The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 8 Page 6

  “…How should I know what humans are thinking?”

  “Even now, my liege? After you resolved to stay in this world in order to investigate the human race’s thought process?”

  Ashiya’s voice remained calm, but just like Chiho, he was poking right at the contradictions in Maou’s mind that the Demon King was doggedly clinging to. He was up to the task, because he knew Maou better than anyone else in the world. Few subordinates are more valuable to a boss than the one capable of giving things to him straight.

  “Apart from Emeralda Etuva and Albert Ende, it is safe to say that Emilia can call not a single soul an ally in Ente Isla. The power brokers in the Church are against her, Barbariccia and his Malebranche horde are against her…even the very heavens are against her. And if they learned somehow that Emilia has ventured into their own territory, I am certain they would be watching with bated breath.”

  Emeralda had undoubtedly done everything she could to keep a lid on it. But it was easy to imagine that both she and Albert were under constant surveillance by any number of forces. She herself had escaped confinement at the hands of the Church, publicly contesting them over their official position that Emilia the Hero was dead. That surveillance was going nowhere as long as Suzuno continued to fail to do the Church’s bidding. If someone had picked up on Emeralda’s movements and decided to act on them, what would happen if they set the sort of trap Suzuno was picturing in her mind?

  “Well…I’d guess taking someone hostage would be easiest, wouldn’t it?”

  “Indeed, my liege. That may not necessarily be Emeralda Etuva. It does not matter who, really, as long as it makes Emilia hold her sword. If the person means enough to Emilia, they could serve as the perfect shield against her godlike force. Nothing could be more human, could it?”

  “Yeah, no. The whole idea of a hostage didn’t exist in the demon realms before I unified it, and none of the humans were ever goofy enough to take a demon hostage. But why would someone on Ente Isla want to go that far against Emi? She’s still the savior of their world, isn’t she?”

  It seemed to Maou that nobody on Ente Isla had any reason to actively oppose Emilia the Hero. She had insurmountable strength. And what would lobbing stones at the savior accomplish for anyone?

  “There is little we can do about it now, but… Your Demonic Highness, I fear that naming Emilia and Bell your Demon Generals when Farfarello left us was something of a blunder.”

  Maou gave Ashiya a look. It was a sore topic to him as well.

  “When I heard about that,” Ashiya continued, voice taking an admonished tone, “I thought at first it was part of an attempt to eliminate Emilia and Bell from our lives…but that was not the case, was it?”

  Here we go again, Maou, thought. Back into lecture mode. His face tightened.

  “Look, I know I was kinda caught up in the feeling and all back there, but I kinda had to, in a way. It guaranteed Chiho would stay safe, and it’d keep the demons from screwing around in Japan any longer. I mean, once Barbariccia knew Emi was alive, he was ready to attack Earth pretty much immediately.”

  Ashiya nodded.

  Maou had enough respect for his demon citizens that he never wanted them to waste their lives in pointless wars. The encounter with Ciriatto in Choshi proved to the Malebranche’s leaders that a face-to-face struggle against Emi would end in failure, whether she had all her force back or not. No matter what was motivating Barbariccia to step away from the demon-realm mainstream, neither Emi nor Suzuno would be willing to have him actively meddle with Japan any further.

  In order to eliminate that cause, Maou had to prove that the demon enemies of the past were no longer enemies. It was something he could only show him in Devil King form. And it was the correct approach. It was correct, but…

  “Do you realize, Your Demonic Highness, that naming these three new Great Demon Generals comes at the expense of the safety of Japan and Ms. Sasaki, as well as the safety of Emilia and Bell in Ente Isla?”

  Maou gamely opened his mouth.

  “Um, what? We’ve got Suzuno and Emi here… Farfarello would’ve reported back to Efzahan about it… Barbariccia’s firmly established in the Eastern Island…”

  He waggled a finger into the air as he organized his thoughts.

  “……Oh.”

  Then he brought a hand to his face.

  “Ohhhhh, the humans are gonna be so pissed! They think Emi and Suzuno did a heel turn on them!”

  “You truly did…not understand that?”

  Ashiya sighed.

  “I doubt they would believe it immediately, no,” he continued. “The rumor would come from demon mouths, Emilia is supposed to be dead, and Bell’s mission remains a secret one, as far as we know. But it would be more than enough to make the more doubtful of them take action.”

  Just like Suzuno said. A new assassin, perhaps, or a large army of humans. He thought he was rid of the demon threat, and instead he had inadvertently put Emi and Suzuno in danger.

  “Okay, but…but in that case, why did they…?”

  Suzuno had just called herself a Demon General, albeit half-jokingly. And apart from the first day, it seemed like Emi tolerated it, too, in order to keep Chiho safe.

  “They accepted it, I am sure. They accepted the danger, too, I imagine, as a suitable risk in exchange for Ms. Sasaki’s safety. Emilia resolved to return home, after all, because of the concerns she voiced about having to be more proactive, did she not?”

  “…Well.”

  “They were both aware of those risks, and they said nothing about it. Out of respect for Ms. Sasaki, to some extent…but perhaps, I think, they wanted the status quo between us to be sustained. We remain in conflict, of course, but now we share our evening meals around the same table.”

  “And what do you think of that?”

  “At this point, my liege, as long as you can fulfill your ultimate ambition to take over the world, it no longer greatly matters to me what approach you deign to take. I do find the idea of aligning with our bitterest of enemies rather disdainful, yes, but…”

  Maou gave an annoyed look at Ashiya’s barefaced rebuttal. Ashiya looked on with a half smile before quickly growing stern again.

  “And I have been thinking, Your Demonic Highness… Which one of these forces is clearly seeking Emilia’s physical body?”

  “Huh?”

  “Emilia possesses a strong body and an indomitable spirit. No regular human could force her to submit in any conceivable way. She would immediately seize the first opportunity available and slash right through it.”

  “What’re you getting at?”

  “Which one of the players here, my liege, sees value to Emilia apart from her strength in battle?”

  “…Wait, are you kidding me?”

  The faces of the many angels who had confronted him in their search for Emi’s sword, Alas Ramus, and the Yesod fragments flashed back into Maou’s mind. If her suspicion was right and Emilia was in trouble after all, the repercussions might even affect their adopted child.

  “But that’s all just speculation, isn’t it?”

  Suddenly, they heard a sliding door open. Urushihara popped out of the closet, carrying a drawer from the miniature chest he had installed in there without permission.

  “I dunno if Ente Isla’s and Earth’s calendars are running at the same speed or whatever. And it’s not like the horse wagons always come on schedule like the trains in Japan, y’know? Emeralda Etuva had to get the schedule aligned to make this visit work, so maybe they’re just having a hard time getting the timing right.”

  Urushihara placed the drawer on the ground and fumbled through its contents.

  “Not that we’re ones to talk, but it’s not like there’s gonna be a ton of working infrastructure where they are. Not after our armies destroyed most of it. So maybe she’s too used to things in Japan, so she wound up getting delayed over there.”

  “…Sounds pretty optimistic to me.”

  “Yea
h, but Chiho Sasaki’s being way too pessimistic. The day’s not even over yet and she’s probably crying her eyes out back home, dude. And you talked about never taking hostages, but my Western Island forces took a crapload of Saint Aile officials hostage. I mean, geez, we had Emeralda Etuva for a while. But that sure as hell didn’t stop Emilia from saving them all and beating the crap out of us, y’know? It’s kinda hard to think that, like, there’s a hostage that’s keeping her from acting at all.”

  There was something convincing about the argument, given that it came from someone who took on Emi twice and lost majorly both times. Emi certainly had enough pure strength to smash through whatever devious tricks someone might play on her.

  “So, like, let’s just try waiting a bit, okay? I get that you’re worried about Alas Ramus, but you know she’s gonna be fine as long as Emilia’s still alive. At the very least, you know there’s nobody here or on Ente Isla who could kill her right now.”

  Urushihara picked up the drawer, never removing anything from it in the end, and took it back to the closet before bringing out another drawer.

  “Let’s just wait and see what Bell tries to do. You know Emilia wouldn’t want you to do anything for her anyway, right, Maou? Like, no matter how bad off she was.”

  It was true. If anything, doing too much for her would just make her all angry again.

  “…Ashiya. Urushihara.”

  “Yes, my liege?”

  “Mmm?”

  Maou grinned a bit as he took a breath.

  “Sorry about before. I’m a little calmer now.”

  Then he turned back toward the computer.

  “For now, I’m just gonna focus on what’s in front of me. Once she comes back, I’m gonna shove my license in her face and pick on her about being late. As much as I can ’til she snaps, y’know?”

  “…”

  “Sounds great to me, dude… Damn, where did I put it? He left it here last time… I don’t think I threw it out.”

  Ashiya gave a silent bow behind Maou’s back as Urushihara took out a third drawer, apparently searching for something.

  Emi never made it back that day, either, but—on the surface, at least—it was just another day in Devil’s Castle.

  Thus, in the end, Maou found himself forced to take the exam a second time. He didn’t want to play the blame game too much, but Ashiya’s and Chiho’s words for him had thrown off his concentration.

  He had named Emi a Great Demon General, yes, and he also declared that he would help her find a new calling in life. And Ashiya wasn’t just idly speculating, either. The heavens wanted Emi’s body, and if they found out what she was up to, it was a given that they’d take a rather predictable strategy.

  But after he attempted to wrest Emi’s holy sword from her, Sariel’s love for Maou’s boss had turned him completely into a typical Japanese man. There was no sign he was staying in contact with the heavens at all. And Gabriel, just as powerful as Sariel, was no match at all for Emi. A tandem archangel strike might be one thing—but if they pulled something like that off, they’d have heard of it, whether it was in Japan or not. Ente Islans would be able to pick up on their holy force, which made it all the more perplexing that Emi wasn’t back yet.

  That was what dominated Maou’s mind to the point that he put his test answers one column off from where they should have been. And now it was exactly two weeks since the day Emi was supposed to return home.

  Suzuno had been working out her plans the whole time, evidently. She was in the midst of procuring an amplifier in Japan strong enough for the complex spell she had concocted to send an untraceable Idea Link. She had tried a few experimental sonar transmissions, and she was also trying to track down Albert, Emi’s other friend. About everything she could do from Japan, Maou supposed. The effort meant that Suzuno’s room was filled with strange-looking objects serving as amplifiers, as well as pages upon pages of magical incantations. It looked like she had signed on for some kind of cult, and so far, it had provided zero results.

  The only thing they were reasonably sure about was that Emi and Emeralda were not back in Japan. The last Gate opened between Japan and Ente Isla was the one Emeralda showed up to control and Emi used to make her travels.

  Chiho had grown increasingly taciturn during her work shifts. Kisaki, unaware of what had happened, even voiced concerns that Maou had made an indelicate pass at her again. And between the failed exam and the general weirdness of a life without Emi in it, Maou must have been acting differently as well.

  “If you need to talk to me about something,” Kisaki told him, “I’m right here, you know.”

  He shouldn’t have had anything to discuss. His sworn enemy was gone. It was so freeing to them that Ashiya seriously suggested going out for yakiniku.

  “Look, no,” Maou told himself, recalling the results of the last test. “I’m just worried about Alas Ramus, is all.”

  A truly gifted liar lies only about the most important of matters. Otherwise, he tries his best to tell the truth and avoid suspicion. Telling a lie to someone else is bad enough, but sometimes, the lies you tell yourself can be even more deceitful in nature. They eat at your soul, making it retreat inward.

  It was true that he was worried about Alas Ramus. But Maou himself knew that it was more than that. And trying to weasel out of that with logic—feeling the need to weasel out of it at all—annoyed him.

  “Next stop, Observatoryyyy,” the bus driver said through the PA in the classic drone all public transit employees in the world use. The bus glided to a stop. They were about halfway between Chofu Station’s north exit and the test center; this stop served the entrance to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, stationed in the city of Mitaka.

  “Phew! We have made it!” said a haggard-sounding voice from the bus’s rear entrance. Maou looked behind him to find a small woman in a pair of khaki overalls and a newsboy cap that almost covered her eyes being joined by a man in a business suit.

  “C’mon, Pop, hurry!”

  “Yes, yes… Oof.”

  They must have been father and daughter.

  It hadn’t occurred to him before now, but it turned out the name of the bus stop was pretty accurate. A gate was perched on top of a small, tree-lined hill, giving the area a university-like feel.

  “Huh. So that’s what’s up there?”

  Considering all the light pollution in Tokyo, the presence of an observatory so close by came as a surprise to him. Mitaka was a pretty big town, a bedroom community for Tokyo—something it had been for ages. He doubted anyone could see too many stars with the naked eye from here, at least…

  That was about the extent to which Maou’s brain could keep itself occupied with this new, unusual-looking presence. He decided to spend the rest of the trip studying.

  “All aboard, please…”

  With a jolt, the bus sprang forward. This bus stop was on a hill, and the resulting rocky start caused the study book to fall right out of Maou’s hand.

  “Oop.”

  “Oh?” said one of the passengers standing by him. The book had fallen right on her foot.

  “S-sorry.”

  “Oh, no, it is good!”

  It was the girl in the newsboy cap. For a moment, Maou felt a little awkward about reaching out to her body in a public area. The girl came to his rescue, deftly bending over without touching anyone else and handing the book back to Maou.

  “Here!”

  “Oh, thanks.”

  The cap was down enough over her face that Maou couldn’t get a clear look at it, but she didn’t sound angry, at least. In fact, she was smiling at him, hand outstretched. But…

  “…”

  “Ummm…”

  Why was she staring so intently at the hand Maou was using to take the book? He grasped it now, but she refused to loosen her own grip on it. A little tug-of-war game was starting to ensue.

  “Ummmmm…”

  “…snif.”

  Did she not hear him
? No, she had to have. But she was still in that same position, hand on the book. After a moment:

  “…snif.”

  “Um, hey…”

  She was trying to take Maou’s hand, book and all, and bring it to her face. He was unable to surrender his book, but equally unable to accept this loony behavior, either.

  “Hey, what’re…?”

  He pulled his hand back, only to have it grabbed by her own. Maou wasn’t the type of young man to derive pleasure from this. They were in public, besides. He tried to wrest his hand back, instinctively trying to defend himself.

  “I just need one of the moments.”

  “Huuuh?”

  The girl refused to let go. Then—

  “…snif.”

  She was smelling his hand?

  “H-hey!”

  This was getting too creepy even for Maou. He gave his arm another tug, this one stronger. This one was successful, although it meant giving up the book. Maou gave the girl a puzzled look, while she flashed a dissatisfied frown.

  “Look, uh…the book, please?”

  Maou really didn’t want to talk to this disaster any longer, but he couldn’t just give up something he bought with his own money. He had memorized every word of the book by now, so it had no value to him, but it was the principle of the thing.

  Then…

  “…Tsubasa.”

  A new voice called out to the girl.

  “Yes, Pop!”

  It was the man in the suit who joined her on the bus. Oh, right—they were related to each other. Looking at the presumable father, Maou could tell he definitely took good care of himself, although he clearly wasn’t Japanese by race. Come to think of it, there was something a bit weird about the girl’s vocabulary here and there. Maybe they’d immigrated here.

  The father took the book from the girl he called Tsubasa and offered it to Maou again.

  “Pardon us for the troubles.”

  “Oh, n-no…”

  This guy seemed normal, at least, although Maou still wanted him out of his life ASAP. Maou opened the book and took his eyes away from the two of them, not bothering with politeness any longer. But:

  “You apologize to young man, too, Tsubasa.”