“You really think so, though?” Emi replied instinctively. “If they were going to send another force, wouldn’t they have done that after we defeated Ciriatto and his thousand-strong Malebranche army, as opposed to some entry-level chieftain?”
“Fool.”
“What?!”
“If Farfarello were to die, Erone would remain here alone. We may not know his origins, but a Sephirah is a Sephirah. Having this force—which, I remind you, only a fragment of which allowed you to dominate an archangel in battle—lie unclaimed in Japan is something Barbariccia would never allow.”
Ashiya took a moment to survey the others in the room.
“In other words, if we ever want to stop fretting about the future, finding a way to make Farfarello return home, with Erone, in a civilized manner would be best.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Suzuno replied, poking at Ashiya’s theory. “If we allowed Farfarello safe passage back home, the entire demon realm would learn of Chiho’s presence. That would do far more to attract a second wave of attackers.”
“And that is why we must teach Ms. Sasaki the ways of holy magic as soon as possible. Why do you fail to understand this, Crestia Bell?”
“What?”
“…Oh. I think I get it.” Maou seemed to grasp Ashiya’s intent before Suzuno did. “But that’s betting on a lot, no? You think he’ll be willing to accept that?”
“We will have to make him do so, my liege. However, we must also remember the old adage of ‘expect peace, prepare for war.’”
Ashiya turned to Chiho to make his point clear. “We simply need to make them understand that His Demonic Highness is proceeding along with his ambitions for Japan, and that Ms. Sasaki is an integral part of them. The Malebranche on the Eastern Island have not abandoned their loyalty to the Devil King. If Farfarello can return home a convinced demon, that reduces the chance of Barbariccia meddling with us.”
“So basically,” a distressed Emi said, “you want to drag Chiho into the demons’ side?”
Having Chiho become an official ally of the Devil King could have long-standing repercussions. If word leaked out to the human society on Ente Isla, they might very well start seeing Chiho as a traitorous enemy to mankind.
“What’re you gonna do,” Emi continued, “if we can’t take that back later on? There’s no telling how much time we have left.”
Chiho lifted her head up at the words, but Ashiya’s firm voice rang out first.
“I have never been of the philosophy that I should stop what I am doing in life because I cannot predict what the future may bring. It is better to take action than worry about it endlessly. Besides”—taking a glance at Emi, then Suzuno—“who will the people of Ente Isla believe? The Malebranche pouring into the Eastern Island, or a counselor for the Church’s Reconciliation Panel? As long as you can keep Ms. Sasaki safe, it would be a simple matter to ensure she is not looked upon with hostility.”
Emi and Suzuno found frustratingly little to fire back with.
Suzuno had three overbearing goals in her life: rid the Church of corruption, ensure the Hero Emilia’s feats were recognized for what they were, and make Emilia the leader of a post–Devil King’s Army world. If achieving that meant protecting Chiho, this human from another planet, from Ente Isla itself, she was ready, willing, and able.
Urushihara watched as both of their faces softened. “Yeah, who knows?” he mused. “Maybe those demons’re more gullible than we thought.”
Ashiya had a point. Just because the future was murky didn’t mean wasting time in circuitous debate would accomplish anything.
“Actions over words… Imagine a demon telling me that.”
Emi put a final exclamation point on the debate.
“Very well,” Suzuno reluctantly said. “In that case, starting tomorrow, we will have Chiho engage in intensive holy-magic training. But if this puts her in danger at all, I will ensure you pay for it.”
“Well, not that I really get what’s going on, but good luck, guys. I’m heading home.” Sariel, watching the proceedings from one side, stood up. “It sounds like you all have a lot on your plate, but as long as my goddess isn’t in danger, it’s nothing to do with me. I promise I won’t meddle in your affairs, so have fun!”
No one tried to stop him. Maou and his cohorts weren’t exactly counting on him as a team member in the first place. But as he put on his shoes by the front door, Sariel found himself stopped by a voice.
“Umm…!”
“Hmm?” Sariel asked.
“I… Would you mind helping me out, Sariel? Please?”
It was Chiho.
The unexpected request aroused Emi’s concern. “Uhh, Chiho?”
“…Are you insane?” Sariel looked back at Chiho in confused scorn. “Why do I have to cooperate with anything you all are doing? We’re enemies, aren’t we? And even if we weren’t, this has absolutely nothing to do with me.”
“But that light from your eyes stopped him, didn’t it, Sariel?”
“So what? Of course it did. A Sephirah’s basically a giant ball of holy energy, so naturally the Evil Eye of the Fallen’s gonna work its stuff against it. But why does having that mean I’m obliged to work with you?”
“I know that. I’m not asking you to fight for me. Just while I’m learning this skill is fine.”
“Chiho, what are you saying? Bell and I are right here for you—”
“Well, we might not have a lot of time before something happens, but depending on what the demons decide to do, we might have more than we think, too. I don’t know how much time it’ll take, but I can’t keep Yusa away from work that whole time.”
This sudden concern for her day-to-day life took Emi by surprise. “What’re you talking about? This really isn’t the time for—”
“Sure it is. Even if we get past this, Yusa, what if you lose your paycheck next month or get fired for being out of the office too long? I’d never be able to make that up to you.”
“You are being far too anxious, Chiho. I have more than enough financial freedom to allow for an extra roommate or two, and even if Emilia does lose her job, I am sure she can find another—”
“If her friends in her next job get caught up in Ente Isla stuff, too, what then? You can’t cover everybody.”
“!”
Suzuno, recalling what Maou told her during their TV shopping trip, fell silent.
It was not exactly advisable for Emi and the rest to expand their base of human acquaintances more than necessary right now. She and Maou already had a fairly decent, stable circle of friends in the relatively narrow parts of Tokyo they frequented. The wider a radius this circle covered, though, the better the chance their enemy—whoever they turned out to be—could find a way to strike at it.
“Well…no, but…”
Emi glared mournfully at Sariel. It failed to cross her mind until now, but this archangel had injured both her body and, more deeply, her pride not long ago. The option of leaving Chiho in his hands seemed unthinkable. And Chiho had been there the whole time, too—she must have understood Emi’s misgivings.
“And I know you have work, too, Sariel, so I won’t count on you the whole time, either. I mean, maybe Yusa or Suzuno could cover for this or that day. And if you can help us…”
That was exactly why Chiho chose this moment to break out her most secret of weapons.
“I can’t promise it’ll happen immediately, but I’ll try to find a way for you to make up with Ms. Kisaki.”
“Right! Your phone done charging yet? Let’s move, Bell! Head for the other side now!”
“Yes, my lord!”
“Ugh…”
And here was the result.
The sheer amount of holy force Sariel unleashed upon the room that evening, so eager he was to mend their friendship (as if they had one in the first place), was enough to knock Ashiya out of his master-strategist speech and straight into unconsciousness.
“So you’ve been doing thi
s kind of thing in this sweltering gym all afternoon?”
Emi, fresh from work, watched the proceedings with a bored look on her face. She didn’t complain about it, though. The theory behind their training was sound enough.
“I keep having to tell ’im to take a break, or else Chi just gets too involved in it.”
“Still…if this keeps up, she might just be able to learn a skill before the end of the day, won’t she? That’s really amazing. It’s like Chiho’s a born holy-force activator.”
“Don’t let her hear that. Sariel warned me about it. She might wind up developing a spell by herself, remember.”
“Good point… Not that I think it’d be that simple for her.”
“Wow, Chi-Sis!”
Alas Ramus must have instinctively picked up on it. Her eyes were transfixed upon Chiho’s training.
“So?”
“Hmm?”
“…You really think she can have them make up?”
“…I dunno.”
That, in a way, was the anxiety none of them could banish from their hearts, more so than either Farfarello or Erone.
Having them “make up” was a fairly dicey proposal, given that their relationship this far consisted mainly of Sariel falling in love with Kisaki and eating every meal at MgRonald, not even trying to hide the fact he was pursuing her as he wasted his food budget on fattening junk. That was about the extent of it.
“But Ms. Kisaki never stopped treating Sariel like a customer, at least, so…”
In Maou’s eyes, “making up” simply meant that Kisaki’s blanket ban from allowing Sariel on premises would be lifted. That, at least, seemed sort of within the realm of possibility, but whether Sariel would be content with that was another issue entirely. For now at least, Sariel was playing the part of an eager holy-magic coach—but if they failed to provide the kind of “making up” he might be picturing, there was no telling what kind of fallout could result.
“It’s always times like these when I can’t rely on Rika, either…”
“What does Rika Suzuki have to do with this?”
“Well, it’s not like they’re rekindling some kind of romance or anything, but I thought I’d ask her if she had any tips on helping people mend fences a little. She loves gossiping about stuff like that, you know? But…you know…him.”
Emi used her eyes to point out Ashiya’s back as he watched over Chiho’s magic drills. As Emi’s coworker and friend, Rika didn’t know who she or Maou really were, but she was on at least casual terms with Maou, Chiho, and Suzuno—and, more relevantly, currently crushing on Ashiya like a hydraulic press.
“So I asked her, and she was like, ‘Ooh, I don’t think I even know myself anymore,’ so I put an end to the conversation before it descended into pajama-party gossip.”
It had become customary for Emi to arrive at her cube and see Maki Shimizu, another work acquaintance, occasionally try to unravel the cause of “don’t think I know myself anymore,” only to be dodged and verbally beaten away each time.
“…And you’re fine with that?”
“With what?”
“That.” Maou pointed out Ashiya’s back with his eyes.
Emi shrugged as she leered up at Maou. “Bell told me about it. How you’ve been lording it over her about getting too involved with relationships.”
“Not lording it up, really. I may’ve just said that it’d be arrogant of me to try and get Rika ’way from Ashiya, you know? Like we’re some kind of saints.”
“That’s what ‘lording it over’ is, you know. Not like you care where I’m coming from on this.”
“I haven’t exactly cared about what the Hero thought before now, so…”
Maou shrugged in an attempt to escape Emi’s peeved gaze. Emi kept up the effort, peering straight at Maou’s chin, but gave up after another moment or two.
“…I’m just like her, though.”
“Huh?”
Emi rested her chin on her knees and looked on as Sariel barked his orders at a huffing, puffing Chiho.
“I don’t think I know myself any longer, either, I mean. So I don’t know if I have the right to judge other people at all.”
“……”
Emi was acting remarkably reserved today. Maou had trouble figuring out how to respond.
“Don’t know yourself any longer…?”
He dodged the issue by ruminating over Emi’s words, then turning his attention away from her and toward Chiho and her trainers.
“Mmm…” Sariel pondered to himself for a moment. “If you’ve grown this adept at activating holy force, I feel we’re just one or two steps away… Right. Let’s change our approach. Bell! Send a message from your end this time! Maybe she’ll get the knack if she picks up on what it feels like to receive one.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Suzuno, on her end of the gym, raised a hand into the air. Suzuno tried to concentrate.
“But what should I send?”
Suzuno considered for a moment. “If I want her to pick up the ‘knack,’ as you say…perhaps some form of conversation would be more effective than simple sounds.” She continued muttering to herself as she called Chiho on her phone. “Some concrete keywords that will create an internal response strong enough that Chiho could pick up on it…”
Something Suzuno could easily pick up on wouldn’t be a bad idea, either, just in case she needed to hear Chiho’s response.
“…Umm.”
“What’s the problem, Bell? Move it! The radio-calisthenics song is ending!”
Suzuno failed to respond for a moment. The solution she stumbled upon was, to say the least, distressing.
“Ehm… Ahem!”
She brought the phone to her ear and coughed, a nervous habit whenever she had to ask an inconvenient question. Focusing on Chiho and her phone, unsure what was making this so embarrassing for her, she sent her an Idea Link. Thank heavens Maou wasn’t on that side of the gym.
{“Do you want, perhaps, to mar—um, become the Devil King’s lawfully wedded wife?”}
The shame made her dart around the question a little, but the final result was still more direct than she wanted it to be.
{“Waaauuuuuooooooooo!!!”}
But it had the desired effect. The next moment, a flood of powerful emotion, coupled with something like a coyote’s howl, thudded through the air and into Suzuno’s brain. The sheer force behind the feelings, represented in the volume she perceived, made Suzuno’s sight darken as though she were concussed. The resulting dizziness made her drop her phone.
“Whoa! Bell?!”
Emi stood up, realizing something was up with her. Looking toward Chiho, she found that her head now resembled something like an inflated, hyperventilating red balloon.
“H-hey… Is she okay, Emi?!”
The reaction from Suzuno was stark enough to attract even Maou’s concern. The cleric was curled up, holding her head with one hand and using the other to occasionally beat against the parquet floor, the phone, and sometimes herself.
“All-all right, I, I-I-I-I apologize! P-please, calm down a—”
“Chi?!”
“Owwwww…”
As if Suzuno’s flailing around like a fish on a dock weren’t enough, now Chiho’s own phone fell out of her hand as she slumped to the floor. Maou hurriedly ran over and grabbed her shoulders.
“Hey, Chi, are you all—”
The moment their eyes met, her irises, already wide open, expanded all the way to their physical limits.
“M-M-M-M-Mao-Mao-Mao-Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Maouuuuuuuu-ma-ma-ma-Maou-a-ma-ma-mah, nyeaggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!”
Suzuno writhed in agony, as if being physically struck with every Ma the panicked Chiho let out.
“What the hell, man? What’s happening?!”
“Bell! Bell, get ahold of yourself!”
As the two girls fell deeper into panic, Sariel sidled up to Maou’s side.
“Dahh… Hnh!”
With one fingertip tap on
her forehead, Chiho fell limp in Maou’s arms, as if fainting. As she did, Suzuno took a deep breath and sat up from Emi’s arms, released from whatever tormented her.
“Bell must have knocked on one hell of a door in her heart,” Sariel deadpanned, looking down at Chiho in exasperation.
The unconscious Chiho soon began to blink her eyes, still in a daze. The moment she recognized Maou’s face, she immediately turned her own aside, ensuring her hateful glare at Suzuno was at an angle no one else could catch.
“Well, I suppose we’ve broken through the biggest wall there. Bell must have picked up on Chiho Sasaki’s Idea Link just then.”
“!!”
Chiho was the most surprised out of all of them.
As if to back those words up, Suzuno groggily spoke.
“It was…impossibly loud.”
The training session continued until seven PM, when their gym reservation time expired. However, given how they had no idea when Farfarello and Erone might decide to strike, they opted to stay in a group as long as possible, each member leaving in the order of whose home was closest to the complex.
“You all right, Chi?”
“I-I-I’m A-Okay!”
Fresh from successfully casting her own spell (whether out of sheer coincidence or not), Chiho seemed to be keeping an oddly long distance away from Maou, hiding in Emi’s shadow ever since they left the building. Suzuno was a bit wobbly herself at first, but was now managing to maintain a decent walking pace by herself.
“So,” Sariel asked Chiho in front of his condo door. “Same time tomorrow, then?”
“Um, sure! I have work in the evening, though, so I can’t stay around for quite so long.”
“And you all?”
“Yeah, I got work in the afternoon, so Ashiya and Urushihara’ll join in instead.”
“I was kind of hoping Bell could substitute for me tomorrow, but…would you mind?”
Emi’s hands were regrettably tied during the weekdays on that front. Suzuno was still slightly dazed at Chiho’s mercilessly high-decibel scream bouncing off her cerebral cortex, but she still nodded her approval.
The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 6 Page 16
