The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 4

by Satoshi Wagahara

  Maou had no recollection after that until the following morning.

  “You’re getting too excited, Mom,” Chiho complained as they saw Emi and the unconscious Maou off, Ashiya having sped over to pick up his friend’s limp body.

  She could understand her mother’s feelings, but a high-tension act like that was enough to make any teenager think twice about bringing her friends around again.

  “Oh, it’s just fine, Chiho! I already knew that this Maou gentleman was a hard worker, but it’s hard to get a gauge on his personality without an opportunity like this.”

  Chiho’s eyes opened wide as her mother cleared the tea set from the living-room table.

  “You knew…? Mom, have you been going to that MgRonald?!”

  “What are you talking about? Of course I have.”

  “I told you not to do that! This is so embarrassing…”

  “I was on my very best behavior, Chiho. I didn’t introduce myself to anybody behind the counter. You know, though…”

  Riho’s eyes rested on the notepad Maou had just used.

  “He’s a nice person, isn’t he? This Maou.”

  “Huh?”

  “I suppose I can’t blame you for falling for him like that.”

  “Mommmm!!”

  Chiho raised her voice, a rarity for her. Her mother was fully prepared for it.

  “He works hard. He’s perfectly polite around people. For a man, his penmanship is perfectly acceptable. He doesn’t look like he stays out all night, and I didn’t smell any cigarette smoke on him. Judging by his cell phone, he must be living awfully frugally, isn’t he? And that man who picked him up… Ashiya? Such a simple, honest man. You don’t see his kind too often these days.”

  “Simple and honest” didn’t quite fit. “Nobly poor” would have been more apt.

  “Your father certainly put in his time as a poor college student, once upon a time. Maybe it’s in the genes, hmm?”

  Having one’s mother accuse her of having the same taste in men as she did would undoubtedly lead to some awkward dinner conversations later.

  “But, my, such dedicated people! What an uncommon sight in these modern times. I don’t think you have that much to worry about, do you?”

  “…Worry?”

  Chiho’s eyes darted toward her mother’s.

  “Oh, did you think you could hide it from your own mother? When you heard he’d be working in Chiba, and when you were talking about that Urushihara character… The wrinkles were all over your face!”

  Her daughter’s face began to unconsciously redden as she brought a hand to her forehead.

  “I…I just…”

  Chiho squirmed in place as she spoke, right hand on her temple and left hand playing with the hemline of her skirt.

  “I mean, yes, Maou and Ashiya work really hard and stuff, but Urushihara’s a lot more selfish and lazy and sleazy and addicted to the Internet, so it really worries me, if they get run ragged trying to cover for him in an unfamiliar place, and what if he acts up so much on the job that they all get fired, and they have to go back to Sasazuka and stuff…maybe…”

  After that fluent, fast-paced assessment of Urushihara’s character, Chiho suddenly ran out of words.

  Until now, she saw Maou’s sudden loss of work as affecting his food supply and living environment. Now she realized it was much more than that.

  Simply missing out on half a month’s wages was potentially enough to cost the demons their home. Sasazuka could be a pricey place to live.

  And wherever they went, their pursuers—Emi and Suzuno—were bound to follow.

  Which was bad enough. But in the worst-case scenario, what if Maou and his friends became homeless and were forced back to Ente Isla? What if they had to finish the “final battle” with the Hero, left unresolved all that time ago?

  “I mean…I wouldn’t like that.”

  “Chiho?”

  Chiho turned her back to the wall of her house and sighed.

  “If this job doesn’t turn out okay for them, Maou and his friends might go somewhere really far away… And Yusa, too, and Suzuno…”

  She couldn’t fight like Emi or Suzuno or Alas Ramus, but when it came to work, Chiho had what it took to help Maou. But that depended on him having a workplace somewhere around Sasazuka.

  I’m just a girl in high school. Fully dependent on my parents. Not out there all alone, like they are.

  She hung her head sullenly downward.

  For a few moments, the only sound was Riho washing the dishes.

  “Not to burst your bubble, but if you tell me you want to follow Maou and his friends over there, I don’t think I can say yes to that.”

  “…I know.”

  Her mother was only speaking common sense. No matter how much she trusted this man, no parent would allow their teenaged daughter to join some guy on his live-in job by the beach.

  There’s nothing I can do to help Maou.

  “By the way…”

  “Huh?”

  “I could apply pretty much everything I said about Maou to Ms. Yusa, too.”

  This was a sudden change of topic.

  “So young, but she’s always ready with one of those witty comebacks. You don’t see many young people like her these days, either.”

  Even a non–Ente Islan like Chiho could surmise that her attitude was more a product of her traumatic past than any supposed quality missing in modern Japanese women.

  But before Maou fainted, it hadn’t seemed to her that Emi and her mother spoke much. Did they have some kind of involved conversation just before she left?

  Chiho found herself bewildered, unable to grasp what her mother was hinting at.

  “And you’re old enough to make money by yourself. So take the road you have to. And as long as you don’t do anything to embarrass yourself or your family, I’m not going to say anything.”

  “Mom…?”

  The washing completed, Riho dried her hands, gave a mischievous wink, and patted her daughter on the head.

  “Dude! What happened to you? You look even worse than when you left!”

  “Daddy, what’s wrong?”

  “Ah. You’re back. What on earth happened to give you a fainting spell at Chiho’s house?”

  Urushihara, Alas Ramus, and Suzuno greeted the returning Emi, Ashiya, and Maou in their own ways.

  Emi was shocked to find Urushihara giving Alas Ramus a piggyback ride around the room—and Alas Ramus actually enjoying it.

  Maybe the kid was starting to feel some sympathy for him.

  “…I can’t really say, but I guess it was too much for the Devil King to take in.”

  “Whoa, it really was a cursed video?!”

  Emi’s offhand reply was enough to make Urushihara almost as pallid as the ghostlike Maou.

  Unwilling to drag the unconscious Devil King all the way back to his domain, Emi had called Suzuno and told her to have Ashiya pick him up.

  Hefting the limp rag doll on Ashiya’s back, she apologized for the uproar, left the Sasaki residence, and made the trek back here.

  She watched calmly as Maou staggered like a ghoul in clattering chains across the doorway before collapsing in the darkness.

  “Cursed, my ass. It wasn’t anything that crazy. What kind of guy faints because of some girl dancing? That’s just rude.”

  “D-Dance…”

  That verb from Emi was enough to conjure something in Urushihara’s imagination. His face began to twitch.

  “You guys are acting like it’s the end of the world! Chiho and her mom were totally normal, too.”

  “Whaaaat?! No waaaaay!!”

  “Looshifer, Mommy never lies!”

  Alas Ramus, still riding on his back, gave him an admonishing bop on the head.

  But Emi’s testimony was the unvarnished truth.

  Riho was honest when she complimented Shiba’s outfit, and outside of the landlord’s well-nourished frame, Chiho found little to be surprised about, either.
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br />   “Well, look, the day after tomorrow, all of you are taking the train to Chiba, all right? At some beach restaurant run by your landlord’s relatives until the end of Obon.”

  “Oh? A job with room and board? Well! A dream come true, indeed!”

  Suzuno chimed in with her authentic admiration. Alas Ramus stuck her head out from behind Urushihara’s shoulder.

  “Mommy go to Chiba, too?”

  Emi grinned to herself and shook her head as she plucked the girl off her ride.

  “Mommy’s gonna be with you, Alas Ramus!”

  “Yehh!”

  Emi lifted Alas Ramus into her arms, distracting her in classic motherly fashion from making the inevitable “I wanna go to Chiba with Daddy!” demand as Urushihara rubbed his tired wrists.

  “Whew! Dude, she’s starting to get pretty big. Chiba, though, huh? Hmmm. Well, sounds good to me.”

  Emi didn’t let his distracted mutterings go unnoticed.

  This fallen angel didn’t think he was part of the work equation.

  “I’m glad you thought enough to take care of Alas Ramus tonight, but what do you think you’re getting here? It’s hard, running one of those beachfront joints. It’ll be a nice opportunity to free yourself from that downward spiral of unemployment you’re wallowing in, though.”

  “What? Dude, I’m working, too?!”

  Urushihara was shocked in two different ways. Once at this revelation, and again that Emi actually thanked him for something.

  “Well, that’s what they’re assuming for you, at least. I mean, what, you were expecting to hole up in there and not work at all?”

  “No, but, I mean… Seriously?”

  Urushihara played with a tendril of hair.

  “A beach house? In this jungle heat? Who the hell would ever want to go and work in a sweatbox like that…? And, dude, they didn’t confer with me at all?”

  “You fail to understand your footing.”

  Suzuno silenced the griping Urushihara from the side.

  “Nothing constructive would ever stem from asking for your input in this affair. As Emilia noted, this is a golden opportunity. Think of it as a halfway house on your way to becoming a gainful member of society!”

  “I don’t wanna! That’s a stupid analogy anyway! B-Besides, I’d just get in the way there! I don’t know how to work or anything! I’m not even supposed to be seen in public anyway, right? Not as long as the cops have Olba over here.”

  Urushihara’s stifling attempts at weaseling his way out of duty were met by cold, merciless stares from the women.

  “How long do you intend to dodge your social duty with those idiotic excuses?”

  “Considering how much you are obligated to stay undercover, you seem quite content with showing your face to the Sasuke Express driver who keeps delivering all that Jungle.com claptrap to your door. Am I wrong?”

  “Like, has anything even happened in the nearly three months since Olba got caught? You’ve been going to the public bath, right? Have you ever felt like you were in danger at all so far?!”

  “B-But, but that’s exactly why I can’t let my guard down right now! Just because nothing happened today doesn’t mean it won’t tomorrow! I’m just trying to atone for my own crimes in here, you know…”

  “Perhaps I would believe that if you lived an ascetic’s life, reflecting upon your sins. But you simply fritter away your time in abject idleness, tugging upon the sleeves of your kin! What right do you have to say such things? I would call it endearing, at least, if you tried to hatch some world-conquest scheme with the Devil King or somesuch! But no!”

  “Nn…rrghh…!!”

  The sheer, overpowering logic to the women’s counterattack made tears begin to form in Urushihara’s eyes.

  “And even if you never worked a day of your life, what are you planning to do, anyway? How can you shut yourself inside if there’s no room to shut yourself into? If you try pulling some stunt like what you tried with Olba, I swear you’re gonna regret it.”

  “It is your right to intrude upon others and refuse to aid them in any way, yes, but could you ever truly be proud of that? Assuming you even have the utter nerve to leech on the goodwill of a total stranger without singing for your supper!”

  “Mommy? Suzu-Sis, don’t pick on Looshifer!”

  Alas Ramus, aware that Urushihara was besieged but not of much else, raised a concerned face in his defense. It was yet another blow to his pride.

  “Hmph. Well, Devil’s Castle can take care of its own business. Not like we’re obligated to worry about you.”

  “Indeed. Nothing more than a wayward goblin cast away from the heavens. I am sure his work ethic and sense of shame must have flown into oblivion with his holy garments!”

  “Dude, stop! I’m gonna cry, okay?! I’m seriously gonna cry if you keep going with that crap!! You’re just as jobless as I am, Bell! Where do you get off?!”

  Urushihara’s face reddened as he shouted, voice in a telltale waver.

  “Bell’s jobless in Japan, yeah, but when she returns to Ente Isla, she’ll be an ordained Church cleric. She’s got goals to strive for. And most importantly, she can cook, clean, and do laundry for herself. Maybe she’s unemployed like you, but you know what? The difference is like the sun and the moon!”

  “You…! Ngh! Dammit! …Treating me like an idiot!”

  “Looshifer, don’t cry! Boys don’t cry! Pain, go away! Go awaaaay!”

  “Dude, that’s real sweet, but… Ughhh!!”

  Swatting away the hand provided by his sole ally at the moment, Urushihara turned his teary eyes upon Emi and Suzuno.

  “All right! All right, okay?! I’m gonna work! Once I get into it, I’m gonna make Maou look like a slug, with how much I’m gonna work! I’ll make you take back everything you said!!”

  His shoulders quivered indignantly as he lashed out, but before the women could respond, he slammed the door to room 201 in their faces. Emi and Suzuno looked at each other, relieved.

  “Do you think that worked?”

  “…I guess. Maybe.”

  “Mommy? Suzu-Sis? Don’t be mean to Looshifer!”

  Dodging Alas Ramus’s doleful lecture, Emi turned toward the Devil’s Castle door, fatigue beginning to set into her eyes.

  “Becoming unemployed and homeless on the same day would set anybody off. The Devil King and Alciel are one thing, but I’m more worried about Lucifer. He’s the only one out of them to actively harm anyone in Japan.”

  This was the reason behind Emi’s oddly cooperative behavior during Maou’s time of need.

  If Urushihara—never known for his cool under fire—grew unstable as a result of this crisis, there was no guessing how he might erupt. But with the three demons now back to work and under a roof, Emi’s heart was filled with a profound relief.

  “But Choshi is rather a long distance from Sasazuka, no?”

  Chiba prefecture shared a border with Tokyo, but in terms of landmass, it was even bigger. Emi had little idea where this Kimigahara was at all. But for now, at least, she wasn’t particularly worried about the demons’ future plans.

  “You’ve never met the landlord here face-to-face, right, Bell?”

  “Right. We simply exchanged letters.”

  Emi recalled the first time she met Miki Shiba, erstwhile owner of Villa Rosa Sasazuka.

  “How should I put it…? As long as their landlord’s involved with them somehow, I have a feeling they won’t do anything bad. Or couldn’t, maybe, even if they wanted to. I’m not gonna leave them be, but I don’t think we need to be hot on their trail for the next two weeks, either.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Once, Urushihara and Olba had challenged the Devil King to life-or-death combat, Chiho serving as his hostage.

  It was just a few months ago, but somehow it felt like the distant past.

  “As Ente Islans, there are so many things, so many powers, we have, that the people on Earth can hardly dream of. And yet…”
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  I would think that you, of all people, would understand the power behind people’s thoughts, and wills.

  “…And yet, there are people on Earth with powers that we can’t even imagine.”

  Suzuno arched her eyebrows in confusion.

  “That, and there’s Chiho, too.”

  “Chiho?”

  “Whether she likes it or not, she’s pretty deeply involved in this. Even if we followed the demons over there, we need to make sure she stays safe. Otherwise, I don’t know if I can leave Sasazuka.”

  By now, Chiho was known both to Ente Isla and the world of heaven as someone caught in the battle between the Hero and Devil King. Erasing her memories, like a celebrity erases an embarrassing tweet, wouldn’t do much to hide the facts. Emi and Maou cared about her, and that was impossible to change now.

  And they couldn’t even describe the regret they’d feel if she wound up Sariel’s or Gabriel’s hostage yet again.

  Emi crossed her arms, deep in thought.

  “It’d be great if we had permission from her mother to come along…but that’s probably gonna be tough. It’d be nice if her parents could take a trip out of the country or something for us.”

  “Be serious.”

  One couldn’t just trundle a teenager around to and fro like that. Real life didn’t work that way.

  The day after Amane Ohguro’s unexpected job officer, the demons of Devil’s Castle frantically prepared for the next two weeks.

  Bowing their heads down deeply to the Church cleric next door, the Devil King and his inner circle of generals received a promise that she’d transport their refrigerator and other belongings into public storage with her own appliances.

  “Ah, how I wish I could take a photograph of this and send it to the Church! A blessed sign of the Devil King’s subservience to our cause!”

  That was how thoroughly Maou had to kowtow to her.

  Once that was squared away, the next item on the checklist was all the stuff they’d need starting tomorrow. The Devil’s Castle resident househusband was roused to action.