!”

But things didn’t go down the way Kiriha had planned.

“You’re trying to seduce him with your adult figure again!”

“You’re wrong! Stop it, Sanae! You misunderstand the—”

“What exactly am I wrong about?!”

Unfortunately, Kiriha was unable to persuade Sanae, and the now furious ghost jumped in to pull Kiriha and Koutarou apart.

“An opening!”

Of course, Theia didn’t let this chance slip by.

“Blue Knight, eliminate everyone except the pleb!”

“As you wish, my princess.”

“Waaaaah, stop it! You’ll destroy the room!”

Koutarou had jumped in to stop the fighting, but it had only made things worse.

“...Huh?”

When Yurika snapped out of it, she was alone by the front door. There was still an uproar coming from the inner room, and the whole apartment was filled with a burning smell.

“Oh... Oh no! The magic is about to lose effect!”

Yurika quickly stood up and raised her broom over her head.

“If I don’t cast a more powerful spell, the room won’t last! Return to normal, Angel Halo!”

As she spoke, her broom was wreathed in white smoke. When the smoke cleared, the broom was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was now a long staff in her hands. Like with the broom, the staff was covered in decorations, clearly designed with form over function in mind. No matter how you looked at it, it clearly wasn’t intended to be used as a walking staff.

“Now to cast it one more time!”

Yurika grabbed the staff with both hands and closed her eyes to concentrate.

“Force Field! Modifier: Area Effect! End: Effective Time, Twice!”

With the last word out of her mouth, a yellow light started shooting out from her staff. The light grew larger and larger, slowly extending to the floor and walls of the room. It was a defensive spell that would protect the room, as well as Koutarou and the others, from damage.

“Phew, that should do it... Now we should be okay for a little while longer.”

Once the light extended to cover the entire room, Yurika opened her eyes and wiped the sweat off her brow.

“Maybe I should cast Elemental Shield too, just in case...”

Yurika timidly peeked into the inner room where the battle was still going.

That was when the front door opened without warning.

“Huh?!”

“Just what is going on, Satomi-kun?!”

Standing in the door was the landlord of Corona House, Kasagi Shizuka. She had come to check on things since the commotion from room 106 had continued well past midnight.

“Th-This place is a complete mess! Just what is going on?!”

Shizuka could tell what a horrible state the inner room was in from the entrance. The moment she saw it, she looked shocked.

“What are you doing, Satomi-kun?!”

Shizuka kicked off her sandals and dashed towards the inner room.

“Ah, stop, it’s dangerous to go there!”

“Outsiders should keep quiet!”

“Kyaaah!”

Shizuka pushed right past Yurika who was trying to stop her, then jumped into the inner room.

“Eeek!”

After being pushed aside, Yurika tumbled into the wall and stopped moving as usual. Shizuka saw it, but her immediate priorities were elsewhere.

“Just what exactly are you people doing?!”

The room was charred and riddled with holes. And inside, Koutarou and few other people were practically rioting. Shizuka could tell right away that they were responsible for what had happened to the room.

“Landlord-san! It’s dangerous! Don’t come over here!”

“Wh-What did you do to my precious Corona House—this beloved building that my mom and dad left for me?!”

However, Koutarou’s attempts to stop her didn’t even reach Shizuka’s ears. She was beside herself with rage.

There probably wasn’t a soul that could see Shizuka’s attack coming.

“Hyaaaaaaaah!”

The moment after entering the room, Shizuka caught sight of Sanae and struck her with all of her might.

“Kyaaaaah! Whyyy?!”

The lighting fast attack easily sent Sanae flying, despite her invulnerability to normal attacks. With her guard down, Sanae didn’t even have a chance to protect herself.

“Hahh...”

However, Shizuka didn’t stop there. She exhaled sharply and used the momentum from her strike to spin around and unleash a roundhouse kick.

“Hah!”

“Aaaaah!”

The blow connected with Kiriha and knocked her away as well. She slammed into Koutarou, but that didn’t slow her down any. Instead, they fell down together next to the wall.

“Wh-Who are you!?”

Theia was petrified by Shizuka’s sudden appearance and swift defeat of Sanae and Kiriha.

“I’m this building’s landlord. I won’t accept any more of this ruckus that’s bothering the neighbors!”

Her harsh tone and determined posture showed none of Shizuka’s normal kindness. That was just how angry she was.

“I don’t take orders from anyone! Attack her, Blue Kni—”

“You’re too slow!”

Sensing that Theia was about to attack, Shizuka mercilessly thrust her palm forward.

“Gyah?!”

Theia was unable to finish her attack orders as she was sent flying by the fast and heavy attack. She landed on the tatami mat in defeat.

“L-Landlord-san...?”

Koutarou couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. He had really struggled with the invading girls, but Shizuka was able to dispatch them in a matter of seconds. And without using any weapons.

“I... I can’t believe it...”

“What is she?! Is she really human?!”

“She could hit me?! She could touch me even though she’s not Koutarou!”

Of course, the same was true for the girls. They were each in disbelief at the swift defeat. But whether they were ready to accept it or not, they had taken enough damage to be rendered incapacitated.

“Phewww...”

Her attack complete, Shizuka now exhaled and turned towards Koutarou and the others as if nothing had happened.

“Eep!”

Her piercing gaze caused all four to freeze. They were all convinced she was about to finish them off.

“Satomi-kun.”

“Y-Yes!”

Shizuka looked at Koutarou.

I had a good life...

As the other girls huddled together, they were truly relieved that they weren’t getting Shizuka’s attention.

“Wh-What can I do for you, Landlord-san?”

Koutarou, on the other hand, was flustered. Having witnessed Shizuka’s overwhelming prowess, he couldn’t stop sweating.

“If something like this happens again, I will have you leave.”

“Y-Yes, I understand!”

Shizuka’s eyes were sharp and her voice was cold. Shizuka had an overpowering presence that she never normally showed. Witnessing it, Koutarou could feel his life force draining from him.

“And then there’s you three!”

“Waaah!”

When Shizuka’s looked over to the three girls, they started trembling as they embraced each other.

““I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!””

The three girls apologized in choir, dropping all pretenses.

“If you make a mess again... you know what will happen, right?”

“Yes!”

“If you damage this building or cause trouble for the other residents, then—” Shizuka stopped mid-sentence and cracked her knuckles. “I’ll definitely make sure you regret the day you were born.”

Shizuka then gave the girls a big smile.

“Eeeeek!”

The three girls screamed. Even though she was just smiling, Shizuka was exuding uncontrollable bloodlust. Compared to that, she had gone easy on Koutarou.

She’s a devil. This is a devil in human form... I cannot go against her...!

The girls’ instincts screamed at them. But that was when they remembered the existence of Yurika, who was passed out nearby.

Why are you the only one unconscious?!

The girls were envious of Yurika. Being out cold right now seemed preferable.

“So what do you have to say for yourselves?”

Shizuka’s smile grew bigger when the three girls didn’t answer. There are plenty of men who would have found that smile very attractive, but it only instilled fear in the hearts of the three girls.

“I-I understand! I won’t do it again!”

“I was planning on solving things p-peacefully from the start. I-I have no objections. None whatsoever.”

“I am of noble birth. I loathe barbaric methods such as fighting to begin with. R-Rest assured!”

Their responses were all different, but they all amounted to the same thing: a total surrender to Shizuka.

“Well done.”

And just like that, Corona House’s room 106 quieted down for the first time in a while.

Although scorched, the tea table had just barely survived. Including Shizuka, all seven of them were sitting down around it. It was now more cramped than ever before. But nobody complained. And apart from Shizuka, everyone sat up straight and proper. Everyone had a serious expression on their face, and there was no trace of the lighthearted atmosphere from before.

“...I understand the situation.”

After hearing the four girls’ circumstances, Shizuka slowly nodded.

“Ghosts, cosplayers, underground people, and aliens. It’s hard to believe, but it seems I have no choice.”

Shizuka was all business now. Her tone was nothing like it had been when she helped Koutarou move in. The friendly Shizuka was now nothing but harsh.

“Um... I-I’m not a cosplayer. I really am a...” Yurika attempted to object to Shizuka’s choice of words.

“...What was that?”

“N-No, it’s nothing. I’m a cosplayer. That’s right.”

But when Shizuka glared at her, she trembled and easily withdrew. Not sticking to her guns in situations like that was the kind of person Magical Girl Yurika was.

“Again, I understand. But as the landlord, I can’t overlook the commotion. I will have you resolve this situation peacefully.”

As the landlord, Shizuka had to draw a line somewhere.

“We had no intentions of fighting Koutarou, but...”

“We would never be able to come to an agreement! It’s not so easy that we can resolve everything peacefully just because you said so!”

“Yeah! Koutarou aside, I definitely can’t get along with that woman!”

However, the girls who had done nothing but fight were unable to simply accept Shizuka’s proposal.

“Then would you prefer eternal peace right now? I’m fine with that too.”

“That said, nothing would be resolved with fighting...”

“Y-You’re right. It seems the time for us to work together has come...”

“I’ll become a pacifist instead!”

When Shizuka smiled and cracked her knuckles, the girls’ attitudes completely changed. With sweat pouring down their brows, they all agreed to Shizuka’s proposal.

“I’m glad you see it my way. And what about you, Nijino Yurika-san?”

“...”

Yurika didn’t answer.

“Nijino-san?”

“...”

“You’re not saying you’d like to keep fighting, are you?”

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Sensing danger from Shizuka again, Koutarou looked over at Yurika.

“Yurika, just say you don’t want to fight. You don’t have to put your life on the line for cosplaying.”

Koutarou shook Yurika’s shoulders and whispered to her.

“...”

But even then, Yurika said nothing. She simply fell to the floor after being shaken by Koutarou.

“Waaaaah! Yurika?!”

“She’s unconscious...?”

“Poor thing. She must have been terrified...”

Under Shizuka’s guidance, Koutarou and the others agreed on various rules. These were all quickly put into a document. Mostly, it dictated how to peacefully decide the ownership of the room. The other clauses included covered things like not damaging Corona House, not disturbing the neighbors, not fighting outside of the apartment, and not stirring up trouble at night. Finally, collated together, this document became known as the Corona Convention.

“I’m done. You’re next, Theia.”

“This is humiliating. There could be nothing more humiliating than signing this document...”

Theia took the piece of paper from Sanae and reluctantly removed the cap from the pen.

“Please endure it, Your Highness.”

Next to her was Ruth, smiling wryly.

“You don’t have to sign it.”

“Really?!”

Theia’s expression brightened at Shizuka’s unexpected offer.

“But if you don’t sign it, you’ll just get to experience eternal peace right now.”

Shizuka cracked her knuckles again.

“N-No thank you. I agree that we should sign this document!” Theia hurriedly moved the pen. Writing in her native tongue, only she and Ruth could read it. “As royalty, I have to bring about peace! My pride is nothing compared to that!”

While there had been some whining, everyone agreed to sign the document in the end.

“Landlord-san, should I sign it as well?”

“Of course. You might be the current tenant of this room, but if you’re not working under the same rules as everyone else, how could we proceed?”

“But even without this, I already have a contract with you. And I don’t have any laser beams or haniwas either...”

Continuing after Theia, Koutarou signed his name on the document.

“Satomi-san, please give it to me next.”

Waiting for Koutarou to finish writing, Yurika reached out her hand.

“...”

However, Koutarou simply stared at Yurika instead of giving her the pen and paper.

“Wh-What is it?”

“Landlord-san, should Yurika sign it as well?” Koutarou asked.

“She doesn’t need to, right? It’s just Yurika, after all,” Sanae added.

“Well, thinking about it, Nijino-san might not need to. No, I suppose she doesn’t have to.”

“Then finally, I will—”

“I’ll do it! I’ll sign it! Please let me sign it!”

As Koutarou was handing the pen and paper to Kiriha, Yurika hurriedly snatched them away and scribbled down her name: Nijino Yurika. That was her real name.

“You don’t have to cry, Yurika.”

“B-But... I’m serious about this too!”

Finally receiving the document and pen from the tearful Yurika, Kiriha signed her name as well.

“I’m done.”

With everyone’s signature, they returned the document to Shizuka. In total there were five names: Koutarou, Sanae, Yurika, Kiriha, and Theia.

“Excellent. With this, the rules are officially in effect. If you break them... you know what happens, don’t you?”

After looking over the document, Shizuka looked over the group. All six nodded their heads in unison. They all knew exactly what awaited them if they broke the rules.

“Well then, everyone, I really do hope you find a way to resolve this peacefully.”

Huh?

At that moment, Shizuka’s smiling face seemed to distort to Koutarou. Suddenly, it wasn’t just her, but the whole room that looked weird. Eventually he started getting dizzy and lost his balance.

Not good...

With those thoughts running through his mind, Koutarou rapidly started to lose consciousness.

“Satomi-kun?!”

“Waaah! Koutarou collapsed!”

“Hey, now’s not the time to sleep! Wake up!”

“Don’t move him! He has a terrible fever! Get a futon and some ice!”

“I’ll go get the first aid kit!”

“I’ll use h-healing magic!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Get the futon!”

“Auuugh...”

Koutarou’s consciousness sank into darkness.

Hearing the sound of flowing water, Koutarou opened his eyes.

“H-Huh...?”

At first, Koutarou was puzzled to find himself in his futon, but he quickly remembered what had happened.

That’s right. After I signed the document, I suddenly began feeling faint, and then...

The clock pointed to 5 AM, which meant that Koutarou had been asleep for several hours.

“Are you awake, Satomi-sama?”

A shadow looked down at Koutarou.

“...Ruth-san?”

“Good morning, Satomi-sama.”

She gave him a mild smile and exchanged the wet towel on his head for a new one. The sound of water from before was the sound of her washing the towel.

“Thank you, Ruth-san.”

The new towel felt nice and cool.

“No, there is no need to thank me over something like this. Besides, you should thank everyone else as well. They were all very worried when you collapsed.”

“Ah...”

Urged on by Ruth, Koutarou looked around and spotted the girls. They were all sitting around the futon, each asleep with an exhausted look on their face.

“So you all helped nurse me back to health...?”

“Yes. Kasagi-sama was here just a moment ago too.”

“Even Landlord-san?”

“Yes. But she said she had to attend school and apologized as she left.”

“I see. I caused a lot of trouble for her...”

Koutarou looked around again. Sanae was sleeping soundly next to his pillow. Kiriha was sleeping on the opposite side. Yurika was holding on to a cushion as she slept, and Theia looked like she was sleeping uncomfortably in her big dress.

Koutarou had only thought of them as troublemakers, but looking at them now, he felt the exact opposite about them.

They might not be all that bad...

It was a feeling of gratitude for their kindness.

“Satomi-sama, please close your eyes again.”

Koutarou wasn’t sure if Ruth knew how he felt, but she smiled at him gently.

“You’re the most fatigued of us all. You’ve been pushing yourself these past few days, haven’t you? Please rest.”

“...I think I’ll do just that.”

Koutarou obediently closed his eyes.

“Goodnight, Satomi-sama.”

Koutarou closed his eyes, but opened his mouth once more.

“...Thank you.”

Those words weren’t just intended for Ruth.