"Waaah... He's not human. Dio is absolutely not human! You beast. We haven't seen each other for so long, and the moment we meet you do something this excessive to me..."
In the living room, the little water spirit finished dealing with the flood and sucked out the moisture that had seeped into the furniture. Diego was busy offering tribute to the hardworking little spirit on the altar, placing several fish heads and inserting incense before bowing three times with utmost devotion.
Meanwhile, Frieren knelt with her knees together on the floor, sitting on her two helpless little feet. Her hairstyle had changed from twin tails to a triple braid, and tears hung at the corners of her eyes. She looked utterly pitiful.
By the way, her burned hair had already been restored to its original state thanks to healing magic.
Mabel looked at Alicia and asked curiously, "What's that?"
"That's the triple braid that represents little Fern's anger. I don't know where Dio learned it from.." Alicia covered her mouth and replied in a low voice.
Sui hugged Frieren's head and gently patted it, comforting her. "There, there. Don't cry. The punishment for causing trouble was just a hairstyle change. That's already very light."
"But you can't use Fern's method on me either. It feels so scary… It's like Fern crossed worlds just to educate me.." Frieren's eyebrows and eyes drooped, her mouth pressed into a pitiful yet stubborn wavy line.
Just then, Diego's mysterious little ritual finally concluded.
He patted his clothes and stood up, waving at Alicia as he asked, "Alicia, did you bring the World-Saving Staff? While I was offering incense, my brilliant brain suddenly came up with a method that might quickly solve the language barrier."
Alicia nodded and took out the World-Saving Staff, handing it to Diego.
"What's the method?" Alicia leaned in close, almost pressing against Diego, staring at him curiously.
Click...
Diego fiddled with the World-Saving Staff, activating its second reinforcement stage. He looked it over from top to bottom and only explained after confirming everything was correct.
"That damn god said something when I crossed over... Going to a school or library would let me obtain the minimum level of knowledge in a sacred place of learning, but the content inside is too miscellaneous and the learning period would be too long, so I gave up on that..."
"After that, I originally planned to try writing a book called "Even Monkeys Can Learn Otherworldly Languages", but considering I only learned the language by relying on the little spirit's ability to skip class, that method probably isn't realistic. It's also way too troublesome..."
Diego pulled out a copy of "Even Monkeys Can Make COS Outfits Tutorial" and waved it in front of his face. His gaze sharpened as he immediately tossed it away.
"Gave up on that too..."
Not the kind of method ko no Dio likes. Direct rejection!
"Then what should we do?" Alicia tilted her head, pressing a finger to the corner of her lips in an adorable manner.
Diego handed the World-Saving Staff back and put on a serious expression. "Use Heart-to-Heart Magic on me!"
"Ohhh, I see. By using the over-reinforced mental synchronization to understand the language and culture in Dio's mind, huh..."
Frieren understood Diego's idea in an instant.
"Not bad!" Mabel praised.
Since the principle and method were already prepared, all that remained was to conduct the experiment. The World-Saving Staff flew into the air and extended five beams of light from it, linking to each of their brains respectively.
Several hours later, the staff returned to its original form and slowly flew back into Alicia's hands.
First, the conclusion: the experiment was a success. The transfer of language and cultural common sense was quite successful.
Now for the "but"..
"Ugh...! Ugh...!"
Frieren, who had relatively strong mental power, was vomiting into the trash can.
"Help... My brain... is full of wryyyyyyy..."
As a warrior, Mabel held her head and walked around dizzily, as if she had spun in place with her eyes closed for thirty circles and then tried to walk in a straight line.
Smack!
"What kind of person has nothing but garbage and junk in their brain..."
Sui, as a swordsman caught in the middle, was quite unlucky. She lacked a mage's mental power and her physique wasn't as strong as a warrior's, so she could only enter the defeat CG state and collapse on the ground. One hand gripping Diego's calf, she unwillingly passed out.
The two survivors were Diego and Alicia. The former because he didn't have to receive any information, and the latter because she had built up antibodies from using magic in the past.
Seeing this miserable scene, Diego felt a chill in his heart and couldn't help but ask Alicia, "So… what exactly did you all see?"
"Ahaha, nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it." Alicia smiled awkwardly, her voice growing smaller and less confident. She pointed at Sui and said, "Um, I'll go move Elga and the others to the bed to rest for a while!"
Do you know why Ultron decided to destroy all of humanity just five minutes after logging onto the human internet?
Alicia knew, but she couldn't say it!
So she could only use the topic-changing technique to escape. The effect was remarkable!
"...Then I'll go buy phones and furniture. A lot of the appliances got water damaged." Diego muttered.
"Okay——!"
Alicia replied in a drawn-out tone.
Seeing this, the corners of Diego's mouth lifted slightly. He walked to the door, put on his hat, and asked, "What do you want for dinner? I'll make it for you."
"Hmm, I want..." Alicia thought for a moment and came up with an answer, her tone cheerful. "Fish without any small fish bones!"
"Got it."
Diego made an OK sign and left the house directly.
...
At the same time, on the other side.
The ahoge on Takanashi Rikka's head suddenly twitched.
Her chuunibyou senses had activated!
She stared seriously at Dekomori Sanae. With her left and right hands, she extended her index fingers and thumbs to form a rectangle and aimed it in the direction of Diao Zhai. "Dekomori, it seems there's the presence of visitors from another world."
"Oh! Then should we go seal them death?!" Dekomori Sanae excitedly waved her twin tails.
"We should!"
"Let's go together death!"
...
Rustle rustle...
An hour after Diego left, Alicia, who was trying to distinguish shiitake mushrooms from a pile of mushrooms, raised her head when she heard the sound of ropes and clothing rubbing together.
"Who could it be at this time?"
They specifically chose the time when Dio was out...
A thief, or an assassin?
Those were the two options that immediately popped into Alicia's mind.
She followed the sound and arrived at the balcony.
The rope in front of her kept swaying. What came into view next was a deep purple skirt hem and a pair of small feet that kept searching for footholds, looking somewhat helpless.
Ah, it looks like they're Dio's friends, huh?
Alicia couldn't help but find it amusing. She reached out and caught Takanashi Rikka's foot, helping her step onto the balcony. At the same time, she looked upward and met eyes with Takanashi Rikka, who had noticed something was off.
Before Alicia could speak, she only heard the words "Master, I'm here too!"
A large hammer suddenly appeared before her eyes. Behind the hammer handle was a girl—none other than Dekomori Sanae.
Whoosh...
"Why didn't you use the front door?"
Alicia was stunned for a moment. Although she was a bit confused, out of concern that Dekomori Sanae might get hurt, she still caught her.
The scene in front of her shifted. The Thunder Warhammer returned to its golden long hair form, while Dekomori Sanae fell into Alicia's arms. She was being princess-carried, and when she looked up, she could even clearly see the strands of hair fluttering and rising between them.
So... so cool!
She actually caught me and the Thunder Hammer while we were flying at high speed without getting hurt at all. Is this the strength of a Holy Hero?
How can a hero be this handsome?!
Dekomori Sanae subconsciously went into fangirl mode. A little angel and a little devil instantly appeared in her mind and started arguing with each other.
The angel said: How can you betray Master?! Did you forget who your real master is?!
The devil said: But she saved me, and she's really super cool!!
After a moment of internal conflict, reason regained the upper hand.
Dekomori Sanae bit the tip of her tongue. The pain cleared her mind. Just as she was about to struggle free, Alicia's concerned voice reached her ears.
"Are you okay?"
Looking at Alicia's profile, Dekomori Sanae's face turned red. Her heartbeat grew faster and faster. She tilted her head and, overwhelmed with excitement, fainted first.
"No regrets..."
"Eh?!"
Alicia's eyes instantly turned into dots.
Takanashi Rikka jumped down from the balcony and stood face-to-face with Alicia. She placed a hand on her chest, closed her eyes, then suddenly opened them again. Her tone was serious. "Are you the Holy Hero from another world—Miss Alicia Idelucia?"
"Um, I am..."
Before Alicia could finish, Takanashi Rikka lifted her eyepatch and introduced herself. "I am the Evil King's True Eye user!"
She then pointed at Dekomori Sanae.
"That girl is my first apostle, the Master of the Thunder Warhammer! We came here for the sake of the invisible boundary line's safety!"
Alicia nodded blankly.
"Phew... You're both chuunibyou. Originally, I didn't want to banish this world."
"Then?"
"Then..."
Takanashi Rikka's serious expression relaxed. Her eyes instantly lit up as she grabbed Alicia's hands.
"Can I touch the Hero's Sword?!"