The Restaurant: Chapter 24: The Comiket -1

Isekai Restaurant

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 24: The Comiket -1

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- Silas -

I served the order for Bang-san as I watched everyone excitedly getting ready for the Comiket tomorrow, fixing their costumes and makeup or making sure their props were fine. Although it would take a lot to do any damage to any of those props as they were made by Ainz’ Create Greater Item Magic.

We had to leave early in the morning tomorrow so they were all doing a last round of checks. And by check, I mean, Rimuru and Ainz, and to some extent even Kazuma and Fafnir, were going around fixing whatever minute flaws they could find while Milim danced around with her Magical Girl Sailor Moon Costume waving around her magic wand.

“They are very excited, aren’t they?” Bang-san laughed as he looked at everyone.

“Yes. They have been preparing for this for months. It’s quite hard to not be excited after all that.”

If I was being honest, we needed this break too.

Especially after the crazy past two weeks.

"Hahahaha, it’s good to be young.”

As we were talking, the door to the Restaurant opened, and an unexpected face appeared on the other side.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise? Welcome to my Restaurant. Orihime is with other girls upstairs and I can’t go up right now. In the meantime, what would you like to eat, Miss Tatsuki?" I asked with a smile. Yes, it was the same girl, Tatsuki Arisawa, who came with Orihime that day.

Today, however, unlike her usual tomboyish look, she looked more... worried.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.” I answered, although surprised by her request.

“Umm alone.”

I raised an eyebrow at her request but nodded nonetheless and led her to a private room to talk.

“Yes?”

“Umm… you… know magic and stuff, right? I mean, you were the one who drove away that monster who had attacked Orihime and me that day?”

“Eh… yes. You can say so.” I did know magic so that was not a lie. “But I’d advise you not to call that guy a monster... at least in front of Orihime.”

“Huh? Why?”

“That guy... he was the spirit of her brother who had been corrupted or something. Lavy kinda exorcised him.”

“What?!”

“Yeah… so don’t say that in front of Orihime. That girl might not show it but she will definitely be hurt.”

"I... thank you for telling me.” She bowed again.

“Don’t mind that. I just think you two have a very good friendship and thus gave you a heads up about what not to do to accidentally hurt her.”

She nodded.

“So, yes, I know magic but what about it?”

“Umm… can you teach me magic… please?” She bowed deeply in front of me.

“Huh? What?”

And then she explained everything in detail about how she had encountered another such situation and they were saved by Ikki’s arrival this time. This was however her limit and she went ahead and questioned them about it.

Ichigo, the carrothead who had just come, couldn’t hold it in and blurted everything out.

Seriously dude… get your act together. Weren’t they supposed to hide things like MIB?

“My friends are out there fighting who knows what kinds of monsters, getting hurt trying to save everyone and I just… I can’t do anything but stare at their backs... helplessly. It’s… frustrating.” She had her hands clenched into fists as she looked down at the ground, at her feet.

“Even yesterday, I found out that Ichigo had gotten seriously injured by someone who took Rukia-san away. They are training right now while I am again unable to help them in any way.”

…

I wanted to tell her that supporting them as she could was enough but at this point, I knew that these words would only serve to hurt her even more.

I knew that from personal experience and that’s why I found myself empathising with her a bit.

“Please… can you teach me magic?”

…

I took a deep breath.

“I am learning magic myself but that’s not something you can learn quickly. It requires years of training and at least months to even get started.”

“I will work hard.” She replied quickly. I however raised a hand and stopped her.

“There is however something else I can do.”

“What?”

“I can help you awaken a power that you can train with your friends.” I smiled at her. If she was doing all this to help her friends, then why not let her join them?

After all, Kisuke was the one training Ikki.

“Can you really?”

“Hmm. It’s not that hard. Come with me.”

“Eh… okay.”

“By the way, you are not planning on going to save that middle sch… I mean, Rukia girl, are you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you have to promise me something first.”

“What?”

“You will go and meet Kisuke. If he doesn’t permit you, you will stay back and train till you can get stronger. You will not try to do something reckless. After all, if you get hurt, Orihime will be sad and... I don’t like my employees being sad.” Especially if it’s because of me.

“I will. Umm… can you keep this a secret from Orihime?”

“Why?” I asked her with a frown. I was actually planning on taking Orihime to awaken her power too.

“I don’t mean anything bad. Orihime is my best friend and I like her a lot but… That girl will want to join them too and... she can’t fight to save her life. It will only endanger her more. If you want her to learn magic, then teach her. I would only be happy if she could learn to defend herself. All I am asking you is not to worry her with the news about saving Rukia or she will want to join in too. She can be very stubborn in the weirdest ways.” She explained.

Hmm. Kisuke did say he could handle that and even I knew that Orihime couldn’t fight. I guess I will ask her to join Sakura and Lavy for magic lessons when August-san and Irene-san get back.

“Alright. Let’s go get you something first.” I led her out and called Rimuru to the side and explained to him the entire situation briefly first.

“So she wants to help them out. Hmm, sure. I can see that. What’s your plan?”

“Let her awaken a device and then Kisuke can manage everything. He is the expert at that.” I shrugged lightly.

“Oh. Yeah, that works. Let’s go and get it over with. I need to get back and help design the props for the competition the day after tomorrow.”

…

Seriously.

There was something wrong with this situation. When did giving someone a superpower start being treated as a passing thing, not even as important as a visit to a Comiket?

Anyway, I waved those thoughts away.

I had gotten used to keeping my common sense in my back pocket since I got involved in the whole Multiversal Restaurant. It’s just that I sometimes forget that fact.

The entire process was easy.

Just the three of us went to Ikki’s world and Rimuru created a barrier with a snap of his finger and started the process.

Soon enough, her device manifested.

A pair of gloves with a metal plate to protect the back of her hand but before anything, chains appeared around her, just like in Sakura's case.

“Wha… what are these chains?”

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing bad. Talk to Kisuke. He will explain everything. Then you can ask me if you want me to remove them or not. For now, check your device.”

The girl nodded and stared at the gloves in awe. “This is... real.” And then she bowed deeply in front of us. “Thank you. Thank you for helping me out. I will owe you a favour for this.”

“Just take care, okay.” Rimuru waved his hand before dragging us back to the Restaurant and running off to the other people who were busy working on their costumes. Seriously, this guy’s impossible.

“Don’t mind him. Everyone is just too hyped for the event. You must have a basic idea about your power, right?” I asked.

She nodded. “Hmm. These gloves can increase my base power by a certain amount depending on the number of hits I land on an enemy.”

“That’s quite a great power. Work hard and you will be able to get very strong.” I encouraged her.

“Again, thanks to you two.”

“Never mind. By the way, since you are here, do you want to order something? This is a Restaurant after all and I remember saying that I would treat you to something good the next time you visit.”

She sat down and ordered a few things and after a while even Orihime came down and saw her, getting busy with their own conversation.

I too got busy with my own thing, though I did remind myself to help awaken Orihime’s Device too.

Having seen the process several times already, I was quite familiar with it and could do it on my own too.

Finally, when everyone was finished, we served dinner for the group.

I took this chance to sit with Rimuru, Ainz, and Saitama in a cabin.

They were playing a game in the room. It had become a routine we had started for the last month.

We played games from different worlds every night before closing the Restaurant for the night. It was a good way to chill out and spend some time with friends.

“Really? You guys are playing even now?” I asked, taking a look at the unfamiliar game.

“Oh yeah. Ainz got this game in his world. It’s interesting. Wanna join us? We are short of one player.” Rimuru asked.

"Hmm, sure, why not?” I nodded and got ready and sat with them too.

“Well, first things first.” Ainz put a parchment in front of me. “Write your name at the top besides our name.”

I picked the parchment, which looked like it was made from some kind of leather and looked at it carefully. “What the hell is this?” I asked as I tried to read the words on it.

“Just the rules and that you will follow the rules of the game. We can keep the score. This game is apparently quite famous and there are even competitions for it. I got these from a place that sold professional sets. Obviously I would take the best ones.” He said, back in his normal Ainz tone.

“What language is this?” I asked as I took a look but was not understanding anything so I gave it up.

“It’s a local language of the world where I have been transported.” Ainz replied.

“Eh, sure. Let’s see how the game goes.” I shrugged and signed the parchment.

The game started and it was a dice game.

“Eh… isn’t this just like monopoly?” I asked after playing it for several minutes.

“It is. It’s mostly played by people from merchant families and nobles. These people throw a lot of money around for the competition and made it massive in the kingdom.” Ainz explained.

“Sounds like a big deal there.”

“Hmm. By the way, who was that girl?” Ainz asked, throwing a look at me.

“That was Orihime’s friend.” I explained the whole situation to him.

“You shouldn’t just offer such things to anyone who asks for them. Hah! What do I do with you?” He sighed. “People will start taking advantage of you if you do this.”

“Eh… I mean… It’s not like I lost anything here. It was barely an issue for Rimuru and me.” I asked.

“Yeah, awakening the Device was no problem.” Rimuru added as he threw a die too.

“Oh and how well do you know that girl? From what you have told me, you only met her once before.”

"Umm, twice actually. She was unconscious from the attack on the day I first met Orihime and saved them both.” I corrected but added more at the look of exasperation on Ainz’s face.

Normally one would feel annoyed at such things but I actually liked it and so did Rimuru. It was because we both knew the kind of person Ainz was.

He... didn’t trust people easily. In fact, it had taken him some time to truly open up to us. The fastest had been Saitama and then Rimuru. Then again, Saitama would probably trust any person who gave him free tempura with his ramen.

But once Ainz trusted someone, he became very protective of them.

We understood why when he got drunk once during our hunting trip and told us about his childhood.

Seriously, I pitied anyone who lived in that world.

To some extent, we appreciated his overprotectiveness.

Rimuru was very easygoing, and I... lacked the critical thinking of Ainz too. Perhaps it was just our natures that didn’t allow us to have that kind of thinking. The less said about Saitama, the better.

Rimuru was still better with his life experience, being the oldest in our group but Saitama and I… yeah, Ainz being there made our group more balanced and… complete, I guess?

“I… was thinking about Orihime. That girl... she really can’t fight. I had talked to her about Tatsuki when she had come to visit us last time. She had been her friend since both were kids after the death of her brother. Well, you know how she can be a bit... unassertive.” I asked, earning nods from both of them while Saitama was quiet but still listening. “Well yeah. She wasn’t exactly treated well by kids before.”

“Hmm, such a character would make her a prime target for bullying.” Ainz nodded.

“Kids can be incredibly cruel sometimes.” Rimuru let out a sigh too.

“Yeah… that was actually the case. Orihime told a few things to Sakura and Shuna and I found out from them. It was apparently Tatsuki who stood up for her and has been protecting her since then. She is... not a bad person.” I added.

Ainz silently listened, not saying anything, waiting for me to finish.

“I heard that they were attacked by those... hollows, basically evil spirits, which target humans with strong spiritual pressure, basically strong souls. Both Orihime and Tatsuki are such people. They were saved by Ikki’s arrival but...”

“What if they didn’t get any help next time, right?” He asked and I nodded. “Hmm, when you go that way, it's understandable. The girl though… she seemed like a hero-type shonen character.”

...and there he goes again.

“So are you planning to have Orihime awaken her device too?” Rimuru asked.

“Hmm. I will ask her and if she agrees, I will send her to take magic lessons from Irene-san and August-san when they return. Sakura and Lavy already go there. One more student will have no problems.”

“That sounds good.” Rimuru nodded.

“Well… I thought you were planning to get into her pants too.” Ainz smirked at me.

"... seriously, what kind of guy do you think I am?”

“A Womaniser.”

“Playboy.”

“Harem Protagonist.”

…

…

…

…

“That’s kinda harsh, you know?”

“Hmph, what harsh? It’s just the truth. You are already together with Lavinia and Shuna-chan and then there is... whatever it is with you and Sakura-chan. You even have a cute dragon maid in Tohru.”

“Wha…”

“He’s not wrong, you know.” Ainz shrugged.

I looked at the last person in the room for some support only to see the blank look on Saitama’s face.

Yeah… my bad.

“Dammit. Here, choke on my vengeance.” Rimuru said as he fined me for moving into one of the properties owned by him.

I rolled my eyes at his words. “Why are you bothered anyway? It’s not like you don’t have Shizuka-san and Shion... not that you could do anything.” I smirked at him.

As expected, he went crazy flailing his arms again.

This point never failed to rile him up.

In fact, I was pretty sure if he someday finds the person who isekai’d him as a slime, he would most likely torture them.

Anyways, incensed or not, Rimuru has great luck, especially when it comes to games.

He won the game and surprisingly, it was me who lost, being in last place in the game.

This did calm him a bit and I too offered him a drink on the house to calm him down.

We talked about a few more things before we decided to retire for the night.

___________________________________x__________________________________

“Did we pack everything?” I asked for the fifth time.

“Everything is packed already. If we miss something, I can open a Gate to the Restaurant and we can get it. Let’s go already.” Ainz said, getting impatient finally.

I smiled at his impatience. The normal cool and calm Ainz Ooal Gown was acting like a kid going on a picnic, although still keeping up that roleplay of his.

"Alright, alright, no need to get so overexcited. I am just making sure.” I chuckled.

The first day was mostly for us to show off our manga and there were also some shows. The girls said that they had also prepared for that part, although they didn’t tell me what.

The cosplay competition will be tomorrow, although people will cosplay all three days regardless. Just like the people like Ainz and Rimuru who have prepared a different cosplay for every single day.

I wish I had that kind of dedication... or interest.

We weren’t even alone today.

Many others had come from other worlds to join us too.

Naruto and Kanna wanted to join so Tohru joined in to keep a watch on them.

Fafnir wanted to come when he heard about it too.

Lucoa joined when she heard these two were coming to keep a watch on them.

Milim couldn’t be stopped, so the only thing I could do was take precautions by increasing her watch by putting Shuna, Lavy, and Sakura in charge of her.

Cid was coming and so was Saitama. Although both of them were wearing their original outfits. Although some of Cid’s friends were going to accompany us too.

Same was the case with Kazuma’s friends, although Aqua denied it, preferring to stay back and drink rather than participate in all this. None of us were unhappy with her decision.

For our trip today, Tohru and Lucoa had used spells on us, which would hide the supernatural characteristics of some of us from normal people.

And wasn’t that a mess by itself? At first, Fafnir had suggested wearing a necklace he had cursed, which would kill any normal people who identified us. Safe to say that idea was thrown out as soon as it came out and Fafnir got another ban on things he couldn’t bring or give out in the Restaurant.

Seriously, that guy was a menace even when he was well meaning due to his thinking.

When he heard about Kanna and Naruto's... misadventure, he gave them a hundred cursed talismans, each with effects like bringing draught to a country, causing an epidemic, or downright bringing natural disasters like floods and earthquakes.

Thankfully, this was seen by Shuna, who stopped the whole mess in time or things would have been… catastrophic.

It was also the day he got the first ban on himself and a several-hour lecture by Lucoa about what to give children and what not to.

Later, Lucoa explained that Fafnir was actually meant to safeguard the kids in his own way. It’s just that... his way and what he thought was normal was not normal for us. In other words, what a million-year-old dragon like him considered normal... might be very different from what we consider normal.

I finally understood what the term ‘Generation Gap’ meant.

I took another look at the dragon who was sitting with Kazuma as the two of them played video games.

This was an unexpected duo. I hadn’t seen it, but it seems that after staying with eccentric people like his teammates, Kazuma had developed a very high resistance to... weirdness. If anything, Fafnir’s brand of weirdness was right in Kazuma’s zone of tolerance. And this was easy to see, as the dragon had done nothing bad since then.

We had hired a bus for the trip and the one driving was Yuri. How she got a licence for that, I don’t know but she indeed had the licence for driving a bus.

I checked.

“Alright, everyone get in the boss. Slowly; don’t rush. Careful. Don’t rush. You might accidentally break the bus.”

…Even I realised how weird my words were when I spoke them but... it was exactly what was needed as Milim tried jumping straight in and broke the window as well as the corner of the bus’ chassis.

It was however immediately repaired by Ainz with a snap of a finger, as he didn’t want anything to delay us.

This was like managing a dozen kids with superpowers.

I suddenly found myself respecting the teachers who took us on school trips.

Finally, I got on the bus as well and the bus started. I took this opportunity to address the group.

“Everyone remembers the rules, right?”

“Yes!” Several of them replied.

“Good. Remember, no fighting anyone. Don’t wander around without your partner. If you lose contact with anyone, call the number you were given and wait in that place until we come and pick you up.”

“Yes Mum!" Rimuru shouted, changing his voice, resulting in the crowd erupting in a laugh.

…

“Hah! Alright, alright, as you wish.” I took the seat near Lavy too as Yuri started the bus and we left for Comiket.

- Sona Sitri -

“Come on, you will enjoy it, So-tan. Ria-tan is going there and Sirzechs and Grayfia will be there to keep an eye on you all too. I wish I could come but I need to attend this super special meeting.” Serafall said, convincing her.

"Hah, do I really have to?” Seriously, Comiket wasn’t exactly her cup of tea. It was more of Rias’ hobbies.

“Obviously! I have even prepared the costumes for you all.” Serafall summoned a blue... monstrosity, making her take a step back.

“I am not wearing that.”

“What! Nooo! I have researched the past five Comikets and the Cosplay Competition. Magical Girl costumes have won the first prize three times and the second prize two times. This is the latest costume of the Magical Girl, Milky Spiral, from the movies. I especially got the costume designers of the series to get this made for you. With this, you will absolutely win first place.”

“I do not want to.” She deadpanned.

And then started the whining.

Two hours later, she stood outside the Comiket venue... dressed in that blue monstrosity.

Beside her, Rias was dressed in a similar costume but in red. Akeno was in purple and Tsubaki was in violet.

...Serafall had prepared costumes for everyone, not that Rias or Akeno minded that. Tsubaki was a bit shy but she was easily persuaded by Onee-sama and that’s how they were in this situation now.

“Cheer up, Sona. We are going to the Comiket. The Comiket!” Rias said excitedly.

“I don’t need to. You are excited enough for the both of us.”

“But it’s the Comiket. How can I not be excited?”

“Alright alright. Just keep together, you all.” Lord Lucifer laughed.

He was there with Lady Grayfia and his son, Milicas.

“Yes.” All of them answered as they entered the venue.

It was... like a whole other world.

Everywhere she looked, there were people dressed in different costumes. Some she recognised, most she didn’t. The shops carried different items, from little trinkets to different merchandise.

Some sold manga and doujin of other mangas, while others sold games, while some others were doing photo shoots of cosplayers.

Rias ran around the place, dragging her from one counter to the other as they bought several things and without even knowing, she was already in her pace.

After an hour or so, the music concert was about to start and they all went towards the stage to find a good place to watch the show better.

She waited for the show to start, not even realising that she was already feeling much lighter after having fun there.

- Rimuru -

As their whole group entered the venue, they all began setting up their stalls. Some of them will man the shop while some others will take rounds around the place to buy stuff. The last group will prepare for the music concert.

He pulled Silas to the side for a talk. When the rest of the group looked at them curiously. "Umm, we need to talk about something so you guys carry on.” He waved them off.

Saitama and Ainz knew about what he was about to do so they followed them too.

They found an empty changing room and surrounded Silas.

“What? What do we need to do here?” Silas asked, looking around.

He raised a hand and quickly made a small barrier in the room.

Silas looked around suspiciously. “What’s wrong? Did you guys find some problem?”

“Nothing like that. I just remembered something.” He replied, looking at Ainz.

“What?”

Ainz put a hand on Silas’ shoulder. “About the punishment for the loser of yesterday’s game.”

“Hah?”

Ainz brought the parchment from yesterday out and cast a translation spell on the parchment as they watched the words change to normal Japanese.

Silas took the paper and read it and Rimuru cherished every moment of his reaction, watching as his face went pale. “You have got to be kidding me?”

“Hey, I am not the one who set the rules.” He shrugged.

Actually, he was the one who created the whole damn game, while Ainz just had the rules translated into the language of his world.

It was a very elaborate process they had planned and started over a month ago.

First, they would make a tradition of playing games from different worlds every night so when this game was brought up, he wouldn’t doubt it.

To be honest, the game every night was a great idea and they would be keeping it even after this.

Anyways, after that, Great Sage had created a game that might look simple but probability wise, it would always result in the loss of the player who joined the game last. And last step was...

“No way I am doing this.” Silas handed back the parchment to Ainz, who casually stored it back in a pocket dimension of his.

“I am afraid, that’s no longer possible, Silas. You have after all... signed a magic contract.” Ainz smiled, feeling like a character straight out of a horror movie.

Tricking a devil with a contract... it might be cliche but it worked.

“What? You didn’t!”

“Obviously we did. Now you will know our pain too.”

“Yeah, let’s see you call us dickless anymore!” he added.

“Hah! Seriously? Is this all about that? Oh, come on, if you don’t like it, you could always have told me and I wouldn’t do it again.”

“No way. Do you take us for idiots? Ask yourself. Put a hand on your heart, meet our eyes, and ask yourself if you would do that?”

“I… would.” He replied but avoided eye contact.

…

“Look me in the eyes, bastard!”

“But why is Saitama in all this? I never made any dickless jokes about him.”

“You were going to give me a comb for my birthday, bastard.”

“Say what?” Silas replied, confused.

“Not important. Concentrate on the matter at hand.” He quickly interrupted to deviate their attention.

“Anyways… you made your bed; now lie in it.” Ainz said grandly.

He looked at Ainz. Did he write this dialogue?

Silas looked at them with narrowed eyes once more.

“There will be... a reckoning. I will have my vengeance.”

“I am an undead, Silas. Death and vengeance might be special for you... but they are my life. We will see when it comes.” Ainz replied, spreading his arms wide.

Seriously, did he write these lines at home for this day?

Dammit, he should have written something too.

Now only Ainz gets to show off.

Ainz summoned a box and handed it over to him. “Be ready.”

With that, they left the changing room, leaving Silas behind.

He finally shared a fist bump with Ainz.

“All according to...”

“Keikaku.”

“You didn’t forget the cameras, did you?” He asked.

“The Pleiades have been instructed to record all the events.”

“Great!”

“Now, let’s go check out the stalls. I have read some really good reviews about a certain doujin group and wanted to check their products. We need to hurry before it sells off quickly.” And with that, they went to the stands area once more.

- Sirzechs -

“This is actually fun.” He smiled as he looked at Rias and the kids having fun.

Even Milicas was looking at everything excitedly.

They had come to Japan to talk to the leader of the local supernatural factions about the appearance of the mysterious Lucifer a few months ago.

It was obviously not easy to get that done, as that incident had spooked everyone and no one wanted to talk about it.

Azazel had downright denied any talks on the matter. Heaven was quiet. As for the Church, even if they made noise, there had not been any further deployments in the country. If anything, from the reports, it seems that they have actually pulled back several of their more… valued personnel from the country.

He guessed that they didn’t want anyone to poke the hornet’s nest accidentally and then get the whole establishment in the country destroyed by a raging Devil.

Normally they would have also left it as it is but recently there had been news about the Old Satan faction moving around and trying to find some information about the guy.

There were also some Pillars whose loyalty was shaky and now they were trying to see if they had other options.

After all, the Civil War might have ended with them as victors but there were far more reasons for that than the normal public was aware of.

Back then, no one wanted to continue the war and the Old Satan faction was hell-bent to continue the war. That was what had caused many of the houses to revolt against them. Moreover, it wasn’t a sudden reaction but a plan that spanned for decades, probably a century. After all, Rizevim was the only natural-born Super Devil for a reason.

In other words, people back then didn’t have any better options so they joined them even when all their thoughts didn’t match. There were many people who didn’t agree with the current Government’s ways of doing things.

There was a reason they had to pull back and adjust sometimes so as to not push them away to the other side. A king is only a king so long as they have a group of people to rule over. And they knew from the actions of the Old Satan faction that force could only control the people for so long.

Sooner or later, times will change.

It always does.

And if Super Devils were created once... who is to say that they won’t be created or be born again? They, however, couldn’t afford another civil war or not even the Evil Pieces would be able to fill the void created by it.

Now, that same fear was coming true. With the news about this new figure… the Mysterious Lucifer, many people had begun moving, hoping to get a meeting with him and get him to their side to get more weight. Thankfully, it seems that the person himself is not keen on contacting anyone.

It had taken Serafall a lot of asking around to arrange a meeting with the local factions in the name of trade where they could ask around about the subject and see if they could get anything.

Even now she had gone to see the arrangements for tomorrow’s meeting.

When Rias heard that there was a Comiket, she wanted to come too and then Serafall brought over Sona, stating her being worried about some family matters and that taking some time off would do her some good.

Either way, they were going to start schooling in Japan from the next term so it wasn’t a bad idea for them to get familiar with the place.

“Sera is late, isn’t she?” He asked Grayfia. “Were there any problems?”

“I don’t think so. Otherwise, she would have informed us.”

“You are right. I guess I am getting worried for no reaso…” His words were stopped by a push to his side. He looked around to see... Sera... dressed in what could only be called a Gothic outfit, carrying a guitar.

What was she trying now?

She stared back at him with a frown and spoke before he could greet her.

“Wachu lookin at, ketchuphead? Haven’t seen a girl in your life before?”

“Huh?”

She, however, didn’t reply and looked at Grayfia instead and smiled. “Nice Sakuya Izayoi cosplay. Ten out of ten.” She gave her a thumbs up before walking straight towards the stage without looking back anymore.

“...okay, what is she up to now?” Sona asked.

“Who knows what goes on in that mind of hers?” Grayfia replied.

"Ahahahaha, maybe she’s just into goths today. It happens once in a while.” Serafall went through phases. “Anyways, let’s see what she is up to today.”

They looked and surprisingly, Serafall didn’t seem like she was cosplaying as anyone as she went backstage instead.

“Ladies and gentlemen, next up we are having a performance by ‘The Crossroads!’”

The stage was set as six... maids walked onto the stage with various instruments and at the head of the group was Serafall in that same Gothic dress with a guitar.

“Our first song is called ‘Voracity.’”

And then they started playing.

Sirzechs watched with wide eyes at Serafall, who seemed like a completely different person. Not just him; even Grayfia was staring at her with a dumbfounded face.

The songs continued, however.

After Voracity came a song called Gurenge and then another.

He knew Serafall could sing but that was mostly songs for kids for her Magical Girl concerts and all that but this... wow. It was as if she was possessed.

The crowd was going wild after every song and even Rias and Sona were moving to the tune of the songs lightly. Actually, not just them; he noticed that even Grayfia was slightly tapping her foot.

It was a fact not known to many but Grayfia loved music. After all, that was how the two of them got acquainted in the first place.

When the performance ended, the entire place erupted in applause and cheers for the group as they left the stage one by one.

They wanted to go forward but the road was blocked by fans so they decided to wait on the side and wait for her to come out.

“That was so cool!” Rias said, looking towards the stage with sparkling eyes. “I didn’t know Lady Leviathan could sing that well.” She asked Sona, who was looking awed too.

“I… I didn’t know she could sing that well either.” Sona replied.

“I can play the piano too, you know, Ria-tan.” He added.

“But you are not a rockstar. Lady Serafall was totally like a rockstar today.”

…

…

…

…

While he was depressed, the girls talked about the performance.

But even after waiting for over an hour and a half, Serafall didn’t return.

He looked at Grayfia and asked her to check while he carried Milicas with him.

Grayfia returned after a while, with an odd look on her face.

“What happened?”

"She... the lead singer, Sara... left. It looked like they were in a hurry. I was just able to catch a glimpse of her flying away in a hurry.”

“Oh… maybe she got some call about the meeting or something? There is no way she wouldn’t have come to meet Sona. Don’t disturb her in that case.”

“Hmm.”

“Still Sara… couldn’t she choose a more original stage name?” He smiled lightly.

“It’s far better than Magical Girl Levia-tan, in my opinion.”

“Ahahahaha yes. Yes, that it is.” Even now, there were several old devils who got pissed by that name. “Let’s go back. We can talk to her later.”

“Hmm.” With that, all of them left for their hotel.

- Ainz -

“Holy shit, Silas can sing!” Rimuru exclaimed as he looked at the stage in shock. He didn’t say anything but even he was similarly shocked by the performance.

They had originally just intended to prank and embarrass him a bit but, like Rimuru said… holy shit!

It had all begun when Rimuru found out from Milim that Archdaemons can shapeshift into any gender. That, with Silas’ joke on them, had given birth to the idea, which he had then shared with him.

Fair to say, Ainz was onboard with the idea immediately.

It was to remove Silas’ greatest advantage on them, which he always used to get back at them when losing an argument.

Step by step, they had planned everything, even taking Saitama in the mix to make things perfect.

They only wanted him to go on stage and sing crappily for a while and then Yuri would have taken over and completed the show, making the whole thing seem like a comedy sketch of sorts. The video of this incident would forever become the item that sealed Silas’ greatest weapon against them.

No one, not even the Pleiades, knew of his identity and Ainz had cast enough spells on the costume to mask his energy and scent so that no one would be able to identify him. For everyone else, he would be a singer named Sara, whom Silas had hired.

As for how Silas explained anything, that was on him.

It was a full-proof plan... Or, at least that was how it was supposed to be.

“This song is kinda nice.” Saitama replied as he moved his head to the beat.

Of course it was. He had given a drive containing these songs to Silas. It was the opening theme for the movie on Yggdrasill in his world, as well as some famous tracks from other anime.

And now, he was setting the stage on fire with the same songs.

When the performance ended, they were pushed aside by the crowd of mad fans.

They found themselves a quieter corner and waited for Silas’ return.

“What the hell! It’s like he is a secret idol or something.” Rimuru commented, and he wasn’t wrong. Even in his world, he would wipe the floor with any idols alive.

“Hmm, that’s great talent. I think I have my favourite idol right there.” Saitama agreed.

“Umm, should we?..." Rimuru hesitated.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think he would agree to sing tomorrow and the day after too?” Rimuru asked.

“He will kill you if you even suggest something like that... or at least feed you something to give you lifelong constipation.” Ainz replied blandly.

“Umm… I just got some information from Shion and the sales of the manga in our stall have increased by three times after the performance and are still rising.”

…

“Three times?”

“Yeah, three times and still rising.”

…

…

…

…

“The parchment won’t work anymore.”

“Tch.”

“Think of something else then.”

And with that, they began to think.

- Serafall -

“What are you talking about?” She asked, confused by their words. “I didn’t go anywhere to sing. I am the Magical Girl Levia-tan, not some Goth Girl Sara. That’s like day and night.”

“Onee-sama… you don’t have to pretend. It was a good performance.”

“Hah! What performance? What do you mean by that? I was working the whole day!”

She was really working all day today. Running around to make sure that all the leaders of the nearby factions come by for tomorrow’s meeting.

Who were they talking about? She was really confused.

“I think you were awesome too, Lady Leviathan. You are my favourite idol now.” Rias said too, leaving her even more confused.

…

What?

Are these people trying to pull a group prank on her?

She looked at Sirzechs who was looking at her with a resigned look, while Grayfia was giving her the same deadpan look… no… it was an even higher version of her usual deadpan look.

If her normal deadpan look was level 1, then this was level 5... or 8.

"Well, let her go if she doesn’t want to. Maybe she wants to do a Secret Idol roleplay or something like that.” Sirzechs said.

…

Secret idol, your mother... what is going on with them?

"Okay, okay, hold on and back up for a moment. Why do you all think I was performing as some goth girl… Sara, was it?” She asked.

Rias brought out her camera and passed it over to her.

She narrowed her eyes but checked the camera nonetheless.

Very soon her eyes widened as she saw the figure in the pictures.

What… the… hell?!

Who is this?

Who is pretending to be her?

“This is not me.” She said, looking seriously at Sirzechs, who realised her serious face too and frowned.

“It was a devil as Grayfia saw her flying away after the show.” 

“Do you think it could be someone pretending to be you to cause trouble?” Grayfia asked.

“…yes… that could be true. But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone like that go out and reveal themselves in an open concert like that, especially when I am meeting with other leaders? It could be something else. Do you know where she went?”

“...ughh… I thought it was you and you were probably going for some work so I didn’t follow her.” Sirzechs winced.

“Hmm, troublesome. Do you know the group she was performing for? We could ask them and get her address.”

“Well… I don’t remember the exact name.”

“The Crossroads.” So-tan added, helpfully. “They were called ‘The Crossroads’.”

“Great. As expected of my adorable So-tan. Then we just need to find that group and ask around.”

“You are right. It is a Comiket after all. Maybe someone was cosplaying as you.” Sirzechs shrugged.

“Then why would they not play as Magical Girl Levia-tan?”

“I think…” Sona spoke hesitantly.

“Hmm?”

“I thought she was really great.”

“Eh! What do you mean, So-tan? How could a fake be better than the real deal? She was just a fake, alright?”

“But her songs were great.” Sona shrugged.

“Noooo! Sirzechs, I must find out who this fake is who wants to steal my So-tan away from me.”

“Ahahahaha… well. Tomorrow we have an important meeting. We can go there after that and ask around.”

“Yes. Tomorrow then, for sure.”

- Kisuke -

He looked at the girl in front of him, bowing deeply, awaiting his permission.

Tatsuki Arisugawa.

If he was honest, he didn’t want to let her keep her memories, but the kids were too insistent, and the girl had somehow developed a certain level of spiritual pressure, maybe due to her two previous encounters with Hollows or perhaps after being in contact with Silas?

Even the other girl, Orihime, had developed decent levels of spiritual pressure. He had wanted to check the effect Silas had on normal people of his world so he had sent Orihime there.

Thankfully, it seems that apart from the increased spiritual pressure, there were no changes in her.

He had not interfered because he had noticed that normal people, even some spiritually aware people, didn’t even recognise his Restaurant let alone enter it.

This was something confirmed by Silas too.

So if Tatsuki Arisugawa was able to enter the Restaurant that meant that she fulfilled some kind of criteria.

That’s why Kisuke wanted to observe her.

Now however…

“I know of your worries, Arisugawa-san but the work that they do... is quite dangerous. I am afraid it’s not something normal people can do.”

The girl, however, raised her head quickly. “I know that. But I can do that too.” She then unexpectedly summoned something he had been researching nowadays.

“Are those…”

“These are called Devices.”

"Oh, I know what they are called.” He replied, even as he walked forward and checked the gloves. “The main question is how you got them. Although I still have some ideas, could you please help me confirm it?”

"I... requested Evans-san for help.”

“Silas-kun hmm. Well, there is nothing I can do then. Although it seems I will have to ask him not to casually give out such things to anyone. What else did he say?”

“Umm… he said that he can only help me awaken these but you can help me train and develop them. Also, there was something about asking for your permission to cut some chains or not.”

“Oh… so he didn’t cut them. Good then. Since it’s already done, then I guess we don’t have a choice, do we?” He shrugged. “Let’s start with your Device’s ability first.”

“My device… It increases my base stats for every punch I land on someone. The longer the combo, the greater the increase. I don’t know anything else about it.”

“Oh, that's... interesting, I suppose.” It seemed quite similar to Ikki’s ability. What about the limits? What is the maximum increase you can get?”

“I… I don’t know. I haven’t tried it on anyone yet.”

“Well, we have to change that now, don’t we? Come on, follow me. We will get your abilities checked.”

“Umm Ichigo?”

“Oh, he is currently resting after his training. Don’t worry, you will get to see him soon.” He answered as he took her to the training ground.

They began the tests and an hour and a half later, Kisuke looked at the results dumbfounded. The girl lay on her knees, drenched in sweat, heaving for breath.

"How... how was it?” She asked.

"Oh, it was good. It was... far better than I was expecting.”

Ikki had told them that his Device’s ability was the lowest grade before. And to be honest, when compared to people like Silas or Rimuru or Cid and even Sakura, it was true. But Kisuke had thought that was only due to who those people were.

Even the most normal of them, Sakura had been prepared to be used as a vessel to summon a real-life god, while Cid was someone who could turn into a human nuke.

Ikki was probably just losing by comparison.

But now, it seems that these Devices could indeed be crazy strong if developed properly.

Maybe that’s why people in that world were bound by such restrictions, as a way to counter these absurd abilities?

Just like Tatsuki Arisawa... her base stats kept on increasing without any maximum level before the testing machine crashed.

That testing machine, which could take on the hits of Vice Captain level Shinigami... crashed by the hits of a young girl without any kind of supernatural training.

He had then tested her personally and found some more intricacies of her Device.

First, her strength only increased as long as her combo kept going.

If she can't land another hit within a minute, her counter and strength will reset back to her base level. Second, if the enemy dodges successfully, her counter will reset.

Third, resetting the counter consumed her spiritual pressure.

Unfortunately, the girl wasn’t strong enough for more tests so he had to stop but it was still an incredible power.

A power to potentially destroy the world even.

Ichigo… you have scary friends.

Silas-kun really has to be warned not to easily give away these powers to just anyone.

__________________________________x_____________________________________________________________________x___________________________________

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Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what is updated, a first Tier will not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.

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Author’s Note:

I am back with another chapter of ‘Isekai Restaurant’.

This chapter was a lot of fun for me to write and I am sure the next chapter will be even more fun.

Everything was getting serious so I decided to write something easygoing.

So many things happened.

Tatsuki got a new power.

I always thought her character was quite underused and could do a lot more.

The Comiket everyone was waiting for has started and what a way to start really.

Rimuru and Ainz cornered Silas finally, getting revenge for his jokes.

Silas has said that he will have his vengeance. How will he do that?

Rias, Sona, Sirzechs and Grayfia are now fans of Sara while Serafall is on the hunt for the fake who is trying to steal So-tan away from her.

We will see how that results next chapter.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.