The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 14

by Satoshi Wagahara

“Would you both like to live with me?”

  “Huh?” Acieth flashed back a look of surprise.

  “…I know we’ve all got stuff to deal with, but considering our ‘parents,’ you’re kind of like my little sister. If we’ve both got the same father anyway, don’t you think we might as well just all live together?”

  “Ohh…” The offer seemed to move Acieth from the heart. “Such the, the generosity…”

  “Y-you think? Thanks…”

  “But I think, it is not so doable right now. I cannot go away from Maou.”

  “Oh, right.” Emi instantly looked at Maou, who was seated over at the counter. He was still badgering the salesperson there with questions about his pile of scrap. Why doesn’t he just give up already? It baffled her.

  “You and Maou, you not living together, too. I ask Suzuno, and she says you will not move to Sasazuka, yes?”

  “…Yes.”

  Emi and Alas Ramus were living in Eifukucho, three rail stops away from Sasazuka and well beyond the range of Maou and Acieth’s bond.

  “Then I cannot go to your home, Emi, and also…”

  Acieth took another look behind Emi, then focused squarely upon Alas Ramus in her hands before looking back at Emi.

  “You think of me as the younger sister, Emi, but our family situation, it is really very complicated, no?”

  “…That might be true, yeah.”

  Emi grinned, understanding what Acieth was getting at. Her daughter, Alas Ramus, was Acieth’s elder sister. Acieth was also Emi’s younger sister, as they were both daughters to Nord, and Acieth’s elder sister was Emi and Maou’s daughter—but, wait, Alas Ramus and Acieth’s real “mother” was Laila, Nord’s wife.

  “Just thinking about it makes me dizzy. If this was some other situation, we’d probably be fighting over control of the family for generations to come.”

  “Yeah.”

  Emi and Acieth both had a laugh at that. The “one hell of a family discussion” Maou promised Emi in the air above Heavensky was something she couldn’t even imagine.

  “But, you know, maybe it is the complicated, but…happily for me, and my big sis, everyone… They are important to everyone else. So maybe we do the fighting, but I think it is fine. Maou, too.”

  “You…think so?”

  In the midst of their talk, Maou had changed roles from the relentless complaining customer to the one being lectured by the clerk instead. Probably related to him continuing to plug that pile of wiring into a charger, no doubt. It made Emi visibly frown.

  “Yeah! Maou, he is the liar and very dishonest with the feelings, so hard to understand…” Acieth gave another carefree smile. “But when we ride bikes across Heavensky, he called for you, too, Emi. You are both the enemy to each other before now; that I don’t know. But Maou, he thinks lots about you. I am sure.”

  The Emi of the past would’ve denied that appraisal out of hand. Now, however, there wasn’t even a shade of Emilia the Hero left in Emi’s heart.

  “Asseth, Daddy isn’t a liar!”

  Emilia Justina gave just a tiny amount of attention to the two Yesod sisters’ trivial argument as she digested Acieth’s comment. “…I know,” she said, with some trepidation.

  “Mmm? What? That Maou is bad?”

  Emi shook her head, her face tensed up. “And I know you meant what you said before, too. But…I’m not in a position to accept that.”

  “Hmm?”

  Whether she was looking out for her or simply wasn’t interested, Acieth didn’t try to ask what Emi meant by that. Probably a little bit of both, Emi thought. Just then, she noticed Maou standing up from his seat, marking the end of his conversation.

  “Guess he will not buy for me, hmm?”

  “Maybe not,” chuckled Emi. In fact, Maou looked all but defeated as he walked back. A repair was probably not in the offing for him.

  “…They said I gotta buy a new one.”

  “Oh? Then go pick it out.”

  “Ughh…”

  Despite having the freedom to switch to a new phone model with someone else’s money, Maou’s expression was glum.

  “What? Emi, she will buy the new one for you!”

  “He must have an attachment to the old one,” Emi observed. “He doesn’t want to let it go.”

  “Oh? That is the thought of him?”

  “Well, it’s the first one he ever bought. He’s been through thick and thin with it.”

  Her guess wasn’t wrong. They had spent enough time together by now that she could easily picture what ran through his mind—including all the reluctance at purchasing a new phone.

  “Daddy looks sad,” a worried Alas Ramus said as she looked at his back, Emi sighing in agreement.

  “Oh, Emi?”

  Then she stood up and headed for the counter that Maou was seated at a moment ago. “Would you be able,” she asked the clerk, “to back up his data, at least?”

  “Mmm, it might be hazardous, but since it still connects to a charger, it should be able to read off data as well. It’s plugged in right now.”

  The clerk gave Emi a dubious look, unsure how she was related to Maou. Maybe, carrying the baby and all, she thought Emi and him were family, at least—but if so, Acieth must’ve looked pretty weird with them. But that didn’t matter to Emi right now.

  “His phone’s pretty old. I don’t think it even accepts any external media—but AE has a service that backs up your texts and photos and phone book and stuff, right? I’ll have him sign a data-loss waiver if it doesn’t work, so would you be able to try it?”

  “…One moment, please.”

  The clerk stood up and walked off, looking downright flustered and no doubt seeking a manager for assistance. Really, Emi was being unreasonable—it would be dangerous to plug anything into the data port of a phone this damaged. But Emi also knew that this level of “unreasonable” was generally allowed from the customer side. To their owners, phones these days contained features and memories that went far beyond just another gadget. The photos and videos they stored often held much more sentimental importance than anything shot with a “real” camera.

  “Emi…?”

  She could hear the surprise in his voice, but she didn’t turn around. If she did, she feared she’d blurt out something weird again.

  Luckily, the clerk returned before Maou could ask any questions.

  “Thanks for waiting. We can’t guarantee that we can make a complete copy of your data, but we’d be happy to attempt to extract it for you. If that’s all right with you…”

  “All right. That’s fine. Hey, Maou?” she called back.

  “Uh, yeah…”

  “They said they’ll extract the data from this junk for you. If it works out okay, you can carry that data over to your new phone. It probably can’t be a smartphone then, but still…”

  The advent of smartphones meant that the same phone models were now on offer from multiple carriers, but since Maou’s old phone was likely using some ancient and proprietary OS available nowhere else, its data might not be easily carried over to a modern smartphone. As a result, it was best for him to move over to another feature phone that was (hopefully) compatible with that proprietary software.

  “C’mere a sec. They won’t do it unless you sign a waiver in case they lose your data.”

  “Oh…”

  Maou returned to the counter, beckoned by Emi, and signed the document presented to him. With a light bow, the clerk took his phone to the back room of the store. Maou watched her go, as if bewitched.

  “What’s with that face?”

  “N-no, um… Why did you…?”

  Why, his eyes were telling her, did you do this without me even prompting you?

  “You put a reflector on your current bicycle in a really weird place, didn’t you?”

  “Huh?”

  She was referring to Dullahan II, Maou’s favorite vehicle. The basket on the front of it had the reflector from the original Dullahan (destroyed by Suz
uno a while back) glued to it, but he didn’t think he had ever mentioned that to Emi. Just as he started to ask why she’d brought it up, Emi took the wind from his sails yet again:

  “What, you didn’t think I’d carefully examine anything you let Alas Ramus ride on?”

  “Uh, n-no…”

  She was able to accurately guess at nearly every thought in Maou’s mind—and Emi had yet to realize that this actually didn’t feel all that bad to her.

  “Your phone book and past texts,” she continued without picking up Maou’s feelings, “are like the soul of your phone, you know? Having those carried over ought to make you feel a lot better about it. I dealt with a lot of customers like that, and…” Then she stopped, edging away from Maou a bit, fearing she had talked for too long. “…I don’t want you,” she continued, her voice deliberately cold, “to be unhappy with this phone I’m buying you and punish me with a higher invoice.”

  She knew, of course, that Maou would never do that. But she said it anyway—for Maou’s sake, and for her own.

  “So which one do you want? It’s almost naptime for Alas Ramus, so try to hurry up.”

  “Um, yeah…”

  Maou walked back to the showcase, pulled over there by Emi’s stern words, and grabbed a showfloor model of the closest silver-shelled phone.

  Acieth, watching them carry on, sank into the sofa with a wry smile.

  “It seems like such the pain,” she stated bluntly, her low whisper indicating she also kind of enjoyed it. “That family discussion, it will be quite the pain in the butt, no?”

  THE HERO IS AMAZED BY THE ENEMY GENERAL’S VAST POWERS

  It was by sheer coincidence that Suzuno sensed something was off with a sight that had grown all too familiar in recent days. You could say the morning sun just happened to cast its light against it, there in their shared hallway, or perhaps her eyes caught sight of it when she bent over to pick up the key she dropped while locking the door.

  “D-Devil King…?”

  “Mm? Oh, you’re leaving this early?”

  The easygoing reply came from Sadao Maou, the human form of the Lord of All Demons who’d come within a stone’s throw of taking over the world once, but who was now her next-door neighbor.

  “…Why’re you all hunched-over like that?”

  “N-no reason…”

  That wasn’t true. However, even if Suzuno pointed out the cause, what could she do about it? Considering the nature of their relationship, Suzuno had no motivation to actively save Maou from the…issue befalling him. They had grown closer lately as neighbors, she had been forcibly named a general in his army the other day, and overall, she couldn’t deny that things were evolving between them in a way they hadn’t before. But if some misfortune were to befall him, her reaction normally would’ve been to point and laugh.

  Right now, though, despite that, the sight presented before Suzuno, were she to go through with that, would’ve made her seem so low, so petty. Whether he was her enemy or not—or, really, because he was her enemy—his encountering this kind of trouble was something she never wanted to see. So, after weighing Maou’s good reputation against her own sense of shame, she opted to point it out. Just not directly.

  “D-Devil King, um, what is the matter with Alciel?”

  Her plan-B strategy began with asking about Shirou Ashiya—the Great Demon General Alciel, faithful servant of Maou, a domestic god, and truly the ideal househusband in every way.

  “Oh, um, he found a temp job he has to stay out overnight for, so he won’t be back until tonight.”

  “Wh-what?”

  The news filled Suzuno with despair. It also made her understand why the sight before her was being exposed to the public in the first place. There was no way Ashiya, someone keenly aware of his master’s social standing, would allow this to go unnoticed.

  “Uh, did you need Ashiya for something?”

  “No, umm, that, I was planning to visit the morning market today and I thought I would discuss it with him…but…”

  She wasn’t lying. If they happened to come across each other, they would at least exchange pleasantries along those lines. But, in the end, it was both a lie and an escape for her.

  “Are, are you going to work, Devil King?”

  “Yeah. Just a half-day shift today… Aaaand I’m outta time. See you.”

  “Ah…”

  With a glance at his watch, Maou turned around without bothering to wait for Suzuno’s response and headed out. He left her still crouched down there as he mounted his Dullahan II city fixie and sped off, the sound fading in the distance.

  All she could do was watch as he disappeared.

  “Chi, um…do you think you should just tell him?”

  “I can’t! I could never do that…!”

  Chiho Sasaki—a walking embodiment of high morals, politeness, and good habits, dressed in a MgRonald uniform—might very well have defied her boss’s will for the first time in her work career just now.

  There was nothing at all unusual with Maou’s behavior. He was beavering away behind the counter, a refreshing smile on his face. But Mayumi Kisaki, manager at the MgRonald restaurant in front of Hatagaya Station, and Chiho Sasaki, who knew much more about Maou’s life and history than she’d ever be able to reveal to the public, simply had to talk about him today.

  Would telling the man himself, though, really be an act of kindness? That was where the pair’s conversation began.

  “No, I think if you told him, that’d keep the damage to a minimum…”

  “But I can’t, I… I could just never say it. I mean, if I did, you know he’ll ask how I noticed in the first place…”

  “How? Hell, I noticed it from my height. There’s nothing weird about it.”

  “B-but Maou’s a man, and if he has a girl tell him, I think that’d hurt his feelings. Personally, Ms. Kisaki, I think it’d hurt him the least if you phrased it like an order to him…”

  “You say that, but for today at least, it’s fine. I don’t have any right to criticize how he handles himself outside the workplace… Don’t you think it’d be nicer if someone with more of a private rapport with him just kind of, you know, gave a hint?”

  “N-no, but…”

  “Shirking responsibility” was never a term anyone would use to describe Chiho or Kisaki. Except today.

  The utterly unproductive conversation continued anon. Yes, Chiho knew Maou in his personal life, but bringing up such a delicate issue would make anybody hesitate a little. But then she remembered that in said “private rapport,” she had just been placed in a position she knew Maou thought of as terribly important. A position that, by her connection to Maou, gave her a certain amount of responsibility for him.

  “It’s just so strange, though. You’d think that Ashiya— Oh, um, that’s the name of Maou’s roommate, but…”

  “I know him; he’s come to the restaurant a few times. That tall man he was with a little bit ago, right?”

  Chiho recalled the name of Shirou Ashiya, Maou’s closest confidant and general. With someone that careful, that exact with every aspect of home life, how could he let this happen? She couldn’t even imagine.

  “Right, right. He had to have noticed that. Ashiya handles all the laundry and housework, so there’s no way he couldn’t have.”

  “Well, you never know, though. Because I really don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before. It’s not something you’re looking out for unless you know it’s there.”

  “Yeah, but if you’re folding it up and putting it back in your dresser, for example, you’ve got to notice it then, right?”

  “Or maybe it doesn’t show up unless you’re actually wearing it? If it’s just a white blotch like that, maybe you wouldn’t notice it…”

  The two of them were discussing Maou’s wardrobe. He was wearing the standard MgRonald red polo shirt, like always, matched with flat-front black pants that gave him a slim silhouette, a red visor, and a pair of cheap black lea
ther shoes. At a glance, the outfit wouldn’t look out of place on any of the thousands of male MgRonald employees in Japan and around the world.

  “Well, look, as I said, I can’t say anything to him about his life outside these walls. So please, Chi. I know Marko means a lot to you. Either give it to him straight, or go tell his friend Ashiya, or something. Just figure out a way to keep from hurting his feelings as much as possible, okay?”

  “M-Ms. Kisaki! If you put it that way…!”

  “Because I know I’m your manager, but there’s just some things I can’t do, Chi!”

  “Ughhh, I can’t do this… What am I even supposed to say…?”

  Kisaki all but fled the scene, a distressed look on her face, as Chiho was almost driven to tears. Wow, the carefree Maou thought, noticing this. That’s rare. Did Chi do something wrong to anger her?

  As the evening sun set beyond the town of Sasazuka, Emi spotted him. She thought about saying something, but before she could take in any breath, the air stopped cold in her throat.

  “Pmfggh!”

  Then she reflexively blocked the mouth of her daughter, who was about to comment on the same thing.

  “…Mommy?”

  Alas Ramus, in Emi’s arms, turned a concerned eye to her behavior. Emi had no time to answer her. That had to be Maou in front of her, walking his bike along, with Chiho right next to him. Chiho had mentioned that they were both working the day shift today, so their being together wasn’t an issue. She was in street clothes, carrying what looked like an insulated bag—food she’d be bringing along to Devil’s Castle tonight, no doubt.

  But what, of all things, could that be? She knew that Maou was living life on the barest shoestring of a budget, but didn’t it shame him at all to go around exposing that to the world? He tended to at least keep a bare minimum of decent attire on him at all times; that’s how he retained his pride as Devil King.

  So maybe he hadn’t noticed? Could be.

  Because there wouldn’t be any way to, in that location. If it were folded up neatly, even, it’d be impossible to pick up on.

  Then, upon reaching that conclusion, a question flashed across Emi’s brain: What was Ashiya doing—the Great Demon General, Maou’s most talented of servants? Didn’t it embarrass him, having his master go around like that? It hardly mattered to Emi how much Maou publicly embarrassed himself, of course. If anything, she should be talking behind his back to the entire world about this—and then, as the Hero who saved a world he had nearly placed on the brink of destruction, she ought to whip out her holy sword and drive it straight into his back.