Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 21 - Chapter 7

THE DEVIL AND THE HERO CLOBBER THE GOD

A human wall. That was the only way to describe it.

It was the same setup as the shrines and the Yesod-root terrarium, or the room with the relic capsules underneath the demon realms. Large numbers of angels were “sealed away” in them, Raguel visible among them.

“You’re kidding me, Ignora… These many? Most of the survivors…?”

“I’m not kidding. You saw Nyx earlier, didn’t you? I needed them for her.”

“Needed them…! All your comrades except for Camael?! Just for that…?”

“It’s going to take a long, long time for the rest of the Sephirah to manifest anyway. Better to have them sleep for now and awaken them once everything is ready, isn’t it?”

“B-but not like this…! Ahh!!”

Just then, Camael and Satan once again came barreling in through a wall.

“Ow! Damn it! Emi, stop screwing around! And, whoa, what kinda gross room is this?!”

“Graaaahhhh!!”

“Give the hell up, god damn it!!!”

“Shut up! Be a little more mature already!”

Through the giant hole left by the two giant men, Acieth and Eleos rolled in like a gumball, engaged in what could only be described as a catfight—a brutish, unrefined brawl.

“Aaaah, just shut up! Hurry up and finish that already! I gotta get this kid out of me… Shut up!!”

And behind them, Emilia—hands to her ears, and eyes shut tight—just walked in like normal. Behind her, they could see all the carnage and rubble Satan and Camael had caused outside.

“Huh? Where’s this? Ah! Mom, are you okay? The Devil King’s fighting over there!”

But Emilia, her mind full of feedback from the fused Nyx, sounded all but desperate as she spoke, ready to land a few blows of her own against the two giants grappling with each other.

“Well, perfect! This building looked like it fit the bill, so I had him blow the guy in here, and bingo! Ignora! I really don’t think this can go on! Just give it up and surrender!!”

“You ‘don’t think’? You wanna be any less committal—urgh!”

Turning his eyes away made Satan groan, Camael’s broken spear slamming against the side of his head.

“Shut up! I’ve just about had it with all of this! Based on Nyx, I can tell that Ignora’s nothing but a bastard! I don’t know what she wants to do with Ente Isla, but if it results in more kids like Nyx and Lucifer, we’re all doomed!!”

Her words were on a grand scale, but she was referring to something incredibly tiny.

“First you fly in here, then you berate all of us, and now you’re pickin’ on my upbringing, dude?”

“What, Lucifer? Don’t tell me you’re homesick for this?!”

“No way. It’s just, you know, you’re treating this the same as everything else… But anyway, the boss we gotta beat still doesn’t seem too concerned at all. We have her so outnumbered, but…”

“Yeah. Looking at this room, it’s really messed up, but if we put our minds to it, we could easily destroy all of it… No, shut up, you!”

“Huh?”

“There’s another Malchut inside of me! And she won’t shut up! Zip it, damn it!”

Even as Emi spoke, Eleos was scuffling with Acieth, and Satan was trading blows with Camael. But amid all this din, nothing seemed to affect the nameless, faceless angels that lined the walls of this massive chamber. Emi looked up at them, even as Nyx continued her griping. There were young people, old people, but none of them seemed to have the “holiness” of an angel. The only one Emi recognized was Raguel.

“…Raguel…”

His trademark Afro had unfrizzed itself. But seeing him—and Ignora, holding Laila down but not looking too ready for battle—Emilia sensed something.

“Ignora, you… You’ve accomplished your mission? Is that why you’re not trying to resist much?”

“You’re not going to kill people for no reason, are you, Emilia?”

Ignora didn’t answer the question Emilia asked.

“Look at that! That Da’at, taking the form of my own boy!”

“I got a few things to say about that, but what about him?”

“To be honest, it didn’t matter much to me who it was. But he picked him… He picked Lucifer. Nothing could make a mother happier.”

Her words were nothing but a stream of consciousness.

“I suppose children love a grown-up who doesn’t act his age, don’t they?”

“Stop implying all this stuff.”

“After being chased off our home planet, this new planet’s Sephirot recognized us as the valid successors. And the proof of it…lies in that wonderful boy…that he and I had.”

““…””

Urushihara and Emilia were uncomfortable with the term “boy” for differing reasons. They sneered as Ignora continued, trancelike.

“I know that you, a limited number of ‘Ente Islans,’ are angry about what we’ve done to the Sephirot…but it’s not that I want to destroy you all. In fact, we’re using our powers to watch for danger across all of Ente Isla, managing the Sephirot so we may create a planet and people that will never perish. And to do that, we have to show that we are the superior presence on this planet…”

“The superior presence?”

“We protect this planet, and its people. Everything was a battle toward that end. Satanael’s group defied us, trying to stop us…but look! The Sephirot has finally judged us to be correct. It has manifested itself as Lucifer!”

“…Calling someone ‘superior’ over others takes a lot of guts.”

Emilia listened to Ignora’s long speech, more exasperated than surprised by it. Then she asked the woman herself.

“So, what, is that what you’re like?”

“Apparently I am sometimes,” Copyhara tossed out. “That’s why Amane Ohguro was in such a panic. She’s the daughter of the Binah of Earth, right? So seeing me, the descendant of the angels she fought, appear instead of you Ente Islan natives must’ve scared her. The Sephirah of Earth must’ve sided with you because they thought you were on the right side of this argument. But then here I am, taking the form of the angels’ descendant.”

When Copyhara appeared at the Sasaki residence, Amane gathered as many of the Earth Sephirah as she could and laid out a dragnet for him.

“So they saw me as ‘the enemy of their friends.’ They must’ve figured there might be war between two Sephirots. They were panicking, so they all filed in to take me back here—and they had Amane Ohguro watch over me, too, because they were still anxious. So, yeah, Ignora does kind of have a point.”

“…You’re still obliquely implying a bunch of stuff. The Devil King and Acieth are about to get pretty awful with us, so I’d really like to end this conversation already…”

Even as they spoke, Satan and Camael, and Acieth and Eleos, continued to fight. Both appeared evenly matched, which meant neither side had a definitive finisher to break out. It was more of a bar brawl or fracas than a real battle. And while the Devil King and Camael were one thing, Emilia was reluctant to have two young girls like Acieth and Eleos get permanently scarred or bodily disabled.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. What she said—what Ignora said—is generally right. But she’s reading the situation a little wrong. Yes, the Sephirot and Sephirah came to a consensus, and that was Lucifer, the child of Ignora and Satanael. But they didn’t choose an angel.”

The next moment, before Emilia’s eyes, Copyhara pressed a small piece of metal against her hand.

“I’ll lend you my powers for a little bit. If you have a Yesod and Malchut inside you, then it’s a simple story.”

The hand of Copyhara that touched Emilia’s had a small ring on it—the ring with the small Yesod fragment that Chiho Sasaki wore.

“You, the Hero Emilia, have obtained the power your mother pulled out through Chiho Sasaki, whether she meant to or not. And that makes you the strongest in the universe.”

There was no light. It was so different from fusing with Alas Ramus or Nyx, and Emilia didn’t know what to do for a moment—but then all became clear.

“W-wait! No…!!”

“Alas Ramus… Nyx… I’m gonna borrow some of your powers!”

“Three people…!!”

Now there were three different consciousnesses in her mind, alongside her own. That alone was enough to potentially drive her insane, but the next moment allowed her to gather her wits, forgetting about it all.

“Mommy, your right hand.”

Alas Ramus, against Emilia’s will, had appeared as a holy sword. But it wasn’t the usual sort of metal blade. From the tip to the edge of the handle, it was a sword of light—composed of nothing but purple illumination.

“This…”

The sight of a holy sword like none other stunned her…but she had seen this happen once before. She looked back at Raguel, locked inside his capsule. It was almost like he was ensconced up there to remind her of that moment.

“There are lots of crazy coincidences in the world. But that’s all they are. Coincidences. There’s no meaning to them. I was born from the Yesod fragment Chiho Sasaki had, and that’s why I’m giving this power to you. I am the Da’at, and the Yesod, too, and that makes me the one who decides the Sephirot’s future. The one who wants peace for the planet’s inhabitants more than anyone else. And a world where the Sephirot and Sephirah children function correctly once more…!”

But Emilia could tell she had been acting of her own volition. It was what anyone would do to correct a world that wasn’t heading in the direction it was supposed to. A perfectly natural, human thing to do. And even before they attacked heaven, Emi herself had decided to use this power to “put an end” to this.

That was why—at this moment in time before anything had been settled—she didn’t hesitate to test the true value of this holy sword of light.

She leaped forward—like a fencer beginning a match, her sword pointed straight ahead of her. The target was Camael.

“Devil King! Get back!!”

That, too, was a warning Emilia gave because she wanted to.

“Ngh… Ah! …Huh?”

When the Acieth-fused Satan smashed Camael with everything he had, not even that was enough to destroy his armor. Now it was like a knife slicing through tofu. The sword of light slipped right through, with no resistance at all. But no blood gushed from the wound; no bits of broken armor flew away from it.

“E-Emi, what are, you…?”

Satan’s eyes opened wide at this sudden bout of violence.

“It’s fine… This is fine… This should end it all… The astral energy…in humans, that Yesod controls…flowing through me, the one she’s bonded with the most… With this…”

It happened immediately.

“Wha-ah…”

In terms of time, it was around three seconds. Camael, after overwhelming Satan in a clash for the ages, suddenly fell to his knees, shaking. The sword of light was already pulled out of him.

“H-hey, Emi…”

“Watch.”

Emilia didn’t move. She was looking down on the fallen Camael, sword down, defenseless.

“Wh-whoa, watch out! He’s still…”

Emilia sadly shook her head at Satan’s warning.

“No. It’s already over.”

“Huh?”

“N-no… This can’t be…!! Sata… Laila… Satan… Ngh!”

“Wha—?!”

Satan’s eyes flew open in surprise. With a muffled scream uttered by Camael, white light began to burst from his body, head to toe, before disappearing. Then, with a blast like all the holy force in him being expelled, Camael’s body shot into the air and then fell limp. The crimson armor vanished, and all that remained was a silver-haired man in the prime of his life, dressed in a toga and lying on the ground. There wasn’t a single drop of holy energy, or spirit, or stamina left in him.

“N-no way… That…”

Satan wasn’t the only one shocked by this. Eleos, still grappling with Acieth, suddenly stopped. Acieth, not getting the message, lunged at her from behind and landed a blow to the back of her head—but Eleos was so shocked by these events, the pain didn’t even register.

“Hey! Come on! This battle, it is not over yet! C’mon!!”

“Wh-why…? We’ve been separated…”

“Huhh?! Separated?!”

“Camael…is no longer Camael. The power I instilled in him is lost… What did you do…?”

The sight of Eleos acting so absentmindedly flustered near her enemy puzzled Acieth. Emilia gave her a sad look.

“Don’t you see, Eleos? …When the people of a world watched over by the Sephirah truly mature… When they can truly protect themselves…the holy force and the demonic force leave them.”

Emilia lifted her blade and pointed it at Raguel’s capsule.

“The answer was already before us. That astral blade, the one that removed the miracle housed within his soul. The blade of Yesod light banished his holy force.”

“Raguel, and the purple blade of light… Ah!!”

Satan shouted, eliciting another exasperated look from Emilia.

“Tokyo Tower? Chi, against Raguel?”

As Satan recalled, when Gabriel and Raguel had hijacked the Tokyo Tower transmitter, Chiho—controlled by Laila—was the one who had defeated Raguel. When he was struck with an arrow made of purple light, he was drained of holy energy and unable to fly. It was a “fall” for the angel—and Satan and Emilia knew someone else that term applied to.

“Wait. Do you mean…?”

“When we go back, we’re gonna have to stop by Ente Isla and have that guy take an eye exam. If it was Satanael who broke the Yesod, there’d have to be lots more fragments than the ones Laila and Gabriel know about.”

The angel of judgment, the one who could emit purple beams of light from his eyes that made angels “fallen,” was no doubt breezily working in Hatagaya right now. There was a Yesod fragment in those eyes, in all likelihood.

“The Yesod had made up its mind long before any of this. But it was in fragments…its roots cut off and crushed. It couldn’t execute the role assigned for it until now.”

“…So we’re gonna have to go on a fragment hunt after this?”

“Yes. I don’t think collecting them all would make Alas Ramus and Acieth go away…but I think we’re going to be busy for a while.”

“Okay, you guys get the gist now?”

Somewhere along the line, Copyhara had come out of Emilia’s mind, carrying Nyx in his arms.

“Yes. Loud and clear.”

“We chose them. And all that means is we recognized that they were the human race we needed to protect. And the ‘human race’ we have recognized for Ente Isla…”

Copyhara and Emilia’s eyes turned toward Ignora, still holding Laila down.

“…will someday all lose their miraculous powers.”

“…What…was…that?”

Ignora groggily gazed at the fallen Camael.

“Can I ask you one question, Copyhara? Has Camael lost his immortality?”

Copyhara had a clear answer for that.

“Immortality is a scientific breakthrough, discovered by Ignora’s team based on hints taken from our distant brothers and sisters. It is not a miraculous power, like holy or demonic force. Thus…we don’t know.”

“Oh. Well, that’s too bad,” Emilia jeered. “Then we’re gonna have to let them live, won’t we? To see if they’ve lost it or not.”

“What a scary Hero you are,” Copyhara replied.

“No… That’s a lie…” Ignora croaked. “Camael? No—Malchut! Da’at! Didn’t you choose us…?”

“Weren’t you listening?” Copyhara said. “Yes, we did. And that’s why this happened.”

“L-Lucifer…”

“Finally calling me by name, huh?”

Too stricken to keep Laila down, Ignora took a step—only to find Urushihara waiting for her, grabbing her with a bear hug.

“Lucifer, you…”

“You know, I kinda like the life I’ve had. But when I recall the past, there’s something that struck me about it…”

“Wha…?”

“Knowing that I wasn’t loved… That actually hurts a lot.”

“L-Lucifer…”

“Mom only cared about research. Dad was all about politics, and saving the people. And unfortunately for me, they only saw me as a way to prove they were right. I think I have the right to be a little upset.”

“Lucifer, that was…!”

“But I’m grown up now and all. I know you were both dealing with really important stuff. But that’s that, and this is this. Both of you locked me up in one of those capsules for so long—Mom for her immortality research, Dad so she couldn’t take me back. No matter what kinda rationale you had for it, to me, it wasn’t much more than abuse.”

Urushihara constrained Ignora, preventing her escape.

“Now I get why I was so attracted to Olba when he said he could take me back to heaven… I wanted to get back at you for what happened to me as an infant.”

It was those most personal of emotions that drove Urushihara to seal the fate of a god that wrecked an entire world. But—this time, at least—Emilia couldn’t find it in her to sass him back. She plunged into battle herself, after all, because she cared for her parents—and it was those parents who sapped her will to fight.

“Alas Ramus?”

“Yeh?”

“Time to break the source of everyone’s pain.”

“W-wait. That, that can’t be…”

Emilia’s sword of light retained its power, even with Copyhara and Nyx away from her. She pointed it at Ignora’s throat, making sure Urushihara wouldn’t get caught by it.

“…”

Wordlessly, she closed the distance in a heartbeat. Ignora had the power to make legions of angels do her bidding—even to seal them away like this. But she stood there helplessly, waiting for the tip to reach her. The assault on heaven, after countless hours of preparation and hard work, seemed ready to end with little more than a whimper. Just as the thought crossed her mind…

“Stop, Emi.”

“That’s enough, Emilia.”

…the tip was stopped in front of Ignora’s forehead by the hands of two demons.

“What are you doing?”

She glared at the large hands holding her arm and shoulders.

“The battle’s already over, isn’t it?”

Satan pulled her arm, moving the sword away.

“…And it’s not a good idea to banish her powers right now.”

Alciel, accompanied by Camael’s Heavenly Regiment, had his hands on her shoulders. The demons had stopped the human Hero before she could kill the god.

“…Camael’s Regiment told me a great many things,” he went on quietly. “Sandalphon, the elder of the angels, has been sacrificed by Ignora to the Sephirot, and as a result, only she knows how all of this machinery works. The angels who have slept here for hundreds, thousands of years—or even before then—did so to await the Sephirah’s ‘day of selection,’ just as Ignora aimed for. Now only she knows how to release them. Our mission here was not to massacre the angels. Put it down for now.”

Emilia gave Alciel a sidelong glance then lowered her sword.

“All right. I knew this…from the start.”

“You didn’t really wanna do it, did you? You wouldn’t have given up so easily once we stopped you otherwise.”

“What do you know about me?”

“I know more than anyone alive what you’re like when you’re out for blood.”

“Good point.”

Emilia softly sighed and transformed out of her Hero appearance. Her hair and eyes went back to the old Emi Yusa, her sharpened holy force and murderous rage out of the picture. Once they were sure the transformation was complete, Satan and Alciel let go.

But not everything was normal. As Emi undid her transformation, Alas Ramus manifested herself from the sword of light. Toddling over to Ignora, she grabbed the stupefied woman’s hand and placed it against her own forehead. The moment she did, Ignora’s bluish-silver hair turned purple, and she fell limp.

“Oh, that’s it?”

Urushihara shrugged as she let go of Ignora. “Well, geez. I thought you’d kill her, but… You guys are such pushovers.”

He was being pretty brazen about his mother. Emi shot him a glare.

“Stop using me for your own revenge. If you have a grudge over something, use your own power to deal with it.”

“But I get why he would say that. It definitely ain’t the most satisfying ending.”

Satan turned toward the wall behind him. There were more angels sealed up there than he’d ever want to count.

“And we’re being left with all the cleanup work, too. It’s such a pain when killing them all doesn’t end it.”

“You’re right.”

Ignora was in a trance on her knees, Camael on the floor in a permanently altered state. Eleos was unable to accept Copyhara’s and Camael’s current states, Nyx was a bit dazed after separating from Emi.

“Conquering the Devil King was a lot easier. Just kill and forget.”

“No doubt,” Satan said, flashing a tired smile.

Emeralda and Albert each held an Airenia gold coin. These they transferred to a large, pudgy hand, where they were further examined with the receiver’s monocle.

“Yes, yes, everything looks in order. You may go back at any time within the allowable period, but if you want an extension, let me or Amane know, all right?”

“Okaaay, dear. Thanks as alllways.”

“Money makes the world go round, huh? Or worlds.”

Miki Shiba put the gold coins in a jewel box on the table, opened the door in the dark room, and invited the two of them through it.

“You have Japanese yen with you, right, Emeralda? Do you need any money exchanged?”

“Oh my, no, I exchanged a lot the last time I was here.”

“Very well. And I should also tell you—Urushihara returned half a day ago, with Acieth, Erone, Eleos, and Nyx.”

The sheer number took Albert by surprise. “Oh, he brought all four along? What for?”

“Acieth seems to have had another episode, but this time Nyx caught them in the act, so…”

“Ohhh. So nothing toooo new, then?”

“Well, there is one thing. I hear that Keter is about to bear fruit.”

“Bear fruit, huh? Well, you never know what’ll happen before a Sephirah child is born. It doesn’t lead to much change that we’d notice, so it’s hard to drum up much tension for it.”

“Indeed. But while we cannot see the sun or moon actually move with the naked eye, everything in the sky is constantly in motion. You know all the facts, and that makes you the cornerstone of world peace. Make certain you do not miss any change, no matter how small. Have a nice stay!”

The sound of the Shiba household door closing seemed louder in their minds than it actually was.

“…Eesh. Now I see why the Devil King finds her so creepy. Are all the Sephirah like that?”

“She can hear you, dear.”

“She probably could no matter where I was. Better to be an honest man, I’d say.”

“Ms. Shiba is helping guard Emilia and the others for us. As long as we’re bothering her with our own affairs, we should try to stay on her good side, dear.”

“Yeah, and that’s what the Airenia gold is for every round trip, ain’t it? Money sure makes the world go round. Oh, that’s an expression from this world, huh?”

“Oh youuu…”

“But let’s get going. This heat is awful.” Albert winced at the midsummer sunlight as he walked ahead.

“Ahh! Do wait a minute! I’ll tell Emilia that we’re here.”

Chasing after the loping man, Emeralda took a smartphone from her shoulder bag and turned it on. Albert was in a polo shirt and chinos; Emeralda, a sleeveless high-necked blouse and denim pants. Taking a glance at the adjacent Villa Rosa Sasazuka, they passed it for the time being, opting to walk to Sasazuka Station instead. From there, they took a Keio New Line train for Shinjuku and got off at Hatagaya, the first stop.

“I hate to walk in this weather…”

“Me too. So, anything unuuusual?”

The Hatagaya Shopping Arcade, visible when they climbed the stairs to the surface, looked unchanged from before. The same was true for the Hatagaya Station franchise of MgRonald.

“It all looks okay at first glance.” As Albert gazed up at the sight, they heard an engine approaching. The pair moved to the side of the road, figuring it was a car or bike—and there, they saw a familiar face.

“Oh! Hi, Emeralda! Hi, Albert!”

“Hellooo. Good to see you again, Ms. Iwaki, dear.”

Kotomi Iwaki, manager at the Hatagaya MgRonald, was just back from a delivery, her face a little sweaty under the top of her Honta Gyro-Roof.

“Ahhhhh, I feel like a new woooman…”

“Yes, it’s been a real heat wave this past week. Here’s one for you, too, Albert.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Invited to the staff room in the back, they both quickly finished the iced coffees offered to them.

“So for the first half of the year, I really don’t have much news to report to you.”

“Oh, nooo?”

“Well, that’s always reassuring news to hear on these trips, but is that really true? It feels like you have more folks from foreign lands comin’ in these days, but there aren’t any of our guys mixed in?”

“Yes, we’re certainly seeing more of an international clientele now. I had Libby keep an eye out at first, but he says he hasn’t spotted anyone, and I’ll have to take his word for it.”

“I see. So all is well on that front, but you know, if we could discuss the food bills for the Sephirah children, dear…”

“Oh, um, to tell the truth, Acieth’s gradually been coming here less frequently over the past three years. The subscription fees Ms. Shiba and Mr. Urushihara pay us are fully covering the costs these days, so there’s no need to pay us extra this time.”

“Ohhh? I wouldn’t want to disappoooint you…”

“No, no, it’s really fine. I don’t want to receive too much and arouse suspicion.”

“Ah. Sorry…”

“It’s fine. As an employee, I really shouldn’t be offering that system, but it does make handling Acieth and the other children easier, so if anything, we’d gladly have them over more often. Kawata and Ohki step away from their current jobs to help out, even, so it’s fun for me as well. However…”

Only then did Iwaki’s face darken a bit.

“I think I’m going to receive a transfer order soon.”

“Really?”

“I’ve been managing this location for three years, you know. And thanks to your and everyone else’s support, we’ve managed to maintain the sales figures we reached during Ms. Kisaki’s era. But still, we’re going to need to be more careful from now on.”

“Hmm, that’s definitely bad news for us, yes. They’re not coming as freeequently, but I think Acieth and the rest see MgRonald as part of their regular diets, you know, so…”

“True. So I’m going to take kind of a pushy approach with this. That’ll allow us an extension for just a little bit longer.”

“A pushy approach?”

“Yes. I think he’ll be back soon, but… Oh!”

As if on cue, the staff room door opened.

“Oh, you’re seeing someone? Excuse me… Huh?”

“Wh-whaaaa?!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, are you serious?!”

The sight of the man who walked in shocked Emeralda and Albert.

“Oh, it’s you, huh? Albert Ende… Were they outta clothes your size?”

“Don’t even start with me, Libicocco!”

Even in his XL polo shirt, the muscular Albert didn’t look particularly comfortable.

“And ain’t that a business suit on ya?! That looks so weird! That fancy getup on that ape-like face!”

Libicocco, meanwhile, was dressed to the nines in a well-tailored business suit. It took the words out of their mouths. Only Iwaki acted like nothing was amiss, greeting Libicocco with a smile.

“Hello, Libby! How’s training going?”

“Nothing too concerning so far. The other female crewmembers seem a little intimidated, I think…”

“Yes, as you know, it’s easy to misjudge someone by their looks, so…”

Libicocco in a suit seemed like the premise for some kind of comedy sketch. Emeralda and Albert had no idea where this was leading.

“Ms. Iwaaaki, when you say you took a pushy approach…”

“Yes, I’ve arranged it so Libby will be named manager of this location.”

“You can do that?!”

“Ohhh. So you mean the manageeerial training the Devil King took before? He’s going through thaaat?!”

Iwaki and Libicocco exchanged an awkward chuckle.

“Ummm…?”

“Well, about that…”

Then Libicocco revealed the astonishing truth.

“I…I already passed the managerial exam. The ‘training’ we’re talking about is a company internship that’ll prep me for signing on full-time the next fiscal year.”

Silence.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!!”

“Dahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”

Emeralda screamed. Albert laughed.

“Huhh?! Really?! That thing the Devil King couldn’t get into…?”

“Yes, all right? That’s why I’m embarrassed about it! Stop laughing!”

“I gotta know how the Devil King reacted!”

“He made this crazy face, and then he treated me to a horumon restaurant to celebrate.”

“Gahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”

“You’re laughing too much, Al, dear. They’ll hear you in the dining room.”

“Aww, Eme, how could I not? Man, I can’t wait to tell Rumack the good news. For the first time, a demon from the demon realms is a ‘full-timer’ on another world, to use the local parlance. I bet that’ll inspire the demons we got all around, too, huh?”

“…This is why I didn’t want to say it. You should’ve told me they were coming if you knew, Manager. I would’ve gone out for a walk or something.”

“Now, now, this is an important event to report on, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“Definitely so, but this,” Emeralda said, “This is just beyond anything imaginable.”

“Yeah, I don’t get to see Eme truly shocked like that too often. Now I’m glad I paid so much to come here!”

“Knock it off. And don’t go blabbing about this to all the other Malebranche chieftains! Anyway, Manager, my shift’s coming up, so can you kick those two out before I go on break, please?”

Without another word, Libicocco disappeared into the changing room. In another minute, he was in his familiar red crewmember shirt, not even nodding at them as he went out on the floor.

“Ms. Kisaki was considering her own restaurant, but she’s still working hard at corporate. That’s why I’m hoping that the three of us can figure out a system to allow Acieth and the other Ente Islans to keep patronizing us.”

“Ah, yeah, I see. But… Sorry to ask this after I laughed so hard, but I’m amazed they brought him on full-time. He’s not even meant to be from Japan, is he?”

“That turned out to his advantage, actually. Like you noticed, our international customer base is booming. Even a lot of brand-new college grads working in the area were born or have citizenship overseas. So while it’s a bit late, we’re implementing more of a global strategy to earn those kinds of customers. And he’s ‘Italian,’ so…”

The idea of Libicocco being from there was still one of the most magnificent jokes in the world. But then the eyes behind Iwaki’s glasses turned serious.

“But even if he’s appointed manager here, Hatagaya Station may not have the freedom it’s enjoyed up to now. There’s a good chance he might be taken off location management and moved into some corporate department. Ms. Shiba’s obstinacy has been a great help to us so far, but by my estimate, I’d say that Libby and I can have MgRonald provide you all full support for, at most, two more years. I’ve been discussing this with Maou, too, hammering out takeover policies in case of emergency.”

“…Ah, yes, I’ve heard about that. Thank you.”

“I have to say, thooough, it would be faaar safer to have them relax at this restaurant than at any other nation in Ente Isla, you know, so… We’ll need to work out some measures pretty fast.”

Acieth’s binges and hunger beams had come to be called “episodes” within the group, and they tended to accompany assorted types of growth or change to the Tree of Sephirot and its Sephirah children. But if one of those Sephirah came to depend on one nation of Ente Isla or the other, it might lead to one of the summit members attempting to craft them into a second or third all-powerful tactical weapon, similar to the Better Half or Hero Emilia. As a result, all summit participants agreed that Sephirah children should be restricted from mingling with Ente Islan nations, if at all possible.

Acieth herself obtained her body and personality in Japan, and she was far more used to Japan’s cuisine than Ente Isla’s. Thus, they figured, Japanese food was the best way to quell her episodes—and it was Urushihara managing and overseeing her, along with the Tree of Sephirot and the rest of its children.

“All riiight. We will bring this information back with us and debate it over therrre, I suppose.”

“…Oop. Hey, Eme,” Emilia responded. “It sounds like a fair number of folks are meeting at Villa Rosa Sasazuka.”

“Oh, are they? Well, that’s just perfect. All right, Ms. Iwaki… I’m afraid it may be without much warning again, but we’ll be back soon, I promise. Thanks again for the coffeeee!”

“You will? Well, you’re welcome anytime. Outside of your work, even.”

Iwaki walked out of the MgRonald to see them off. Libicocco joined her out there, once he was sure Emeralda and Albert were far away and back at the train station.

“You really don’t need to worry about them, Manager.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I do this because I like it.”

“Well, if you say so, but you don’t earn anything out of it, do you? The company makes money, but it’s not filling up your wallet.”

“It’s not about money, Libby. I think you know the expression by know—it’s ‘work worth doing,’ you know?”

“Work worth doing? Is it?”

Even underneath her UV-resistant lenses, Iwaki’s eyes were sparkling. “I mean, look at me. I’m just your average ‘salaryman,’ with a completely average Japanese upbringing, and I get to make friends with all these powerful people from other worlds. They rely on me, even! What other kind of work would be so gratifying?”

“…I can’t say a demon like me sees much in it, but if you like doing it, then great.”

“And I do. Right, then, let’s go back to regular duty.”

“Yep.”

The human and demon, finished with their otherworldly work, fled from the sunlight and ran back inside.

“One Airenia gold coin each? Dude. What a rip.”

When he heard how much Emeralda and Albert had paid Shiba, Urushihara immediately winced.

“Well, we have no alternative, do we, dear? Think of it as a border crossing fee, and it seems reasonable enough, no?”

The two of them had dropped in on Maou and Urushihara’s deep discussion on the Tree of Sephirot. They quickly realized that Emi, Chiho, and Suzuno likely needed to get in on the Acieth food-sourcing issue, so before long, Room 201 was seeing its largest crowd in a while. Considering all the racket they had heard from the Sephirah children down in Room 101—which Nord and Laila were still renting as their Tokyo base—Maou and Suzuno awaited news about Room 202 with bated breath.

Once Maou had passed around the iced coffee blend he’d tested on Urushihara earlier, Emi spoke up first.

“Well, maybe this was good timing after all. We all knew that we couldn’t rely on Ms. Iwaki and MgRonald forever. We’re planning to hold an emergency meeting on this tonight—would Eme or Al mind joining me at work for a bit?”

“At your work, Emilia dear?”

“Yeah. Well, more like Father’s and his work, but…”

Maou grumbled at Emi’s signaling. “Yeah, yeah… That’s the best option we have. I’ve been keeping in touch with Iwaki about this the whole time, so it’s a good opportunity. We’ll see how things are at our Eifukucho café, and if it’d be tough to stick with that, we’re talking about a second location, too, so we need to think about handling it that way as well.”

“Would you hire new employees, then?”

“I don’t have the cushion for that, sadly. Either I’d move Aki over, or I’d cover it the whole time.”

“That’ll put more work on you, though. You can’t have that much free time.”

“If we’re doing this to handle Alcieth, it’s gotta be someone who knows, so I can’t hire my way out of that problem. Honestly, instead of trying to force it into our location structure, why don’t we just cater it each time?”

“You saw how the Kobe beef worked out. Maybe it’s fine now, but if this goes on for years, we’ll need staffing and raw ingredients each time. Isn’t that gonna be tough to budget? If anything, I think we should consider bringing on some new demons.”

“Demons, huh…? I’d really like them to adapt to life in Ente Isla, not here. That, and I’m afraid of what the landlord would say, so I don’t want too many of them fleeing over here…”

All this talk was just about how they’d keep Acieth fed going forward—but to Emi and Maou, it was serious stuff. They continued talking about it on their end of the table.

“Chiho, dear, are you okay with that?”

“Oh, are you dredging that up again?”

“I’ll bring it up as many times as I want, dear. After all…” Emeralda’s eyebrows arched lower as she motioned toward Maou. “She’s totally dominating him, no?”

“I can’t do very much about that, Emeralda. Besides, isn’t that partly your fault?”

“Ooh, I just hate to be reminded of that…but I didn’t think he would turn out like this, you know…”

Emi frequently gave Maou her two cents about how The Maou Company managed their storefront. She occasionally debated at length with the supposed “president” of the firm, and sometimes she even followed orders he gave her.

“Well, if you and Saint Aile can stop with that stuff, Emeralda, I think that’ll pull Yusa and Maou apart, at least…”

“…You say that because you know we can’t do it, riiight?”

“Right. Because it’ll take the reins off Maou and make Ente Isla and the summit members all nervous.”

Chiho smiled warmly.

“Ooh… Out of the frying pan, into the fire…”

“I’m not completely sure that applies here, but anyway, that’s how it is. You’ll have to give it up. You’re the only one who’s not accepting it, you know.”

“Oooooh… This is so unbelievable…”

“Besides, we have Alas Ramus to think about. Nobody’s going to allow Maou to do something as irresponsible as completely sever ties with Yusa. Plus…”

Chiho smiled at Maou, currently being cowed into silence over one topic or another.

“I like to watch those two.”

“Hmmm… And that’s why, Chiho, dear. Because you act like that.”

“Mm-hmm. Because I act like this. Thanks to everyone here, this is how I’ve turned out.”

“Arg!”

There was no malice, no ulterior motive to Chiho’s smile. Emeralda had no choice but to bite her tongue.

Meanwhile, Emi finished her tirade against Maou with a familiar refrain: “Well, don’t you have a nice life for yourself! I tell you, it would have been so much better if I’d killed you instead of letting you go, way back when!”

“Sooo,” Emeralda asked as she fell silent, “what are you taaalking about?”

“Well, The Maou Company’s thinking about launching a restaurant that’s focused around bread and grains, and the wheat Father’s growing at the Sasaki’s Nagano farm is one candidate for their flour.”

“Huh? Candidate?”

Albert picked up on Emi’s odd wording.

“Yeah, it’s not decided yet. Today we need to discuss all the costs involved, and then tomorrow, we’ll rent out an industrial test kitchen and try a few recipes. Father will be there, along with Chiho’s cousin Kazuma Sasaki, and they’ll make a final presentation. Kazuma’s staying at a hotel in Tokyo somewhere on other business tonight.”

“Ahhh… Keeping a sharp eye on work, are you, Emilia, dear?”

“Hell yeah I am,” Maou interjected. “I’m not gonna hire ’em just because we got a connection. I gotta pick good stuff, and then I gotta figure out how to sell it!”

Thus, all the luggage Nord and Laila were carting around contained material for their upcoming presentation.

“But Nord has been cultivating wheat for a very long time. I hardly think he will fail to make the grade.”

Maou pondered that a bit. “Well, we’ll see when we get there. We did a test bake over in Komagane, and we wound up with some really sour-tasting bread. Maybe we could sell it as healthy, but if we want it to be our flagship, we’re gonna have to work on the yeast, and on making it a good match with our cookware, and stuff. If we need to invest in a more expensive oven, that’s gonna affect our price points, so…”

“Oh… I see. So it is more than a matter of Nord and Kazuma producing good food?”

“When you’re making something, the ingredients ain’t the only cost you have to worry about. There’s the cooking costs, the work costs, the equipment maintenance costs, the supply costs, the storage costs… You gotta calculate all that, plus all the other work and customer rates and so on, and then you gotta pick something you’re willing to serve. That’s what craftsmanship is. On the other hand, even if you have a cost overrun somewhere, if that element is good enough in my eyes, sometimes I still go with it. And of course, the food’s gotta be ‘good,’ as you put it—and if customers see a lot of value from it, then we can sell them on other products, too. And so on.”

He paused, satisfied with his speech.

“And I tell you, when it all comes together right, it feels so great. You really feel like you did a good job.”

Maou truly looked invigorated, not an ounce of malice on his face. There was no doubt that he put his heart and soul into his job.

“So to sum up,” Emeralda whispered to Chiho, “he’s saying that Emilia’s making correct choices?”

“Yeah,” she whispered back, “I think so. Oh…”

Then, hearing a dull thump, Chiho turned around in her seat.

“Excuse me, guys…”

Attracting everyone’s attention, Chiho put a finger in front of her lips.

“…I think we’re making too much noise. I hear something from inside the closet…”

“Oh…?”

Maou, eyes open, turned toward Room 202. Suzuno (the former tenant) and Urushihara did the same, mixed emotions on their faces.

“Anything new?”

“Well, the landlord barged in there this summer to install an air conditioner…but I haven’t seen it running too much.”

“But she’s eating, isn’t she?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Suzuno seemed a tad relieved over it.

“You see,” Urushihara casually tossed out, “how tenacious she is. She wants to keep living real bad. She’s not the kind of wimp to let her heart break over something like that. I’m sure she’ll have some other nefarious scheme in mind before long… Maou?”

“Huh?”

“Keep a close eye on her. I really don’t need anything messing with my current work.”

“…Gabriel, Amane, Laila, and I are watching her in rotation. Stop acting so haughty about it.”

Maou gave Urushihara a kick.

“Ow!”

“She’s your mother, y’know. You take care of her.”

“Oh, like that’s my duty? Not like she ever took care of me as a kid. You oughtta thank me for taking care of the Sephirah, dude. Doesn’t that kinda make up for it? …Oh.”

She must have heard Urushihara’s complaining. Because Ignora—forced into Suzuno’s room after the assault on heaven three years ago, after Suzuno had to move back to Ente Isla to serve as an Archbishop—languidly knocked on the wall a few more times before she fell silent.