The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 15

by Satoshi Wagahara

  Maki greeted this with great reluctance. “Huh? I—I didn’t mean to poke anyone…”

  Rika’s breezy smile turned into a mask of terror. “Right! In that case, we’re gonna go all night! Tonight, Maki, I’m gonna be a horde of zombies, and you’re gonna be the hapless citizens caught in my swarm! You better be ready!”

  “Huh? Oh, uh… Umm? Wait! Hey, how about you two join us, huh?!”

  ““What?””

  Maki, realizing what she had just gotten herself into, turned to Suzuno and Emeralda for help. Rika stopped her.

  “No running away! Those two have their own business to attend to. I’m gonna teach you that loose lips sink ships tonight—the hard way, got it? So get on home for now, but don’t think that means I’m letting you go!”

  “Yeahhh…”

  “Okay, guys, sorry to hold you up. Lemme know if you find out what day you’re leaving, Emeralda. I’d like to see you off if I’m free.”

  “C-certainly.”

  “Yesss! I will!”

  Grabbing the mysterious thunderstorm that was Maki, Rika waved at the two and began to set off. She only made it a few steps before stopping. “Tell Emi,” she said without turning around, “that I think I can talk calmly about things when a little bit more time has passed, okay? For now, see you!”

  “Um, yeah, sorry! See you later sometime!”

  Without waiting for a response, she took the shouting Maki into the Shinjuku crowds, leaving the two of them thoroughly confused among the evening retail traffic.

  “What was thaaat all about?”

  “I cannot say. I cannot say, but…”

  But it couldn’t have been her imagination. The moment Ashiya’s name came up, there was something almost painfully sad to Rika’s smile.

  Suzuno had been aware of Rika’s feelings toward Ashiya well before now. The anxiety she had felt a moment ago wasn’t just her imagination; something truly dramatic must have happened between those two…

  “There is little point dwelling on the topic. But…but…”

  But Suzuno could also see how Chiho and Maou’s relationship could easily turn out like Rika and Ashiya’s. And right now, Laila and her pleas were a wedge dividing the humans and the demons. As of this minute, Suzuno doubted either Maou or Emi would accept Laila and Gabriel’s offer. Despite everything about the past they had revealed, they still shared similar opinions as Chiho and Urushihara—no matter how tragedy laden the past was and no matter how strongly it was impacting this world, none of it was related to Maou’s and Emi’s current lives. It was a simple matter of whether their interactions with Laila inspired them to adjust their schedules at all—and right now, both of those schedules were heavily aligned toward Japan.

  This did not mean Suzuno didn’t have her misgivings. Chiho—unable to fight, unable to decide her own path for herself—was troubled by Laila’s presence. It made her doubt her position with Maou, and she was seeking answers. If she decided to confront Maou and demand a yes-or-no decision, Suzuno couldn’t begin to guess which way Maou’s internal scales would tip. If it was Sadao Maou, he’d likely be of the same heart and willing to accept Chiho. If it was Satan the Devil King, he’d likely feel more responsibility for all the demons scattered by the failed attack on Ente Isla.

  Suzuno was with Maou the whole way during their Ente Islan rescue effort, and that was exactly why she found him impossible to read. In particular, her main concern was that accepting Chiho’s feelings may not necessarily mean wanting to live with Chiho.

  “He can be surprisingly elusive…”

  “Hmm? Who isss?”

  “Mm, um, no, nothing…”

  “Rika sure acted like something was up with herrr.”

  “Who can say? It did not seem like something to prod her about.”

  “Hmmmm…”

  “What?”

  Emeralda thought for a moment, staring at the crowds of people Rika and Maki had melted into.

  “Maaaybe I shouldn’t go home aaafter all.”

  “What?!” Suzuno blurted. This was sudden news. “Can—can you really do that? Simply say oh, never mind to it?”

  “Oh, I thiiink I can. I have a feeling going home would be a baaad idea right nowww, you know.”

  “A bad idea? I thought you had to go home!”

  “Aw, but it’d be such a waaasted opportunity if I left!”

  “Wasted…? You do understand Christmas will come again next year, yes?”

  “Assuming there is a next yeeear.”

  “Huh?!” The assertion Emeralda casually tossed out stopped Suzuno in her tracks.

  “Do you think there will be?”

  “No, I…I mean…”

  “If the Devil King and Emilia accept that offer, then Ms. Sasaki is right. There is no telling how much time it would take. Depending on what all three of them opt to do, we may never have a chance to celebrate Christmas in Japan again.”

  Suzuno had nothing to counter Emeralda’s words, delivered sternly but with the same cute little face as always.

  “That’s why I can’t afford to leave Japan yet. Emilia wants to remain here—listening to Rika and Maki affirmed that much to me. Emilia isn’t the type of girl to struggle against something she knows there is no hope of achieving. But there she apparently was, at Maki’s house, trying to examine her dreams without my knowledge. She wants to stay here, and if she does, I have to stand by her side and support her along the way…so I can enjoy Christmas here next year and the year after that.”

  She looked up at Suzuno, the smile returning to her face.

  “Sooo let’s have as muuuch fun as we can with Emiiilia this Christmaaas! Come on! Change of plaaans! Let’s buy presents to hand out to evvveryone!”

  “What?! W-wait a moment! But Albert in Saint Aile…”

  “That’s none of my busssiness. I’ll just send all our souvenirs through a Gaaate to apologize. Now, we need a gift for Alas Raaamus first. That girl still isn’t very uuused to me.”

  “Ah?! You intend to shop more?!”

  “Christmas presents are meant for chillldren first and foremost, right? I think you would know more about what she liiikes, Bell.”

  “N-no, wait, wait a moment! Are you quite sure about this?!”

  “Hee-hee-hee! Oh, I can’t wait to toast with champagne and wine, as we enjoy our roast turrrkey, and Scotch eggs, and tuna suuushi, and fried shrimp, and sweet potaaatoes, and fancy caaake!”

  “You are mixing in a few odd choices there, Emeralda! Wait a minute!”

  Suzuno was forced to give chase to Emeralda, already lost in her own little retail world. Round two of her shopping spree went on for two more hours, and by the time Suzuno made it back home, she barely had the energy to speak.

  “Wow, Bell, my dude, are you really a person with that little stamina?”

  “No, no, the issue has nothing to do with stamina…”

  “My liege tells me that you engaged in similar feats of shopping when you first arrived here. Is that right?”

  “No, it is nothing to do with that.”

  “Sleep well, Suzu-Sis!”

  Suzuno, fresh from being dragged around Shinjuku all day, was slumped against the table at Room 201. The thought of the day’s events, brought back to her memory even more vividly by Urushihara, Ashiya, and Alas Ramus’s questions respectively, only added to her weariness.

  “All the crowds drained me, you see. So much feverish enthusiasm…”

  Whether it was a weekday or not, attempting to hit the shops around Shinjuku after five PM, carrying massive bags and boxes around with you, took a certain amount of resolve.

  “So? Emeralda Etuva is back in Eifukucho, then? Emilia and His Demonic Highness are still at work, but why are you here?”

  “Ahh…”

  “Hm?”

  In response to Ashiya’s prodding, Suzuno turned an eye toward Alas Ramus, currently poised on top of Urushihara’s shoulders as he tapped away at the computer.

  “Call it
a favor for Emeralda or an errand…” she said.

  “Pardon?”

  “Alas Ramus has never seemed very keen on her, you know…”

  “What are you trying to say?” Ashiya asked as he peeled a potato.

  “…My apologies. May I have a moment?”

  Suzuno realized she needed to be more specific, but this wasn’t something she wanted Alas Ramus eavesdropping on, so she reluctantly left the warm kotatsu table and called Ashiya to the walkway outside the apartment.

  “So what?”

  “Well… This is something I would normally need the Devil King and Emilia’s permission to discuss…”

  She revealed the whole story to Ashiya—that Emeralda wanted to buy a Christmas present for Alas Ramus so she’d like her more.

  “She was ready to purchase one today, but we had little idea what Alas Ramus might enjoy, and well, we wanted to make sure everyone around her was on board.”

  “Hmm.”

  “The Devil King and Emilia both work on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth, correct?”

  Ashiya nodded. “Ahh, I see what you mean now.”

  To everyone who hung around the apartment besides Chiho, Christmas was just another event on the holiday calendar in this alien world of Japan. The end of the year was simply a time when their work shifts got all messed up. The idea of Emeralda giving Alas Ramus a present seemed nothing but strange.

  Still, teaching a child about traditional yearly events was an important thing. Showing them that certain days and seasons and city atmospheres were special helped establish them as customs in their minds, keeping the days special for their entire lives. But as mentioned, Christmas was a Japanese—okay, Earth—tradition, and nothing Suzuno or Ashiya deemed as particularly can’t-miss. Suzuno’s faith was for a different religion entirely, and a demon like Ashiya saw no reason to celebrate the birth of a holy figure in the first place.

  “To be honest,” admitted Suzuno, “I am unsure whether Christmas is a custom we should be teaching Alas Ramus.”

  “I understand that, but I see no reason to stop her. Do you?”

  “Oh?”

  “Emeralda Etuva giving Alas Ramus a present is nothing harmful, at least. If you think it is too early to delve into Christmas, we can just call it a present and leave it at that.”

  “You have a point, perhaps.”

  “On the other hand, if my liege or Emilia wish to teach Alas Ramus about Christmas, there is no reason to stop them, either. My liege and I went through the traditional custom of visiting a temple on New Year’s Day last year, after all, albeit for rather different motives from most. As long as she lives here, she does have the right and the need to learn at least a few social norms.”

  Ashiya was making perfect sense, but Suzuno had a reason to be wary. It all boiled down to that one statement from Emeralda.

  “But how long will she be living here?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Will there be a…next year, for example?”

  “…What are you hinting at?” Ashiya flatly stated, averting his eyes from Suzuno’s below. “You know our plans, and you know where my liege’s career at MgRonald is going right now. He finally has a foothold on the position he has long dreamed of for himself in Japan. Do you think he will fritter away that opportunity and go off somewhere?”

  “…Can I trust you on that?”

  Ashiya gave Suzuno’s brooding eyes a dubious look. “What? I assume you would prefer the two of them accept this request.”

  “Do not misjudge me,” she spat out. “I am not in the habit of sacrificing the life of my friend.”

  “Then stop overthinking matters like this. If you and Emeralda wish to give Alas Ramus a present, then bring up the issue with Emilia, her…mother, of sorts.”

  “…All right. I will.”

  “Good. Is that all? I have a dinner to prepare.” Ashiya turned around.

  “Alciel?”

  “Mm?” He winced as he was forced to turn back.

  “I ran into Rika today in Shinjuku. She was worried about how well you were using your new telephone.”

  “…She was?”

  Did she notice his expression changing just then? Whether she did or not, Suzuno could tell something substantial was taking place between the demon and the Earthling.

  “You could try to contact her, you know.”

  “Indeed.”

  And with that, Ashiya went back inside, closing the door behind him and leaving Suzuno in the hallway.

  “…What am I even doing?” she whispered to herself as she stood there, crestfallen. This whole business of fretting over whether to teach a baby about Christmas with a bunch of demons wasn’t a joke. But the fact she could look back on this and other incidents and laugh about how “normal” it was or not tormented Suzuno. Somehow, she knew that the weird sense of comfort this apartment offered—a comfort that seemed ready to last forever—was about to fall apart. It didn’t seem like Maou, Emi, and Laila had engaged in any secret negotiations since Nerima; they acted like there was nothing special about that day at all, in fact, apart from being toured around Laila’s place.

  “What…? What do I even want them to do?”

  All the confusing feelings she couldn’t put a name to were beginning to overwhelm her…

  “Hmm? Suzuno? What are you doing in the outside here? Looking all the confused?”

  Then she realized Acieth was right next to her, carrying with both hands a pair of corn dogs that she must’ve bought at some convenience store.

  “Ah… Acieth. Is the Devil King finished with work?”

  Suzuno looked around for Maou, the fatigue still written on her face, but he was nowhere to be found. He and Alas Ramus were connected, and like with Alas Ramus and Emi, they couldn’t venture physically far from each other. It was safe for Acieth to hang around Sasazuka while Maou worked at the MgRonald in Hatagaya, but Maou’s current full-time employee training would be taking place at assorted locations around Tokyo, none of them near here. Acieth would have to remain nearish, but Maou couldn’t take her along for training with Kisaki around, so she remained fused within his body during the actual training sessions.

  “No, not yet. But he is returned at MgRonald in Hatagaya. He took me out in dark spot, nobody can see, and I go home first. Ashiya, I imagine he is making the dinner now, yes?”

  Unlike her big sister Alas Ramus, Acieth had almost no sense of self-control. The way Maou put it, she was unwilling to remain fused with his body for a single second longer than necessary. Once he returned to Hatagaya, he probably couldn’t wait to get rid of her.

  “Yes, well, if you are here to enjoy dinner, why did you buy more food?”

  “Mikitty told me. She said, if you eat outside of my pop or Mikitty’s house, you go out and fill stomach a little first, before meal. Otherwise, much crying.”

  “Ah…”

  It made sense to Suzuno. She had seen Ashiya almost erupt into tears several times after Acieth bugged him into making something, only to have her all but empty the refrigerator. Acieth, picking up on Suzuno’s wonder, gave her a bit of a peeved look.

  “Look, do I eat too much? Really?”

  “Uh…”

  Despite standing stationary, Suzuno was seized by the sense that she had just tripped over something. It must have shown on her face, because Acieth’s changed to a look of resignation.

  “Ohhh. So I do, yes?”

  “A-Acieth?”

  “I had the premonition that, yes, it is so.”

  Suzuno wasn’t sure if Acieth really understood what premonition meant. In many ways, she didn’t know what to say to her. As far as she had seen, Acieth didn’t know what enough meant at the dining room table, either. It hadn’t affected her figure at all, but not even the greatest lawyer in the universe could beat the charge that Acieth was an excessively gluttonous woman.

  “Hmm… Perhaps we must talk with Maou about it?”

  “Talk? Talk about what?”

 
“Things. Maybe, ah, Ashiya can buy more rice, or when fused together, he can eat twice as much, or he can buy me phone…”

  There was a lot Suzuno could say about this—she still hadn’t given up on the phone? Was this really a problem about portions? But she could tell that Maou wasn’t going to give an inch on any of it.

  “Mmm, yes, I think it will work. If I use my sister as shield, it is easy win against Maou!”

  “That may be a double-edged sword, Acieth. Use it too much, and you will make enemies out of Emilia and Alciel, too.”

  She was aware that Acieth tended to use Alas Ramus as a handy tool for pushing her will on people. But in terms of Alas Ramus’s future, nobody among their group could afford to cave in like that.

  “We can hear you!” came Ashiya’s voice from beyond the Room 201 door, making both Suzuno and Acieth draw back.

  “Ooh, big failure, big failure. The walls here, they are very thin, yes? I must adjust my plans, so they will not know.”

  “Acieth…”

  The sheer lack of remorse made even Suzuno wince.

  “Yes, I know I eat without work even more than Lucifer, but now is best time to ask for things, no? I will not give up!”

  “The best time? Hmm?”

  “Yes! Maou, he may play the dumb, but I know! In Christmas, we all eat big meal!”

  “Oh… Oh.”

  As she dodged a drop of ketchup that dripped off one of Acieth’s corn dogs, Suzuno thought she could detect every man inside Room 201 gasping in distress. She pretended to hear nothing.

  “W-wait a minute, Acieth! At least finish what you brought here first! A ketchup stain on this kimono would be an incredible pain to wash out! And do not discuss such things in front of Alas Ramus!”

  “What, corn dogs?”

  “Christmas!”

  Suzuno quickly lowered her voice, realizing it was growing louder than Acieth’s, and brought her lips to her ear.

  “Um… Alas Ramus knows nothing about Christmas. If we wish to do something for her, best to keep it a secret until just before, for the sake of the surprise.”