The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 1 (10 page)

Back in their apartment, the Devil King and his aide-de-camp discussed their current pressing issues.

The texts they received the previous night from Chiho and an unknown number both discussed earthquakes.

Maou had replied to both, but the mystery texter fell silent after that. Meanwhile, Chiho wrote:

I’m not playing around and it’s not a joke. I think an earthquake’s coming. —Chiho

It was a little difficult to decipher the meaning behind such a clipped response. For one, why did she sign her name at the end of every text? In emoji, no less?

After a few more texts, Chiho clarified that she believed an earthquake had a chance of occurring sometime soon. She went on to explain why, but Maou offered to meet her this evening anyway, since it seemed like direct conversation was the easiest way to get to the bottom of this.

“What did Sasaki tell you?”

“Something about hearing a voice.”

“Huh?”

“A man’s voice. She said it was giving her some kind of weird warning or something.”

“That doesn’t make sense. This isn’t a movie or an anime. You don’t see high school girls suddenly get telepathic messages out of nowhere.”

“Yeah, I thought she was just having weird teenage delusions, too. At first.”

Maou smiled grimly.

“The thing is, I figured she’d have a more grandiose story behind it, but apparently Chi started having strange experiences once she got hired at MgRonald.”

“Once she made contact with you, my liege? That’s when it began?”

“‘Made contact’ isn’t exactly the term I’d use, but you could say that, yeah. She started to have ringing in her ears, and whenever there was an earthquake, it’d be huge only in the area around Chi. You know, I may not look it, but I’m still king of the demon realm, right?”

“Absolutely. And you do not, my liege.”

“…
Meaning
, it wouldn’t be strange at all if even my mere presence was having an effect on the people and things around me. I
am
Devil King, after all.”

An unaware observer could be excused for thinking Maou was the one with weird teenage delusions at this point.

“But in that case, why aren’t you affecting anyone else on the MgRonald staff?”

“Who knows? Maybe they just haven’t noticed. Or, it’s entirely possible that Chi’s just imagining things. But we
did
just kinda get attacked with bolts of magic, and Emi got that death threat, too, right? I don’t know who we’re fighting, but it’s possible they figured out who we are so they could put more pressure on us. And in the worst case…”

“In the worst case, you think Chiho might be the enemy’s advance party?”

“I don’t want to think that, but…yeah. Anyway, we have to explore every possibility, no matter how remote.”

“I understand, Your Demonic Highness. But…in that case, I wish to accompany you. If whoever attacked you last night is involved in this, it would be best to have as many eyes out on the street as possible.”

“Ah, you just want to see Chi, don’t you?”

Maou needled Ashiya, a mischievous look on his face. Ashiya responded with a defiant sneer.

“If I may, Your Demonic Highness… If I were not holding watch over it, I have little doubt you’d forget about how your bank account is empty and treat Sasaki to all sorts of things in a crass attempt to show off. And if our enemy
does
appear, if we do not discover and dispatch him quickly, you will become the laughingstock of the demon realm. ‘Oh, look, there’s the Devil King flirting with a teenage girl!’”

Even the mighty Devil King fell to silence against such infallible logic.

“So where and when are you planning to meet her, and how long will you be out?”

“What are you, my mother?! She said she had some kind of club activity after school, so we’re meeting at the Shinjuku station east exit at five.”

“Ah, so we have time. Shall we go, Your Demonic Highness?”

“Huh?”

Maou watched, puzzled, as Ashiya began to leave anew, just a few minutes after they reached home.

“We must go shopping, and then to the barber shop. Surely, Your Demonic Highness, you did not intend to go out on a date with your messy hair and head-to-toe UniClo wardrobe?”

“Who
cares
about my clothes and stuff? We’re just gonna have some coffee, talk for a bit, and then sayonara! We don’t have to make it a—”

“
If
a young girl is facing trouble, she would never deign to discuss it with anyone but her closest of friends. Not even her parents. Surely, Your Demonic Highness, you understand the meaning behind confiding such close, intimate secrets to another person.”

Having it thrust upon him like this, he could see the logic.

“All…all right. Sure.”

“Wonderful. And I would hate to think that a human girl would think that my lofty master cares naught about how he looks on his day off. You must strike a lasting presence at all times! Clothes, my liege, make the man!”

Maou finally found something to fire back while Ashiya strode briskly out the door.

“I will make you rue the day you berated my clothing!… And berated UniClo, the fastest-growing apparel franchise in all of Japan!”

The Dokodemo call center was open for business until five p.m. on weekends and holidays. Emi herself left the office half an hour later.

Thanks to Maou and Ashiya wasting the entirety of her lunch break in extravagant fashion, her job performance through the afternoon severely lacked in enthusiasm. She had grown pale enough that Rika, in the adjacent cube, grew concerned for her health.

“Hey, why don’t you take off a little early today?”

“Yeah…I think I should.”

“I don’t know if something happened, but…try to feel better, okay?”

“Thanks…”

Emi smiled limply.

As Rika saw her off, Emi plunged into the hustle and bustle of
Shinjuku, bobbing against the constant waves of people as she walked on.

What great crime had she committed, which she could only repay by serving as the personal reference for her sworn enemies? She had been floating helplessly amid the punishing currents of modern society, and the next thing she knew, there were now multiple official, signed government documents claiming she was a close relation to the Devil King.

It was the ultimate humiliation.

The Keio-line entrance Emi used was near the west exit of Shinjuku station. From the east exit, she preferred to use an underground corridor that kept her going forward without being cut off by traffic signals and excess crowds. Today, though, the steep stairway that led to the corridor seemed like nothing less than the descent into a pit of darkness.

“…I can’t stand it.”

That was why, as she descended the steps, she hoped to write off the figure she had noticed for just a moment, passing by her amid the shops and restaurants to one side, as a figment of her exhaustion. But she reconsidered, feeling that her pride as the Hero was now at stake. Drumming up all the courage that remained in her heart, she approached the figure from behind and pulled at his shoulder.

“What are you doing here, Ashiya?”

“Aghh!”

Seeing Ashiya in the city center like this, it was even clearer how much taller than average he was.

“E-E-Emili—”

“Emi. Emi Yusa. Don’t you think you should be more careful with calling people by their real names in front of everyone, Ashiya?”

“Ngh…hh…”

Ashiya groaned, a twisted look on his face.

“You’re acting weird right now. I can tell. I even thought you were stalking someone.”

“Gahh!”

Ashiya’s face grew even more contorted.

“Oh, bingo, huh? I’m impressed security hasn’t stopped to question you.”

Emi had noticed Ashiya because he was hiding behind a station support column, sticking his head out into the corridor like he was playing hide-and-seek with the rest of the world. Actually, forget that. Real hide-and-seek players would’ve been far less conspicuous than that.

“It…it’s nothing to do with you! Begone!”

Judging by that panicked response, she had caught him at a pretty bad time. Something in Emi’s mind kept her from dropping the subject.

“Oh, is
that
how you treat the woman who sprung you from custody, Ashiya?”

“Yooou! That was just a small favor! Don’t go bandying it about like some great, hallowed treasure!”

“You demons certainly are ungrateful, aren’t you? And besides, did you think a Hero would simply let you go unchecked after she discovered you?”

“I did not, but…please, just let it go for now!”

“I never let you go during your demon days. Why should I start now?”

Opting to ignore Ashiya for the moment, Emi scanned the area he was standing guard over.

“Ah! Wait! No!”

Pushing the flailing Ashiya back, Emi realized that the demon’s previous guard post was directly facing a small café. It was your typical chain café, like any of a million others, but over there, on one of the tables lining the front glass…

“Whoa…”

Emi gasped.

“Ahhhh! Forgive me, my liege…!”

Ashiya began to moan loudly behind her.

“Ow! Alci—
Ashiya
! What’s
that
all about?”

“I’ll never breathe a word! Figure it out yourself!”

“Figure it out? Figure it out
how
?!”

She had been greeted with a startling image.

It was Maou and that teen from MgRonald he called “Chi”—chatting with each other like best friends! No matter how one looked at it, they were a couple in the middle of a date. Maou had even transformed himself in the meantime, looking like he jumped right out of a “Modern Sassy Studs” feature in a fashion magazine. The before-and-after juxtaposition was more incredulous than weight-loss infomercials.

“You!”

“Wh-what?!”

The look of sheer spite on Emi’s face as she turned around made Ashiya instinctively take a step back.

“What are you two going to
do
to that girl, you bastard?!”

“Gah…!”

Ashiya stood motionless, stunned by the sudden, shocking accusation lodged by this woman—this Hero, no less.

“Here you are, you two demons—the Devil King parading this cute little high schooler around, and you watching in the shadow—you
degenerates
!”

“Degen…! E-Emi—no, Emi! Please, just listen to—”

“And I honestly thought you two were trying to live decent lives in Japan! Boy, was
I
wrong!”

“Y-you have it all wrong! I-I don’t know what you’re thinking of, but my liege has not a single perverse thought in his mind when he—”

“How could a Devil King
not
be perverse?!”

Emi’s logic was undeniably sound.

“Please, just listen to me!”

Driven halfway to tears, Ashiya tried his best to explain the story to the highly irritated Emi.

The girl was Chiho Sasaki, an employee at Maou’s workplace, and she was first to voice her desire to talk things over with him. Maou had agreed in hopes of gaining clues to restoring his magical force, and he would never,
ever
harm her in the process. Ashiya tried
to seem as sincere as possible (by demon standards) as he told the tale.

Emi had no intention of taking Ashiya’s words at face value, but they were still enough to keep her from immediately rushing in to slay the Devil King where he sat.

“Do…do you see now?”

Gingerly, Ashiya asked for a response.

“I can see that my sworn enemy is looking absolutely ridiculous, yes.”

“Nnghh… I am sorry…”

“You should be. But why does he have to go on a date with her? Couldn’t they just call or text each other?”

“I thought so as well. But she wanted to meet him directly, so here we are. Judging by what I’ve seen, I think this girl Chiho has at least a passing interest in my master.”

“I can see that.”

“And that does not bother you at all?”

Ashiya, who had just made what (at the very least) his demon mind thought was an epoch-making revelation to Emi, was expecting far more of a reaction than that. Instead, Emi returned his glance, brows high and eyes full of doubt.

“What, are you disappointed I don’t care about him in particular?”

“N-no, I just… A simple human girl, having amorous feelings for the Devil King… I had considered it the pinnacle of folly, myself.”

“Me, I’m wondering what that girl sees in him. She could do a lot better.”

“How
dare
you insult His Demonic Highness!”

“I’m the Hero, remember? But, yeah, any girl can see that she’s into him. It’s hard to tell from this far, but that kind of dress is the ‘in’ style this summer. Her hair’s all done up, like she just went to the beauty salon, and those shoes are brand-new, too.”

“R-really? They are?”

Thirty minutes of tailing the couple, and Ashiya had been completely oblivious.

“Ah, most men probably wouldn’t even notice. She used her
wardrobe to come up with a fresh, summery look, and she’s wearing a close-fitting outfit to emphasize her curves…”

Suddenly, Emi stopped. She strained at Chiho across the storefront glass, then muttered to herself.

“What is it, Yusa?”

“…Those are
big
.”

Without thinking, Emi brought a hand to her chest.

“What are?”

Ashiya’s quizzical voice made her snap out of it.

“Huh? N-no… Nothing! Being big doesn’t make you a better fighter!”

“Pardon?”

“Being smaller makes it cheaper to have your own custom breastplates made up. They don’t get in the way so much when you’re moving, either.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Nothing! B-but, you know, the Devil King’s gotten a lot more, uh, presentable, too, hasn’t he? He’s actually got some decent clothes on, too. Not that UniClo junk!”

Emi forced the change of subject, in part to keep her own mind from dwelling upon certain hang-ups. Ashiya, meanwhile, looked on proudly. He was still having trouble deciphering Emi’s behavior, but hearing this sudden praise for his master provided an instant rush of self-satisfaction.

“I flipped through some magazines to come up with that outfit. It wouldn’t do for some human girl to think my master dressed like a slob, after all. I’ve been performing odd jobs here and there to save up for a time like this.”