The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 1 (7 page)

“You’re welcome… No! Wait! I don’t need your petty compliments! You were just acting so pathetic over a stupid bicycle flat, it threw me off guard, so…”

Emi failed to finish the sentence.

“Huh? Earthquake?”

The ground palpably shook underneath them for a moment. Before she could check up on Maou, they heard a faint bursting sound emanate from somewhere. This time, the rear wheel had blown.

“Whoa!”

“Agh!”

Just when they had a spare moment to shout, the signal light above them shattered into a million pieces. The Hero and the Devil King covered their heads at the sound of shards scattering across the ground.

“Are we…”

“…being shot at?”

They were answered by a cracking sound at their feet.

“Whoa, whoa, what the hell?!”

“We need to get out of here!”

The two of them flung themselves into a nearby alley. The sparks and bursting noises followed them.

In the darkness of Sasazuka, a silent sniper had bared its fangs at the Devil King and the Hero.

“What is going
on
here—Ahh!”

“Stop screaming! And stop tripping over the bollards, too!”

They had made their way into Koshu-Kaido road, hiding behind the cars in a coin-operated parking lot as they evaded the sniper. No one was walking by, but the car traffic was incessant.

The Shuto Expressway above them blocked off the night sky. The two of them caught their breath in front of a shuttered office building.

“What just happened?”

Emi’s voice was higher than usual. Maou’s was equally strained.

“The Devil King and the Hero are together. And someone is attacking them. It’s got
something
to do with Ente Isla. Even if it didn’t, what kind of criminal’s shooting
that
kind of thing in Japan? You know how crazy strict the weapons laws are.”

“I
know
! So was some street gang firing an air gun at us…?”

“They don’t make street gangs like
that
around here anymore! Get down!”

Maou forced Emi’s head downward.

At the exact height of Emi’s head, there was now a small hole in the metal shutter.

“…You can’t shoot a BB through a steel door, either.”

“Get
off
! Stop messing with my hair!”

Emi brushed Maou’s hand away. Maou obliged, staring at his hand as he asked a question.

“So you’re about as strong as the average Japanese person, too?”

“…Strong or not, you’re still gonna cut yourself in the kitchen! It’s still gonna hurt if you stub your toe against a lamppost!”

Maou took that to mean Emi no longer enjoyed her Ente Isla–era strength. As a demon, he had taken it for granted that his physical, defensive, and spiritual strength would always outclass his foes. Now, every trait of his strength was on an even keel with the Japanese national adult average—a fact that became all too clear to him over the past year of life in Japan.

“That last one came from in front of us.”

“Don’t be so sure. You hear any gunshots yet?”

“Nothing like that, no… Ah!”

Just as she spoke, she lunged toward Maou. They both spun in the air together before hitting the ground. If she had been a moment slower, they both would have been perforated. The sad, suddenly-very-well-ventilated shutter told them as much.

“Nice one.”

“I’m not an idiot, you know. I’m a Hero.”

“Yeah, sorry. You mind getting off me? I can’t dodge sniper fire like this.”

“That’s
your
fault for landing first! I’d be only too happy to extract myself from your putrid hide!”

They were being less than polite to each other, but their quarrel was with another foe. Quickly, they rose to their feet and composed themselves, backs against each other as they watched their surroundings, ready for attack from any direction.

“Can we make it to the station?”

“Good idea. The
izakaya
s will still be open around Sasazuka station; there’ll be a bunch of people there. It’ll be risky, but it’s up to whoever’s shooting us to react. Can you run?”

“Better than you can. You had it easy all this time with that bike.”

“Okay. Go!”

Could the sniper keep up with the two of them running? There were no bystanders up to now, but the closer they came to the station, the more they encountered. The
izakaya
bars near the station were lit in a dazzling array of colors, herds of salarymen roaming the streets around them, wondering which to hit next.

The two of them warily eyed the area, the station wall behind their backs. A pair of middle-aged men in business attire hollered at them, but they didn’t have the spare time to play around with drunk office grunts at the moment.

They must have remained frozen where they were for ten minutes or so. By the time they finally concluded there were no snipers in well-lit, populated areas, they were both physically and mentally exhausted.

“So what…
was
that?”

Emi heaved a sigh of relief, brushing the sweat-heavy hair off her brow as she asked no one in particular. Maou struggled to catch his breath as he responded.

“I don’t know…but that wasn’t just some random sniper. Those were bolts of magic energy.”

“Magic…?”

Emi’s eyes opened wide.

“That shot aimed at your head near the building? It came from the angle we ran in from. It had to change direction to aim for us, that much I’m sure of.”

“You mean…”

“Whoever’s behind it, he’s got a lot of power behind him. That, and he knows who both of us really are.”

“Both of us? There’s someone like that
here
? Besides Alciel?”

“Guess so. Don’t know who, though. I didn’t even feel anyone else nearby.”

Maou stretched his body. The tension had finally started to drain away.

“Man. Look at all this trouble you’ve gotten me into.”

Emi fired back at Maou’s accusatory tone.

“Me?! You think this is
my
fault?!”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you chose a more normal time and place, would it?”

“I chose that because that’s when you got off work!”

“Morning would’ve been just fine. Better, even.”

“I
work
in the morning!
And
the afternoon!”

“Not my problem.”

“Hey! Where’re you going?!”

Emi stopped Maou as he attempted to walk off, a hangdog look on his face.

“Home.”

“You’re leaving by yourself?!”

“Well, yeah. You should go home, too. I’m sure it’s nearby if this is where you’re hanging out all the time. Later.”

“Hey…!”

Maou set off, leaving Emi’s frantic shouting to dissolve into the background murmur of the Sasazuka night. He hated to abandon his bike so soon after purchasing it, but there might be more attackers stationed nearby. His faithful Dullahan would have to wait for morning to be reunited with its master.

He hadn’t mentioned it to Emi just now, but this attack had kindled a small sense of hope within Maou’s mind.

The fact that their enemy had the freedom to wield magical power to a certain extent was an immense discovery. Regardless of who he was fighting, he was still Devil King—lord of the underworld, the demon who was within moments of conquering all of Ente Isla. If it appeared to be worth the exertion, he would gladly call upon his own magical reserve to fight and claim his enemy’s force.

That, after all, was how he gained such vast magical strength in the demon realm.

Tomorrow was his regular day off. He was ready to scour the neighborhood for clues. There was a spring in his step as he dwelled on it, walking briskly through the dark residential neighborhood toward his apartment.

Suddenly, he realized someone was following him.

An attacker? Perhaps, but there was no sense of magical force, no murderous intent with this pursuer. Probably some drunk staggering home in the same direction as he was. Still, whoever it was seemed to be paying an unusual amount of attention to Maou, making sure to keep a prudent distance away.

The apartment building was in sight, but with Ashiya’s magical force long depleted, Maou wanted to avoid involving him in a fight.

Ashiya was too valuable a resource to squander—for the subjugation of Ente Isla, and for life in Sasazuka as well.

Quickly, Maou ducked into a side alley that ran across the neighborhood, into an area unlit by streetlamps. If the person behind him lived nearby, he’d probably walk right past—and if he didn’t, he’d be too spooked to continue the pursuit.

The footsteps continued unabated. The figure proceeded onward, not noticing Maou in the darkness. Maou raised his head a little, wondering if he had made a mistake.

What he saw instead was the figure heading straight for Villa Rosa Sasazuka, the apartment Maou called home. He seemed to hesitate for a moment in front of the stairway, but quickly made his way upstairs.

The figure stopped in front of room 201, by the door with the “Maou” sign on it.

“Ugh…I know I said ‘come for me anytime you want,’ but
now
?”

Maou called toward the late-night visitor. She turned around, startled, not expecting a voice from behind.

“Look, I’ve already gone through one ambush tonight. You’re going to wake up all the neighbors. The landlord lives right next to us, too, and I
really
don’t want to deal with her if I can.”

“…I’m not here to attack you.”

Emi stood there, the bravado from before notably absent. Her face was white as a sheet, her breathing quick and shallow. She looked intensely nervous. Perhaps she had fallen ill; perhaps she had been hit with a magical bolt when he wasn’t looking.

“H-hey…what’s wrong?”

Maou drew closer, concerned. Her response was stronger than he expected.

“It utterly disgusts me to ask you this… In fact, it feels like I’m betraying my world and everyone in it…”

“If you came here to rile me up, it’s working.”

This doorstop encounter was the last thing he wanted before bedtime.

“I…if you don’t mind…could I…I…”

“You?”

Her pale complexion had now turned a bright shade of red as she turned her head downward.

“Could I…stay here tonight? I…I kind of dropped my purse.”

Maou opened his mouth wide, almost dislocating his jaw in the process. It took a while for him to close it again.

“What?! The Hero Emilia?!”

Ashiya, patiently awaiting Maou’s arrival, tensed as he noticed Emi cowering behind him. Maou lifted his hands, placating.

“No, no, it’s okay. She hasn’t got enough energy to fight right now, anyway.”

“Your Demonic Highness, how could you be so reckless?! You, the Devil King, staying out partying all night with the Hero?!”

“You don’t have to put it like
that
! It’s still two a.m.!”

“The wee hours of the
night
, my liege!”

Emi stood solemnly in front of the door.

“We both got attacked just now. By someone we couldn’t see. He was flinging magic at us.”

Maou’s explanation was almost too straightforward, but Emi lacked the mental fortitude to add anything else.

“And while we were fleeing, apparently she dropped her purse.”

Emi seemed to go even smaller as he continued, almost disappearing entirely.

“So, you know, she can’t catch a taxi, she can’t spend the night at an Internet café… She doesn’t have any friends nearby, either, she claims. Turns out she lives over by Eifukucho, so that’s kinda far to walk.”

“But, Your Demonic Highness… If you remember where it was dropped, I’m sure nobody’s touched it at this time of night…”

“Yeah, I know, but we just got written up by the cops yesterday, you know? I don’t know who was targeting us, but if she winds up getting killed out there, we’re both gonna be the prime suspects. It wouldn’t hurt to let her sleep in the corner, would it? As long as she takes the first train outta here.”

Ashiya brought a frustrated hand to his temple.

“Here, c’mon in. Have a seat wherever you like. Hope you’re not expecting a futon or any other luxury goods.”

“…I get it, all right?” Emi grumbled softly.

“Emilia! After the gracious pity the Devil King has bestowed upon you, is
that
how you repay him?!”

“Pipe down, Ashiya. The landlord’s gonna hear us. Hey, Emi.”

“What do you wa—oomph!”

Maou had thrown a bath towel over Emi’s face. “You can use that if you want. If you need a pillow, go ahead and use those towels over there. I’ll spot you a thousand yen, so get out of here before the trains start up, all right?”

Gritting her teeth, Emi reluctantly accepted the wadded-up bill, which Maou plucked from a plastic change purse he had clearly purchased from the hundred-yen store.

“Emilia! That is a royal donation from the Devil King’s personal meager resources! I order you to treat it with the respect it deserves!”

“Shut up, I know that! I didn’t ask for any of this, okay? Thank you for the money!”

“You little…!” Ashiya seemed angry enough that steam would be blowing out his ears at any moment, but Maou paid it no mind as he took his own bath sheet out of the closet.

Watching him, Emi wrapped her own towel around herself and took a seat on the floor. They may all be normal Japanese people now, but even so, she wasn’t so careless as to lie down defenselessly in the den of the Devil King. Pulling the towel close for protection, she found it to be freshly washed, with a surprisingly pleasant scent to it.

“…This is the same detergent I use.”

“Don’t start whining about how stiff it is. Ashiya refuses to buy any fabric softener.” Maou turned over on the floor as he spoke, his ears having picked up on Emi’s quiet mutterings.

“I-I was just saying… It didn’t need a response.” And thinking she wasn’t going to get another, Emi turned her back to Maou, balling herself up even more tightly.

“Yeah, yeah. You go to bed, too, Ashiya. Hey, Emi, don’t worry about locking the door behind you, okay? Night, people.”

Within moments, Maou was sound asleep. For a moment, Emi was astounded at how fast he went under.