"rnm, Yamada Ryo, pay up!!!"
Picking up from the previous, Diego used the reason that Bocchi-chan agreed to lend her money to lure her out of Goto Hitori's house.
Yamada Ryo's body trembled upon hearing that. A drop of cold sweat slid down her forehead. She quickly turned her head away, pretending not to know anything, and said calmly, "What money? You can say that kind of unpleasant stuff to me, just don't let my mom hear it."
"Stop acting dumb. Last time we went to Tonio Trussardi's restaurant, I paid for it. You owe me!" Diego exploded, grabbing Yamada Ryo's wrist to prevent her from escaping, his eyes terrifying. "It's the beginning of the month now. You're not going to tell me you've already spent this month's living expenses, are you?"
Yamada Ryo subconsciously touched the wallet in her pocket.
Indeed, I haven't had time to buy a new instrument yet, and I still have some money left. In that case, I'll...
"Sorry, I'll definitely pay you back next month. I don't have any money left this month." Yamada Ryo waved her hand in refusal.
If I pay it back, my new bass will be gone!
"Hah?!"
Yamada Ryo's little action naturally didn't escape Diego's eyes, and Diego had never seen anyone more shameless than himself. He was so angry he laughed.
"You... fine. Bocchi-chan, you come too!"
"I... do I have to pay back money too?" Goto Hitori poked her head out from behind Diego and said weakly, "But I didn't borrow any money..."
"..."
Diego was speechless. He choked on his words, then roared in exasperation, "I'm telling you to come collect the debt with me!!! That bastard Ryo still owes you money too, doesn't she!!!"
"Y-Yes——!!!"
Goto Hitori was startled and quickly looked at Yamada Ryo with pitiful eyes, sending a signal.
Onee-chan, please pay back the money. If you don't, both of us are going to die here.
Seeing this, Yamada Ryo showed a faint smile, gave a thumbs up, and told Goto Hitori to relax.
Ryo-san!
I knew you were reliable at times like this!
Goto Hitori was almost in tears.
Ryo picked up her phone and held it to her ear, nodding pretentiously. Then she put on a grief-stricken expression and slowly said, "Sorry, my family just called to tell me that my grandma seems to be in a bit of danger tonight and wants to see me one last time. I have to go first."
Yamada Ryo pushed Diego's hand away and was about to leave.
Goto Hitori's eyes slowly widened, filled with disbelief.
Ryo-san she... she did it!
She actually tried to get out of this with such a ridiculous lie?!
What am I supposed to do if you leave?!!!
"B-But last time when we were discussing the team uniforms, you didn't come to my house. Wasn't that because you said your grandma's health was a bit dangerous?"
Ryo only took 0.25 seconds to change her story. "Ah, I misspoke. Actually, it's my little sister whose health is a bit dangerous."
"B-But... aren't you an only child?" Goto Hitori's hand stopped in midair as she asked again.
Yamada Ryo didn't look back. She strode to the door, still lying with her eyes open. "Am I an only child? Then I guess so. Actually, the sow my family raises is about to give birth to her second litter. I have to go back and help with the delivery."
Bang!
The front door of Goto Hitori's house was slammed shut.
At the same time, Goto Hitori's heart went cold along with Ryo.
Ugh——!!
Dio he... he's not going to take his anger out on me, is he?
Goto Hitori cautiously stole a glance at Diego.
Contrary to her expectations, after Ryo left, Diego was very calm. He even had the leisure to pour himself a cup of tea and eat some snacks.
"Eh?"
While eating snacks, Diego asked, "Bocchi-chan, has Ryo ever paid you back any money?"
Goto Hitori replied, "She has, once."
"(Chew chew...) Is that so? With your personality, how did you manage to get the money back?" Diego raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of surprise.
A true master always has the heart of an apprentice. The same goes for debt collectors who have no tricks up their sleeve.
Goto Hitori put on a guilty expression and poked her fingers together. "Um... I-I don't know either."
"Hmm..." Diego narrowed his eyes, falling into deep thought.
Should I occasionally think about how to collect debts using Bocchi-chan's way of thinking?
...
Above the Shinomiya residence...
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Mabel's screams echoed through the sky.
She flailed in the air. "Aaaaaah——!!! Help, I don't know any flight magic——!!!"
Poof!
"Gotcha." Frieren, holding her staff and floating in the air, grabbed Mabel by the collar. She looked around and said in a flat tone, "But where is this? Is Dio really in a place like this?"
"The King God Sword can only bring us to the anchor point where Dio first arrived in this world." Sui, who was also flying on the other side, replied. She was still holding Alicia in her hand.
Because Hozumi didn't know flight magic, the moment they appeared in the air, she returned the body to Sui.
Alicia waved her hands awkwardly. Her gaze met Mabel's, which counted as a greeting.
What a coincidence. You don't know flight magic either.
"Anyway, let's land on the ground first and assess the situation." Frieren shook her head, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "The concentration of magical power in this world's air is too thin. Flight magic won't last long."
"At this point, we have no choice." Sui nodded in agreement. She looked down to observe the landing spot. "Be careful, there's a swamp right below us."
Pat...
The group landed beside the swamp.
Mabel let out a sigh of relief and flopped onto the grass. "Hah———— The feeling of solid ground is so good! I'm never leaving the embrace of land again!"
Alicia stared at the swamp nearby, hesitating a little. "When Dio first arrived, he probably didn't fall straight into the swamp, right?"
"Hard to say." Frieren didn't think so. "After all, Dio doesn't know flight magic."
"Let's figure out what kind of place this is first."
Sui observed the surroundings. Her expression looked a bit unpleasant. She slowly said, "Frieren, Mabel, Alicia, I have some bad news."
"I see. To be honest, I don't really want to hear it." Frieren said with a deadpan expression.
Alicia asked, "What bad news."
"We seem to... have landed in some noble's courtyard." Sui had fine sweat on her pretty face as she gave her conclusion. She made a small joke. "Haha, I wonder what the local laws are like. Will we get the death penalty for trespassing on noble territory..."
Rustle rustle rustle...
"Careful, someone's coming!"
Mabel was the first to hear the faint footsteps. She drew the Freeze God Sword and held it in front of her, her gaze turning toward the source of the sound.
The footsteps grew louder until the newcomer appeared before the four of them.
It was a blonde, blue-eyed girl in a maid uniform with a side ponytail, staring at the four of them in shock.
It was Hayasaka Ai, who had come to check on the situation after hearing Mabel's screams.
A maid...
We're screwed...
We really did fall into a local noble's private courtyard...
The four of them had the same thought at the same time.
Hayasaka Ai was also dumbfounded internally.
Having seen Diego's memories, she recognized the identities of the four people in front of her with just one glance.
But she never expected their first meeting to be in this kind of confrontational scene.
Just what the hell happened to the Shinomiya residence to turn it into an otherworld teleportation gate?!
Hayasaka Ai shook her head violently and decided to clarify the situation first.
On the other side, Sui also thought that continuing to stand off like this wasn't a solution. Even if they were detained for a while, they could still learn about this world. It was better than running around like headless chickens.
So both sides spoke at the same time.
"How did you all..."
"What kind of place is this..."
?
What the hell are these guys (these four) saying?
From both perspectives, what the other side was saying sounded like: ᘳ◥▶◤|ʘ๑ д )∭...
First lesson in crossing worlds: language barriers!