That reply, at least, came loud and clear.
“…You do?”
“That’s what you did, didn’t you, Chiho? Then I gotta do that much too, I think. I want to think about it once I’ve come to grips with all this…stuff about Emi.”
“Aww, ain’t that all sweet and innocent?”
“What’s ‘innocent,’ Amane?”
“Oh, it’s when she’s so cute, you just wanna hug her. See? Like this—squeeeze!”
“Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze!”
Chiho, ignoring Amane and Acieth in the outfield, turned back to Rika.
“This might be unfair of me, telling you this before we talk about it…”
“Chiho?”
“I…I was thinking that I’d like Yusa to have another real friend. Someone besides me.”
“…”
Rika fell silent for a moment. This caught her off guard. She took a look around, sizing up Maou, then Suzuno, then the face of Urushihara, who had popped out through the door. She sighed, then turned to Chiho.
“It’s not like I couldn’t lie about this…but I guess I’m not the only one with stuff I can’t talk about too easily here.”
“Suzuki?”
“I promise I won’t let my emotions overwhelm me, Chiho.” Rika was back to her normal self—her iron will clear in her eyes as she looked at Chiho. “I won’t let my emotions get to me, and I promise that I’m willing to accept it all. So tell me. Tell me about Emi, tell me about Maou and everyone, and don’t hold anything back.”
Chiho let out a soft smile.
“Okay. I guess I’ll start by talking about how I met all these people…”
Slowly, she began to talk about the truth behind Maou, behind Emi, and behind the world of Ente Isla.
“Whewwwww…”
Once Chiho was done with everything, Rika let out a long sigh.
“Well, no wonder Emi had it in for Maou.”
She gave Maou a look.
“You’re willing to believe me?”
“Well, I’ve already seen Ashiya disappear, Suzuno and Urushihara leap over tall buildings in a single bound, and Maou and Acieth fly. It ain’t that much of a mental leap.”
That wasn’t all. During the lecture, Suzuno had transformed her hairpin into her war hammer for Rika’s edification, Maou obliging with a few in-and-out Acieth fusions of his own. Rika had little choice but to accept it.
Rika nodded tiredly at Chiho’s question. A beat. Then:
“Aahhhhh, I can’t stand this! This is so embarrassing!”
She grabbed her own head, reared back, and fell flat on the floor.
“S-Suzuki?!”
“Oh God, this is so embarrassing. I just want to crawl into a hole!”
“Wh-what’s wrong?” Maou asked, surprised at this reaction. Rika sat back up, tears in her eyes, turned straight toward Suzuno, and reached out for her hand.
“R-Rika?”
“Suzuno, I am so, so sorry! Please, just forget all about that day for me! I know I was the only one who didn’t know anything, but everything I did… Oh, I’m sooo sorry! I could just die right now!”
“Um, which day was this?” Suzuno asked, eyes turned wide at this unexpected confession.
“The day I first met you, Suzunoooo! Oh, God, I went on that crazy tangent and started going on about all sorts of crap. I had no idea I was… Oh, auuuugh!”
“Oh. That was it?”
This was enough to jog Suzuno’s memory. The first time Rika had met Suzuno, she had fallen under the mistaken assumption that Suzuno was vying with Emi for Maou’s love. That conviction caused her to meddle with the Devil’s Castle neighbor in all manner of uninvited ways.
“Keep in mind, I all but guided you toward making that misunderstanding. And we resolved it right there and then, did we not? I hardly see any reason to dwell on it. You barely knew us anyway.”
“That’s not the thing, though! The thing is that maybe I didn’t know, but I did all that in front of Ashiya, and… Daaaahhhh!”
“Um?”
This sounded odd to Suzuno, but she nonetheless rose up and gave the tearful Rika a reassuring hug, patting her on the back.
“Ahhhh, I feel like such an idiot!” Rika wailed, face flushed as Suzuno tried to soothe her.
“Um, are you all right, Suzuki?”
“I’d have to guess,” Maou replied, “that she wasn’t actually ready to accept all of this.”
It was cause for concern, but given that she was more shocked about some social faux pas than about the truth behind Maou and Emi, Rika seemed to bear no ill will toward any of them, at least.
“Amazing how flexible young people are with their imaginations these days, hmmm?” Amane observed. This seemed to surprise even her a little.
“Well, great. So if Rika Suzuki’s okay with all this…”
“I’m not okay with all this! How could I even look Emi and Ashiya in the eye when they get back…?”
“…Then we’d better start discussing our plans once we’re in Ente Isla.”
Whatever it was—Maou had no way of knowing—it seemed there was a landmine he had managed to step on between Rika, Suzuno, Emi, Ashiya, and himself. One with a pretty killer payload, by the looks of things. He couldn’t afford the time needed to assuage her bruised ego, though, so he opted to ignore Rika and place a few sheets of paper on the table.
“This is a detailed map of the Eastern Island that Ashiya left for us. I guess he figured early on that if Emi ran into trouble, it was probably gonna be in Efzahan, on the Eastern Island.”
“Wh-why is that?” Suzuno asked, arms still wrapped around Rika.
“I dunno, but I’d guess a lot of it’s due to Olba convincing the Malebranche to build their base of operations there. Olba’s like Chiho, in a way—just a regular guy who knows all about Emi’s powers and history. And you see how Efzahan’s been waging war on pretty much every front possible, right? It’s, like, totally suspicious. And hey, uh, Urushihara?”
“…Yeah?”
An arm emerged from the closet. It held a wrinkled-up business card.
“What’s that?” Chiho asked as she grabbed it. It had a cell-phone number written on it.
“For calling Gabriel.”
“What?! Why do we have something like that?”
“Wh-why would an angel have a cell phone? The Devil King and the angels are calling each other now? Like some kind of nuclear hotline to Moscow?!”
Chiho’s and Rika’s reactions very succinctly summarized the differences in each of their recent life experiences.
“Yeah, so, that idiot left that here when he visited Urushihara earlier, and thanks to that, we know for sure that all of ’em—Ashiya, Emi, Alas Ramus, Emi’s dad—they’re all in Efzahan right now.”
“You know for sure?” Chiho raised an eyebrow at Maou’s conviction. “Why?”
“’Cause I called him up and he told me.”
“…And you’re sure we can believe him?”
Chiho, well familiar with Gabriel’s penchant for being an unreliable narrator, couldn’t be blamed for doubting that information. He was weaselly that way, someone who could be relied upon only for being unreliable. Sometimes he openly attacked them; sometimes his actions came to benefit Maou. It was hard to see where his heart truly lay.
“I know what you mean,” Maou said with a chuckle. “But with this, at least, there’s no reason for Gabriel to lie right to our faces. Remember him and Emi? If he had kept quiet back then, we’d have no idea where to go.”
“Dude, but what if he knows we’re assuming that?” Urushihara sheepishly replied. “He could do the ol’ bait and switch on us real easy.”
Maou sagely nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I’m tellin’ you to stay in Japan, just in case.”
“Sure thing, but at least save it for after I’m healed…”
When it came to discussion about work, Urushihara’s voice usually settled into a low groan of anguish. But this groan sounded even lower than usual.
>
“He’s not coming along with you, Maou?” a curious Chiho asked. Suzuno was always a given for this voyage—as long as she had a worthy amplifier, she was the only one who could open a Gate for Maou. Chiho’s Idea Link skills made her totally unique among the human race, but not even she was immature enough to want to join Maou on a planet far more dangerous than her own. Having someone like her, far weaker than Suzuno, on the battlefield would be an unthinkable drag on Maou and his friends—something made all too clear in the battle against the Imperial Regiment at her high school three days ago.
But Urushihara, despite everything, was still a fully qualified Great Demon General. The power he wielded while saving Chiho from danger was real, and massive. On Ente Isla, he could provide just the firepower this little search party needed.
“Or, shall we say, we cannot take him along.”
It was Suzuno, freeing herself from Rika’s arms, who finally gave the answer.
“I conceived of several approaches, but considering we must make a return trip as well, myself and the Devil King are about the best I can manage. Besides…” She glanced at Acieth, standing by the window. “She is far heavier than I thought.”
“Hey! I am not fat like that! So mean!”
“That,” Suzuno said instead of engaging her, “and remember: Ideally, we are bringing Alciel and Emilia’s father back with us. I imagine Emilia’s force would be enough for me to formulate a suitable Gate for us all, but the more people I must bring through, the more difficult it becomes to keep it under control. It is best to avoid taxing our resources to the maximum.”
“No telling what they might do here in our absence, either,” Maou added. “I’d hate to have Chi and Rika become targets while I can’t do anything about it. That’s why I want him here. Just in case.”
“Yeah. It’d sure be easier on me here, assumin’ nothing happens… Dude, owww…”
Chiho had no doubts about Maou’s or Urushihara’s skills, but here in Japan, with Urushihara unable (if not unwilling) to unleash his full powers, it was hard to say how much of a defensive line he could put up.
Maou, sensing Chiho’s concern, gave her a nod. “I wouldn’t worry, though. If push comes to shove, there’s always Amane.”
“Oh, here we go. Saw that one comin’ a mile away.” Amane tossed her now-bare ice-cream stick into the trash bin and nodded, a little dejected. “That’s not exactly what I intended when I came here, y’know.”
“Would you mind telling us what you did come here for then, maybe?”
It was a valid question from Chiho. Amane had yet to reveal why she was currently in Sasazuka to anyone, but that didn’t stop her from tossing her stuff into Suzuno’s room. By what the Church cleric said, Amane’s luggage was all perfectly normal—a suitcase full of clothes, her purse, some cosmetics, a phone charger—so she surmised it was nothing related to her supernatural occupation. Amane herself had been pleading the same story over the past three days: “I told you! You guys nearly ruined my family business. My dad came home, and he was so pissed off, he kicked me out of the place. Y’know, saying he wasn’t gonna let me mooch off the family any longer? That’s all there is to it!”
If Ashiya had been around to hear that, it would have provided all the inspiration he needed to boot Urushihara from the room.
“Look,” Amane protested, cheeks puffed out a bit in childlike fashion, “I appreciate Suzuno letting me stay here and everything, but I had assumed one of the other apartments would’ve been unlocked when I showed up. My aunt Mikitty gave me the okay and everything, too. But…” She sighed. “All right. I owe you for the room and board, I guess, so…if something happens, I’ll try to keep Chiho and Rika safe. That’s kind of my duty here anyways.”
The promise was a relief to Maou’s ears, even if he didn’t know what kind of “duty” she was talking about. Rika had mentioned earlier that Amane rescued her three days ago while simultaneously ignoring Ashiya and Nord’s plight. That, he imagined, was because neither of those two were in immediate mortal danger. Rika, on the other hand, was.
“So,” Suzuno bluntly stated, “what will it be, Rika Suzuki? Are we erasing your memory or not? Because, if I may be frank, that would absolutely be the safer option for you.”
“I don’t care about my memory, but I just wish I had that day to do over again…ugghh…” Rika shook her head a little, ignoring the easy out Suzuno had given her. Then she sighed and looked up. “Just listening to you right now,” she clearly said, “honestly, I’m still pretty scared, and there’s a ton I still don’t understand about you all. But if I’m gonna have you do that, I want to see the real Emi again first and talk things over with her.”
“Suzuki!” a happy-sounding Chiho exclaimed.
“That so?” Maou acknowledged with a light smile as he nodded. Suzuno and Amane having no further complaints about this, the group once again turned their eyes to the papers on the table.
“Right. So getting back on topic, the only thing Ashiya could tell us here was that he’s somewhere in Efzahan. The question, though, is where—and I think I’ve got a pretty good idea.”
“And what is your basis for this?” Suzuno prodded.
Maou pointed a finger at a map depicting Efzahan’s major population centers. “So we know that the heavens and Olba and the Malebranche guys were all after Emi’s sword, right? And judging by how Gabriel and Raguel have had Emi’s mom and dad in their sights for a while now, I can understand why Nord was kidnapped. But why Ashiya? Why did they have to make off with Alciel, too?”
“Hmm?”
“Even Barbariccia knows by now that we ain’t exactly down with the Malebranche tribe. And Olba must’ve known that Alciel could’ve regained his demon form the moment his body found itself in Ente Isla. He knew he’d put up a hell of a fight. I mean, Alciel was the only participant in the Tokyo Tower rumble who actually blocked one of Gabriel’s attacks. But Gabriel kidnapped him anyway—even though he’d do nothing but get in the way over there. Which means that our little gang of conspirators in Efzahan sees some advantage to Alciel that outclasses all the many disadvantages.”
“Yes, and what would that be, exactly?”
“Gabriel told me himself: ‘Emilia’s gonna be paying me a visit, too.’ She’s paying a visit—right to wherever Gabriel and Alciel are.”
Maou glowered at a certain point on the map.
“And if they’re gonna make the Hero Emilia and the Demon General Alciel do something in the same physical location—no matter what kind of stupid thing it is—I can think of just one place.”
He pointed at the map.
“It’d be the first place me and Alciel ran into the Hero. The only place where the Hero failed to defeat my general in battle.”
Suzuno, Urushihara, and Chiho—especially Chiho, given how this was news to her—stared at the point.
“Heavensky Keep. The capital of Efzahan and the Azure Emperor’s seat of power.”
THE HERO DISCOVERS SHE CAN’T COME HOME AGAIN
“What are you planning to do?”
Emi growled at the items just delivered to her chamber.
“Isn’t it obvious?” the man replied breezily as he spread them out on the tabletop, pointing out each one.
“Are you looking to die, Olba? You actually want to arm me?”
She was addressing Olba Meiyer, one of the Church’s six great archbishops and her former traveling companion on the quest to rid the world of the Devil King Satan. Now, though, he was nothing more than an adversary. Which made it all the more confusing that her nemesis had just brought in a double-edged sword and a suit of armor, complete with full-face helm. The equipment was all obviously top-of-the-line, and judging by the workmanship on the armor, it was from Saint Aile on the Western Island not Efzahan, where Emi was.
“Oh, I have my reasons. We’re moving you to the capital in Heavensky tomorrow.”
Emi lowered her eyebrows. “You want me to speak to the Azure Emperor? I thought Efzahan
was taking on the world in order to get a holy sword. You can’t be planning to offer me and my Better Half up to him and sue for peace, are you?”
She had only met the emperor once during her duties as Hero. An old, decrepit man, as she recalled him—one who’d be lucky to see another week in life, much less another year.
Olba brought a hand to his chin at Emi’s question. He smirked at her. “I could say that you’re closer than you think.”
“What?”
“But that is not the issue. You do remember, Emilia, that there’s a fair distance between Heavensky and here in Phaigan, yes? And we certainly cannot risk using a Gate or other magical device to transport us there. If your holy-sword child will need anything, ask one of the maids for it before the day is through. We leave tomorrow morning.”
With that, Olba showed his undefended back to Emi and left the room. Picturing herself plunging a dagger into his chest in her imagination, she waited for him to politely lock the door behind him.
“What was that about…?”
Gathering her thoughts, Emi walked up to the sword and armor Olba left behind.
“It’s just normal battle gear, isn’t it?”
She took care not to touch it—it could always be outfitted with traps—but after careful scrutiny from up close, it all appeared to be perfectly typical equipment. The gear of the commanding-officer class in the Saint Aile army, yes, and of rather high-end make at that…but that was it. Emi had worn similar armor as a member of the Church knight corps, before she gained her Better Half and Cloth of the Dispeller skills.
“The sword’s sharp, too. It’s no living-room piece. What is he even thinking?”
Considering her circumstances, being given this equipment could easily allow Emi to storm Phaigan’s military port and singlehandedly lay waste to it. Olba must have known that. She cursed herself for being too weak-willed to go through with it, but regardless, here it was—and she would be wearing it on the way to Heavensky.
She recalled her previous quest to slay the Devil King. This very port was where she, Olba, Emeralda, and Albert established their first base of operations in Efzahan. The Eastern Island was under Alciel’s full control by then—she recalled how it took them a full week of careful undercover travel to reach the capital from there, taking a long, looping detour around and behind Heavensky before storming it. It didn’t quite erupt into full-scale combat against Alciel during that visit, but…
The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 9 Page 4
