THE DEVIL AND THE HERO TAKE A HINT AND HIT THE THEME PARK
“Hey, Emi, somethin’ bad happen to you?”
“Huh?”
“I dunno, you’ve just had this really peeved look on your face all morning.”
Emi brought a hand to her forehead as her workmate, Rika Suzuki, made the observation.
“Not some kind of trouble with that Maou guy again, I hope.”
Emi flinched back at this, a direct assault upon the very core of her heart.
“Wh-what made you think that?!”
“Well, Emi… I mean, whenever you’ve been troubled about something lately, it’s never been about anything but him.”
“What? No! No, it hasn’t!”
“Oh, reeeeeeally? I don’t seem to remember you ever acting like this at work before I started hearing about Maou.”
That was a surprise.
As the Hero, whose ultimate mission would only be complete once the head of the Devil King was on a pike for all to observe, Emi had always tried to maintain a certain sense of urgency within herself, a willingness to fight at all times. In no way was she merrily wasting her time with the trivialities of modern-day human life! Never!
“I mean, like, whenever we went out to eat, you always looked so happy that it made all my own troubles seem like nothing. Whenever we went out together, too. It’s really been just a little bit ago that you’ve been all serious like this.”
“Oooooh…”
The false bravado in Emi’s heart crumbled instantly.
There was a certain period in Emi’s life when everything about Japan, its food and cultural customs, provided a never-ending parade of new and fresh surprises to her. They instilled new values within her on a daily basis. Everything seemed to sparkle in her mind. She felt confident in saying that even with the entirety of Ente Islan cuisine before you, it would still pale in comparison to the variation and quality of food in Japan.
“Oh, wait! I think your AC broke down this time last year, right? I remember you said you had a lot of trouble sleeping in the heat.”
“……”
Emi softly placed her head on her desk.
It had been just over a year since she came to Japan. The idea that her concerns had grown so mindlessly trivial almost immediately after her arrival made her descend into self-loathing.
“Oh, and that one time you complained about how DokoDemo was giving you too many hours and you couldn’t arrange an appointment with the electric company guy…”
“Rika, you got me, all right? You win. You don’t have to keep beating a dead horse.”
“Oh? Oh. Oop, I got one.”
The call Rika’s workstation received covered up Emi’s groan, offering her welcome solace for a few minutes.
“So what is it, girl? What’re you arguing about this time?!” The moment her call ended, Rika pulled her headset up and leaned over the cube wall to confront Emi again.
“You are so enjoying this, aren’t you?”
She flashed a resentful look in response. It was nowhere near enough to faze Rika.
“Hey, it keeps the boredom from setting in.”
The way Rika never hid her true feelings was both one of her greatest traits and one of her most annoying habits.
“Plus, you know, I hate to leave a friend hanging when she’s in need!”
“Something tells me the ‘boredom’ excuse is a lot closer to the truth.”
Emi grinned to herself.
“Things are…well. You know. Kind of a pain. But I can’t sever myself from them or anything.”
“Ohh?”
“There’s a small child involved.”
Rika nodded to herself, elbow planted on top of the cube wall.
“Yours and Maou’s?”
“Well, that’s what she says, but… Agh!!”
Emi realized, far too late, that her overly cute attempt to deny all charges only served to dig her own grave.
Even Rika wasn’t expecting such a masterful performance. She put her elbow down, eyes open wide as she gauged Emi.
“Wait, what, really?”
“N-no! Not that way. I meant… Well, not exactly no, but no, okay?!”
“Whoa, whoa, chill! You’re not making sense.”
Emi attempted to catch her breath as her tormenter attempted to calm her down.
“…Okay, so listen. Seriously this time.”
“Oh, I’ve always been serious!”
She flashed the utterly innocent Rika a look before gathering her thoughts and continuing.
“…So, there’s this little kid at Maou’s place right now, right? Apparently… Well, he’s watching her for someone.”
“She related to him?”
“I don’t know all the details.”
Emi kept her replies deliberately vague. She had to avoid trouble later on, at all costs.
“Do you remember the girl in the kimono you met a little while ago? I saw the child when I came to see her.”
“Oh, yeah… She had kind of a rare name, right? Kamazuki or something? Suzuno Kamazuki.”
“Yeah, her. She lives right next to Maou, like I told you, so I kind of have to see her, whether I want to or not. So that’s how I found out. Anyway…”
Emi placed an elbow on her desk and sighed.
“For whatever reason, this girl thinks I’m her mother.”
“Huh?”
Rika craned her head forward. This plot twist was too good to pass up.
“I’ve never seen her before in my life, and she’s all ‘Mommy, Mommy’…”
“She’s not just, like, really really friendly with you, and that’s why she calls you that?”
“No, I… I think she’s really gotten it into her mind that I’m her mom, you know?”
Emi shook her head as she looked at Rika, whose previously jovial expression was now one of sincere concern.
“Oof… Yeah, that’s a problem. If she was just really clingy, that’s one thing, but if she seriously wants to be your daughter…”
Rika crossed her arms, eyebrows cast downward as she leaned back on her office chair, deep in thought.
“Um, I’m sorry if I’m getting morbid or whatever, but this girl… Did her mother die right after she was born or something?”
“Huh?”
The solemn gravity to Rika’s voice caught Emi in abject surprise.
“I mean, if she was usually with her mom all the time, she wouldn’t start calling other people ‘Mommy’ after being away just a couple, three days. ’Cause otherwise, either you’re, like, her mom’s identical twin, or she never had any memories of her mom in the first place.”
“That…”
That’s nuts, Emi thought, but she stopped herself from blurting it out loud.
She hesitated because she herself had zero memory of her mother—and, in fact, didn’t know she was alive until just a little while ago.
Now Rika reminded her of some fainter memories, back when she was a child, when she mistook women in her village for her mother multiple times.
Of course, it wasn’t even clear yet whether Alas Ramus had a family to speak of. But something about her plea “Mommy, don’t go again!” struck a chord with Emi. It implied she had been separated from her mother, and for some nontrivial reason as well.
“Was it something like that?”
“Hmm… I dunno. I don’t really have the whole story.”
“Ah… All right. Well, hell, it’s Maou’s problem anyway, isn’t it? Why do you have to care at all, Emi?”
Now Rika took pains to lighten the mood. Emi was starting to brood too much again.
“I just figure… You know, there’s only so much someone like you can do here, and maybe we’re both overthinking it, but if you don’t have any intention of seeing that stuff through to the end, why get involved at all?”
Rika gave Emi a reassuring pat on the shoulder. As if on cue, the chime signaling the end of the shift rang out, bringing Emi’s head to attention.
“Yeah, but I already told him I’d stop by today…”
“Oh, Emi! You’re totally getting involved, aren’t you?”
Rika suddenly grew quite a bit less reassuring.
“Yeaaah… I guess I kinda got caught up in the mood over there, you know?”
“Well, if you’re just trying to stick to your guns for no reason around Maou and his buds, that’s all the more reason to get out.”
Rika always had a knack for striking Emi right where it hurt.
“It, it’s not that… Okay, maybe a little…but it’s not just that.”
Even with Suzuno running guard duty next door, the idea of a baby—even one as supernaturally gifted as Alas Ramus—alone inside Devil’s Castle filled Emi with concern.
That, and…
“It’s not like I’m feeling sorry for the girl or anything but…if it’s fun for her to spend time hanging out with me, I don’t really see any reason to deny her that…”
Rika, looking down at Emi as she awkwardly tried to explain herself, smiled and shook her head as she removed her headset.
“You always were Ms. Nice Guy like that, huh? For better or for worse.”
Because I’m the Hero, Emi replied internally.
“Of course, I guess there’s really no telling what’s good or bad for the kid until she grows up a little more, huh? In which case, why don’t you just approach her whatever way you like? Think about what’s good for you, not what’s good for Maou or whoever.”
Suddenly, a murmur of doubt crossed Rika’s eyes.
“Say, Emi, you’ve never pet-sitted for friends or anything, right?”
“…Where’d that come from?”
“Well, I mean, you’d be amazed what feeding a dog for a day or two does. A lot of the time, it’ll be pure love, you know? So I’m just saying, don’t dig in too deep here. Otherwise I bet it’s gonna hurt whenever she goes back to her family.”
“…Yeah, I’ll remember that.”
“Well, super! Better get going now, huh? Your beloved bundle of joy awaits!”
“Rika!!”
Emi took the time to remove her own headset before chasing her out of her cube.
“Her family, though, huh…?”
Placing the headset in its place on the desk, Emi stood up.
“Hey, you know, Emi, if you wanna make your time with her special, how ’bout this?”
Already back from the changing room, Rika beckoned to Emi, cosmetics bag in one hand. Walking over, Emi was presented with a handful of paper sheets.
“I didn’t know this ’til now, but I guess DokoDemo’s sponsoring this joint, so there’s a pretty big employee discount.”
Six small, rectangular pieces of paper were laid upon the table in the center of Devil’s Castle.
“……”
“……”
“Wuzzat? Wuzzat?”
Maou, Alas Ramus, and Emi sat around them in silence.
“Well, coincidence or not, we’ve got them all together.”
Chiho, looking on from the side, seemed to have trouble determining what kind of facial expression to make.
On the table lay six tickets to Tokyo Big-Egg Town, the hybrid amusement park located next to the well-known Tokyo Big-Egg domed stadium in Bunkyo ward.
The envelope Maou received from Kisaki contained a One-Day Passport that unlocked free access to all attractions, alongside two coupons for discount tickets, all provided as part of a newspaper subscription promotion. Meanwhile, the office packet Rika had given Emi contained three coupons for employee-discount one-day passes—even cheaper than Kisaki’s cut-rate ones.
Either way, both Kisaki and Rika had provided their own respective methods for a couple and their child to create a few memories.
It was clear to everyone involved that there was no way they could coop up Alas Ramus inside a one-room apartment for the rest of her life. Even if she could deal with it, Ashiya would doubtlessly crumble to pieces sooner or later.
“These will serve us quite well, will they not? An amusement park, after all, is built for the enjoyment of young children, I believe. We could combine these coupons and have quite the ball together.”
Suzuno was making perfect sense, but there was a bigger problem at hand.
“Amusement park! With Mommy and Daddy!”
To Alas Ramus, this had all the markings of a family vacation.
Family, in this case, referring to Maou and Emi.
Kisaki’s act of charity might have been mere coincidence, but Rika had made a concerted effort to put together a set of three coupons. To everyone involved, it seemed like there were ulterior motives afoot.
Maou and Emi, for their parts, remained motionless, their eyes settled upon the tickets.
Both of them wanted to protest against this outing with every ounce of their spirits, but they also knew Alas Ramus, gifted at picking up on their emotions, would immediately start bawling. The paradox had left them unable to take any action whatsoever.
“…Nugh.”
Maou’s groan of resignation broke the stifling silence. Emi shuddered a bit in agreement.
“Look, if this is the kind of thing you’re bringing in here, should I take that as you accepting your role in this?”
“I-in what…?”
“Hey, Alas Ramus? I’m thinking about taking you somewhere, but is it okay if Mommy doesn’t come along?”
“No! Together!”
Her response came from the soul, strongly enough to rattle both their hearts.
Alas Ramus stood up off Maou’s knee to face Emi, almost knocking over a glass of barley tea on the table. Ashiya hurriedly moved it aside.
“Okay, well, how about you go out together with Mommy and I don’t come with you?”
“No!!”
Her mouth opened even wider than before.
“…And there you have it. If anyone else has any brilliant ideas, feel free to start convincing Alas Ramus anytime. Me and Emi’ll help you out as much as we can.”
“Chiho Sasaki, are you willing to see that—aghh!”
Urushihara’s snark from the inside of the closet was sharply silenced. Suzuno, standing right next to it, had given the door a loud smack.
“But, Your Demonic Highness, if you are together with Emilia and Alas Ramus…”
Chiho stepped up to drive off Ashiya’s complaint first.
“…I’m sorry, Yusa, but would you mind going together? For her sake?”
“Uh? Chiho?”
Ashiya, Suzuno, and Emi all looked up in surprise at this unexpected advice.
“I mean, just think of it as watching over Maou to make sure he doesn’t do anything weird. That’s okay by you, right?”
“……”
“Besides, Maou’s never even been to an amusement park before. I mean, he’s barely even walked as far as Shinjuku from here in Sasazuka, and that’s only two miles or so. Doesn’t that make you nervous, someone like that carrying a baby around the city?”
Maou remained silent. He knew Chiho didn’t mean to paint him as a poverty-stricken drudge, no matter how successful she had just been at it.
“That, and we still don’t even know why Alas Ramus is here in Japan, either. What if there’s some other bad guy like Sariel around here and he tries to go after Alas while Maou’s wandering around by himself? What if Maou gets killed, even?”
“…You truly would make a fine attorney, Chiho.”
Suzuno whispered it softly to herself.
There was no evidence that Alas Ramus’s life was in danger, but considering the circumstances that brought her to Devil’s Castle, there was no way to claim that Chiho’s worst-case scenario was totally implausible.
“But what about you, Chiho…?”
“Oh, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m just saying, if we’re really worried about Alas Ramus here, we should try to be together with her as long as possible so we don’t have anything to regret once it’s all over.”
Having clearly, curtly, said her fill, Chiho placed her hands on her hips and looked down upon the happy parents. Emi hung her head in resigned disgust.
“Chiho!”
The Sasazuka neighborhood was dark by the time Chiho set off for home, only to have a voice from behind stop her.
“Huh? Oh, Suzuno.”
Suzuno was running in from behind, her geta sandals clacking sharply over the murmur of urban life.
“What’s up? Did I forget something?”
“No, nothing of that sort…”
Suzuno brushed back the hair stuck to her sweaty brow.
“It may not be my place to say this…but I hope you will not mind.”
“What is it?”
“What…? Well, I… I am referring to Emilia and the Devil King, going out together…”
“Ohh… Well, if you’re worried about Maou getting slashed into ribbons following some argument with Emi, I guess I can’t blame you.”
“No, I… There is that, yes, but it is not what I mean.”
After all the effort spent catching up to her, Suzuno was now annoyingly evasive about her intentions. Chiho, feeling an odd sense of sisterhood with her, smiled.
“I do kinda worry, though. After all, I don’t think Yusa hates Maou as much as she says.”
The observation would be enough to make Emi faint on the spot if she heard it. But Suzuno chose not to deny it.
“But Maou told me that he’s trusting me and all, so…”
“What?”
“…Hee-hee! Oh, nothing.”
Chiho put a finger in front of her mouth.
“But if we’re going to worry about anybody here, I don’t think it’s me. Yusa’s leaving them alone tonight, too, right?”
“Ah. Yes. She has yet to find the resolve to stay together with them, she said.”
“In which case, I bet he’s gonna pitch a huge fit once Yusa goes home. Ashiya, I mean.”
“Alciel?”
Suzuno looked upward in confusion.
“My liege! It is far too dangerous! Please, I beg you to reconsider!”
Chiho’s prediction had already come true by the time Suzuno returned to the apartment building.
“Calm down, man. You think that after all this, Emi’s gonna choose now to murder me in public?”
“Even if Emilia herself poses no threat, think about Ms. Sasaki’s hypothesis. What if someone out there should seek to take Alas Ramus’s life, in the worst case…?”
“Look, seriously, calm down! If that’s true, then it’s true whether we go out or not, okay? You think that barricading ourselves in here and locking all the doors and windows is gonna be enough to protect her from some assassin from Ente Isla or the heavens? I mean, eesh, if I’m gonna pee my pants over somebody who I don’t even know if he exists or not, I’m gonna die of heat stroke in here way before anybody kills me!”
“Your Demonic Highness, the bite of a single termite has the power to make a mighty castle wall crumble!”
“That’s not even the right metaphor, man! You’re talkin’ about trying to block a bullet with a shield made out of cardboard! What’re we gonna do if we keep Alas Ramus in here day and night and she winds up like Urushihara, huh?”
“The girl boasts much higher qualities than that, my liege! When she finishes her meal, she brings her dish to me for cleaning and thanks me for the food!”
“Oh, so you’re saying I’m below Alas Ramus now?!” the shut-in interjected.
“Exactly!”
“Urushihara!!”
“Dude, you guys are being so unfair!!”
All the windows were open, allowing Suzuno to hear the entire verbal sparring match. It was enough to bring the headaches back all over again.
“What are you fools squabbling about? I can hear every word!”
“Welcommmmme, Suzu-Sis!”
Alas Ramus raised a chubby arm to greet Suzuno. She was near the door, ripping up some newspaper sheets for fun, totally disinterested in her semilegal guardian’s immature whining.
“Oh. Um… Yes. Good to be back.”
Suzuno’s cheeks reddened once more. The nickname was not one she was used to.
“Suzu-Sis, it’s Sepila!”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Alas Ramus pulled at Suzuno’s kimono sleeve in order to show her a color page taken from an old newspaper. It was an advertisement for a family minivan.
A photo of the car was printed front and center, cartoony cityscape in the background, as the ad copy touted the massive amount of space inside. The back door was open, with a large flock of helium balloons pouring out the rear.
“Sepila!”
“Hmm…? Oh, um, I see.”
Suzuno gave only the most halfhearted of replies, unable to tell what Alas Ramus was trying to say, before turning to Maou.
“Where is Emilia? Has she gone already?”
“Yeah, she left pretty quickly after Chi did. You didn’t see her on the way out?”
“No… But it surprises me that her departure has not sent Alas Ramus into a crying jag.”
“Well, she promised Emi that she wouldn’t act up, so. We’re aiming to put the plan into action on Sunday.”
“Your Demonic Highness, you must give this more thought…”
“Ketter, Netack, Market, and… no Binah. Daddyyy, no Binah!”
“Uh, what?”
Alas Ramus batted her hand against her beloved car ad as she called for Maou.
Suzuno whispered into Ashiya’s ear as she watched from behind. “If you are that concerned about this, Alciel, then let us surveil them in secret.”
The suggestion was enough to make Ashiya turn a ghastly shade of white.
“We have more than enough discount coupons. You can, at the least, keep track of their movements.”
“B-but…”
Ashiya groaned his disapproval before suddenly taking on a far more brooding countenance.
“Even if my liege took the free pass and Emilia paid her own way, Alas Ramus would receive little in the way of a discount for her child admission. And even at half price, when you factor the train costs into the equation… Depending on timing, they may have to eat at a restaurant as well, and that only makes things worse…”
Suzuno needed no extrasensory psychic powers to guess what troubled Ashiya’s mind.
“Look, Alciel.”
Suzuno grabbed one of the coupons left on the table, turned it over, and showed it to Ashiya.
“This amusement park charges no admission for entry. Prices are assigned for each of the attractions instead. Even if you did nothing apart from shadow them, the transit costs are all you need to be concerned about.”
“Ah… I…I see.”
“—So will you all just go already? I’ll be right here at home, soooo…”
Just as Ashiya was beginning to soften, Urushihara’s voice chirped out from the closet. The sound was enough to harden Ashiya’s expression once more.
“No! It cannot be allowed! Damn you, Urushihara, you’re set to take advantage of my extended absence to purchase more same-day-shipping folderol from that accursed Jungle.com!”
“……”
The extended silence was all the confirmation required.
“If you wish to go, then go. I will gladly stand guard over Lucifer.”
“Dude!”
“…What are you scheming here?”
Ashiya glared at Suzuno, face twisted with concern, as Urushihara impotently protested behind the door.
Maou, for his part, was silently cleaning up the scraps of newspaper Alas Ramus had strewn around the room.
“I am every bit a resident of this building as you are. If some trouble were to truly befall us, do you think Lucifer would be capable of providing any support by himself?”
“Ngh… You…”
“Whoa, dude, Ashiya, stop acting like you reluctantly agree with her!”
“More to the point, if someone related to Alas Ramus does enter the scene, he or she may not necessarily be the rogue that Chiho suggested. If her true parents were to appear, we must provide an environment for Alas Ramus that will allow us to proceed with things in a smooth, harmonious manner. There is the chance of some ruffian attempting harm upon her, of course…but given the location of the previous Gate that was opened, there is a very good chance of this visitor appearing in Villa Rosa Sasazuka him- or herself. In such a case, do you think Lucifer is capable of handling them on his own initiative?”
“Ngh…nnnnngh.”
“Dude, Ashiya, make her take that back! Say something, at least!”
“Of course, I suppose we can worry about that once the day arrives.”
“Nnnnnnngggggggghhhhhhhhhh.”
Leaving Ashiya to redline his brain into oblivion and Urushihara to plead his nonexistent case, Suzuno turned toward Maou.
“And if something should befall you, I suppose there are worse fates than having Emilia come to the rescue.”
“Mmm, yeah, I guess so. I might get my demonic power back, too, y’know, if there’s a lot of people around.”
He had apparently listened in on the conversation as he took care of Alas Ramus.
“Hoad! Tiperay!”
The girl was still flashing the auto advertisement around the room.
“Still, there’s not much point worrying about it if we don’t know what’s even going to happen. I’ll just worry about the most likely scenario, which is that absolutely nothing happens and it’s just another normal day.”
“Hm? How do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean?”
Maou gave Alas Ramus a pat on the head. Upon noticing it, she shifted her focus from the advertisement to thrusting her arms upward, trying to grab at the hand.
“I’m gonna keep on working. That’s all. If I can’t keep this girl fed, then we’re screwed, besides.”
“Ugh. I can’t take this.”
Back home, Emi collapsed in the front foyer, not even bothering to remove her shoes.
Alas Ramus was a cute, heartwarming child, like any baby her age would be. But, thinking about it, she was still a total stranger, one she had absolutely no personal connection with.
“It’s too much for me to deal with…”
She groaned to herself as she fetched the bag she had just flung away, sitting on the edge of the main hallway to remove the fasteners on her sandals.
“…Why am I acting like such a wimp?! I’m just acting as Alas Ramus’s stand-in mother. It’s not like I’m a c-c-cuh-couple with…”
Even talking to herself, the word proved devilishly difficult to blurt out.
“No! No way, no how, not ever!”
Putting a final exclamation on her spirited defense to no one in particular, Emi hung her head downward, brushing the hair away from her sweat-covered neck and forehead.
“…I should probably go to the hair salon or something…”
Just as she said it, the cell phone inside her bag began to belt out the Maniac Shogun theme song.
Jolting herself to attention, she hurriedly fumbled through her bag and answered the call.
“H-hello?!”
“Oh, hellooooo? This is Emeraaaaalda.”
“Huh? Eme?! I-I’m not looking forward to it or anything, all right?!”
“What are you taaaalking about? Oh, did I catch you in the middle of worrrk or somethiiing?”
Emeralda Etuva, Emi’s traveling companion on Ente Isla, gave a confused response to Emi’s spirited apology.
“Oh, um, no, it’s not, not like, it’s all right. Totally all right.”
“Oh? Well, all riiight. You sound pretty agitated, thooough.”
Beneath her easygoing manner of speech, Emeralda could be a surprisingly sharp woman. You would need to have at least some shrewdness on hand to retain such a lofty position as hers in the largest nation on Ente Isla’s Western Island.
“I just wanted to call you because I’m getting a little worrrried.”
“Worried? I-I’m working, all right?! I haven’t forgotten about my obligations as the Hero or anything!”
Despite her best intention, everything Emi said now sounded like an excuse.
“…Oh, gooood. Such a relief.”
“Huh?”
“One of my ‘reeds’ told me the Church was up to something seeeedy, so I didn’t want anything bad to happen to youuuu, Emilia.”
“Reeds” was probably the way she referred to her spies. And “something seedy” was probably something related to Suzuno.
“Oh? Well, I wouldn’t be worried. There’s somebody with the Church here who made contact with me, that much is true. But she’s not like Olba. She can listen to reason.”
Emi proceeded to give Emeralda a quick summary of her past experiences with Suzuno and Sariel.
Emeralda was leery at the idea of the top Church official making such close contact with Emi at first, but not even she thought everyone at the Church was inherently evil. Emi’s summary of how she came on to the scene, and her role in the battle that ensued, seemed to put her friend’s mind at ease.
“You made it sound like just another day, Emilia, but that sounded terribly daaangerous, no? That angel is still there with you, yes?”
“Well, yeah, but… We got some strong allies here in Japan, too, let’s just say. I don’t think we’ll need to worry about him too much for now.”
She was referring, of course, to the charming, tyrannical despot that managed the MgRonald near Hatagaya station.
“Of course, I still don’t really know why they’re so intent in getting my holy sword back from me.”
“Hmm… And come to thiiiink of it, we’ve never given much thought to the sword’s orrrigins, either. The Churrrch says it was bequeathed to us by the heavens years and years ago, but that’s just their storrry, hmm? I had best pursue this question some more on myyy end.”
“Thanks. Try not to overdo it, though, okay? I’m sure you have your government work to think about, too. How’s the reconstruction effort going?”
“Ooooh, you’d better not aaaask me. I’m likely to whiiine at you for the remainder of the day.”
Even before the arrival of the Devil King’s forces, the five great islands that formed the land of Ente Isla did not enjoy the most harmonious of relations with each other. Today, with the Central Continent all but ceasing to function as a hub for trade and cultural affairs, one could only imagine all the political infighting taking place among the nations as each struggled to become the next Isla Centurum.
“But it amaaazes me to hear that Crestia Bell, the inquisitor feared as the ‘Scythe of Death,’ is such a small and demure wooooman! If you think she can be trusted as an ally, well, that is wonnnderful news.”
Emeralda’s voice turned upward as she aimed to guide the conversation away from darker subjects.
“When it comes to ‘small and demure,’ I’d say you still take the cake, Emeralda.”
“Yesss, well, when I walk around the castle, I am often mistaaaken by the palace guard for a lost chiiild and the like.”
Emeralda, just as compact and baby faced as Suzuno, apparently lacked the kind of personal air of dignity that would normally befit her role as court alchemist for the Empire of Saint Aile, which was positioned strategically within the Western Island.
“So was that all you were warning me about?”
“Ah, yes! There was thaaat, yes, but I also had a question for youuu. Has Laila come over there?”
“Huh?”
Emi was caught unprepared for this sudden change of subject.
“She said she was traveling to the marketplace outside of the castle a little while ago, but she’s not been heard from siiince. I know she didn’t have much freedom to travel arooound much, so I figured if she was going somewhere, it’d be to you, soooo…”
“Well, I mean, even if she did, I don’t know what my mother even looks like… But, wait a sec, you were living with her?”
“Liiiving, or let’s call it… Oooh, I hesitate to use such a term with you, Emilia, but perhaps you would say ‘crashing’ in my home?”
“Oh… Oh.”
Emi failed to come up with any other reaction.
“Well, anyway, there hasn’t been anyone else here lately apart from Sariel and that Crestia girl, and… Agh.”
Her voice climbed several octaves midsentence at this point.
“Um, listen, um, I don’t know if this is related or not, but…”
There was no point hiding it. Emi decided to plow forward, revealing all she knew about Alas Ramus while deliberately skirting around who the girl thought her parents were.
“A small girrrl, done up like an apple? I’ve never heard of such a person, or devvvil for that matter, and here in the Western Island, we’ve not detected any large Gaaates opened lately apart from Crestia Bell’s.”
“You haven’t? …Hmm. I guess not.”
Ente Isla was a large place. There were countless alchemists capable of producing a Gate. Emeralda was a top bureaucrat from a powerful country, but she wasn’t omniscient.
“Well, sorry, but I don’t have any leads here, either. I figure maybe she’s related to Laila somehow, but maybe I’m overthinking it. I’ll keep my eyes open, though, not that I’m capable of too much at this point.”
“Oh, no no no. She was always something of a free spiiiirit, so she may decide to drop by my doorstep todaaay for all I know. I just thought I’d let you knooow. And I’ll see what I can dredge up about that child without arousing too much suspiiicion. Bye for nowwww!”
“Oh, wait, Eme…!”
With that, Emeralda ended the call. Alas Ramus was one thing, but Emi had never even laid eyes upon Laila once in her life. Even if she did care, there was almost nothing for her to go on. Excessive worrying about her was pointless.
“…Oh, well, I guess. She couldn’t be that dangerous if she’s my mother, anyway.”
Emi finally removed her sandals and left the front foyer.
Turning on the air conditioner and her TV set simultaneously, she flopped down on a chair.
“…Yeah. I really better hit the hair salon. Don’t want to look all sweaty and exhausted in front of him.”
She played with her hair with one hand as she muttered to herself.
The TV just happened to be playing an advertisement for some event or another taking place in Tokyo Big-Egg Town.
It was some kind of weird tie-in between one of the Sunday morning action hero shows for boys and a “magical transforming heroine” series for girls.
The next four days passed without incident. Everyone was prepared for something unforeseen to happen with Alas Ramus, but things remained surprisingly routine.
Not even Emi received any further information or contact from the “source” she had leaked her current situation to earlier.
The only very palpable changes were that Urushihara started to proactively bring his dishes to the sink for rinsing—apparently having his hygiene compared unfavorably to a two-year-old’s finally got to him—and everyone at Devil’s Castle got better at handling the diaper-changing process.
It was irresponsible for the gang to assume that tomorrow would be just as uneventful as today, but the combination of child-rearing and work duties left them with little time to ponder the future.
They had to find a routine they could fall into without too much fuss, or the dual responsibilities were going to suck the life out of them. That didn’t apply quite as much to Suzuno next door, but not even she had the time to attend to every little detail.
Either way, however, four days passed without major incident for everyone involved, and Sunday morning quickly descended upon them.
That day, Maou and Ashiya were drummed awake by Alas Ramus at seven in the morning. She remembered that it was the day of their big outing with Mommy, of course.
The demons had reluctantly agreed to meet with Emi at one PM in front of the Tokyo Metro Kourakuen subway station. Emi, try as she did, couldn’t get out of her scheduled work shift in the morning.
Maou’s work between today and the day they all agreed to visit Tokyo Big-Egg Town was nothing short of punishing.
According to Chiho’s testimonial, he was a dervish of activity from start to finish, attending to every MgRonald duty like a man possessed.
He was willing to fight tooth and nail for every yen he could possibly lay his hands upon. The assistant manager hourly wages at MgRonald were nothing to brag about, but it was still something.
That meant less time to spend with Alas Ramus, but Ashiya and Suzuno took turns taking her on walks and bringing her to MgRonald, ensuring she remained in a cheerful mood.
Emi, meanwhile, was largely out of the picture. Her sole interaction with the toddler was over the phone, just once, when she gave a call to Suzuno.
It was funny that she could tell it was Emi by voice alone, but in a way, it was funnier how the idea of a telephone didn’t seem to faze her at all. She must have been too young for it to bother her.
It was still only nine by the time they were done with breakfast.
“Daddyyyy, can we go yet? Can we go yet?”
Alas Ramus was unable to wait another second, constantly tugging at Maou’s arm. Maou lightly brushed her off each time, but suddenly, he slapped his knee in realization.
“Oh, right. Man, I’ve been working so hard lately, I totally forgot. Hey, Ashiya, I’m going out for a sec.”
“Your Demonic Highness, where are you going?”
“Over to Mr. Hirose’s. I gotta talk to him about my bike.”
Dullahan II was still practically new; it hadn’t even been a week since Maou made Suzuno purchase it. What could he have to discuss with its seller?
“About you, that is, little one.”
“Oo?”
Alas Ramus tilted her head upward as Maou patted it.
Soon, in no small part so Maou could get Alas Ramus out of the house, the two of them were walking hand in hand, enjoying the Sasazuka morning.
The shutter had just popped open in front of Hirose Cycle Shop at the Bosatsu Street shopping center when they arrived.
“Mr. Hirose!”
“Hmm? Ohh, mornin’, Maou! What’s…up?”
Hirose was still shaking the cobwebs from his head this early in the morning. The sight of what Maou brought along with his hand was like someone splashing water in his face.
“Hey, uh, you can put luggage racks and stuff on the bike you sold me a bit ago, right?”
“Y-yeah, but…you didn’t…”
“Wahbf!”
Maou picked up Alas Ramus, fully enjoying Hirose’s quivering response.
“Do you have any seats that would fit a little girl this size?”
They spent the next little while browsing child seats with the dumbstruck Hirose before turning home.
“Man, that was refreshing. I couldn’t have predicted his response any closer.”
In the front yard, still not quite fully lit by the morning sun, Maou then spent the next little while attaching the five-thousand-yen child seat to Dullahan II’s front handle.
“That was terribly devious of you, Your Demonic Highness. What if this leads to certain untoward rumors around the neighborhood?”
“Oh, it’s fine. I told him I was just watching her for some relatives.”
Ashiya still scrunched up his face distastefully. Maou paid it no mind.
“…My liege, may I ask you a question?”
“Yah?”
“There may be little point asking now, but what made you resolve to take in Alas Ramus in the first place?”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, not…not as such, Your Demonic Highness, but I merely thought that leaving her in Crestia’s care would have presented little in the way of issues to anyone…”
“Yeah, well, I guess it’s pretty much you, Suzuno, and Chi taking care of her anyway, huh? Sorry ’bout that.”
“No, no, not at all…”
“You know, I just figured that, if something bad did happen in the end, I better be the one who steps up and takes responsibility for it. We don’t have any proof of anything, and I sure don’t remember anything about her, but…”
Maou gathered up the remaining plastic alongside the hex wrench included with the chair.
“But, you know, I got a little worried.”
He tapped himself on the forehead several times before returning to his room, leaving Ashiya confused behind him.
Ashiya’s gaze shifted between the upstairs room and the shiny and new yellow child seat on the bike. He shook his head before following his leader inside.
“Your Demonic Highness, please—please—be careful out there! You are dealing with the Hero, and there is no telling when or where she may strike!”
Ashiya made sure to read Maou the riot act before he left. Back in the demon realm, these roles would generally have been reversed.
“Chill out. If things get that bad, I’ll just haul ass over to security, okay? Whatever happens to me, I’ll make sure Alas Ramus stays safe.”
With these words, which did absolutely nothing to help Ashiya “chill out” at all, Maou left the Devil’s Castle behind him.
If Maou was the Maou he used to be, he would certainly have walked to Shinjuku, one rail stop away from Sasazuka, in order to save himself 120 yen on the way to JR Suidobashi, the nearest full-on rail station to Tokyo Big-Egg Town. But not with a young child in tow. It’d be far safer to meekly board the Keio New Line from Sasazuka station, pop off to the Toei-Shinjuku Line, switch at Ichigaya to the Namboku Line, then get off at the Tokyo Metro Korakuen station—the nearest subway exit to the park.
He took pains to give himself plenty of time, hoping to avoid getting yelled at for being late, but the sun was already near its highest point in the sky, bouncing its punishing heat against the city pavement.
The shoulder bag Maou normally used for his work commute contained cups, wet tissues, spare diapers, even Chiho’s oral rehydration formula. He was prepared for anything, and cheaping out on train fare after all that prep work would have made him look like an utter fool if it resulted in dehydration and other worries.
Alas Ramus was boundlessly excited at the chance to ride her first train, although the roar of the tunnel’s echo when they went underground made her betray a little distress.
After accepting all the “so cuuuuute”s the elderly couple at the Shinjuku platform rained upon Alas Ramus, Maou made the unfamiliar transfer from the Toei-Shinjuku Line to the Namboku Line before getting off at Korakuen and taking the long, long escalator to the surface.
Just as he was about halfway up, a passerby looked up at them from the platform far below, the concern written plainly on his face.
“Nobody threatening nearby… My liege, I swear to you that I, Ashiya, will protect your back from the shadows that lurk among us!”
It was Ashiya. That much was clear from his fumbling, overt stalking. Standing behind a column and peering out from behind it while wearing a pair of cheap sunglasses made him incredibly conspicuous, and the way he paid zero attention to his surroundings apart from his target meant that his mission was doomed from the start.
“You’re the most threatening-looking person here, Ashiya.”
An exasperated voice erupted from behind his back. Ashiya shuddered.
“You should really get rid of those sunglasses. Did you buy them at the hundred-yen shop? They look terrible on you, and you’re sticking out like a sore thumb.”
“Ah! Ah, ah, ahhh! Ms. S-Sasaki!”
He leaped backward at the unexpected sight of Chiho, who was sporting an uncharacteristic hat today.
“Wh-wh-wh-when did you come here?!”
The sight of a Great Demon General being so easily discovered by a teenage girl made Chiho wonder what kind of qualifications Maou asked from his demon hordes in the first place.
“I was on the same train as you. Suzuno texted me your plan. …But, really, if something does happen here, aren’t you more of a problem than Maou is?”
“H-how do you…?”
“You don’t have a cell phone, right, Ashiya? How are you supposed to contact anyone?”
“I-I was planning to look for a pay phone, but…”
“…I kinda figured that’s what you’d say. If you don’t have any way of making contact… Maou doesn’t know you’re tailing him, right?”
“Um, yes, well, I thought it would be distracting if Emilia found me, so…”
There was no doubting the merits of that suspicion, but it begged the question of why Ashiya hadn’t at least tried to prepare a little more for the covert op.
“Well, I can lend you my cell phone if we need it. Let’s get going. We’re going to lose them!”
Pressed on by Chiho’s urgency, Ashiya clambered to follow before a question occurred to him.
“But, Ms. Sasaki, why are you…?”
Ashiya immediately regretted this bit of indiscretion once he saw Chiho’s face pointed at him.
“I know this is the right thing, but I’m still worried!”
“…Ah. My pardons.”
Chiho and Ashiya clambered up the escalator, attempting to keep Maou in their sights.
He was due to meet with Emi at the ticket gate near Korakuen station’s Marunouchi Line entrance.
Peering intently at the station map, Maou pulled the hand of Alas Ramus below as he began climbing a flight of stairs. He thought Alas Ramus might be tired out after walking all the way up from the Namboku Line turnstile, but instead she was running at full steam, prodding Maou to hurry up without even breaking a sweat.
Chiho, looking on afar, smiled a little bit to herself. The smile survived for only a moment.
“…!”
“Wh-what is it, Ms. Sasaki?”
Chiho gasped when they reached ground level.
She noticed a girl standing idly in front of the ticket gate, a watch bound tightly around her wrist.
She wore a soft, wide-brimmed hat, her usually straight hair tied back delicately, and the mules on her feet oozed chic. There was no mistaking her for anyone else but Emi.
Maou and Ashiya had yet to spot her because of how vastly different she looked from her normal self.
“Yusa… Wow. She’s really trying hard today.”
With her neck area mostly barren now that her hair was tied back, she had decided to put on a rather large necklace. It tied up the whole package neatly, enough so that even Chiho was impressed. It was a mature look, through and through.
“Mmh… That isn’t Emilia, is it? Hmph! Not very practical battle wear. Does she not realize she is the Hero?”
Ashiya, finally following Chiho’s gaze to its target, was focused on something completely different.
“What’s Maou dressed in today, Ashiya…?”
“The same as always. No need for him to dress in such ostentatious frippery for Emilia’s sake. And even before Alas Ramus, the presence of Urushihara has already made our budget a tragedy unfolding in slow motion. There was no money to purchase new clothing for the summer.”
For a moment, Chiho’s mind fell into competition with itself. On one side, she didn’t want to see Maou being a perfect fashion match for Emi in her current state; on the other, the sight of him wearing slightly threadbare UniClo stuff alongside the Hero made her seriously question whether a fashion intervention would be in order before long.
Alas Ramus wound up spotting Emi before Maou did. Maou, dragged toward her by the girl, betrayed zero sense of disquiet as Chiho looked on from the rear.
Just as she expected, Emi beamed at the appreciative Alas Ramus, then returned to a sullen, glassy-eyed stare as she sized up Maou.
Chiho and Ashiya watched the whole thing unfold from behind a column.
“Hee-hee-hee-hee! What do you think? ’Cause I think Emi Yusa’s got the perfect look going right now.”
Suddenly, the two of them were grabbed by the shoulder. Shuddering, they turned around to face their assailant.
“Oh… You’re Yusa’s friend…”
“M-Ms. Suzuki?!”
Rika Suzuki stood there, still holding Chiho and Ashiya by their shoulders as she snickered softly.
The women of Earth had a remarkable, innate gift for sneaking up on demons.
“Wh-what are you doing here, though?”
Chiho shifted her glance from Rika to the faraway Emi.
“That’s something I’d like to ask you guys if anything! Here I was, wondering what Chiho and Ashiya would be doing in the same place, and who do I spot you looking at but Emi and Maou, huh? So I figured, hey, we’re all peas in a pod here, I’ll just run up and say hi.”
This rang a bell with Ashiya.
Emi and Maou were meeting up now because Emi had work during the morning. She couldn’t have had any time to return home to Eifukucho after work, which meant that Emi must have reported to the office in that outfit.
“You wouldn’t believe what a surprise it was to see her! I’ve never seen her show up dressed up like that. It’s kinda hard to tell from this far, but she totally went to the salon yesterday. It’s, like, totally obvious up close.”
Rika brought a hand to her chin, brooding over her analysis, all but asking Chiho to give her opinion in response.
“R-really?!” Chiho squeaked.
“Oh, are you interested to hear more?”
“That, I, um, it, it’s not that I, if I said no, I…”
Due in part to the heat, Chiho’s cheeks were bright red. The reaction was even more intense than Rika imagined, making her relent a bit.
“Hee-hee! I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to pick on ya that much. You really don’t have anything to worry about, Chiho. That’s just Emi being all obstinate, you know?”
“…Huh?”
“Emi and Maou, you know, they generally don’t get along too well, right? That’s just her way of putting up a wall. So she doesn’t get outdone by him. Y’know, though…”
Rika took her eyes off of them for just a moment, turning to Maou.
“It’s funny how you can try really hard with something like that and totally miss the mark sometimes. Maou, meanwhile… He’s totally natural. I’d say he won that battle.”
Just then, Emi, Maou, and Alas Ramus began to walk toward the Tokyo Big-Egg stadium.
Turning around, Chiho found Alas Ramus flanked by her “mommy” and “daddy,” holding hands with them both as she tottered along. The sight made a restless feeling churn in her stomach.
“Well, there they go.”
Rika grinned mischievously.
“What’re you two gonna do?”
The Tokyo Big-Egg Town was built in a large circle surrounding the Big-Egg stadium that served as the home field for the illustrious Tokyo Hulks, a professional baseball team.
Stretching from the Lagoon shopping complex next to Korakuen station to the Big-Egg Hotel by the stadium, the park offered a wide variety of attractions. If you wanted to visit a full-sized amusement park without taking the train out to the suburbs, this was it.
There was no real entrance gate separating the park from the outside world; instead you paid for access to each individual attraction, allowing passersby to make visits to particular rides or exhibits on impulse.
The mall across the street from Lagoon and the Korakuen station also boasted a wealth of shops that catered to the needs of young and old alike, making it a popular shopping spot for Tokyoites of all walks of life.
The live superhero shows held on weekends and holidays were another unique attraction for the complex.
While they weren’t covered by the One-Day Passports that otherwise allowed unfettered access to all attractions, the shows—each featuring whatever live-action hero or heroes were currently lighting up TV sets nationwide—played to sellout crowds full of excited kids and bored parents nonetheless.
Yes, this was a theme park that’d put a smile on anybody’s face. Anybody, that is, but the confused-looking and vaguely prunelike Emi and Maou as they let Alas Ramus drag them hither and yon.
At certain times of the day, the pond built on the second outdoor terrace of the Lagoon building would play home to a concert, with fountains of water swaying to and fro to the piped-in music. The trio happened to be just in time for the show as they passed by, the undulating streams of colored water making Alas Ramus exclaim “Oooooooooo…!” with mouth agape.
“Hey.”
“Whaaat?”
Maou, enthusiasm already flagging in the summer heat, grunted dully at Emi as they watched Alas Ramus become enthralled.
“You put some sunblock on her, right? It’s pretty sunny out.”
“Ahh… Well, they said it’d be okay as long as a doctor prescribed it, but…”
Based on Urushihara’s research, going with a doctor-prescribed infant sunscreen over the types sold in drugstores was the conventional wisdom on the Internet. Doing so would (allegedly) prevent future problems with the child’s skin.
Maou’s health insurance, however, didn’t apply to Alas Ramus. And taking an uninsured, undocumented child to the doctor, in addition to whatever issues that presented within the rules of Japanese society, would almost certainly create problems with the current way of life over at Devil’s Castle. Thus, Maou had failed to provide the appropriate sunscreen for his charge.
“Well, you could at least think about buying her a hat or something. There’s clothing shops in Lagoon here, so let’s go there first. If you’re gonna step up and care for her, you really need to start looking out for what’s best for her.”
The way Emi so quickly adopted that lecturing-wife tone belied her previous position on another world. Maou didn’t have much of a leg to stand on.
“Yeah… Sorry ’bout that. …Whaddaya think, Alas Ramus? Having fun?”
“Oooooohhh… Aaaahhhh…!!”
“Absorbed in those fountains, huh? Well, great.”
Watching from a terrace that overlooked the show, Ashiya, Chiho, and Rika focused on the trio below.
“Wow, what a happy li’l family, huh? That girl’s sure taken a shining to Emi, hasn’t she?”
“…She’s so cute.”
Chiho sighed at the sight of Alas Ramus, still hypnotized by the fountain show.
Ashiya, for his part, was keeping a keen lookout to ensure Maou remained safe, although he naturally hadn’t forgotten another, almost more pressing task—ensuring his leader didn’t splurge on anything.
Unaware of their pursuers’ thoughts, not even aware there were any pursuers at all, the newly minted family watched the show to the end before walking hand in hand with Alas Ramus inside the Lagoon mall to search for a hat.
The other trio followed on, ensuring they stayed a discreet distance away.
“Hey, a UniClo.”
Maou noticed a familiar logo on the information board near the entrance. Emi immediately stepped in to dismiss the idea.
“Forget it. Why are you so preoccupied with UniClo anyway?”
“What? It’s cheap. Cheap and easy. Nothing I don’t need.”
“You could at least try going to another store sometime. I don’t know what kind of picture you’ve got in your mind, but it’s really not that much more expensive.”
“Huh.”
“Don’t just go ‘huh’! What happens if Alas Ramus winds up being as low-class as you are?”
“Nothing wrong with being frugal.”
“…Let’s go, Alas Ramus. We don’t need this dead weight with us.”
“Ded way?”
Pulled ahead by Emi, the girl timidly rode the escalator up to the clothing floor, filled with UniClo and a selection of other apparel shops.
“Hmm… These are still gonna be a little big for her.”
Emi sighed to herself as she checked out a few children’s selections and placed them above Alas Ramus’s shoulders.
“She’s gonna grow pretty quickly, though. I guess getting a bigger size isn’t too bad, as long as she’s not dragging it behind her. …And I notice you aren’t speaking up. You realize I’m still talking about several months down the line when I say ‘quickly,’ right?”
“If you’re waiting for me to chime in every time you open your mouth, keep waiting. I’m not exactly interested in long conversations with you.”
“Look, how long are you planning to keep this child anyway?”
Emi continued thumbing through children’s accessories, draping them over Alas Ramus to gauge how she looked.
“…Who knows? Maybe her parents’ll show up today. Maybe I’ll be taking care of her until she gets married.”
“Married…? I’m sorry if I keep asking this, but are you sure it wouldn’t be better for everyone if you just stayed in Japan forever?”
“…Ooh, hey, this one looks pretty good. That’ll cover her down to her shoulders, too.”
Maou, oblivious to the conversation, plucked a straw hat off the clothing racks. It fit the little girl remarkably well.
“Maybe this isn’t something I should ask, but don’t you care about the generals you left behind on Ente Isla or anything?”
Emi was expecting a much less direct answer than Maou wound up giving.
“Them? Yeah, I’ve given up on those bastards.”
“…Huh?”
“Hey, Alas Ramus, you can get this with a pink ribbon or a yellow one. Which one do you like?”
“Mmm, Market!”
Alas Ramus pointed at the hat with the yellow ribbon.
Emi found herself unable to respond to Maou’s heartless, somewhat Devil King–like statement. Maou shrugged.
“Haven’t you ever thought about why Emeralda and Albert and Olba and Suzuno just pop over here whenever, like, they’re in the next city over?”
His eyes burst open wide as he glanced at the price tag on the straw hat Alas Ramus chose.
“…It’s been over a year now. I kinda missed my window. Whatever part of the Ente Isla invasion force survived must’ve been stamped out ages ago. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be having the most powerful fighters of the human world going on these grand tours of Earth all the time.”
That much was logical enough. Officially speaking, all four of the Devil King’s Great Demon Generals—Lucifer included—were defeated. The chain of command in the demon world had been slashed to pieces.
Emi had zero sympathy for Maou, something that came across pretty clearly by now.
“You… You think so? Well, jeez, that was easy. Guess that’s the demon realm for you, huh? The big man at the top falls, and the rest just crumbles to dust.”
“I couldn’t have put it better. Without me, those guys are worthless. But even if I went back now, without any of my power, I’d be killed whenever the next would-be king decided to come around. That…”
Having resigned himself to the purchase, Maou turned his back to Emi and Alas Ramus as he took the hat to the register.
“…That, and even if I did regain my Devil King strength, no way I could conquer the world now.”
“W-well, yeah. With the demons annihilated, there’s not much point calling yourself Devil King anyway, huh?”
“Demons annihilated? What’re you smoking, lady?”
Maou sneered at Emi in abject ridicule.
“When you humans fight a war, do every single one of you march down to the battlefield en masse?”
“Huh?”
It took Emi a moment to parse the question, but Maou proceeded on to the register, uninterested in continuing the discussion.
He had the cashier snip the price tag off before placing it squarely over Alas Ramus’s head.
“Mph! Cute?”
Alas Ramus sidled up to the provided mirror as she glanced upward at Maou.
“Oh, yeah. Totally cute!”
A silly grin crossed Maou’s face, the dark atmosphere of a moment ago tossed aside.
“Hey, can we worry about clothing her next time? It’s right around lunchtime, so the attractions oughtta be pretty empty right now. Which one you wanna go on first, Alas Ramus?”
“There, Daddy! There!”
Alas Ramus pointed through a Lagoon window toward the Free Fall ride.
“Oooh, you’re probably gonna be either too young or too short for that one, girl. How ’bout we wander around a little and check things out?”
Emi followed after the pair distractedly, still lost in a fog.
The trio following even farther behind exchanged glances between Maou and the clothing store.
“I’ve never seen two people look so depressed over buying a hat before.”
“Yeah, who can say? Maybe it was really expensive or something.”
Prompted by Rika and Chiho’s chatter, Ashiya idly picked up a hat similar to the one Maou bought for Alas Ramus.
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