The four portions of colorful cereal vanished into their stomachs without a trace, and the stormy breakfast time somehow came to an end.
Alisha Gray stacked the empty plastic bowls in the sink while observing the four toddlers who had started making a racket behind her again.
Resting her elbows on the kitchen counter and sipping her cold herbal tea, her outstanding Mana Sight accurately captured their abnormalities.
First, the loudest one, Miko.
"I have occupied this sofa! From today on, this is my castle!" he declared haughtily. He was a boy with spiky hair, but from the top of his head, two small horns glowing dully like obsidian poked out through the gaps in his hair.
Next, Puck.
"Wow~, dust is dancing~! So pretty~!" he said innocently, chasing the dust motes illuminated by the morning sun shining through the window. Every time he blinked, his eyes glowed a golden color in the dim light, like a cat's—no, like a cold-blooded reptile's.
Then, Riri.
"Jeez, Puck! House dust is bad for your health!" she said, chasing after her little brother while showing off mysterious knowledge. She was a girl with braided hair. From her surroundings, a faint but distinct smell of "sulfur" drifted every time she moved.
Finally, Yumi.
"...The dust in this house has a magic capacity of zero. What a poor environment," she said. She was a slightly mature girl, the only one sitting in the corner of the sofa observing the room with cold eyes. Every time she yawned, the canine teeth that could be seen were clearly sharper and longer than those of a human child.
"...Hey, Duke."
Washing away the suds from the sponge, Alisha called out to Dantalion, who was shrunk down in the corner of the dining table like a large dog that had just been scolded.
"Y-Yes! What is it, Lady Alisha?"
"Mrs. Higgins... the meddlesome old lady next door. She's going to bring the neighborhood circular board around this afternoon. Also, the mailman will come before noon. Our windows face the street, so the inside is completely visible from the outside."
Drying her wet hands with a towel, Alisha thrust the cold, hard facts at him.
"No matter how you look at these kids, they don't look like 'slightly unusual relatives' children from a foreign country.' There's no such thing as a human toddler with horns growing out of their head, glowing eyes, and a mouth that smells like sulfur."
Dantalion gasped and looked at his subordinates.
"A-Ah, I see. Those kinds of physical characteristics were standard in the Demon Realm, so I completely forgot. If we don't disguise their appearances as human..."
"You're just noticing that now? A demon's brain sure works slowly."
"Ugh... I have no words to reply to that."
Ignoring the ruler of the Demon Realm who was profoundly depressed, Alisha stepped out into the center of the living room.
"It can't be helped. If the neighbors report us, my perfect life in hiding will be over. I'll cast a cognitive-interference [Glamour]."
"A Glamour?! On all of them?!"
Dantalion snapped his head up as if he'd been hit.
"Wait, Alisha. Are you planning to constantly deploy high-tier illusion magic—magic that makes others completely misidentify the target's appearance and presence as a different species—on four people simultaneously? If you do that, even you will run out of magic power! Furthermore, won't the Magic Association detect the use of the spell formula..."
"Amateurs should stay quiet."
Alisha cut him off sharply.
"There's no way I'm going to leak my own mana to maintain it. Who would do something so troublesome? I'm going to use the massive amount of magic these kids are unconsciously leaking as a catalyst to weave the formula. In other words, I'm using their own magic to disguise their own appearances. I won't use a single drop of my personal magic power. Eco-friendly, right?"
Dantalion's amber eyes widened.
"...Using the target's magic power to overwrite a spell formula onto the target itself? Is such precise and perverse magic manipulation possible for a human... no, for any living creature?"
"Did you forget who I am? The ultimate military force of the Royal Magic Association. I didn't win first place in the Mage Most Likely to Die from Overwork Ranking for three years straight just for show."
Snorting away her past glory, which was absolutely nothing to brag about, Alisha clapped her hands with a clap, clap! and said, "Alright, line up!"
"Ehh! What is this, a physical exam!?"
Even while complaining, they couldn't resist the faint intimidation Alisha emitted, and the four of them reluctantly lined up in a row.
"First, Miko."
Alisha crouched down in front of Miko and gently touched his small black horns, which were only about the size of a fingertip.
"Hey! Why are you hiding my magnificent horns! Are they not the symbol of a boss! If I don't have these, people will look down on me!"
"...A true boss, you see."
Maintaining a blank expression, Alisha smoothly spun a lie.
"Hides their bottomless power to make the enemy drop their guard. They say a skilled hawk hides its talons, right? By hiding your horns and pretending to be just a child, you slip right into the enemy's inner circle. That is advanced strategy."
"...Oho!"
Miko's eyes began to sparkle.
"I see, a behind-the-scenes strategy like that! As expected of my tactician! I shall allow it! Conceal them perfectly!"
Too easy.
While exasperated internally, Alisha smoothly drew invisible runes on Miko's head with her fingertip.
Instantly, Miko's horns slipped into the air and vanished as if melting, leaving him looking like a boy with black hair and bedhead.
Of course, they physically existed, but they would be completely processed as non-existent by the vision and cognition of others.
"Next, Puck. Look over here."
"Wow! Sparkly light is coming from the Miss's fingertips! I'm gonna catch it~!"
"Hey, don't move. The formula won't set on your eyeballs."
"Ahaha! Wait, wait~!"
Puck turned his face away, trying to chase the light.
"Duke! Don't just stand there, hold him down!"
"Y-Yes!"
Dantalion hurriedly grabbed both of Puck's shoulders firmly with his giant hands.
In that opening, Alisha poured a spell formula that manipulated the refractive index of light into Puck's golden eyes.
The glowing stopped, and they were disguised as harmless hazel-brown eyes.
"Miss, I want a cute ribbon illusion!"
The third one, Riri, looked up at Alisha with eyes full of expectation.
"...This is concealment magic for a disguise, not a dress-up game."
"Aww, I want a pink one. No?"
Puppy-dog eyes looking up at her.
"...Sigh. Fine."
Alisha tweaked the formula just a little bit, and while erasing the smell of sulfur drifting from her, simultaneously attached an illusion of a small pink ribbon tying her hair. Riri jumped happily, saying, "Yay!"
"Finally, Yumi."
"Human ears look round and slow. My sharp, beautiful elf-like ears are a hundred times better."
"Yes, yes, I agree. But when in Rome, do as the Romans do. It'll be a problem if the neighbors say, 'Oh my, your pointy ears are wonderful.'"
Alisha visually corrected the ears of the complaining Yumi into a generally rounded human shape, and further disguised her slightly pointed canine teeth to look like the normal teeth of a child.
"Alright, that's done."
Alisha stood up and dusted off her hands.
Watching that series of tasks from the side, Dantalion caught his breath.
Magnificent...!
There was absolutely no wasted release of magic power.
Like breathing, extremely naturally, yet incredibly precise formulas were woven.
Without drawing a magic circle or chanting a spell, using only the movements of her fingertips and mental imagery, she had twisted the demons' magic into human shapes.
Such refined technique was something not even veteran mages of the Demon Realm could reach.
"...You truly are a wonderful mage."
Dantalion inadvertently let out a voice of admiration.
"Why someone with your talent would withdraw from an organization like the Magic Association and live hidden alone in such a remote place... is difficult for me to understand."
Alisha shot Dantalion a sharp glare.
"Shut up. I don't hate magic itself. I just got sick to death of 'using magic to work for someone else.' If you pry any further, I'll turn those horns of yours into pig ears with an illusion."
"S-Sorry. I meant no offense."
Just as Dantalion frantically apologized.
Riiiing, riiiing!
Suddenly, a sharp metallic sound rang out from Dantalion's breast pocket.
"Eek!?"
The Demon Duke's shoulders jerked, and he hurriedly pulled out a magic tool that looked like a bulky pocket watch from the inner pocket of his pitch-black coat.
The face of the watch blinked red, and a short message floated in the air like a hologram.
[Emergency Council Convocation. Objection filed by Duke Malphas regarding the defense budget for the eastern territory. Attend immediately.]
It was obvious that whatever color had been in Dantalion's face drained away completely.
"...A summons from Hell?"
When Alisha asked, Dantalion nodded with a face that looked ready to cry.
"Y-Yes... That bastard Malphas, he sniffed out that I was absent from my territory and intends to aim for my downfall at the council. ...I apologize, Alisha. I must head to Pandemonium immediately."
"Huh? Right now?"
"Yes. But rest assured, I will return as soon as the meeting is over! By evening... no, I will definitely be back by nightfall!"
No sooner had he said it than Dantalion quickly popped the collar of his coat.
"Miko, Puck, Riri, Yumi! Listen well, do exactly as Alisha says! Do not leave the house under any circumstances! Understand!"
"Papa, have a good day~!"
"Do your best at work~!"
While the children waved carefree, Dantalion broke into a run toward the entryway, distorting space to open a gate to the Demon Realm.
"I'm counting on you, Alisha! The pay will be handsome!"
"Wait just a minute, what about Article 2 of the Child-Rearing Pact—"
Vwoooosh!
Before Alisha's voice of protest could reach him, Dantalion jumped into the gate and vanished completely along with the spatial distortion.
A dead-silent entryway.
Left behind were the former strongest mage, wearing a cardigan over her loungewear, and four demon toddlers disguised in human forms.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
Alisha stood there dumbfounded.
"Alright, Miss!"
From behind her, Miko's voice echoed. When she turned around, the four toddlers were looking up at her, their eyes sparkling.
"Papa went to work! Which means, from now on, this is my free time! What shall we play next!?"
"I want to draw!"
"I'm going to catch the kitties outside!"
Alisha let out a deep, deeply despairing sigh and held her head in her hands.
"...Naptime. All of you, pass out in bed right this instant."
"I refuse!!"
The time was 9:00 AM.
Alisha Gray's hellish solo-parenting had officially begun.