She turned to Suzuno.
“Are you ready to go now, by the way?”
“Rika took us to a camping store in the city. We should have most of what we need. Oh, but you should have seen the stupor that spread over his face when I told him I would pay for everything…”
“Oh, yeah,” Rika said with a nod. “And, y’know, something about that made me think, wow, maybe he really is the Devil King.”
After their failure to communicate at Donkey OK, Maou and Suzuno headed downtown at Chiho’s suggestion—even though Chiho herself didn’t have much of an idea where a good outdoor shop might be. So, figuring they had nothing to lose, they called Rika just as she got out of work—and of course she had a laundry list of suggestions. When asked why she knew so many spots despite not being an apparent outdoors enthusiast, she simply replied, “Oh, there was this time when, like, every fashion mag in the world was doing special features on ‘glamping’ this and ‘mountain-chic’ that, so I just kinda picked up on that stuff.”
So they finally found a decent store, but of course Maou had to start grumbling about paying actual money for this trip again, so the increasingly impatient Suzuno bluntly stated that, all right, she’d pay for the tents, the sleeping bags, the food and fuel, and everything else they needed to be fully prepared.
Hearing that, for some reason, made Maou more panicked than anything else. He accused her of making him her “plaything.” So they compromised by going one level cheaper on everything than the stuff Suzuno wanted to buy. It made Suzuno and Rika snicker more than anything—him putting on this blustery war of words over some simple tents and such.
“How long does the Devil King’s shift continue for, Chiho?”
“Oh, until ten, just like me. I guess Ms. Kisaki was kind enough to put us together, and, ooh, I better get going for now, so…”
Realizing she was standing in one place for too long, Chiho gave the group a light nod and returned to the counter.
Suzuno placed her empty cup on the table, keeping a careful eye on Chiho’s back. She was talking with Maou and Kisaki about something, giving their table the occasional quick glance. Her face was bright enough, so apparently Kisaki wasn’t yelling at her about chatting with customers, at least.
“Wussup, Bell?”
Urushihara caught Suzuno blankly staring at the three of them.
“No, it is just… It feels so oddly funny to me. The fate of Ente Isla rides on the next few days, and it is all taking place not even a hairsbreadth away from the manager of this MgRonald.”
“Heh, yeah…” He nodded his agreement. “She’s the last to know, huh? And given how both Maou and Emilia look up to her, I guess that kinda makes her the strongest gal in the world, huh?”
“Ooh! Yes, yes! All time, Maou bows to her! I know Kisaki is strong!”
“Whoa there, Acieth! I used to be Maou’s boss, too, remember!”
“Amane? Oh, Amane, who cares?”
“Well, thank you very much!”
Ignoring Amane and her odd rivalry with Kisaki, Acieth sat up, resting on her knees in the seat she was on, to gain a better look at the scene behind the counter.
“Hmm?”
Then she noticed someone coming up the stairs to the MgCafé space.
“What is it, Acieth?” Rika asked, following her gaze. She shouldn’t have bothered asking.
“Yes! It is I! I have come to see you once more tonight!”
The voice battered against all of their eardrums.
“Pffth!”
“Oof.”
“Hmm?”
“Is that…?”
The voice, which thundered upward even before the figure it belonged to was visible, made Suzuno laugh, Urushihara groan, Amane lower her eyebrows, and Rika search her memory.
“Who…?” Acieth began.
It was a man, about as small as Urushihara. Small, but blessed with a handsome face—even if his uniform told everyone in the room that he was currently skipping work.
“My goddess—Oop! Pardon me! Ms. Ki-Sa-Ki! Ms. Kisaki!! I have come for you! I, Sarue, am back for you tonight!!”
It was Mitsuki Sarue, better known to certain people seated at the table as the archangel Sariel, former nemesis to Maou and Emi and current manager at the Sentucky Fried Chicken across the street from this MgRonald. His lethal weakness against feminine beauty led him to fall into a deep love for Mayumi Kisaki upon first sight of her on Earth—enough so that he abandoned the heavens, and his heavenly post, to live in Hatagaya permanently. He had been banned from the location once thanks to a litany of inappropriate actions against MgRonald staff, but now he was back—with less fervor than before, but his once-every-other-day pace was still doing great things for MgRonald’s sales figures.
Chiho’s face stiffened behind the counter. Maou, on the other hand, already looked resigned to his fate. Only Kisaki, a relatively friendly businesswoman’s smile on her face, was ready for him at the counter, as far as Suzuno could tell.
“Hmm? This man… I have seen…?”
Only Acieth continued to conspicuously stare at Sariel as he turned to the side, still unable to shake her initial surprise.
After he completed his order and Kisaki turned her back to him to prepare the coffee, Sariel casually turned around to size up the gang at the table. Then time stopped.
“Kaaaahhh!!”
Neither Suzuno, nor Amane nor Urushihara, and certainly not Rika, were able to stop her. Acieth had a good look at Sariel’s face now, and faster than anyone could act, she shot to her feet and made a flying leap for Sariel. She raised a fist—the fist that had broken right through the archangel Camael’s armor not long ago.
The look on Sariel’s face was one of abject shock. Acieth had completed the entire motion in a single instant—faster than Kisaki or any of Acieth’s boothmates could’ve seen—and the pure vengeance oozing out of every pore was palpable.
“Acieth!!”
No one was able to react except Maou, who flung his right hand toward the thin arm that even now was making its way toward Sariel’s body.
“Maou…!!!”
With a scream of protest, Acieth disappeared in a puff of purple light, just like Emi dematerializing her holy sword.
“Mm? What was that?”
Kisaki had just turned around, totally oblivious to the tense half-second that just passed as she placed a coffee cup on the counter.
“Um, Sarue? Marko? C’mon, Chi, what is it?”
To her, all three of them, along with the gang at the table, seemed to all be carefully studying the ceiling, pained smiles on their faces. The sheer force of hatred behind Acieth’s actions was purely overwhelming. Chiho was used to stuff like this, but it still cowed her into submission, just as it did Maou and Sariel.
Sariel found his voice first.
“Er, no, um…”
He looked at Maou, then Chiho, then the table with Suzuno and the rest.
“I…apologize, Ms. Kisaki. Could I make that whole order to go, actually?”
“Sure, but…what’s up? That’s unusual for you.”
Sarue’s normal practice was to sit down, then come back for a few additional orders before he was done. The surprise on Kisaki’s face at this request was obvious to everyone else. But the customer was always right. She took out the relevant bags and containers.
“Indeed, um,” Sariel said in a near-whisper, “I just remembered that I have some work I still need to tackle after this, so…” For a moment, he gave Suzuno and Urushihara a look. “…I’ll be on my way, then.”
“What’s with him?” the astonished Kisaki said as he left without another word. “Did he eat something rotten, or what?”
Maou and Suzuno had no response to this. All they could do was watch him carefully make his way downstairs.
“Well!” Suzuno near-shouted. “We’d best be on our way as well.” She rose to her feet, Urushihara, Rika, and Amane joining her as they stacked their trays above the trash can.
Each one gave their farewells to Kisaki as they filed away.
“My apologies for the extended stay,” Suzuno said.
“Thank you very much!” Rika said.
“Yeah, uh…thanks,” Urushihara grumbled.
“I’ll beat you someday,” Amane mouthed.
“Thank you all very—huh?”
Kisaki stopped herself as she saw them off—and not simply because that last farewell didn’t sound much like a farewell to her.
“Wasn’t there one more of them…?”
“Oh, um, I think she went to the bathroom ahead of the others!”
“Oh? Huh. Must’ve missed it.”
Whether Kisaki bought Chiho’s hurried explanation or not, the manager shook her head. As weird customers went, she was still on the harmless side, as far as she was concerned. Then something else came to mind.
“Oh, hey, I’m going downstairs for a second, guys.”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
“What for?”
“I’m gonna check our surveillance cameras down there. Something’s bothering me about how Sarue just left outta nowhere like that.”
“Oh…okay?”
Sariel may have been allowed back on MgRonald premises again, but that didn’t mean Kisaki had so much as a shred of trust in his behavior. She must have feared that he was picking up chicks downstairs instead of dealing with her tonight—and when she finally, blessedly left the MgCafé, Maou and Chiho breathed a long-yearned-for sigh of relief.
“Wh-what was that? Acieth just, out of nowhere…”
“I dunno, but I’d have to guess it was because she saw Sariel’s face… Hey, will you shut up already?”
Acieth must have been raising a royal hue and cry inside Maou’s head. But Maou had to stop her, or else that fist that smashed through Camael’s thick armor like so much papier-mâché would have struck the completely unprotected Sariel. The two of them shuddered. They didn’t care that much about Sariel’s safety, but the sheer force of the blow could’ve caused untold damage to the building itself.
“Guess Acieth’s just like Alas Ramus, huh? They both have it in for the angels in the worst way possible. It’s just that Acieth likes taking matters into her own hands a lot more, I suppose…”
“Erone seemed pretty chill, though.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just hope Suzuno and the gang can get the whole story outta Sariel… For chrissake, just zip it!”
Maou looked exhausted. The screaming in his head showed no sign of abating, and covering his ears did nothing for it. Now he understood completely what drove Emi to seek permission for Alas Ramus to visit Devil’s Castle. The crying at night must have been traumatic.
Suzuno and her companions walked through the front door to find Sariel standing there, takeout bag still hanging from one hand, a weirdly humbled look on his face. He did not greet them.
“…”
“Rather calm, are you not?” Suzuno began. “I thought that experience would have shaken you a little.”
“No,” he sniffed. “I am surprised, yes, but not shaken.” He turned to Urushihara. “Was that the child again? The one who fused with Emilia…?”
“They’re kinda alike, yeah, but it doesn’t look like it. Two peas in a pod, though, it seems.”
“Mm? Is it because she’s one of those, then? Another shard?”
“You know more about that than I do, dude.” Urushihara shook his head. “I don’t know jack about how to handle Sephirot. I skipped out of heaven a zillion years before you started messin’ with that crap.”
“Oh…did you?”
“Hey, um, Suzuno?” Rika prodded Suzuno as the two men continued talking, both stern-faced as could be. “That’s the guy from Sentucky, isn’t it?”
“Ah…yes, you have seen him before, have you not? That is precisely the man. In Japan he is Mitsuki Sarue, manager at the Sentucky Fried Chicken…but in the heavens above Ente Isla, he was known as Lord Sariel, the archangel.”
“Man, what is up with this neighborhood? Why’re all these Biblical figures so obsessed with fast food?”
Rika looked exasperated. Suzuno took that as a good sign. Slowly but surely, she was starting to accept all of this.
“But… Hmm,” Sariel mused. “Indeed. I think I know why Gabriel came here on the day of that big storm now.”
“““?!”””
This stopped the other three onlookers in their tracks.
“So he’s an archangel, though?” Rika asked. “Like, the same as Gabriel?”
“Hmm? Ah. You were with Emilia before, weren’t you? When you visited my store?”
“Oh, God, don’t remind me about that day again!”
Rika and Sariel had met only once, briefly, several months ago. On a day that, now that she knew the truth about Ente Isla, provided nothing but major trauma to Rika’s mind at this point.
“I will admit to being out of the loop, but have you become aware of our…circumstances?” Sariel asked. “Like Chiho Sasaki?”
“I… Well, it’s not like I wanted to! It’s just that your friend or whatever went and—”
“Gabriel? What did he do to you?”
“You are not aware, my lord?” Suzuno inquired.
Sariel shook his head. “Nope. He had a team along with him to attempt my repatriation, so I, well, resisted a bit. Just a bit, mind you. But thanks to that, our sales for the day went down the toilet.”
He stepped back and looked forlornly at the SFC he managed.
“I mean, heavens, they smashed all the windows, broke all the tables… All that grief he put my customers through! I really had to give him an honest piece of my mind for a change, if you follow me. Whether archangel or not, my Evil Eye, and my transdimensional barrier, are hardly things he can afford to sniff at. All it took were a few carefully worded threats to send him packing. I tell you, modifying the memories of every man, woman, and child in the store after that was such a pain.”
“Er, yes…”
“Dude, why are you sounding so much like Maou now?”
Neither Suzuno nor Urushihara could believe how much Sariel, their former enemy, cared about his apparent new career in the world of quick-service chicken. When he first arrived in Japan, he couldn’t have seen the franchise as anything more than a front to hide his true intentions with.
“Actually, can I ask you a question, Lucifer?”
“What?”
“Why did you leave heaven?”
“Because I was bored. That’s all. I think I was just asked that a bit ago, too…”
“I think I am starting to understand your feelings a little, then.”
“What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, the previously silent Amane stepped toward Sariel, a grim look on her face. He eyed this unfamiliar woman carefully but continued speaking.
“The thought never even occurred to me when I was still in heaven, but once I started working in this city, and once I encountered my goddess, Mayumi Kisaki… For the first time in my existence, I started to expend labor for something besides myself. And the strangest thing was…it didn’t feel bad.”
“Ooh, that’s a little bit different from my ex—mph…”
Suzuno stopped Urushihara mid-sentence.
“I expended labor for the sake of someone else…and they were thankful for it. I had never experienced such a thing in my existence before. I suppose it comes as a shock to you in particular, Bell, but…”
“No. I…have long passed that point in time.”
Only a truly devout follower of the Church of Ente Isla would understand the portent behind Sariel’s words. They meant that this race, these angels, never gave a second thought about contributing to the world of humanity. That the prayers offered to the Church and its holy scriptures never had a remote chance of reaching the ears of divinity.
“I have no desire to return to that world. That world obsessed with protecting itself, where keeping the order of things takes precedent over everyt
hing else. And you can forget about my becoming involved in any sort of conflict. For now, my sole interest lies in how I can have Mayumi Kisaki recognize me for who I am, how I can walk hand in hand with her in my life. Did you see her now? The smile has returned to her face, every time I haunt her doorstep. If I had followed Gabriel back at this point, it would have been all for naught.”
Kisaki was currently looking over the camera footage to check if Sariel had done anything illegal on the first floor before leaving. Everyone on hand silently agreed that what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“So no matter what you do, know this: I have no intention of helping you, nor of getting in your way. My sole path in life involves me, and Mayumi Kisaki, and the future we are destined to share forever.”
“That is so lame.”
Amane’s harsh judgment had no chance of reaching the completely self-infatuated Sariel’s ears.
“Thus I care not whether Lucifer is in cahoots with Bell or not. And while I do have my concerns for the two beautiful women who have been opened to the world of Ente Isla, I will not allow myself to worry over them.”
“You have concerns about them, dude?”
“It would be impossible for me to ignore such ravishing symbols of beauty. Now, this leaves the other girl, the Yesod fragment, and…well, considering what we’ve done in the past, it is not difficult for me to understand why she took such action upon first sight of me.”
“Yeah! That! Let’s talk about that!”
“Hmm? About what, Lucifer?”
“That’s the part I don’t get, dude. What the hell did you guys do up there? Alas Ramus and that girl couldn’t even stand the sight of Gabriel. Or, really, of any angel, pretty much. What’d you do to the Sephirot tree after I was gone?”
Urushihara’s question struck at the root of Alas Ramus’s, Acieth Alla’s, and even Erone’s existence. These shards—which bore no ill will toward people, demons, even the fallen angel Urushihara—possessed murderous hostility for all archangels.
“Well,” Sariel said, “I wasn’t the Sephirot’s guardian angel. I was in no position to do anything, if you will, to the Tree of Life. Not directly, that is. But I can, at least, tell you what the angels’ motivation was for reaching out to it.”
The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 9 Page 13
