Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 8 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 1===
It was a place where the morning rays of sun gently shined down and gathered. The lush myriad of trees in Oldora Forest grew abundantly, covering the entirety of the ground. This rich natural forest had spread to the borders of Wildart City, the base of the Moderates Faction. In the depths of this thick forest, in a corner where only animals usually passed by, a group of visitors were present. They were the people who had just concluded a decisive battle to determine the history of the Demon Realm, and were about to return to their own world, as well as the group of people that had come to see them off.

“Everyone, thank you so much for everything…you’ve done so much for me because you were there by my side.”

Naruse Mio, Yuki, and the other girls all bid their farewells to that girl. The girl — the maid Noel clasped Mio’s hand and reluctantly said

“Mio-sama…you’re leaving so soon.”

“…Mmm. I’m sorry, Noel.”

Mio also squeezed her hand lightly, which only seemed to deepen Noel’s sorrow, prompting her to say with even more reluctance

“Even so, you don’t have to go back home so hastily…”

It had only been two days since that battle — the decisive battle between the Moderates Faction and the Current Demon Lord Faction which had been interrupted by the conspiracy of the Council members who initiated the invasion of the Demon God Chaos, though they had been defeated by a concerted effort from both sides. Those two days mainly consisted of a rest period which had been imposed by the doctor who examined the damage sustained from the battle, as well as a minimal amount of consultations and meetings to discuss the future of the Demon Realm. 

“…I’m happy about the way you feel, Noel. But, we don’t have any other choice.”

Yuki said. Just like Mio, Yuki also had a reluctant expression on her face because she had become close with Noel during the time that she had guided them through Wildart’s city area.

“We’ve already accomplished what we came here to do. And so, we should leave the Demon Realm as soon as possible.”

In response to Yuki’s words, Kurumi also nodded in agreement beside her.

“That’s right. If we stay any longer, we might cause various problems.”

Indeed — there were several reasons why Mio and the others had to return back to the human realm in such a hurry. Mio and the others had come to the Demon Realm just when time ticked over from the twenty fifth of December to the twenty sixth of December in the human realm. Considering the number of days that had passed since they came here, it meant that the third trimester of school had already begun. Among those who accompanied Mio, Basara valued the idea of ‘making their ordinary lives the top priority whenever possible’, and so because of that, they had also delayed their initial plans to come to the Demon Realm for about a month so that they wouldn’t miss the end of trimester exams. —Of course, they could use magic to tamper with anything such as their attendance records or their grades. With something so simple, their problem would be resolved. …However. By doing so, by making use of an external power, they would diverge even further away from ordinary people. Rather, it was a kind of act that would turn their ordinary daily lives into a lie. Even aside from the issues of daily life in the human realm, there was a possibility that another problem would arise from Mio’s presence in the Demon Realm.

—The decisive battle between the Moderates Faction and the Current Demon Lord faction had undoubtedly influenced the future of the Demon Realm. For better or for worse, the achievements of Mio and the others in that historic were too substantial. As a result, the people of the Moderates faction hailed them as heroes, and there was now an expectation that she would rise to become their new leader. On the other hand, the current Demon Lord faction and various other factions began to regard their presence and combat force as a danger. In addition, the Moderates faction received an offer of truce immediately after the decisive battle from the Current Demon Lord faction. After repelling Chaos, although Mio and the others didn’t meet with Ramsas, they understood from the senior and well-respected Klaus, as well as Ramsas’ aide Lucia that there was a high chance that Leohart’s secret objective was to overthrow the Council. After achieving this goal, the present situation would ultimately lead from a truce to a peace treaty or a military alliance between the Moderates faction and the Current Demon Lord faction. With that in mind, ceremonies would be held by the Moderates faction for Leohart, and ceremonies would be held by the Current Demon Lord faction for Ramsas in order to strengthen the connections between each side and welcome them — that’s why it wasn’t surprising to hear rumours that the ones to attend would instead be Mio and Leohart. However—

''…I don’t like it.''

Mio didn’t feel that way. Naruse Mio had already decided upon the existence to which she would devote herself. She didn’t yet know what form it would take, but from here on, the problems of the Demon Realm would settle in time. Not everything was completely resolved, and so it was still too early for her to consider what her long-term relationship with it would be.

''…Even so.''

That person would never change. That was something that she could be certain of. That was why Mio decided in that decisive battle that she was going to live, not as Wilbert’s daughter, but as the girl named Naruse Mio. —Therefore, Mio had to show that the words she expressed at that time were the truth. To that end, it was best for her to leave the Demon Realm as soon as possible, just as Yuki said. In such circumstances, Mio and the others were simply searching for the right words to convey this to Noel.

“—Hyaa?”

A small hand reached over from the side and caressed Noel’s bottom, causing her to jump up in surprise. At the same time

“—Noel, you shouldn’t trouble Mio-chan and the others too much.”

As Mio and the others looked down towards the source of that young voice, they noticed that a young-looking succubus had appeared by Noel’s side without them realising.

“Sheera-sama…”

As Zest spoke her name in surprise, the young-looking succubus continued to fondle Noel’s bottom.

“If you spend so long here chatting — that child will get angry you know.”

“I-I’m sorry! I-I’ll see to the carriage!”

Noel lowered her head with a reddened face as she ran off, escaping from the grasp of Sheera’s hand towards the carriage that Mio and the others had ridden so far to get here. Maria then timidly asked Sheera

“Umm, okaa-san…I don’t see Lucia-neesama around.”

Maria had asked about Lucia because Lucia was the one who opened the dimensional boundary when they came from the Toujou residence to the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm and the human realm — opening a dimensional gate to connect the two different worlds was not possible for most people. Therefore, Lucia had spoken about making a dimensional gate leading to the human realm for their journey back.  They had decided to take the return journey from Oldora Forest, similar to when they had arrived here, so as to avoid being too close to Wildart City.

''…Moreover, this time.''

There was a possibility that people would try to see Mio off, and that would cause unnecessary commotion. So in order to return to the human realm in absolute secrecy, they chose Oldora Forest as their place of departure. However, if Lucia didn’t come, then they wouldn’t be able to do much.

“Lucia-chan has a few final confirmations to make back at the castle for the ‘meeting’, so she won’t be free for quite a while.”

It didn’t seem to matter though, as Sheera shrugged her shoulders.

“They have to make sure that there aren’t any gaps, including security measures.”

Sheera was in fact referring to the high-level discussions that were to take place between Ramsas and Leohart on the topic of peace that was to be held between the Moderates faction and the Current Demon Lord faction today. To prevent unnecessary problems, Mio and the others were leaving the Demon Realm as soon as possible. At the same time, the Moderates faction and the Current Demon Lord faction decided to promptly talk about peace for much the same reason. Leohart had made suggestions that high-level talks were necessary during the truce, and so this meeting was a realisation of that.

“Then, who’s going to open the dimensional gate for us to return…?”

“Ah, don’t worry, I’ll take care of that.”

In response to Mio’s question, Sheera said so without hesitation.

“…Sheera-san will?”

Yuki’s expression conveyed a degree of surprise.

“Yes. I was the one who originally taught Lucia-chan how to open a dimensional gate, and though that girl has improved considerably, I’m still better when it comes to spatial manipulation, so don’t worry about it.”

The loli succubus mother giggled. And then

“Well, it should be fine if it’s okaa-san, but…”

As her daughter, Maria also seemed to consent. Naturally, Mio and the others didn’t complain either. Mio and the others were well aware of the tremendous precision and finesse of the spatial tunnels that Sheera could build. —However, Mio and the others weren’t able to depart yet. And so, Naruse Mio inquired

“Sheera-san…are Basara and Ramsas-san still discussing things with each other?”

Indeed — Basara was not currently present. When the time came for them to leave the castle, Basara went to have a talk with Ramsas, and he told them to go ahead first, which they did. So as soon as the talk with Ramsas was over, they originally thought that Sheera would bring Basara over using a spatial tunnel…but since Sheera was now here, it meant that he would have to come in a different way.

''…Basara….'' 

The relationship between themselves and Ramsas wasn’t something that could be described as good. Especially with Basara and Ramsas, something had flared up between them which Mio and the others were unaware of, and that resulted in Basara being temporarily confined to his room. As worry gradually began to build up in Mio

“Don’t worry. After coming to this point, there should be no reason for those two to fight, and that shouldn’t be their intention anyway. Most likely, they’re only taking so long because there are various complicated matters.”

They understood that there was something that Basara went out of his way to speak to Ramas about. And — it was something important.

''…Because.''

During the battle with Leohart and the Demon God Chaos, Basara had been enveloped in the same red aura as Mio and he even demonstrated that he was capable of slashing attacks that could affect gravity. Supposedly, Basara had inherited this power from his ‘mother’. Mio and the others heard about this story after the battle against the Demon God Chaos ended — when they could finally calm down and talk. Before Basara went off to Lundvall, he had heard from Jin about his mother, and that was how it became one of the trump cards that he used in the decisive battle against the Current Demon Lord faction. He even secretly asked Sheera to prepare a medicine that would make that power easier to use. It was no surprise that he wanted to learn more about his mother from Ramsas before leaving the Demon Realm. It was a fact that Ramsas was Wilbert’s older brother, and Ramsas was also the older brother of Basara’s mother — and so just like Mio, it meant that Ramsas was Basara’s uncle. It was a secret that could never be made public.

''…But.''

That power had caused some speculation and rumours to spread amongst various other things such as Basara’s origin. Publicly, it had been misrepresented that it was a side effect of the medicine that had been made by Sheera, a well-renowned succubus. But if anyone was to investigate Basara’s spiritual energy patterns, the evidence would be undeniable. That was also one of the reasons why Mio and the others had to return to the human realm as soon as possible.

“Don’t worry. The interest in Basara-kun is only a temporary thing. There is no certain evidence about his identity, but it is an undeniable fact that the Demon God Chaos was resurrected, and that all of the members of the Council are now dead. Although the confusion hasn’t subsided yet, the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction who have been fighting against each other thus far are about to make peace with each other, aren’t they?”

They understood.

“The situation has already begun to advance to a new stage…the attention of the Demon Realm will be directed towards Ramsas and Leohart who are the main actors almost immediately. If you return to the human realm this soon, then you’ll be fine.”

Sheera then continued

“As I said before, if I were you, I’d be more worried about your future relationship.”

“Eh—…?”

Mio showed a blank expression on her face upon hearing those unexpected words.

“Basara-kun and his conversation will still take a while…so I should talk to you all right now.”

And then, with a bitter smile, Sheera began to speak. In the depths of her eyes, there was even a slight coldness.

“—Allow me to tell you about the ‘danger’ that Basara-kun carries.”