Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - V4 Chapter 20.5

Chapter 20.5: Interlude – “Is This an Arrest?”

―Somewhere in Aomori.

“Man, without Mammon around, I don’t have to worry about throwing in quips, so I can focus on work properly.”

After finishing her farm work, Samael sat in front of her computer, sipping barley tea while dressed in her post-bath gym clothes.

Every now and then, old acquaintances would send her messages, and recently, even Amaterasu-Omikami had started contacting her, so she made a habit of checking her emails regularly.

Up until now, she had been uploading videos purely for her own satisfaction. But thanks to Mammon, her videos started getting more views, and the number of people cheering her on had grown.

Even for a demon, it felt good to be acknowledged.

Before she knew it, checking her video analytics and reading through the comments had become a bit of a habit.

“Right about now, Mammon is probably out on a movie date with Ako-chan. Sounds like they’re having dinner afterward too. Well, hope it goes well for him.”

Samael much preferred the version of Mammon who was simply enjoying life over the one who once schemed to overthrow the Demon King and take the throne for himself.

In the past, Samael had fought an intense battle against Satan for dominance over the demon realm.

But to be honest, neither of them actually cared about ruling the demon world.

They just wanted to settle who was stronger.

Samael had lost by a narrow margin, but she was fine with that.

Too many demons had gathered under her name, and she couldn’t possibly take care of them all.

On top of that, some even started acting on their own, using her name as an excuse. She had lost count of how many times she had to wipe them out.

She had grown tired of that kind of life.

Compared to those days, things were much more fulfilling now.

If she had to be greedy, she wouldn’t mind having a wonderful man by her side.

“Oh! Kazutan left a comment! He’s got a lot going on too. Hmm, I should invite him to visit Aomori sometime. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

As she sat there, happily planning a Samatan & Kazutan offline meetup by herself, her phone suddenly rang.

The number on the screen was unfamiliar.

Who is this? she wondered as she picked up the call.

“—Huh!? The police!? Mammon got arrested!?”

The news was beyond anything she had imagined.

After quickly getting the details, Samael strapped on a helmet, hopped on her scooter, and headed toward the city.

■

“Mammon-mammon… I can’t believe it… This Mammon… to think my date with Ako-san would be mistaken for papa-katsu *(sugar daddy stuff)… sniff sniff, mammon…”

“A demon from the Seven Deadly Sins getting hauled in by the police on suspicion of papa-katsu… Come on, man, don’t cry over that.”

Walking out of the police station, Mammon had his face buried in his hands, sobbing, while Samael looked at him in exasperation.

Ako had already gone home, as her grandmother had come to pick her up.

Apparently, Mammon and Ako had been enjoying their date.

After watching a movie, they had some sweets and chatted for a while, completely losing track of time.

By the time they decided to grab dinner at a restaurant before heading home, the police stopped them for questioning.

It wasn’t exactly surprising.

A rough-looking man in his mid-thirties, dressed in a sharp suit, was walking around with a quiet, young girl.

Even if it wasn’t the police, anyone witnessing the scene would have assumed things.

Mammon had somehow managed to clear up the misunderstanding, but in the process, he accidentally told the officer that he was planning to confess to Ako.

As a precaution, they decided to take him to the station for further questioning.

After some back and forth, Samael was called in—not as a guardian, but as a guarantor.

She passionately explained that there was absolutely nothing inappropriate about Mammon and Ako’s relationship and assured them that she would make sure nothing misleading happened again.

The officer, looking troubled, apologized, saying, “We truly don’t want to be suspicious, but given the times we live in, we hope you understand.”

After all, it wasn’t just Tokyo where people met up with strangers from social media or engaged in papa-katsu.

It was understandable that the police would be cautious.

That being said, Mammon, who had secretly prepared a legendary-grade ring for his confession, was now sulking over having to revise his entire plan.

“You know, you should be glad you got interrupted. Giving a legendary ring for a confession is way too much.”

“I originally thought about giving her an island instead, mammon-mammon… but then I remembered it was a dangerous place where humans can’t survive for more than a few minutes, so… I figured I’d go with a mammon-mammon ring that was gifted to me instead.”

“Alright, let’s just drink. Let’s hit up a bar and have a big night out. I’ll listen to your woes, and once you clear your head, you can plan another date with Ako-chan. Sound good?”

“mammon-mammon…”

Taking the dejected Mammon with him, Samael headed to a pub.

With a beer, highball, and sweet potato shochu in hand, Samael was in high spirits.

Meanwhile, Mammon—who, for once, had turned into a weepy drunk—ended up befriending the other customers in the pub.

The entire place got fired up under the rallying cry of “Support the tough-looking old guy chasing after a high school girl!”

“—My love story starts now, mammon-mammon!”

〜〜Afterword〜〜

As always, it’s another mammon-mammon & Samatan adventure!

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