"Huh?" Wait, what did she just say? "... huh?"

"Hm?" Maou-mama looks at me questioningly, with a very innocent expression.

"I... I may have misheard you, mama..." I rub the bridge of my nose, shake my head and look at her again. "You said you-"

"I ate them." Once again, a simple statement without a single hint of malice in her expression. That makes it even scarier than it actually is! Then she seems to realize something and smiles mischievously. "Not in the sexual sense, silly~"

Ahhhhhh!!!

Wait wait, I'm not in any danger of being eaten (not in the sexual sense) right now, so there's no need to panic. So maou-mama is a true cannibal, eating beings of her own race. I stare at her with some apprehension.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Chaos-chan? I will not eat you." She laughs and waves off my thoughts. "Only if you have been naughty~"

So this is my punishment for making that joke at the Demon Mages Association! I'm sorry for making fun of your fear of me, Vitalis-chan!

"... so, how many of my siblings are still alive?" I doubt they knew about this when they were thrown out into the world, so those who returned and were disrespectful towards maou-mama were all eaten.

"Those who returned were all eaten by me. Like I said, you are the first to not betray me." Alright, I think that's pretty sad in its own way... "I have my eyes keep surveillance on every single one..." Wait, she was watching me all this time? As in, everything I've been doing? There are some things parents should never do to their children. Especially with children whose nature seems to tell them to ravish girls... cough. "... those who never returned all died due to one reason or another."

"In other words, I'm the only one left? How many did you even send out?" This is pretty disheartening to hear.

"One every two months, since any more is too difficult to keep track of. But you are the only one right now." I'm an only child, huh? But haven't you been pumping out children too quickly? I think it's safe to assume that Crawling Chaos reproduce through something like cell division, so I guess she could have produced many more over an even shorter period of time. She was actually holding back in her own way, huh?

"... wait, you mean to say you had a child every two months since twenty years ago?"

"Yes." She blinks as if she doesn't understand why I'm asking. If my simple arithmetic skills haven't forsaken me, that should be around two hundred and fifty children. You mean to say you've eaten so many living beings that you yourself produced? Maou-mama is scary!

"Why... did you eat them? Why not punish them and try to reeducate them?"

"Because that is too much of a hassle. And it returns the energy I spent on giving birth to them." Once again, she says something really scary so easily. Our values are completely different! But... it's not like I can't understand her, from a certain angle.

"Speaking of eating... Maou-sama, I have heard that you were trying to sneak food again." The maid leader walks up to her with an emotionless face. She's more than a head taller than I am, who is already slightly taller than maou-mama, so when she doesn't lower her head in front of us, it looks like she's looking down on two lesser beings. Her dark red eyes show that she's clearly not amused and it only reinforces that impression.

"Eek!" Maou-mama lets out this completely undignified yelp as she flinches under the gaze and immediately hides behind me. "W-who did you hear that from?"

"That is of no importance." And she was shut down in an instant. I have to admit, she's really intimidating when seen from up close. She looks completely human, but her height is on par with Gram's. "We talked about this before, Maou-sama." Her face remains expressionless, but the pressure from her words is almost tangible. "As punishment, the amount of your breakfast will be reduced this morning."

"Nooo, anything but that! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" Maou-mama sounds really pitiful as she comes forward from behind me and pleads to the maid leader. I understand that she's really scary and all, but where's your dignity as the demon lord? You're meant to instill fear in everyone...

"You have yourself to blame, Maou-sama." The maid leader's expression doesn't change despite seeing her pitiful appearance.

Oh, this reminds me... I had that thought during that demons support group meeting. They're clearly using Japanese honorifics here, both maou-mama and those under her command - aside from Mithra. I have to ask her about this, when we get the chance to talk. She looks ready to fall to her knees, so now doesn't seem like the right time...

"Mama, stop it, it's disgraceful..."

"Buuut..." She looks close to crying. I can't muster any sort of respect for her when she's in such a state.

"I'll bring you something good next time I come here." I sigh in mental exhaustion.

"Hm? What do you mean, next time you come here?"

"I have to go back to the Royal Academy, or they'll suspect that something's wrong." And I obviously want to reassure Kamii and Hestia of the fact that I'm alright. Also, I need to deal with the half-dissolved Vitalis in our bathroom.

"I think it would be best not to go back there." Maou-mama's expression has turned serious again.

"Huh, why not?"

"Now that Mithra has shown his true colors, his first course of action will be to contact all his co-conspirators and inform them of the fact that he has been found out. And that you are the cause for it." She makes a difficult face. "I know for a fact that Mithra has been conspiring with the cunning old man that is the principal of the academy, so it will be dangerous." Oh, she's calling him cunning old man, too. Wait, that's not important right now! "You may have friends there, but it is better if you do not return there."

"... they're more than friends." I turn the maid clothes back into my skin and change my appearance to the one I have at the academy - I don't care that I'm temporarily naked, since I have to consider the possibility that I will have to bring out the Fata wings when I fall from a great height again.

"Oh, your clothes were made from your body?" Maou-mama looks at me with big eyes. I would have assumed that you're able to do it, too... but she did express surprise at seeing me do it the first time - albeit not to this level of control.

"That reminds me, one thing before I go." I have to get it off my chest, otherwise it'll nag at the back of my head.

"Yes?"

"Are you a reincarnator?" I ask directly. All evidence points there, including the use of Japanese honorifics, in a world where even the Japanese language doesn't exist.

"... let us leave that for another time, Chaos-chan~" She puts a finger over her lips, winks and smiles mysteriously. But her use of -chan basically confirmed it once again. "Do you not have to hurry?" I hate to say it, but it's true. If she doesn't want to tell me right now, I don't want to waste time to try and convince her. I pull out a piece of paper, on which I printed a copy of the transportation circle, and place it on the ground.

"Why are you using physical transportation circles for your space magic?" Maou-mama suddenly asks when I step onto the paper. "Why not make a circle with your body?"

"Huh?"

"Like this." She shows me her palm and there's a circle in it. Wait, that works? Isn't our entire existence a cheat, then? I would still have to memorize it though... "I will show you." She disappears from in front of me. And in the next moment I feel two hands grabbing my chest from behind.

"Hyah?!" Oh my, did that voice just now come from me? But I don't have time for this. "Stop it!" I bop maou-mama over the head and she lets go. I shape the interior of my palm into a transportation circle. "... thank you..." The last thing I see is maou-mama looking up to me with a playfully hurting expression while holding her head, before she shows me a smile filled with motherly love. My heart skips a beat. Yes, this is my mother, even if we've known each other for only such a short while. Even if she's a cannibal...

The next moment I'm in a stream of lights again, and there's nothing strange like the first time when I teleported out of the academy. What brought that time on? It's like something - or someone - messed with my magic and sent me to some random place in the world. The second time when I jumped directly into the demon castle, there was no hint of any interference, though. Maybe it has something to do with the academy itself. Like... maybe a barrier to prevent transportation spells from functioning?

But if that was true, I would run into that same barrier on my way back in! I don't know how to cancel the teleportation! There's still time left, so I have to prepare myself for either hitting a physical barrier, or to be flung into some other random part in the world. If it's the latter, I can always choose to teleport outside of the academy and sneak in, but if it's the former, I might actually get splattered for real this time.

Uh oh, I see a splotch of darkness in the distance - and in an instant I'm surrounded by the streaks of ugly dark colors like when I first teleported out. I immediately bring out the Fata wings, even before the sensation of falling begins. Damn, where will I end up this time? But apparently time is distorted once again, since I keep falling for a very long time without an end in sight. The only thing I can do is slow my physical velocity while inside here.

Then the space around me is replaced by darkness. Below me is a vast expanse of nothingness and I'm surrounded by stars. Wait, don't tell me I was actually flung into space? No, there's clearly wind here, and I'm still having a sense of direction, as I retain spatial awareness. Then I hear the sound of waves very close below me and I frantically beat my wings to move upwards.

Below me is the ocean, a field of pitch black that is unable to reflect the stars above as it stirs in the strong breeze. Alright, something clearly interfered with my teleportation and sent me somewhere else in the world. The first time was clearly very lucky, since I arrived in a bright place where I even had a little fateful encounter - I think. But this could have ended pretty badly, if maou-mama hadn't taught me the option to use the surface of my own body to create a transportation circle. If I had fallen into the ocean, I most certainly wouldn't have been able to use the paper circles, as the ink would get washed out. I would have been stuck here, with no land in sight. That was really dangerous...

I teleport once again, but this time the destination is far above and slightly next to the citadel in which the academy is located, near where I took my virgin flight. If I physically fly in rather than directly teleport in, I should be fine, right? I'm sure the cunning old man will notice the intrusion, but I'll be in and out immediately. I'll take Kamii, Hestia, Senka and Vitalis inside my body and teleport out, even if it throws us into a random place in the world. Anywhere is better than the academy at this point.

Surrounded by a stream of lights, I notice that the spell is taking quite a while again. Apparently I was thrown somewhere incredibly far, so even a teleportation is taking a long time. But there's no hint of interference this time and I arrive, falling from high in the sky. The city of Kongenssoevn, with some of its lights on, is so small that it looks like a drawing on a map. This is how the world looked when I flew with an airplane from Tokyo to Okinawa. The sun is rising at the horizon, but its rays are still far from the city. I'm at an altitude where I can see the curvature of the planet. This is a true HALO jump!

Folding my wings and turning my head downwards, I gather speed, hit terminal velocity soon, and become like a bullet. The city grows larger within my view with every passing second. I become able to tell where the citadel is located - in the very center of the city. The buildings of the academy become individually distinguishable soon, and then I'm at the height where I remember looking down and seeing Hestia lying on the library as a dot. Not yet, I have to get closer to the ground to avoid being spotted easily.

When I see Ninlil sweeping in front of the dorm building, I open my wings slightly to adjust my angle, drastically reducing my speed in the process. Gliding in a circle I soon enter an almost horizontal flight path, as I soar across the rooftops of the dorm buildings. By now someone must have spotted me with their naked eyes, if they haven't already, through some magical means such as noticing my entry into the barrier surrounding the academy. I reach the end of the girls' dorm building and land on the windowsill of our room.

"I'm back!" I announce when I pull up the window, remove my wings and make my clothes come back out over my body.

"Welcome back, Miss Marcott." A familiar voice greets me. It belongs to Thorvadis, who is standing in the room with several other teachers, and looking at me with a friendly smile. They are surrounding Kamii and Hestia, their staves at the ready and pointed at me. "It is indeed a pleasure to see you back so soon."