The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 1 (26 page)
When you sign a pact with the devil, you usually wind up paying for it with your life, or your soul, or something else that makes the wish you receive in return seem pretty pointless after the fact.
Satoshi Wagahara, the Author, is a demon among demons, a writer who has forged a deal with the Devil King himself.
Thanks to a Hero with the blood of an angel glaring at the hapless demon lord to the side, the Author was lucky enough to avoid having to hand over his soul on the spot. The price demanded, however, was just as dear: The Devil King and the Hero said “Give us your lifetime” in tandem.
Thanks to this pact, the Author was able to write. He toiled in the craft, considering it fair compensation for what he gave up. But then the demands escalated. First it was the place he lived. Then what he ate. Then what he wore. Then the place he worked.
Now well used to his profession, even granted silvery wings to propel him into the world of human expression, the Author meekly handed it all over, one after the other.
As time wore on, it transpired that the Author, in the end, had given up his life as well. He had used up the entirety of his lifetime, all for the sake of them. That’s what a deal with the devil gets you. Before you know it, he’s got your soul anyway.
But the Devil King is a greedy one, as befits the lord of all demons. As he explained to the Author, his mortal life was not enough for him to survive upon.
Soon, he demanded the Editor, Mr. Araki, who acted as mediator for every demonic pact. He demanded the Artist, 029 (Oniku), who
drew every bit of home, clothing, workspace, and physical corpus of the Author’s that was handed over to them. And he demanded the mortal soul of everyone involved with Binding and Printing the Author’s work.
Everyone graciously accepted his demands, signing off a portion of their lives to the Devil King and the Hero.
Then, the Author spoke. “Surely,” he said, “this must be enough for both of you to survive on.”
But now, it was the Hero who thrust another demand in his face.
“Yet we lack the most important thing of all. Without it, one cannot say that we are alive at all.”
The Author protested, asking what such a thing could be. The Devil King and the Hero responded as one.
“We demand the souls of the Readers.”
Without the very lives of the Readers, their world could never establish itself. Without them, none of the other things the Author had signed away would hold any value.
And now I, the Author, have helped myself to a small sliver of time from all of my Readers.
I can only hope that I have provided a world, a set of lives, and a story that stays in your heart long enough to befit the time spent.
An impertinent, outrageous thing to say, no doubt, for an Author so new to the game.
Also, on behalf of the Hero, I sincerely apologize for everyone named “Sadao” in the nation of Japan.
The Author’s tale, one based upon his pact with the Devil King, is filled with people living frenetic, exciting, fun lives.
And maybe, just maybe, that certain someone in
your
town is a visitor from another world.
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THE DEVIL IS A PART-TIMER!, Volume 1
SATOSHI WAGAHARA, ILLUSTRATION BY 029 (ONIKU)
Cover art by 029 (Oniku)
Translation by Kevin Gifford
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
HATARAKU MAOUSAMA!, Volume 1
©SATOSHI WAGAHARA/KADOKAWA CORPORATION 2011
All rights reserved.
Edited by ASCII MEDIA WORKS
First published in 2011 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.
English translation © 2015 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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First Yen On eBook Edition: April 2016
Originally published in print in April 2015 by Yen On.
ISBN: 978-0-316-39802-2
E3-20160324-JV-PC