“And what?”
“No… It is simply unexpected, is all. If you are here…”
Suzuno’s gut feeling told her that Libicocco’s force was either on a par with hers or maybe a tad weaker. That surprise strike from the rear must have taken the wind out of his sails. And with Urushihara as her more-or-less ally, there was little chance of defeat even with a full-frontal approach. Maou was on his way, too, for that matter.
So why was Libicocco acting like he didn’t have a care in the world?
“…Then this couldn’t have worked out any better.”
The malice behind his grin was like nothing before it.
“““……”””
Now there were three people silently watching each other around the table. The new one had trouble kneeling for extended periods of time, so he sat with his legs crossed instead, dressed in a shirt and pants he borrowed from Ashiya.
“So, uh, who’s this?”
“I have no idea.”
Ashiya had given tremendously wishy-washy answers to Rika’s questions so far, but on this one, he was decisive. This man that Maou ejected into the room during his whirlwind entrance and exit—one Ashiya couldn’t even begin to conceive a believable explanation for—he had truly never seen in his life.
Between his looks, what little conversation they had made, and the way a flying Maou deposited him into the room uninvited, it seemed safe to assume he wasn’t Japanese. The first possibility that came to mind was that he was from Ente Isla, but Ashiya wasn’t entirely sure of it. The mystery man wasn’t projecting holy or demonic force of any kind—so why would your normal, everyday, average joe of an Ente Islan be hanging out in Japan?
One thing Emi, Suzuno, and Emeralda all had in common—Sariel and Gabriel, too, on the other side—was that they all had superhuman abilities, not to mention the skills needed to traverse between worlds. They had a means, in other words. If this man was just a normal Ente Isla citizen, how did he get here? He didn’t have that kind of ability, and yet, here he was.
Ashiya flashed Rika a glance.
“Ms. Suzuki?”
“Hmm?”
“I apologize, but I will have to leave you out of this for a few moments.”
“Huh?”
Ashiya apologized to her again in his heart, turned to the man Maou just brought in, and opened his mouth.
<“Do you understand this?”>
The man blinked, then eagerly nodded. <“Common Vezian…? No, Centurient, is it not? You aren’t from this nation, either?”>
“Umm??”
Rika’s eyes opened wide at the sight of these two men speaking a language she had never heard before.
<“That man, Maou; he was just the same, no? Who are you people?”>
<“To be honest, I’d like to ask that of you first. You do not appear to be a spellcaster. Why are you here, in this world, now? Who are you?”>
“Um, hang on a second, guys…”
<“It would take too long to explain. As you say, I know nothing of magic. I used to be a farmer. In an ideal world, I would have spent my entire life without setting foot outside the rural edges of Saint Aile.”>
“What language is that…?”
Rika’s eyes spun. It wasn’t English, and it wasn’t the German or French she occasionally heard snippets of in news broadcasts or documentaries. It sounded like something from outer space to her. She couldn’t figure out where one syllable ended and the next began.
<“There is not much else I can say. Not so long as I don’t know who you or Maou are. However, I crossed into this world because I am charged with protecting this child…Tsubasa. She is to be given to another person, someday.”>
<“Given…?”> This puzzled Ashiya. He recalled the girl Maou seemed to be traveling with. <“Is Tsubasa…the young woman Maou brought with him?”>
<“…”>
When it came to people in his life named after the word for “wing”—as tsubasa meant in Japanese—Ashiya could think of another person. Someone who crawled around this room for a whole week before coming under their mortal foe’s guardianship—and was now just as missing as she was.
<“Well. Now I know why Maou saw fit to bring you here. Although…I suppose you aren’t as important as this Tsubasa woman, eh?”>
Ashiya sharpened his words. He would allow no room for lies or denials.
<“This woman is a personification of a Yesod fragment, is she not?”>
<“…”> The man fell silent again. But he didn’t avert his eyes.
It had not been that long ago. Camio, the Devil Regent, told them what Olba had told him—that there was another holy sword, located right here in Japan, and Ciriatto was on the hunt for it.
Ashiya couldn’t hide the excitement coursing through his body. In this simple ex-farmer, there existed the potential key to changing the very fabric of reality within Ente Isla.
<“You… You’re…”>
He tried to keep the agitation from his voice. His mind was full of haphazard guesses, and he needed to take action on them.
<“Are you…the father of Emilia Justina?”>
“…Emilia?”
This familiar-sounding word, the first she could understand, unnerved Rika. Both of the men noticed the reaction. They couldn’t blame her for it.
<“Then you’re… Ah, is that it?”>
<“So it is. What a state of affairs…”>
Thus Nord Justina, father of the Hero, and the Great Demon General Alciel of the Devil King’s Army made their hellos.
<“So you’re… It couldn’t be. Is that Maou person the…the ‘chosen one’ my wife talked about?”>
<“‘Chosen one’…?”>
<“That was how she put it. ‘When the chosen one is ready to reveal the truth behind the world,’ she said, ‘my daughter must be given her wings.’ I had my suspicions when Maou mentioned Emilia’s name.”>
This presumably meant Laila, the archangel they knew to be Emi’s mother. But although the angels were supernatural in nature, their existences were just as common and vulgar as anyone else’s. They didn’t have the power to alter destinies and bind the earth by magic with a few choice words, as they were portrayed in the old legends and scriptures. And why would a mere archangel go around calling the Devil King Satan the “chosen one”? Nothing sounded more arrogant to Ashiya.
“Um…”
And what about this “truth behind the world” nonsense? Lofty-sounding words, to be sure, but what “truth” can there be behind something as nebulous as the world? Anyone claiming such a thing is about as worthy of one’s trust as a jewelry appraiser or an “expert panelist” on a cooking game show.
“Hey, guys?”
Where does a single human being—with a single angel at his side—get off, really, acting all high and mighty about some nonexistent “truth”? Demons like us have no time for such lofty malarkey. It is no more valuable to us than a pebble on the side of the road.
“Listen to me!!”
“Ahh?!”
Ashiya leaped up at the sound of someone screaming, holding a surprised hand against his ear. Rika, looking more demonic than most demons, was by his side.
“I don’t know what the two of you are figuring out by yourselves, but you mind lettin’ me in on some of it?”
“Uh…”
“You are quite…scary woman, aren’t you?”
Even Nord could tell that Rika being given the outsider treatment was enraging her. His attempts at assuaging her were met with the same cold eyes that slew Ashiya a moment ago.
“Listen, man, if you want to live out your natural lifespan in Japan, try not to be so honest all the damn time, okay?”
“Oh…”
“So, Ashiya?”
“Y-yes…?”
“When’re you gonna tell me who this guy is and why Maou and Urushihara and Suzuno can all do stuff like that?!”
Ashiya didn’t complain about having that muddle of questions thrown at him all at
once. It’d result in blood if he did, he knew. But even before Maou floated in, he had already made up his mind.
“M-Ms. Suzuki.” Ashiya brought his arms out, attempting to place them on Rika’s shoulders to soothe her. “I promise I will tell you, so will you please sit down for a—”
“That’s not gonna help you get away from me.”
“Hm?”
Rika had been about ready to throw fireballs at Ashiya. Now, it was her own cheeks that burned a hot red. Dejectedly, she followed his instructions, all but collapsing to the floor. “So?” she glared as she looked upward. “What is it?!”
Ashiya demurred for a moment, unsure where to begin. Then he pointed at Nord.
“So this man…”
“Y-yes?”
“Apparently he is Yusa’s father.”
“Okay……wait, what?”
She almost walked right through it before her mind backtracked. Her eyes were like tiny dots as she pointed them at Nord. “Emi’s…father?”
“Indeed. I believe it is likely the truth.”
“Wh…What? So, is…?” Emi’s face went a little pale as she recalled the abuse she lobbed at Ashiya. “Well, I, I apologize for being so rude, then.”
“Oh, is fine. I am rather, ah, in dark myself.”
Ashiya wondered if it was such a good idea for Nord to be so forgiving, but decided dwelling on the topic would be fruitless.
<“This woman is one of Emilia’s friends in this nation. Her name is Rika Suzuki.”>
“Rika…?”
“Um, yes?”
“You’ve helped Emilia for me… Thank you.”
He made it sound like Emi was receiving in-home care from Rika or something, but she didn’t comment on it. She could tell what he meant between the words.
“Oh, no, thank you very much… Um, Ashiya?”
“Yes?”
Rika looked up at him after bowing politely at Nord for no real reason.
“You guys have both been saying ‘Emilia’ a lot, and that’s what her dad just called her now, so, um…”
An honest answer to this would end it all. It would mean putting Rika in the same boat as Chiho. Chiho was accepting enough, but what about this girl? Slowly, Ashiya began to weave the words that were destined to change Rika’s life, fully aware in his mind that he might have to call upon Suzuno to erase her memories later if things failed to work out.
“I mean… Is it kinda like how Japanese people give nicknames to themselves if they’re living overseas so people pronounce their names right? Or, like, something based on religion, or a middle name or something?”
“No.” Ashiya spoke slowly, trying to make sure Rika understood every word on a deep, personal level. “It is the real name of the woman you and I know as ‘Emi Yusa.’ Her full name is Emilia Justina.”
“…Um, I’m not sure I follow.” The bewilderment was obvious on her face. “Her real name? Emilia Ju…Justina? That’s Emi’s real name?”
“Yes.”
“So Emi isn’t Japanese?”
“That would be the case, yes.”
“…Oh. Ohh. So if her dad isn’t either, so is it kind of… Like, she was born and raised elsewhere, but then she immigrated to Japan and took a Japanese name like a pro soccer player or something?”
Ashiya had predicted this. Rika was trying to frame this situation in a way she could comprehend.
“No, not like that. Yusa’s… Well, Emilia’s homeland exists nowhere on this planet.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Well, before that… Do you watch movies very much, Ms. Suzuki? Or play video games, for that matter?”
This seemingly unrelated question made Rika grow suspicious. “Wh-where’d that come from? I haven’t played games much since I was kid, but I go to the theater pretty often, yeah.”
“Then perhaps I could put it this way to help you understand the concept. Yusa Emi, or Emilia Justina, is not an…well, an Earthling, exactly.”
“A what?”
“This is not quite the correct way to phrase it, but to put it simply, Yusa is an alien from outer space. She comes from another world, one far away from here… One that exists nowhere on Earth.”
“…Are you screwing with me?”
It was a completely understandable response. He anticipated this, as well; this anger-tinged reaction. For the average human being, it was a completely natural response.
“If you are unable to believe me, Ms. Suzuki, then I am afraid I will be unable to explain the phenomena you just saw.”
“Just saw…? Wait.” Rika suddenly looked out the window again. The rain was thudding against it even harder now. The very one Suzuno and Urushihara flew out of. The one Maou appeared from, then soared right back through, into the sky.
“From here, to the house over there, it’s got to be at least thirty feet. Do you think there is any human being who can manage that?”
“…”
Her eyes darted between Ashiya and the window several times. Seeing these incomprehensible events made her mind incapable of accepting the truth behind them. Perhaps things would be different if reality, in all its vivid intensity, was thrust before her all at once. But Rika didn’t know anything before today. And she had seen only a snippet of the truth.
“Ms. Suzuki.”
“Ahh…!” Rika froze, throat emitting a long groan. “Ah… Ah, ah…”
Ashiya could tell the firmness of the past was gone—in its place, a paralyzing fear of the unknown world she had gained access to. She probably couldn’t speak if she’d tried.
“B-but how could that…? No way! I mean, Urushi… Suzuno… Maou…”
She turned over the events she saw, one by one, as the names came out. Yet, the stoutness of her heart drove her to continue defending the fortress of common sense that watched over her brain.
“I-I mean, that’s crazy. Are you kidding me? This has to be a load of crap. How am I supposed to believe that? Like, I’d believe you more if you said Suzuno and all of ’em are magicians or some kinda ESP masters or something! At least you could claim those exist in the world…”
“Indeed. If I were in your shoes, Ms. Suzuki, I think I would say the same thing.”
“Sh-show me some kinda evidence! Like, why’re you saying you’re all space aliens if you’re working part-time and living hand to mouth like this?!”
“…I have no defense for that,” snickered Ashiya, despite it all. “But even ‘space aliens’ have to sing for their supper, you see.”
This was exactly why, if something like this hadn’t happened, he never would’ve wanted to reveal himself to Rika. But these were all people from other worlds. People who had no business running into each other in the first place. Ashiya reverting to demon form would be all the evidence he needed, but that was far beyond his grasp right now.
“I regret that I cannot provide conclusive evidence to you at the moment…but how about this? Once Suzuno Kamazuki returns home, I promise I will have her prove it to you. Assuming, Ms. Suzuki, you are willing to listen to this so-called ridiculous tale to the end?”
“…”
Rika gave him a look of sheer doubt.
<“I cannot blame her for her disbelief,”> Nord whispered. <“I would have laughed it off if someone on Ente Isla told me about this other world, with its civilization advanced beyond all imagination.”>
Ashiya internally agreed with him. A nation, a world, a civilization of human beings. Everything about Japan was a faraway dream of the future, one that demons, for all their supposed dominance and superiority over mankind, would never have for themselves.
<“Did Maou tell you about who we are?”>
<“…No. But I imagine, at least, that he is not human.”>
Come to think of it, Ashiya hadn’t even given Nord his name yet.
Emi’s disappearance, and Nord’s subsequent arrival, seemed to symbolize in Ashiya’s mind that the doomed, yet boundlessly comfortable day-to-day life they’d enjoyed i
n Devil’s Castle was about to fall apart.
<“You are lucky, though…for I think I may need to have you introduce yourself the next time we meet.”>
“Huh?”
Nord, silently following Ashiya and Rika’s argument up to now, suddenly stood up, a gruff look on his face. The long-sleeved ROCK ON SASAHATA! T-shirt he was wearing (won by Ashiya in a drawing at the local shopping center) wasn’t a match for his demeanor, but it didn’t stop him from soundlessly padding over to the window. The building rattled anyway, as Ashiya’s gaze followed to the window.
The sight made him instantly tense. There, inside the typhoon-level storm, there shouldn’t have been a single person. But now, there were many.
<“We’re fully surrounded. I haven’t seen them before. Do you know what force they belong to?”>
Ashiya could answer this question. He could, but the answer was still not one he could fully believe. Had his world ever engaged in behavior as reckless as this before?
<“The armaments come from…the Knights of the Inlain Azure Scarves, second in rank among the eight knight corps that serve Efzahan of the Eastern Island. What is the meaning of this?”>
Ashiya had directed the question more at himself than Nord.
The entire apartment building had been completely surrounded by a dizzying number of knights in exotic-looking uniforms. When did they show up? And from where? More assassins sent by Barbariccia, like with Ciriatto? No. The knights stationed outside were all human. Ashiya could detect no particular magic from them. And although he didn’t know what for, it was clear they were after everyone inside the building.
“Wh-what? What’s up with you two now?”
Ashiya’s mind instant sprang back into reality. Depending on how the political cards worked out, there was always going to be the chance that the human world would aim their sights on him, Maou, Urushihara, Nord—even Suzuno. But Rika was different. She was a Japanese woman, completely uninvolved with the affairs of Ente Isla. He couldn’t draw her in to that world; he couldn’t drag her into this battle.
<“This has nothing to do with Miss Rika,”> Nord said. <“We have to protect her. Don’t we?”>
<“Y-yeah,”> Ashiya said, nodding.
The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 8 Page 13