Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 19 - Chapter Pr

Prologue 
Maou pressed his lips tightly together, looking at the empty pet cage placed in the corner of the six tatami room. 
“Is something wrong?” 
Perhaps it was because that back looked rather fragile, so Libicocco asked this. Then Maou turned around in a lonely manner. 
“Actually.” 
“Yeah.” 
“Before you moved in, this room had been renovated once.” 
“Oh.” 
“And the guy who caused this room the need for a renovation was contained in this.” 
“Oh.” 
“The price of this cage was included in the renovation fees.” 
“……Ah.” 
Libicocco had thought Maou looked a little lonely, but now, he realised it was just his own misperception. 
“Because it was only used for a short time, I felt it was a waste.” 
“…………Oh.” 
“Only the tatami mat here is cut into half…… it probably took a lot of effort to repair this place…… if this place wasn’t damaged, I might be able to pay the renovation fee and would not have needed to bow my head down to Emi…… 
haah.” 
“That sounds bad.” 
“Yes. Matters involving money are really harsh. Remember this well, this is money that we earned after slogging every day.” 
Just a few days ago, the cage Maou was focused on had been housing an ancient demon known as Kinanah. That old demon from the Renrebellbebelbe clan had a legacy of the Ancient Demon King Satan in its body. 
Kinanah was currently being transported to Ente Isla by Urushihara and Lailah for him to recuperate. 
Considering that Kinanah was originally a demon from the Demon World and an irreplaceable existence in the Battle to Defeat God, there were probably no opportunities in the future to lock him into this cage. 
However, this cage could not be used as storage and it was inconvenient to place any objects on top of it. Just like that, it became a strange and useless decoration. 
“I wonder if I should just raise some animal, Alas=Ramus would probably feel very happy…… after all, the existence of this thing means that animals are allowed in this room only.” 
“Isn’t keeping an animal very expensive?” 
“It’s a different story if you consider cost effectiveness. But it does cost a lot of money.” 
It had been a short period of time, but a kitten had lived in this room before. 
Once he thought about the money spent at that time, Maou was unable to carelessly decide on keeping a pet. 
“I have some experience taking care of cats, but cats aren’t suited to be kept in this way. Can’t this be used for other purposes?” 
“Even I, who has not lived in the human world for that long, feel that it’s impossible. It looks like we have to sell it or just put it on top of the shelf.” 
“Don’t say such boring things~” 
“More importantly, Demon King-sama. This matter should not be so urgent that it needs to be thought about now. 

Please eat your breakfast quickly, I can’t clean up like this.” 
In the past, he had been obediently listening to Maou complain, but in these few days, Libicocco had grasped the trick to conversing with Maou and occasionally, he was even more efficient than Ashiya in managing Maou’s schedule. 
“Demon King-sama has to head out early today, so leave the dish-washing to me. In addition, the coupons for the bathhouse have been used up, so please help to replenish them.” 
“……Alright.” 
“What should be done for meals? I will cook dinner in advance, so please eat it properly. I will be working until closing time today.” 
“……Alright.” 
On the kotatsu were fried noodles and poached eggs, cooked in an amount which was too much for breakfast. 
Libicocco was half a head taller than the leanly built Ashiya and had more muscular mass. 
If he ate too little, he would not be able to satisfy this physique, so he naturally learned this method of cooking which prioritised being filling and brought it to the dining table in this straightforward manner. 
The advantage of this type of cooking was that it was cheap, but compared to Ashiya, Suzuno and Chiho, who were more precise and careful in their seasoning, the taste was too strong and it was easy to tire of this taste. 
Therefore, Maou recently craved for food which had a lighter taste, and now rotated with Libicocco more frequently for the cooking shifts. 
“I’m amazed that you can eat such things so early in the morning.” 
“This isn’t enough, you know.” 
“You serious?” 
Urushihara ate snacks frequently, but he still did not eat that much. Libicocco’s appetite was three times larger than Urushihara. 
“Haah, I don’t really dislike this type of cooking.” 
Maou’s human form was still a male in his twenties. 
So his appetite would not lose to most people. 
“Uguh, I’m full.” 
“I will clean up the dishes, please prepare to go out.” 
“Yeah…… thanks a lot.” 
Without any care for etiquette, Maou chewed and spoke at the same time and stood up to prepare for work.” 
He took his wallet and mobile phone, checked the weather report, and after brushing his teeth, took the keys for his bicycle and rushed out to the porch. 
“Let’s go! Dullahan II! Let’s go to work with high spirits today!!” 
The energetic shouts of his Lord and the sound of the bicycle leaving could be heard via the open window. After Libicocco heard it, he looked towards Kinanah’s cage in the corner of the room and said. 
“…… Is Demon King-sama…… actually really bored?” 
Libicocco had already worked together with Maou at the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station for almost one month. 
During this time, the things Maou did were similar to what Libicocco did, and even if Libicocco felt that his Lord should have other things he should be doing right now, Libicocco had been told authoritatively that the things being done now was also very important. 
“Haah, Demon King-sama must have his considerations.” 
Libicocco, harbouring feelings which were probably in a sense, more honest and direct than those felt by Ashiya and Urushihara, cleaned up the dishes left from his Lord’s breakfast. 
He looked towards the calendar and noticed that it was 30th of April today. 
“Only two more months left to the Battle to Defeat God…… how long will this kind of lifestyle continue?”