Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 4 - Chapter Aft

THE AUTHOR, THE AFTERWORD, AND YOU! 
Back when I was a kid, at the Chiba seaside town of Onjuku for a family vacation, a firework shot off by some people on the beach changed direction in the wind and hit me directly on the head, causing severe burns. 
I managed to avoid permanent scarring, thanks to the lady at the inn and her timely first aid, but for a while after that, I couldn’t bring myself to use any fire spells in the RPGs I played. It may not seem like that big a deal written in words like this, but to a child’s frame of mind, it was pretty traumatic. I went bald in the spot where it hit for a while, too. 
So when you’re playing with fireworks, make sure you follow the rules and clean up afterward. The More You Know. 
Telling a Devil story in the area where the Devil King and Hero “worked” together in this volume was actually a goal of mine since the initial brainstorming phase for the series. 
This area is the site of no less than two actual miracles. 
The first is a natural miracle—out of anyplace in Honshu, the largest of the islands that make up Japan, this is the spot where the sun rises first every day (unless you’re up on a high mountain or off on one of Japan’s more remote islands). 

The sunrise as viewed from Inuboh-saki, the easternmost point in Chiba, really is too beautiful to put into words. It’s almost a mystery, how nature can create such a supreme and overpowering work of art on such a regular basis. 
The second miracle is a human-engineered one—the way that an entire region and its industry was rescued by a timely opportunity, a local souvenir, a gathering of people, and a senbei cracker. 
The story of the Choshi Electric Railway—one where the concerted efforts and training of many people allowed them to connect with the rest of Japan via the net and keep on operating, keeping themselves alive without having to rely on charity or external support—is kind of an ideal, I think, in terms of people working hard and being economically rewarded for it. 
Like the classic grandmother out in the country, I thought that the Devil King and his cohorts might learn a thing or two working out in the sticks. But it’s doubtful that either the Hero or her nemesis learned anything that constructive. They were too busy giving their all in this unfamiliar place, flailing about as they tried to carve a path to the future for themselves. That’s how the story turned out. 
I’d like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt sorrow for Urushihara’s rantings and Ashiya’s occasional (unintentional) slip of the tongue. If anyone at the Choshi Electric Railway or NASA’s Apollo program are offended, they have every right to be. My bad. 
I’d also like to note that, in real life, Shiosai Park in Kimigahama isn’t open for swimming due to high waves and rip currents. You won’t find any beach to play on there, and there’s no hyper-dimensional snack bar either, so don’t visit expecting either of those. 
With this volume, The Devil is a Part-Timer! is now enjoying its first full year in publication. I simply must thank my editor (Mr. A), my illustrator (029), everyone at ASCII Media Works, the proofers, the printers, the distributors, the bookstores, and, most important, the people holding this book in their hands right now. I’d like to wrap up this afterword by saying, with every fiber of my body and soul: Thank you.