Would such a refugee have any ill intentions toward Takumi?
That is definitely not the case. They do not even know what exists here in Dimension City. They only know they can find a way to survive if they come here.
Or, what if the person with authority is a business genius and uses that power to organize a tour group to bring random people over?
Although Takumi can expel people, once this happens, it will cause unnecessary trouble for Dimension City.
The inspection gate in front of the Dimensional Gate was set up partly out of such concerns.
But this is only the last line of defense. To avoid these possible problems, one must start from the root cause.
That is the management of the keys.
Let's talk about the method of exploiting the return ticket system. Among the two tickets needed for this routine, the ticket to return to Dimension City is undoubtedly the most critical.
Because within Dimension City, a return ticket to the KonoSuba World is not necessarily needed to open the portal.
Takumi has authority, and Megumin also has authority; Darkness's one-time authority is just the icing on the cake at best.
But if those in the KonoSuba World want to open the door to Dimension City, they cannot. After Megumin was recruited, they had no one left with authority, so they could only rely on Dimension City to send someone to respond.
In this case, if someone is sent out to stay permanently, is that not equivalent to giving an outsider a one-time authority?
As long as one is willing, they could use that one-time permission for anything.
Although there are systematic obstructions for malicious intent, those who want to do bad things cannot get through at all.
But there is no guarantee that someone won't come up with irritating methods like the ones mentioned above to add to the chaos.
Therefore, it is better not to send people out to stay permanently.
Sending people only for contact is safer and more secure, allowing for more control.
It is also about understanding the primary and secondary relationships formed by this set of operations.
Eris felt it was impossible for them to violate the restrictive treaty given by Takumi.
If they dared to violate the treaty, he could simply refuse to facilitate travel.
Then the newly established communication channel would be cut off, and they would be unable to appeal.
This is the dominance over other worlds formed by Takumi's strong control over the authority of the Dimensional Gate.
Not willing to abide by the rules he set?
That's okay; don't even think about playing together. Just go and cool off.
For Eris and the others, this is a bit uncomfortable.
But there is no other way.
Since they lack any dominance here, they can only follow the rules set by Takumi.
"Well, there is nothing wrong with these treaties, and they are completely acceptable to us."
After reading through the information and ignoring the unattainable items, the remaining content under section 003 was still very reasonable. Eris agreed. There was no need to bargain further.
"As long as there's no problem, let's sign the contract."
Seeing this, Takumi took out a contract that had been prepared a long time ago.
It mainly stated the restrictions and obligations both parties needed to abide by to establish contact between Dimension City and the Heaven Realm, with Darkness as the liaison.
The Heaven side had the responsibility to abide by the information provided, while Dimension City needed to fulfill the obligations of housing Darkness.
However, this was just a non-binding written document and was not very formal.
The purpose of signing was just to have a standard for judgment if the two parties had conflicts in the future. The prerequisite for it to be effective was that both parties could still get along as friends, and the guarantee of effectiveness depended on their respective credibility.
Eris did not refuse. She checked the contract again and signed it as the representative of the Heaven Realm.
At this point, in addition to the staff and ordinary residents, Dimension City had a new identity division.
Foreign staff.
Afterward, Takumi personally arranged things for Darkness.
The place she lived in was naturally an apartment.
The conditions were a bit simple, but Darkness liked it very much.
She looked at the door lock with an inexplicably rosy face, and then looked at the corridor layout.
"I get it, it must be for convenience... Yes, waiting until night to take advantage of us... suddenly breaking in, and then..."
She suddenly transformed into a delirious girl, outputting various words that were automatically silenced at high speed.
Eris couldn't help but cover her face speechlessly.
You were pretending so well just now; why did you suddenly break character? If you had just pretended for a while longer, you could have done this after I went back!
It was awkward.
Especially when seeing Takumi's glance, Eris was so embarrassed she felt she could dig a hole and hide.
"Well, if I said that she was not chosen by me, would you believe it?"
Takumi didn't say anything, but just gave Eris a look of understanding and tolerance.
Seeing that Takumi seemed to have misunderstood, Eris couldn't help herself. To save her image, she quickly explained: "That's not true! Originally I refused, but the higher-ups insisted on choosing her, and there was nothing I could do. Believe me!"
"But you were the one who nominated her, right?"
"Well..."
"But..."
"Don't worry, I understand. Who doesn't have a little hobby? You just have a special preference; there is no need to feel embarrassed about it."
Takumi suppressed a smile and spoke to Eris with a knowing look.
Did he know what was going on with Darkness and Eris?
He knew he was just teasing Eris now. As for Darkness's character?
Takumi thought it was actually pretty good.
Because there was a similar person like Haruhime at home, Takumi was somewhat immune to this kind of behavior.
The only difference between Darkness and Haruhime was that Darkness was a little bolder and her ideas were more twisted.
That is, what she said was all slander.
Did he seem like someone who would do that kind of thing?
Even if he did it, it wouldn't be here, but in the private office of the City Lord's Mansion... ahem!
"I really don't!"
Eris almost roared in denial.
"Can you prove it?"
Takumi raised his eyebrows and couldn't help asking with a smirk.
"Prove it? How can I prove this? Never..."
Eris subconsciously followed Takumi's line of thought.
How could this be proven? She couldn't demonstrate it to Takumi on the spot, right? Wouldn't that give him an advantage?
But immediately, she saw Takumi's mischievous smile.
"Wait! Did you do this on purpose?!" She finally understood that Takumi was deliberately pretending to misunderstand.
Takumi's face changed instantly, turning into a blank expression: "On purpose? What's intentional? I don't understand what you're talking about. Don't change the subject. Can you prove it?"
"Prove it? I'll prove you are a big-headed idiot! Go to hell!"
Knowing she had been tricked, Eris punched Takumi angrily.
However, under the suppression of the system, she could only use the strength of an ordinary person, and this punch wasn't even enough to make Takumi itch.
"And you!"
Seeing that she couldn't vent her anger on Takumi, Eris set her target on Darkness, the initiator of this farce.
She stepped forward and grabbed Darkness by the collar while she was still immersed in her thoughts, shaking her hard.
"Please wake up! Can you not hold it in as promised?"
"Ah? Sorry, I just couldn't help it..."
Darkness also realized she had lost her composure and quickly apologized.
"You are really... forget it. Just destroy it, I'm tired."
Eris was helpless.
Because she also knew that Darkness's character was like this.
Rather, it was a miracle that Darkness could endure it until now.
In fact, Eris was mentally prepared for Darkness to make a fool of herself due to her tendencies.
She was mainly angry now because Takumi used the incident to tease her.
After the small farce, Darkness was settled.
Daily necessities were brought in her own luggage.
Takumi handled the account and money issues for her.
After getting a magic card and exchanging some money, she could live normally in Dimension City.
After dealing with this, Eris put aside the unpleasantness and gave Darkness a final warning.
In addition to work matters, there were also some personal concerns.
"You will basically be living here from now on, so you have to take care of yourself. If you are wronged, you must tell me. Even if I risk my life, I will help you get justice."
The disclosure of their identities had not affected their relationship; they were still good friends.
Naturally, Eris did not want to see Darkness being bullied.
"Don't worry, Chris, I'm careful and I won't mess around."
Darkness responded with a serious look.
Although she couldn't help herself just now, she also understood that she couldn't act out in Dimension City.
This was not her world where she could do whatever she wanted.
If she did so here, she would not only disgrace her own world but also cause problems between the two worlds.
So, at most, she would only indulge in verbal fantasies; she would not take actual action.
She had endured it for so many years at home, so she still had that much self-control.
Seeing this, Eris nodded and said no more.
She believed that Darkness could do it; otherwise, she wouldn't have assigned her this task.
After leaving Darkness to pack her luggage, Eris approached Takumi.
Just when Takumi thought she was coming to say goodbye, Eris's quiet words left him dumbfounded.
"Do you have something of mine here?"
In fact, after arriving in Dimension City, Eris had been able to feel the presence of her "secret weapon" that had suddenly disappeared.
That item was filled with her essence, and its presence was quite obvious to her. She didn't even need to deliberately sense it.
There were many people around earlier, so Eris didn't ask about it.
Now that there was no one around except her and Takumi, she couldn't bear it anymore and asked him directly.
After saying that, she looked at Takumi as if she were looking at non-recyclable garbage.
I knew it was definitely your doing!
Damn pervert! I've caught you now!
"Well..."
Takumi was stunned for a moment, then remembered something and felt speechless.
Seriously!
That thing actually belongs to this Eris?!
At the time, he thought it was an item from a parallel world or that the system generated it out of air.
And now, the real owner has actually come to his door!
How unreliable is this broken system!
Looking at Eris's posture, he feared he was already regarded as the culprit!
But he wasn't!
Those were all the deeds of the system!
He couldn't take the blame!
For a moment, many thoughts flashed through Takumi's mind, and then he nodded calmly.
"I do have something here from your world."
This could not be denied. After all, he was the one who received the KonoSuba World item as a reward from the system and exchanged it for money in Axel. Eris must have known about it.
The next step was the beginning of his performance.
Takumi's facial expression shifted into a complex display, mixed with panic, embarrassment, magnanimity, and sincerity:
"But please don't get me wrong. That is not something I took from your world. The mechanism of the Dimensional Gate sometimes yields items from various worlds."
"I don't know the specific reason. At present, I only know that it has such a function. This is how my artifact originated."
"..."
Eris looked at him suspiciously, but she saw no trace of a lie.
This made Eris a little confused.
Was it really not Takumi who did it?
What she didn't know was that Takumi really wasn't lying.
Although some secrets remained hidden, the fact was that the system provided it.
Takumi pressed his advantage: "I wonder what the Goddess Eris is referring to?"
"If I have it and it's important to you, I'll give it back. I just picked it up, so I will return it to its original owner."
Takumi naturally knew what Eris was talking about, but he was pretending to be confused. At the same time, he was testing her.
The item can be returned, but do you dare to claim it?
Eris really didn't dare.
After hearing this, Eris realized the implication.
Even if Takumi really took the item and wanted to return it now, she wouldn't dare take it back.
After all, who knows what Takumi might have done with it.
And if it wasn't Takumi who took it, then she couldn't come out and claim it.
When the items disappeared, Aqua discovered she was using a "secret weapon" and ridiculed her.
Now, if she claimed it from Takumi, wouldn't she be exposed again?
And this time, she would be exposed in front of Takumi, a member of the opposite sex...
She would be so ashamed!
So, she decided to let it go.
"It's okay, it doesn't matter. It's not something important anyway. I just thought it was here, so I was a little curious."
"Since it concerns your confidentiality, I won't ask any more questions."
"There is nothing else to do, so I will say goodbye. I seem to have forgotten to turn off the stove at home. I have to go back quickly. We will chat next time. Goodbye."
Eris was so quick to retreat that she left in a hurry.
Takumi didn't hold her back. When Eris left, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Whew, at least I fooled her."
"Damn the system, it's so unreliable. It actually used someone else's property as a reward and almost made me take the fall!"
Takumi cursed for a few minutes, but seeing no response from the system, he stopped in boredom.
"It seems I have to pay attention in the future. If I encounter this kind of thing again, it is best not to take the item out."
This incident reminded Takumi that there may be pitfalls in system rewards.
At least for less serious rewards, there are likely to be traps.
So, if he wasn't sure, it was best not to receive them. Let them collect dust in the system warehouse rather than have the owner come knocking.
As for what to do with Eris's item now?
Of course, he wouldn't touch it!
If he did something with it and Eris returned later, she would know he was playing dumb.
He would just leave it. Based on Eris's reaction, it was unlikely she would ask for it again.
"Ah? Lord City Lord, where is Chris?"
At this time, Darkness had finally tidied up the room. Not seeing Eris, she was a bit confused.
Takumi adjusted his mood and replied calmly: "She has gone back."
"Oh, I see."
Darkness didn't say much.
Anyway, she would be traveling back and forth between the two worlds often. It wasn't like she would never see her again.
"So, Lord City Lord, is there any work I can do now?"
Now that her housing was solved, it was time to discuss work.
Although she had financial support from her own world, she couldn't just do nothing in Dimension City.
People always need something to do; even just lying down without a phone becomes boring after a while.
Since the liaison work wasn't busy—just running errands in the morning and evening—the rest of her time was spent on standby.