Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 18 - Chapter 1

High School Girl, Thinking About the Future 

Six steaming bowls of white rice were placed on the kotatsu, which was located on a tatami floor. In addition, there was also miso soup, dried fish, picked vegetables and vegetable salad.
Six people gathered to share this ideal Japanese breakfast, and one of them spoke. 
“Chiho-dono, how was the situation after that……?” 
Kamazuki Suzuno’s worry-filled question, caused Sasaki Chiho to nod with a serious expression. 
The miso soup held in Chiho’s left hand, rippled slightly from her action. 
“It’s not that different from normal. It feels like he is talking less than before, but considering what just happened, this
can’t be helped.” 
“I feel sorry that Sasaki-san is always worrying about us like this. Since too many things happened at once, we don’t have time to react to everything.” 
Ashiya Shiro, sitting next to Suzuno, gave a small nod of acknowledgement. 
“This can’t be helped. I also know that the current situation is very hard. I feel bad that I can only help with this. I actually want to do more to help……” 
Chiho lowered her gaze slightly, then someone spoke from beside her. 
“So gloomy! Your personality shouldn’t be so fragile to be depressed about this. It must be because you’re not eating well. You’re already in third year of high school, yeah? If you’re only thinking about dieting, your brain won’t get enough nutrients! Do you want seconds?!” 
The man’s voice was especially cheerful. 
Chiho frowned and glared at the man while pointing to the bowl in front of her. 
“Gabriel-san, please don’t make it sound like I’m insensitive! Another serving, please!” “You can really eat well when you can. Alright, alright, wait a moment.”
The person who wore an apron unnaturally over a T-shirt and firm muscles was not Maou, Emi or Urushihara, but Archangel Gabriel, responsible for protecting the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla. 
“Seriously, I only knew this after living together, but these angels are so unpredictable. It’s amazing that humans are able to worship these guys.” 
The man, sitting next to Chiho and also glaring at Gabriel, had an abnormally long claw on each hand, but he was still able to use chopsticks dexterously. 
“Farfarello, that’s where you’re wrong. What we worship is not something like that, but the concept of angels.” 
With an awkward smile, Suzuno responded to the mocking comments from Farfarello, the current Head Chieftain of the Malebranches. 
“Please don’t refer to us as ‘something like that’, Inquisitor…… do any of you want another serving?” 
Gabriel looked down at Suzuno bitterly. 
“I want another bowl. Gabriel, please give me a larger serving.” “Alright, alright, a big serving. Here.”
Following the comments from Suzuno and Farfarello, it was Alberto Ende who raised his bowl. 
“However, it really does seem that many problems have occurred in a short span of time. This makes the situation very suspicious.” 
Alberto said this after receiving the large bowl of rice from Gabriel, this sentence caused everyone other than Gabriel to show a gloomy expression. 
“That’s right. I wonder if Demon King-sama is eating properly…… I hope he doesn’t end up getting an imbalance in
nutrients because he’s busy taking care of the injured Camio-dono and Kinanah……as well as Urushihara……” “…… Erhm, I’m not worried about the Demon King’s eating and living conditions……”
“When I came here today, I set aside a few side dishes. It seems like Nord-san would occasionally give him some care packages. After that incident earlier, Kinanah-san has also settled down a lot.” 
“…… Erhm, we’re not talking about the Demon King’s meals right now…… haah, forget it.” 
Alberto’s rebuttal had no effect on Ashiya and Chiho. As for Urushihara, who was viewed on the same level as an injured chicken and lizard, no one cared about him. 
The Demon Fortress which the six people were at, was the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla. 
The Demon Fortress referred to this place since the start, but this six person breakfast time which felt different from normal still felt strange. 
Earlier on, the Master of the Demon Fortress, Maou Sadao, and his enemy, Yusa Emi, there was an incident where they were all defeated by one person. 
At almost the same time, the risk of an attack upon the Demon Fortress and the Demon King Army from the Western Continent grew. 
Even if the leaders of the Battle to Defeat God gathered together for breakfast to exchange information, other than Gabriel who looked at ease, the other people who were eating had gloomy expressions on their faces. 

In order to rescue Alas=Ramus’s siblings from the clutches of Heaven, Maou initiated the Battle to Defeat God. However, during this period of time, his biggest goal for staying in Japan---- the full-time employment hiring exam, he actually failed it. 
At the same time, Kinanah from the Renrebellbebelbe clan appeared at Yoyogi Park, and that demon seemed to have the last item of the Ancient Demon King’s Legacy which needed to be found in order to make use of the Ente Isla Demon Fortress to attack Heaven---- the Astral Gem. 
The memories belonging to Kinanah, who had lived for a very long time, had already become unclear. Therefore, even if Maou felt depressed because he did not pass the full-time employment hiring exam, he still had to take care of this dementia-stricken old lizard. 
Maou’s enemy Yusa Emi and the one who harboured positive feelings towards Maou, Sasaki Chiho, were worried that Maou, who failed to become a full-time employee, would embark on the path of the King of Demons. Not knowing what to do about Maou, the two of them decided to help take care of Kinanah, taking the chance to observe Maou’s situation. 
After that, Kisaki Mayumi, the shop manager of the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station, worried about Maou’s future developments for reasons different from that of Emi and Chiho, received a transfer order and decided to leave after a few years to open her own bar. 
Kisaki invited Maou and Archangel Sariel to be her business partners and Sariel agreed immediately. 
Maou expressed that if he was available when Kisaki became independent, then he would accept her invite, causing Emi and Chiho to worry for nothing. 
After unexpectedly knowing that ‘Maou strongly wished to continue living in Japan’, Emi and Chiho breathed sighs of relief. Since they could confirm that their comrades gathered at Villa Rosa Sasazuka would not cut ties with each other after the end of the Battle to Defeat God, then what was left would be to seriously prepare for the battle. 
To confirm if Kinanah was the Astral Gem, Maou, Emi and the Yesod fragment sisters who were merged with the both of them, Alas=Ramus and Acies=Ara headed to the Demon World together with Emi’s mother, Archangel Lailah and the one who raised Maou, the Demon Minister Camio. 
In the Demon World, Maou found Kinanah’s base, a mysterious underground facility which could suck away demonic magic from demons. They discovered that Kinanah was the Astral Gem, and other secrets behind the Ancient Demon King’s Legacies. 
At this time, the mysterious astronaut who had appeared in the sky above the Eastern Continent of the Ente Isla in the past appeared in front of them again. 
Even though they were unable to discern the opponent’s body shape and appearance, they could at least confirm that
the astronaut was the enemy of Maou and the rest. 
After the astronaut snatched the holy sword and Alas=Ramus away from Emi’s hands and caused Lailah to lose her
fighting spirit, only Acies who went berserk could fight evenly with the astronaut. 
There was actually an enemy whom even Maou and Emi, their strongest battle forces, could not handle. This shocked Lailah greatly. 
After that, grievous news was received by the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla. 
The moment the leader of the Theocracy’s Six Archbishops, Robertio Iguno Valentina, passed away, the remaining four Archbishops received a doctrine from the angels and decided to send the Church Knights to launch an attack on the Central Continent. 
The various situations surrounding the Battle to Defeat God were suddenly faced with a few huge obstacles, causing a huge impact to the Demon King Army. 
And currently, Maou and the others have not thought of any effective counter strategy. 

“However, it was lucky that there were no serious issues with the physical conditions of the Demon King and the
others.” 
“Because I have been monitoring them properly! Alas=Ramus-chan’s merged state seems to be recovering smoothly,
which gave Yusa-san a peace of mind.” 
“But that astronaut came to cause trouble when the Eastern Continent was in turmoil, right? If so, Gabriel should know
something?” “Ugh.”
Once Alberto pointed this out, Gabriel, who was cleaning up the breakfast dishes for the six people, flinched. 
“That’s exaggerated.” 
Gabriel’s overly exaggerated action caused Chiho to say this in irritation, and the former shook his head in clarification. “A, all of you might not believe me.”
“Who would believe you” “Don’t lie” “You’re hiding something” “Spill everything honestly” “That’s why I dislike angels” “I haven’t said anything yet!!”
Even if it was Gabriel, he would still feel depressed from being attacked by the group before he even spoke. 
“I know it sounds like a lie, but I really don’t know anything about that astronaut.” 
“Who would believe you” “Don’t lie” “You’re hiding something” “Spill everything honestly” “That’s why I dislike angels” “Listen to me!!”
After being scolded by everyone else with the same words, Gabriel rebutted. 
“I’m not lying! And this does not mean ?I wasn’t telling the truth either?! I really do not know anything! Alberto’s
talking about what happened when the Demon King and I were fighting at Azure Sky Canopy, right? At that time, every
existence who used holy magic, whether it was angel or human, were all sucked in, yes? I have never seen that
phenomenon before! That’s the truth, believe me already!” 
These words came from Gabriel, whose own existence was already suspicious, so the five people present did not really believe him, but in the end, it seemed like they were unable to obtain any useful information from Gabriel. 
“What is it…...it’s all true……” 
Gabriel also sensed that the others were clearly suspecting him, but considering his actions in the past, he could not be too forceful about it. 
“Putting the matter of the opponent’s identity aside, Maou-san and Yusa-san have received a huge shock. Based on what Urushihara-san said, Maou-san had been troubled over this issue recently, and he’s even neglecting Kinanah-san because of this.” 
“Although we can only trust half of what Lucifer says, a thought crossed my mind earlier on when the Demon King
failed to become a full-time employee. He is unexpectedly bad at handling setbacks.” 
Chiho did not deny Suzuno’s opinion. 
“Because he had put a lot of effort in it, because he obtained a few successes, he would feel especially bad when he fails. In addition, after Kisaki-san left, various aspects of the shop have turned into a mess, but Maou-san must be tired.” 
“Lailah and Amane are around, but it might be kinda bad like this…… that demon called Kinanah does not listen to Demon King-sama at all. It’s just a beast. Since it’s confirmed that he is one of the Ancient Demon King Satan’s Legacies, he must be managed appropriately.” 
“A beast huh……” 
“That’s true. From the traces of the destruction in the backyard, he must have used powerful demonic magic to cast
an advanced magic spell.” 
Once Suzuno remembered that the homegrown vegetable garden created by her in the backyard of Villa Rosa had already been destroyed by Kinanah with demonic magic, her gaze grew distant. 
Since Lord Demon King and Lord Lucifer do not have the time to take care of Sir Kinanah, then we should bring him back to Ente Isla, right? Isn’t our demonic magic harmful to the humans in Japan?” 
“That is correct, but depending on the movements of the Church, if we leave a huge amount of demonic magic which we are unable to control here, it would cause a lot of trouble. It is still alright if it was a demon who we can communicate with such as yourself, but that lizard has dementia, right? If he slips up and gets investigated by the Church, we might end up in a situation where they are like, "Exterminate the demons as soon as possible!” 
“Muu….. humans are really troublesome……” 
After the death of Robertio, the capable leader amongst the Six Archbishops, the other Archbishops received a doctrine via a ?Holy Dream?. 
Right now, it had basically turned into a threat against the members gathered at the Demon King Fortress. 
That contents of that sacred doctrine was, ?The evil which has disrupted the world will gather at the center of the world once again. Humans, unite once more and fight the demons?. 
The humans of Ente Isla still had vivid memories of the threat of the Demon King Army, so to them, there was no other declaration which was easier to understand than this. 
Regardless of who was asked, they believed that this meant the remaining demons have gathered in the Central Continent to plot their resurgence. 
Therefore, the situation had developed to a state where they could not leak out even the most insignificant of information. 
In addition, many countries’ core entities have already obtained information with regards to Alsiel, the Malebranche Clan and the commotion in the Eastern Continent. 
Even if the threat of the Demon King Army had already disappeared, demons still existed somewhere in this world, this was already an open secret. 
Because of this, whether it was Ashiya and the others, or the humans of Ente Isla, the area around the former Isla Kentorum in Central Continent was treated as an extremely sensitive area. 
The Demon Fortress’s current location, the city area of the former Isla Kentorum was originally designated as a no entry zone by the Five Continent Knight Alliance. 
The Saint Aire Knights led by Lumark and Emerada, the Inquisitors from the Doctrinal Correction Council led by Suzuno and the Hakin Knight Troops from the Eastern Continent were all gathered at the Demon Fortress. Their main task was to, in more ways than one, secure this forbidden area. 
The people from the Five Continent Knight Alliance definitely would not come close to the Demon Fortress in the first place, but ever since Ashiya and the others began their preparations for the Battle to Defeat God, humans had not raised their guard around this area in the recent months. This was because they worked hard to ensure that the people of the world did not notice the existence of the Demon Fortress. 
But ever since that doctrine appeared, even if they expanded the forbidden area and increased their guard, they still needed to defend against people observing from far away or investigating with magic. 
Perhaps those people were afraid of alerting them, because no one had sent a sonar probing spell towards this area yet. 
Even then, someone might be watching them at this very moment. The world was currently in this situation. 
If it was a skilled sorcerer, they could still easily sense the huge uncontrolled demonic magic from Kinanah without sending out a sonar. Based on this point alone, having Kinanah stay in either Japan or Ente Isla had their own set of dangers. 
“So, General Bell. When do you think the Church army formed by humans would start to take action?” 
“In reality, it is not possible for the Church Knights located around the world to take action immediately, but it would not take a few months as well. They would probably send out their troops in batches. In that case, even by the most optimistic estimate, we would probably only have a leeway of two months.” 
“Two months huh. This is a time period which is neither long nor short.” 
“This is the time needed to develop a full scale war. It wouldn’t be strange if the battle starts earlier than that. There are many people who also belong to the Church Knights amongst the Five Continent Knight Alliance stationed at the four cities of the Central Continent.” 
Before the Demon King Army invaded, the continent’s central city, Isla Kentorum, was the center of the whole continent. 
But in Noza Quarters at the north of the Central Continent, Ia Quarters at the east, Saza Quarters at the south, and Wez Quarters at the west, all of them had administrative bureaus set up which could function independently. After the Demon King Army retreated, the administration of the Central Continent was mainly concentrated in Noza Quarters and Ia Quarters, which suffered less damage during the war. 
The Five Continent Knight Alliance which was formed to rebuild the Central Continent had bases in those four cities. Even if they were the minority, there were still groups which also belonged to the Church Knights. 
Depending on the negotiations between the Five Continent Knight Alliance and the Church Knights, the remaining time might change again. 
Emerada Etuva and Heather Lumark rushed back to their country once they received news about the holy dream. 
This was because other than the need to grasp the movements of the Five Continent Knight Alliance, they could not miss out on any actions taken by the various countries and the Theocracy. 
And Suzuno too, had to follow them after this. 
“How long can you drag this out?” 
Frowning, Suzuno answered Ashiya’s question. 
“This is the amount of time we can obtain assuming Emerada-dono, General Lumark and I are doing all we can to drag
it out.” 
“If that’s the case, then the situation is rather bleak.” 
Suzuno nodded, then looked towards Chiho. 
“In addition, it is best to minimise the communication and travel with Japan. The reason why we, the Demon King Army, can leisurely carry out activities in the past is because the Five Continent Knight Alliance are only concerned about the battle for power. If someone senses the movement of a strong power or the existence of Japan because of a Gate or Idea Link, even the Five Continent Knight Alliance will take action. Alsiel, at that point, the situation will end up being more serious than when you were kidnapped.”
When Suzuno said ?We, the Demon King Army?, Alsiel and Chiho smiled awkwardly.
“This will definitely cause danger to Sasazuka and Japan. Especially since the Knight Troops in the South got involved in a conflict between the Harlan Royal Family, they might attack Japan in their anxiousness to obtain an achievement.” 
In the past, the Hakin Knight Troops of the Eastern Continent sent their soldiers to Sasazuka because they were incited by the angels. 
Even if they have already obtained assistance from Shiba and Amane, due to personal feelings on Ashiya’s and Suzuno’s
end, they do not wish to cause more trouble to Japan. 
“I can understand the risks of using the Gate Spell, but it’s also not allowed to use the Angel Feather Pen? That would
not use a large amount of holy magic or demonic magic.” 
In response to Chiho’s question, Suzuno thought about it for a while and replied. 
“If there is a necessity, the Angel Feather Pen could still be used, but like this, it would be more inconvenient for the
demons.” 
Suzuno looked towards the demons who could not use the Angel Feather Pen, but Ashiya did not seem to be that bothered about it. 
“It doesn’t matter. Currently, there is no issue which require Demon King-sama to come, Urushihara needs to stay in Japan to take care of Kinanah, and I do not have any matters in Japan which I need to go back to handle. Compared to that, wouldn’t using the Angel Feather Pen or Lailah carry the risk of alerting the Church to discover the movements of angels? Once they discover angels, the Church would probably become more motivated.” 
“It’s the opposite. They’ll end up being more cautious instead, just the procedure of identifying angels, miracles and
God will take a very long time.” 
“From our standpoint, it would be perplexing if they carelessly identify a fake.” 
“Since the real deal is like this thing, then I also understand why they would want to find a fake which seems more
fitting.” 
“Alsiel…...your words are merciless…...why does everyone here address me as ?this thing?......at least I can cook rice
better than a normal knight.” 
Rather than letting people know about the existence of an angel who competes with knights over who can cook better, it would be better for the Church to identify a fake who looks more sacred. This would be better for the devotees’ mental health. 
“The mobilisation of the Church Knights this time is definitely on a scale never seen before in history.” 
As if she was lacking in confidence, Suzuno lowered her voice. 
“Only four people are left within the Six Archbishops. The situation and scale this time has no precedence, so regardless of what action they take, they would spend a lot of time strategising. However, based on the power relationship of the remaining four Archbishops, as long as Servantes-sama obtains the leadership position, then no one would be capable of stopping him.” 
“Servantes Reberiz…… the youngest of the Six Archbishops. He was the man who was responsible for offering this
apologies to Saint Aire when Emerada Etuva had the inquisition.” 
“He is an annoying person. That incident was clearly the Church’s fault, yet he was able to complete the negotiations without leaving any grudges, that’s how amazing he is. Even if Saint Aire has no power when dealing with the Church, this is still very abnormal.” 
Alberto said unhappily. It seemed like Servantes was someone who was not easy to handle. 
“After the Church lost Olba and Robertio, these two elderly leaders, he is the young leader who immediately stablised
the huge organisation. He really is an amazing man.” 
Ashiya’s off topic thoughts caused Alberto to frown and say. “Is this the time to say such things? The Church is our ene……” “The Church is not the enemy. At least not yet.”
“......Seriously, it looks like the demons are as troublesome as humans.” 
As if he was unable to tolerate this situation, Alberto shrugged and said this sentence which appeared to be plagiarised from what Farfarello said , but Farfarello did not react at all.
“......Anyway, such a large scale mobilisation of the Church Knights…...in history, this is known as a ? Holy
Conquest?......based on the rules, before initiating a Holy Conquest, there is a need to investigate if all the procedures
follow the doctrine. The Doctrinal Correction Council is in charge of investigating this, and for important matters like
this, it must be personally handled by me, the overall in charge. Therefore, I will not be able to return to the Demon Fortress until everything officially begins.” 
“It’s even more amazing how you were able to stay in Japan the whole time. Em is so envious of you.” 
“This meant that Ente Isla was so peaceful in the past such that no serious issues which required the presence of me as the overall in charge have occurred. If possible, I really hope that it would always be like this.” 
“How about you quit your Inquisitor job after this war ends? And just go to Em’s place to find a new job?” 
Suzuno said this rather sadly while Alberto suggested this easily. 
“I am still someone with an important responsibility, even if I want to resign, I need to consider the timing and think about choosing my successor, so it’s not that easy to retire…… haah, however I will consider it as one of the possible paths in the future.” 
Suzuno answered without much thought, but Chiho was looking at the two of them in surprise for some unknown reason. 
“Future…… path……” 
However, Suzuno and Alberto did not notice Chiho’s mumbles. 
The Demon Fortress, erected in the Central Continent of Ente Isla. 
With six tatami mats laid out in the throne room, as well as the kotatsu placed on top and six rice bowls. The people present, were talking about the future.
Chiho put down her empty bowl and looked down slightly. 
“I will think of a way to contact everyone without using Idea Link. For all the human troops here, I will hand over the
command to Alberto-dono. I’m sorry, but I will be counting on all of you after this.” 
“You, Emerada and Lumark are going to leave, this is not as simple as losing part of the main fighting force. I’m not sure how much we can do with just Alberto and I.” 
“Even so, it has to be done. Or rather, there is no other choice but to do it.” 
With a gaze containing loneliness and a hint of determination, Suzuno said this with a smile. 
“If not, we will not be able to fulfil Alas=Ramus’s wish.” “Yes. You’re right.”
Ashiya nodded and stood up. 
“Don’t be too reckless.” 
“I should be saying that to you.” 
The Head Inquisitor of the Theocracy’s Doctrinal Correction Council and the Demon Army’s Demon General, as if they were discussing about shopping while standing in the common corridor at Villa Rosa Sasazuka, they encouraged each other in a simple manner with regards to the topic which could affect the state of the world. 
“Chiho-dono as well…… I’m sorry to trouble you when it is currently a hard time for you. It should be really busy at
school and the shop, right?” 
Lastly, Suzuno said this to Chiho, and pulled out an Angel Feather Pen from within her clothes. “The issues with the Demon King and the others, and the matters in Japan, I’m counting on you.” “A, alright. I understand. Suzuno-san should take care as well……”
After listening to Chiho’s reply, Suuzno showed an expression of ease. She smiled and walked away from the tatami floor, sticking the Angel Feather Pen into the floor of the throne room. 
After that, without looking back, she jumped directly into the opened Gate. 
After the five people watched her leave, mixed feelings were shown on their faces. 
Ashiya stood up alone and stared at the faraway scenery from the window of the throne room. 
From the appearance of the forest in the Central Continent, it was hard to determine which season it was currently. 
Just now, Suzuno told Alberto that she hoped ?it would always be like this?. This caused Ashiya to remember that with regards to their living in Japan, they were about to welcome their second April. 
He started to think about everything which has happened until now, and what will happen in the following two months. 
“Now, what should I cook tonight.” 

Even if the cold winter had already ended, the weather had not warmed up. Time entered the 1st of April, which was also the first day of the New Year. 
(T/N: 1st of April in Japan is the start of a new year. Schools will open with a new semester, and new working members of society will also officially report to their companies on this day.) 
Three long objects which were much longer than the height of a human were headed towards Sasazuka Station from
Sasazuka’s 100th Shopping Street. 
Still going to the dojo to practice during spring break, Chiho, as well as Chiho’s classmates and friends, Shouji Kaori
and Koumura Yoshiya, these three people were currently on their way home. 
“While carrying this around, you would appreciate being able to store it in school.” 
Kaori, who was sweating slightly from her forehead, brushed aside her hair sticking to her forehead and mumbled this. 
“Oh damn, where should I put it? I haven’t cleaned up my room.” 
Beside her, Yoshiya also had an expression of agony. 
“Before the spring break, we already said that we will bring it back today. What are you doing?” 
Kaori said in a stunned tone, causing Yoshiya to be momentarily clueless on how to respond. Either way, he did not prepare at all because he thought it was troublesome.
“However, after taking it home, there is a sudden realisation that it is really long. When I took it home earlier, it almost touched the ceiling of my room. Then I remembered that I had the same thought the previous year.” 
But Chiho, walking next to the two of them, also nodded in agreement. 
The trio were currently carrying the bows they would use when participating in club activities. 
These bows were normally stored in the club office in the school’s archery dojo and were only brought out of the
premises during competitions. 
However, the school announced earlier that during the spring break, all sport related facilities, including the archery dojo, will be undergoing cleaning and treatment to get rid of ants. Therefore, the students need to take all their personal belongings home. 
“Our bow may be long, but it’s not that heavy, the kendo students probably have a harder time than us.” 
“The Kendo Club needs to take their stuff home as well? Don’t they put their whole set of protective gear into a bag with their name on it? They don’t have to worry about their things disappearing like this, right?” 
“There will be workers from external companies entering and leaving. If the equipment gets damaged or are lost, it
will turn into a huge problem.” “Ah, I see.”
“Haah, not having to bring it home every day is already considered a good thing. By the way, Sasaki, why did take your
bow home some time ago?” 
The Northern Continent of Ente Isla would regularly hold a huge event called the Jirga to choose the new Enclosure Leader. Before the start of the spring break, Chiho specially brought her bow back home to participate in this event. 
Not only did Chiho participate in this event which tested her shooting skills, after borrowing the powers of many people, she obtained the first ?victory?. And of course, she also considered how to answer if anyone asked about this. 
“Because when I participated in club activities earlier, I felt that the sound of the bow became a little strange which bothered me a lot, so I took it to a shop to get it checked. I happened to want to buy new arrows as well, so I can test if they are suitable at the same time.” 
Chiho did harden her heart and bought new arrows for the sake of the Jirga, and after the Jirga ended, she did go to the archery shop. 
The bow setup Chiho used were the strings for close range archery, but during the Archery Ceremony which she participated as the winner of the Jirga, she hit a far target 100 meters away. 
Drawing the bow with the power of the Yesod would cause an abnormal amount of burden on the bow. 
Just in case, Chiho took the bow to a shop for inspection, but the result was that there was not much problems with the bow itself. 
The strength of the fibreglass bow created by modern technology amazed Chiho greatly, and after she bought replacements of the worn out bow string, her Jirga quietly ended. 
Chiho also gave a similar explanation to her parents. Without considering the truth behind it, 90% of the explanation was the truth, so Chiho said it very smoothly and was not suspected in the end. 
Of course, Kaori and Yoshiya did not suspect anything, just that both their reactions were completely different from
Chho’s parents. 
“I see. Sasaki, you wish to continue practicing archery after entering university?” “...... Eh?”
Chiho was shocked by this unexpected question, but Kaori joined the conversation naturally. 
“Of course. Already buying something so expensive and having no other sports we want to invest in currently, if the
environment allows it, Sasachi would probably want to continue.” “......Uh, yeah, that’s right.” 
Chiho did not expect this question, so she replied after missing a beat. 
“There is only one last competition left after this, I think I should buy new arrows too. The archery clubs in university should be stricter than a weak school like ours. I should pick a few of my choice schools from those who have an archery club.” 
Chiho finally noticed one thing. 
They were already third year high school students. 
In fact, they probably only had three to four months left to carry out their activities as members of the Sasahata High School Archery Club. 
Making preparations for the last competition is also one of the reasons but buying new equipment at this kind of time would naturally cause people to think that Chiho wanted to continue with this activity in ? the future?.
No, it was more like they were already facing a period where they had to begin preparing for ? the future?. 
“Talking about this, us third year students will have to take part in the aspirations survey after the holiday. It feels so
troublesome. Can’t we just use last year’s results?” 
“They’re carrying out the survey because of people like you. You might have passed in every subject, but your results aren’t considered particularly good.” 
“My English score increased by one fold.” 
“Improving from 25 points to 50 points, what’s there to feel proud about?” 
“Oh my, it’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m planning to try for Todai. In addition, I am attending remedial classes. As long as I
take things seriously, it will be a breeze.” 
“Eh? Koumura-kun has started attending remedial classes?” 
Chiho got another shock. 
“Yeah, I am an exam candidate after all? It feels like it’s about time to start working hard?” Yoshiya replied nonchalantly. From Kaori’s reaction, she probably already knew about it. “Yeah. But it starts from April onwards.”
In fact, he had not even been there once yet, Kaori added, wanting to lighten up the atmosphere and take Yoshiya
down a peg or two, but just for today, this action was ineffective. 
Chiho got a huge shock from the fact that Yoshiya was naturally taking actions fitting of a third year high school student. Even Kaori was starting to select her choice schools, so what was she doing?
It was not known if Kaori sensed the shock in Chiho’s heart, but she continued her attacks on Yoshiya. 
“I don’t want to be a wet blanket, but it’s best that you stop saying stuff like how things would be very simple once you take things seriously. That would make you look really dumb. Those people who are really capable of taking things seriously would have already begun to focus before saying such things.” 
“Sa~sa~ki! I don’t want to take exams anymore! Shouji keeps decreasing my motivation!” 
Yoshiya and Kaori were arguing with each other like normal. 
But for unknown reasons, Chiho had sunk into the illusion that she had been left behind by the pair. 
“…… I feel that Koumura-kun should listen to Kao, your life would be smoother that way.” 
“Sasachi, stop that! With this, once things aren’t smooth sailing for him, he would push the responsibility for it on to
me!” 
“Shouji, you’re too much! I have not fallen to such an extent!” 
“Ever since you said that things will be easy once you get serious, you have already fallen to the bottom of the valley! Have some self-awareness!” 
“Sorry, sorry, the two of you, calm down a bit.” 
Chiho placated Kaori, who might start to hit Yoshiya with the bow if this went on, while doing some self-reflection at the same time. 
Third year high school student. University exams and pursuing further education. 
To Chiho, these things were recorded in the schedule planner a long time ago, and were topics which have been discussed a few times, but it might only be during this instant did she truly realised that these things were ?planned
activities? which were quickly approaching.
 I should pick a few of my choice schools from those who have an archery club. ? 
When Kaori went for the future path enquiry during the spring of her second year, she had said the same thing, but from what she said just now, this thought within Kaori’s heart had already developed into a concrete plan. 
Kaori must have at least filtered down to the schools which have an archery club, did some research into the acceptance scores, and thought about how to study to get accepted, else she would not have said such things. 
Because of that, she was acting so stern towards Yoshiya who thought that his results would improve as long as he started to attend remedial classes. 
On the contrary, how about herself? Currently, what had she chosen?
She had many things she wanted to do, things she should do, as well as things she hoped she could accomplish. But had she put in any hard work for any of those things?
“Sasachi?” 
“Hm, it’s nothing.” “……”
Before they knew it, swept away amongst the crowd, the trio arrived at Koshu Kaido. Sasazuka Station was in front of them.
Chiho suddenly looked towards the sky around the area of Villa Rosa Sasazuka, which could not be seen from here but was probably on the other side of the railway. 
Her heart was filled with uneasiness about her own future, but once she looked towards that place…… “……Haah.”
She could not help but sigh. 
Chiho thought about the topics which the six people, including her, discussed about while eating breakfast at the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla. 
The Ancient Demon King Satan’s Legacies, the giant sized Kinanah, the Church Knights from various parts of the world who might attack the Central Continent, and Chiho’s friends who were trying to stop them. 
Would Kinanah’s demonic magic explode because he lost control, would Villa Rosa turn into a battlefield because of an attack from Heaven, has a full scale war erupted between the Church Knights and the Demon King Army in Ente Isla, all these unrealistic sounding yet possible scenarios filled her heart with uneasiness. 
A high school student who would seriously worry over Tokyo turning into a battlefield because of a large beast, even if one searched the whole world, Chiho would probably be the only one who fit this description. 
Her heart was harbouring this kind of laughable uneasiness which could not be ignored, yet she was still expected to carry out reasonable and concrete actions with regards to her own future, this was asking for too much. It really was. 
“What am I thinking……” 
Chiho could not help but say this to herself, but she immediately shut her mouth because she was worried that Kaori and Yoshiya would hear. 
Luckily, Yoshiya seemed to have said something wrong again and was hit on the back of the head by Kaori, so the pair did not notice Chiho at all. 
Chiho suddenly felt apologetic towards the two of them. 
Even if everyone had a secret they could not talk about, being unable to honestly tell her two important friends about her own troubles, still caused Chiho to feel that she had betrayed the friendship between her and the pair. 
Despite that, even if she honestly said, ?Once I think of the possibility of a beast causing havoc, I’m so afraid that I can’t study?, she would only cause the pair to worry over a completely different problem, so Chiho could not say anything after all. 
However, it was possible that even Maou and Emi were unable to understand these feelings. In fact, it might end up stressing them out, causing them to feel worse. 
When she thought to this point, 
“Ah.” 
Chiho discovered that there was one person who might not feel the same way as her but could understand her current emotions. 
“Then, Koumura-kun, I’ll see you at the next club activity. I need to go to work now.” “Ah, yeah……”
“See you. Ah~ I don’t want to study!” 
Chiho hastened her pace and headed towards Hatagaya. 
She actually had enough time to go home first to put down her bow, but to quickly dispel the uneasiness in her heart, Chiho pulled out her mobile phone. 
After Kaori watched Chiho walk away quickly, she shook her head in a rather lonely manner. 
“……” “Shouji?”
Kaori continued to look in the direction which Chiho had left in and answered Yoshiya. 
“Hm, it’s nothing. It just feels that the thought of the two of us helping to take on all her burden would only feel like a
restriction on her.” “Huh?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go home.” 
Kaori urged on Yoshiya and they crossed the intersection. 
“Yoshiya.” “Hm?”
“You have to study properly, okay.” “Why are you suddenly saying this.”
“I’m really worried about you. Once no one is keeping watch on you, you would want to slack off.” “Ehh?”
Because she felt irritated at the side profile of Yoshiya’s confused face, Kaori could not help but blurt out the sentence she had never said until now, 
“Yoshiya, if you don’t have a school you particularly want to go to, do you want to take the exam of the same school
as me?” 
“……” 
Yoshiya fell silent, and just as Kaori suddenly realised, Eh? I might have said something which could be easily misunderstood? Such that even her neck turned red, 
“Impossible.” 
Late by a beat, Yoshiya rejected her, causing Kaori to almost fall over. 
“Huh?! Why?!” 
Kaori could not help but ask this loudly, a hint of melancholy appeared on Yoshiya’s usually silly face and he replied
while looking far away. 
“The difference in our results is too huge.” 
Kaori fell over once more. 
“Actually, I took part in their mock exam when I registered for remedial classes. I tried filling in your schools of choice, but only got an E judgement in the end. There’s no hope at all.” 
Putting aside the reason why Yoshiya would fill in her own schools of choice when taking part in the mock exams, Kaori did not even know when Yoshiya found out about her school choices. However, even if a deep part of her heart fluttered, she still tried very hard to reply with her usual mindset, 
“Y, you attended remedial classes for the sake of overturning that kind of result! And I’m worried that if you just went with the flow and choose a strange university, you might make strange friends and fall into depravity. Please do not think that you would be able to find people like me and Sasachi at every school, okay?” 
“Ehh? Who would fall into depravity. I won’t do stupid things like using drugs or playing around at night.” 
“It’s not that. It feels like you might get addicted to online games because you can’t fit in to campus life and became a shut-in for the rest of your life. And there’s no one to check if you’re alright or not.” 
“What kind of picture did you paint of me in your head?” 
“Uh, the feeling of seeing the world with a gloomy and cold gaze because you cannot look at your excellent and dazzling
older brother directly.” 
“I will definitelyyy get into a university which is better than yours! I’ve decided! I~have~really~decided~!” 
Kaori resisted showing her usual attitude of ‘Try it if you can’. 
Yoshiya would take a longer time to enter the zone, but he would still end up focusing in the end, this was probably one of the easily spotted early signs. 
If she shot him down at this moment, then she would really throwing cold water on him. 
“Haah, do your best. I will do my best as well, so it would probably be difficult to catch up to me.” 
“I will definitely double my English scores during the next regular test! At that time, you better not cry!” 
“Oh~ how amazing, you actually predicted obtaining full marks! If you can really do it, I will admit my loss honestly.” 
It was clumsy, but Yoshiya and Kaori still gradually reverted to their usual pace. Just as they crossed the fare gates of Sasazuka Station while bickering with each other, Chiho sent out a message. 
Because the recipient of the message might still be working, the contents only mentioned a request to find a place to chat. 
Hi, Chiho-chan? Is anything the matter?”?
Fortunately, the other party replied quickly. 
“Suzuki-san, sorry for contacting you so suddenly. Is it convenient to meet up later today? I have some things to discuss
with you.” 
Discuss? Feels like it’s something serious? ? 
Perhaps she sensed something from Chiho’s tone, on the other end of the phone, the sounds of Suzuki Rika getting
ready to go out immediately could be heard. 
“No, I’m sorry. Nothing that special happened, and there’s no direct relation to the matters of Ente Isla.” 
Hm? ? 
“Suzuki-san.” 
Chiho only realised it after thinking about it later on, but her voice at that time might have contained a half-weeping tone. 
“I, don’t know what kind of mindset I should have when preparing for my exams.” 

“Ah~~~~~~~~~~~~” 
After listening to everything from Chiho, Rika showed an expression which looked like understanding, perplexity and pity added together and divided by three, except because the expression was so complex, it ended up looking like there was no change in expression at all. 
Rika looked towards Chiho who leaned her long bow against the wall of the shop and was currently looking down with a gloomy expression on her face. 
Even if Chiho was looking down, Rika could still see that she had sighed softly. 
“It must have been hard for you, Chiho-chan.” 
Because she could not remain silent the whole time, Rika first comforted Chiho, but she said this only to buy some time to organise her thoughts. 
“Ma~, that’s true, preparing for exams in this situation, the hardship felt could probably be ranked into the top five in
the world.” 
“It’s still not considered the first in the world?” 
“Because Chiho-chan isn’t facing any life threatening danger. Even though everyone can naturally accept obtaining the education they want in Japan, in the wider world, this is still considered a kind of miracle.” 
“But.” 
“I understand. I understand. Nee-san understands. A high school girl genuinely worrying about a monster possibly appearing in Tokyo or evil angels coming here from another dimension to cause trouble, Chiho-chan is likely the only one. So in Japan, you’re definitely number one.” 
“It feels like…… I no longer know what I am living for.” 
“Because Chiho-chan’s personality is too serious, it’s hard for me to reply as well.” 
Even if Chiho wanted to find someone to discuss her future path together, to Rika, who left her hometown to become a working adult without going to university, this topic was really too heavy. 
However, after listening to Chiho’s explanation, Rika could understand that whether it was Japan, the world, or Ente
Isla, there was a basis for her to understand Chiho’s troubles. 
When Rika felt depressed because Ashiya treated her coldly, she had also faced a similar situation. 
Towards these guys who came from a foreign world but were strangely used to Japan, unless it was a person from Earth who liked them to the point that they could not pull themselves out of the situation, it would be impossible to understand Chiho’s troubles. 
“Hm~ you know this already, but I have never been to university, and I’m not a permanent employee. Someone like me who leisurely lives alone, I don’t actually have the right to say anything much about it…… but based on what little information I heard from Maki-chan, you do plan to go to university, right?” 
“Yeah, I have not really thought about it properly, but I have always had the thought of wanting to go to university since some time ago.” 
Chiho gave a simple explanation about how she started to work at the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya Station. 
“At that time I only wanted to learn English, and naively thought that as long as I learn English, whether I go overseas
or stay in Japan, I would be able to live an interesting life. But afterwards……” 
“You realised that your senior at Mags was actually a Demon King from a foreign world. To phrase it differently, Emi and Maou-san should be considered aliens. Forget about overseas, you basically skipped all the way to outer space.” 
Considering that the two of them would definitely include a lot of ridiculous sounding content in their conversation this time, they choose to meet at the conveyer sushi store from before, ?Gyogyoen?. 
Recently Gyogyoen brought in a luxury coffee machine, and the table between the pair had plastic cups filled with Latte as well as plates with cake on them, feeling completely out of place with the smell of vinegar rice drifting within the store and the broadcast of pop song instrumentals which were played with Japanese instruments. 
“However, Chiho-chan just has to set those famous universities as a target first, right? With regards to the subjects you are good at and related information, you can discuss it with someone else. Maki-chan said this before, yes?” 
Rika’s junior at work, university student Shimizu Maki did suggest to Chiho that if she did not know what to do, she could first set the best university in which she had a chance of enter as a target. 
Of course, Chiho understood the reason for doing so. 
But right now, Chiho still did not know how to link that target with the vague future she was hoping for. And because she could not grasp the very first opportunity, she could not take one step forward. 
“So after Maou-san, now it’s Chiho-chan’s turn.” “Eh?”
“It’s nothing. I say, since Chiho-chan and I share a secret which is only known by two people in the whole world, and
there is only us two Earthlings and coffee from a sushi store here, why don’t we analyse this honestly?” 
Rika looked at the conveyer belt which did not have that many plates after lunch period and asked this. 
“I think what Chiho-chan probably needs right now is when you’re feeling lost is a guide, opportunity or process which can clearly point out a direction for you.” 
“Perhaps……it is something like that.” 
Thinking about it carefully, Chiho started to think about these things after knowing that Kaori had already chosen which universities she wanted to attend. 
“When you first started working, because you saw Maou-san use English to serve customers, a sense of admiration grew in your heart. The situation leading to this is different, but the methods are the same. Simply put, analyse the current situation and what you want to do, then look for something which is achievable for you. For example, even if that lizard causes trouble, you can only leave it to those amazing people to handle it. Even if Maou-san and Emi are unable to handle it, there is still Oogruo-san, the apartment’s Landlady-san or Emi’s mother. Let’s not get restricted by common sense and honestly list out what Chiho-chan wants to do.” 
“……Uh.” 
Chiho looked like she did not understand that well, therefore Rika delivered a direct straight punch filled with fighting spirit. 
“Haah, let me list out an example first. Do you want to marry Maou-san in the future?” “MAR!!!!!! RY!?!?!?”
This caused Chiho to speak just like a chicken, but it seemed like this sentence was highly effective. 
Chiho, who had been looking downwards until just now, fell back as if she had been hit by an uppercut, and when she finally pulled her head back to the correct position, her face was so red that it would not lose to bonito, tuna or salmon roe. 
“………………………………… If …………… it’s possible………….” 
Chiho’s reply was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, but Rika still felt very satisfied. 
“Good, good. If so, you just have to think about what to do to achieve this goal. Maou-san has a Japan Family Register right? Then you don’t have to worry about the legal issues in Japan. If you want to marry Maou-san, what do you think you lack?” 
Chiho put all her effort into adjusting her accelerating heartbeat and breathing. 
Just like a child, a young girl, before she went to sleep at night, she would also fantasise about leading a happy life together with the person she liked, but right now, she needed to think about the problems she might face by doing this. Chiho suppressed her feelings of embarrassment which might cause her to faint anytime, mustered up the courage comparable to that possessed by a Hero and said, 
“Life span……I guess? Because all demons live very long lives……” 
No matter what, this point could not be avoided. 
Rika’s expression froze for a while, but just as Chiho was about to turn gloomy, Rika regained her smile immediately. 
“I see, the same issues as Emi’s parents huh. I see, the body structures are different after all. Then other than the huge difference in life span, are there any other issues?” 
“Uh…… erhm…… fighting ability?” 
“Fighting ability huh. Can I take it as the ability to wield swords or use magic?” “Y, yes…… other than that, there’s still the language of Ente Isla.”
“Hm, Ente Isla’s language huh. Even though it’s collectively known as Ente Isla language, since there is no such thing as Earth language, then that side should also have various countries and languages. Is there anything else?” 
“Uh, erhm……” “Is that all?”
“Uh, probably?” 
Because she knew an actual case study in Lailah and Nord and saw how the humans in Ente Isla lived via the Jirga, Chiho understood that differences which could not be bridged existed between herself and Maou. 
Even in Japan, these problems could not be solved. 
But Rika looked at the pen and notebook which she had taken out during their conversation and said directly. 
“You’re lying. There should be more.” “Eh?”
Rika looked really confident about this, giving Chiho a shock, but it was Rika who looked more surprised. “Because those issues which Chiho-chan wants to solve just now are basically matters related to Ente Isla.” Rika passed the notebook over to Chiho.
“Chiho-chan is human, Maou-san is a demon, therefore there will definitely be differences in lifespan. However, as long as no problems happen over there, you don’t need to possess any fighting power. Even if you’re not particularly strong, weren’t you already appointed as a Demon whatever-it-is already?” 
“Eh, uh, but” 
“As for languages, isn’t this already being solved by depending on that mysterious magic? It might not be possible to use that mysterious power after the following battle ends, but Suzuno-chan, Emerada-chan and Emi can speak Japanese, so even if magic suddenly cannot be used, it won’t be a problem. Yeah, you don’t need to think about these issues so seriously after all.” 
“But……” 
“Didn’t Maou-san say that if he was still alive three years later, he would accept the invitation from the shop manager
at his workplace?” “……Eh.”
“Didn’t he say it during White Day? Even though Maou-san returned to become the Demon King right now, he plans to help that shop manager open a store or start up a company three years later, right? If you want to be together with Maou-san who is in working in Japan, then there shouldn’t be much you need to do in Japan right now.” 
Rika first explained, ‘I learned this from my grandfather’, then spoke. “Marriage is the smallest scale mutual assistance contract in the world.”
Chiho spent some time to process these unfamiliar terms and Rika had already predicted Chiho’s reaction, so she
paused for a suitable amount of time before continuing. 
“It’s not right for only one side to accommodate the other. Just like how Chiho-chan wishes to be of help to Maou-san, after Chiho-chan marries Maou-san, he needs to work hard or make compromises too. As far as I can see, Chiho-chan still has plenty of chance, so I don't think you should be worrying about that part, however you can't let things stay as they are. If you’re just thinking how to match up to Maou-san, this means that you’re always allowing Maou-san to act spoilt around you. This is only a single-sided dependency and is neither love nor affection. Maou-san also has many areas which he needs to work on to match up to Chiho-chan.” 
“Y, y, you r, r, r, really think I have such a chance...?!” 
“There aren’t many girls around Maou-san in the first place. I feel that if even Chiho-chan has no chance, then no one should have any chance right now.” 
“T, there are a lot of girls around Maou-san, you know?” 
“Ehh? Is that so. Saying this feels embarrassing because it’s like an invasion of privacy, but ignoring whether Maou-san is interested in human females, I think that only Suzuno-chan can compete with Chiho-chan currently.” 
“Eh? Uh, erhm, I don’t think there isn’t anything like that……” 
Normally, Chiho would think that Rika was teasing her, but Rika was very serious this time. 
“Because from a realistic angle, it should be impossible for Emi.” “Eh?!”
Chiho got a huge shock. And she was so shocked that she was not even sure why she was shocked. 
“What kind of reaction is that……this is normal, isn’t it? Even if a really bad first impression can sometimes cause someone to fall in love easily, or what is known as Stockholm’s Syndrome, there should be a limit. The fact that they can interact like friends now is already considered a miracle, so it’s impossible to move on to the next stage.” 
“Ehh……ehh……is, is that so?” 
“Using the same reasoning, it would be impossible for Emerada-chan as well. She harbours grudges even more deeply than Emi, and she’s the type to be incapable of forgiving others on a social as well as personal level. Based on what I know, the people at Mags do not know Maou-san’s true identity, so they aren’t counted at all. With this, only Chiho- chan and Suzuno-chan are left.” 
“Well, if you put it that way, it might be like that after all……” 
“Suzuno-chan is a strong opponent. She is a neighbour with a similar living environment, is very capable of taking care of others, bears no private grudges against Maou-san, has experience of working in society and is good at housework, right?” 
“T, that’s true……” 
Chiho had never seen Suzuno as an Inquisitor who had experience of working in society, but from the past until now, when talking about females who were seen by Chiho as?a love rival?, it was true that Suzuno had been the only one. 
The problem arose because of their impressions and what happened when they first met, but the reason Chiho began to deliver her cooking to the Demon Fortress was because she developed a competitive spirit against Suzuno whose true identity had not been found out at that time. 
It was something which had happened not that long ago, but why did she forget it so quickly? 
Chiho still clearly remembered herself feeling jealous because of the decrease of the distance between Maou and Emi and how she hated herself for it. It was not because she was being arrogant, but she had never imagined a situation where Maou and Emi would develop into a couple relationship. 
However, Chiho did develop feelings of ?I don’t want Maou-san to be taken away by her?towards Suzuno. 
This thought spurred Chiho’s confession later on. This was undeniable. “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm~!”
Chiho covered her face with her hands and slumped on the table, shaking her head continuously. After seeing this situation, Rika smiled awkwardly and said. 
“It looks like you have remembered something which makes you want to die from embarrassment just thinking about it. Chiho-chan is so cute.” 
No, in the end Chiho should already know that Suzuno only wanted to obtain a chance to kill Maou and did not want to develop a romantic relationship with him. 
Chiho and Suzuno had become good friends now, wouldn’t it be very rude to Suzuno to still see her as a love rival? 
“And it feels as if Suzuno-chan does not dislike Maou-san.” 
However, as if Rika had seen through Chiho’s mental state, she added another sentence, causing Chiho’s mind to whirr at full speed. 
Then again, when she discussed about Valentine’s Day with Kaori and Acies, Kaori asked Suzuno to give chocolate to
Maou together with Chiho, and at that time, Suzuno was strangely shaken. 
That, could it be, because of……? 
“N, no! F, for this kind of thing, Suzuno-san’s feelings must be considered, we should not be carelessly making guesses here, and the important thing right now is my issues, uh, wrong, erhm, I’m not so conceited to think that I can marry Maou-san, eh? What am I saying, erhm, what were we talking about originally!?” 
Chiho was visibly shaken, and Rika brewed a new cup of tea to make Chiho calm down. “Haah, calm down a bit. If you’re too anxious, I would start thinking how interesting this is.” “I, I am very calm, it’s hot!!”
Chiho, who was clearly not composed at all, burned her tongue with the freshly brewed tea. 
“Ahaha……haah, either way. Marriage is not the end goal. Rather than that, the things you have to face after marriage are even more numerous, lovers whose lives become perfect and smooth sailing after marriage do not exist. Some problems might only surface after a few years or even more than ten years later. Working together to solve these problems when these moments arrive, that is what is called a married couple.” 
Rika spoke as if she was a married person, but Chiho realised that her gaze had turned a little sad. 
“……Suzuki, san?” 
“Let me say this first, this has nothing to do with Ashiya-san.” Rika discovered what Chiho had noticed and smiled intentionally.
“This is related to why I came to Tokyo to become a freeter despite being from Kobe and not attending university, but because it’s nothing that interesting, so I’ll explain it to you another day.” 
(T/N: A freeter can refer to someone who chooses to only work part-time or take up odd jobs despite full-time employment being available.) 
“Al, alright……” 
Rika’s tone was determined, so Chiho was unable to ask any further. 
“Anyway, right now, the first step Chiho-chan needs to take with your identity as a high school student would be to
investigate these two things in detail. With this……” 
The contents Rika wrote down in her notebook were suggestions which Chiho would not get even if she discussed with Emi, Suzuno, Kaori or her parents. 
“You would probably find a clue which would allow you to take your next step.” 
Thirty minutes later, Rika sat in Gyogyoen alone. Chiho had already left to go to work.
Chiho asked Rika out to discuss things with her, so she had wanted to foot the bill, but because Rika had not fully paid back the favours she owed Chiho before and an older person should not make a younger person pay the bill, Rika was determined not to hand the bill over to Chiho. 
Rika looked towards her mobile phone and noticed she had received a message. 
When she opened it, the photo of a young girl wearing a brand new uniform was seen, and the text wrote, 
Yo! I have finally become a female high school student too! ?
“Uwah, how nostalgic. It seems like they did properly buy a new uniform for her.” 
Rika said with a smile. 
The young girl wore the uniform of Rika’s alma mater, so Rika had also worn this before. 
The person who sent it was Suzuki Rina. 
Going to promote to first year of high school, Rika’s sister who was six years younger than her. On the message,
I don’t plan to attend university! So if Ane doesn’t come back before I graduate, I’m going to replace Ane and snatch the company! ? 
This kind of text was written. 
Every time during Obon and when she returned home for the New Year, her younger sister would ?warn? Rika like this, but Rika would always brush it aside with a vague smile. 
“July huh…… considering my age, it’s about time I do something with regards to what I need to do. I don’t have any
right to lecture Chiho-chan like this.” 
Rika acted like she did not see that message and put her phone into her bag, pressing the bell to ask the shop attendant to come over to tally the bill. 

“Good morning!” 
“Oh, good morning, Chi-chan.” 
As Chiho met Maou once she walked out of the Employee Room, her voice sounded slightly nervous. 
However, she was confident that it did not show on her face. 
The question and answer with Rika was very shocking, but Chiho had gotten over the phase of becoming frantic when she felt embarrassed. 
“Chi-chan, come over for a while.” “What is it?”
Therefore, when Maou waved her over, she walked over without hesitation, then as if he was conscious of the surroundings, Maou spoke in a low volume, 
“The person, is on the second floor now.” “……!”
Without having to ask, Chiho knew who he was talking about. The time had finally come.
“What kind of person?” 
Chiho asked softly as well. 
“Honestly, I can’t tell yet, but it should be someone who’s a different type from Kisaki-san.” After ten minutes, Chiho understood why Maou would say this.
Maa-kun, I’m coming downstairs now. Come back upstairs. ? 
Kisaki’s voice was heard from the earphones. Other than that, 
I’ll be in your care. ? 
There was a female voice which they were hearing for the first time. 
After Maou responded, he returned to the café counter on the second floor, then Kisaki dressed in uniform and a lady whom they were seeing for the first time took his place downstairs. 
After confirming that no customers had come, Chiho ran towards the pair. 
“Nice to meet you! My name is Sasaki Chiho!” 
Once Chiho gave her greeting, Kisaki glanced behind her, but did not turn around. 
“I’ll be in your care, Sasaki-san.” 
The one who came downstairs behind Kisaki was a skinny lady wearing spectacles with a height similar to Chiho. 
“I have been sent here to be the shop manager, my name is Iwaki Kotomi. Nice to meet you.” 
Chiho thought that the change in shop manager would be a huge dramatic event, but the process turned out to be unexpectedly bland. 
To Chiho, the term ?Shop Manager? had exclusively referred to Kisaki Mayumi until now, and working at the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station under Kisaki allowed Chiho to accumulate a lot of important experiences. 
This ?Shop Manager?who caused Chiho to accumulate various experiences just like the frequently used recruitment advertising slogans used in job magazines would be changed during the transition to the new year in April. 
Chiho harboured meaningless expectations in her heart and thought a ceremony similar to a graduation or closing ceremony would be held within the store. 
However. 
“During the next three days, Shop Manager Iwaki and I will be conducting various handovers. I will then be leaving the
store during the first week of April.” 
Kisaki’s explanation to everyone was that simple. 
Is that all? Chiho almost said this out loud. From her perspective, all of this was too simple. 
“Chi-chan? What’s wrong?” 
Just after starting work, Ooki Akiko sneakily struck a conversation with Chiho. 
“You seem distracted.” “Ah, uh, it’s nothing……”
Unlike what she said, Chiho’s hand had not been moving since earlier, therefore she shook her head forcefully and started to disinfect the trays with alcohol. 
“…… No, there is something which bothers me a lot.” “Hm?”
“It just feels too simple, saying this might be kind of inappropriate, but I feel a little disappointed.” Akiko immediately understood Chiho’s words.
“Haah, I have not experienced this that many times, but this place is not a school after all.” 
And accurately pointed out what Chiho thought was strange. 
“Not, a school?” 
“Yeah. Think about it, when we become employees, there wasn’t any store entrance ceremony or anything, right? The principle is the same here. After entering society, the only periods they place emphasis on would be before and after New Year and the start of the new financial year. I’m not too sure about this, but because there are things like the closing of a business year, one year would be split into a few sections, and it’s like that every year. This might be the reason why they do not hold various ceremonies like the students, whose environments undergo a huge change every few years.” 
“I see.” 
“On the contrary, adults have that.” 
“That?” 
When Chiho looked up, she saw Akiko gesture the action of drinking alcohol with her empty hands. 
“Ah, that’s too sly! Don’t tell me that only adults will hold a separate farewell party!” 
The employees at the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station got along very well, and Chiho knew that even if it did not happen frequently, everyone would occasionally organise a drinking party. 
But as a high school student, Chiho was unable to participate in these drinking events, and this store did not have any adults who would go against public order and morals to bring Chiho to that kind of occasion. 
Chiho made that kind of deduction based off Akiko’s gesture, but Akiko shook her head with some regret. 
“We wanted to organise one but were rejected. Kisaki-san said that she received our good intentions. Considering that there are people like Chi-chan, people who only work the day shift and those who cannot join in at night, it would be too unfair to all of you. On the contrary, Kisaki-san plans to have a proper conversation with each of us individually. This method of handling things really suits her style.” 
Kisaki’s thorough attitude caused a surge of warmth through Chiho, but once she thought about how this was
considered Kisaki’s ?ceremony?, she also felt lonely at the same time. 
At times like this, what should she say? 
More than ten minutes ago, Rika helped Chiho deduce the ?things which she ought to confirm?, and one of them was closely related to Kisaki. 
To mention that thing during the last moments Kisaki prepared for her, would it be appropriate? 
“That’s true, following Kisaki-san’s ideology, rather than feeling regretful about the past which we cannot return to, it would be better to turn our gazes towards the future. Based on this principle, we should be organising Shop Manager Iwaki’s welcoming party.” 
“Ah, I see.” 
That did make sense. 
“By the way, from Chiho’s perspective, how is she? The new Shop Manager.” “Even if you ask me this, I only exchanged one greeting with her.”
Kisaki and Iwaki were currently in the Shop Manager’s office at the back for administrative handovers. 
Earlier, Maou had said ? a different type from Kisaki ?, and Chiho’s first impression of her had been the same. 
As for the type of person she was in reality, it would only be known after they start working together. 
“It might be rude to say this about an adult, but I feel that she is a cute person.” 
“I understand what you mean. People would feel like hugging her tightly. She’s a completely different type from Kisaki-
san.” 
Iwaki had a similar build to Chiho, therefore when compared to the employees at the store in front of Hatagaya station, she was considered rather petite. 
If she stood next to Kawada who had a large stature, the difference in their size would probably be like a parent and child. 
“However, we currently do not know what her personality is like. If she’s not good at participating in drinking parties, wouldn’t it be really bad for her?” 
“Oh, so there are people who aren’t good at participating in those events huh. I thought all adults enjoy drinking with others after work on a Friday.” 
The frequency had decreased recently, but Chiho normally enjoyed having a lively dinner with Maou and gang, so she felt a little surprised. 
Chiho, who was underaged, had never participated in drinking parties and got along well with the adults around her, which led her to think this way, but Akiko, who had experienced many unpleasant drinking parties in university, shook her head exaggeratedly and replied. 
“Those who aren’t good at it are really not good at it. Even so, unless the other people are good friends, I do not like
to take part on those kind of gatherings. I don’t drink alcohol that often after all. It could be possible that half of the
adults dislike taking part in ?drinking parties?.” 
“Ehh?!” 
Chiho felt that it was too exaggerated, but Akiko’s expression was very serious. 
“There are many types of alcohol. If it’s drinking with friends, this would be very welcome, but there are many unpredictable factors, such as encountering people which you’re bad at handling, eating food you dislike, or having to listen to the older people lecturing you. If it’s like this for university students, it would probably be much harder upon entering society, right? Until now, there are still many stories of people who can’t hold their alcohol being forced to drink until they’re drunk. If they were forced by a stubborn senior or superior, they can’t reject at all, yeah?” 
“Uh…… but there are reports on the news right now, saying that people can’t force others to toast drinks or make
them drink alcohol……” 
Chiho’s senior at work who became an adult before she did showed a mocking smile. “Until now, there are still many people who ignore that principle.”
Akiko showed a troubled smile, shook her head and spread her arms open to express her frustration. 
“It has decreased a lot compared to before. For a young person like me who had just turned twenty years old not that long ago, saying these things might showing too much conceit, but I can’t help but occasionally think where were all the respectable adults who I looked up to when I was young? At least if you think all those who have entered society are as reliable as Kisaki-san or Shop Manager Sarue, you would be in for a hard time.” 
“Shop Manager Sarue is also considered the reliable type?” 
Chiho could not help but ask this immediately in a serious manner, but Akiko’s expression did not change. 
“Not considering what happened in the early stages, he is obviously considered to be reliable now. When I hear about his usual working state from Kana-chan, sometimes I would feel like I am hearing about another person.” 
The Kana-chan Akiko mentioned referred to the Shift Manager Furuya Kanako from the Sentucky Hatagaya branch opposite. The two of them had somehow become friends who would chat about these topics. 
The two of them were in similar environments and were close in age, so they probably had their own thoughts about these things. 
Just as Chiho thought this, Akiko glanced around her surroundings and mumbled impatiently. 
“Hm~ so like I said~ I want to work with Shop Manager Iwaki as soon as possible and get a good grasp on her personality. Such as whether I can get along with her. Since I will still stay at this store for some time, of course I would want to get along with her, right?” 
“I see…… but it will start getting busier later, so she would definitely come out to work.” 
Chiho nodded in response and looked towards the clock at the same time. 
“Wah, oh dear, we chatted for too long. I need to check the status of the drinks and sauces.” 
Once Akiko realised it was almost the first wave of the peak period, she frantically began to check the remaining amount in the drink machines and whether there were any places which need cleaning. 
Chiho also stacked the trays which she had finished sterilising when she was chatting, then stared at the scenery of
the store’s interior from behind the counter. 
Almost one year had passed since she had started standing here. 
From this place, she had seen many worlds which she had never seen before even though they had always been so close to her. 
However, Chiho felt like she was in the guest area, seeing an illusion of herself from April last year, still thinking very hard on how to fill in her future path survey form. 
Even so, time was definitely flowing. 
Regardless of whether she was confident in the results she accumulated, Chiho had reached the stage where she had to be responsible for her own life and take action. 
Because they had sufficient manpower in the first place, with the additional help from the permanent employees Kisaki and Iwaki, the dinner period that night concluded smoothly. 
When Iwaki worked, she exuded a completely difference presence from Kisaki. Her working style was more similar to Maou.
Unlike Kisaki and Kawada, who controlled the whole shop with composed stability, she was more like Maou and Akiko, who stabilise the various areas with precise actions and speed. 
At least when they were working with her, they did not feel any pressure. 
This was related to Iwaki’s coordination with others, but based on the reactions from Maou and Akiko, Chiho’s
impression should be correct. 
Putting aside what impression the customers had of Shop Manager Iwaki, from some of the conversations they had with their regulars, even if they bemoaned Kisaki’s transfer, they were still willing to continue patronising the store. 
If she worked alongside this new Shop Manager, Chiho would definitely be able to continue working at this store happily. 
After experiencing the work situation today, Chiho believed this. 
Because of this, what she said in front of Kisaki and Iwaki in the Employee Room after work that day required a lot of courage. 
“Kisaki-san, I actually have something to tell you.” “…… What is it?”
For unknown reasons, judging by Kisaki’s and Iwaki’s impressions, they seem to already know what Chiho wanted to
say. 
Iwaki met Chiho for the first time today. 
Saying these words during their first meeting, it might give her a bad impression. Even so, Chiho needed to talk about this today.
“I’m sorry, because one of the things is a very private matter, so I hope to find a time and place unrelated to work to say this…… but the other thing…… I need to tell Shop Manager Iwaki properly as well.” 
For the sake of her own future, her life and the people important to her. 
“I plan to resign from my part time work at MgRonalds this month.” 
With composed expressions, Kisaki and Iwaki listened to Chiho’s declaration. 

“The time has finally come.” 
During the closing of the store. 
Kisaki and Iwaki summoned Maou to the Shop Manager’s office and told him that Chiho was going to resign at the end
of the month. 
Maou looked at the calendar and said, ‘Since she was promoted to third year of high school, this is something which
can’t be helped’, showing a completely normal reaction, but Kisaki probed further. “Did you hear anything about this?”
“Me?” 
Kisaki’s tone seemed a little aggressive for some reason, causing Maou to feel flustered. 
“Other than you, I can’t think of anyone else she would mention this to.” “Eh?”
“…… Oh my” 
Iwaki ignored Maou who was feeling perplexed and covered her mouth as if she sensed Kisaki’s intentions. Her eyes widened, she showed a surprised expression. 
“It seems like it has nothing to do with you. Not that it makes the situation better, but whatever.” “W, what do you mean?”
“Ask your own heart. Putting this aside for the moment, I discussed it with Shop Manager Iwaki just now.” 
“O, oh.” 
Maou felt bewildered, but at Kisaki’s glance, Iwaki handed him a piece of paper, so Maou focused on that piece of
paper. 
Then, Maou immediately sensed what the pair wanted to say. 
“Isn’t this really bad?” “It’s really bad.”
Iwaki nodded in agreement, but her eyes behind the spectacles did not show any signs of positive feelings. 
“Actually we have already predicted that Sasaki-san would resign. After all, I heard that she is in third year of high school and a serious child, so she would definitely want to focus on preparing for exams and would stay until May at most…… but even Kisaki-san did not expect this to occur so quickly.” 
What Iwaki handed to Maou was the draft of the shift schedules for May, June and July. 
The first week of April only had the dates and employee names written on them currently, but the problem was with the names. 
“Including Chi-chan, there are five people…… eh?! Mae-san?! Mae-san is resigning too?!” “Honestly speaking, this is an emergency.”
Kisaki mentioned a dangerous term, but Maou did not deny it. 
Within these three months, including Chiho, there will be five employees leaving this store. 
To Maou, it would definitely be difficult without Chiho, but for the store, the more important?Mae-san?, the other Shift Manager of this store, Maeyama Kazuko, would be resigning this April. 
Maeyama was 61 years old this year and had worked in the store in front of Hatagaya staton for ten years, an employee who had been here from the time the shop manager three generations before Kisaki was there. At the same time, she was also the representative for the day shifts and holiday shifts at the store in front of Hatagaya station. 
When Maou worked during the holidays, he had worked alongside her many times. Not only that, the one who was responsible for carrying out the new hire training for Maou was Maeyama. 
Maeyama, who had a full figure, was a cute auntie like employee. She did not flaunt her seniority at all and was loved by the young employees who treated her as a mascot. 
However, once work was involved, she would command the whole scene with the aura and actions befitting that of her veteran employee status such that even the managers through the years addressed her with honorifics. 
As a housewife, her shift hours were very fixed, but with Maeyama gone, this meant the foundations of the holidays at the store in front of Hatagaya station would become shaky. 
“I told Shop Manager Iwaki earlier of my predictions that at most three people, including Chi-chan, would resign, but I was too naïve. I’m really sorry, actually making this kind of mistake at the end.” 
“This can’t be helped. Even the manager did not expect Maeyama-san to resign, so this isn’t Kisaki-san’s fault.” 
Iwaki comforted Kisaki with these words, but the latter still had a dark expression. 
“Did something happen with Mae-san? She did not show any signs of resigning before……” 
“It appears that she needs to care for family. It’s really not a situation where we can persuade her to stay.” “Care for family……”
With such a serious problem like this, outsiders would not be able to carelessly interfere at all. Maou understood that it was not possible to persuade her to stay.
“She said that she would return to work when the situation stabilises, but she does not know how long that would
take.” 
“The manager also said that with Maeyama-san returns, they would be willing to hire her anytime…… but when she’s
not around, we can’t do anything about the situation.” 
“In addition, Chi-chan expressed her intentions to resign today. I think you can probably tell, but the other three people have also resigned because of unavoidable circumstances, and all of them are part of our main forces. Then regardless of how we try to save the situation, this problem would present itself in the worst way at a certain point in time……” 
“July, is it?” “That’s right.” Iwaki nodded.
“Even if we quickly hire five new employees in April, it would not be possible to immediately patch up the gaps left by Maeyama-san and Sasaki-san in May. After that, experienced employees would be leaving every month, and the new people will be replacing them……” 
Maou thought about the remaining number of people on shift and its members, then frowned. 
“It might not even be possible to finish the training period in time.” 
“That’s right. And while we’re in this unstable situation, we will be entering July, when you and Saemi are not around.” 
July. 
That was the deadline Maou and the others had set for the Battle to Defeat God. 
Of course, the deadline was just a plan, and it did not mean that it would not be changed, considering the various situations, it was possible to start the final battle earlier, but judging from the current situation, Maou believed that the chances of this happening was not high. 
That incident which happened in the underground facility in the Demon World caused Maou and the others to become more cautious, no, it would not be an exaggeration even if it was said that they cowered because of this. 
The agreement Maou and the others reached in the end was that it would be more suitable to prepare fully before taking on the final battle in July. 
More importantly, because of an issue related to the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla, they might have to wait until July in Japan to initiate the final battle. 
Because of this situation, ever since the early planning stages, Maou and Emi would be unable to work in July, and the store in front of Hatagaya station would face the lethal situation of the severe lack of manpower in July. 
The one responsible for the operations of the store and the shift schedule would be the one in the management position, the Shop Manager, so they could always use the reasoning of ‘I’ll only work as much as I am paid’ or ‘Only saying this now, it’s too late’ and ignore this situation. 
However, Maou would definitely not do such a thing, and it was the same for Emi as well. 
If Ooguro Amane was present, she was definitely ask in a stunned manner, ‘Which one is more important, the fate of
the world or work shift schedules’, but this was not the issue here. To Maou and Emi, this was a matter of extreme personal pride.
“I don’t really like doing this kind of thing, but this time, I can only go against my personal principles and ask all of you
for help. Within your capabilities, can all of you help to find some friends or people you know to come over to help?” For Kisaki to ask the employees to help increase the number of shifts, it was really an exception amongst exceptions.
Even when the employees take sick leave or were unable to come to work at the last minute, Kisaki would definitely not ask them to look for a replacement by themselves. 
Kisaki, who was like this, specifically said this to Maou before leaving the store, which only showed how critical the situation was. 
Maou swept his gaze over the new and old Shop Manager. 
“……” 
A thought flashed through his mind at the moment, but some conditions still had to be fulfilled. Maou immediately dismissed this thought,
“…… I will try my best.” 
He could only answer this way right now. 
He did not know if it was all in his mind, but Iwaki’s eyes when she looked towards Maou showed some signs of
uneasiness. 

When Maou rode the bicycle home, he mumbled distractedly. 
“Five people huh.” 
Many employees suddenly wanted to resign. 
Even if this was a shocking fact, no matter how much they worried about it, the situation would not change. 
“And Kisaki-san would be transferred soon.” 
Including Maou, there were many remaining employees who did not know if they could work together with the new Shop Manager Iwaki. 
“Even Chi-chan is leaving.” 
Maou stopped in front of the red light and looked back towards the road he just went through. He even started seeing an illusion that the road itself was beginning to curve. 
“The people you’re familiar with suddenly disappearing really generates a lot of emotions.” 

That day. 
In the underground facility in the Demon World, that day when he lost without being able to participate in the battle. When Maou woke up, what appeared in his blurry vision was the familiar ceiling of Room 201, Villa Rosa.
He endured the headache and got up, and discovered that Lailah, Amane, Acies and Chiho were next to him. 
“I can’t handle this alone, so I asked Amane-san for help.” 
“I heard that even the merged state was forcefully dispelled. Yusa-chan and Alas=Ramus-chan are in the room next door being cared for by Kamazuki-chan. That chicken and lizard are also next door, with Urushihara-kun taking care of them.” 
“I……see. Ah~ ow.” 
Maou, whose consciousness was still fuzzy, could only answer vaguely, but it certainly was not easy to pass through the Gate while carrying a chicken and a lizard, Maou and Emi, as well as Acies and Alas=Ramus in their unmerged state. 
So no one could lecture Lailah, who had asked Amane-san for help. 
“Ugh, there seems to be a scar? Ugh, Aices, are you alright……” 
Maou tried to clarify what happened though his vague memories, but a strong impact was immediately felt on his chest, cutting off his words. 
“C, Chi-chan?” “……”
Chiho hugged Maou and buried her face into his chest. 
“Chi-chan?! W, what’s……” “……!!”
Chiho did not answer and only shook her head slightly. 
Once Maou showed how perplexed he was, Lailah and Amane shook their heads like they could not tolerate the situation. 
“Chiho-san is here, don’t you understand it yet?” 
“It’s useless, Mother, sometimes Maou will make others suspect if he is even a man.” “W, what?!”
It felt like he was being criticised harshly, but after noticing that Chiho’s body was shivering slightly, Maou finally understood the situation. 
“……” 
Just as Maou looked at the top of Chiho’s head which was on his chest and relaxed slightly, Lailah and Amane looked at each other, got up and left the room, only Acies stretched out her legs as if she felt it was not interesting and showed a sloppy sitting pose. 
“…… Sorry. For making you worry.” Maou patted Chiho’s head and said this. “……!”
Chiho did not look up and nodded forcefully in response. 

The shock this incident caused to Maou was even more serious than the injuries he suffered. In the past, Maou had caused Chiho to worry about him many times.
But this was the first time Maou felt such a strong sense of guilt. 
That was because until this moment, Maou realised that in his life so far, no one had ever held those kind of emotions towards him. 
That emotion was warm and strong, and because he was Maou, no, because he was a demon, he noticed that there was ?fear?mixed within. 
Even if he was the King of Demons who experienced countless battles and tragedies, this was the first time he felt that kind of ?fear?. 
A fear that his life was going to end. The fear of pain.
The fear of losing a loved one. 
The fear of facing an unpredictable situation. 
Regardless of whether the other party was a demon or human, he had already gotten sick of seeing fears like this. But.
What Maou felt from Chiho at that time, was the fear of ?I don’t know what to do if Maou dies just like this. ?
This was slightly different from ?The fear of losing a loved one ? which he had encountered before. Because until now, the people ?who were being loved? were people Maou did not know.
This was fundamentally different from the ?worry? Camio, Adramelech and Ashiya had showed towards him during the Demon King Army era. 
Because for their situation, even if losing Maou would make them cry in pain or feel regret, somewhere in their heart, they would still consider the possibility of losing Maou and the prospects for the future, not allowing the fear of loss to control their mental state. 
However, Chiho simply did not know what to do if she lost Maou and had cried because she could not endure that surge of fear. 
After Maou, Satan, became aware that someone cherished his life from the bottom of their heart, and felt shaken because of this, he received a huge shock. 
As an example, if Maou died because of an unexpected incident, there would probably many people who could cry for him. 
He believed that he had this level of popularity and did not doubt the feelings of those people. 
But as an organism who converted the fluctuations in a human’s mental state into demonic magic to survive, he
touched a more fundamental portion. 
And that was the root of a young girl who expressed that she still liked him even after knowing his true identity. 
The first time he saw that heart, that face, and that moment, he would definitely never forget it for the rest of his life. Because this had already left an impression on him which was more vivid than when he was rescued by Lailah.
“Chi-chan……” 
Maou softly called out the name of that human girl, and at this moment. 
“What. Are you being sentimental?” 
The existence who shared Maou’s body heard his mumble, and asked this with an easily imagined irritating smile, causing Maou to frown unhappily. 
When Maou looked up, he noticed that the traffic light happened to turn red and braked quickly. 
“If you’re going to act like you have dementia, then be more thorough about it. It’s tiring.” 
Maou, unlike Emi, had some abnormalities occur within his body, but after Acies returned to Japan, she was still as greedy as before. 
When asked about when she completely overwhelmed the astronaut, Acies remembered it clearly. 
However, once she was asked about how she was able to overwhelm an opponent with bare fists when Emi and Emi’s
holy sword were not a match at all, 
“Hm~ I’m not too sure about that.” 
She answered thus with a very irritating smile. 
At that time, Maou almost fainted, but after asking Lailah about it later, he found out that Acies’s state at that moment was strange. 
But at the same time, Maou remembered something. 
When they faced strong enemies in the past, there were a few times when Acies displayed overwhelming power, or a sudden huge change in personality. 
When Chiho’s school was attacked by Kamael and the Malebranche. 
And when they were fighting with the angels in the Eastern Continent of Ente Isla. 
Unlike this time, she did not forcefully separate from Maou and lose control, but Acies during those times was clearly acting rather different from before. 
By the way, even though it’s not like you’ve become like this since today, but you’re really too sensitive. ? 
“Huh?” 
It’s just a part-time job, right? It’s not like Chiho is going to move to some place far away, there’s no need to sigh
like that at all. ? 
“Hearing ‘It’s just a part-time job’ from your mouth is even more anger inducing than hearing that from Urushihara.” 
What’s that supposed to mean? ? 
“I have enough things to worry about, if problems occur in the workplace, even a Demon King would feel that it’s tough and troublesome. You should properly recall what happened earlier and the principle behind that power to lighten my load a little.” 
Even if you put it that way, I can’t remember what I can’t remember……? 
“If you remember, I can buy you as many convenience store fried chicken as you want.” 
Seriously!!! ? 
The volume of the voice in Maou’s head was so loud that he almost lost control of his bicycle. 
Acies had a frivolous personality in the first place, and Maou did not think that she would suddenly think of a way to go against Ignora to solve all their problems. 
Therefore, he was only motivating Acies who did not take things seriously. 
Wait a moment! I will try my best to remember! Ugohhhhhhh……!!? 
Disregarding the tone, she seemed to be seriously trying to recall everything. If this could be the reason to obtain any clues to win the battle.
“What saved Ente Isla would be the convenience store food of Japan.” 
With a smile, Maou passed by the last convenience store on their commute. 
Ahhhhhhhhhh! Stop for a moment! Didn’t we pass by a convenience store just now?! ? 
“Time’s up. Next time.” 
Damn ittttttttttttttttt!!” 
Maou imagined Acies rolling around the ground in regret if she materialised at this moment and smiled. 
“I don’t want to be how I was earlier.” 
Maou was referring to the time he lost his demonic magic in the mysterious underground facility. He had lost consciousness because Kinanah ?polished?the horn demonic sword. 
These were situations which could not be foreseen, and they ended up in this situation because of forces which they could not resist against. 
However. 
“We only got lucky this time.” 
Regardless of whether it was due to forces they could not resist against, as long as they ended up in that situation in battle, death was inevitable. 
This was no longer an issue of a world where people killed with their lives on the line. 
This was related to credibility and trust, health and stability, assets which included money and the people important to them. 
Even if one shouted that these were forces which could not be resisted against, this word was filled with many things which could not be recovered once they were lost. 
“Chi-chan really taught me many things.” 
Maou?! You better not use Chiho’s fried chicken to get through this! I will definitely eat the fried chicken bought
with Maou’s money!! ? 
“You’re really…… haah, forget it.” 
The feelings of being stunned pulled Maou out of the swamp of sad feelings. Before he knew it, he had arrived next to the apartment.
Suzuno had not returned from Ente Isla, so it was pitch dark in Room 202, but there was still light shining from the kitchen area of Room 101. 
After Maou parked Dullahan II, he did not go up to the second floor directly but knocked lightly on the door of Room 101. 
“Oh, working until this late, it must be tough on you.” 
A gentle male voice was immediately heard from within, and after that Emi’s father, Nord Justina opened the door and appeared. 
“The new Shop Manager came today, right? I thought you would return much later.” “How did you know?”
“Because Chiho-chan sent a message to notify me.” 
Emi, who appeared from behind Nord, answered Maou’s question. “Chi-chan’s…… I see. Did Chi-chan mention anything else?”
“No, nothing else. She only mentioned the new Shop Manager’s name.” “I see, that’s good.”
“What is it. Why are you being so vague?” 
“It’s nothing. It’s just that this should not be said by me…… by the way, you were staying in Room 101 the whole time
today? Did anything special happen?” 
Once Maou asked this, Emi and Nord looked at each other and smiled for unknown reasons. 
“I don’t know if you would see it as a good or bad thing, but something special did happen.” “Huh?”
“Haah, you can confirm it later with your own eyes later. Do you want to see Alas=Ramus and the others?” 
After Maou heard this, he looked at the interior of the room behind Nord, and next to the window at the back of the room were two small figures sleeping side by side. 
Deep within the room, untouched by the light from small fluorescent lamp on the vanity, were Alas=Ramus and Iron. 
“Come in and pat her head.” 
Following along with Nord’s good intentions, Maou quietly entered Room 101, and once he saw the bold sleeping posture and sleeping faces of the Sephirah boy and girl, he showed a faint smile. 
“They look like normal kids like this. I’m really sorry, but turn off the lights. It would be bad if we woke them up.” “They won’t be woken up that easily.”
Maou touched Alas=Ramus and Iron softly, then quietly left the pair and returned to the porch. 
“So what happened?” 
From how composed Emi and Nord were, it should not be a huge problem. 
“You’ll know when you return to your room.” 
“Did Urushihara do something again? With Camio around, he would probably not do anything weird.” 
Ashiya and Suzuno. 
This was not a mocking statement, but these two people were like the home security officers of Villa Rosa Sasazuka, and because they were in Ente Isla handling matters and were unable to return, this resulted in two problems. 
Firstly, Emi needed someone to take care of Alas=Ramus when she was working, but this problem had been solved after Nord and Lailah settled down in Japan. 
However, it would not be that easy to care for Kinanah from the Renrebellbebelbe clan. 
Kinanah was a demon who was so old that he viewed Demon Minister Camio, who raised Maou into an adult, as a young child, and he would lose control once he absorbed a bit of demonic magic. He also had dementia, so it was very troublesome to take care of him. 
However, perhaps because the mysterious astronaut injured his neck, Kinanah no longer craved for demonic magic as much as before. 
In addition, just like Camio when he lost demonic magic, Kinanah shrunk more and more, and was now a lizard which was even smaller than when he first arrived at Room 201. 
Currently they could confirm at the stone on Kinanah’s neck was the last piece of the Ancient Demon King Satan’s Legacies, the Astral Gem. And after what happened in the underground space, it was easy to imagine that Kinanah’s life was closely tied to the Astral Gem. 
Considering these factors, as a normal human, Nord would probably be unable to handle him. Even so, handing the task to Lailah who was not that familiar with the Demon World and lacked the ability to handle a crisis was equally worrying. 
In the end, only Urushihara was suitable to take up this task, but his past history made it difficult for others to fully trust him. 
Camio returned to Japan after experiencing the underground incident in the Demon World, but when he was in Japan, his power was really no different from a normal black chicken. 
There was a simple reason for this, Camio could not turn into a human even if he lost his demonic magic, but if he remained in his usual appearance, his demonic magic would affect his surroundings. 
Demonic magic was harmful to Nord and if the staff from Sasuke Delivery or the post office opened the door and saw a huge birdman, it would be devastating in various ways. 
In the end, they could only leave them in Urushihara’s care first, this caused Maou to feel very uneasy when he was at work the past few days. 
“Luicfer did not do anything.” 
“We did not see the scene for ourselves either. It would be faster to go back and see it yourself.” “So vague.”
Nord, who raised a young Emi alone and continued to take care of Acies’s meals in the unfamiliar foreign world of Japan, was unexpectedly good at cooking. Even though Nord was asked to help prepare Kinanah’s food, Maou was still unable to relax fully. 
“It’s alright, it’s nothing bad, Chiho-chan would probably be very happy as well.” “…… What does this have to do with Chi-chan?”
“Didn’t that kind of thing just happen to you? She kept worrying that something bad would happen to your health if you continue living in the messy room.” 
“I see.” 
“Is something wrong?” 
Maou shook his head silently. 
“No, it’s nothing. Sorry for disturbing you at this late time. Bye.” “Yeah.”
“…… Hm, goodnight.” 
Nord nodded once, and even though Emi had some questions with regards to Maou’s attitude, she still answered
honestly. 
After Nord slowly closed the door, he looked towards the direction of the wall worriedly. 
“He looks really tired.” 
“He needs to think about too many things, yet there is nothing much he can do, this kind of situation probably put a
toll on his spirit.” 
There was a wall between them, but they could still hear the faint sounds of Maou walking up the public staircase. 
“Then being able to sleep well from today should be a good thing for him.” 
Nord had just said this, 
“Wha!?” 
Maou’s muffled shout was heard from the ceiling, causing Emi to frown. 
“We just talked about keeping down the volume to avoid waking up the children.” 
“It can’t be helped, anyone would get a shock.” 
Perhaps she had heard Maou’s shout, but Alas=Ramus flipped over. Emi bent over slightly, stroking her hair. 
“It’s too late to be saying this, but did he forget that the huge hole which was caused by this child was patched up in a matter of days?” 
“What?!” 
When Maou opened the front door and turned on the lights, he stood where he was, feeling stunned while covering his mouth with all his might. 
After he shouted, he remembered that Alas=Ramus was already asleep. If he was too noisy, he would definitely get lectured by Emi later.
But encountering this kind of situation, anyone would want to shout out loud. 
After all, the room which had looked like a dilapidated house when he went to work in the morning had been beautifully repaired. 
“What……?! Eh……!!” 
Maou, who had almost thought that he made a mistake and entered Suzuno’s room, repeatedly checked the room number, but regardless of how many times he checked, this was Room 201. 
“What is going on?” 
The six tatami room was filled with the relaxing smell of brand new rush grass, the sliding door of the closet was decorated with a layer of paper with a pine forest design, making it look like a watercolour painting, and even the walls were all repainted. 
The originally torn curtains had been changed into elegant orange curtains which matched the interior decorations, and after Maou touched it gingerly, he realised that there was a layer of lace curtains behind. 
What was even scarier was the new flooring in an area in the corner of the room. 
A storage cabinet used to be placed there, but not only was the floor redone, an enclosure had been created using rectangular panels similar to those used to elevate washing machines, and a large and sturdy birdcage was placed within. 
Inside that birdcage was simple blanket for pets, and on the straw below the blanket was a loudly snoring small lizard. 
“W, wha, what, is….. oh, oh yeah, how about Urushihara and Camio……” 
After feeling shocked for this long, Maou just realised that he did not see any signs of Urushihara and Camio, who had stayed at home. 
“U, Urushihara, Camio, where are you guys, in the toilet? Hey…… Urushihara?” 
Maou called out for Urushihara softly, and begin to search for the pair, then just like how he would suddenly smell the scent of curry wafting out from some family home while in the streets, he discovered a faint emotion of fear leaking out from the closet, so he opened the closet cautiously. 
“Ugoh.” 
Urushihara, who was hugging a black chicken while shivering in the closet, looked towards Maou with an expression filled with fear, as if he was afraid of the lights within the room. 
Upon further inspection, his eyes had turned red, and his hair had turned silver. 
 
Camio, who was being hugged by Urushihara, seemed to have completely lost all shine in his feathers, and his gaze was glassy, resembling that of a dead person. 
Instantly, Maou found something within his memories which could aptly explain this situation. 
“Did Landlady-san come?” “……! ……!”
“……Chirp……………… chirp” 
Urushihara nodded quietly and Camio, who was shivering non-stop, was holding an envelope with his beak. 
The sender’s box on the envelope had the name of an unfamiliar accounting firm written in it, but the more eye- catching thing was the bright red kiss mark, as if it was used to seal an ancient demon which absolutely could not be awoken. 
Even if he was close to fainting, Maou still used up all the spirit he could muster and accepted that envelope. 
“Hey, b, both of you calm down a bit. Don’t worry, it’s alright now.” 
Maou comforted Urushihara and opened the envelope with shaking hands. 
There was a piece of folded A4 paper inside, and a long piece of hard paper with dotted tear lines. 
“Nuu………!!” 
Once Maou unfolded the A4 paper, he let out a strange sound and fell backwards, and as the back of his head hit the brand new tatami, he lost consciousness on the spot. 
The A4 paper was an invoice, while the long piece of paper was a remittance order. 
Taking back the tatami which was so damaged that it could not be flipped over and reused and preparing new tatami mats, repairing the sliding door, repainting the walls, as well as a cage for pets, the fees for all of this, not including tax, was 89, 700 yen. 
Before Maou could read that the curtains and the travel expenses for the repairs were free and that the methods of payment could be discussed in detail later, he had already lost consciousness. 
Thinking about it carefully, this was to be expected. 
Earlier on, the messed up state of Maou’s Room 201 had been seen by Amane. 
Lailah had made this judgement so she could send Maou, who had fainted, back to Japan and seek refuge in Room 201, so she could not be blamed for this. 
And ignoring the reason for doing so, since she saw that the room rented by her aunt to others had become this damaged, Amane would definitely need to report this to Shiba. 
The final result was this. 
The matter this time was clearly the fault of Maou and the others, who went against the rules and took in pets, caused the room to become so damaged that it would have been unrepairable under normal circumstances and continued to hide this fact. 
Because the extent of the damage was so huge that it would definitely affect daily living, the fact that there was room for discussion about the method of payment was considered a generous way of handling this. 
However, before Maou returned home, Urushihara did not even use the laptop, hiding in the closet while shivering and hugging Camio the whole time, so whatever frightening scene he saw was completely imaginable. 
After Emi noticed a dull thud coming from the ceiling of Room 101, she fell silent. 
“Seems like it gave them an extremely huge shock, in various ways.” “Because they’re demons?”
“Who knows? Even now, I’m not that sure about this.” 
After Emi said this with a troubled smile, she turned off the light and prepared to sleep.