Hataraku Maou-sama! - Volume 6 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE 
On the wall by the order counter, there were now two more certificates next to Kisaki’s indicating that the location was home to MgRonald Baristas, experts in the entire MagCafé menu. Most of the certificates were written in English text for some reason, but between the fancy white-and-gold lettering over the MgRonald red background describing the coursework completed and the frame it was inserted into, it looked quite a bit fancier than it had any right being. The names engraved on them— SADAO MAOU and CHIHO SASAKI —were visible across the entire restaurant space. 
“Well, since we’re all here, why don’t we have Ms. Yusa try a taste test to see how much you guys have improved?” 
Kisaki, as promised, was treating Emi and Suzuno to a free round of café au lait. They arrived just as Chiho began her shift. 
“Oh, you’re on!” Maou’s eyes shined with confidence. 
“I…I don’t know,” Chiho said, demonstrating just a tad of nervousness. 
“Are you sure?” Emi politely asked. 
“Well, I did promise you a free drink, and I’m sure Maou wants some revenge for his loss this morning.” 
“His loss?” 
Chiho tittered a little. “I guess Ashiya and Urushihara came in earlier. They had a competition between Maou’s and Ms. Kisaki’s coffee, but…” 
“Even Urushihara spotted the difference. Like, instantly. I was so pissed.” 
He looked the part. Kisaki laughed. 
“Your coffee’s consistent. You really understand what MgRonald is doing with their beans. You should be proud of that!” 
“But both of them liked your coffee better…” 
“Well, Mr. Ashiya looked a little tired, so I amped up the bitterness and body for him so he could kick back and relax a bit. And Mr. Urushihara didn’t seem like a regular coffee drinker to me, so I kept it light and approachable, almost Americano level.” 
“……” 
Maou fell silent as Kisaki perfectly described the preferences of his roommates, two people who had barely even ventured into a MgRonald. 
“I guess I was cheating a little, though. After all, I wanted to reassure your friends that you’re working under a talented manager.” 
“Indeed,” Suzuno teased, “it sounds like this battle may be over before it begins.” 
“Not if I got a say in it!” Maou sniped back. 
“Well, let’s stop talking about it and get started, huh, Maou?” 
Kisaki, Maou, and Chiho filled their small espresso cups with regular coffee and presented them to Emi and Suzuno. Both of them took a sip from all three cups. 
“So from right to left… Chiho’s, Ms. Kisaki’s, and Sadao’s, perhaps?” 
“Yeah, I think Ms. Kisaki’s is the middle one, too. But the other two…they didn’t taste all that different to me.” 
“Geh…” 
Chiho snickered. “There’s just no beating her, is there?” 
Just as they’d thought, the middle coffee was Kisaki’s. 
“Still,” Kisaki said, “did you hear that? Your customers said there wasn’t any big difference qualitywise. That shows how much better you’ve both gotten at this. Thanks to both of you for cooperating in this little game. I’d best return to work now, but feel free to stay for as long as you like. I’ll bring both of you a full cup in a moment.” 

Maou and Chiho bowed to them, the former with extreme reluctance, as they went back to their posts. Watching them go, Emi took another look at the three cups in front of her. 
“If anything, his is actually pretty delicious. It’s so annoying.” 
Suzuno grinned. “He is nothing if not nimble with his hands. So is Ashiya, for that matter.” 
“So…what’re we doing here, anyway? I wasn’t expecting you to drag me into MagCafé like this.” 
Suzuno called Emi earlier to suggest they go out and see Maou and Chiho on the job. That was how Emi was here, but Suzuno had yet to reveal her motivations for this visit. 
“I told you already. I simply wanted to see the Devil King and Chiho as they go about their duties.” 
“That’s it? Really?” 
“Well and truly, yes. In particular…” Suzuno picked up the middle cup. “I wanted to see how he acted under the watchful eye of Ms. Kisaki.” 
“…What do you mean?” Emi asked as she watched the trio handle a new customer. 
“Well, everything still remains clear as mud, does it not? What drove, and what drives, the Devil King to conquer the world in the first place.” 
Emi fell silent. 
“What is it? Your face is glowing red. Should we move out of the direct sunlight, perhaps?” 
“N-no!” Emi brought a hand to her cheeks, embarrassed that Suzuno spotted her thinking about their trip back from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building a few days ago. “I’m fine, all right?” 
Whenever she thought about that evening, she found herself exploding into a torrent of emotions, all beyond her comprehension. She was powerless to control it. 
“We likely could have surmised this already, but the Devil King truly seems to have the utmost respect for his manager. Perhaps his statement about there always being someone you must bow your head to was from the heart after all.” 
“So…what?” Emi asked. “What’re you trying to say?” 
Suzuno silently took something out from her sleeve and put it on the table. 
“That’s…a piece of the Heavenly Regiment’s weapons, isn’t it?” 
It was a small, jagged metal piece of obviously poor manufacture. 
“The Regiment were all human beings…and the angels are not so far removed from us after all.” 
“Hmm…?” 
“Everybody has someone they must bow their heads to. I can think of no other creature who can say that.” 
Emi gasped as she slowly began to grasp the point Suzuno was making. 
“Bell, you…you aren’t…” 
“Now, I say that while being fully cognizant of the fact that the Devil King and Alciel and Lucifer remain our enemies. But…we have seen how they act here in Japan, and I thought it was time to reflect on these observations. To see what they mean to us.” 
The angels, which they had thought were sublimely supernatural, were just regular people all along. 
The conclusion to derive from this was obvious. 
The question that next came from Suzuno’s lips was a literal “deal with the devil”—a sweet invitation not just for Emi, but for every man and woman on Ente Isla who was faced with the Devil King’s invasion. But neither Emi Yusa nor Suzuno Kamazuki could dodge the question any longer: 
“What…do you think the ‘demons’ truly are?”