When I woke up this morning, Nakagawa had crawled into my bed.
...But no such cliché event occurred, and we woke up to an ordinary morning.
I picked up my PFP and went down to the living room while playing.
"Oh, good morning, Keima-kun."
"Good morning, God!"
When I arrived in the living room, everyone was already seated at the dining table.
"Oh, good morning."
I gave a vague answer and sat down.
The food on the table is perfectly ordinary, but I can't be bothered to eat it. I'd rather just have an IV drip. An IV drip.
"Hey Keima! Eat properly!!"
However, the problem is that there's no IV drip in this house, and if I don't eat, my mother will get angry.
I had no choice but to swallow it.
"Hey! Chew your food properly!"
Ah... I'm sorry for showing you such an embarrassing side of myself."
"N-no. In a way, it's just like Keima."
"Even in front of a cute girl like Kanon-chan, he acts just like he always does."
"I'm worried about the future if things continue like this."
"Y-yes, that's true..."
Before I knew it, it was time to leave the house.
I grabbed the necessary items and headed to the front door.
Nakagawa and Elsie also leave the house together, though they are heading to different places.
"Well then, I'm off!"
"I'm off, Mother!"
"Okay. Be careful."
The three of them left the house and closed the door.
"Nakagawa, are you going to work now?"
"Yeah. See you tonight."
"Yes. Let's meet again."
"Princess, please be careful on your trip!"
"No, you're going with Nakagawa too!!"
"Huh? ...Oh! That's right!!"
...Did we rush into the decoy plan?
No, I feel bad for Nakagawa, but he'll just have to do it somehow.
I thought about it all night yesterday, but there's no precedent for a combination of a violent, forced fiancé route and an idol route.
We need to remove as many idol elements as possible and steer the story towards a fiancé route, otherwise our chances of success will be slim. For that reason, a stand-in is definitely necessary.
I can't say anything that would make him anxious in front of him, though.
"Well then, God, please take care!"
"I haven't fallen so low that you need to worry about me."
"Huh?"
Now that you mention it, Elsie will have to miss school.
Well, I guess I can just say I'm sick.
.........
There wasn't much to talk about at school, and then it was after classes.
I went straight home without making any detours.
When I got home, Nakagawa and Elsie had already returned.
"Oh, welcome back!"
"Welcome back, God!"
"Ah, I'm back. Was everything alright today?"
"Yeah. It seems like she couldn't find a new place to live either, so I made sure she could stay here."
Mari-san also gave her OK.
Also, I kept the location of this place a secret."
"You haven't told anyone? I'm surprised you agreed."
I was prepared for it to be leaked to a very limited number of people.
"It would be a lot of trouble if she were staying at a male classmate's house."
I managed to bluff my way through it, and Elsie made me invisible so I can come back without worrying about being followed."
"I see. I understand."
This will make it possible to share time outside of school or work.
School is manageable, but the problem is work.
They say a decision on the substitute noodle incident will be made by tonight, but I wonder what will happen?
Slurp, s...
"Huh!?"
Is this sound a soul-searching sensor?!
What?! What happened?! Could it be that something strange is happening to Nakagawa's runaway spirit...?
"Oh, it's a message from the department head!"
"Don't scare me!" "Stop scaring me!!"
"Huh? I'm, I'm sorry...?"
That's bad for your heart!!
Wait, does that thing also function as a communication device? That's confusing!!
"Um, yes! Hello! This is Elsie!"
"...Huh? Oh, yes. Um..."
Upon receiving the communication, Elsie appears to be spreading her feathered robe at her feet.
They're probably doing something under orders.
"Oh, Princess! Can I borrow the microphone?"
"A microphone? Let's see, I think it's around here... There it is. Here you go."
Nakagawa pulled out a microphone with strange decorations on it.
"What is that?"
"Oh, Keima didn't know that."
Apparently, it's a microphone from hell.
"Just looking at the name, it seems like an amazing microphone."
Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember using it when singing something.
It was far away, so I couldn't see it very well.
"Um... like this... Okay, I've done it, Chief!"
Elsie places a microphone on a feathered robe spread out on the floor and operates something.
A few seconds after she told the communicator that she had finished the operation, the feathered robe suddenly began to glow.
Unable to bear the glare, I covered my face with my hands and closed my eyes.
Then, a few more seconds later, the light subsided, so I opened my eyes.
The microphone that had been placed on top of the feathered robe was gone, replaced by a pendant shaped like a musical note, something resembling a USB memory stick, and an envelope.
The envelope has "To Elsie and her collaborators" written on it in large letters. It probably contains a letter.
"Phew, transfer complete!"
"So you're saying something was sent to you?"
"Is it okay if I read the letter?"
"Um... yes! Apparently, everything you need to know is written in that letter!"
Thank you, Director. See you again!
"Oh, hey... did you cut it?"
I wanted to complain to this department head who came up with such a stupid contract, but I guess I'll leave it for now.
"Okay, then I'll open it."
"You haven't been cursed or anything like that, have you?"
"Don't say scary things..."
"...Okay, let's have Elsie open it."
"Whaaaat!? Why!?"
"How can you trust someone who tries to sell you a fraudulent contract like that?!"
"There aren't many demons capable of something as clever as casting a curse the moment you open an envelope..."
Yes, I've opened it!
"Now, let's read it."
"Hey, don't you have anything to say to me!?"
"Okay, I'll read it aloud."
[Previous section]
I've decided that seasonal greetings and preambles will only provoke you guys, so I'll get straight to the point.
I sent you three things.
First, this letter.
The second one is "Data on Illusion Magic".
The third item is a "nanomachine pendant."
First, please make sure you have all three items.
"...Is everything alright?"
"You have the pendant. The data is probably about this, right?"
"Yes! We definitely have it!"
"Okay, let's continue."
"This is data for illusion magic, but by loading it into the feather robe, it becomes possible to use illusion magic to a certain extent."
I've compressed the data quite a bit, so all I can do is make the user think it's Kanon Nakagawa, but that should be enough for now, right?
Also, I made sure that the two collaborators wouldn't be fooled.
So, I guess magic is something that can be exchanged as data..."
"Yes! We're using advanced scientific magic!"
"Science magic, huh..."
"The pendant is for Kanon Nakagawa, one of my collaborators."
It's made of the same material as the feather robe, and contains some of the necessary magic.
"Was Hagoromo made of nanomachines?!"
"Yes. Isn't that amazing!"
"...What exactly is a demon..."
"First up is illusion magic. I crammed this in quite forcefully, so all it can do is make people mistake Nakagawa Kanon for Elsie."
Please note that this has been adjusted so that no hairstyle or body shape corrections by Hagoromo are necessary. I am a little worried about whether it will work properly if the user's hairstyle or body shape changes significantly, so please contact me again if that happens.
The second is sound magic. The pendant acts as a microphone. It's adjusted so that the sound resonates even more within Elsie's barrier.
Furthermore, since it has a built-in transformation function, you can also use it in the shape of a microphone. The effect probably won't change much, though.
The third is binding magic. It can restrain runaway souls and the like for a short time. It can also work on humans, though.
Ideally, I would have liked to incorporate a spell that would completely seal it, but due to capacity limitations and user issues, this is the best I could do. I hope it will be useful for buying time when Elsie isn't nearby.
Also, the location information of this pendant is constantly transmitted to Elsie's robe, and when she uses binding magic, that signal is also sent. I hope you make full use of it.
"...I see. That's certainly a useful feature to have."
"Keima, it looks like there's something written on the back too?"
"Hmm? Let's see..."
"Finally, after incorporating the necessary magic, I had a little capacity left over, so I added flight magic as well. Please use it if you need it."
"Wait a minute!!"
"F-Flight magic!? Isn't that amazing!?"
"..."
"However, it doesn't have an invisibility function, so please refrain from flying around openly in the daytime."
"If people see it, it'll cause all sorts of trouble."
"...Isn't that a useless feature?!"
"Hmm... It's probably better to have it than not."
Wait, you were able to add something like that with just the remaining storage space?!
"Well, if I recall correctly... flight magic is just difficult to control, but the mechanism itself is actually quite simple."
Apparently, leaving it to a program requires far less memory than things like transparency or illusions."
"That's incredible. It's hellish technology..."
Anyway, this secures a means to make the switch.
It looks like we can finally begin the strategy guide.
"Hmm? There's more to come."
Furthermore, these spells consume the user's magical power.
To put it in terms that humans can understand, it consumes energy each time it's used.
We intended to limit the amount to a level that humans can handle, but if you feel unwell, stop using it immediately.
"That's what I heard."
"I understand."