Chapter 2

Maou adjusted his suite-like Unislo jacket and dusted off his dark jeans and nodded to himself. He was dressed for war on a blind front, and there was a mystery to be solved. He picked up the paper he bought at the corner store and re-examined the obituary. His face remained stony, but his eyes dropped. She really did come alone, as the obituary was written by a co-worker.

Something red flashed in the corner of his eye and his head snapped towards the table. There she was, sitting and laughing silently in a way he never saw before. He froze. She looked towards him and her face twisted with annoyance as she opened her mouth but no sound came out. She pointed to shadows surrounding the table, more than any have ever entered this room - but not a sound was made. Something was missing, wrong - and his head was so foggy trying to push to find out what it was.

Ashiya emerged from the bathroom, causing Maou to jump and the image of the argumentative office-worker to fade from his site. A small scream sounded from the back of his throat. Ashiya, in turn, jumped back and screamed.

"Demon King-sama. what is wrong?!" Ashiya called nervously, gripping his chest. Maou looked over cautiously at the table then to Ashiya and shook his head.

"Nothing... I'm heading out, ya?" Maou said as he threw a wave over his shoulder while slipping on his shoes. He glanced to the side and saw the umbrella, and slowly reached out taking it in his hands. He once again nodded to himself and left the room. He mounted his bike while sighing and rode slowly towards the funeral hall.

When he got near it, he dismounted and locked his bike. He approached the flower shop across the road and purchased one fuschia coloured flower that resembled one back in Ente Isla and a note card which he scribbled some quick grievance on before heading towards the hall once again.

He entered with his head lowered and looked around the room. It was next to empty, as expected. A girl with short brown hair cried endlessly in front of the photo of Emilia. As he neared the front, he sucked in a breath at the photo. It was one that seemed to be taken at the Botanical garden that he could never afford to go. It must have been taken by the crying girl. It was a breathtaking photo, with a smile that was more colourful than the flowers surrounding her.

Maou has goosebumps and shivered slightly approaching the haunting scene. He placed his single flower in front of the framed photo, got down on his knees and bowed. The sniffles beside him subsided slightly and he heard some mumblings.

"T-Thank you *sniff* for coming *sniff* today." The girl managed to squeeze out. He nodded towards her. "Were you *sniff* family *sniff* or friends?" Maou wasn't expecting to be questioned himself but if she was in a talking mood, he could push his investigation.

"More of a rival, I guess. We sort of worked together for years back in the day. She grew up with me, you could say..." He slowly stated, looking at the photo. The young woman wiped her snotty nose, her wet eyes curious.

"What was she *sniff* like when she was younger?" She asked cautiously. Maou chewed on his tongue, unsure of how to work the situation he placed himself in.

"Serious. Bullheaded. Powerfully spirited. Strong. Stronger than me. Not much of a talker. My only rival. Actually, never saw her smile until she moved here." He mumbled the last part, but the girl heard it just fine.

"Sounds like her, alright. So uptight. But so sincere, right? No one was as good of a listener as she was. No one cared as she did. No one understood boundaries as she did. No one was warmer than she was... *sniff*" A gurgle erupted from her throat as she tried to hold back the heaving cries. He nodded awkwardly. She was the virgin hero of the battlefield, after all. To lead a church army, you'd need someone like her.

He heard shuffling behind him and turned his head slightly, a dark shadow crossed over his face. There were more people in the room now, and none were friendly.

A sharp crack sounded in the room and a light flashed brightly, zapping from the back to the room and beelined to the picture frame. The frame cracked and the picture and the exotic flower started to burn, the card fell off the counter and in front of the scared and crying girl. SHe picked it up to save it from the flames and looked down to read it. Her faced filled with confusion as her head snapped up and looked towards the group of unwelcomed people.

Maou reached down, grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the door. The card floated around and landed near the frame once again, slowly burning the words up into the air. Their meaning lost except to the one who wrote it.

"Emilia Justine, Hero of Ente Isla. May your next life shine as bright as your smile and may your spirit be as strong as your swordship. Goodbye, my rival."