Demon King, Living life as normal even at this sort of time
“Oh my, we finally made it through today.”
“That’s right, this should be the most difficult peak period I experienced since I came to this store.”
Libicocco and Iwaki were sweating while smiling and chatting with each other.
“I’m so hungry~…… oh gosh, I’m dead tired.”
“There was no time to rest at all~”
Akiko and Kawada switched off their cashier machines, smiling at each other with troubled expressions as they looked at the thick stack of cashier records, something which they had not seen in a long time.
“The second floor has been cleaned up.”
Maou came downstairs, holding the cashier records from the second floor.
“Haah, if not for the fact that the new hires under training have worked very hard today, we might not have made it.”
Two weeks after Libicocco joined, two new people joined. Because they properly completed what they had learned before in the background, the veterans did not have to spend unnecessary effort and focus on their work.
“This is the first time we have surpassed the revenue from Kisaki’s time.”
When closing the store, Maou saw Iwaki say this happily.
In the past, the revenue of the store in front of Hatagaya station would always mysteriously surpass the revenue of the previous year. After Iwaki became the manager, even though the results would fluctuate, they finally managed to maintain the normal amount of revenue.
Even so, the fact that they could smoothly finish their work without any incidents on such a busy day proved that the employees trained by Kisaki got along with Iwaki and worked well with Libicocco, the first employee in the Iwaki generation.
“Demon King-sama, let’s go to the bathhouse together.”
“Alright. Oh my, I sweated a lot today.”
After closing the store, Maou and Libicocco left and headed to the bathhouse named ?Sasa no Yu? directly to wash away their fatigue from the day’s work.
Using milk, the two of them toasted to the first large profit obtained after Iwaki became Shop Manager, then with the night wind blowing on their bodies which have been warmed by hot water, they headed home.
“Demon King-sama, you start working in the afternoon, right?”
“Yeah, you’re working until the evening, right?”
“Yes.”
“I will use the washing machine next morning, please remember to bring out the clothes you want to be washed.”
“Alright. Oh yes, for tomorrow’s breakfast, can I use the remaining eggs?”
“Yes, then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes. Then……”
“Ah, you’re very tired, right? I’m about to sleep as well.”
Master and servant lied down, separated by the kotatsu.
“Yeah, good night.”
“Oh, good……”
Maou planned to close his eyes just like this and sleep until next morning,
“Wait a moment.”
But he suddenly pushed himself upright and sat cross-legged, crossing his arms across his chest.
“Is something wrong?”
“…… Don’t you think it’s strange?”
“What is strange?”
“Uh, where huh.”
Under the orange light of the small lamp, Maou said softly,
“Various areas.”
“……”
Libicocco sat up as well, bending his back which looked intimidating even in the dark and crossing his arms, he spoke nervously,
“Are you talking about the fact that even though the Demon Fortress might fly at an imminent time, Demon King-sama’s life had not changed at all?”
“Your observation skills are sharp, That’s right, I’m the only one who has not done anything!”
“Uh, aren’t you going to work properly?”
“About that…… you’re right!”
Maou scratched his head and mumbled.
Suzuno being chosen as one of the Six Archbishops and the need to greatly change the direction of the Battle to Defeat God were things which occurred recently.
To confirm the impact caused by the Holy Conquest and Suzuno’s ordination to Archbishop, Emi headed to Ente Isla early in the morning.
Chiho had already quit her job, and immediately distanced herself from Ente Isla, yet she still functioned as a relay station for information.
As the negotiator between the Ente Isla Demon Fortress and humans, Ashiya had to travel around the world. If he was not around, the Battle to Defeat God would not have been established.
Even Urushihara had completed his tasks of supporting Ashiya and transferring Kinanah and together with Ashiya and Gabriel. He even suppressed Kinanah who had lost control.
“Didn’t Emilia say this before? Because Demon King-sama is able to live life as normal just like this, she was able to make the journey without any worries.
Libicocco said this for the sake of comforting Maou,
“You’re really, even Ashiya had not gotten used to getting along with Emi, why do you have such a mild attitude towards her?”
But in the end, the King of the Demon World shot him a suspicious look.
“Uh, about that, she is still my senior at work and Sasaki Chiho kept nagging at me to get along well with her. In addition, with my abilities, it’s not enough for me to go against Emilia at all, so it would be better for me to not commit any actions or harbour any thoughts of going against her. And if I show any rebellious attitude towards Emilia or Sasaki Chiho, it would cause trouble for Shop Manager Iwaki.”
“Eh……”
Completely different from his intimidating appearance, Libicocco’s words were overly cautious and very reasonable, causing Maou to frown.
“You’re not bothered at all? Don’t you have any dignity?”
“I have spent a long time working at the lower levels, so I am good at attaching myself to people in power.”
“You meant what you said?”
About that, before Maou unified the Demon World as Demon King Satan, even though Libicocco was a Malebranche Chieftain, he was always treated as an underling by a higher ranked Chieftain known as Rubicante.
(T/N: Rubicante appeared in Volume 0-II)
And just like what he said, unlike Ashiya and Urushihara, he had not fought with Emi one-on-one before, and he did not possess any ability to do so.
For an existence like him, even if he possessed a dignity which did not correspond to his abilities and challenged an opponent he definitely could not win against, he would only get crushed in the domain which was his opponent’s strong point.
Therefore, as a method of survival, it was understandable for Libicocco to adopt his current attitude……
“Show more rebellious spirit! Rebellious spirit!”
“Uh, ever since I participated in the Battle to Defeat God, the thought that I have to carefully choose when to get angry only got stronger.”
“You’re actually more mature than Ashiya!”
Compared to Ashiya who would suddenly snap back at Emi and Suzuno, it was difficult to say if Libicocco was too open minded or overly philosophical.
“Because isn’t acting like that very stupid? For example, that Sasaki Chiho.”
“What about Chi-chan?”
“This is just a hypothesis okay? When we were in Ente Isla, we have never bothered about the value of human lives, right? Assuming that we are in that situation, if I felt that Sasaki Chiho was too cocky and got angry enough to want to kill her, I don’t have to be troubled over anything. After all, it will end just by moving a finger slightly. This is really an hypothesis okay.”
Libicocco kept emphasising that it was just a hypothesis and continued on quickly.
“However, if I really did that now, I would only feel good for a few seconds. Because after that, I will definitely get chopped into minced meat by Demon King-sama, Alsiel-sama and Emilia. Not just me, even the Malebranche clan would be unable to survive. Camio-sama would probably exterminate the clan. The current situation is completely different from when we caysed havoc in Ente Isla. Since my own abilities are not enough to reverse this situation, then I can only do what I can do right now.”
“Oh, ohh……”
“Therefore, well, regardless of what Emilia says right now, as long as it is not meaningless insults or lies with malicious intent, I will do my best not to create trouble for her.”
“I, I see……”
Libicocco, who originally had a violent personality, was saying such reasonable words. In a sense, he was meeting Maou’s expectations for him.
Libicocco was a test subject for having demons from the Demon World integrate into human society and he was also the milestone for this plan.
From Libicocco’s opinions just now, seeing himself as a member of society and restraining himself after analysing himself and other people, it was clear that he had already grasped the concept of ?interpersonal relationships?.
If Maou, Ashiya and Urushihara was the first generation to integrate into human society, then Libicocco was the second generation.
But.
“The crux of the issue isn’t this.”
“Huh?”
“No, sorry. Your way of thinking…… is not bad. Yeah, continue on like this.”
“Alright.”
What Maou was bothered by was not Libicocco’s adjustment to human society but his own position.
Of course, he would still work with Emi in the end, depending on his battle power to become one of the main forces to attack Heaven and cause chaos there.
This part can be confirmed, but based on the situation, he did not know when it would be his turn to take action, and now even Libicocco was working hard to get used to the vastly different environment and facing the changes around him. Maou was the only one who had not changed at all.
“This is not a bad thing. Even though it’s not a bad thing……”
Maou did not pass the full time employment training.
The person who was able to understand Kisaki’s business management theory was not Maou, but Sariel.
When various people experienced changes in their situation, they did not contact Maou, but Chiho.
Of course, with Maou’s way of living and personality, he would not bemoan his own uselessness or doubt the people around him because of this.
However, the reason why Maou and the other six people decided to initiate the Battle to Defeat God was to fulfil his
daughter?Alas=Ramus’ wish to see her brothers and sisters.
“How should I say this, this is a matter concerning my child.”
“It’s not like that, right?”
Maou ignored Libicocco’s protest.
“This is a matter concerning my child, yet I threw everything to other people, with myself living my life as normal
because work is busy?, do you think that is acceptable?”
“Uh, it’s useless even if you ask me…… haah, since Demon King-sama said this even though you have lived in Japan for so long, then it’s not that acceptable, right?”
“In fact, the one paying for Alas=Ramus’ food and clothes is Emi, the ones playing with her are Chi-chan, Suzuno and Nord, the ones preparing for her gift are my subordinates. As for me, I do not know anything about the current situation, even shouting ?Work is so hectic?, taking a bath, toasting in celebration and prepared to sleep without contacting anyone…… eh, isn’t it bad for me to act like this?”
“Did you toast in celebration?”
“With milk.”
“…… Demon King-sama……”
Even under the glow of the small lamp, Maou could still see a strange expression of pity on that intimidating looking face.
“But if Demon King-sama and Emilia took leave together, the store would definitely not be able to handle it today.”
“Uh, for me who has not passed the full time employment training, this holds some truth in a sense, but in another way, this seems to be an excuse used to escape from reality when I am confirming my place in society, so I don’t want to say it.”
Amongst the people around Maou, the ones who pointed this out the most were Urushihara and Amane. In the end, Maou was only a part-timer in the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station.
There was no social standing in occupations and employment, but for a person who had been a Demon King in the past, if he was asked which was more important, the state of the world or work shifts at a fast food restaurant, there should only be one objective answer.
Maou had two goals in the past, being just like Kisaki Mayumi and becoming a full time employee, but even those were gone.
“Is, is it really alright for me to continue like this?”
“Demon King-sama, please pull yourself together. What’s wrong with you?”
Libicocco finally started to worry and just as he stood up slowly.
It was clearly past 1am, but the doorbell to Room 201 rang.
“I heard people talking, Maou-kun, are you awake?”
The two instantly showed stony expressions, but once they recognised Ooguro Amane’s voice, they dispelled their wariness.
“It’s so late, is something wrong?”
Maou got up and unlocked the porch door.
“I’m sorry, but this is urgent. This is a sudden question, but do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
“Huh?”
Amane did not tie up her hair like usual, and she was wearing a rather worn long sleeved sports attire, but her expression was very serious.
“No, I don’t feel especially uncomfortable.”
“Really?”
“It was busy at the store today, so I am a little tired, but I don’t have any symptoms such as a cold or anything.”
“…… I see. Then that’s bad. I was thinking it might be something related to you.”
Amane looked like she felt really perplexed, this caused Maou to realise something.
“…… What’s wrong with Acies?”
Amane suddenly came over to ask a question, if she was handling an issue related to Maou, then some issue must have occurred with Acies=Ara, the young Yesod fragment girl who had merged with Maou.
Amane nodded slightly and spoke while frowning.
“Nord came to look for me just now. It did not look like a normal situation at all.”
“Did Landlady-san say anything?”
Maou frequently thought that Amane’s aunt, who was the apartment’s landlady Shiba Miki, was not human, but it turned out that she really was not human, and she was the same kind of existence as Acies and the other Sephirah children.
“It was Aunt Mikitty who asked me to come and confirm Maou-kun’s situation. I’m sorry, but is it convenient for you to come over now?”
“It’s fine. I start work in the afternoon tomorrow.”
After Maou asked Libicocco to stay at home, he followed Amane to Shiba’s house.
Something craved deep into Maou’s soul still resisted getting used to Shiba and Shiba’s house, but since something strange was occurring to Acies, he did not know how this would affect him or Alas=Ramus, who was currently in Ente Isla.
Even if Maou was still very afraid of the Landlady, he no longer ran away like before.
“Here. It has stabilised a little now…… but it seemed really bad just now.”
Just as Maou walked through a corridor where the images and colour coordination of the wallpaper and carpet gave off an oppressive feeling and walked into a certain room after Amane,
“Ah…… Maou……”
He saw that Acies was currently lying on the bed with a frail expression.
“H, hey, what’s wrong?”
Just from her pale white face and her grey lips, it could be seen that her physical condition was obviously bad.
“Oh my…… my bad, making you worry so late at night. I said that Maou should be very tired, so it would be fine for him to come tomorrow.”
In addition, Acies suddenly spoke so admirably, it looked like this was definitely a seriously abnormal situation.
“Did you pick up some random thing and ate it?”
Maou decided to stand next to the bed and asked this.
“Yeah.”
“You really did that huh.”
Ignoring the fact that Maou’s joke was actually taken seriously, even though Acies had always shown gluttonous tendencies, it would not be to the point that she would pick up something from the floor to eat it……
“No, it’s possible.”
“I don’t know what you were thinking about, but I did pick it up within 3 seconds before eating.”
“There is no basis to that 3 second rule at all. What is really wrong with you?”
“I don’t know either, but I roughly know when it started.”
Based on what Acies said, she seemed to have started feeling uncomfortable since 8:10am today.
“The time is so accurate.”
Maou originally thought that she might have randomly picked something up and ate it then, but the situation seemed more serious.
“I ate breakfast with Father this morning. Emi sent a message to Father at that time…… saying that she was heading to Ente Isla after this.”
“Huh?”
“I did not have any particular thoughts at that time, but thinking back, my body probably started feeling uncomfortable since then.”
“Emi…… no, is it because Alas=Ramus went over there, or was affected by the Gate?”
“I just felt…… that it might be like that…… I’m not that sure…… fueh……”
After sighing heavily, as if she was having trouble breathing, Acies shifted her posture.
“Does she have a fever?”
Maou asked Amane who was next to him, the latter shook her head and answered.
“This is not a fever caused by the flu. It’s more like a huge change in body temperature because the physical condition is not good…… the problem is, Aunt Mikitty does not know the reason or the cure, in addition…… ah.”
“Eh?”
“Ugh!”
Amane’s expression froze instantly.
“Maou-kun, help suppress Acies for a while! I’ll come back immediately!”
“Eh!? Eh!?”
“Ugugugugagaga…… oguyeeeeeee!!”
“Wah!?”
Acies sat up with a jump, looking paler than before, and even produced sounds which seemed like she was going to throw up.
At the same time, a faint glow enveloped Acies,
“Uwah!?”
And then a light so blinding that Maou could not open his eyes was emitted from her eyes and mouth.
“D, damn!?”
Maou saw this phenomenon once before.
When he went to the Eastern Continent of Ente Isla in the past to save Emi, after Acies ate a huge meal, she suddenly threw up everything she ate earlier on the roadside. Her face had been glowing at that time, and it was so powerful that Maou was also lifted into the air.
If she shot that beam now which had such powerful counterforce that Maou and Acies were lifted into the air, a huge hole might appear in the walls of the Landlady’s home.
Almost on reflex, Maou set up a demonic magic barrier in front of Acies’ face.
“Agababetsu!?”
“Ahh!?”
But the beam reflected by the demonic magic barrier returned to Acies’ face just like that, and with her chin getting hit, Acies’ face turned towards the ceiling.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
The light did not penetrate the ceiling in one strike, but it still scorched the wallpaper there, causing Maou to face the despairing situation of needing to pay compensations.
“H, how am I supposed to suppress her!?”
The counterforce caused by the beam shot towards the ceiling caused Acies’ back to lean backwards. Even though Maou barely managed to support her back, but the beam would cause damage regardless of where it shot, so he could not turn Acies’ face towards any other places.
At this moment,
“Maou-kun, out of the way!!”
A huge force pushed Maou aside, and Amane, holding a huge object with one hand,
“Hahh!”
Slammed it into Acies’ face.
Gusha! With that sound, there was a burst of red spray into the surroundings.
“Ah. Amane-san, what…………!! Amane……san……Amane-san?”
At the beginning, Maou thought that Amane used some weapon to attack Acies’ face.
However, the object which entered Maou’s sights, it was definitely half a watermelon.
The red flesh and juice sprayed into the surroundings, the glowing phenomenon settled down at an unknown time, then,
“Munch…… munch……”
From the mouth of Acies, whose face was buried in half of the watermelon, sounds of her chewing the fruit could be heard.
“Hah?”
“…… If she’s not given anything to eat…… it would immediately become like that.”
“………… Haaaaaaah!?”
“She had been like this since evening. If she does not eat continuously, she would immediately emit light from her eyes and mouth to destroy things…… Aunt Mikitty said this should be the Sephirah losing control, but the cause and reason could not be determined, so this can’t be understood at all……”
“Shaku…… shaku……”
Acies’ face remained buried in the watermelon, which made others worried if she was even able to breathe.
In front of Maou who could not understand the situation at all, Acies’ face sank deeper and deeper, and after a short while, a sound which was rarely heard rang out, it seemed to be the sound of chewing on something hard.
“…… It succeeded.”
Acies, who had finished the watermelon, showed her nose and mouth through the bottom of the watermelon skin, then said something grand as if she had completed a huge task.
“Then, let me ask you again.”
“Yeah.”
“Maou-kun, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
“I am likely to feel uncomfortable soon.”
From just watching this, Maou felt that the parts of his skin which came into contact with the watermelon juice were starting to itch, and once he thought that it might not be possible to remove these red stains, he started to feel melancholic.
Ignoring this, Maou was just worrying that he was unable to help in the current situation just a few minutes ago.
However, that was because he wanted to help his comrades who were fighting in different places, he definitely did not wish to be involved in this kind of strange situation where Acies was using a watermelon skin as a mask when it was not even Halloween.
“…… From the current calculations, she needs at least four onigiri every ten minutes.”
Amane’s voice of despair transmitted into Maou’s ears, making him unable to ask what that was supposed to meant in response.
“A, are you alright?”
Libicocco, who looked like he did not sleep at all, walked up to welcome Maou, who came home only when it was morning.
“Emilia’s father came up just now, and said that Demon King-sama’s situation over there might be bad……”
“Nord took over my shift just now…… I’m so sleepy…… sorry, let me sleep for a while.”
“Ah, a, alright, do you need me to set an alarm for you?”
“Ah…… I, have already set it.”
“O, okay, erhm, I helped you prepare breakfast. Please have some if you feel like eating. And……”
“I’m fine, you can give that breakfast to Amane-san or Nord when you leave.”
“Eh!?”
Giving breakfast to the neighbours was a strange order,
“…… I’m counting on you. I will explain the reason to you later.”
But Maou’s tone was really scary, so Libicocco could only nod while feeling nervous.
“So, is there anything else?”
“Yes, erhm, Emilia’s father borrowed miso from us for some unknown reason……”
“Borrowing miso huh, what kind of era is this……”
Maou understood Nord’s motive.
Acies was facing a strange situation where she had to eat continuously, Nord probably wanted to add more variation to her menu.
Even so, this habit of borrowing seasoning from the neighbours, Maou only read about this in old manga.
As he thought to this point.
“…… It’s not like it doesn’t happen……”
Maou, with a hazy consciousness, looked at the fridge and smiled subconsciously.
“Ashiya and Suzuno frequently did this.”
“Eh?”
“……. Uh…… oh yeah, I think you should know as well, please don’t really ask him for miso in return later. Nord would probably use other things to compensate later on, so just accept it at that time.”
“I, I understand. Then, it’s about time for me to head out, I’ll just have to deliver this to Ooguro Amane’s house, right?”
Even if he felt confused, Libicocco still carefully wrapped the freshly cooked sausage and poached egg in clingwrap and went out while holding the plate.
After Maou watched him leave, he truly collapsed on the futon this time.
“I can probably sleep for three hours.”
He closed his eyes and planned to sleep a little before going to work,
“No, wait a moment, wait a moment!!”
But he suddenly remembered something and jumped up on reflex.
“What am I daydreaming about! This isn’t the time to sleep!”
Why had he not noticed until now?”
“Is Alas=Ramus alright! Emi did not contact me at all!”
Acies and Alas=Ramus were sisters, when something strange occurred in one of them, just like twins, some strange thing would also happen to the other one.
Acies said that he started to feel uncomfortable after Emi and Alas=Ramus started their journey towards Ente Isla.
This meant that the same symptoms might occur in Alas=Ramus.
“Damn it…… but the Central Continent…… no…… it is currently being monitored…… uh, but it would be better than doing nothing? No, first I have to contact Farfarello……”
However, not only did Maou work the entire day yesterday, he even experienced the largest flood of customers since Iwaki became Shop Manager.
After that he spent the night helping Acies prepare food, this caused Maou’s brain and exhaustion to reach their limit.
Considering that Amane and Shiba were nearby and to prevent Kinanah from losing control, Maou did not store demonic magic at all, this caused his physical condition to be similar to a normal young person. This caused him to get a headache due to lack of sleep.
“Idea Link…… no, the demonic magic will be detected. Find someone to use the feather to open a Gate…… then make a call…… someone like Chi-chan or Suzuki Rika…… damn, Chi-chan would have gone to school at this time……”
It was not known if his head hurt because of fatigue or because of being affected by Acies’ strange condition, but right now, Maou could not think straight at all.
During this period, time kept flowing and his sleep time decreased.
“Suzuki Rika…… did not pick up the call…… it didn’t work…… then I can only send a message to Chi-chan at a later time and ask her to help pass the message about Acies’ condition…… damn it…… I can’t do that as well, she was caused a lot of trouble because of Suzuno’s issues earlier.”
Just as fatigue and drowsiness caused Maou to be unable to keep his head up.
He suddenly felt the presence of another person beside him, speaking next to his ear in a kind tone.
“Your face looks really frail. Sleep for a while.”
“How can I do that. I need to establish contact with the others as soon as possible……”
“I heard about everything. You have to go to work today right, so go and rest for a bit. Contacting the others and the preparation for other things, I will handle it to the best of my abilities, don’t worry.”
“I see…… s, sorry about that…… then let me sleep for a while……”
With a hazy consciousness, Maou handed everything over to someone and his consciousness left him quickly.
Then, after what felt like a short while.
The shrill phone alarm caused Maou to open his eyes once again.
Because of the pain deep within his eye sockets and the sides of his head, he did not feel like he had slept at all.
Even so, the standby screen on his phone still mercilessly showed that three hours had already passed.
“…… Water.”
Maou, who slept without brushing his teeth, went to the sink to rinse his mouth to make it feel a little more refreshed, then discovered that something was placed on the stove.
“Ohh?”
It was a piece of paper. The contents and handwriting were both very surprising.
There is onigiri and miso soup in the fridge?
There was no name written on it.
However, that someone’s handwriting was very familiar to Maou.
Opening the fridge, he discovered that there was three large onigiri inside and a small pot with a lid on it.
On one hand, Maou felt very thankful, on the other hand, he was curious how that person was able to accomplish these things.
“Oh my, you’re awake. You’re going to work soon, right? Do you want to eat?”
The porch door opened on its own due to an unknown reason, and the person who made the onigiri and miso soup appeared from behind the door.
“…… What are you doing in this kind of place?”
“Is it that strange to return to my own home?”
That person was Kamazuki Suzuno, wearing a familiar kimono and cooking apron.
Maou straightened his posture subconsciously, and while he drank the miso soup which Suzuno re-heated, he occasionally glanced at Suzuno, who sat diagonally across him.
The first question he thought of was that Suzuno had come back not long ago because of her ordination of Archbishop, was it alright for her to come back again so quickly?
And the other question.
“…… Hm, what’s wrong?”
“Ahh, no, it’s nothing.”
“I see.”
After Suzuno said this, she shifted her gaze downwards once again.
Was that she looked really listless for some reason.
It was not that obvious, but not only did she keep looking down, her gaze was directed diagonally downwards.
When she opened her mouth to speak or stopped talking, it lacked her usual efficiency.
Of course, it was possible that Suzuno was simply tired, but if that was the case, it could not be understood why she was this dazed and waiting for Maou to finish eating.
In the past, Maou had many chances to eat the dishes Suzuno prepared, but Suzuno would not cook just for him alone…… perhaps this was the first time.
Even though the number of times he ate with Suzuno were so numerous that he could not remember the exact number, but usually, Suzuno would definitely not do nothing and wait for Maou to finish eating, like what she was doing now.
“Erhm, what were you doing before this?”
“Hm? Ah, you’re talking about this attire?”
After Suzuno looked down at herself, she said this.
“I met Libicocco when he was going out and heard from him that something seemed to have happened to Acies. After looking for Shiba-dono, I knew that Acies needed to be feed continuously, so I went to help over there.”
“I, I see. It’s tiring, right?”
Maou continued to make onigiri until morning, so to some extent, he had said this with sincerity, but Suzuno smiled and shook her head.
“This isn’t considered much. Acies’ appetite was huge to begin with. My understanding of her appetite might even lose to Nord-dono.”
That might be true.
“Are you done? You can leave the dishes to me, just get ready for work.”
“O, okay…… but Acies……”
“I, Nord-dono and Amane-dono will look after her together today, so you don’t need to worry. If something really happens, I will go to the shop to contact you. You can just work hard like normal.”
“O…… okay, I understand. But,”
“If you’re worried about Alas=Ramus, I’m sorry, we can only establish contact through Farfarello now. We don’t know if it will be transmitted immediately, but this is our current limit.”
In various ways, Suzuno was already one step ahead and solved the issues Maou was worried about, causing him to feel truly grateful.
“I see, erhm, I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
After Suzuno said this, she quickly tidied up the cutlery used by Maou and soaked them in the sink.
Maou’s gaze subconsciously followed her figure.
That figure washing the dishes was really the Suzuno who Maou was familiar with, but it was still a little strange.
Unable to tell exactly what is off, Maou decided to prepare for work.
“Ah, hey……”
“I won’t turn around for the time being, please change quickly if you wish to do so.”
Not only did Suzuno say the words he wanted to say, the other party actually told him directly to go ahead.
“Uh, it doesn’t feel right after all.”
Even if it was Maou, changing clothes while being in the same room as a girl still required some courage.
“You’re only saying this now?”
With an expression which did not contain any maliciousness, Suzuno turned around and smiled at Maou.
“You said something about the uniform being on a loan policy and boldly stripped in front of me down to your boxers and attacked me, did you forget about that already?”
“Uh, that and this are two different things…… and you were the one who attacked him first at that time! Also please pay attention to your words when you’re talking!”
“Pay attention to my words? Thinking about it, even though Chiho-dono and Emilia were watching, you were only wearing a pair of boxers and endlessly explained about the elasticity of the boxers which no one wanted to know about at all.”
“Sorry sorry, I know I was in the wrong, please turn around!”
With Suzuno digging up past history, Maou completely lost his standing.
As Maou took the chance when Suzuno had turned around to wash the dishes to change his clothes, it was almost the time for him to head to work.
“You’re leaving?”
Suzuno took the initiative to ask.
“Y, yeah, today……”
“You’re working until closing time, right? I heard from Libicocco.”
“Y, yeah. You’re……”
“I will be staying here today. When I came back last time, I actually wanted to clean up the room, and I’m also very worried about Acies.”
“I, I understand. Then, don’t push yourself too hard.”
Maou did not know what was there which could cause her to push herself,
“Be careful on the road.”
“I, I’ll be off.”
but in order to escape from that strange feeling coming from Suzuno, Maou left the room quickly.
When he saw Shiba’s home, Maou worried about Acies, but he could not do anything about it now, so he could only go to work first.
Once Maou, who started work at 11am, reached the store, he discovered that the crowd today gathered earlier than normal, so he quickly entered the employee room to change into the uniform.
At this moment.
The keys to his house dropped out of his pocket onto the floor.
He nonchalantly picked up the keys and placed it back into his picket, then noticed one thing.
“Oh right…… that Suzuno, does not seem to have my house keys?”
“Haah……”
Chiho could not help but sigh heavily.
“No matter what, I’m still concerned about it.”
She had resigned from her part time job to allow her mental state to be distanced from the conflict in Ente Isla and planned to seriously prepare for her exams.
Chiho showed a self-mocking smile and looked out at the streets outside through the window.
From the window of the exam cram school ?Senshuu Academy?Hatagaya which she was attending, she could see the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station and Sentucky Hatagaya.
Senshuu Academy was located within the mixed residential and commercial building at the shopping street in front of Hatagaya station. Chiho chose this place because their individual instruction policy was very comprehensive.
The time Chiho started to prepare for her exams was a little later than most people, so she had to quickly narrow down her schools of interest and formulate a corresponding study plan.
As a result, this was the only exam cram school which was located within Chiho’s usual areas of activity, matched the standards of Chiho’s schools of interest and could start their classes in the second half of April.
“I can’t settle down at all……”
In addition, the last period of this preparation class was until 9:45pm.
Even at the latest, they could only stay until 10pm.
In other words, the time she went home was almost the same as when she got off work at MgRonalds.
However, there was a huge difference between work and preparing for exams after all.
“Focus, I have to focus.”
The moment she said this sentence, this meant that Chiho had already encountered a roadblock on her second step in exam preparations.
During this time, her comrades in Ente Isla might be facing huge troubles.
After Chiho left, her colleagues at MgRonalds might be having a hard time when there are a lot of customers.
She might meet Maou on the way home.
“…… Haah.”
The only difference compared to before was that the classes and time slots that Chiho chosen meant that she would normally have time to go home first and change.
She would still basically wear her school uniform to class, but it still felt really fresh to walk on the shopping street in casual clothes.
“Even so, it’s difficult to go to other places on the way home.”
Senshuu Academy implemented an individual instruction policy, so there was not much interaction between students.
Regretfully, before Chiho finished her preparations, her best friends Komura Yoshiya and Shouji Kaori had already attended other cram schools.
Even if there might be students from Sasahata High School in her current class, Chiho had not found any classmates who she recognised, and everyone came here to study in the first place, so they would not go out of the way to make friends with others.
Currently, the only ones who would talk with Chiho directly were the form teacher and assistant teacher of the Hatagaya school.
The cram school which Chiho attended when she was in middle school implemented a small class structure, but there was still at least ten other students in the classroom.
But Senshuu Academy used pre-recorded classes as a foundation for students to study on their own, and they would only look for the class form teacher or assistant teacher if they had any questions, so Chiho had to take some time to get used to this structure.
However, according to the assistant teacher, if they first got used to this structure where their results would not improve if they did not take the initiative to study, it would be easier after they went to university.
University was not a place which gave learning opportunities to all students equally, so proactiveness was very important.
After knowing that the assistant teacher who said this based on personal experience was actually a university student who was working part time here, Chiho got a shock.
The four assistant teachers attended prestigious universities in the city and their results were also excellent.
In addition, their memories of university exams were still fresh, so they can closely guide the candidates.
A cram school teacher was an occupation which would influence the futures of many people, so Chiho had firmly believe the whole time that all of them were full time employees.
However, the fact that the assistant teachers who worked part time here came from prestigious schools was very attractive to the candidates.
The schools which the assistant teachers attended were also the schools of choice for many of the candidates, so being able to obtain first-hand information from them about the university life which they could not obtain just from the websites and pamphlets was also an area which was highly rated. When Chiho found out that there was such a ?job?
in this world, she felt it was an eye-opener.
“Will I become like that in two years?”
From Chiho’s point of view, this assistant teachers who were about 20 years old were not different from the ?adults?
whom she normally interacted with.
They even emitted the aura of working adults like Kisaki and Iwaki.
But in two to three more years, Chiho would catch up with their ages.
“Suzuki-san…… Akiko-san…… Shimizu-san……”
Chiho thought about these ?adults? who were in the same age range but were much closer to her than these assistant teachers.
To Chiho, whether it was Suzuki Rika, Ooki Akiko or Shimizu Maki, in a different sense from these assistant teachers, they were ?mature older sisters?.
Chiho was not so shallow to think that she would naturally become like that once she reached their ages, but if she just continued to study like this, she was definitely not become like that.
“Hm……”
After all, amongst the people she interacted with, Chiho’s position was like that of the ?youngest child?.
Ignoring Maou and the others from Ente Isla, even when she was interacting with her best friend Shouji Kaori in her daily life, the other party would frequently end up taking the lead.
In her club, Chiho did not have any juniors whom she had a closer relationship with. On the contrary, many juniors were very close to Komura Yoshiya because they had studied in the same middle school.
Thinking about it carefully, she seemed to have always looked up to other people ever since she was young.
When she was young, it was her older male cousin in Nagano.
After entering high school, it was her club senior holding the white bamboo bow.
Then currently, she was always comparing herself with the adults around her and could never figure out what path she wanted to take.
The adults around Chiho would always tell her not to feel anxious about it, and Chiho also accepted their views every time.
However, after she reverted to a high school girl, she realised that she was muddling along more than she thought.
What was troubling was that her results were not bad in the first place, so she quickly caught up with the classes in the cram school. In the tests held to confirm their learning progress, she obtained rather good marks.
Therefore, Chiho ended up not knowing what she wanted to obtain with these?good results?, so even though she had attended these classes for less than two weeks, she was unable to focus on the classes.
Shimizu Maki told her that she could first aim for the places where she could develop her choices the most.
Rika told her that other than adjusting herself to the actions of others, it was also important for other people to approach her.
Kisaki told her that if she really treasured Maou, she should focus on her own affairs right now.
Putting herself as the priority, what did she have to do to achieve that.
The pace of her own mental state was so slow that even she felt irritated about it.
It felt like she would be troubled about this once a month.
Even though it felt like she seemed to have found an answer every time, once her environment changes a little just like now, her mental state would be shaken once again.
“What…… exactly do I want to do……”
Chiho started to dislike herself who was clearly thinking about these things, yet she was still properly copying down the important points of the class into notes like an honour student.
When she was distracted, this class had already ended. After checking the time, she noticed that the people around her have started to pack, preparing to go home.
“Ugh…… there are no classes tomorrow…… but it would be better to borrow the self-study room.”
If she studied at home, it felt like it would attract communications from the other world, so Chiho had been proactively borrowing the self-study room of the cram school.
When Chiho received contact from Ente Isla, it would normally be because an emergency occurred.
It was not as if she wanted to ignore those communications…...
“Ah……”
Unfortunately, the time which Chiho was available to go to the self-study room had already been booked by someone else.
She wanted to look for the assistant teacher to discuss this, but the assistant teacher was also surrounded by four to five students and it looked like it would be some time before they would be free.
“Haah, forgot about tomorrow then. I’m leaving!”
“Ah, be careful on the way home!”
The female assistant teacher Aoki who studied in Waseta, the same university as Shimizu Maki, shouted in a bright voice towards Chiho who was preparing to go home.
After Chiho turned around and bowed once, she left the school premises. Hatagaya at night had turned much more pleasant and she breathed in deeply.
“Umm~!”
Because she had been sitting the whole time, the muscles near her waist had become stiff.
Just as Chiho stretched her back, glanced sideways in the direction of MgRonalds and was about to head home.
“Hey.”
“Eh?”
Because the voice calling out to her sounded too naturally, once Chiho turned around,
“…… do you need anything?”
She realised that she had been surrounded by three unfamiliar guys and showed a wary attitude.
She felt like their ages should be similar, but Chiho confirmed that she did not know them.
This was probably,
“You’re a student from Senshuu Academy? I’m the same, today’s classes have already ended, right? Are you hungry?
At the Mags or Sentucky nearby?”
This was the first time Chiho encountered such a situation, but this was clearly a pickup attempt.
The other party claimed that he was a student at Senshuu Academy, but he was dressed very frivolously and Chiho had never seen them in classes.
Chiho had never encountered such a situation when she was returning home from her part time job in the past.
She showed an obvious expression of disgust.
Chiho felt that as a third year high school student, after returning to her duties as a candidate, her surrounding environment had changed slightly, but she did not hope for this kind of meaningless change.
Just like when she was working part time, Chiho had walked over. But to avoid such a thing happening, there might be a need to switch to riding a bicycle.
“I’m very tired, so I’m going home.”
Even if it was 10pm right now, there were still a lot of people in front of Hatagaya station.
Because she felt that these guys trying to hit on her would probably not go overboard, Chiho brushed them off and wanted to break away from being surrounded by them.
“Oh my, you’re going to study when you go back anyway, right? You need to eat something sweet to replenish your brain with some sugar.”
The guy who approached first to hit on her unexpectedly blocked Chiho’s way in a forceful manner.
“I don’t wish to eat with people I do not know.”
“We are all Senshuu Academy students, let’s deepen our interactions and exchange information about exams.”
“…… Haah.”
Chiho sighed.
It looked like she had gotten involved with troublesome people.
Currently she could not tell if those people were really Senshuu students, but if they create a commotion here, it might cause trouble for the cram school, MgRonalds or Sentucky…… Chiho did not have such thoughts at all.
If these people were really Senshuu students, carelessly complaining to the cram school might result in feelings of animosity being directed towards her.
However, if she ditched them forcefully, it would be troublesome if she meet them again in a place with not many people, so Chiho thought that the best way would be to obediently walk into MgRonalds and find someone to help her.
However.
After noticing one fact, Chiho nodded in a depressed manner.
Perhaps they felt an aura of giving in from Chiho, the young men started to show crass happy expressions.
“Then, let’s go sing some Karaoke! Vent all that stress in a refreshing way!”
Chiho did not know how the topic jumped to singing, but Chiho glared at the guy.
“Didn’t you talk about going to eat just now?”
“You can eat at a Karaoke too. You should know that, right? Alright, let’s go.”
Because he took the liberties of wanting to grab Chiho’s hand,
“Don’t touch me.”
Chiho intentionally hit that guy’s hand away while speaking in a forceful tone.
“Ow…… does it matter, why are you being so distant……”
“I said don’t touch me, didn’t you hear me?”
“…… Hey, we’re not kind people, but we don’t want to do anything to you……”
“I said, don’t, touch, me, yes? I think it’s better for all of you to give up like this.”
“…… Why are you showing such a scary expression for……”
“If not.”
“Hey.”
At this moment, a crude voice was heard, a huge human shadow fell on the faces on the guys.
“What are all of you doing?”
“Huh? Who……… eh?”
The young men who were trying to hit on someone turned towards the direction of the voice in surprise and displayed even more shock when they saw the scene which was enough to take up their whole field of vision.
That was a stature which was larger than the three young men added together and a fully intimidating looking face with an obvious jawline.
“Eh…… ah…… uh.”
They could hit on people boldly, but these young people were not really good at using force, once they saw Libicocco in human form wearing casual clothes, they were so afraid that their knees turned weak.
“You guys, do you have some business with my boss?”
“B, boss!?”
“Boss…… haah, even though saying that isn’t wrong……”
Once Chiho showed a troubled smile, the young men started to shiver.
“Boss, this way please.”
“Alright, excuse me.”
Once Libicocco called for Chiho, the latter leisurely walked through the perimeter set up by the young people and ducked behind Libicocco.
“Then, if you have some business with the boss, you can tell me directly?”
“N, no…… erhm, e, excuse us……”
The young people wanted to escape stealthily, and Libicocco added another sentence in a rough voice.
“Hey, brats. I work at a nearby shop. If I see all of you doing such stupid things again…… you know what will be the result, right?”
“…… Eep!”
After Chiho watched those young men who tried to hit on her disappear into the crowd in fear, she sighed lightly and bowed towards Libicocco.
“Sorry about that, thank you for your help.”
“I don’t understand you, for those kind of guys, you just need to teach them a lesson.”
This sentence did not sound like the words of someone who helped another person solve their troubles, but Chiho shook her head with a troubled smile.
“I don’t know any offensive spells which I can use right away.”
“…… I frequently think about this, it’s amazing that you dared to stand in my way at that time.”
Libicocco should be talking about the time the two of them met for the first time on the roof of Sasahata High School.
“Though the chances of success are a little different, but regardless of this time or that time…… I will always think of plans for being rescued by others beforehand.”
“Is that so? Earlier on, if not for the fact that I happened to leave work at this time……”
“That doesn’t matter, there are a lot of people here, as long as I shout loudly or run away directly, there will definitely be someone who will help.”
“Right now, there are probably a lot of people who will pretend that they have not seen anything, right? I saw that on television before.”
A demon from the Demon World, a Malebranche Chieftain, would actually declare that they have watched television before.
This caused Chiho to feel that it was a little funny, but she definitely also understood this fact.
“It’s fine. Shop Manager Iwaki and Sariel-san are around, and there is no one in MgRonalds who would ignore a commotion happening outside. There aren’t many customers at this time. In a sense, I was not afraid at all.”
“…… You have a strange way of getting used to such situations.”
Libicocco was shocked, but he showed a smile which lacked any menace and Chiho smiled as well.
“But based on what you said just now, that means that I should not have taken action.”
“Eh? It’s not like that at all. Libicocco-san really helped a lot, because I saw your figure, I was able to remain calm.”
“You might have said that, but during that kind of situation just now, you would probably prefer to be saved by Demon King-sama, right?”
Because Libicocco’s tone was too normal and he had a serious expression, it took Chiho a while to react to it.
“Even Libicocco-san knows about it, why……”
“Uh, that good female friend of Emilia seemed to have mentioned something like that before.”
In what situation did Rika say such things to Libicocco, and how did Libicocco understand it in a normal sense?
“Demon King-sama was involved in a troublesome issue yesterday, so he’s very tired today. Why don’t I accompany you home?”
Chiho accepted this suggestion while feeling grateful, but she was definitely wondered what was the troublesome issue which Libicocco mentioned.
But……
“…… I see. Please help me tell him not to push himself too hard.”
“Alright.”
With regards to that troublesome issue, no one had notified Chiho about it.
Then, during the time before she reached home, Chiho did not ask Libicocco why Maou was that tired.
Libicocco seemed to have sense Chiho’s feelings, and because he was also not a chatty person in the first place, he did not say much on the way home.
“Haah, it might not be my place to say this, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself as well. See ya.”
Then, in front of Chiho’s house, Libicocco bid her goodbye very normally and made his way home.
“Alright, thank you. Be careful on your way home, Libicocco-san.”
After Chiho returned to her own room, she placed the lecture materials and notes from today’s class on the study desk, she deduced that her mother should have prepared dinner for her, so she headed towards the living room.
Unsurprisingly, her mother was helping her heat up dinner which had cooled down. Chiho looked towards the television distractedly and discovered that her mother seemed to be watching the sports news.
Hearing the main announcer reporting the results of the international soccer competition excitedly, Chiho started to imagine the troublesome issue which Maou had encountered.
It should not be a situation occurring in Ente Isla.
If it was like that, Libicocco would have said that from the start, and someone would have informed Chiho.
But if it was not an issue with Ente Isla, then it should be an unexpected event related to their living situation in the apartment or their work in MgRonalds.
“…… If it was like that, they could have contacted me.”
“Chiho? What did you just say?”
“Um, it’s nothing.”
Chiho also felt what she said was unreasonable.
She had protested to Maou earlier and told him not to use her as a contact person.
Libicocco was there at that time too, so he would not reveal any unnecessary information to Chiho who had not asked anything today.
“Alright, thanks for waiting.”
“Yeah, I’m digging in.”
Chiho slowly ate the dinner which had been reheated and starting thinking.
She wondered if Maou was eating properly.
Could he be eating carelessly because he was living together with Libicocco?
Was he getting pranked by Acies?
…… What was everyone doing right now?”
“What’s wrong, Chiho? It’s going to get cold again?”
When the mother noticed that her daughter was not moving her chopsticks, she asked this question. Chiho shook her head slightly in response and increased her pace of eating slightly.
When the news ended, Chiho had also finished eating. She expressed that she wanted to revise the lessons from cram school and quickly returned to the second floor.
However, Chiho did not even look at the study table which she had prepared before dinner and lay down on her bed while hugging her pillow.
“…… If only Suzuno-san could quit her Archbishop job without any hesitation.”
Then, she started to say unreasonable things again.
The reason why Suzuno was having such a hard time in Ente Isla and even became an Archbishop was for the sake of fulfilling the wishes of Alas=Ramus and the six people who initially gathered at the apartment.
However, if Suzuno was at Room 202, Chiho would have a reason to go to Villa Rosa Sasazuka.
As long as Suzuno was around, Chiho would not worry her mother even if she went to the apartment.
As long as she asked Suzuno to allow her to study at Room 202, she would clearly know the situation with Maou and the others.
As long as Suzuno was there, she could ask Suzuno to help pay attention to whether Maou and the others were eating properly.
Chiho’s mind was filled with these wilful and selfish imaginations.
“…… If only…… I had the same kind of power as Suzuno-san.”
Housekeeping skills, battle power, mental strength, tolerance, intelligence, and age.
To Chiho, everything in Ente Isla was a ?dream? she hoped to fulfil.
Like how a sports boy wanting to become a professional player.
A child influenced by manga wanting to become a manga artist.
Or dreaming of a dazzling stage and wanting to become a celebrity.
Ente Isla was a dream which Chiho wanted as a goal in order to continue living on.
The path she was currently walking on, can it lead towards that dream?
What should she do to head towards the forefront of that dream?
She did not know.
She did not know.
“Ahh…… seriously…… ughhhh~~”
Chiho produced an exaggerated groan from deep into her throat and hoped that someone could notice her feelings which had no outlet.
But she did not want her parents to hear after all, so she buried her face in the pillow.
But she continued to groan.
She had never thought that her mental state was actually that weak.
She had gotten carried away.
Because she had been praised by Ashiya, Suzuno, Emi and Emerada, she mistakenly thought that she was a mentally strong person.
But she was not great at all, when she was alone, she could not even chase away guys who wanted to hit on her; she started to find reasons not to study after a few days of cram school; she even compared her friend’s strengths with her own weaknesses and sunk into these useless thoughts, she was that kind of hopeless spoilt brat.
It must be because of this that Maou was taking such a long time to reply to her confession.
If this went on, she would not change no matter even after a few years have passed.
With this, Maou would definitely forget about the confession, defeat Heaven in a place she did not know about and stay in Ente Isla to handle the aftermath.
Chiho did not wish for things to turn out like this.
She wanted to eat together with everyone just like before.
Ashiya and Suzuno cooking together, Lucifer reluctantly playing with Alas=Ramus, and herself placating Maou who showed a disgusted expression because of what Emi said.
Once Suzuno became an Archbishop.
Maou, Ashiya and Urushihara creating a new ?Demon clan? for the sake of the demons in the Demon World.
Emi taking Alas=Ramus to see her family.
Those days would never return.
There was no way for them to return.
She did not have that power, right nor value to request that from everything.
Because she was the only Japanese person.
“…… Hm?”
At that moment.
Chiho sensed a weak trace of holy magic and moved her face away from the pillow.
The reaction was truly rather weak.
But because she had not interacted with holy magic the past few days, Chiho was able to detect this minute change.
Chiho discovered that the source was from the drawer of the study desk, so she took out a small box from inside the drawer and opened it.
“…… T…… this is?”
The ring with a Yesod fragment in it glowed faintly.
Other than that, there was no other reaction.
However, nothing like that had ever happened.
Unless Chiho or other people interfered, the Yesod fragment should maintain the appearance of a purple gem with a high level of transparency.
“……”
Chiho gently hugged the box with the ring to her chest and thought about it for a while.
“Hey, what is this?”
Even though Maou was so tired that he could not stand properly, he still pointed at a certain object in the corner of the room.
Libicocco seemed to have predicted this question, but he still pointed at the wall of Room 202 while feeling rather perplexed.
“Ah? She went out of the way to move it over? Move it here? And also left it alone?”
It was not strange for Maou and Libicocco to feel confused.
When Libicocco returned home, that bladeless fan was already in Room 201.
“That seems to be the case.”
“What is she doing? I want to ask her directly, but since the light is off, it means that she has gone to sleep. What time did you return?”
“Around 11 plus. I also went to the bathhouse.”
“Eh? You ended work at 10pm, right? Where did you go to in between those places?”
“Uh…… erhmm.”
Libicocco stuttered slightly.
“…… On the way home, I encountered Sasaki Chiho.”
“You met Chi-chan?”
“Because some things happened, I sent her home.”
“…… I see. Ah well, thanks for taking the trouble to do that.”
Libicocco was hesitant when he was speaking, but Maou appeared to not have any intentions of discussing about Chiho’s affairs, so he just complimented Libicocco and returned to the original topic without asking any further.
“In this current period, there is no need to use this thing yet, but the weather is very hot. I feel really bad for her.
Because I did not pass the keys to her, she was probably unable to leave the apartment, right?”
“…… No, she said that she still went out normally to buy things and also went to the Landlady’s house.”
“You serious?”
Maou chided Suzuno, who was not present, on reflex, but it was rather improbable for thieves to come to this apartment, so it felt that there was nothing to be done.
In reality, there was really nothing worth stealing.
“Hm? Then why did she put this thing here? Also.”
Looking around carefully, other than the electric fan, there were a lot of additional things in the room.
“These are the things from Suzuno’s home, right? What is she doing?”
On top of the fridge, there was something like a miniature juicer placed there.
Maou did not need to check to know that it was not something which belonged to Room 201, Suzuno probably brought it over for some reason.
“Ah, forget it, I can ask Suzuno for the reason tomorrow…… since she went to sleep without contacting me, Acies’
condition should have stabilised. Hey, it’ll be tiring tomorrow too, go to sleep earlier. I’m going to lay out the futon.”
“Demon King-sama, you’re working from the morning just like me, right?”
“I asked Shop Manager Iwaki to allow me to change to start work in the afternoon. I’m not sure if this is considered good luck or not, but it seems like other stores can send people over to help. I am also very worried about Acies’
condition.”
“That Bell also strangely said that she wanted to go over to help cook, what exactly happened?”
“Honestly speaking, I’m not too sure about that…… but it should be a bad sign.”
Acies having a poor physical condition would affect the Battle to Defeat God.
Especially since Acies was the only one right now who could handle that mysterious Astronaut.
Other than that, Acies also helped Maou resolve many dangerous situations in Satahata High School and the Azure Sky Canopy.
Maou did not plan to reply on Acies completely, but just like Alas=Ramus, they were children of the Sephirah who should be saved.
Maou did not wish for her to face the final battle while feeling unwell.
“By the way, did Suzuno mention anything about Ente Isla? Or rather, why was she able to come back?”
“Uh…… she did not say anything about that. When I came back, she was already sleeping in that room.”
“Hah?”
Suzuno’s situation was a little strange after all.
The last time she returned, she was clearly in a huge shock due to being promoted to Archbishop.
That night, everyone went to eat udon together while taking the chance to discuss future plans, Suzuno should have resolved her troubles by the time she returned in the end.
However, she clearly still had her own opinions about this matter.
It was impossible for Suzuno to abandon her work and run away, but she still needed someone to rant to.
“Haah, she is still a Demon General after all. I should occasionally do some Demon King like things.”
“Humans are really troublesome.”
“You will frequently encounter such issues in the future. Then let’s start to lay down the futons. Go to bed after taking out the futons…… hey, what is this?”
Once Maou opened the closet, he discovered that the second level which was normally occupied by Urushihara had a foreign large machine placed on it, giving him a shock.
The reason why he felt it was foreign was not because that machine did not belong to him, but because he could not even tell what the machine was used for.
“It seems like the situation is worse than I thought.”
This must have been done by Suzuno, causing Maou to fear the arrival of tomorrow.
The next day.
One hour after Libicocco, who had to work the whole day, ate breakfast and went to work, the sound of Suzuno moving around was suddenly heard from next door.
The sound of her moving some large object caused Maou to frown. Looking at his mobile phone, he discovered that it was already a time when it would not be considered strange for him to wake up, so he left his futon and went to the public corridor.
“Ah…… Demon King. Sorry for waking you up.”
After that, Suzuno also arrived at the corridor, she was hugging a microwave oven for some reason.
“Uh, you don’t have to mind it…… what are you doing so early in the morning?”
Feeling rather embarrassed, Suzuno shifted her gaze away from Maou.
“…… It’s nothing, I just want to throw away some bulky items.”
“Bulky items? Are you planning to throw away that microwave?”
Looking carefully, there was a sticker stuck to the side of the microwave oven in Suzuno’s arms, which showed that the bulky item handling fee defined by Shibuya district had been paid And no matter how he looked at it, the microwave oven Suzuno planned to throw away was much better than the one in Room 201 in terms of functions, and it looked newer as well.
“Hey, since yesterday, what happened with you?”
“…… Nothing much.”
Suzuno suddenly looked away, causing Maou to asked while feeling stunned.
“If you want to lie, you should be more serious about it, at least don’t allow me to notice that there is something strange about you, idiot. With your previous work experience, it can’t be that you don’t even know about this?”
“A, annoying. Get out of the way already. This has to be taken out before 9am.”
Suzuno frowned and looked away from Maou, traces of dark eye circles could be seen under her eyes.
Maou, who showed a deeper frown than Suzuno, snatched the microwave oven from Suzuno’s arms.
“Stop saying such idiotic things. Hand it over!”
“Ah! What are you doing!”
“Throwing it away is too wasteful, so why don’t you pass it to me. I can confirm it now, you plan to push that electric fan and the mysterious machine in the closet to us, right? What exactly is that strangely large machine with a hose connected to it?”
“…… That is a, futon dryer.”
“Futon dryer?”
That function which could not be imagined at all from its appearance, caused Maou to think that it was strangely amusing.
Perhaps she believed that she was being belittled by Maou, Suzuno blushed and looked downwards.
“Because I rarely used it after buying it…... it would be a waste to throw it away.”
“Oh, I see. You should have thrown that away if you wanted to throw something away. If someone finds out that you tried to throw away such a new microwave oven, even if it did not belong to him, Ashiya would still get really angry.”
“T, that has nothing to do with you guys. I have the freedom to decide what to do with my own things……”
“If I discover that my subordinates are acting strange, I have to listen properly while there is still a chance to salvage the situation, this is my duty as a superior. Demon General Crestia Bell.”
“…… Guh.”
Up till today, Suzuno had used her position as a Demon General many times to make various requests from Demon King Satan.
Therefore, after Maou counterattacked with this, he felt a little satisfied.
However, once he noticed that Suzuno was still looking down at her feet, that faint feeling of obtaining an advantage vanished immediately.
“I only start work in the afternoon today, it’s a little late, but have breakfast with me.”
“Eh?”
This sudden invite caused Suzuno to show a surprised expression, but it was Maou who looked away instead.
“Recently, I became able to understand things to some extent.”
As he spoke, Maou hugged the microwave and walked into Room 201.
“H, hey!”
Then, with a smooth, flowing movement, Maou tore the off the bulky item sticker.
“Hey!?”
“Since you’re going to throw it away, why don’t I accept it, and throw the one at my house.”
As Maou spoke, he stuck the sticker on the microwave in Room 201, then looked confused when he discovered that it did not stick.”
“Eh? Why doesn’t it stick?”
“Because it was designed such that it cannot be stuck repeatedly. Else it would be stolen if the item was left outside.”
“Seriously. Eh? Does it mean that I have to buy another one?”
“The back can serve as a copy. It’ll be fine as long as you show that to the collector…… Could it be that you have not used it before?”
“No. I have never thrown anything which would be categorised as a bulky item. I know that such a sticker exists, but I don’t even know where to buy such a thing. Do convenience stores sell them?”
“Ah, that makes sense. Haha…… hahahahaha.”
“…… Suzuno?”
Suzuno’s laughter gradually decreased in tone.
“Haha…… haah…… sorry. Logically, it should not have turned out like this.”
“You’re that reluctant to get promoted?”
“……”
Suzuno did not respond.
However, just by seeing her expression, anyone would be able to see her true thoughts.
“Because of yesterday, I don’t have much right to say this. You should sleep for a bit. Your complexion looks really bad, you know.”
“…… This place.”
“Hm?”
“Can you allow me to sleep in this room?”
“Hah!?”
Even without confirming this, he knew that Suzuno was talking about Room 201.
But this request was really too strange.
“I think you should know even without me saying this, we don’t have any futons for guests to use……”
“I know. But I want to sleep here.”
“…………Uh………uh, up to you.”
A really bad feeling surged strongly in Maou’s heart, and he planned to run outside while hugging the microwave and the back of the bulk item handling sticker, but someone grabbed the hem of his shirt.
“I, I will leave the keys behind today……”
“You only start work in the afternoon, right? I will wake up before that.”
Maou turned back nervously, then his gaze met Suzuno’s gaze as she showed a pleading expression.
Maou had an impression of that expression.
It was before they participated in the Battle to Defeat God.
On a certain winter night, in the corridor of this apartment.
“I am a little tired.”
A frail voice.
“……”
Maou felt strange relieved that Libicocco had already gone to work, and Acies was staying at Shiba’s house because of her poor physical condition.
Then, Maou sighed, and coldly pushed away Suzuno’s hand which had been grabbing them hem of his shirt.
Then,
“Guh!?”
Very lightly, he used the microwave in his arms to knock Suzuno’s head.
“W, what are you doing!?”
Of course, Suzuno protested, but Maou spoke unhappily as if he was felt truly exhausted.
“What are you reacting so strongly, idiot. It’s not as if it really hurts.”
“A, actually doing that when someone is feeling down……!”
“If you’re feeling down, then say so. If you want to take a break, then apply for one.”
“Apply!?”
“Demon General Crestia Bell, what kind of relationship do you and I have?”
“What are you saying!”
“If you’re harbouring some kind of misunderstanding, I will clarify things with you now. In the Demon King Army, do not expect other people to detect your feelings. I will only report, communicate and discuss important information.
Isn’t that the case?”
“……Ugh.”
“What else is there? Since when did we have a relationship where we have to be sensitive and notice your feelings?”
Maou used a very roundabout explanation,
“N, noisy!”
But from Suzuno’s fully blushing face and how tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes, she did understand Maou’s words.
“You’re the noisy one.”
“W, where are you going!”
Maou prepared to go out after saying this coldly, Suzuno shouted at his back in a tone which was close to a scream, but as if Maou truly felt it was troublesome, he looked at the item in his arms.
“I will come back after throwing away the bulky item. You’re already an adult, don’t that expression resembling that of an abandoned puppy. In addition, I’m accepting this microwave, I’m not going to return it to you later.”
After Maou glanced at the clock, he walked out of the room.
“……”
Suzuno stayed where she was in a dazed manner, but five minutes after Maou went out, the sound of a large truck stopping outside the apartment was heard, and five minutes after that, Maou returned.
Faced with Suzuno who was frozen to the same spot as ten minutes ago, Maou sat cross-legged on the floor, rested his chin on his hand and asked,
“So? What kind of meaningless thing are you feeling troubled over?”
She really hated her weak mentality.
Saturday morning, Chiho stood in front of Villa Rosa Sasazuka.
From the outside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The windows of Room 201 and Room 202 were open, she was unable to confirm the situation within from outside.
“Maou-san and Libicocco-san probably went to work…… ah.”
Chiho looked towards the yard and noticed that the bicycle which was normally parked there was gone.
With this, she could at least confirm that Maou had gone to work.
Since Maou went to work, this meant no serious issues have occurred yet. Even if the Yesod was glowing faintly, there was no need to rush here.
Part of the reason why Chiho came here was to avoid mulling over unnecessary things at night, but it could not be helped if no one was around.
Chiho planned to turn around and leave,
“Eh?”
But she suddenly noticed a small figure within the apartment grounds and stopped walking.
From the position, the other party was opposite the entrance.
A young boy was sitting on the ground near the wall of Room 101, staring at the sky in boredom.
“Iron-kun?”
“…… Ah, Chiho. Good morning.”
Once Iron noticed Chiho, he stood up, brushed the dirt off his bottom and ran towards her.
“The two people on the second floor have gone to work. The other people are there.”
“There?”
Iron pointed towards the neighbouring Shiba’s house.
“Nord-san is at Shiba-san’s house?”
She did not know what happened, but Chiho did not understand Nord’s life that well, so she only felt that it might happen occasionally,
“Chiho, did you come to visit Acies as well?”
“Eh?”
But the word visit caused her to frown.
“What’s wrong with Acies-chan!?”
“You don’t know? She had been feeling unwell the past two, three days.”
“Sorry…… I didn’t know at all…… I haven’t been talking with Maou-san recently.”
“I know. You’re busy preparing for exams, right? Acies also said not to cause trouble for Chiho.”
“B, but if she’s feeling unwell, I still want to visit. Is she still feeling alright?”
“I don’t know. But Amane told me not to get close to her, so I am taking care of the house alone today as well.”
“I see. It sounds very serious. That period had already passed, but it should not be influenza or gastroenteritis, right……?”
Since he could not get close to her, then it should be an infectious illness.
“Amane did not know the reason too. You said gastroenteritis just now? That’s a stomach illness, right? It might be that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
Iron, who was normally expression, said this nonchalantly,
“She has to eat 200 onigiri every day.”
Chiho asked naturally in response,
“You heard it wrong, right?”
“I did not hear it wrongly. It is 200.”
“Eating so much, her stomach would probably get upset, right!?”
“That’s wrong, Chiho. She became able to eat 200 onigiri after she started feeling unwell.”
“It’s not because she upset her stomach after eating 200 onigiri!?”
“Even if it was Acies, she should not be able to accomplish such a thing normally.”
“Hm~ sorry, I seemed to have become a little confused!”
Even though everyone knew that Acies’ appetite was abnormal, eating 200 onigiri a day felt like something which exceeded the range of what was considered normal.
And combining this with the information Chiho heard from other people, even when Acies was considered to be in a good condition, she could only eat close to 40 MgRonald burgers at most.
Assuming that the size of those 200 onigiri were the same as those in the convenience stores, then she was eating at least 20 kg a day.
That was around 60 cups of rice.
And that was every day.
Ignoring the money used for buying the rice, the electricity fees for cooking the rice was also significant.
Then again, at this point, rather than using cups, it would be better to use litres of calculate this.
If they did not use an industrial use rice cooker to cook, they might not even have time to cook the rice.
“And if the rice used is too cheap, she will also dislike it.”
“Isn’t she being too wilful!?”
“It can’t be helped. If they don’t satisfy here, it seems like she would shoot a terrible beam of light from her face.”
“It feels like the situation is more serious than I imagined!?”
Since even Iron said that it was a terrible beam of light, then it must be really terrible.
It was not strange even if the light from the Yesod fragment was able to cause physical damage.
“Hey, what exactly happened? The Yesod fragment emitted a strange glow, so I came over because I was worried if anything happened to Acies or Alas=Ramus-chan. So did anything serious happen to her?”
“…… Sorry, I am not to sure about the matters related to Yesod. Mikitty said it might be a ?rampage?, but it’s completely different from when it happened to me, so nothing is confirmed at all……”
“Ah, s, sorry……”
In the past, at the Shinjuku underground, a phenomenon happened to Iron where he was enveloped in a black metal and caused the trains to stop operating, so this question was really too insensitive.
“But, Acies seemed to have suddenly felt unwell after Alas=Ramus travelled to Ente Isla. We don’t know the reason, but it should not be completely unrelated…… if you have the time…… can you go see her? If Chiho visits her, she would definitely be happy.”
“…… Yeah. But…… ah! Erhm, can you let me into Nord-san’s room?”
“Eh? It should be fine for Chiho to go in, but why?”
In response to Iron’s question, Chiho clenched her fists and said determinedly.
“Since I’m going to visit Acies, how can I go empty-handed?”
After bidding goodbye to Iron for the time being, Chiho rushed to a supermarket near Sasazuka, filled the basket as much as she could without looking at the price, paid an amount which she was seeing for the first time in her life at the cashier, endured the pain of carrying the heavy plastic bags and returned to the apartment.
“Uwah! So many things!”
“Iron-kun! Can I trouble you to help me?”
“Yeah! I am helping Nord every day. Instruct me all you want!”
Iron’s eyes shone after he saw the large number of ingredients. After Chiho patted him on the head once, she rolled up her sleeves to gather her motivation.
“…… Let’s do this!”
“Eh!? Suzuno-san!?”
“Eh!? Chiho-dono!?”
“Help has really descended from Heaveeennnnn!! Without even asking, I know that is definitely rice, yes!? Is it food!?”
The sentence at the end bore a strong resemblance to what Acies would say, but the one speaking was Amane, who had turned much thinner just after a few days of not seeing her.
Without obtaining any permission, Amane snatched the pot from Chiho’s hands and rushed into the room where Acies slept.
“Acies! This is food cooked by Chiho-chan!”
“Really!!”
The voice of Acies, who sounded more energetic than usual, transmitted to Chiho’s ears,
“Uwah, this can’t be, actually eating it in one mouthful!”
When Chiho entered the room, the stewed pot of vegetables which Chiho’s family of three people could not finish in one day was already emptied such that not a single drop remained.
“It’s deliciousssss!!”
“How is it!? Can you hold on for a while!? The next pot of rice will only be done in another 20 minutes!”
“It feels like it should barely hold up!”
“Amane-san, are you alright! I still prepared many other things, and I also cooked rice!”
“Are you a goddess!”
Amane, who was speaking in a strange way, also cried.
“Suzuno-san. In Nord-san’s room, Iron-kun is helping to heat up the oden! I changed the seasoning method and made three types, can I ask you to bring it over in order based on when they finished cooking?”
“I understand!”
Chiho and Suzuno were both wondering why the other party was here, but after seeing Acies’ situation, these things could only be discussed later.
Chiho looked around quickly and noticed that the walls and ceiling of Acies’ room had many holes and other traces of damage.
That scene looked as if a battle had just occurred, but anyway, this was probably the result of the?beams of light shot from her face? which Iron talked about.
If it broke a window and shot a neighbour’s house, then they really had no way to explain it.
“Hm? Chiho-san! Why are you here!?”
At this moment, Nord appeared while wearing a frilly apron which did not match his stature at all. He was holding toast stuffed with fruits and ice cream, in other words, what was known as honey toast.
“I heard about it from Iron-kun! I’m sorry for using your kitchen without permission!”
“I’m sorry, you’re a huge help!”
There were dark eye circles around Nord’s eyes as well.
The task of having to cook for Acies must have caused him to come close to reaching his limit after just a few days.
“After that, there is oden and curry, pork flavoured miso and a second and third pot of stewed vegetables!”
““We’re saved!””
The shouts which the two adults squeezed out caused Chiho to quickly follow after Suzuno to get the dishes and return to immediately prepare more portions.
The voices of Amane and Nord which were close to screams showed that even though the situation was different from what Chiho imagined, it was still very harsh.
After Chiho joined in, Room 202 was opened as well. Including Shiba’s home, there were three kitchens operating at full capacity, and when it became afternoon, the group finally prepared so many dishes that it would last Acies the whole day.
“Thank you for your help today, Chiho-dono. Acies happened to be eating a lot more than usual today……”
Just hearing this sentence caused Chiho to feel that the situation was really bad,
“She ate more than 100 onigiri this morning. She probably grew tired of eating them.”
“Grew tired…… hm, that might be the case.”
Instantly, Chiho felt that saying such words was too indulgent, but eating the same thing 100 times would truly make one feel sick of eating it.
In Room 202, Suzuno tiredly slumped over the coffee table, Chiho also showed a troubled smile while sitting in a relaxed manner.
It was not known if she was full for the time being or if they satisfied some conditions, Acies was taking an afternoon nap now.
During this time, Shiba’s house, Room 202 and 101 were cooking new batches of rice to prepare for Acies’ dinner.
Everyone also took the chance to take a break.
“I heard Iron-kun say that she can eat 200 in a day.”
“Her appetite seems to vary with her physical condition. The worse her physical condition is, the bigger her appetite.
We only focused on creating the volume of food and did not think that we could still use the oden ingredients from the supermarket. Those are cheap and have large portions, we can only use that for the time being to tide over the emergencies.”
“With this, it feels like the immune system can be strengthened as long as one eats well.”
“Normally speaking, eating just like her would cause the body to break first.”
“It’s really mysterious. The figure of big eaters are normally unexpectedly lean or small. I heard that they can store a lot of things because of gastroptosis.”
“Even if it is gastroptosis, Acies’ body has to fit 6 litres of rice per day. Haah……”
“However, ever since I quit my job, I have not rushed to cook for so long. It might be tiring, but I also feel a little happy.”
“Hahaha…… haah.”
Suzuno looked down slightly.
“I’m sorry. In the end we still borrowed Chiho-dono’s power when we’re faced with difficulties. You don’t need to go to cram school today?”
“I have classes tonight, but it’s fine if I stay until evening. Because something like that happened suddenly, I did not have any chance to say this, actually……”
Chiho started to explain that came to the apartment today because she noticed that the Yesod fragment displayed a reaction which she had not seen before and was worried that Acies and Maou had encountered some trouble.
“And it was because her appetite grew larger huh.”
“After Acies fell asleep, I tired to put the ring on her forehead lightly, but there was no reaction. There seems to be no connection.”
“I think that it might not be completely unrelated…… perhaps it’s just a different method of causing the reaction.”
“Method of causing the reaction?”
“The reaction shown by every Yesod fragment is different. If we force the fragments to show a reaction, it might worsen the rampage.”
With this explanation, Chiho’s actions just now might be considered rather careless.
“Well…… we can only continue observing for now. On the contrary, even if something strange is happening to Acies, Alas=Ramus might not exhibit any abnormalities…… in addition, because of various reasons, the time for the beginning of the Holy Conquest can now be predicted.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It looks like we can only hope for Acies to regain her health during this time or wait for reports from Emilia or Alsiel before we can decide our next counterstrategy. Before that……”
“Erhm, Suzuno-san……”
“Hm.”
“When did you return? It feels like not much time had passed since the time you said that you became an Archbishop…… you declared to the world that you’re in the Northern Continent now?”
“No, I am in the West now. On the surface, I have already returned to the Church Headquarters, undergoing the purification ceremony for the Archbishop ordination.”
“Undergoing purification ceremony…… huh.”
The most important person was in front of her right now, what was going on?
“Oh my, because it’s too troublesome, I skipped it.”
“Is that alright!?”
Processing the information Chiho heard when Suzuno returned the last time, the importance of the ordination of one of the Six Archbishops was equivalent to the swearing in of the American president or the choosing of the Pope on Earth.
So at that time, she heard that many rituals have to be conducted first for the ordination before finally holding the ordination ceremony.
However, the person involved in this news which shook the entire world was actually making onigiri here, how can things be alright like this.
However, Suzuno looked very composed and was slumped over the coffee table in a very ungraceful manner.
“Does it matter. No one can see anyway.”
“Ehh?”
Suzuno actually said an excuse as if she had ran the red light at night, causing Chiho to feel shocked in various ways.
“That purification ritual…… even though it has a very grand formal name…… it was set as 10 days this time due to special circumstances. Based on the usual practices, during the defined time, the person going through the ordination has to stay in the deepest part of the Church Headquarters, the ?God’s Grotto? and pray to God. So on the surface, I am there right now.”
But in reality, she was in a sixty year old apartment cooking rice and making onigiri.
“Uh, erhm, since you said it was fine……”
“There will be no one who will peek inside to confirm this. That place has become a location of ?that’s just how it is?, so I can spent a leisurely week here.”
Since she had said so, then it should be fine. Not just Chiho, this was also very helpful to the Demon King Army, but Chiho still felt that there was something off with Suzuno who nonchalantly placed so little importance on these rituals.
Suzuno being Suzuno, she probably accurately sensed Chiho’s thoughts.
“Why do I have to be that miserable and stay in that stuffy cave to offer my prayers to those guys who caused Alas=Ramus to feel sad?”
She intentionally became brunt with her words.
“I really feel sorry to Chiho-dono about what happened earlier. But I was truly shaken by the news of being ordinated and I really did not know what to do.”
“It’s fine, I did not mind it at all……”
“But this time…… I feel that everything has become very idiotic.”
“The Archbishops?”
“…… Various areas. Originally, this purification ritual was supposed to last for a whole month.”
“What! A month!”
It felt very long, but considering the position of the Six Archbishops, their effect on their surroundings and the holiness, this number was still considered reasonable.
“But do you know what Archbishop Maulo who was in charge of the Scriptures and Religious Affairs Department said?
He said considering the special circumstances of the ordination this time, it should be shortened to 10 days.”
“Eh? Can that be done?”
“No. Under normal circumstances that is. But it was something like ?Considering that we have to increase the pace of the Holy Conquest, God is likely to forgive this?. They are really cutting corners with this.”
“I, I see.”
“Also, that ?God’s Grotto? is a work of art.”
Suzuno’s tone of voice was filled with mockery and she did not act like someone who was about the become an Archbishop. To elaborate further, this was not acting like the Suzuno who claimed that true belief and God existed in her heart even after knowing the true identity of God.
“How should I say this, in order to be able to pray continuously for 30 days, there is a rock used for praying. The shape of the rock resembled praying pedestal. Phrasing this in a good way, this is a mystery of nature…… but there was actually a cushion there.”
“Eh? Cushion!?”
“More accurately, it was cloth, leaves from plants and sand from the cave stuffed into a sunken area, it was probably the Archbishops from many generations ago who felt that praying for 30 days in a row was harsh, and they did this so their feet will not be in pain. The cave is located on a cliff, but the ventilation is good and its very dry. The sun can shine in as well, so it feels as soft as a straw pillow when you sit on it.”
“W, won’t they get scolded like that?”
“The people sitting there are the ones standing at the peak of all holy workers, you know. Since everyone in history had done this, who would get angry. It’s just like the secrets of a school clubroom from passed down from one generation to another.”
Is it really alright to describe this in such a common way?
“Other than that, the person taking part in the ritual can only depend on a small number of beans, vegetables and water provided by a senior Archbishop ordinated before them to last through the whole ritual…… so I was mentally prepared, but the food prepared was 10 times more plentiful than I expected.”
“Eh? Plentiful?”
Suzuno asked about this because the stored amount of food did not match the accounts, but Archbishop Maulo, who was ordinated later than the younger Servantes, said this nonchalantly, Considering that the ceremony and Holy Conquest needed to be carried out immediately after the end of the ritual, if you forcefully reduce your food intake and harm your body, then we would have lost more than we gained.
“How should I say this, it fell apart decisively. The ?belief in the Church?within my heart.”
Based on the situation, the Church would bend the rules however they wished.
Of course the current highest priority right now was to make the Holy Conquest succeed.
However, the trigger for this Holy Conquest was because the current Archbishops all dreamed of ?Holy dream ?
which was the same as a doctrine.
If so, putting aside how the actual situation was like in reality, when implementing the ordination process, they should really be more aware of God’s perception.
However in reality, under the righteous cause of accomplishing the Holy Conquest, they trivialised all the ?holiness?.
And those Archbishops who had felt moved about the doctrine, none of them questioned this.
“There are so many contradictions.”
Suzuno spat out.
“The people who felt moved by God and took action actually overlooked the foundation which supports God. How can there be such an idiotic thing? No matter what, they saw the true God, you know? Even so, why can they nonchalantly use the reason of not having time and cut my ordination and my prayers to God to one third of what it was in the past?”
“…… I, don’t know these things well…… so saying this, might cause Suzuno-san to feel unhappy.”
“Yeah.”
“Probably…… those Archbishops…… want to be praised by ?God??”
“……”
“Because they have seen it…… and experienced it…… so they wish to do their best to complete the order, and achieve results…… but that is a dream after all, God was not recorded by any monitoring equipment, so they could only make use of the system built up by the Church in the past to make people believe…… so”
“Hm.”
“It’s more like those Archbishops have already believed in God’s existence even more compared to before. So……”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Eh?”
“I also reached a similar conclusion.”
“Eh? Eh?”
Suzuno got up suddenly and used her hands to envelope Chiho’s hands which she casually positioned on the coffee table.
“That’s right. That’s why. I am skipping this.”
“Ehh?”
“Their beliefs must have returned to the purest and simplest form, so that’s why are they trivialising those rituals used to undeservedly increase the reputation of whoever it was who thought them up in the long history of the Church and believed that for this sort of thing, they can just ask the Theologists to change the law and go through them half-heartedly. Because compared to those rituals, there are more important things. They wish to offer their greatest effort to who they firmly believed is the true ?God?…… hey, Chiho-dono.”
“Y, yes.”
“Chiho-dono, what do you think this should be called?”
“W, what do you mean?”
“The Archbishops’ thoughts of wanting to put in all their effort for God.”
“Eh? Uhhh……”
“I think this is love.”
“Loveee?”
Why did they suddenly jump to this topic?
“Love is not expecting anything in return. Religion is the same. Sometimes it would be interpreted as the bond which was used to restrict oneself to become a better person, but to enrich people’s heart and bring peace to society, love is something necessary.”
“T, that’s right. Erhm, Suzuno-san, what’s wrong with you? Are you too tired?”
Probably, amongst what Chiho observed, out of all the discussions about ?religion? which Suzuno had, this was the most passionate she has been.
She was born in the Sasaki family who believed in Buddhism, but to Chiho, who did not even have a Buddhist altar at home, she normally did not have any opportunities to come into contact with religion directly.
She did not harbour any questions about celebrating Christmas, visiting a temple on New Year’s eve and going to a shrine during New Year. When she participated in the funeral of a distant relative, she would burn incense in front of the altar and put her palms together in prayer. When she participated in the wedding of her older male cousin in Nagano, she also took a lot of pictures in the Church.
The current Suzuno, rather than those ?Clergymen? who would suddenly come to the door of her home and promote deities and scriptures which she had never heard of before, she was more like a ?religious leader?, causing Chiho to flinch back a little.
Suzuno seemed to have noticed this, as if she felt troubled by her excited behaviour, Suzuno’s gaze started to waver, then she let go of Chiho’s hand and straightened her posture.
“I, I’m sorry. To me, this is considered a revolutionary shift in thought, so I couldn’t help but get agitated.”
“No, it’s fine…… but, what is wrong with you? Suzuno-san, you did say before that the did not want to be an Archbishop, but you seemed to have changed your mind?”
“Changed. Ah, that’s right, it changed.”
Suzuno, who was already sitting in a proper posture, straightened her back once again, and with a gaze so composed that it seemed like the agitation just now was a lie, she looked straight at Chiho.
“I, really envy Chiho-dono.”
“Wha?”
Suzuno suddenly changed the topic again.
The feeling Suzuno gave others today really changed continuously.
“I lived for more than 20 years, and the belief I finally vaguely grasped after encountering a situation impactful enough to turn the world upside down had already been possessed by Chiho-dono very early on.”
“Right……”
“The love which the four Archbishops unexpectedly obtained during this Holy Conquest came from the fact that God was paying attention to their happiness. That alone was enough to evoke this feeling of wanting to offer something to the other party without asking for anything in return.”
Chiho instantly became wary, thinking that Suzuno was going to repeat the same topic as when she was agitated earlier, but she suddenly noticed something strange.”
When Suzuno spoke until ?this feeling?, she made a strange action.
“After the Archbishops complete the Holy Conquest, they will definitely obtain various riches from this world. However, they are unable to obtain any rewards from God. This is to be expected. Because we will defeat God. The ?God? in the Bible does not exist in Ente Isla at all. However, even if they are unable to obtain anything in return from God, they might not feel any hatred, and only accept reality seriously. Then they will depend on the dream they had before to continue to implement the true principals of the belief……”
“Suzuno, san?”
Suzuno kept her right hand positioned over her own chest.
Her face was blushing.
That face was clearly older than Chiho but gave the impression that the child-like air had not fully dissipated, brimmed with a happiness which was slight and subtle, but was clearly present.
Chiho had an impression of that expression on Suzuno’s face.
No, that expression had not belonged to Suzuno.
Chiho remembered that she had shown a similar expression before.
“Then I realised. I…… definitely love Maou Sadao…… I love Demon King Satan.”
“……”
Even if she heard this sentence clearly, Chiho’s heart still unbelievably stable.
“Feeling crushed under the responsibilities of being an Archbishop and disillusioned at how the ritual was so half-heartedly carried out by other Archbishops, I returned back to Room 202 without notifying anyone. But there I ran into the frail-looking Demon King. I suddenly thought to myself: why am I only focused on continuing forward when I am suffering so much? Laughable, isn't it? I was already crestfallen as is, realising how fickle the Church's beliefs were, but there he was: tired to death from making onigiri for Acies, wanting to sleep early due to work next day, and yet, still worrying whether Acies' abnormality would affect Alas=Ramus. It seemed that his tired mind could offer no solutions, and he could only shake his head as he just sat there. Seeing that, I was convinced--I returned here because I wished for this ?everyday? scenery.”
As Suzuno said all of this quickly, her face was filled with happiness.
“The Church is a home which guards faith with love as its foundation. To the current me, my Church, my home, is this apartment. What I love, includes the Demon King and everyone, and everything from my life here…… so…… from the bottom of my heart, I truly envy Chiho-dono.”
“Suzuno-san……”
A teardrop surfaced from Suzuno’s eyes even as she looked happy.
“I really envy Chiho-dono who can simply remain at the side of the person you love simply because you love him……”
“…… Can I, ask you a question?”
“…… Yes.”
Chiho, sounding slightly stiff, but did not harbour any jealously or malicious feelings towards Suzuno, or rather, she asked this in half-convinced tone.
“Did he show an expression as if he thought it was troublesome and after carelessly brushing it off, said he was going to work and ran away? Maou-san, that is.”
“……!”
As expected, Suzuno was so surprised that her eyes widened.
“…… How did you know? I…… already expressed my feelings to the Demon King.”
“Of course I know that. Because I am Suzuno-san’s friend.”
Chiho smiled in a rather perplexed manner and grasped Suzuno’s hands this time.
“Suzuno-san is the type of person who is unable to hide your own feelings after liking someone.”
“…… Is, is that so?”
“Because every time you eat delicious udon or rice, you end up smiling a lot. When you see a cute hairpin, watch the actions of Alas=Ramus-chan or other things you like, you will always smile. Then, you would start explaining how good those things are from various angles in an excited manner.”
“…… T, that’s true……”
“This is the same as usual. So, I thought that you must have confessed already.”
Chiho’s insight caused Suzuno to looked surprised, but she lowered her gaze immediately, and started to explain quickly, as if she was looking for excuses,
“I, I was explaining to him about the situations on that side at first. Really, I just wanted to share information.”
“And in the end, in a burst of courage, you confessed. Honestly, I do not have the right to lecture others. Thinking about it, Suzuno-san also heard it at that time.”
“Ah, uu, s, sorry. Because it was that kind of situation at that time, it’s slightly different from now, rather than saying that I was harbouring malicious intentions in some sense, it’s more like I was really harbouring malicious intent when I did that.”
“However, the feelings in your heart has already grown so strong that even if you knew that I like Maou-san, you were still unable to suppress yourself, right?”
“Uu……”
This standard of meanness should be within the acceptable range.
Chiho patted Suzuno, who was speechless, on the shoulder once, shook her head and said,
“I remembered. At that time, I saw Suzuno-san as an enemy. In order to prevent Maou-san from being stolen, I worked hard and learned various dishes from my mother…… but to me, Suzuno was just an unfamiliar adult at that time. It is only now that for the first time…… we have become love rivals.”
“Chiho-dono…… I hope that you won’t misunderstand, I am not thinking of tying the knot with the Demon King at all or grow old together with him. Other people might think of this as a destructive thought process…… I do not harbour any expectations of getting anything in return from the Demon King. But, because I love him, my only hope is that I can become one of the people who is important to the Demon King…… In fact, I plan to take this opportunity to move out from Room 202.”
“Eh?”
Suzuno had already made her decision that after being ordinated as an Archbishop, she would make use of her identity as a Demon General of the Demon King Army and one of the Six Archbishops to act as a buffer between the Western Continent, who probably would not accept demon immigrants, and the other continents.
But with this, she could no longer stay in Room 202 and act like a retired person, looking at kimono catalogues or keeping Alas=Ramus company when she occasionally came over to play.
Therefore, she had been noticed by Maou who felt something was not right when she wanted to handle her furniture and home electronics as soon as possible.
“Ah, I see.”
“Eh?”
“Erhm, when I was cooking in Room 101, I noticed that an unplugged microwave was strangely placed in the corner of the room. I felt that I seemed to have seen it somewhere before, so it was the microwave from Maou-san’s house.”
“Eh!? So he didn’t throw the microwave away at that time!?”
“He probably wanted to wait for Suzuno-san to calm down before moving that microwave back? He didn’t know what Suzuno-san was worried about at that time, so he first pretended to throw it away, and stored the microwave at Nord-san’s house, planning to take it back when the matter is settled.”
“……”
The actual situation should be similar to what Chiho deduced, as if she could accept this explanation, Suzuno nodded.
Seeing this, Chiho looked at the original location of the microwave which had been moved to Room 201 and said,
“Including this part, I really envy Suzuno-san a lot, you know?”
“Eh?”
“Maou-san would always address you as ?Suzuno? directly in a casual manner. Suzuno-san is better than me in various domestic chores, you stay next to Maou-san and can chat to him about various topics. Every time I see Maou-san show the attitude of ?I feel assured as long as I let Suzuno handle the matters related to the Western Continent and the Church?, I feel envious of how you can interact with him on equal terms. I also know that I am treasured by others, but I am unable to build an equal relationship with him in the end. Because I am still just a child.”
“It’s nothing like that! Chiho-dono……!”
“I am just a child, you know? I am different from Suzuno-san, regardless of how much I like Maou-san, I am not an adult who is equal to him. Because I am ?Chi-chan?. After getting help from Suzuno-san, Libicocco-san and Grandma Din Dem Urs, I was finally able to make him call me ?Chiho?. You should still remember it, right? When I was participating in the Jirga, Maou-san completely treated me like a child.”
After Chiho said this, she touched the tatami.
“I am asking for the impossible, but if Suzuno-san as the same feelings, then a wish of this standard should not be something that will be punished by the skies. I am also the same as Suzuno-san.”
Then, Chiho looked towards the wall which was connected to Room 201.
“I wish to eat meals with everyone forever and e~ver.”
“Chiho-dono……”
“I thought about many things, for example wanting to marry Maou-san, or not wishing for him to be snatched away by Suzuno-san, but up till yesterday, I was worried that if this went on, will I also be unable to eat meals with everyone anymore. Suzuno-san is going to become an Archbishop, Maou-san and the upper management of the Demons would head for Ente Isla, Alas=Ramus-chan, Acies-chan and Iron-kun will return to Heaven to reunite with their family……
Yusa-san will return to her village hometown with her father and mother…… everyone will remember that many things have happened in Japan, but they were very happy there. And not long after spells and magic can no longer be used, and there will be no way to open a Gate…… I will become an adult in Japan, but.”
Every night, Chiho would bury her face in the pillow and think, but she could only think of this kind of future.
However, Suzuno hammered a wedge into that sad imagination.
No, perhaps Emi had done that already.
Before Emi went to Ente Isla, she had said this.
Because Maou was working hard to live a normal life, she was able to go to Ente Isla without any worries.
And now, because Suzuno saw Maou’s side profile as he troubled over his everyday life, she was able to sense her own feelings and confess to Maou.
Somewhere deep in the hearts of Suzuno and Emi, they treasured the noisy yet warm dinner table which was definitely not considered plentiful even more than she thought they did.
If so,
To maintain that kind of life, Chiho can probably act a bit more selfishly.
“Hey, Suzuno-san. What is roughly Ente Isla’s situation right now?”
“Eh? Eh?”
The topic jumped too quickly, and Suzuno looked surprised.
“You wanted to report something to Maou-san at the start, right? Such as the Archbishop ordination affecting the itinerary of the Holy Conquest, or Urushihara-san and Lailah-san going to the Demon Fortress with Kinanah-san. These things caused huge changes in the situation, right?”
“Y, yes. Because Farfarello in the North and Emerada-dono in the West relayed the information to me via trusted channels, the information is my hands should be mostly correct…… I have never elaborated on my birthplace, this matter caused Emerada-dono to give me a hard time for ages.”
Chiho did not really understand anything about the Archbishop ordination ceremony, but she did not know why Emerada gave Suzuno a hard time.
However, since Chiho discovered that the Yesod fragment was glowing last night until when she encountered Iron, her mind had vague thoughts. Now, she finally made a decision to take concrete action.
“Suzuno-san.”
“Y, yeah.”
“Suzuno-san becoming a love rival has caused me to regain my sense of urgency. This has caused me to like Suzuno-san even more, this makes me happy.”
“Y…… yeah…… e, erhm, you keep using the term love rival, this is, erhm, really awkward…… for me.”
“But on the contrary, I also feel very angry.”
“O, of course……”
“Towards Maou-san.”
“Eh? To him?”
Suzuno thought that she would be treated as a thieving cat who only appeared later on and got a shock, but Chiho was very serious.
“He clearly had not replied my confession since sooo long ago and would end up stammering every time I push him for an answer, but now he actually showed such an ambiguous attitude to Suzuno-san, I’m really angry.”
“T, that’s because I confessed too suddenly, and I don’t plan to develop any romantic relationship with him, so he is also unable to reply……”
“If there is no possibility of it happening, he needs to say it properly. It is between a demon and a human after all, I don’t think that both parties have the same understanding of love, but even though my side would be able to decide if I should wait or give up after a clear explanation, he is unwilling to give others an answer. He may show an attitude as if he understands others very well, but in reality, because he showed an ambiguous attitude towards Suzuno-san, he must be complaining to Kawacchi-san while hiding the key facts right now, saying that he does not want to go home!”
Taking the chance that Maou was not around, she described a strange specific imagined scenario and after puffing up her cheeks in anger, she said something shocking.
“I made a decision. To be able to implement it, Suzuno-san, please allow me to take up some of your time, I wish to discuss many things with you.”
“A, alright.”
“Then, after we finished discussing.”
Then, even though Suzuno just boldly admitted to Chiho that she had confessed to Maou, Chiho made a suggestion which caused Suzuno to fall to the floor in shock.
“Shall we go to MgRonalds together?”
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