Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 21 - Chapter 5

THE DEVIL RELIES ON OTHERS FOR THE FUTURE

West of Phiyenci, main city of the Northern Island, there was a sacred mountain known as Mt. Figo. Phiyenci itself was built on high land, but Mt. Figo towered over it, looking down upon the city. When Chiho and Ashiya invited Kisaki and the MgRonald hourly crew over to Ente Isla, they chose a flat plain about halfway up this hallowed peak.

Three days had passed since the night Maou had found himself utterly flummoxed by Emi’s “deceitful” act. Albert Ende and Dhin Dhem Wurs were outside together, looking up at the night sky. The two moons were already far closer to each other than anyone in Ente Isla would ever believe—and the satellites themselves were also starting to look smaller.

“Son of Ranga, have the moons ever struck fear into your heart?”

“What kinda question is that? I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Well, when I was young, there was a bit of a drought in my clan’s pastures. We had to move our stock out, and we didn’t have enough people, so young me was asked to chase sheep and goats around as well…and, you know, I noticed something. It felt like, during the daytime, the moons were chasing me the whole time.”

“Oh, that sort of thing? Yeah, I can understand that.”

It was something any youngster might have experienced—the sun and moon in the sky constantly staying a set distance away from you, no matter how much you ran away from them.

“And now that Devil King’s gone and moved the moon, hasn’t he? Boy, am I glad I stuck around long enough to see this!”

“I can’t say I agree with you on that.”

“So what do you think, then? Is this gonna have any impact on us?”

“Man, it’s freezing. Do we really need to talk about that here?”

“Who’s to say how much time I have left in this world, eh, boy? Be a good lad and humor an old woman during her camping trip.”

“I’d be shocked if you ever did die, you know. Siiiigh…”

They were on opposite sides of a campfire, the old woman clad in thick layers. Albert eyed her as he listened to their transport goats bleating.

“Well, apparently, we’re seeing almost none of the tide changes that Eme and Alciel were afraid of. I’m hearing stories here and there about how the sea currents are clearly changing around the Central Continent, though.”

“Hmm. Scary. Simple enough to put into words, but if it’s changing ocean currents, that’s some serious stuff.”

“That it is. The work of God and all that.”

“And that ‘God’ still isn’t doing anything? You don’t think she’s dead already, do ya?”

“Gods dying, huh?” Albert laughed as he prodded the fire. “Yeah, well, the world’s been pretty quiet since the red moon went on the move. Y’know how they’ve been planning the rebuilding of Wezu Quartus alongside the Crusade, to help commemorate Bell’s ordination? Thanks to that, the Central Continent’s got enough people and resources to handle most of the crises they run into. You just never know what life’s gonna serve up to ya, is what I keep hearing from people.”

“No, in my life, I’ve had that thought countless times. But it still makes no sense to me. Why would the enemy do absolutely nothing up to now?”

“Yeah, no matter how strong we might be, holding out this long is nothing but bad news for the other side. That’s what they’re all worried about—the Devil King, Bell, Eme, Alciel…”

“Well, don’t let your guard down. Whether we’re fighting a god or not, we’re gonna be faced with constant surprises, I’m sure. Tell the Devil King that for me.”

“Oh, I think he’s already aware of that…”

“Maybe, but make sure you say it out loud and it goes into his ears, all right?”

“Do I really need to?”

“Look, even if you think it’s pointless, it’s important you say it out loud to him. If he doesn’t listen to you and tells you to shut up, well, we all know how long fools like that survive, don’t we?”

To Albert, the voice of the wrinkly old woman, mixed in with the crackling fire, seemed to be reflecting on all the “fools” she had seen go by in life.

“Well, I’m sure they’ll all listen, except for Lucifer. You think I should tell Eme, too?”

“Tell anyone traveling to the demon realms. Tell ’em you’re speaking for me. Make ’em think that if they ignore this gabby old woman’s advice, they’ll regret it later on. And also…”

The woman, small but burning just as passionately as the fire, stared at the large frame of Albert.

“Once it’s all over, let ’em sit back and say, ‘Oh, that old coot was all worked up about nothing.’ Then, when they’re all old men and women like me, they’ll do the same thing to the younger folk. Then the cycle’s complete.”

“…All right. Man, the elderly are such a pain to deal with.”

“Watch out, you! You’re gonna be one of us in time. You, and Emilia, and that little Devil King, and I’m sure Chiho as well. You’re no spring chicken yourself. Startin’ to experience the kinds of things your mom and dad whined about when you were small, aren’t you?”

“No doubt. I’ve been fillin’ my stomach with good drink more than good food lately.”

“Hah! Sad thing for the head of the Mountain Corps to say.”

Albert laughed at the old woman suddenly turning against him. Being able to laugh at her griping and snapping probably meant he had matured a fair bit as well.

“Do you need me to escort you back home like the old lady you are?”

“Nah, I’m gonna stargaze for a while longer. You should go back as soon as you can.”

“Oh, what, am I gonna have to come back to pick you up? Well, I’ll see what I can do, then. I’m not that well-known among demon folk, y’know.”

He smiled as he lodged the complaint and took his angel’s feather pen out from his pocket. Thrusting it into the air, he opened up a Gate and disappeared—likely headed for the Central Continent, where he’d meet up with Emeralda and Suzuno.

Once he was gone, Wurs let out a hefty sigh, breath visible in the cold air, and looked up at the blue moon.

“We’re all behaving illogically, are we…? Well, even ignoring the fact that God might be human, for all I know…”

The old woman watched the purple fragment in her monocle glint in the moonlight as she looked through the lens toward the moon.

“Assuming she’s not tired of livin’ yet, she might have some hidden desperate move she’ll break out when the youngsters least expect it. What d’you think of that, eh?”

But the astral monocle, capable of telling truth from lies, failed to find the answer in the blue light overhead.

“So you came here just so we could play a game of telephone with that cranky old woman?”

“What is the issue with that? I would never have a chance to visit the demon realms otherwise. I must say, though, this view is astounding. A far cry from the surface down below.”

Suzuno was showing some curious wonderment at the view as she stood there with Maou, who had all but evacuated to the demon realms two days ago to flee from his memory of Emi. She had a message from Dhin Dhem Wurs, relayed to her via Albert in the Central Continent, and she had already given it to Emi and Emeralda before coming here to tell a third Ente Islan about it.

From the terrace at Devil’s Castle, they could see a gigantic object in the sky. It was night out, and despite usually being covered in storms of red dust, the sky above the realm was filled with twinkling stars and a large blue moon.

Even though they both knew what this moon was, it was hard for a person to describe this dignified sight as a “moon.” No matter how large you knew Earth’s moon to be, it still looked like little more than a disc in the night sky, able to be fit through a circled thumb and forefinger. This moon was a massive presence, taking up over half of one’s vision. It was simple in shape, yet went against any human being’s impression of what a moon should look like—really, it was just a big thing in the air, one that conjured feelings of despair and reminded a person of just how small they really were.

“It is hard to explain, but if I was in the ocean and suddenly ran into a blue whale, I imagine it would be like this.”

“Ah…uh…yeah.”

Maou smiled at the understandable-but-not-really comparison.

“So? If we are this close, can we make it over? And despite being this close, they still have not attacked?”

“Yeah, Ashiya was curious about that, too—and so was Gabriel, for that matter. And Gabriel can’t tell any lies around Amane at this point, y’know. Maybe Raguel, Camael, and Ignora really are all that’s left over there.”

Maou, personally, didn’t think that. This was just conversation. The heavens had free control over Erone at one point, and whoever was inside the space suit that took Alas Ramus from Emi likely had some kind of Sephirah power as well.

“Y’know, though, it’s not like Erone ever acted all that hostile with us. Looking at how Acieth and the angels got along with each other, would they really want to take on a combo like Emi and Alas Ramus?”

“So no matter how one looks at it, none of us can picture the enemy having any decisive advantage here, then? Right. And by the way…”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you so far away?”

“…Oh.”

Maou and Suzuno were watching the night sky from a corridor about halfway up Devil’s Castle, but Maou was using a completely different window from Suzuno. When Suzuno adjusted her position to view the demon realm landscape, Maou jumped even farther away from her.

“The Devil King himself, after all, cleared everyone out because he had a personal conversation to conduct,” she said with a wry smile. “I was expecting some kind of happy news.”

“Please don’t get started with that. I’m serious.”

Maou shifted to another window down, half-panicked. Suzuno, perhaps expecting that, didn’t act offended, her smile growing more genuine.

“Did something happen with Chiho? Or did you have a fight with Emilia?”

“Why do you…”

“Oh, I can surmise. I imagine you cannot even tell Alciel about it, am I right? If I were him, and you started talking about trouble with Chiho or Emilia at this point, I would spend all day upbraiding you about it.”

Suzuno stopped Maou’s would-be defenses cold.

“How to put it? Once I pick up on how you act, you are so easy to read. It impressed me you could serve as the Devil King despite that.”

“Oh, like you have any idea.”

“No? If I am wrong, my apologies. So what did you want? This matter you could not ask anyone else about except me?”

“…”

Suzuno watched Maou, silent and pouting, and she sighed a bit.

“How about we do this, then?”

Maou turned toward Suzuno as she turned her back to him.

“You find it easier to talk when you cannot see my face, right?”

“…Right.”

Maou, understanding what Suzuno wanted to say, turned his own back to her. This, they found, was the best way they had to address each other.

“…But I’m sorry. It’s just, you know, I’m not sure what I should be doing any longer. I’m breaking up.”

“You are?”

“It’s kind of… I must look so pathetic to all you guys lately.”

“To us, you demons have never not looked pathetic.”

“Ah. It all depends on how you put it, huh?”

“And that is the person I love, despite it all.”

Maybe it was the conventional wisdom of human society driving him into guilt, but Suzuno’s words made Maou’s heart fly into action, his blood pressure plummeting.

“So?”

“…I want your opinion, Suzuno. Why do you think demons can convert the fear in human beings into demonic force? All of us, no matter what species we are.”

“How sudden. Well, if Ms. Shiba is correct, that is a by-product of demonic force, holy force, and how they interact with the planet, no?”

“How they interact? So you think it’s some inscrutable thing we’ll never know?”

“I am sure there is some valid physiological reason we have not discovered yet. Think about it. Why are we able to stand on the surfaces of moons and planets? It is thanks to gravity, and while we know what gravity is, how many understand how gravity works between objects, outside of some equations in a book?”

“…Yeah.”

“Many people have heard of terms like ‘brain cell’ and ‘synapse.’ They might have seen schematic diagrams of the brain, and some scientists have even observed the processes that happen when we remember something. But nobody has impartially observed what ‘memory’ looks like, exactly.”

“…Did you see a TV program or something?”

She kept on bringing up examples she must have learned about in Japan, so he couldn’t help but say that.

“So perhaps there is an organ all demons share that detects brain cell activity in humans and absorbs some manner of energy from it. I see no harm in theorizing along those lines.”

“You don’t think?”

“If we can observe and replicate that phenomenon, then even if we cannot determine the cause, we can research and discuss the process and its results. Did you know that, technically speaking, we still can’t fully explain how aircraft are able to fly with Bernoulli’s principle alone?”

“Really? Well, not that it matters now.”

He wasn’t sure how convincing that argument was, but either way, they were getting nowhere, and Maou had to take this somewhere. So he accepted Suzuno’s argument and resolved to make one of his own.

“Anyway, I’ve been through a lot of stuff, and thanks to that, I can’t really come physically near Chiho right now…or you, for that matter.”

“What about Emilia?”

“I… I’m fine with her.”

He caught himself before he added “for now” to the end. Suzuno didn’t comment, noticing it but perhaps deciding Maou was just trying to act strong around Emi as usual.

“And, honestly, even at this distance, I’m not feeling too good. In a way, I objectively understand that, and I really hate it, but…”

“Mmm. I see… Hmm.”

Suzuno suddenly turned back toward Maou, addressing him normally.

“If I were to surprise you with an embrace or the like, what would happen?”

“Huh?!”

“I mean, with the final battle so close at hand, I would never want your health to suffer. If we did not have to think about the future, I would be less willing to hold back.”

“Whoa………… Uh, Suzuno?”

“Hmm?”

“Um, how did you know that? Like, that’s the reason why I haven’t been feeling well?”

“Hmm…?”

Maou was thrown, his words ever so slightly shaky. Suzuno didn’t miss it this time.

“If you are asking me a question like that… Ahh, I see. And that was why you were hesitant talking about Emilia before?”

“Huh?”

“…Hmm.”

“Agh!”

Maou, having his back turned, reacted a beat late. With a light shock, Suzuno’s hand came around behind his back, sending his blood pressure tumbling.

“I simply thought that it maybe was the case. It was a possibility I noticed quite soon after I realized I loved you. If you are a demon who grows more powerful from our fear, I thought, what would happen if we loved you instead?”

“N-no, uh… Suzuno!”

“You asked me why I knew? Well, let me tell you. I am always looking at you, always thinking about you, always together with you, and under those conditions, well near anyone would realize it! Just as I am sure Emilia did.”

Her voice seemed angry, but she released Maou nonetheless, giving him a little kick from behind for effect. It pushed him forward, bringing the distance between them back to how it was when they were turned away from each other.

“So I assume you acted brave around Chiho and said nothing to her, and it caused trouble for Emilia afterward, or the like.”

“H-how do you know that…?”

“Because it is all too familiar to me! You constantly drag your feet with Chiho, and thanks to that, she asks to speak with me so she can dump all her emotional baggage, among other things!”

Maou refused to frankly address Chiho, and thanks to that, she never truly felt that she had his attention. No matter how mentally strong she might have been, that would make any teenage girl anxious, deep down. And despite never addressing that anxiety at the root, he tried to care for it on the surface—only to obliviously make things worse. Looking back, Suzuno had first picked up on Chiho’s anxieties on that day in winter.

“Chiho has had feelings for you for a very long time now, both when your demonic force was gone and when it was back in your possession. So I assumed things would be all right…but I had a nagging concern. It was back when Farfarello kidnapped Chiho, when you used holy force from me and Emilia to create demonic force.”

As Suzuno put it, anyone intimately familiar with Maou would have picked up on this. But given how her thoughts were based around the same things as Emi’s, everyone who was there for that scene would’ve been able to ascertain the cause of the changes befalling Maou.

“We are both closely involved with you, but we, as human beings, infused you with an opposing force that you converted within you. So I wondered—does that only work when you are feared by mankind? Would nothing happen if you were loved?”

“…”

“And that is exactly what happened.”

Suzuno fell silent for a while.

“Of course, based on what I see, I think that…”

Her mouth was about to make the “Chi” sound when Maou exploded.

“Wait! Wait, Suzuno.”

He asked her to stop. A person had to be watching carefully to see it, but Suzuno’s eyebrows went down a bit, lips frowning slightly.

“Just…let me finish that thought for you, okay?”

“Okay.” Suzuno nodded, waiting for him.

“…I don’t know if I should lob this back to you after asking you to wait, but…um, ahh, Suzu, uh, Crestia Bell, I…”

“Suzuno is fine.”

“Huh?”

“Suzuno is fine,” she repeated, a little more strongly.

“Ahh, Suzuno,” he began again, respecting her wishes. “You are a Great Demon General in the Devil King’s Army. You are a good neighbor, a companion I can rely on…but back on that day, I simply had no answer for your feelings.”

“And not just because you are a demon and I am human?”

“Right. I couldn’t answer up to the love you confessed to me that day.”

Suzuno looked up a bit at Maou as he declared the truth. She smiled, and the smile threw Maou for a loop. He wasn’t expecting that reaction at all.

“Thank you.”

“What?”

“I am happy to see you act sincere with me,” she said, her smile widening. “To you, I am just one of many people who descended upon your life. In fact, I aimed for that life at one point.”

“That was forever ago.”

“It was only a year ago. To a demon as long-lived as you, I am sure it seems like yesterday.”

“Have you ever thought about how eventful this past year’s been to me? It seems like the ancient past to me now.”

“Ha-ha… Yes, indeed.”

She nodded and looked up at him again, that soft smile still plain on her face.

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. Looking at you, I can tell. When you first heard my confession of love, you were perfectly healthy—and now, you cannot come near me. That alone makes me feel rewarded. After all…”

Suzuno lifted a hand, pointing at Maou’s chest.

“At the very least, I now have a place on the scales in your heart. Am I right?”

She took a step closer. Maou didn’t retreat.

“But this is a problem. If someone like me is causing this to you, it must be even harder to work with Chiho, no?”

A clammy sweat appeared on Maou’s forehead. Suzuno’s sharp eyes spotted it, and that was what made her see the problem he faced.

“I feel so pathetic saying it, but yes. In a few ways.”

His reply to Chiho’s feelings affected him so badly that Libicocco immediately noticed it. He had turned down Suzuno, but not only had she spotted the problem, she worried about him because of it. That may have been the most pathetic thing.

“It is pathetic, but this is not simply a matter about you saying no to me. The fate of Ente Isla is heavily involved in it.”

“…Yeah, it is. That’s why I had to talk to you alone about this. No matter how embarrassing it is.”

Maou had spent many hours being exposed to Chiho and Suzuno’s feelings for him without any problem. Things had suddenly changed, however, and there could be only one reason for it. And that was: For all the feelings those two human beings gave him, his own body was generating feelings of deep affection just as powerful as theirs.

It was enough to gravely incapacitate even the Devil King. If this had been a normal demon and a normal human, the demon might very well have died from it. And as they planned to help large numbers of demons immigrate to spots across Ente Isla, they might interact with humans, just as Maou and Ashiya did—and over decades and centuries, maybe love between demons and humans would become perfectly normal. But if they were incompatible on a molecular level like this, not only would they not interact—they would be living separately again, hating each other at the root and perhaps waging war once more.

“This is not an issue we can immediately address. We have too little sample data to divine a cause, and for all we know, it might be something related to your own personal nature. But either way…without Chiho’s help, you are not going to get anywhere.”

“Yeah…”

“Is Chiho aware of this?”

“I don’t know. I want to tell her about it once I give her my real reply.”

“I see. Well, all right. We cannot address this issue right now, but let us file it as a concern we need to solve going forward. So…”

“Hmm?”

“What kind of reward should I expect for tackling this issue?”

“…What?”

“Because otherwise, why would I bend over backward to help my romantic rival establish true love with the man who dumped me?”

“I, no, um…”

“They say you should not step into lovers’ spats, but what kind of work should I do, and who should I work with, to make your relationship work? It makes my head hurt.”

“No, that, uhhm…”

“…Pffft.” Suzuno laughed a bit at the sight of Maou flailing in front of her. “I promise you that I will seriously address the issue, for the sake of future peace in our world, but I do expect a commensurate reward for it…my beloved Devil King.”

“Ooh, ahh, all… All right…”

Maou stepped back, unable to take any more of this. Suzuno watched him, still a bit amused.

“Well, I need to go back. I am a busy woman, despite appearances. With Alciel joining the assault on heaven, I need to give the Central Continent and Efzahan the care it needs.”

“…Oh… Oh.”

“We got somewhat sidetracked, but I did come here to relay that message from Lady Wurs. It seems to me that our victory is assured, regardless of what Ignora is preparing for us, but still, you must stay on high alert.”

On this topic, at least, Suzuno put her smile away, dead serious as she watched Maou.

“And do not do anything that will bring regret to Chiho’s life afterward.”

“…I know. I promised her dad as much.”

“Good. Farewell, then.”

With that, Suzuno walked past Maou and down the corridor. As Maou turned to watch her:

“…!”

He felt a slight heaviness on his back, preventing him from turning at all.

“Devil King?”

The voice of Suzuno emerged from behind him. He couldn’t see her face.

“Whatever you do, please return safely. We are all awaiting you.”

It was just a single moment of contact. And when Maou tried to respond, the weight was gone—and by the time he finally turned around, Suzuno was through the feather pen–driven Gate and away.

“…That was bad of me, wasn’t it?”

Left alone, Maou crouched on the floor for a bit, groaning to himself. But then, with that voiced regret, he toddled off (“toddled” is the only way to put it) to his throne room.

And someone was watching him go.

“Wow, that’s how it’s going with him?”

It was the classic face Urushihara made—curious, to put it nicely; to put it not so nicely, grinning like a rubbernecker. But Urushihara was never particularly mindful of other people’s subtle emotions.

“It’s weird, though. Is that the nature of demons, or is the Tree itself affecting him…? Maybe I should keep a closer eye on him.”

Copyhara kept muttering to himself as he went in the opposite direction from Maou, heading down to the castle’s lower levels. Along the way:

“Ah!”

“Oop. Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

He almost ran into Emi in the hallway.

“You’re Copyhara, right? Not Lucifer?”

“Right. But what’s up? Satan went that way, and Crestia Bell’s back in Ente Isla.”

“Oh. Well, good, then. I have a favor to ask of you. You mind coming with me real quick, before the Devil King finds us?”

“Me? What do you need?”

“I want you to join me in Ente Isla. You said Bell just went back there? If we hurry, we oughtta be able to catch her.”

“And you’re not gonna tell Satan about this, dudette?”

“No, I want to keep it a secret. I’ll explain things to Bell and Eme once we’re back in Ente Isla…but before that, I want to confirm something with you. For the sake of peace in Ente Isla, after the assault on heaven.”

“Sounds pretty grandiose.”

“So you appeared from the Yesod fragment in Chiho’s possession, right? How far back does your memory of us go?”

“Anything that happened after Chiho Sasaki took possession of my fragment, I have pretty much the same memory of as you.”

Emi gave this a satisfied nod as she took out her angel’s feather pen, opened a Gate, grabbed Copyhara’s hand, and flew in, as if every second counted.

“In that case, you remember right after the ring with your fragment was put on Chiho’s finger…”

The next moment, the Gate disappeared, and they were on their way to Suzuno.

“…Was someone here?”

And by the time Maou staggered by, sensing the residual energy, no trace of Emi and Copyhara was left.

Suzuno let her body flow through the Gate’s torrent, as if floating in water. Unlike the trip to Japan, the other side of this Gate to Ente Isla was less than five minutes away.

In the meantime, she frantically tried to organize the feelings in her heart. Her eyes were closed, and behind those eyelids, she could see the flickering campfire she had gazed at with Maou, over in Efzahan. The warmth of his back against hers might have been exactly when her current feelings for him began to bud.

“A good thing my role does not put me in enemy territory.”

There was no concept of top or bottom in a Gate linking planet to planet. But the lone droplet that fell from Suzuno’s eye, like the remains of an emotion she had shut herself away from, flowed back toward the demon realms she had just left behind before disappearing.

“Ughh! When this is over, I am going to Kagawa, the home of Japan’s best udon, and I am going to stuff myself!”

It was a typical weekday afternoon at Tokyo Station, and outside the crowded turnstile leading to the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train, Emi spotted a very unusual-looking sight.

“Where on earth have you been…?”

She eyed Suzuno Kamazuki partly with wonderment, partly with abject scorn.

“Oh, here and there.”

“Yeah, I can tell. You’ve definitely been having a lot of fun, haven’t you?”

“Good to see you again, Alas Ramus. You are quite a big girl now.”

“Suzu-sis, what’s that?”

“This is a kasa.”

“A casa? But it’s not a house!”

“No, a kasa. A traditional Asian conical hat.”

To be exact, it was a suge-gasa, made of bamboo. It matched the white she was decked out in from head to toe, a purple cloth draped around her shoulders. Noticing the target of Emi’s attention, she proudly grabbed a piece of the purple fabric.

“Yes, this is my monk’s stole. I found a rather nice one. Very eye-catching, is it not?”

“If you say so…but why are you back to the level of religious fervor you had when you first came to Japan?”

Suzuno was dressed in the classical outfit of a Buddhist pilgrim, perhaps on her way to visit the eighty-eight holy temples of Shikoku in southern Japan. But there was nothing particularly holy about Tokyo Station—nor the bullet train both of them had just gotten off.

“I get it if we happened to be on the same train…but were you dressed like that all the way from Shikoku?”

“I always did want to take a bullet train once, you see.”

That didn’t answer the question.

As Suzuno explained, she had gone on a tour geared for beginners looking for a taste of the classic Shikoku pilgrimage. It departed from Tokushima Airport and covered only the first twenty-three temple stops, from Ryozen-ji to Yakuo-ji.

“Back when I visited Kagawa to go on a foodie tour of their best udon noodles, I learned about this tour, and the fact that Okayama is quite close to Shikoku. So my plan was to take a flight to Tokushima, go to Okayama after the tour, and return by bullet train from there…but I had no idea we took the same train, Emilia.”

“Yeah. We got on at Shin-Kobe, but…”

Emi was glad, in a way, she ran into Suzuno here. If they had bumped into each other on the train, she wasn’t sure how she would have reacted.

“And, you know, the pilgrimage has always had an element of traveling for pleasure, but it is still a holy ritual—one where you consider your path in life, learn of the depths of the Buddha’s heart, and find enlightenment. Thus, I decided that from the moment I left home until the moment I came back, I would dress in these acolyte’s robes. There is nothing improper about that.”

“…The Church faithful back home would have a fit if they saw this.”

Even now, three years on, Suzuno was still one of the Six Archbishops, among the most powerful government figures on Ente Isla’s Western Island. Despite that, here she was going on about Buddha’s kindness—and she had a wheeled suitcase with a bag of souvenirs perched on top, suggesting the trip was a lot more secular than she let on.

“Ah, yes! I thought I would give this to you the next time I saw Alas Ramus. This is for Mommy, okay, Alas Ramus? You can have some later.”

“Oooh! Okay!”

“I will have a more proper souvenir for you once I return home, but…”

As Alas Ramus did an excited little dance, Suzuno handed Emi a box of caramels—“Sanuki Udon Flavor,” it read. It unnerved Emi.

“…Well… I had some Mongolian hot pot caramels once, and if you didn’t know that, they actually tasted pretty good…”

A bit concerned that the “more proper souvenir” wasn’t too proper at all, either, Emi shoved the small box of caramels into the deepest, darkest crevice of her shoulder bag.

Just then:

“Ah! There you are! Hey, over here!”

Emi turned toward the familiar voice. Maou and Chiho were approaching them.

“Hey, guys. Sorry to bring you out into this heat.”

“Hello, Yusa! And hi, Alas Ramus! Boy, have you grown!”

“Chi! Hello!”

Alas Ramus stood up as tall as she could, hugging Chiho as she kneeled down to greet her. Only then did Chiho recognize Suzuno from beneath her hat and robes.

“Huh? Whoa! Suzuno, is that you?!”

“Suzuno?! What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that? You got a lot of explaining to do.”

She paid little mind to Emi’s criticism, but the moment Maou started unloading on her pilgrim’s outfit, she suddenly grew resentful.

“This,” she plainly stated, “is nothing but a coincidence.”

“…Did you take a trip to Shikoku again? And then you took the train from Okayama and happened to share it with Yusa?”

“There, you see? Chiho got it on the first try.”

“Yes, and I think it’s pretty crazy that Chiho could, frankly.”

“Quit being silly. Why are you so proud of that? And what do you mean ‘again’? I had no idea you had gone to Shikoku multiple times!”

“Indeed, Devil King, I never told you. And I have no souvenirs for you, either.”

She made it sound so casual as she grabbed the handle of her suitcase.

“So what sort of gathering was this? I assumed you were still in Ente Isla, Chiho, but you have returned?”

“Yeah, just a little bit ago.” Chiho turned toward Maou and Emi. “But can I tell her what we’re here for, guys? I’m technically an outside party, so…”

“It’s basically for work,” replied Maou, “but really, I’m just gonna be Emi and Alas Ramus’s bag carrier.”

“Oh? Well, I had best take my leave, then. I would hardly want to get in the way.”

Suzuno didn’t want to get involved with Maou’s “work,” but Emi stopped her from departing.

“No, you’re fine. We’re not meeting with anyone you don’t know. If you have the time, why don’t we all have a meal together for a change? If he’s on time, he should be here before too long.”

“Is that so?”

Suzuno still seemed reluctant, but Maou nodded his agreement. “Yeah, stick around if you’re able. We reserved the tatami room at this soba noodle restaurant, so as long as you’re okay with it not being udon, we can fit one more in easy.”

“In that case, perhaps you will let me tag along? Is this other person coming by train as well?”

“No, he should already be here in Tokyo on business. I haven’t seen him in a while, either, so as long as it didn’t interfere with his work, I figured we could all say hello…”

So it was a work acquaintance of Maou’s, one he was willing to have Chiho meet, despite her just arriving back in Japan. Suzuno raised an eyebrow, unsure who this person could be, but the answer arrived very shortly.

“Oh, there you are. Hey, Yusa! Chiho! Maou! And…”

Suzuno turned toward the voice, not recognizing it at first, only to find one of the last people she’d expected.

“Um, Ms. Kamazuki, wasn’t it? Why are you dressed like a pilgrim?”

“Heavens! It’s you, Kazuma?!”

It was Kazuma Sasaki, Chiho’s cousin from Komagane in Nagano prefecture. Maou, Ashiya, and Urushihara first met him when Chiho’s parents invited them to work at the Sasaki family farm; he later met Emi and Suzuno after they ran up there to join the demons.

“It has been quite a while,” Suzuno said. “Thanks again for your help then. So you are working with Sadao here?”

“Pretty much. Plus those two.”

Kazuma pointed at two other people coming up to the group—two other faces Suzuno didn’t expect at all.

“…Nord and Laila? Hmm? What kind of gathering is this?”

“Hello there, Chiho. And hi, Bell. It’s sure been a while!”

“Oh? Bell? Why are you all dressed like a Buddhist pilgrim?”

Emi’s parents had come here with Kazuma Sasaki—a very unusual combination. Suzuno didn’t know what to make of it, and she couldn’t imagine what would be happening next.

“Well, we can settle down and chat later, but now that we’re all here, let’s get going. I had my wholesaler introduce this soba restaurant to me, but it’s really good. I can take your stuff, Kazuma.”

“Oh, really? Well, can you take this? It’s pretty light.”

“Sure. Ready for some soba, Alas Ramus? What do you want to eat?”

“Ramen!”

Her total dismissal of the idea made all the grown-ups laugh.

“Well,” Emi said, “Daddy made a reservation at a soba place, so you’ll have to make do with that. Maybe we can have ramen for dinner later, though. You can order whatever juice you want, too.”

“Aww… Mommy, ramen!”

Emi tried to placate her with a smile, but Alas Ramus still looked a tad miffed.

The restaurant, inside a building a short way from Tokyo Station, was calm and serene. Suzuno couldn’t help but fall back into her old habits with Maou.

“Are you sure you can afford such a fancy place?”

“Hey, I run a company these days, y’know. I’d be useless if I couldn’t take my clients somewhere this nice, at least. You can order whatever you want to.”

“A-all right…”

Maou brimmed with confidence, but Suzuno was still anxious.

“It’s all right. He can cover this.”

Emi whispered it to her, as if she knew what Maou’s finances were like, so Suzuno nodded and decided to see how things unfolded.

Once they were all in the tatami room and had made their drink orders, Kazuma began to explain to Suzuno why he was with Nord and Laila.

“Ahh… I see. You are raising Nord’s wheat at the Komagane farm?”

“That’s right. I moved to Nagano half a year ago, and the Sasakis have been treating me very well there.”

“Oh, no, you treat us very well. We’re just getting started with wheat, but under Nord’s management, it’s going really great.”

Ever since Maou and his friends had come to help out, Kazuma’s wife, Hinako, had fostered a strong desire to get into wheat planting. They had a successful, high-quality crop the first year, and Nord had been managing production ever since as they maintained the business.

“I see… So you have found a place for yourself in Japan, Nord?”

It made perfect sense to Suzuno, until something occurred to her. She whispered into Maou’s ear.

“Huh? Then what is Laila doing here? Because she’s based in Villa Rosa Sasazuka, no? You know…”

Then she brought up the biggest concern for Maou and Laila at the moment, making sure Kazuma couldn’t hear her as she brought it up.

“Laila,” a slightly weary-looking Maou replied, “is splitting her time between Sasazuka and Komagane. She’s got a part-time job at a hospital here. Plus, with that other going concern, we kind of rotate shifts around anyway. Libicocco and I are on duty right now.”

“Yeah,” Emi added, overhearing them across the table, “it’s kind of a seasonal remote job for Father. There’s an express bus from Shinjuku to Komagane that gets you there pretty fast, actually.”

“Oh… Talk about a sea change… Ah, yes, how is Hitoshi doing? He must be pretty big by now.”

Suzuno brought up the name of Kazuma’s son. Kazuma gleefully took out his phone and brought up some photos.

“Well, old enough to sass back at me anyway! When we visit Nord’s place, the kid plays with Alas Ramus a lot.”

“Oh, how nice……………………… Um. Ah?”

Then a sudden thought made Suzuno’s face pale. To Kazuma and the rest of the Sasakis up in Nagano, Alas Ramus was a “relative” of Maou’s. If she was being treated as part of Emi and Nord’s immediate family, that would have to spark questions in Kazuma’s mind. But Kazuma quickly cleared the air.

“Oh, don’t worry. Everybody knows about the deal between Maou, Yusa, and Alas Ramus nowadays.”

“Huh?!”

“Kazuma and Hinako,” Laila quickly explained, “told the rest of the Sasakis about our situation. If our families are gonna be this close to each other, we have to tell them about Alas Ramus, don’t we?”

“Yes, it was quite the surprise at first. But once I grasped all of it, boy, you guys were really walking a tightrope back then, huh?”

Kazuma admitted that it took him some time to accept everything, but after the approval of Chiho, Riho, Sen’ichi—and most of all Ei Sasaki, Chiho’s grandmother and the spiritual head of the Sasaki family—everyone was willing to accept matters.

“Oh… Well, heavens. I see. I was terrified for a moment!”

“Right? Although the tightrope Maou’s walking right now is a little tricky, too.”

Kazuma’s eyes turned toward Maou, who shrugged awkwardly.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Really, I think it’s turned out great. If there’s any problem, it’ll be whether we’ll tell Hitoshi about everything or not.”

“True. For all we know, by the time Hitoshi’s old enough, things might be totally different.”

“I hardly think anything can change more than it did in the past three years…”

“You said it.”

Suzuno and Maou exchanged an earnest smile.

“But if anything, isn’t it you who’s changed the most, Chiho? Because Aunt Riho was really worried that you would decide to pursue a career in Ente Isla.”

“Huh? My mother said all that to you?! Ugh… I’m sorry.”

Chiho frowned.

“Well,” Nord said, “a parent’s always going to worry for their child, no matter how old they are. Especially if that child’s going into something the parent has no clue about.”

“Put it like that, Nord, and it sounds super heavy.”

Chiho had to cede the point to him. After all, here was a guy who saw his own young daughter be set up as the savior of an entire planet.

“We didn’t actually talk much about work, huh? But I’ll be at your office tomorrow anyway, so we can pick it up then. Nord, Laila, Yusa, see you all tomorrow.”

“Sure thing. Thanks again.”

“You too.”

“Keep up the good work, Kazuma.”

The Justina family watched as Kazuma walked off into the crowded street.

“What a surprise, though… I never expected you would work with Kazuma again. And buying Nord’s wheat, no less…”

The main goal of Kazuma’s visit to The Maou Company was to work out a contract for flour made from their wheat, for use in a brand-new bread menu at Yesodd’s Family Café. They would discuss costs with each other at tomorrow’s meeting, and they’d sign the agreement right there if they came to one.

“My company’s still just getting started. I gotta use every connection and relationship I have. Whenever we can get something at a discount, we gotta bring it in at as low a cost as possible. Then it’s on to the next step.”

Suzuno looked back at the crowd Kazuma had disappeared into and smiled a little.

“I hardly knew what to expect from you at first, but you seem to be doing rather well, no?”

She gave Maou a light pat on the back.

“Right?” he replied, a bit proud.

“Or maybe it looks that way,” Emi said with a grin from behind, “if you didn’t know how it really is.”

“Oh, don’t wheedle him too much,” pouted Chiho.

“So, yeah, that sort of thing. Nothing to worry about, you know? I’ve had a tight grip on the reins from the start.”

Suddenly, the shadow behind Maou’s back loomed high in Suzuno’s eyes.

“I’m still just biding my time. And someday, all the chains are gonna come off.”

“You have been biding your time for quite a while. Ever since you came to Japan, the story has never changed, has it?”

Maou rolled his eyes, knowing full well Suzuno wasn’t taking him seriously. But now Alas Ramus was tugging at his pants.

“Daddy… I’m tired. I wanna go home!”

“All right, I hear ya. C’mon, guys, let’s get going. Alas Ramus is starting to get crabby.”

Alas Ramus had her eyes half-open, fatigue crashing over her. It charmed Maou.

“Okay, Alas Ramus… Mommy and everyone else have a lot of baggage, so can you hold my hand?”

“Oh, okay, Chi. But I gotta go to the bathroom.”

“Oh, the bathroom? All right. Do you mind if I take Alas Ramus to the bathroom, Yusa?”

“Nope. Thanks, Chiho.”

“No problem! Here, give your purse to Daddy, okay? You don’t want it getting dirty.”

Chiho took the Relax-a-Bear purse hanging from Alas Ramus’s shoulder and gave it to Maou.

“Thanks, Daddy.”

“Sure.”

“All right, there’s a lot of people, so hold on to my hand, okay?”

Watching as Chiho and Alas Ramus deftly navigated the crowds, Suzuno looked up at Maou again.

“So. It is all going well?”

What, she did not specify. Maou didn’t ask for clarification. Instead:

“The people around me understand, at least.”

“…Well, so be it. Perhaps Kazuma did not, but if someone gauges your past history on the surface, they might feel obliged to criticize your ethics more than you need.”

“Oh man, if I told the truth to my part-timers, I might be stabbed on the street some late night.”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Suzuno couldn’t help but laugh at the idea.

“In your case, it does not seem like much of a joke. The way you look now, you would never have guessed, but…”

“I like to think I’m a virtuous Devil King.”

“Uh-huh. You sound human to me, all right. A human too big for his britches.”

“Well, you don’t change at all. What are you even doing? Coming to Tokyo in that pilgrim outfit… It’s like your first days in Japan all over again. What would the Archbishops think?”

“I have decided to live freely, and die freely. Work is work, and my private life is my private life.”

“Or your private planet, huh? None of the other elders in the Church could pull that off.”

As they spoke, Chiho and Alas Ramus came back.

“Thanks, Chiho. Give Chiho her handkerchief back, okay, Alas Ramus? And fold it up nice first.”

“Okay. Thank you, Chi.”

“You’re welcome!”

The child did as instructed. Then she ran up to Emi, a little perplexed.

“Hey, Mommy? Chi’s handkerchief is a different color from yours.”

“Huh?!”

“Hmm? What’s up, Yusa?”

“Oh? Ah, nothing! Nothing… W-wait a sec.”

“Hmm?”

“What is it, Emilia?”

Emi grabbed Maou’s arm. “You!” she said sternly, in a low voice. “That handkerchief from before…!”

“Huh? Oh, that? Your Mother’s Day present or whatever?”

“That one! You didn’t give the same thing to Chiho, did you?!”

“…Oh, ummm…”

The thought had never even occurred to him. But now he realized his inadvertent faux pas. It instantly broke him down.

“No, uh, it’s not the same thing…so…”

“It’s a different color of the same thing! What were you thinking?!”

“I—I’m sorry! I didn’t think a handkerchief was any big deal…”

“Will you please be more careful? Ugh.”

“Sorry…”

Maou put his hands together in front of Emi, begging for forgiveness. And Chiho, who had watched them both from the corner of her eye while chatting with Nord and Laila over the meal, said:

“Yusa just got a different color, huh? Well, that’s what I figured.”

She placed a hand on her shoulder bag, the slightly damp handkerchief from Alas Ramus safe inside, and exhaled lightly.