The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 6

by Satoshi Wagahara

  “Y-Yusa?!”

  In the space of seconds, her entire body cleared the water’s surface, drifting ever upward.

  So, here in the midafternoon hours, the neighborhood bathhouse was now being patronized by a naked woman with a war hammer and another naked woman levitating over the bath. Anyone walking in now would certainly have enough material to write a tabloid cover story.

  “This is really meant for casting with the Cloth, so I’m cutting a few corners, but you can cast this well enough without an amplifier.”

  “Oh…um, cutting corners how, exactly?”

  Chiho’s eyes darted between the entrance doorway and the boots of light over Emi’s feet, something that seemed as beautiful as CGI-driven magic from an adventure film. Suzuno’s eyes, however, were much more critical as she pointed them out.

  “Look at that. The edge of the light. It is undulating, can you see? Like a campfire’s flame.”

  “Oh, you’re right!”

  Chiho compared the sight with Suzuno’s hammer. The weapon was emitting a light of its own, but not the unstable, wavering light of Emi’s boots. This struck her as a more well-regulated, uniform flame, like a gas cooktop’s burner.

  “That undulation shows that the outgoing flow of holy force is unstable. While it depends on the exact type of spell being cast, having an amplifier always lets you more efficiently, and more effectively, unleash one’s spell.”

  “Whew… Yeah, casting solo really tires you out.”

  Emi gingerly brought herself back down into the water as Suzuno returned the hammer to her hairpin, letting Chiho breathe a well-deserved sigh of relief.

  “Now, Chiho, a question for you. What was the difference between my spell and Emilia’s just now?”

  “The difference…?” Chiho rewound her memory back a few moments. “…Your spell didn’t have a name, Suzuno?”

  The response made Suzuno lift an approving eyebrow. “Very good. Heavens, on the first try, no less! Although the spell type has a name, of course. We call it the Light of Iron.”

  “But you still cast it anyway, right? Is that because you could visualize it a lot easier with that amplifier thingy?”

  “Correct.” Suzuno nodded, satisfied. “Executing a spell is, in a way, taking an image and embodying it in real life. In order to use holy force to create the effect you wish, it is vital that you have a refined knowledge of holy activation and the consummate ability to visualize it. A bit like kneading a pile of clay into a work of art, one could say. Thus, in the case of a spell without an amplifier, it becomes more important to do things like state the name of the spell or effect out loud, in order to make it easier to conceive the results in your mind. It can make a surprising difference in the spell’s effect and power usage.”

  This seminar, along with all the visual aids, reminded Chiho all over again that the two women she shared this bath with were no natives of this planet.

  “The challenge is activing this power in the first place. It can be rather difficult to visualize at first, given how it has no comparison in the physical realm. Thus, instead of studying the mechanics of ferrying holy force around, it would be quickest to learn instinctively how to activate and process it within your body.”

  Suzuno motioned with her head toward Emi.

  “I apologize for bothering you, Emilia, but could you return to the changing room and provide a distraction for us? I want to deploy a barrier over the entrance and the skylight.”

  Emi nodded and walked out of the bath.

  “Huh? Wh-what for?” Chiho stuttered.

  “This is something any student in the holy arts has to go through,” Emi replied over her shoulder. “But if we carry it out unprepared in Japan, that could attract some…attention.”

  Her vague answer did little to allay Chiho’s fears.

  “Right, but…what is it?”

  “Simple. I want you to scream for me.”

  “Huh?”

  Chiho took a couple of dubious looks at her companions.

  “It can be anything you like. Just shout it as loud as you can.”

  “Yeah, but…scream? Here?”

  Suzuno nodded, as if someone just asked whether she’d like some noodles for lunch.

  “Oh, but don’t tense up your body too much when you do,” Emi blithely added. “That won’t make it come out as much. Stay loose, okay?”

  “Um, do I…?”

  Thinking about the pair’s request made Chiho feel like a giant snake of embarrassment was rearing up to strike at her heart with its venom of shame. This was a public bath, after all. Whether they were the only customers or not, the elderly bathkeeper was still at the far end of the changing room—and, more important to her, Maou and gang were just on the other side of the partition.

  Suzuno, sensing this hesitation, cleared her throat. “Call it a war cry, if you will,” she said. “The effect of such a shout has been scientifically proven in Ente Isla as well as in Japan. Even with a simple punch, the difference between throwing it silently and shouting from the pit of your stomach as you do is vast. It elevates your emotions, energizing your body cells and giving you a psychological sense of release, making it a highly effective battle tactic.”

  Then, without warning, Suzuno drew her face close to Chiho, making her edge back a bit.

  “However! Like any manner of training, approaching it with a negative attitude will result in little to no improvement. Shouting here will do nothing to activate your holy force if you are too preoccupied about what the Devil King may think of the noise.”

  Chiho’s face turned red. Anyone’s would after being so easily read like an open book.

  “But why here, though? Wouldn’t it be better if we went in a karaoke booth or something…?”

  Suzuno shook her head at the reluctant, non-Chiho-like request. “The psychological release that stems from overcoming your internal conflict and shame is far more potent than any regular type of emotion. That makes it all the more possible for us to achieve great advances in a short time. Especially if the Devil King lies on the other side.”

  Emi, watching Suzuno advance upon Chiho, raised an eyebrow.

  “You know, with that logic, one misstep and things could get really dangerous.”

  Suzuno, witnessing how red and almost teary-eyed Chiho still was, shook her head. “It is an excellent virtue of the Japanese race, avoiding loud commotions in public places, but we are working under different circumstances. Allow me to provide a demonstration. You can follow my lead.”

  “Oh, but you—”

  Chiho could no longer hide her apprehension. For all they knew, there were other male bathers apart from Maou and friends. But Suzuno showed her no mercy.

  “When I speak, I want you to reply as loudly as possible!”

  “Y-yeahhh…!” Chiho made a token effort.

  “…Um, all right. I’ll make sure the coast is clear out front, so…”

  Emi hurriedly exited the room before she had to watch Suzuno get even more intense with her training.

  “Now, let us begin!”

  “Okaaaay!!”

  Suzuno, satisfied with Chiho’s reply, did her best imitation of a vacuum cleaner as she inhaled.

  “Now! As loudly as you can! Hyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

  “Whoa whoa whoa whoa… Owww!!!”

  Urushihara, washing his hair on the other side, flew to his feet at the volume of Suzuno’s voice, dropping the showerhead on his little toe in the process.

  “D-dude, what was that?!”

  “Are we under attack?!”

  Neither Maou nor Ashiya were laughing.

  The tiled environment made the scream echo time and time again, the war cry expanding to an entire order of knights galloping across the countryside, thoroughly creeping out the demons as it did.

  Then, out of nowhere, Alas Ramus—lying on Maou’s knee as he washed her hair—opened her eyes and decided to join in at full blast.

  “Ohhhhhhhhhh!”

/>   “Agh!”

  The resulting bolt of holy force the child unleashed almost blew Maou against the wall.

  Then, the next instant, they heard Chiho’s scream, a shriek that could’ve broken a pro basketball backboard.

  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

  “?!?!?!”

  Maou’s eyes bugged out of their sockets as he tried and failed to parse the situation. Sensing Chiho was in some sort of danger, he left the bubble-bath-laden Alas Ramus in Ashiya’s hands, took a few moments to wrap a towel around his waist, then flew out to the common platform past the changing rooms with the speed of a tornado.

  There he was greeted by Emi, in her postbath shirt, her face burning red as she held Toyo the bath keeper’s hand.

  “Hey! Why’re you looking like that?!”

  It was hard to tell whether Toyo was sleeping or not most of the time, but there was no way she could have missed all that shouting. Emi had to have used some kind of holy-power spell on her, he realized.

  “E-Emi?! What the hell’re you girls doing over there?!”

  “None of it’s escaping the walls of this place, all right? I put the bath keeper to sleep just in case, but there’s nothing dangerous about… Whoa, your towel’s gonna fall off!”

  Emi tried her best to keep Maou from wandering into her line of sight. Only then did he notice how far down the nether regions his towel had wandered. But it was odd. Despite the sheer volume of the screaming—especially that last one—it was like all the sound had shut off the moment he left the bath.

  “Look, can you just tell me what—whoa!”

  “—raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

  Just as Maou stuck his head back into the men’s bath to investigate further, another scream thudded against his eardrums, scaring him enough that he slipped on the changing-room tile floor and fell on his rear end.

  “Y-Your Demonic Highness, are you all right?! B-Bell, what in all of creation are you doing?! You’re being a nuisance to the entire neighbor—”

  “Whoooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

  Ashiya, on his way to lodge a formal complaint against the girls on the other side, was cut off by Suzuno’s shrill battle cry. It startled him enough to take a few furtive steps backward—right over the bar of soap Urushihara left on the floor, sending him flying.

  “L-look out!”

  Urushihara, still nursing his little toe, watched Ashiya’s large frame swivel precariously in the air…

  “Yaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

  …and managed to catch Alas Ramus, screaming in perfect harmony with the ladies as she flew through the air…

  “Gehh!”

  …as he let Ashiya hit the floor, missing the opposite wall with his head by a few inches.

  As Maou attempted to help Ashiya back up, he heard a knock on the sliding door to the men’s bath from Emi.

  “Hey, that sounded pretty rough. Are you okay?”

  “You’re sounding pretty rough, man! What the hell’s up with Suzuno and—”

  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

  “Does it have to do with Alas—”

  “Lower! From your stomaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaach!!”

  “Emi, you better explain this to—”

  “One, two, three, yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhh!!”

  “Yes! Yes! Keep it hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!”

  “Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuppppppppp!!”

  The continued rapid-fire screaming contest between Suzuno and Chiho made it impossible for Maou to even talk to Emi across the door.

  “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!”

  “Don’t you join in, Alas Ramus!” Maou reached for the child, trying his hardest to shrug off the holy force radiating from her. “Emi, come on! I don’t know what you’re up to, but make them stop! You’re driving the whole town crazy!”

  “It’s fine! We put up a barrier to keep other customers from coming in!”

  “What’s fine about that?! Now you’re interfering with their business!”

  “I’ll explain once we’re done, okay? Don’t worry about it so much!”

  Emi turned on her heels, refusing to answer the question.

  “H-hey! Get back here!!”

  Maou gave chase, all but flinging himself out from the bath. But the sliding door to the front area refused to budge. Emi must have been holding it shut.

  “How can I help youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu?!”

  “Right away, sirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

  “Oh, now you’re waitresses?! Seriously! What’re you doing?! Emi! Open the door! Come on!”

  The unusual scene of the Hero keeping the Devil King locked inside a Japanese-style public bath lasted for less than five minutes. But then:

  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… Aigh?!”

  Amid the droning wail, Maou picked up on Chiho screaming for quite a different reason. This called for action.

  “Ugh! I don’t care if someone reports me! Ashiya! Give me a leg up! I’m climbing up into the women’s bath!”

  “M-my liege, take hold of your senses! If you do something so sordid, your very position in society might be placed at risk!!”

  “Okay then, Urushihara! Like you care about that crap! Get up there!”

  “Dude, I refuse to have you treat my social life like it’s a piece of garbage!”

  Just as the argument between the three arch-demons over who would commit perhaps the most classical example of sexual harassment in Japan reached its fevered peak, they noticed Emi’s exasperated voice.

  “…Uh, hey, this is open now.”

  Coming to their senses, they found that the echoing of Chiho’s and Suzuno’s wicked keening had subsided. Even Alas Ramus, still in Urushihara’s arms, had settled back to her usual quiet self.

  “What was that?!”

  Ashiya, finally fishing himself up off the floor, looked up at the partition separating the men’s and women’s sides.

  “Did you not notice, my liege? Perhaps not. It was just for a moment.”

  “Hmm?”

  “Uh, hang on… Emilia was over there, Alas Ramus was over here, and Bell was—huhh?”

  Urushihara was the first to notice. Eyebrows pressed flat against his lashes, he stared down Emi from the men’s changing room, back turned to the other demons.

  “Dude, what’re you thinking? Don’t do that in, like, real life, man. Why’re you devoting your frontline resources to add in someone who’s gonna be useless to you anyway? You got that much free power rolling around?”

  Urushihara sounded gruffer than usual. Emi was having none of it.

  “That’s not what we’re doing at all. She’s fully aware of that.”

  Emi couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Ideally, in her opinion, this whole situation should have been avoidable.

  “She just wants the power to report back to you or me in case of emergency.”

  “Report…? Whoa! For real?!”

  Maou, finally picking up the gist, looked up at the partition.

  “She knows exactly what she can and can’t do, all right? We put our trust in that. But I think the biggest reason…”

  Emi turned her face to the confused Maou.

  “…I think it comes down to the fact she doesn’t want you expending more resources than you absolutely need to if she’s caught up in something. I mean, whether she keeps her memories or not, she’s definitely involved with us now.”

  Maou paid only a modicum of attention to Emi as he clumsily wiped himself dry, put his clothes back on, and tore into the front area, Ashiya and Urushihara following behind. There, they found Suzuno, cooling herself with one of the bathhouse’s rigid hand fans.

  “I will explain why later, but trust me when I say that Chiho is not approaching this lightly. That, at least,
I hope you are willing to accept.”

  With Suzuno was Chiho, lying on a wicker seat, her chest heaving up and down underneath her shirt as she caught her breath. Even considering she was straight from the bath, her face was far too reddened.

  “M…Maou…”

  Maou stood there, baffled. Urushihara, next to him, pointed at Chiho’s hand.

  “Dude, don’t blame me if this goes south on us.”

  He looked scornfully at her hand, lain limply on the table.

  “Wait… Ms. Sasaki…”

  Ashiya was just as confused as Maou, his face betraying his utter amazement at the sight.

  There, in her hand, was a shining gold ball of pure holy power. It flickered like a sputtering flame, clearly not under her full control. However, it wasn’t the unreal, otherworldly kind of force she’d wielded at Tokyo Tower—no, this ball of holy light came from the corpus of Chiho herself.

  “I-I…I didn’t want to get in the way, or be a drag on you, or anything…”

  Still fighting for breath, Chiho tried her best to give Maou a smile.

  “But now I can do it, Suzuno… I can run from danger if I need to; I can have you guys help me if I need to. Next…I’ll try…an Idea…”

  That was her limit. Her eyelids slowly fell as her consciousness sank into the world of dreams.

  “Oh, for…” Maou, watching an exhausted but immensely satisfied smile cross Chiho’s face, scratched his head in surrender. “She’s getting way too worried about this. Like, we’re monsters from another world! Why can’t she just let us handle all that crap? We’re the ones who got her caught up in this.”

  Emi chuckled. “Chiho can’t do that. She doesn’t want to run screaming if something happens, so she wanted something she could use to either escape or get help more reliably. It’s almost too touching, isn’t it?”

  She sized up Maou with her eyes, her voice dropping so only he could hear.

  “I bet there were a lot of kids like Chiho among the lives you trampled over on Ente Isla.”

  “……”

  Maou turned around, but Emi had already let the words melt into the air. Now her attention was on Chiho, wiping the sweat beading on her forehead. She was acting amiably enough, but what she just said seemed even more acrid and hard-hitting than anything that came before it.