Chapter One

Maou looked down at a sheet on top of a table. The room was cold, and yet Maou was covered in a sheen of sweat. He looked towards the uniformed officer and gave a swift nod. The officer slightly nodded back and pulled back the sheet. Both Maou and Ashiya sucked in a beath.

They recognized her. So many small interactions but never actually properly meeting. Christmas when she bought a small cake. New years eve at the shrine when she was in-line behind them and also won Very Good Luck. When she was out in the rain and he gave her his umbrella. And lastly when she ran into him and Ashiya at the grocery store and handed the umbrella back with a smile that stunned the both of them and thanked him for his kindness.

A woman so kind with a smile so beautiful it parted clouds - now laid on this table. Pale, expressionless, and breathless. He didn't even know her name. Maou felt overcome with dread knowing that a smile like that would never occur again, and silently wished he could have continued to see her smile. Ashiya had many different emotions play across his face, but he mainly looked confused and troubled.

"Do you know this woman?" the officer asked politely.

"Not personally. I've honestly run into her many times by accident. I don't even know her name." The officer nodded to himself, seemingly already aware of this.

"Through our investigations, witness accounts and street footage we acquired - we discovered she had a stalker. We also discovered that she ran into you both on numerous occasions. When we investigated both of you, the times she was stalked did not match up to when you both were at work or at your residence. But we wanted to confirm if any kind of connection was made. Thank you for your time." The officer said, signalling towards the door to escort them out.

"...What was her name?" Maou asked quietly.

"Yusa. Yusa Emi. She was listed as a 21-year-old, single with no family, worked in call-service." Ashiya's eyes widened. Maou glanced to the side but said nothing. They nodded and gave their thanks as they left the police morgue.

As they walked down the street- Maou with his hands in his pockets and Ashiya with his arms crossed - something seemed off.

"What's with you, Ashiya? You've been weird since you saw that girls face."

"Sire… I think we need to proceed with caution going forward."

"What?" Exclaimed Maou, confused.

"That girl is not a stranger to us…" Maou's eyes widened.

"Of course she is! We never even got her name!"

"My liege, she was no stranger. Did you not recognize that fuchsia hair and build? Did you not sense it within her? Even her 'background', as well as her name, should have given it away. Emi - short for Emilia. Emilia Justina the Hero of Ente Isla! And someone found the hero and overpowered the hero. The hero the nearly vanquished us seemed to have followed us through the gate and is now dead."

Maou didn't know how to react. The fact that Ashiya knew this much meant he sensed it awhile ago. Expected of his Demon General and right hand.

"So you knew…"

"I knew..? Sire, are you telling me you knew?!" Ashiya expelled loudly into the street, arms waving madly. Maou paused and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah… She didn't seem to recognize us yet and she seemed to be living a relatively normal life. I wasn't going to be the one to ruin a life of a hero who was finally free of the duties forced upon her as a child - working and smiling. She was happy, Ashiya - and she didn't know us. There was no reason for us to even consider anything unless she discovered who we were."

"Demon King, there is someone stronger than the hero - there was a reason. If they found out who she was here than they can find us as well!"

"It's not like we never expected them to follow us at some point. We knew they would come eventually, most likely after re-grouping…. Just wasn't expecting the hero to be here already, or for them to target her…" Listening to Maou's excuse exhausted Ashiya.

"What do we do now, Sire?" Ashiya asked, tiredly.

"We wait, we prepare. Until then, I have a funeral to prepare for. Guess I gotta ask Miss Kisaki for a day of grievance."

"W-what?! Why?" Ashiya yelled out.

"My greatest rival is dead. Someone is possibly killing all of us from the other side involved. I could have done something."