“We will need to pick our roads a tad more carefully.”
Suzuno spread Ashiya’s hand-drawn map of Efzahan out on the table.
“However, it is also true that we are approaching Heavensky far more quickly than scheduled. If possible…I would like to reach this village by sundown. We are more likely to encounter Eight Scarves men the closer we come to the palace, but I would like to stay on our scooters for as close as we can bear to reach.”
“Yeah.”
For once, they agreed on something. As long as they had gas to feed them, they wanted to hang on to their scooters.
“…Not that I should talk, by the way, but things seem pretty peaceful around here. Looks like they’ve rebuilt a ton of stuff already. I thought it’d be a little rougher around the edges, still.”
“No, you should not talk, indeed. But I had noticed that myself. Let me ask you, Devil King: How strong a force is this Malebranche within the demon realms?”
“How strong a force? Well, they certainly numbered a lot, is about all I can tell you. When I sent my army to invade the islands, the forces to the north, east, and west were a pretty even mix of races, but I’d say about eighty percent of the force Malacoda led to the Southern Island were Malebranche. Emi and the humans killed most of ’em, I assume, but…”
“Hmm. So rather few of them remain under the rule of Camio?”
“I can’t give you concrete numbers. It’s not like we had a census bureau.”
Suzuno nodded as though Maoh’s words were backed up by some theory in her head. “Actually,” she said, “I was of the same mind as you. This land is peaceful—recovering. By which, I do not mean to say that your army’s carnage has been wiped away by time. I mean to say that, considering the Malebranche have infiltrated the imperial government and declared war on the entire world, it hardly seems like a nation in wartime. I sense nothing in the way of demons near us, despite the fact our map puts us squarely within jurisdiction of the Efzahan capital.”
“…That’s a good point,” Maou realized out loud. “Considering all the BS Ciriatto and Farfarello and Libicocco gave us, you’d think the demons would be throwing their weight around a little more.”
“Indeed. And I do not like it. Especially now that I have seen what the angels are for myself—Gabriel, in particular. It sticks in my craw.”
“…You said it.”
It struck Maou as odd, too. If it weren’t for Gabriel whisking Ashiya and Nord away, their understanding of Emi’s disappearance and the political situation on Ente Isla would have remained rudimentary at best. As far as they knew, Olba had convinced Barbariccia and his second Devil King’s Army to turn Efzahan into a puppet regime so they could declare war on the world—a second ploy by the demons to conquer the human world anew. But now, several angels had become involved—and both they and the demons had used Efzahan’s military to take Ashiya and Nord away. Maou began to suspect that little was as it seemed around here.
“We had best examine the people of this land a tad more,” Suzuno suggested, “if we wish to come closer to the truth.”
“Yeah. It’s not exactly bustling around here, but it’s not like we’re being subject to invasion or anything.”
The two of them looked out a nearby window to the village’s main street.
According to Ashiya’s map, the village they arrived at after camouflaging their scooters in some high brush was named Honpha. It seemed fairly humble at first sight but enjoyed a decently sized population nonetheless. Its security was handled by the Knights of the Inlain Crimson Scarves, each one of their ranks bearing a red wristband bordered in white. They spied a few of them here and there on the streets.
“Maou, can I have more? This is yummy!”
“…I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”
As he and Suzuno assessed the situation, Acieth had been silently nibbling away at his side. Before he knew it, she had scarfed down a sizable basketful of bread. There was an empty bowl and plate in her hand—they formerly held some chicken-and-vegetable soup and freshwater fish done up in a pie with breadcrumbs, apparently a local favorite—and she was already showing them to the nearby tavern keeper. The Eastern Island enjoyed a surplus of water, much of it as pure as one would find in Japan; maybe that was why they were all enjoying the local food scene so much after spending so long over on Earth.
“You okay with seconds for her, Suzuno?”
He didn’t have the authority to allow it by himself. Suzuno, after all, was Maou and Acieth’s sole source of economic support here on Ente Isla. She had yet to bandy around words like “debt” and “interest,” the kind of thing that struck fear in the Devil King’s very heart, but treating Suzuno like an ATM was bound to have consequences later. In fact, to Maou, who had to keep a whole family (of sorts) fed on his own salary, being wholly dependent like this made him feel miserable. Like a plaything, as he put it.
“That is fine. Would you like another one of those fish pies? I was just thinking I would like to try a bit more of those udon-like noodles they had.
Suzuno’s gifts in Yahwan, the official language of Efzahan, were commendable. Her missionary experience preceded her.
“
“Wait, did you just order liquor, Suzuno? You could get probation for DUI, man!”
Having personally dominated the lives of its native speakers in the past, Maou had at least a passing knowledge of Yahwan.
“Oh, shut up,” Suzuno replied, expecting this. “I am not looking to drink it.”
“
The woman came back with two bottles of fruit-flavored distilled liquor of some sort. Suzuno checked the labels, then nodded.
“”
“
“
Suzuno looked up at the quizzical tavern keeper.
“
The tavern keeper’s face tightened a bit, conflicted. “
It was odd, though. To Suzuno’s ears, it sounded as though the keeper wasn’t afraid of this terrifying development so much as she was doubtful of it.
“<’Course, if you’re askin’ whether anything much has changed as a result, then it sure hasn’t, no. We were all runnin’ around like chickens with their heads cut off at first, mind ya. Thought it’d be the Great Demon General Alciel all over again.>”
The keeper took a look around, ensuring she had no waiting customers, then brought her face closer to Suzuno’s.
“
“”
“Is this talk about hard things? I want fish pie!”
“It’ll be here soon,” Maou barked at Acieth. “Be quiet for a sec.”
“
“<…Is that what happened?>”
“
“
“
“Maooouuu, come onnnnn… Where is steewwwww…?”
“…I’ll give you mine, too, okay? Just shut up.”
“
“
Suzuno, face tensed, looked down at Ashiya’s map. “”
“
Suzuno turned the full strength of her eyes upon the tavern keeper. “
The keeper gave her an incredulous look. “
“<…Ah. Certainly.>”
Maou and Suzuno gave each other troubled looks. The populace might be aware of the demons’ presence, but the angels’ behind-the-scenes machinations were still far from common knowledge.
“
“
“
The keeper fell uncharacteristically silent, wavering over whether to continue. Suzuno nodded at her. “
“” the woman replied. She seemed a mite relieved, but then she anxiously looked at Maou.
“
“…Dude.”
Maou had no intention of interfering with their chat, but he still used his wide-open eyes to semi-voice his discomfort at this hasty excuse.
“Who’s an attendant of whom, huh?”
Maou was still protesting the afternoon’s events inside forested land seven or eight miles from Honpha, nearby a marsh.
“You took that seriously?” Suzuno coolly replied. “I would think you would understand how that smoothed over the conversation for both sides. I will remind you that I am bankrolling nearly this entire expedition. Allow me to say what I like, at least.”
“Gehh…”
Maou had no response to that. Suzuno smiled at him as he silently squirmed.
“I do not intend to joke about this, though. If Alciel’s map is correct, we will no longer be able to avoid settled lands before reaching Heavensky. If we started to be examined more closely by the authorities, it would be easiest for all of us if you and Acieth pose as the hired attendants of a missionary cleric.”
“Yeah… The question is whether she’ll hold up her end of the bargain. Better roll her back inside if she starts actin’ up. Don’t wanna treat her like I own her or anything, but…”
Maou looked over to the larva sleeping soundly in her bag by the campfire, stomach full after purchasing several more freshwater-fish pies to go from the tavern keeper.
“We can consider the matter after half a day’s drive tomorrow,” Suzuno replied, looking at Ashiya’s map. “I would like to bring our scooters as close to Heavensky as possible, but if worse comes to worst, we may need to abandon them somewhere.”
Maou flew to his feet. “What? No!”
“What do you want from me? The closer we travel to the capital, the more likely we are to be exposed. We have to avoid being conspicuous…”
“But I was just getting used to driving my Mobile Dullahan III! I can’t just abandon my mount after that!”
“…What is the meaning of that ‘mobile’ whatnot?”
Suzuno knew Maou well enough. She all but expected that he would give his scooter a nonsensical name sooner or later.
“It is fine and well that you have an affection for it, but that could inadvertently put Emilia’s life on the line. I have full ownership over both scooters, and I make the final call on what we do with them.”
“Nnnnngh…”
“By the way, I was wondering… Why do you name whatever you are riding at the moment ‘Dullahan’?”
“Huh?”
“The dullahan is a creature that appears in Earth’s mythology, is it not? A headless horse pulling a chariot with a headless warrior on it?”
“Oh, you know that?”
“Indeed. And I have never heard of such a presence among the demons who invaded Ente Isla. Perhaps I am simply not aware of it, but…”
“Nah. There’s nothing like what gets called ‘dullahan’ on Earth in my realms. It’d be kinda weird if someone could carry his head around under one arm and still stay, like, living, y’know?”
“Like you are one to… Ah, but enough of that. Why Dullahan?”
“Well, there’s nothin’ deep to it…” Maou shrugged. “I mean, before I made it to MgRonald, me and Ashiya kinda got fired from a couple of part-time jobs.”
“Did you now!” Suzuno exclaimed. By the time she had arrived on Earth, he and all his demon compatriots, along with Emi, were indistinguishable from any other Japanese person on the street. She had assumed they were comfortable from the very beginning.
“Yeah, uh, sometimes companies would go outta business on us, so it wasn’t entirely our fault. But before me and Ashiya divvied up our duties between work, chores, and research, I can think of at least two I got booted out of.”
He made it sound as though he was reciting bitter memories of harrowing times. For a native Ente Islan, the idea that being laid off was the worst thing to ever happen to the Devil King’s life was rather hard to swallow.
“So I started working at MgRonald after that, and once Chi signed on, she told me about someplace that sold bicycles for cheap. So I bought one of those and a coupla other big things. That wound up whittling our savings down to practically nothing. Man, Ashiya was pissed.”
Suzuno wasn’t around to witness it. But she could easily picture it.
“But that would really suck, wouldn’t it? Like, if I bought too much and got fired without any savings to fall back on?”
“Certainly, but… Wait! No!”
Suzuno gasped, conjecturing the worst.
“So I kinda put a prayer on the bike,” Maou continued, flashing an embarrassed smile. “So I wouldn’t get fired again. The dullahan’s got his head cut off, right? I didn’t want to lose my head at the workplace any longer, so that’s how the name stuck.”
Suzuno, unable to look at him any longer, cradled her head with one hand.
&
nbsp; “…Just awful.”
“Oh, come on! You’re the one who asked! What’re you laughing about?”
She was. Her face was still covered in her hand, but softly, deep down in her throat, she was giggling.
“…Hee-hee-hee… You could have at least lied and said you named it ‘Dullahan’ because it sounded nice and demonic to you… Ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“That would just make me look like some preteen fantasy nerd!”
“…Ahhh, what a laugh. I do look forward to telling Emilia and Chiho about this shortly.”
“Hey, no! Don’t, man! Chi’s one thing, but Emi’s gonna torment me for the rest of my life if you tell her!”
“And how dearly I would love seeing that in person! The Hero, berating the Devil King for giving prayers to household objects!”
“Oh, goddammit!”
Maou turned his back to her, face flushed. It made him miss what Suzuno whispered next.
“Indeed…I would love to be there for it. To see it happen, on and on.”
“Huh? What was that?”
“Nothing. There is nothing to be so worked up about. It just seems so…human of you. Laughably so.”
“Will you shut up already?! Stop making fun of me!”
Now Maou was fully angry. His back was completely to the fire now as he tossed the stick he was using to prod the embers deep into the darkness. Suzuno found something oddly lovable about the sight. Then she picked up Ashiya’s sheaf of papers again.
“Devil King.”
“Whaaat?!”
“…Why did you come to Ente Isla?”
“Huhh?”
Maou’s face, on the dark side of their little campfire circle, twisted a bit. Suzuno could see it.
“I am not talking about now. Before you drifted to Japan. When you, Alciel, and Lucifer attempted to conquer the five islands of Ente Isla.”
“Oh, back to that right now? I thought I told you long ago. I wanted to rule over Ente—”
“That is why I am asking.” Suzuno played back in her head the conversation with Chiho. “Why did you want to rule over it? Because I had thought you wanted to annihilate the human race…but ruling over something and annihilating it are two very different things. It is clear to me that Alciel ruled over Efzahan with an even, educated hand—that much I can tell from the way he practically memorized this nation’s geography and its norms. But why?”
The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 9 Page 17
